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The thrumming in her veins had kept her feet moving, despite regret weighing her down. Bypassing another pointed rock, she swooped left, not seeing the small ditch.
Thessa stumbled, but the serpent had not. Fangs as sharp as daggers plunged into her thigh.
She collapsed on impact, swearing loud enough to rattle the cave, and the beast. It unlatched, slithering back towardits nest. Had she known verbal abuse would work, she would’ve tried shouting sooner.
Her thigh stung like a thousand bee stings.
An inspection revealed two finger-length punctures in front, and two small ones in back. Something yellow oozed from each, paired with her own dribbling blood.
“Great,” she blurted, wondering why Soren had ever said this cave was safe.
Attempting to walk was a miserable failure. The pain was unbearable, and so incredibly hot. Using the slick wall for balance, Thessa hopped down the tunnel. The camp had a handful of healers, she just had to get there.
A cool blast shocked her foot as sea water puddled around her.
The tide.
She moved as fast as she could, gritting her teeth through the pain.
As the water swelled, Thessa was beginning to think the stairs had made a lot of sense. By the time she reached the end of the passage, the sea had risen to her chest. She would need to swim through the cavern and out the cave’s mouth, and fast.
Thessa took a deep breath and dove in, but one kick of her marred leg sent pain jolting through her. She stopped, hugging the wall to recover.
Breathe. Just breathe.
The shrinking entrance was so close.
She tried hopping again, but the water was too high, and too dark to see the boulder that sent her crashing underwater. Beneath the surface, there was nothing but frigid darkness and the silence of the sea. For a moment, it was like things were peaceful.
Popping back up, she gasped for air. The tide had risen toher chin; there was no choice but to swim. After cursing the Blood Moon for its role in this, Thessa took a deep breath and dove back in.
Every kick of her punctured leg was accompanied by shooting pain.
Knock, knock.
Panic was behind that door.
No.
She caught a breath and kept swimming, towards the light. The pain was excruciating, but the sea water was numbing it. She just had to move.
Kicking up for air, she was met with resistance. The top of her head smashed into stone as she pressed her palms into a surface that wouldn’t give. Treading farther made no difference. Desperate for a breath, she pushed, scratched, and shoved the rocks above her.
Despite the salt burning her eyes, the pain in her leg, and the fear gripping her, Thessa swam as fast as she could.
Knock, knock.
There had to be a different door … perhaps a window.
Her headmistress pointed her spindly finger toward the light. “Yes, Thessa, you can open that little window there if you need some air.”
Living in an overstocked attic at the age of six hadn’t been all that bad. It was the first room she’d ever been assigned to that had a window. She’d sit before it for hours, wondering where the clouds went, and what the birds were saying. Thessa wasn’t sure what happened to that child—the one without a worry.
“Go on, it may be a smidge jammed.”
Thessa pushed, and the window cracked.There wasn’t a sky to see, instead it was some lucid dream. The first thingshe noticed was Leora, smiling bright. Her true friend. Thessa smiled back, opening the window a little more.
Hades stormed through next, bucking in all her glory. Thanks to Hades, Thessa had learned what true freedom felt like.