Amazingly enough, Sam was there as well, no more than a few feet away.
“Thank God!” his friend exclaimed when he saw him, the fear in his eyes easing slightly. Jake knew exactly what he was feeling. Facing this thing together was bad enough, but doing it alone would be infinitely worse.
For his part, Sam was amazed they had survived this long.
They had been lucky.
Sam was acutely aware that luck had a way of running out when it was needed most.
He glanced around, looking for the Nightshade. As far as he could tell, the sky above them was clear. The fog was still around them, but was getting noticeably thinner. A slight gray tinge had begun to seep into the sky, and Sam found himself praying the dawn would come soon.
They had only moments to get out of sight before the Nightshade regained enough altitude to begin another attack, and Sam was certain they’d already used a good portion of that time regaining the surface.They had to keep moving!
Despite his exertions, the pain in his shoulder began to abate, no doubt a result of the temperature of the water. The cold had slowed the bleeding as well, for which he was grateful.
Jake could see the structure clearly now. It was the remains of a boathouse. While it looked like it might offer them some protection, it was still several yards away and would require effort to reach.
There was no time to waste. Ignoring what was left of the pain in his arm and the deep cold that was slowly working its way through the rest of his limbs, Sam doggedly resumed swimming, heading for what he hoped was safety.
Two of the four walls remained standing, the others having succumbed to the ravages of time and weather, collapsing inward against the others to form a ragged lean-to. The roof had collapsed down over the walls as the wood beneath decayed. Most of the dock on which it stood had long since collapsed as well, submerging the lower third of the structure beneath the waterline.
Looking at it, Sam felt his heart sink.
What he had hoped would be strong enough to protect them from the beast’s attacks didn’t even look strong enough to survive being touched. The dock itself didn’t look any better; at any minute what remained might collapse the rest of the way into the lake.
When they reached it, they discovered that there seemed to be room for them to hide beneath it. It appeared they could swim underwater and come back up inside the boathouse, safe from view from above, hiding in the pocket of air trapped beneath what remained of the roof.
They wasted no time debating it. Jake dived beneath the surface with Sam quickly following, determined to occupy their makeshift sanctuary as quickly as possible.
They resurfaced, relieved that their suspicions had been correct. By clinging to what remained of the dock support pillars, they could gain a small measure of rest for their weary limbs, but both knew they couldn’t remain in the water for long. If the Nightshade didn’t get them, hypothermia would.
The morning around them was quiet. Other than the barely heard sound of the river gently lapping at the remains of the dock, no other noise reached their ears.
Where the hell is that thing?Jake wondered anxiously.
At that moment, Moloch was circling the river, rage burning like an inferno in his breast. Only moments ago he had them trapped. Nowhere to go, no room to run, no means for them to escape. Yet that was exactly what seemed to have happened. They had inexplicably disappeared from sight.
Moloch was furious. Never before had the cattle outsmarted him. He would not let these two be the first.
He swept down low across the water, swiveling his head to and fro as he searched the bank near where he’d made his last attack. He searched for both a trail through the weeds to indicate where they might have gotten out of the water and for the heat residue left behind by their bodies in passing, but he found neither. The frigid temperature of the water and the rising sun to the east worked against him in this endeavor.
It would be dawn soon. Moloch hated the sunlight; too much of it affected his vision, blurring everything with the sudden avalanche of heat, making it difficult for him to see. While he could still rely on his other senses, he did not like to be placed at so clear a disadvantage. With the gray light of dawn slowly beginning to filter into the sky, Moloch knew he did not have much time unless he wished to be seen during the day. Tiring of the low-level passes across the water, Moloch swept toward the remains of a small structure against the shoreline and settled tentatively atop the peak of its roof, relaxing comfortably once he determined that despite the groaning it made it would not collapse beneath his weight. He lowered his wings to his sides so he could listen to the night around him without distraction.
Through the holes in the roof, Sam watched as the Nightshade lowered its frame upon the roof above them. Sam froze, not daring to move, even to breathe, the fear like a grapefruit stuck in his throat. He was terrified that the beast would hear them.
A sound suddenly intruded on the silence, a deep, rhythmic drumming from somewhere close. Sam frantically swung his head around, seeking the source, praying that it wouldn’t draw the Nightshade’s attention. He was surprised to see that Jake seemed to be ignoring it, his attention on the dangerously sagging structure around them, and it took Sam another moment or two of confusion before he realized that the sound was the drumming of his own heart in his ears.
Jake, too, was worried, but for an entirely different reason. For one long moment he had been certain the rotting structure would give way when the beast had landed above, plunging it down into their midst. The roof had held firm, though, and now they were trapped not an arm’s reach from the very creature hunting them.
Now what?he asked himself.
He had no ready answer.
A quick glance in Sam’s direction confirmed his worst fears. His friend’s face was drawn and pale from the blood he had lost, his lips blue from the cold. If they didn’t get out of the water soon, Sam would be finished.
He began carefully examining their surroundings. Maybe there was something that could be used as a weapon, something that could hold the creature off long enough for the two of them to climb out onto the shore.
A few minutes were all it took to dash such hopes. There was nothing but water and rotting wood, slick with many years’ accumulation of lake slime.
The boathouse groaned as the beast shifted its weight.
Glancing up in dismay, Jake wondered if the damn thing was just going to hunker down and wait them out.
If it did, the wait wouldn’t be a long one.
Luckily for them, that proved not to be the case.
Moloch didn’t know that the prey he sought was scant inches away because the high, thick scent of the marshy shore hid the usually strong scent of the humans and the lapping of the river against its banks masked any telltale sounds they might make. The rising sun in the east forced Moloch to abandon the chase. He took one last look around the immediate area and unfurled his great wings. Anger coursed through his veins like quicksilver as the realization struck that the humans had escaped. Never before had such a thing occurred. It was obvious to him that the humans had grown more cunning during the years of his confinement, and he vowed not to let them outwit him again. For the time being, he would return to his haven in the garret across the river to await the setting of the sun.