“They probably thought no one would notice. The mountain is very isolated, and not many people hike or camp this far up. Maybe they got startled or distracted before they had a chance to get rid of them. In any case, I bet there’s more to this story, and I’m sure they’ll return to the scene of the crime sooner or later.”
Della and I picked colorful wildflowers and placed them over each dead body, then said a quick prayer. I felt like it was the right thing to do, and my heart went out to them. The horrible way they’d been butchered made me think of how ruthless the Immortals on the mountain were. They had no problem hitting and beating me when they knew full well I was carrying a child, and they’d destroyed the men mercilessly. The thought made me shudder.
“They’re sure to kill us if they find us!” Della said in a panic.
“The Immortals think we’re dead, remember?”
“Perhaps.”
“Try to stay positive,” I said.
“All these Immortals failed to defeat them. What makes you think we can?”
“I don’t think these Immortals have the extra gift we have.”
“How are visions and invisibility going to help?” she asked sarcastically. “Those gifts seem relatively worthless now, all things considered.”
“Worthless? Della, your gift of invisibility got us out of there in the first place.”
“What if they figure out some other way to track us? You know how smart they are, and they have all that modern technology.”
“We’ll be fine...unless they track us by a thermal heat signature.”
“A what?”
I let out a long sigh, in no mood to give her a science lesson. “Long story.”
“It’d be real nice if you could have one of those visions right about now,” she said.
I bit my lip. “It’s not like I can whip them up on command.”
“The Immortals aren’t going to kill you,” she said. “They want you alive.”
“But that will mean the death of my baby,” I retorted.
She lifted a brow. “They’ll kill me right on the spot.”
“No, Della. I won’t let that happen.”
She started to slowly spin around, worry flooding her features.
“What is it?” I asked, watching her eyes shift back and forth and noticed the insecurity on her face.
“Bad news,” she said, swallowing hard.
“What?”
“We’ve managed to trap ourselves like rabbits in a fox den,” she whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“We made a crucial mistake.”
I glanced at the towering walls all around us. And then it dawned on me. We had accidently hiked straight down into a gorge. We should’ve went around the gorge and kept hiking downward to the desert floor, but we had screwed up big time. “How could we possibly have done that?”
“We are unfamiliar with the terrain and this area,” she said. “It was impossible to know that we weren’t climbing down a mountain but into a gorge.”
“I don’t know how we will climb back up those steep walls we foolishly shimmied down. Coming down, every step was like a mini avalanche of rocks. Still, we’ll just have to fix our mistake. We strayed off the path, but we’ll jump right back on it. We’ll climb out of the gorge and keep hiking downward.”
“This isn’t good.”
“I know it’s a big setback, but let’s just find a way out as quickly as possible, then keep moving downward.”
She rubbed the sweat from her face. “I fear a fever is setting in. I feel dizzy, and I’m too weak to climb out.”
“I’ll go,” I said. “I’ll climb out, find help, and come back for you. I swear I will, Della.”
She shook her head fiercely. “You can’t leave me with all these dead people,” she said vehemently.
“I know you’re very superstitious, but don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. I have to go on my own because I can’t possibly carry you.”
She gripped my hands. “Please don’t leave me here.”
“You know I normally wouldn’t, but we can’t sit around here and wait. They’ll be back anytime to clean up the mess, and we can’t be caught here. You just need to stay out of sight and be quiet. Find someplace safe, where you can rest.”
She leaned against a rock. “I’ll find a place to hide. Just get us some Immortal help.”
“Are you referring to Victor?” I asked.
She didn’t answer straightaway, and I realized I’d never seen her so pale before. “Any Immortal not associated with the mountaintop will do,” she whispered as she slid to the ground.
“I’ll be back, Della,” I promised.
“I hope so,” she said.
I suddenly doubled over and let out a long moan as pain seared through me.
“Sarah!” Alarm filled her voice. “Are you okay?”
I hunched over. “I-I’m not sure. It’s just...something’s horribly wrong.”
She swallowed hard and straightened up, sudden realization shining in her eyes. “Are you going into labor?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I-I don’t know. I hope not. Not here! Not...now.”
“It is far too early, isn’t it?” she said frantically.
I swallowed the lump in my throat “We need to find a way out of here so I can get to a hospital.”
“It’s the medicine,” she said. “You haven’t had your pills, so your energies are unstable.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely out of whack. Without those pills, I would’ve already been dead. They’re the only thing keeping me alive.”
“The unstable energy is creating havoc in your body.”
“It’s throwing me into early labor, Della!” The pain ceased and I was able to think for a mintue. I stared at the steep wall. “I bet...hmmm. I bet I could climb it.”
“Let me,” she said.
“Your shoulder is messed up, but I think I can do it.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
“No, you’re far from it,” I retorted. “Just let me do this.”
I lifted my gaze. I’d have to climb up a sheer vertical wall towering hundreds of feet. There was no way we could do it without killing ourselves.
Della’s gaze swept over the wall. “You don’t have the hiking gear I saw on television.”
“We’ll just have to find another way.” It might’ve helped if I’d thought to bring along a Mount Everest climber’s guide.
Just as I was about to turn around, a zigzagged crack snaked its way up the granite rock to the top. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.
“I can do this.”
“No,” she said. “You’re pregnant.”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
I started climbing and easily was able to make it up one fourth of the way. But then the rock became weak and brittle with a chalky-colored lichen growing all over it. As I climbed, I began to kick rocks and could hear them crashing to the bottom. Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage and kept going. I shimmied and squirmed up a couple steep rock steps, trying to get to a ledge with some trees in it. I climbed up hand-over-hand when I lost my footing and felt myself falling back. I had to fall about three stories. I sucked in a painful breath and collapsed, pain shooting through my side like a spreading bush fire.
“Sarah!” Della screamed. “Are you okay?”
“I know I shouldn’t have tried. But what other choice did we have? I’m not dying down here. I refuse to let that unstable energy win.”
Della examined me and had me move all my extremities. I hadn’t broken anything, just twisted my ankle and broke a few ribs. After I screamed through the pain and rested, we started to look for another way out. The other towering walls were even steeper. I had no idea how the hell we were getting out of there.
Della met my gaze as I held her shoulder. “Then I must go, not you. I’ve got to try and climb out of here. It’s the only way.”
I sucked in a painful
breath and collapsed, pain shooting through my stomach like a spreading bush fire.
Chapter 19
Gasping through the pain, I gripped Della’s hands. “You can’t go without me. You’re in no shape to travel, and—”
“You are not faring any better, Sarah.”
“There has to be another way.”
Della stumbled up, led me over to a rock, and helped me sit down. “I must go,” she said sternly. She swayed and swung out her arm for balance, then leaned up against a huge boulder. Her hair was slick with sweat, and droplets dripped down her face. “We’re trapped in a gorge, and we’re both too weak to climb out. Even so, I must try to scale the wall. I have to...for Victor’s baby.”
I knew she would only fail in her weakened condition, and my stomach churned at the thought. “Even if you weren’t hurt, it’s too dangerous without our strength or the proper equipment. What if you—”
“I’m our only hope,” she said. “I can do this.”
I admired her brave, composed expression, but I knew it was a front; she was far too weak to make the climb. I wanted to believe she’d make it, but the reality was that she’d lost too much blood and was running a fever. Even if she somehow managed to ascend the vertical wall, she’d have to hike through more intense terrain. We didn’t even know where we were. At human speed, it could take her days to find her way back, and I didn’t have that kind of time. My baby wasn’t ready to come into the world yet, but the energies battling inside my body were trying to force him out. Gasping deeply, I bit my lip hard. “I can feel the unstable energy surging through me. I think I’m dying.” I softly touched my stomach, and my heart ached. “I think we both are.”
“Don’t say that,” she said, trying to sound brave but failing miserably.
Seeing how terrified she was, I gripped her hands. “Listen, if we don’t make it, Victor won’t take this lightly. I’m scared of how he’ll react, Della.”
She nodded. “His heart will be broken.”
My gaze narrowed as I sucked in a lungful of air. Cramps hit me full force. “That’s where you will come in.”
She gasped. “Me?”
“If anything happens to me and the baby, Victor is going to need you, Della,” I said emphatically. “The grief is going to destroy him, and he will need someone to keep him on the straight and narrow, to make sure it doesn’t turn him back into that monster again.”
Lowering her gaze, she grasped my hand and gave it a nervous squeeze. “What are you saying?”
“He’s gonna need somebody to lean on,” I said.
Confusion and shock overwhelmed her. “Are you suggesting that I take your place?”
“I know it sounds a little Shakespearean, but—”
“What does that mean?”
“Della, all I ask is that you support him and comfort him through the grief. He’ll never get over losing his son. It’s going to tear him apart. He’s going to need you. He won’t make it through on his own, and loneliness will only fuel his anger. I fear that if he’s left to his own devices after such a loss, he’ll turn into something I think he could never come back from. Deep grief can be overwhelming, even for the strongest of us. You know that. Give him strength through this horrible heartache fate has bestowed.”
She let out a long breath. “He’ll be wounded so deeply, an Immortal scar.”
“He’ll need you to help him heal.”
A shadow of confusion crossed her face. “Why are you saying this?”
I smiled. “Because I love him that much.”
She pondered my words before she finally spoke. “I truly see that now.”
“I just want him to be happy. Of course it won’t be easy, but if I must die, I want to take my last breath knowing that my Victor will live on, that he will lead a long, happy life.”
She swallowed hard. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
“We got off on the wrong foot, but I hope you now consider me a friend.”
Della looked at me with a tear in her eye, then seemed thoughtful for a moment. “I just thought of something, but I’m not sure if it will work for you or not. It’s only for an Immortal with a little extra energy, but there is quite a bit of that swarming within you now.”
“Anything’s worth a try.”
“William showed me a trick when my energy was a little high and surging through me. Follow me.” She led me to a huge, towering boulder and gently placed both my hands on it. “Concentrate on the rock, and some of your excess energy will transfer.”
I did as I was told. Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply. The more I concentrated, the more I could feel the electricity leaving my body—not all of it but enough to take the edge off.
“It’s working,” Della said, throwing me a meaningful look, then continued in a softer tone, “This is a natural remedy that has worked wonders for me in the past.”
When I opened my eyes, I saw a yellow glow around the rock, like an aura. I stepped back, stunned. The boulder started to smolder, growing hotter by the minute.
Della’s clothes were drenched in sweat, and I knew her fever was getting worse. She wiped droplets of perspiration from her face. “Feeling better?”
“Some. Thanks, Della.”
She stared at the rock, then looked at me. “How much energy did you put into that rock?”
The rock felt hot to the touch and made a crackling sound, like frying bacon. “I think it’s gonna blow!”
She gripped my hand and pulled me away through the dense vegetation just as a loud explosion echoed off the rock walls.
“I demolished that boulder?”
Her eyes widened. “The pills must’ve worn off by now. How can you live with all of that energy flowing through you? No Immortal can handle that. And how does your baby survive?”
“I’m sure the medicine stays in my system for a few days.”
“You know what this means?” she asked.
I inclined my head. “What?”
“You are carrying the prophesied child!”
“I’m sure Alexander is. That’s why Ethano wants him so bad.”
“Perhaps your son is the key to getting our world back from that fiend.”
“If we both live long enough.”
She squinted, as if trying to correct blurry vision. Fresh blood started to seep from her shoulder wound. The woman was in no condition to go anywhere.
“You need to rest,” I said. “You’re bleeding.”
“I have to go find help,” she insisted, “but you should be stable for now.”
“Please don’t go,” I begged her.
Her brows knitted together as she looked at me. She was determined, and she wasn’t going to give up. When I refused to give my blessing, she took matters into her hands. “Just try not to have that baby yet,” she said. “He will not survive, for he is not fully formed. He must be in the womb a full nine months to be born a healthy Immortal with full abilities.”
Another bout of pain tore through me, and I moaned.
“You need my help. Victor would never forgive me if I just stood by and did nothing.” She started to walk, then swayed and crashed to the ground.
Holding my rotund stomach, I rushed over and felt for a pulse in her neck. It was strong, but she was unconsciousness. Another cramp shot across my abdomen, and I screamed. I opened my mouth, but my throat felt choked, and no words came out.
Things weren’t looking so great. We were stuck at the bottom of a gorge, and both of us were too weak to climb out. Our Immortality couldn’t even help us. Nevertheless, I couldn’t sit around and pout. I needed to take matters into my own hands. Maybe there’s something valuable in the tents, I thought. I was halfway there when pains rippled across my stomach. No! I can’t lose this baby, no matter what!
I was forced to take a chance and light the smoke fire. I just hoped somebody saw us before the Immortals did. Digging into my backpack, I pulled out the lighter and kerosene. I scooped up dry grass and dead p
lants, then placed more tinder on top of the pile of kindling. I lit the fire with the lighter and slowly blew air on it to ignite it. As it grew in intensity, I put a little kerosene on it.
Making this fire was the biggest gamble of my life.
Suddenly, everything was a blur. More cramps came, and I held my stomach and took a deep breath, then carried on. More cramps flooded through me, and I knew early labor had started. I needed Victor badly. He’d always helped me through my tremendously painful headaches before Dr. Meyers had given me the medication. I remembered Victor’s blue eyes and gleaming smile, his soft fingers brushing over my arm, his sweet voice comforting me through the pain.
As I thought of Victor, a vision came to me. Wailing, I rocked my precious dead baby in my arms. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping, but his skin was mottled and purple. I felt death’s sting; no pain is deeper than a loss of a child. I watched myself as I stroked his little face. He didn’t even get a chance to wear one of those little hats or be bundled in a warm blanket, and a shudder tore through my body at the thought. No words could express how I was feeling because Della wasn’t able to bring help in time.
My eyes fluttered open. With the realization that I wasn’t able to save the tiny love of my life, sadness, depression, and guilt tore through me. I collapsed to my knees, tears blinding my vision. All I could feel was a deep, unrelenting pain, like none I’d never felt before.
“No!” I shouted. “No!” I stared up at the sky as if refusing to accept what fate had dealt me. Grief tore through me. “I refuse to believe this!” I screamed. “I’m going to stop this, one way or another! Do you hear me? I will not allow this to happen!” I screamed at the universe. “You will not take my son!”
Chapter 20
I walked over to Della and sobbed as I touched her gently. “Della, I’m going to lose the baby.” When she didn’t respond, I wept more. “We have to change the future somehow, but I’m not sure what to do. Neither one of us can climb out of this gorge, we’re both in bad shape, and we’ve got no communication. But we can’t give up. There has to be another way.”
I heard a choppy rumble in the distance, thanks to my Immortal ears. Listening intently, I tried to identify the buzzing sound. “Helicopter,” I said. My eyes widened, and I was stunned beyond belief as I picked up on a very faint conversation between two men.
Eternal Faith - Book 4 (The Ruby Ring Saga) Page 18