Spear of the Winds (riordanverse ff)

Chapter 9

Yuki's perspective~

-Yuki, get up – said Sam poking me.

-What time is it? – I asked, brushing my eyes.

-About an hour after noon – she answered, straightening up.

-All right – I sighed and stood up.

After we ate, Hearthstone rooted in his pouch and pulled out something tiny. He closed his eyes and the rune appeared over his head turning into an arrow. It started to spin and stopped after a while.

-Freya is in this direction – he signed.

-Ok, let's go – ordered Sam.

-Luckily, we don't have to run – sighed Magnus.

I shook my head and went after elf. Why everyone was so unhappy after jogging few minutes?

We were walking some time, when we met a cave which guided inside the hill. We stopped few steps away to wait for the rest.

-I have bad feeling about this – said Magnus, shivering.

-Hm, claustrophobia? – asked Alex with a smile.

-Magnus is right, something is wrong with this cave – I told them.

-But the rune leads there, right? – asked Blitz.

-Yes – signed Hearth.

-We don't know if we can go around it – sighed Sam. – Just be prepared.

Everyone nodded and pulled out weapons. I lit a blue flame in hand and Halfborn shouted.

-What do you want to burn?! – he asked.

-Nothing, just want to light the way – I said confused. – I can't produce as much flame as in that battle without blood, don't worry.

-What do you mean? – asked Sam, looking at me with wide eyes.

-Nevermind, we have to go – said TJ.

We went inside and Hearth lit his fire with rune. The cave was completely dark, no matter how big my flame was, we still didn't see our feet. I was listening for some sounds but I heard nothing. The water was flowing down the walls in drops. I clenched my hand on katana, because that bad feeling didn't fade.

I heard it too late. Something was crawling on the ground near the walls, surrounding us.

-Watch out the ground! – I shouted, when I felt something on my ankle.

It pulled me, so I fell on the rock with pain. The tentacle was pulling me forward, so I tried to catch something.

-Yuki! – shouted TJ and everyone landed on the floor after his words.

We all were pulled by tentacles. Some of us tried to dig the weapon into the ground. I felt a plant under my knee and caught it, when I reached it with hand. I stopped, feeling pain in my ankle. The rest was holding on to the sticking rocks from the walls or other plants. Only Sam was fighting with the tentacle, trying to fly away. Nobody had free arm to cut it off.

I risked and closed my eyes to focus. I didn't know if tentacle would tighten on my changed leg, but I had to try. I felt shivers running through my body and I changed the shape.

Alex and Sam went after me and also changed into smaller animals, but they still had to run from the tentacles. I was magic, shining fox, so I pushed off the air and flew to find the source of problem, dodging the enemy. I reached the hole where tentacles were from. I dig my teeth into them, where they were the tautest. I bit them and released my teammates.