by C. K. Rieke
“Well,” she said. “I guess it's our turn. Are you ready Kera? Give Roren your bags.” She undid her bag from her back and handed it to Roren, who slung it on his back. Kera spun her belt around and began to undo the dagger’s sheath from it, but Lilaci laid her hand on it. “That stays with you. Don’t ever separate yourself from it.” Kera looked up at Lilaci’s eyes, and nodded, spinning the belt back around so the dagger was at her back. “Now you follow me, and Roren will be close behind you. Look for your footing every time before you step. Don’t get lazy, walk with intention on your way down. Going up the other side will be easier. You can take your time, and just tell me if you need to take a break. Sound okay?”
Kera nodded.
Roren walked up to her side and knelt to look into her at eye level. “Do you carry the Stones of Geminos, from the Headdress of the Borendúr still?” Again, Kera nodded. “Don’t let those leave your sight, and clutch onto them tightly on the way down.” He looked up and gave Lilaci a nod of approval, and with that she turned and began to step down the winding path the two before had made. After her, by only a few seconds, Kera followed. She almost immediately slipped, letting a stone begin to roll down the cliff. Lilaci looked back and stepped to the side of the tumbling rock, almost knee height.
“Sorry,” Kera said.
“You’re fine,” Lilaci said. “Just be more careful. Don’t want you tumbling down.” Roren began his climb down, closely behind Kera.
The next few minutes, the three began to find a good rhythm down. Even Kera showed she was quite agile after her first mishap. As they reached the bottom, roughly twenty minutes after they took their first steps down, their feet hit hard rock covered with a thin layer of fine sand.
“Looks as if this ravine could’ve been here all this time,” Roren said. “It seems old.” He knelt to touch his fingers to the ground. Lilaci grabbed Kera by the hand and began to pull her towards the other side. Kera didn’t pull back to wait for Roren, she followed Lilaci’s lead. After he was distracted inspecting the form of the gorge, he got up and ran to catch up to them.
Lilaci and Kera were walking at a quick pace across the bottom . . . When, she heard a familiar sound. Birds. Turning to look north, she saw small black specks in the sky. They were distant, but they were getting bigger, they were approaching. “What is it Burr?” she yelled up the gorge, still pulling Kera behind her.
“Just a spell of birds,” he yelled back down.
“Hurry,” Fewn called out to them.
“You heard her,” Lilaci said to Kera. Roren scanned the area frantically, as the cawing of the birds grew louder, and the black fog of hundreds of birds drew closer.
But then, another familiar sound, this one not a chirping or a caw, it was more like a roar.
Lilaci knew the sound from her childhood, a sound from the mountains. She knew the sound from when the rains came, and came hard. Can’t be. There are clouds, but not enough, there’s no rain. There’s something else at work here. No time to think, though, all there’s left to do is . . .”
“Run!” Fewn called out from the high cliff.
Lilaci, needing to move quickly, scooped Kera up in her arms and began to run. She ran as quickly as her legs could carry her. “Do you still have the orbs?”
“Y— Yes, Lilaci. Is that—? Is that water?”
Roren sprinted next to them, running between them and the approaching roar, which was quickly growing to deafening thunder.
“Flood,” Burr yelled out. “Get to high ground. Now!”
Lilaci looked up to see Fewn was climbing down the cliff, and Burr soon followed. The cliff’s wall was fast approaching with as fast as she ran, but looking over, the rushing waves were almost upon them. The water crashed onto both sides of the ravine, shaking the ground at their feet. It’s waters nearly reached the top as it exploded down with a thud like booming thunder.
“We’re not going to make it, Lilaci,” Kera said. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t you say that,” she replied. “We’re going to make it. We are going to make it.”
Is this where it all ends? Buried in the depths of a monumental flood? A flood that wreaks havoc like some old tale of the— Wait . . . Of course. This is no coincidence. The gods did this. This is their doing. I’ll not give them to Kera so easily. Not like this. She then reached down deep inside herself and pulled forth the second soul living inside of her. She awakened her with a nudge, and then with a forceful shove, the beast came to her. The Sanzoral was there once again, and with her eyes glowing violet, with her mind, she reached down into the sands at her feet, and dug her claws into it. Pulling up with all her might, she whispered to Kera, “I love you dear, if I don’t make it. Know that.” Before Kera could respond, she sent the rushing sand up to Kera’s rear and back and hurled her into the air.
“I love you too,” rang out as the water crashed onto Lilaci’s back like a mountain collapsing. Everything went dark. Up was down, down was up. And she felt her body being turned and pulled like a doll. She tried to regather the Sanzoral to help her, but there was no focus to be had. In deep trouble and short of breath, Lilaci struggled to find air, as she swam with her arms in any direction she could. Tumbling, and being pulled in every direction like she was, her lungs began to burn. Her fingers reached out for anything to grab onto, and she was desperate for air. ‘I love you too,’ rolled through her mind. Kera’s last words to her. Help me, Kera. Please. I can’t hold on much longer. I can feel the water ready to enter me. I’m scared too, I can’t breathe. I can’t die like this, not like—
Suddenly, then she felt something hard, not water, but something latched around her right wrist. She still couldn’t breathe, and what air was left in her lungs was on the brink of escaping. Around her wrist was another hand, strong fingers gripping tightly, and she felt strong waves washing past her, and over her. The hand pulled her in its direction. She pulled back, pulling herself closer to it. Together, they fought the raging water, and as she had almost fully pulled the other hand to her chest, she slammed onto hard rock on her left side. Instantly, what air was in her lungs was released through her nose and mouth. She panicked but held onto the hand tightly. ‘I love you too.’
As her world began to darken, and the light of life began to flicker away, she heard a distant voice, but one she knew.
“Wake up,” it said. Then she felt a dull feeling of pain across her cheek. Again. “Wake up.”
She felt an instant sense of nausea, and shock. A bright light appeared before her eyes, with a great shadow fogged across it. Then a rush of water left her nose and mouth. Then she felt it. Air! She breathed it in deeply, and began to cough violently, spell of water still spewing out of her. She turned to look at her side, and there sat not a shadow, but Roren. Roren was holding something at his side. He was still foggy, and out of focus as she gasped for breath, trying to steady herself.
“R— Roren,” she struggled to say. “You— You saved me.”
A painful smile curled up on a side of his mouth. Then Lilaci’s eyes went down to what he was holding. He was holding his other arm, which was battered and bleeding. She instantly knew he was badly hurt. First thing she did was feel her own side which hit the rocks. She winced from the pain, she could feel her ribs were bruised, but nothing appeared to be broken. Crawling towards him, she pulled his uninjured arm from the other to inspect the damage. In the distance, she heard the familiar voices of their friends running towards them.
Looking at the wound, and still breathing heavily, Lilaci saw that Roren’s arm was broken. Aside from that, he had one rib nearly poking through his side. She looked up at him, and he was grimacing.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
“You’re fine,” she said, trying to keep her voice strong. “Nothing that won’t heal.”
“I don’t have time for this,” he said. “I’m going to slow her down, you’re going to have to leave me here, she needs to get to the egg. Damn the gods, why did this have to happen?
I needed to keep her safe. I needed to watch her. I was supposed to protect her.”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Lilaci said. Her long wet hair had come undone and was streaking down her face. She felt back and found her sword and dagger were still in place, but her pack had washed off in the flood. “I can hear Kera’s voice now. She’s coming.”
“You saved her,” he said looking into her eyes. She could see the pain he was experiencing.
“And you saved mine.”
“Lilaci!” Fewn leapt to her side and wrapped her arms around her. “We thought you were gone.”
“Not yet,” Lilaci laughed.
“Roren,” Fewn said then, in a softer tone. “Oh, Roren, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
“Roren!” Kera said, as she ran over. She was about to hug him, but then stopped short. “Roren, what happened to you?”
“He saved my life,” Lilaci said. “We need to get him dry and bandage him up, and quickly.”
“Aye,” Burr said, as he’d run up just after Kera. “We can’t stay here long.” His one eye was scanning the sands. He looked down to the rushing water at their side, “It’s dying down. The water.”
Lilaci looked down to see the water level was already at half the height of the gorge as it rushed past. “They did this.”
“Aye, they’re after us now. It’s not just assassins they’re sending out. They’re coming themselves.”
“Gorlen,” Lilaci said. “The Garen Pixie told me she is coming for us.”
Fewn went to helping Roren stand up, he groaned as she did so. “We’re going to have to pop that rib back into place,” she said.
“Then do it, let’s just get it over w—” Before he could finish the sentence, Fewn shoved her palm into the rib, forcing back into its place. Roren let out a loud roar of pain. His started to lash out at Fewn, but he restrained himself at the last minute to his knees in anguish. His breathing was labored and he seemed furious. When he finally caught his breath, he said to her, “Next time, let’s do a proper count. Eh?”
“I’m sorry,” Fewn said. “I always found it best to do it when the other wasn’t ready. The anticipation always seemed worse than the pain.”
“I’ll respectfully disagree with that statement,” Roren said. “Help me get a damned sling on this arm and I’ll be ready again.”
Burr grabbed Lilaci by the arm and pulled her aside. She already knew what he was going to say before he even said a word. “He’s going to slow us down.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she replied. “We’re not leaving him. He’s strong. Stronger than you think.”
“He won’t be able to fight,” Burr’s eye showed he was concerned, agitated even. “They may be on their way here right now. Look the water is almost completely gone. It was a trap, a trap that we sprung. If you’re right and the Witch Queen is coming after us, we’ve got no time to lose. We need to make our way towards the cave. Even then, if we reach it, we still may be doomed against her. Our only chance is that dragon. Argh. What am I saying, even if we hatch the beast, it’s just a babe. There’s no fire it can breathe. It won’t fly for the better part of three months. We’ve just got to get away from this godforsaken gorge. If you want to take him with us, then fine. I know Kera won’t willingly leave him behind, but you’re the only one that could convince her otherwise. Think about it but think quickly.” He then let go of her arm and turned back to walk over to Roren to inspect the arm.
I know he’s right, but it’s not my way. I was raised to never leave any behind. That was the Scaether way. The only reason I let Dellanor return to the city with his injury was with Garenond helping him. I can’t leave an injured man to suffer in the desert. He won’t be able to hunt. He’d have to survive on worms until the time we could come and find him again. Kera wouldn’t understand either, and I can’t blame her. I understand the consequences far better than her, and I still don’t want to do it. I’ll have to leave it up to her and him. This isn’t my decision alone to make.
Lilaci went and walked over to the group, standing around Roren as he had his arm being slung up by Burr.
“I’ve a salve for the pain,” Burr told him. “It isn’t much, but it’ll help. If we had more time, I’d be able to find some roots and plants in the mountains to help further, but . . .”
“No,” Roren said, as he struggled to stand. “No, we don’t have time. We’ve got to get moving again. Lead the way Demetrius. I’ll take the rear again.”
Burr bowed his head, but before he went off again west, he looked at Lilaci with a look that only pressed his conversation with her further.
Kera then ran up to Lilaci. “Roren’s arm doesn’t look good,” she said. “What should we do?”
“Well, Kera, I know you won’t want to think about this but—”
“We aren’t leaving him,” Kera said, looking straight forward, not even looking at Lilaci.
“We’re just going to have to move more quickly now,” Lilaci said then. “We’re not going to have the luxury of much sleep from here on out. His arm is going to have to heal on its own.”
“Thank you for what you did,” Kera said, looking up at her with those sweet pale gray eyes. Her black hair was disheveled, not pulled back taught like normal. “You’re amazing.”
“That’s what family is for, helping each other when we need it. I helped you, Roren helped me, and now we help Roren.”
“I like this,” Kera said. “I like our family.”
“Me too, Kera. Me too.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
In the days that followed, the group’s heart had begun to wane. Roren pushed on as best he could through the pain in his arm and chest. Lilaci herself was amazed by his determination to go on. They rested little and ate even less still. Hunger and fatigue weighed heavily on them, especially Kera. The poor girl had walked almost five days straight, with only a few hours of sleep in the darkest of night.
Fewn always made it a point to find Kera water, no matter how long it took to find. The Isoz-Bor Mountains were beginning to shrink at their side, and they’d crossed almost the entirety of the Bompart region. The massive, high peaks of the Gí-Donlan Mountains would be coming into view in the next couple of days, Lilaci thought. It even crossed her mind more than once that they might make it to the cave without interference from a hungry Reevin, or the Witch Queen herself. Her mind even began to wander towards what they’d do after they found the cave and dragon egg, but she always tried to redirect her mind towards the mission at hand.
It was a cool day— for a sunny day on the sands— and delicate clouds wisped across the skyline. The mountains at their side rolled along like a deep fog. The sand itself was a coarse sand, that didn’t cause their boots to dig into, and they’d walked clear around the high dunes to their left, in the center of the desert. All things considered, they were doing alright, albeit it with a deep hunger and need for a day’s rest. They took turns carrying Kera on their backs, she was even able to sleep when she rode on Lilaci, who thoroughly enjoyed the deep breathing of the girl on her shoulder. She tried to imagine was the young girl was dreaming of, sadly, she didn’t think she had the luxury of dreaming of stuffed animals or the things of other young girls’ dreams. No, she imagined her dreams were darker, and more fraught with worry and loss.
Lilaci supposed it was because of their feeling of accomplishment, for how far they’d gone, that they decided to take a full night’s rest under the stars that night. Lilaci, herself, decided to go out hunting for food. Not because she felt most energetic of the bunch, which she was, but because perhaps she’d be lucky and be able to use the violet flame and sands to take do some prey for a late meal. As luck would have it, just that happened. She peered over the top of a boulder and stared with hungry eyes at a pack of pueter moles as they rummaged for grubs under the shallow sands. With a simple thought in her mind, she sent a fire ripping through them, burning their fur quickly off in the hot flames. She thought they died almost instantly. Sh
e carried the burnt pueter moles back with her and found Fewn had already started a fire just warm enough to cook over, but not flames bright enough to show their location too easily to prying eyes.
Kera sipped at her watersack like a young deren suckling milk from her mother. Her eyes were squinty and hazed, like she hadn’t slept in ages. After the moles were cooked through, Kera was given the first one, and then this time Roren, whose eyes had formed dark circles around them, and wrinkles had begun to form at the corners of them.
As Kera ate, chewing on a mouthful of meat, she asked, “Are we close?”
Burr looked at the young girl, then around to the other three who’d been there before.
“I think so,” Fewn said. “A couple more days is all. What’da you think? I haven’t been to the back entrance to the garden. I don’t even know if I could find the same entrance we both stumbled onto before.”
“I’m not entirely sure where the garden is either,” Roren said. “I spent most of my days in the darkness, not in the light.”
“Yes, a couple of days time and we will be there,” Lilaci said. “I will be able to find the Hidden Garden, I believe. The other entrance we used too, if we truly needed to find it.”
“I hope you’re right,” Burr said. “Things have been eerily smooth up to this point, after the ravine that is. Let’s find this cave and huddle up there for a couple of nights if it’s safe. The girl could use it. I won’t lie either, these old bones and feet could use a day in a cool cave.”
“It’s not entirely safe,” Lilaci said. “I barely made it out of there alive. Roren found me in bad shape down there. I guess that’s twice you saved me, Roren, and took me too . . . By the heavens! I forgot about the pool. Roren, when we get you to the fountain, the water will heal your wounds! I can’t believe I didn’t remember until now.”