A World Without Heroes - Brandon Mull [52]
“I jumped off a cliff to escape a dog?” Rachel asked bitterly.
“Take another look at the dog,” Jugard invited. “If it had your scent, you made the right choice.”
“We have a conscriptor trailing us?” Jason asked.
Jugard shrugged his bony shoulders. “Possibly not. That may be why he sent the animal. Out in the open this crazed boarhound could have finished both of you.”
Jason stared down at the snarling canine, impressed by the rippling muscles under the short-haired pelt. The black gaping mouth held vicious teeth.
“What do we do now?” Rachel asked.
For the first time Jugard smiled. “The Hand of Providence accompanies you. This potential threat may represent your salvation.”
“How?” Jason asked.
“Bait.”
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked.
“Macroid is attracted to fresh blood like nothing else. Twice I have cut myself accidentally. Both times the crab rushed to the cleft, reaching madly, beating and snipping at the very stone of the cave. The futility of her efforts did not daunt her. She did not desist for hours after the wound was dressed.”
Jason shuddered.
“Noting the thirst for blood, I tried cutting myself once immediately after a man dashed for the ascender. The crab hesitated, but went for the man. Had I been within her reach, however, I have no doubt the crab would have attacked me first.”
“Macroid is a crab?” Rachel asked.
Jason described the colossal crab in the neighboring cavern, explaining how it currently impeded their way to the top of the cliff. Rachel turned to Jugard. “So you think if we wound the dog, and it chases us into Macroid’s cavern, the crab will attack the dog, leaving us time to escape.”
“That is your best chance. It will require perfect timing. No blood must be drawn until after you are in Macroid’s chamber. Otherwise she will block the cleft, and you will find yourselves trapped between crab and boarhound.”
Jason ran a nervous hand through his damp hair. He looked down at the ferocious dog, saddened by the thought of the crab destroying it. “If Puggles follows too far behind, the crab will mutilate us before the dog enters the room.”
Jugard rubbed his palms together. “She may mutilate you regardless. But good timing should improve your chances.”
“How do we get the timing right?” Rachel wondered.
Jugard turned his back on them, hands on his hips. He grabbed a wooden spear with a sharp stone tip from against the wall. “I will wound the boarhound once you are through the cleft, then turn it loose.”
“How can we restrain the dog?” Jason asked.
First propping the spear against the wall, Jugard gathered up a coiled rope of amber seaweed. He fashioned a knotted loop at one end. “Here is my leash.” After examining the length, he secured the other end around a stone protuberance.
They peered over the ledge. Puggles continued to rage up at them, twisting and leaping and scraping its claws against the stone below the shelf. Jugard dangled the loop, slipped it around the dog’s thick neck on the first try, and jerked it snug. The dog continued bounding at them, heedless of the rubbery noose.
“I left enough slack for the dog to get close to the cleft. You two will go to the end of the ledge, over by the cleft, and drop down. I will come up behind the dog, slash its hindquarters, and sever the restraining line. The animal should pay me no mind. As the conscriptor desired, it will be fixated on you two. Let me figure out the timing. At my signal your duty is to run as fast as you are able. Don’t hesitate. Macroid may be sufficiently quick to get all of you.”
Jason could feel his heart hammering.
Jugard squeezed a strand of blue-glowing seaweed and fastened it around Jason’s wrist. “You remember what I told you concerning the Word.”
Jason recited all Jugard had told him. Rachel