He couldn’t tell if Chime and River understood his incoherent command or if they were just blindly following him. As they took flight, Moon saw a tentacle whip toward Chime, who was still burdened with Esom. Moon twisted toward it and slashed at the slick surface. It twitched at him, missing Chime, just as another tentacle slapped at Moon’s leg and knocked him into a sideways tumble.
He rolled, frantically tried to get his wings under control, and saw the tentacle dive toward him. Then River swooped past and swiped at the tentacle with his foot claws. It flinched, hesitating just long enough for Moon to drop out of reach.
Still falling away, Moon looked up at the creature. From the bottom it had a beetle-like carapace, the edges bristling with tentacles. It roared as Stone whipped over its head and gave it one last swipe with his tail. Stone tore through the tentacles that reached for him and dropped out of its range.
There was movement all over the web as the big creature turned ponderously on its supporting strand to follow them. There was no place to go but down, and Moon dove.
He dropped until the passage narrowed again and the lighted webs were left behind. He had no idea where he was going, and the light was running out, when Chime shouted, “Wait, stop!”
Moon swerved in toward the wall and found a perch to cling to. Chime hit the wall next to him and gripped it tightly. River landed on the far side of Chime, and Stone slammed into a spot just above them.
“There!” Chime pointed urgently at something about ten paces below. “We’ll be safe if we go that way!”
“Safe?” River growled. “We were standing on something’s belly!”
“But we have to go that way!” Chime sounded frantically certain. “All right, it’s not safe, but it’s better than this!”
Moon had no intention of arguing. He swung down, scrabbled along the wall, and felt the edge of an opening. It was a rough-edged hole in the creature’s flesh, about ten paces across. “This way, come on!”
Chime climbed down and slipped past him into the passage, as Esom gasped something in his own language. River hissed reluctantly as he followed. Stone’s large form moved down, and hung onto the wall over the opening. “You’re too big,” Moon told him. “Shift, I’ll catch you!”
For a long heartbeat he didn’t think Stone would do it, from stubbornness or fear of being so vulnerable here or both. “Come on!” Moon yelled. “There’s no other way!”
Then Stone shifted. Moon lunged forward and grabbed his arm; the sudden weight nearly jerked him off the wall. Stone managed to grip Moon’s shoulder and dragged himself up. Moon heaved, lashed his tail, and hauled them both through the opening.
They tumbled down over a bumpy surface, into complete darkness, and landed hard with Stone on top. Moon felt Stone sit up, heard him fumble in his pack for their light. Esom’s harsh breathing sounded from a few paces to Moon’s left, and Chime and River were putting out such a fear-scent he could smell them even over the leviathan’s stench. Stone managed to get the rock uncovered and the light glowed from between his fingers as he held it up.
They were in a passage maybe fifteen paces wide, the rough, lumpy walls and floor a sickly blue color. Stalactites covered the ceiling, leaking a chalky-colored ichor. Moon pushed away from Stone and shoved to his feet. The passage wound off into the creature’s body and split into multiple tunnels, each disappearing into darkness. He could still hear, distant and muffled, the familiar rush-pause-rush of the leviathan’s breath.
Chime and River crouched nearby, Esom huddled between them. “So where are we now?” River said. From his expression, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.
Chime turned to the nearest wall and ran his hand over it. “I think these are teeth marks. I think something gnawed its way through here.”
Moon looked down the dark tunnel again. Revulsion made his skin creep under his scales. “Another parasite?”
Chime nodded, his eyes wide and frightened. “Maybe more than one.”
Stone pushed to his feet with a half-snarl. “We’ll follow it. Maybe it got out.” He paused and glanced at Moon, his expression opaque. “Thanks.”
Moon flicked his spines in a half-shrug, avoiding his gaze. “We need to move.”
River started forward and hissed in disgust as his frills brushed against a dripping stalactite. Chime followed, but Esom still huddled on the floor. Moon reached down, caught him by the shoulders, and pulled him to his feet.
Esom stared blankly. The right lens of his spectacles was cracked and his eyes were shocky. “Esom, you have to stay with us.” Moon couldn’t think of anything reassuring to say. They were trapped inside a leviathan, standing in a tunnel gnawed out by giant parasites. Going blank with terror was a perfectly rational way to react, especially for a groundling.
Esom blinked, took a gasping breath. “I— Yes, of course.” Awareness came back into his eyes, and he nodded sharply. “I’m fine, I’m really fine. I just had a moment there.”
If they ever got out of this, Moon was going to have a moment of his own. A long one. Tugging Esom along, he moved after the others.
They picked their way cautiously along, the light making shadows leap across the weird shapes of the stalactites. The tunnels formed a honeycomb, split off, then rejoined again. Whatever had chewed out all this, it hadn’t needed to make an even surface to walk on, and they had to clamber over lumps and broken chunks. Esom had the most difficulty, stumbling and breathing harshly. Stone, hampered by his groundling form, couldn’t move fast either.
The quiet wore on Moon’s nerves, and he couldn’t stop thinking about Jade, and Flower. And poor Balm. And it was his fault they were down here. He said, “Ardan did this because he thought I knew he’d been lying all this time. He can do more than just keep the leviathan from sinking, he’s steering it, telling it where to move and when and how far.”
Chime said, “It’s not your fault. He was going to get rid of us anyway. He was just making sure Rift wasn’t with us.” He glanced at Moon. “He must really like Rift. That’s very creepy.”
Esom said, slowly, “He wouldn’t be afraid of the people. He’s too powerful.” He sounded better, calmer, though his voice was still shaky. “It’s the other magisters, like Lethen. They must not realize he can send the leviathan anywhere he wants. He’s doing it to keep control of the traders, moving it so the ones who don’t pay him off can’t find it.”
Too bad we can’t tell them about it, Moon thought bitterly. The resulting battle would be interesting to watch, but not much help to them. The other magisters wouldn’t want to give the seed back, either.
Then Stone said, “Chime, how did you know this passage was here? Did you feel it?”
“Yes. As we got closer, I just knew it was there in the wall. It hurt, like a—” Chime waved a hand beside his head. “I can’t describe it.”
“I thought you weren’t a mentor anymore,” River said, making it sound like an accusation. “That’s what you told Pearl.”
“I know what I told Pearl. I’m not a mentor anymore.” Chime’s spines flicked in irritation. “This is different. It’s not augury, it’s… flashes of insight.”
Stone said, “Can you tell if that big spider thing is coming down here after us?”
“The one we landed on?” Chime shook his spines uneasily. “No, I can’t tell.”
“But it’s too big to get into these passages,” Esom protested, stumbling after them.
Moon wasn’t going to explain, but River said, darkly, “It could eat its way through here, just like the things that made this tunnel.”
Esom didn’t reply for a moment. Then he said, bleakly, “Of course it could.”
It was hard to judge the passage of time, but Moon didn’t think they had traveled much of a distance when Stone said, “Here we go.” He stopped and held the light high. It fell on an irregular hole in the top of the passage that led upward. “That could go all the way to the outer skin.”