Chapter 33: Tidepool Basilisk (Part 1)

The surface of the sulfur pools remained still.

Marcus slowly turned in place with his staff raised while the tank positioned himself between the rest of the party and the nearest stretch of water. The swordsman stayed several steps to his right with his sword ready, leaving enough space to move if the basilisk surfaced again, while the healer kept close behind them.

Lilith stood farther back. Her eyes moved from one pool to another.

Zion watched the basilisk beneath the murky surface as it crossed from one side of the chamber to the other. Its long body was almost impossible to distinguish beneath the yellow water, and when it slowed near a pool behind the swordsman, none of the others seemed to notice.

The basilisk exploded from the water, sending acidic droplets flying across the chamber. The swordsman barely managed to turn before its head struck him across the side.

He flew several feet and hit the ground hard enough for his sword to leave his hand, but the tank was already moving before he stopped rolling.

"Daren!"

The tank rushed between them and slammed the edge of his shield into the basilisk’s head just as it tried to follow him down.

The creature recoiled from the impact, giving the healer enough time to reach Daren and press one glowing hand against his shoulder.

The basilisk did not stay long enough for the others to take advantage.

Its back legs tightened before it launched itself across the chamber and landed beside another pool. The impact traveled through the stone beneath everyone’s boots, and several loose pieces of rock broke away from the ceiling before crashing into the water below.

A wave of yellow liquid rolled over the edge. The party scattered backward. Before anyone could attack, the basilisk slipped beneath the surface again.

Marcus’s fingers tightened around his staff.

Zion still remembered Lilith’s comment from earlier.

Does that thing look like a fucking slime to you?

Apparently, Marcus was still thinking about it too. His jaw had remained tense ever since she said it, and each time his eyes flicked toward her, his expression seemed to harden a little more.

He had been confident when the fight began. Now there was something forced about the way he held himself.

The basilisk erupted from another pool.

Marcus reacted immediately. Fire gathered around the crystal at the top of his staff before the creature had even fully cleared the water.

"Marcus, wait!" the tank shouted.

He fired anyway.

The basilisk jumped, causing the spell to pass beneath it and explode against the opposite wall.

Marcus cursed and chased after the movement, raising his staff again before he had even stopped running. His eyes stayed fixed on the basilisk as it landed near another pool, and he took one more step without looking down.

His boot came down on the freshly wet stone. The moment his footing slipped, his entire body pitched sideways.

The tank lunged forward and caught the back of his robe before Marcus could fall completely, but the sudden weight pulled him toward the pool as well.

The healer grabbed the tank around the waist, trying to keep both men upright, and for one terrible second all three of them leaned toward the acidic water together.

Daren abandoned the basilisk and rushed over.

He caught the healer by the arm and pulled backward with enough force to drag the entire group away from the edge.

Marcus stumbled onto solid ground.

The tank shoved him upright. "What are you doing?"

"I almost had it."

"You almost dragged three of us into the pool."

Marcus opened his mouth, but the healer was already crouching beside his leg.

"Stop moving."

"I’m fine."

"You won’t be if that gets through your boot."

Marcus jerked his foot away and looked toward the basilisk instead.

It was gone again.

Behind them, Lilith didn’t move. She watched Marcus for another second before turning back toward the pools, one eyebrow lifting slightly as she did.

Zion had a feeling she had several things she wanted to say. Apparently, she had decided to keep her mouth shut. The cavern shook again.

The basilisk landed somewhere beyond the steam, and the impact opened a crack through one of the mineral formations overhead. Several chunks of rock broke loose and crashed across the floor, forcing the party to move before the creature disappeared beneath the water again.

By then, the room had changed. The vapor above the sulfur pools no longer stayed close to the surface. Each splash and heavy landing sent more heat into the cavern, thickening the air until a yellow haze hung across most of the chamber.

The healer wiped her forehead with the inside of her wrist before returning her hand to Daren’s shoulder. Sweat had darkened several strands of hair near her face, while the tank’s breathing grew heavier beneath his armor.

Even Marcus had stopped looking comfortable.

The basilisk burst through the steam again.

The tank reacted first and raised his shield.

A pressurized water jet struck the center hard enough to force him backward, but Daren immediately moved beside him and planted one hand against the edge.

The healer stayed behind them, close enough to support both men without stepping into the spray.

"Move right!"

The group shifted together. For a moment, their formation settled again.

Then Marcus broke away.

The basilisk jumped, and he chased it before anyone else could move.

"Marcus!"

"I can hit it!"

He sent another fire spell after the creature before it had even landed.

The spell missed.

For a second, Marcus’s eyes flicked toward Lilith. Then he lifted his staff again.

Zion finally understood what was happening. Every failed attack only seemed to make Marcus more desperate to land the next one.

The basilisk jumped again and Marcus followed. His next fireball struck the edge of a sulfur pool instead of the creature, and acidic water exploded upward in a wide spray.

Daren grabbed Marcus by the shoulder and pulled him backward before the liquid reached his face, taking several droplets across his own sleeve in the process.

He hissed and tore the damaged fabric away from his arm.

The healer hurried toward him.

"Daren!"

"I’m fine."

She took his wrist anyway and pressed her glowing hand over the small burns already forming across his skin.

The tank rounded on Marcus so quickly that the edge of his shield nearly struck him.

"Enough!"

Marcus finally looked at him.

"Stop chasing it. You’re breaking formation every time it moves."

"I know what I’m doing."

The tank stared at him for a long second.

"Then start acting like it."

Marcus’s face reddened. Lilith said nothing, and even her expression remained relatively neutral. But Zion had a feeling she was lost in thought, so he watched her instead.

While the others argued, she remained near the back of the group with her attention fixed on the room. Her eyes moved from the pools to the ledges above them, then back toward the water whenever the basilisk disappeared again.

She had stopped trying to attack.

She was watching. Thinking.

The basilisk moved somewhere beneath the surface, and Lilith’s brows slowly pulled together. Then her lips moved.

Zion shifted closer to get a better look.

She was chanting. The words were too quiet for him to make out clearly, but black energy began gathering around the fingers of her right hand.

It climbed slowly over her skin as she raised the hand toward her face.

The healer noticed first. "What are you—"

Lilith ignored her and covered her right eye.

She continued the chant.

Dark magic slipped between her fingers like smoke, disappearing against her skin until the last word left her mouth. Then she lowered her hand.

Zion stared. Her entire right eye had turned black. There was no white left around the iris and no visible pupil. Nothing remained except a glossy darkness that seemed to absorb the light around it.

The healer nearly jumped backward. "What happened to your eye?"

Lilith ignored her. Her head turned slowly. The steam no longer seemed to matter.

Her black eye tracked across one pool and then another, following something beneath the surface that no one else could see.

Zion understood immediately.

She could see it.

Lilith turned sharply.

"On the left!"