The black pool stretched on into the distance invisibly, murky green shapes of the rocks and crystals beneath the surface glittering dimly in the faint candlelight. There was no horizon visible in the huge cavern, and the sound of water dripping from stalactites echoed ruinously through the vast and open space. Everything disappeared into a black void outside of the small island of light in the center.
The moth girl knelt by the water’s edge, reaching down with her small and articulated hands to brush the surface of the obsidian pool. At her touch, the viscous water humped up into a living shape and rippled outward like a call was being sent rather than as a natural effect to being disturbed. She waited patiently.
Centuries passed.
Silk had formed around her ageless and immobile carapace like cobwebs, a resting cocoon undisturbed for years. Nothing was left of the candle, not even wax. When she opened her eyes, she stared off into darkness again.
Something had changed outside in the kingdoms of Man. The seal had been breached. If she had to guess, the biodome had cracked. Time was limited. It was time to move.
Neonata had no need to breathe by lungs, but diving into the pool below would have meant death. She stretched her midarms out again, placing both palms on the water. The black liquid coiled hungrily around her wrists, trying to drag her in.
“No,” she whispered softly.
Lights began to glow beneath the water, faint, incredibly distant. Miles away. And closing in rapidly at a speed that made her cringe. Moving like that shouldn’t be possible, and she was a creature made for slow and careful processes.
In the distance, an enormous neck rose from the cavern pool, followed by another. The dark spines along its length gleamed cruelly and water ran from the massive jaws of the first head like drool. It took all of her willpower not to retreat. Would she even live to regret this summoning?
Not all beasts that dwelt in her domain were worth saving, but … she owed her guardian something for his long years of service, however unpleasant.
The living tar was up to the midshoulders at her waist. Yes, no time to delay. Time for hurrying.
Five more heads rose up and all centered on her. Each head had three eyes. Simpatico. And this beast dwarfed her nearly two hundred times over.
Neonata clapped a hand to her own forehead in pain, trying to stifle the response. The rising. Too soon. The material on her back trembled, and her antennae vibrated like the strings of an instrument.
“Leviathan!” she cried out.
Seven wordless roars answered back.
WHAT FOOLISH ORACLE DARES SUMMON ME?
“This one, unless you have some kind of a deathwish.”
