A Hero's Curse by P. S. Broaddus Read Free Book Online Page A

Tig in a whisper. “It knows we’re here, and it’s stalking us.”
    My stomach does a double back flip. “How close?” I whisper.
    “Close,” says Tig.
    My mind starts racing again. I’m going to die in the lava flow. I’m going to scream just like that thug who was chasing us did. I clench my fists in frustration and tell my mind not to panic. I recall a memory of Dad helping me a long time ago, when I had fallen in a ditch close to the house. He heard me crying for help and came running up from the fields.
    “Don’t panic, Ess,” he had said. “I understand there’s a lot you don’t know when something like this happens.” He had dropped into the ditch next to me. “Are you hurt?” He gently brushed me off. I checked myself and realized I was okay.
    “There you go,” he said, “now, when you find yourself somewhere new, even somewhere dangerous, don’t focus on what you can’t see. Use your other senses. Find out what you know.”
    From there he coached me to use my sense of smell, of touch, of sound, and even taste to figure out where I was, and how to help myself. I threw my arms around him, and he lifted me out of the ravine. Then, as if he were afraid of me, he set me down abruptly, and I heard him walk back to the fields.
    Now, in the lava flow, I tell myself again not to panic. What do I know? I ask myself. It’s hot. And sticky. Water moves over my feet. Cool water. Even though it’s small my pack is heavy. I feel a prickle run up my spine. Something is close. Something that’s not human—something big, calculating, stalking. The feeling of choking starts to come back. The water is cool.
    The water is cool . I let out a tiny gasp. I feel Tig puff up, but it is just because I startled him.
    “Tig, the water is cool,” I whisper hurriedly.
    I can feel his incredulous look. “Thanks for that,” says Tig slowly. “Maybe I’ll have a drink. And then die.”
    “The water is cool,” I repeat.
    “I heard you the first time, Ess,” says Tig, “and honestly it wasn’t that impressive then.”
    I flap my hand impatiently. “It’s coming from underground,” I say, as if this explains everything.
    I can feel that Tig isn’t getting it. “If you were hoping rock basilisks don’t eat crazy blind girls,” he says, “I wouldn’t count on it. I don’t think they care if you’re crazy or blind. They’re probably more interested—”
    “Shut up,” I hiss, “this river has some underground source, possibly a cave, and we’re close to that source.”
    Tig lets out a long breath. I know that he gets it now. “We have to get to that cave,” he says. “Right away.”
     

Chapter 6
     
    I have never run in my life. Even as I lurch after the sound of Tig’s voice I know we can’t make it. I feel the presence of something big. I smell it now, too. A sharp odor fills the ravine. Tig hisses in front of me. I slosh forward, swinging my stick wildly. It whacks the left side of the crevice, too close. I turn hard to the right and plunge back into the river, then I try to correct, stumbling back to the left.
    Tig lets out a screech, and I know he sees the rock basilisk. He is just ahead to my left. My stick continues to find the rocks close on both sides. I am tripping, falling, splashing forward—noise doesn’t matter anymore. I find deeper water in front of me. I’m confused, did I turn right again? I start to correct left when I hear Tig.
    “It’s a pool! Go straight! Straight!” he screams, still ahead of me by several feet.
    I plunge forward and hear something scrabble on the rocks behind me. A strangled yell squeaks out of me, something that is trying to be defiant, but is closer to sheer terror. The echo bounces around us. The water is up to my waist, my chest. I sweep with both hands trying to move forward, anywhere away from the scrabbling behind me. I choke and cough on water that splashes in my mouth.
    I hear Tig again, spluttering, “fo . . . riii . . .” I can’t