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Beneath his feathered headdress and black zigzag paint, Rez’s expression firmed "I’m with you How many others do you need?"
Tiht of his decision "Everyone" And even that e’s fate would be decided one way or the other today By the end of this equinox, they would all be freeor they would all be dead
"Hurry," he urged as Rez started snapping out orders, sending the older children to collect the younger ones in a sturdy central building, which would be guarded by the fearriors they would leave behind The rest would follow JT as soon as they had loaded up on a on, Natalie, he whispered deep in his soul We’re co
He just hoped to hell they weren’t already too late
Natalie’s heart hammered as she crouched behind a broken pillar as a pair of new camazotz passed way too close for coone, she exhaled shallowly and thanked the gods that the newborns’ perceptions were as weak as their bodies She had gotten lucky so far She only prayed her luck would hold
Slipping fro as she entered and the temperature plu, and a snail trail of water ran along one side, glistening in the pools of sunlight that were let in by a series of natural skylights created by fallen-in sections
The ribbon of golden energy connecting her to the skull beckoned her onward, but she hesitated, looking back over her shoulder at the bright blue sky of a jarringly beautiful spring day
"Da to have his solid, centered presence by her side But he hadn’t come after her She was on her own
The tunnel went froed openings, then led doard She didn’t dare use her flashlight, but there was light onceher way along the slippery stone track, which grew treacherous as the incline increased
Breathing through her mouth to avoid as much of the stench as possible, she paused when she reached a sharp bend in the tunnel Moving carefully and staying low, she peered around the corner And caught her breath, sto Oh, sweet Christ
Beyond the corner, the tunnel dead-ended in a roughly rectangular cavern, which was open to the sky, with stalactites spearing down fronant, sli was crisscrossed with vines and branches, turning the sunlight green and dank In one corner, several reddish, glistening things hung in the shadows Bodies, she thought, her sto with horror But she fixed her attention on the chae black-furred camazotz
It faced the far wall, where a tall panel of carved hieroglyphs rippled fluidly with strange energy
The creature’s fully intact wings were tucked tightly around its back, and it wore two heavy stone yokes, one around its throat and another that hung low on its hips, protecting its genitals
Oily brown energy hung around it,wall and back As she watched, a shadowpanel, and then the ripples parted and a stringy, skinny caled up with red hatred burning in its eyes as it glared around the cave
Holy shit Natalie sed a surge of fear that threatened to lock her in place This was it
This was the source, the hellcaht a flash of yellow hanging on a cord around its neck
The crystal skull!
She was ing across the cha the pump-action into the newborn as she came Black ichor splashed and the creature flew backward She didn’t waste ti the rest of her jade-loaded shells into the bigger de it away froot inside the huge caed, grabbed the skull, and used her knife to cut it free from beneath the stone collar that protected the creature’s neck
The camazotz shrieked and raked at her with teeth and claws, but the e heat detonated inside her and the shiy was suddenly inside her It poured into her, filled her up, hter rather than her usual s beneath the creature’s next attack, she ducked, got the knife up, and carved a long furrow in its wingin pain, she spun and bolted for the tunnel
Thud Two ht into her path, their intact wings spread wide
Their eyes burned like coals and their h the golden glow of ic as she spun, skidded on ichor, and went down She rolled and scras boo the cha, she ducked a claipe and ra three-cornered s, she chucked the eun, pulled her autopistol--her last real weapon--and started blasting away, trying to drive the creatures back