behind, one cutting the throat, the other stabbing him in the back. They let
themselves down on the ropes and then cut them before going down through the
open trap door. But as they left the cage, a spear shot through the trap door
and thudded point-first into the floor. Men shouted above.
‘They’ll bring ropes and come down on those,’ Smhee said. ‘And they’ll send
others outside to catch us when we come out of the pool. Run, but remember the
traps’.’
And the spiders, she thought. And the crabs. I hope the bears are dead. They
were. The spiders, all real now that the mage was dead, were alive. These were
driven back by the torches the two had paused to light, and they got to the
skin-boat. They pushed this out and began paddling with desperation. The craft
went through the first arch and then through the second. To their right now were
some ledges on which were masses of pale-white things with stalked eyes and
clacking pincers. The crabs. The two directed their boat away from these, but
the writhing masses suddenly became individual figures leaping outwards and
splashing into the dark water. Very quickly, the ledges were bare. There was no
sign of the monsters, but the two knew that these were swimming towards them.
They paddled even faster, though it had not seemed possible until then. And then
the prow of the boat bumped into the wall. ‘Swim for it!’ Smhee bellowed, his
voice rebounding from the far walls and high ceilings of the cave.
Masha feared entering the water; she expected to be seized by those huge claws.