Burial Ground

V

11:14 p.m.

Merritt had surfaced a full twenty yards downstream, sputtering and gasping, and had turned back just in time to see Galen's shadow slice through the cloud behind him. And then the creature's. There had been no time to shout a warning. Legs outstretched, claws spread wide, it had struck him like an eagle snatching a leaping trout with a ferocious skree. Bodies intertwined, they had tumbled into the river with an enormous splash.

Several more shadows had materialized on the edge of the high bank a moment later, lowering their necks, spreading their jaws, and shrieking their indignation at their prey's escape. They had paused at the brink, then bolted after them along the muddy shore.

Sam still clung to his hand, her fingers icicles against his skin. She coughed out a flume of water and floated beside him, unable to look away from the point where Galen and the raptor had disappeared.

The rapids rose and fell, whisking them downstream amid a mess of broken branches and tangled roots. They barely managed to keep their heads above the water as they waited for Galen to resurface, praying that he would. At the mercy of the current, the bank sped past, but the silhouettes kept pace.

Their cries filled the valley.

A splash upstream and the feathered crown of a head breached the surface. Its scaled snout opened around a shriek as it floundered toward the shore, where it scrabbled against the slick slope. Rear talons dug for purchase and tiny arms clawed, but it was unable to gain any leverage. Its serpentine neck thrashed and its jaws snapped uselessly at the air. Another cry and it dropped under the waves again with a flash of feathers.

"I don't see Galen," Sam said. She coughed out another mouthful of water.

Merritt shook his head. He didn't either. The dark river made it impossible to see into the water. The churning whitecaps filled the air with spray, only to be beaten down by the siege of raindrops.

He glanced toward the ground above them. The creatures still paralleled their downstream progress.

When he looked back, he caught a glimpse of a swatch of fabric and tried to swim against the current with one arm while refusing to relinquish Sam's hand from the other. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed the cloth and pulled it toward him. Galen floated facedown, his arms and legs limp beneath him. Merritt rolled him over and tried to hold the birdman's head above the water even as the current attempted to suck them all under.

Galen made no attempt to gasp for air.

Merritt looked to either side. The bank was too steep to drag Galen onto solid ground where he could try to resuscitate him. And even were he able, the creatures would be waiting.

Galen's eyelids were fixed partially open. In the gap under the lids, Merritt could see the blood-streaked whites and the lower crescents of the irises. Galen's mouth hung open. There was standing fluid behind his tongue.

Merritt pressed his fingertips against the side of Galen's neck.

There was no pulse.

He had to readjust his grip, and in the process felt the warmth diffusing out into the water from above Galen's hip. Following it with his fingers, he stuck his hand into a gaping wound lined by fragments of shattered ribs and filled with spongy viscera. A rope of small bowel had unfolded through the wide gash and slithered through the water behind them.

There was nothing they could do.

Galen was gone.

Merritt had been too distracted to notice the roaring sound, which grew louder and louder by the second. He didn't have to turn downriver to know what it meant.

He shoved away from Galen's corpse and pulled Sam closer.

"Hold on to me as tight as you can. Don't let go."

"What---?"

He silenced her with a kiss and wrapped his arms around her. Twisting his fists into the back of her jacket, he leaned his cheek against hers and whispered into her ear.

"Don't you dare let go."

Her arms tightened around his back.

The roar escalated to the point that he barely heard her scream right next to his ear.

Rocks prodded their feet.

The current increased.

He watched the creatures skid to an abrupt halt on a limestone overhang to his left, beyond which he could see only mist clinging to the upper canopy of the jungle.

The world fell away from under them as they plummeted through the air in a weightless cascade of water.

Galen's body fired from the top of the waterfall above them, appendages flopping lifelessly.

The raptors leaned over the edge and cried after them through fierce rows of sharp teeth.

Merritt clung to Sam with everything he had, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

A skree cut through the roar, and darkness welcomed them into the crashing waves and the waiting arms of oblivion.