Kitai spotted a small crevice to his left and low to the ground, and he dived headfirst through the narrow space. Sure enough, he took some bruising as he landed, but his guess had been right: It was too small for the Ursa to follow. Instead, it thrust claws at him and bellowed but didn’t make contact. In a rage, the Ursa threw its weight at the space, shattering the crystal walls. As debris fell, Kitai scrambled to his feet and continued deeper into the cave. He acrobatically ran, jumped, and leaped around, over, and under crystal impediments.
Just as he thought he had gained some distance from the Ursa, which was charging through the natural formations, it reached forward and clipped Kitai’s leg with its claw, sending him sprawling in pain. Rather than give in to it, he used the momentum to roll quickly and resume running. As he moved deeper, Kitai began to notice the tunnel growing narrower.
The Ursa was gaining on him.
Finally, Kitai spotted an opening into a narrow cave, maybe a meter wide. The Ursa was too big to follow him in there. He slid into the cave and caught his breath, listening to the monster’s howls of anger and frustration. After it was done yelling, Kitai peered into the tunnel. The Ursa studied the opening, spying Kitai within, and then backed away.
That was when Kitai realized how truly intelligent the beast was. He hadn’t stopped to realize that stringing up the animals was a sign of cunning. It wanted him scared since it fed off his fear and used it to track him. Now it was waiting him out. This was a deadlier foe than he’d ever imagined.
As he considered that, he watched the Ursa through the small entrance. The creature stared back and then placed one claw on the crystals and another on the rock wall. Within seconds, it seemingly vanished before his eyes, taking on properties of both minerals. Daring him to try to escape. Instead, Kitai edged farther back a meter and rested his injured body against the crystal wall. It felt safe, but he knew full well that just before him, somewhere out there, the Ursa waited for him, camouflaged and startlingly silent.
The waiting game had begun.
Kitai squeezed his eyes tight, shutting out the images from nearly five years earlier. Calling to Senshi, wishing she’d hide with him. He opened them slowly and stared out the small cave entrance. He tried to see a movement, something that would show him where the Ursa was hidden in plain sight.
Although he saw nothing, he did hear the steady drip, drip, drip of blood. He couldn’t see the gray droplets but knew they were there.
That was when the Ursa came into view, once more hanging upside down, literally crowding the entrance, as close as it could come to the human. First one claw, then another reached inside the cave, trying to reach Kitai but failing. That seemed to frustrate the beast more than anger it. It stretched deeper this time and nearly nicked Kitai. To retaliate, he waved the cutlass before him, forcing the limbs back through the entrance. Once the Ursa backed off a bit, he shimmied himself farther back into the cave.
With its limbs out of reach, the Ursa used another of its formidable weapons and spit several black globules of venom at Kitai. The paralytic agent missed his face by centimeters, striking the back of the crevice. The next attack finally proved successful as one of the black masses hit the lifesuit and his exposed skin. The mere touch of the icky, vile-smelling stuff caused him to scream. He knew this would slow down his reflexes and give the Ursa a decided advantage.
The Ursa managed to wedge itself into the crevice, its sheer bulk wearing away the edges. As it neared Kitai, it spit more black poison in his direction, and the law of averages dictated that a second bit of the gross venom would make contact. He continued to crawl backward. The Ursa matched him centimeter by centimeter. As Viper closed the distance to its prey, the Ursa once more tried to snatch Kitai with its foreclaws but failed to reach him. It spit again, pressing its advantage.
Kitai continued to shimmy back, not daring to take his eyes off the beast. As a result, he missed the fact that he was running out of space. Before he knew it, he was slipping, and gravity took hold of his slender form and yanked. Suddenly, he was falling. Not far, maybe two meters, but enough to surprise him before he struck a rock. Pain radiated from the impact, and he grunted more than once but refused to scream. Instead, he flipped from the rock, spun around, and continued to fall, this time much farther down. He remembered how sailors fell to their doom in Moby Dick and feared he was about to join them.
That was when he hit water and confused the novel with his own situation. He nearly swallowed a mouthful as he sank low. He threw out his arms and legs, spreading them to distribute his weight evenly. Without taking the time to hold his breath, he had precious little oxygen in his system and needed to get control of his situation. Fast.
Steady but still underwater, he opened his eyes, impressed that the smart fabric in his lifesuit still provided some illumination. Twin spots of light from his shoulders let him see maybe two meters in any direction. As he hurriedly assessed his position, he saw a shaft of light waver in the water. Light meant escape and, he hoped, freedom. A chance to complete the mission and save his father. But if he made it down here, could the Ursa have followed? And did it know how to swim? He hadn’t sensed the kind of impact a creature of its bulk would have made, but that didn’t mean anything.
Feeling the lack of air start to burn, he began to swim toward the light. In looking back, he couldn’t recall where he felt the first bite, but suddenly his body was enveloped with tiny sightless fish with big teeth taking nips. He’d heard of such fish but couldn’t recall their name. Instead, he felt them ripping his lifesuit, which he didn’t think possible.
As quickly as the fish attacked him, they disappeared faster. Kitai began to wonder what had changed but knew in a heartbeat why. The Ursa had made its way to him and was now approaching, its six legs propelling it through the water at a fast enough rate to worry him. One leg and claw slashed at Kitai, narrowly missing his leg.
Turning away from the predator, Kitai pushed off and swam as hard as he knew how. He was swimming for his life in almost total darkness, his shoulder lights flickering thanks to the fish tearing at the integrated bodysuit. He continued toward the streaming light. The Ursa was right behind him and closing.
Kitai, already breathing hard and laboring, pushed himself even harder to pick up speed. There was now desperation mixing in with his practiced strokes. The lights flashed briefly on an unusually beautiful group of stalactites just before him. It was a straight, unimpeded line to the light, but that also played to the Ursa’s strengths. As he swam and tried to control his mounting panic, Kitai strained to strategize. He veered off and swam through the stalactites, pushing off each one for extra momentum. Sure enough, he was putting much-needed distance between him and the bulky beast.
What happened next was confusing, largely because Kitai was disoriented. He was rushing so far, so fast underwater that he grew confused. He was uncertain which way was up and knew he needed to find out quickly before he drowned. A few bubbles escaped his lips and traveled down.
How are bubbles going down? That isn’t right.
Kitai flipped himself around and followed the bubbles, which rose to the surface. As he broke the surface, he spotted the light and took a much-needed breath. As he reached the light’s contact point with the water, Kitai saw that he was at the bottom of a vertical shaft of rock that traveled roughly twenty-five meters above him to where daylight awaited.