TKC 40
A gargling scream takes our attention from personal issues.
Damin and I lean convulsively over the bridge, for the sound seems to come from
under us. There is nothing to see, but the otherworldly shriek continues.
“Go that way,” Damin points and turns to run back the way we
came.
I race across the bridge to the other side. From opposite
ends, we descend to the water’s edge. The sound is human, if desperate, but
what is below does not appear as human at all. As I crouch to stare into the
gloom under the arch, my instincts warn me. Something is not right.
Damin is about to enter the shallow pond on the other side
and I hurtle to my feet and gesture wildly at him, shaking my head with intent.
He sees me, thank the stars, and stops.
The screaming transforms into laughter, the manic kind able
to raise even the dead into flight.
A glint tells me Damin has his dagger to hand. Looking down,
I discover I have mine as well. I do not remember reaching for it. Together we
then slowly pace away from the water and Damin gestures for me to wait. Swiftly
he turns and sprints across the bridge to my side. Again the gargling scream
erupts.
It is akin to tales we grew up with, the monsters under the
bridge stories, but this is beyond frightening. What is it? Slime and mud oozed
over something misshapen, and it seemed to cling to the underside of the arch
as if afraid of drowning in the shallows below.
I frown. As if afraid.
I grab Damin’s hand and we run. “Something bad is about to
happen,” I gasp at him.
It does. With a sound akin to burbling thunder, the pond
explodes in a rain of sludge.
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