NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34: Unexpected Find.
"Nothing," he finally said aloud, his voice swallowed by the vast quiet. He stopped, leaning his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "It's like she vanished into thin air."
Grey, still in her wolf form, circled him once before sitting, her tongue lolling out. She let out a soft whine that perfectly mirrored his own frustration.
Adrian patted her head before using his hand to scratch behind her ears. To his suprise, she didn't deny his touch but let out a few happy sounds while leaning in even closer.
' Ha, I didn't think that would actually work.' he said to himself, smiling inwardly.
Just then, a more immediate and pressing need made itself known. The cups of tea he'd had that morning were demanding an exit. He felt a familiar, urgent pressure in his bladder.
' Crap, I guess I had it coming.'
"Alright, hold on a second," he muttered, retracting his hand before turning towards a thick, snow-laden shrub to give himself a little privacy. "Nature calls."
Grey followed after him before stopping next to him. She tilted her head, her ears perked with curiosity. As he fumbled with the laces of his trousers, her pale yellow eyes followed his every move with an innocent, animal intensity. When he pulled himself out to relieve himself, her curiosity only intensified. She took a step closer, her head cocked, staring at the stream of yellow melting a hole in the snow with a look of pure, uncomprehending fascination. It was one of the most awkward moments of Adrian's life, and he hurried to finish, his face feeling warm.
As he shook off the last drops and tucked himself back in, his cheeks still burned brightly, to think he'd actually peed Infront of a woman and to make it worst, she had watched through the entire ordeal.
Adrian felt irritated and tried kicking the shrub in frustration but he stopped mid way when his eyes saw something. He blinked before crouching down to take a closer look. His fingers reached forward But they suddenly brushed against something unexpected. It wasn't rough bark or a frozen leaf. It was smooth, and hard, and it came loose in his hand.
He pulled it free and held it up to the fading light. It was pale blue in colour, looking like a piece of icy blue frost yet on closer look. He realised it was actually a scale, about the size of his thumbnail. It wasn't like a fish scale; it was thicker, with a subtle, iridescent sheen, catching the light in shades of a blend of white and blue, His breath hitched the next moment when he recalled something.
' They shed their outer scales periodically, especially after a molt or injury, At least that's what Mr. Miller's journal had said.'
His heart began to hammer against his ribs. He hadn't found a footprint. He'd found a piece of her!
"Grey! Look!" he whispered, his voice tight with excitement. He held the scale out for her to sniff. Her wet nose twitched as she took in the scent, and a low growl rumbled in her chest, not a threat, but a sound of recognition. She'd grasped the scent!
Adrians heart overflowed with excitement, he knew that the odds weren't 100 percent but at least they finally found a lead, This might just belong to the creature they were hunting.
Grey took a few more whiffs before glancing in a certain direction. Adrian knew that it would be hard to find her with just this alone.
"More," he urged, his eyes now scanning the area with a frantic new focus. "We need to find more!" If they found more scales then their chances of finding her would boost several notches.
He forgot all about his awkward bathroom break. He and Grey became a detective team, their earlier frustration left behind. He used his eyes, searching for that tell-tale glimmer against the white and brown of the forest, while Grey used her incredible nose, sniffing the air and the ground for the unique scent the scale carried.
Moments later, they both let out excited sounds when they found another scale caught on a low-hanging thorn. Then another, half-buried in the snow near the base of a pine tree. It was a trail. A faint, scattered one, but a trail nonetheless.
The scales led them away from the thickest part of the woods, toward a rocky outcrop he would have otherwise passed by. The stones were slick with ice and mostly hidden by snowdrifts. Adrian's eyes were fixed on a particularly large, beautiful scale resting on a flat rock, gleaming like a jewel. It was the biggest one yet.
"Gotcha," he murmured, stretching out his hand to pick it up.
His fingers reached to pick it up.
But that was the moment his weight shifted forward onto the snow-covered rock, the ground simply vanished beneath his feet. It wasn't a collapse; it was like a hidden trapdoor had opened. With a startled yelp, he dropped through the snow and plummeted down into darkness.
The fall was short but jarring. He landed with a heavy thud on a floor of packed earth, the impact knocking the wind out of him. For a moment, he just lay there in the pitch black, gasping, his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. Dust and the smell of cold, damp stone filled his nostrils.
" Arrgh... Well that was completely unexpected." Adrian groaned, he felt as if that fall was some kind of wake up call.
As his eyes adjusted, he saw he was in some kind of underground tunnel. A faint, grey light filtered down from the hole he'd fallen through, about ten feet above. He could see Grey's worried face peering down over the edge, a silhouette against the sky, her frantic whine echoing down to him.
" Its ok Grey."
"I'm perfectly fine." he called up, his voice echoing strangely in the confined space. When she looked down, he used gestures to reassure her as well. Afterwards, He pushed himself to his feet, his body protesting. He pulled one of the kitchen knives from his basket for obvious safety reasons, the cool handle felt comforting in his grip.
Who knew what he may encounter in this darkness, it was better to be prepared before hand.
He looked up at Grey, who was pacing anxiously at the edge of the hole. " Stop worrying." he joked, trying to sound as reassuring as he could. "Grey, I need you to stay up there! Wait for me ok."
" I'll find another way out, but for now, wait there for me till I make it out."
' I'm not sure what I might encounter down here. But it's far better if you didn't encounter the same things as well. After all. I'm not sure if we're able to share everything.' Adrian said to himself.
She stopped pacing and stared down at him, her whines turning into a low, unhappy growl. She didn't like this. Not one bit. But after a tense moment, she reluctantly sat on her haunches, her body tense, watching him with worried eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Adrian turned away from the circle of light and faced the tunnel. It was tall enough to stand in and sloped gently downward. The walls were smooth, too smooth to be natural. This had to be her doing. Looks like he'd fallen into the Gorgon's lair.
He moved forward slowly, each footstep careful and silent on the earthen floor. The knife felt small and pathetic in his hand but at least it was there. The tunnel curved, and as he rounded the bend, the space opened up dramatically.
He found himself at the edge of a spacious, cave-like clearing. The ceiling was high above, and light came from somewhere, perhaps cracks in the earth above, casting the chamber in a soft, twilight glow. The air was still and cold. And there, in the center, on a bed of dried moss, fur pelts and leaves, lay the Gorgon girl.
She was asleep, curled on her side. Her serpentine lower body laying about.
' For a terrifying creature, she sure is a careless sleeper.' Adrian chuckled inwardly at the sight, for some reason, he found her lay about posture a bit cute. The snake-like tendrils of her hair were still, resting like a dark, living cloak around her head and shoulders. At least her guardians were asleep as well.
In the quiet peace of sleep, the terrifying monster was gone. She just looked… like a girl. A strange and powerful one, but a girl nonetheless. He could see the slow, steady rise and fall of her breathing. He was mesmerized, caught between the memory of her feasting on him and the vulnerable reality of her now.
While lost in the surreal, captivating sight, Adrian unconsciously inched closer. But that was the first mistake he made. Her serpentine half struck forward like lightning before he could react, again, she left a clean cut across his cheeks like last time before her tail reacted. Yet by then, Adrian was frozen stiff with fear.