Internal Light Part 2

Chapter 14

Seth's POV:

Still screaming, heart in my chest, I decided to close my eyes as if that would help at all. I nearly forgot about Warren while I was screaming in fear.
But just as I was almost encased in the beak of Tinigi, I heard Warren yell, "STOP!" Just before shooting an arrow that bounced off Tinigi's beak leaving her unharmed, but absolutely furious. Tinigi slowly pulled me out of her beak and faced me towards Warren.
"What's the problem, human?" She asked mockingly. "You know you'll join him soon, so what's the point of retaliating?" Suddenly one of her tentacles reached over and grabbed me by the arm, dangling me above the dark and thrashing water. It would drag me down and drown me even without the help of Tinigi. I bit back a scream and looked to Warren who was looking at me empathetically. Tinigi chuckled.
"Maybe I could just leave it to the water to decide his fate." She said. I tried to remember that Tinigi was only taunting Warren, but part of me knew she would drop me just for the fun of it if she wanted to. Strangely, I kind of hoped she was hungry for that reason. Warren slowly set his crossbow down and held his hands outward.
"Dropping Seth won't do you any good." He said slowly.
Tinigi scoffed. "It also won't do me any bad." She pointed out. Warren shrugged.
"Wouldn't you rather get something out of this exchange?" He asked gesturing toward the knapsack and crossbow. He waited a moment and then continued, "This knapsack contains everything we were planning on using on our journey to Roti." Tinigi laughed mockingly.
"You can't be serious." She said. Warren continued,
"Think of what could be inside." He said. "Weapons, magical relics..."
"Then why won't you tell me specifically the contents of this bag?" Tinigi accused. Warren sighed. "Well...um..."
"You're wasting my time." She said suddenly bringing me close to her beak again. I covered my face in fear and heard a shot from a crossbow. Looking down I saw Vanessa holding the weapon and Warren running to grab the knapsack. I hoped they had a plan...
Tinigi roared in pain after being pierced near her eye. Enraged, she threw me as hard as she could. That was unexpected. Soaring through the air screaming, I saw Grandpa and Tanu wake up suddenly. About time. Then I flew straight into a pine tree. Thank goodness. A tree was less...erm...fatal than the ground. I rolled onto the ground after the impact covered in scrapes, but at least I was still alive. I ran forward to help, but was stopped in my tracks by Grandpa. He pushed me behind a bush.
"Grandpa, I need to help them!" I complained. He shushed me.
"You stay here." He stated.
"But..."
"You're not gonna get eaten on my watch." He stood up and began running towards the fight. On the way I heard him mutter, "Why did I think it was OK to bring him?" But I didn't care. I was gonna get out there. But...maybe not where Tingi could see me...yes. That would be smart. Peering around the bush, I saw Warren who was using a sword that he probably pulled from the knapsack to slice tentacles every time they came near the beach. Tinigi was howling in pain. Vanessa was shooting dart after dart at Tinigi's head...maybe she figured eventually they would work. We did not plan very well for this. Grandpa was back with Tanu who was brewing some sort of potion. So I quickly darted to the next nearest bush. Then again. I was close enough now to read his book. It was an aquatic potion...he wasn't thinking about...worry about that later. But just in case, I ran across to the next bush and grabbed one of the bottles Tanu had stuck behind him. Then I stuck it in my pocket and slipped quickly behind a large rock. Just on the other side was the knapsack. Maybe if I grabbed another sword I could throw it to Warren if he lost his weapon...yes. That could save them in a few minutes. I looked to Warren who was obviously struggling. Maybe one minute. Reaching slowly around the rock, I reached for the knapsack. It was too far. So taking a deep breath, I jumped over the rock (now only a few feet from the coast) and snatched the knapsack. Tinigi looked to me noticing I wielded no weapon and roared. Shoot. I jumped back over the rock and ran towards the other side of the island, but I was too slow. One of Tinigi's remaining tentacles reached across and gripped my arm again. I was pulled up quickly into the air and all I could do was grip the knapsack tightly. I heard grandpa shouting,
"SETH!" And Warren tried to slash the tentacle gripping my arm, but even if he had succeeded it would have been no use because soon she had every one of her remaining tentacles wrapped tightly around my body. She could probably feel me shaking, but I couldn't stop. Holding me above her head, Tinigi howled,
"THIS STOPS NOW!" Everyone froze staring at me. I could hear myself whimpering softly, and I was clutching the knapsack so tightly my knuckles were probably purple. Tinigi sat breathing heavily for a moment before Warren spoke up.
"We're sorry." He said. He looked toward Grandpa who was shaking. Sighing, he continued, "We'll leave. We can go back home. We'll stop bothering you." He took a step back. "Just please let Seth go." Tinigi looked down at me skeptically. I could tell she wasn't going to do that.
"I can see you care deeply about this young male." She shook me, tempting everyone on the ground and making me a bit sick. "After all the pain you've caused me," she started lifting her wounded tentacles and gesturing toward the tens of darts protruding around her eye. "Why shouldn't I return the favor?"
Warren looked at Vanessa sadly and then back up at Tinigi. He sighed. "Take me instead."
"NO!" I heard myself shout involuntarily. Tinigi shook me to keep me quiet. Warren didn't deserve that. It's my fault she caught me. I was the one who didn't listen to Grandpa. Vanessa looked to Warren fearfully and shook her head. Warren nodded.
"Please..."
Tinigi laughed. "See, I would..." she started moving me over the thrashing water. Heart in my chest, I began preparing for impact. "But that wouldn't be nearly as much fun." Warren ran forward and jumped onto one of Tinigi's wounded tentacles. Vanessa looked worried. She ran for the crossbow...as if that would do anything. One of the tentacles let go of my body leaving around four wrapped around me. Then Tinigi grabbed Warren and held him close to her beak. She said softly,
"It takes a human sacrifice to get across." And then threw Warren into her beak and swallowed.
"WARREN!!!" I screamed. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"
Vanessa began sobbing and dropped the loaded crossbow. Grandpa wiped away a tear and stated,
"You got your sacrifice...now let Seth go." Tinigi looked to me slowly and then back at Grandpa. Knowing what was coming next, I reached for the potion in my pocket. Then Tinigi said coldly,
"That one was just for fun." And released me a hundred feet above the deadly dark pool of thrashing water.