THE SECOND CRADLE - BOOK TWO OF THE IRON CRADLE SAGA Chapter 10: CHAPTER TEN - Because dinosaurs

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CHAPTER TEN ASCENDANCY The Swamp-- Hannah Ramirez First Spawn Hannah opened her eyes and panicked as she realized her face was underwater. She pulled herself up, gasping, and ran her hands over her body and neck. The last thing she remembered was the spider construct stabbing her after she pulled it off ARi. Her hands moved across her body, looking for the wounds and found nothing but bare skin. The water around her was black and still. Massive reeds and sedges crowded the banks around her, and the air was thick with the smell of rot and wet earth. Reaching up, she felt the rebreather secured around her ear. The device ran down the side of her cheek and under her nose. "Tanya?" "ARi? Where the hell am I? Hello?" She screamed when something brushed across her leg beneath the water. A sudden realization of just how vulnerable she was hit her all at once. She slogged forward as quickly as she could toward the nearest bank. Looking back, two bright orange eyes stared up at her. They barely broke through the surface of the black water, fixed on her in an unbroken, predatory stare. The water shifted, and a slow ripple rolled outward as something moved beneath the surface. Its weight carried through the water and into the mud beneath her feet. She stepped back once, then again, then turned and ran. Hannah drove forward across the narrow strip of bog, her bare feet sank deep into the mud with every step. She wrenched them free again and again as dense ferns closed in. Their thick fronds slapped across her arms and face, and she didn’t see the next channel until the ground dropped out from beneath her. The cold water swallowed her legs again, and the sudden loss of footing pitched her forward. She caught herself with both hands, forcing her body across. The sucking pull of mud and water slowed her progress until she hauled herself up and onto the adjacent bank. Behind her, a body rose onto thick limbs that pulled the monster forward with steady force. Water cascaded off its scaled hide while the ridges along its spine caught what little light filtered through the canopy. Hannah turned and ran harder. The next stretch of solid ground was longer, and she pushed across it as fast as she could, forcing distance. She could hear the sounds of heavy dragging and the rhythm of something moving behind her. The thrashing sounds grew farther away, but she didn’t slow down, and her lungs burned. Her chest tightened with every breath while the ground shifted beneath her feet. The sound behind her faded until it disappeared, and she slowed just enough to catch her breath. She stopped for a moment and listened. She couldn’t hear anything pursuing her anymore. She didn’t hear anything else either. Before she saw that thing staring at her, the swamp had been alive with insects and strange sounds. Now it was silent. “Shit, it’s still here!" she screamed. "Leave me alone!" She broke back into a run. Her bare feet slapped against the muddy ground as she pushed forward through the ferns. The ground dipped again as she hit the next channel. The water rose from her knees to her waist in a single step as the bottom dropped away. She lurched forward, arms cutting through the water as she tried to keep her momentum. A moment later, a rolling force pushed through the bog behind her as something displaced the water. She kicked forward, trying to stay ahead of it as the depth increased and her feet no longer touched the bottom. She reached the far side and grabbed onto exposed roots at the edge of the bank and hauled herself up the muddy shore. "Come on, Hannah. You've got to keep moving!" she said as she got up and pushed into a large stand of reeds, slipping between the dense stalks until they closed in around her. The space tightened until she could barely move without brushing against them. She crouched with her hands braced against her thighs, her head lowered as she worked to quiet her breathing. It took several seconds before the rush in her ears began to