Wilderness Untamed

by Butler, J. M.

  She ducked under branches, leaped over logs, and zigzagged. Her shots hit the camel in the knees, but it barely slowed at all. Her own pace was becoming uneven. She couldn’t keep it up for much longer.

  The forest floor angled sharply upward to the left. She veered in that direction, breaking free of the forest and into a narrow clearing. A steep rock wall rose from the ground. The angle was so sharp, she half climbed, half ran. Her breaths came sharp and ragged. As it grew steeper, she thrust her gun back into its holster.

  Reaching the base of the rocky wall, the camel spat another wad of cud at her. The cud sailed past her hand.

  She clambered up a little higher. A few more feet and she would be out of reach.

  The camel croaked.

  She pulled herself up a little farther, hiding behind a boulder before she looked back down.

  Below the camel shuddered, the rhythmic croaking continuing as its shoulders and hips shook. The wounds in its legs had healed entirely, but the humps now expanded and contracted, slamming down into its body.

  Sweet falona, that can't be good. She twisted around and resumed climbing. Whatever was happening it couldn't be good.

  The camel threw its head back and roared. Bits of spittle flew from its mouth. With one final shake, its hump shifted into its four legs, creating large suctioned feet. It lunged up the mountain, its altered feet allowing it to ascend with ease.

  "What the—" She gasped, her eyes widening. Her own strength was nearly gone. She flung herself forward, struggling to breathe but willing herself to climb higher and faster.

  * * *

  Naatos slowed his pace. There had been no other telltale sounds, and the blood scent was now overwhelmed with rotting fungus, feces, and offal. She was close though. She had to be.

  Sneezing, Naatos covered his face. Cursed fungus.

  Several of the offensive caps and stems protruded from beneath the deep arched roots. The horrid things only affected Vawtrians, Bealorns, and Shivennans, but it was like having his head shoved into a bag filled with molded cheese, rotten potatoes, and aged sweat.

  A mother rock crab waved her claw at him, indicating that she had chosen this as her nesting site. Perfectly suitable for her. Utterly dreadful for him.

  She could have it as far as he was concerned. He pushed through a thick purple-leafed bush, then glimpsed gold glinting ahead. Quickening his pace, Naatos ran to it. The gold fan.

  He tore it free and rolled it in the dirt, covering the cud. Amelia had been here, and a camel was hunting her.

  Camels.

  He ground his teeth. At least it would eat her whole, which meant if he was fast enough there was still a chance.

  The path through the wilderness was clearly marked, even with his sense of smell suppressed. Trampled leaves, torn bark, the occasional trace of blood. He sent the signal again and began running along the trail.

  * * *

  The camel clambered up behind her. It spat another ball of cud. This one landed by her foot. Rocks and gravel clung to it, sticking on its slick surface as if it were made of silly glue.

  Amelia dug her fingers into the rocks. Up another thirty feet was a ledge where she could run again.

  Something hot struck her foot. She stopped short, unable to pull her foot free.

  Dropping back, she pulled out the second fan and her gun. "I'm not being eaten by a camel!" she shouted.

  The camel snarled.

  She cocked the gun, aimed at the camel’s head, and fired.

  The bullet struck it between the eyes. The camel pulled back, stunned. It stood there, blood trickling down its long snout. Then, shaking its head, it hissed, stretching its neck out like a snake.

  She pushed herself back up. The cud held her foot fast. The camel spat another ball of cud. Snapping the fan up like a shield, she blocked it. "That's enough!" she shouted angrily. "I've had enough!" She spread her arms, making herself look as big as she could. "Go away!"

  The camel drew back. Then it roared again, its jaw distending.

  She roared back, swiped forward with the fan, then shot it again in the knees.

  The bushes rustled.

  The camel hesitated, the blood rolling down its legs and then vanishing into its deep fur. The wound healed almost as quickly. It widened its stride, creeping up the side. She bellowed at it again, trying to keep an eye on both the disturbance below and the camel. "Get back!"

  Naatos leaped out of the bushes. In one smooth motion, he hurled the spear. It spiraled through the air, then pierced the camel through the back of the head.

  The beast uttered a strange half snort as its eyes rolled back. It collapsed to the ground. The suctioned feet released, and the creature crashed to the ground in a tawny heap.

  She gasped with relief. Leaning forward, she rested her hands on her legs. She was actually glad to see Naatos this time, no matter how ferocious and intimidating he could be.

  He wrenched the spear free and glared up at her as he wiped the blade clean. "What were you thinking? Roaring at camels makes them angrier."

  She scowled. "Well, what was I supposed to do? It's not as if I had anything else. Besides, it wasn't on your list."

  "I didn't put it on the list because I didn't think you'd be foolish enough to do it. You only do something like that as a final option." He started up the mountain toward her.

  She laughed harshly. "As a final option?" She gestured toward her leg with a sharp jerk of her head. "What do you think this is? My foot is stuck in cud, and I have a dagger, and a gun, none of which works against camels in this place! Camels. Camels who won't die here! And they eat people! Actually no. These aren't camels. Camels are nice compared to this. They're herbivores. They give rides to children. These creatures eat people. Yelling at it was the last thing I could do!"

  "All right then!" Naatos bellowed back. He stopped short, a look of realization passing over his face. "Come here." Catching her by the hand, he pulled her into a deep kiss.

  4

  Family United

  That kiss was the last thing Amelia expected. And for a moment, it was almost blissful. Intense warmth swept around her, engulfing her until agony struck.

  She twisted away with a sharp gasp. "My back!" The wave of pain nauseated her. Leaning forward, she braced her hands against her thighs as her head spun.

  "How bad is it?" Naatos circled her.

  She shook her head. The burning flare of pain along her back already calmed, lessening with each breath. "I'm fine."

  "Hm." He stepped farther up the mountain, wrenched up a boulder, and dragged it beside her. "Here. Sit."

  She sank onto it, closing her eyes briefly. With her foot still encased in the white cud, her range of motion remained limited. She dropped the satchel off her shoulder.

  That alone was a relief.

  Exhaustion rushed through her again. More pain spread along her back as the medicine continued to fade. Controlled breaths and focus sent the sensation back into oblivion, but she wondered if it would return in full well before night arrived.

  "You should relax." He scooped up a handful of the gravel and earth, knelt, and rubbed it over the white substance on her foot. "The more you panic, the tighter this cud sticks." He stopped, tilting his head as if he heard something. He then nodded and resumed working with the cud.

  "Nice trick." She leaned forward until her head rested on her knees. "I don't think relaxation is what anyone's thinking when a camel attacks." She sighed. Wait.

  She blinked. She'd just let Naatos kiss her.

  She straightened, her head snapping up. She had just let him kiss her, and the reason she had pulled away was because of the pain, not because it was him. Had she—had she actually enjoyed it at first?

  "If you don't relax, it isn't going to come off," he said testily. "You should relax more, not less. The camel is dead. You're safe. For now."

  "I know." She pushed the hair back from her face. She tried to steady her breaths, but she was certain her face was turning
red. And not just her cheeks. Her whole face. And her neck. "Sometimes it's just terrifying to realize how close one was with death." Please don't look up.

  So long as he was busy with her foot, he might not notice.

  "You are fortunate to be alive. Camels are relentless. But they do eat their prey whole, which is good."

  "Good?" she echoed.

  "You could have survived another few minutes, and that would have been enough time for me to find you and cut you free. There would have been some burns, of course. But given some restorative work and the suphrite, I could have healed that. They don't use venom." He gathered up more earth and gravel.

  "Being eaten alive is not something I would characterize as good," she said. "That is bad. Being torn to pieces is worse. And being dissolved in acid is worse still. But being eaten alive is still very bad. It doesn't just become good because there are worse options. Besides, what's to say another camel wouldn't just join the chase. What if two try to eat you? Then what would happen?"

  "Camels generally hunt alone. Except during the Grey Season." He scooped more gravel and dirt onto her foot. He stopped, then glanced up at her. "You aren't relaxing."

  "Naatos, you should know this by now. Relaxing isn't something I do." She met his gaze, but the warmth crept hotter and hotter into her cheeks and neck.

  "Even you should be able to relax enough for this to come off. Unless… there's something else that's making you tense." He shifted his grip around her ankle.

  She glared at him. "Maybe the fact that I was flogged not so long ago. Maybe the fact I've been running for my life for what seems like hours. Maybe the fact there are camels that eat people here. Maybe the fact that I'm in a world that seems to think getting eaten alive is somehow a good thing."

  He ran his hand along her calf to her heel, his one eyebrow lifting. "You don't smell afraid."

  "I'm not. I'm guarded. And you shouldn't be smelling me." She tugged her foot back sharply. The cud stretched and pulled like gum but refused to release. She sighed through her teeth with frustration. "Do I just need to rub dirt in it? Is that it?"

  A slow smile pulled at the edges of his mouth. "If you touch it with your hands and you're tense, your hands will stick right to the cud. And then you'll be in a worse predicament." He offered a faint shrug. "It's a very effective trapping method."

  "Apparently." She glowered at him. "Well, given that we're in a dangerous place, why don't you just go ahead and get my foot free and stop wasting time smelling me?"

  "Well, first, I can do more than one thing at a time, and second, I will gladly free you from the mountain if you would just relax. It takes much longer if the person who is stuck doesn't relax."

  "I think you're drawing this out on purpose."

  "I have no reason to do that. You're the one who's tense."

  "Fine. I'm tense. Stop touching my leg." She folded her arms tight over her chest.

  The smile turned crooked, his crystal-blue eyes bright with delight. "So I'm the one who is making you tense but not afraid?"

  The heat in her face and neck intensified. She sighed, fixing her gaze on the mountain crest. "Naatos…"

  "It seems I am the cause." He slid his hand down around her heel as he leaned closer.

  She frowned, realizing that the sensation had changed. Tension and warmth from his hands radiated into her.

  "Joy," she said darkly. "You're getting a little tense yourself."

  He scoffed. "There's no reason for you to worry about that. You're the one stuck to the mountain."

  "And your hands are now stuck to my foot." She rested her chin on her palm and her elbow on her knee. "That's perfect."

  He frowned. He pulled his hands back. Her foot popped free from the mountain, but it remained stuck to him, her heel cradled in his palm. The other was clasped at the back of her foot. "Apparently the bonding properties require significantly less tension than I recalled."

  She sighed. "I don't see this situation getting any less tense."

  He set his jaw, the chiseled lines and well-formed shape becoming even more defined in his frustration.

  Rustling sounded in the foliage near the mountain's foot, then the underbrush parted. WroOth stepped out. He pulled back when he saw them, an amused smile tweaking at his lips. "Well, what have you two been up to?" He laughed, walking up the side of the mountain where he dropped the club. The family resemblance between the two was striking ,though WroOth was generally in a better mood, and his turquoise eyes almost always glinted with mischief. Especially at times like this. "Whatever it is you're doing, I don't think you're doing it right."

  "I met a camel," she said. "It was vile."

  "I told you they were evil." WroOth rubbed his hands together briskly. He then scooped up handfuls of earth and gravel and poured them over Amelia's foot and Naatos's hands. "Incidentally, I'm fairly certain I heard you two yelling at each other just moments before. Now, you know I'm reluctant to meddle in other people's relationships, but that's hardly the proper way to greet one another. I'm guessing you started it, brother of mine."

  "She was roaring at a camel." Naatos glanced at his brother with annoyance.

  "That didn't mean you had to yell at her." WroOth grinned. He added more dirt and rock, rubbing it briskly over the cud. "And you, dear heart, I'm glad to hear you using your lungs to such great effect. I was hoping you'd be just as alive and cantankerous as always."

  "Well, you got your wish." She drew back as the cud at last crumbled into grey dust. Stepping back, she sighed. "Thank you. Both of you."

  Naatos pulled back as well. He shook his hands, his expression contemplative. The flecks of cud, now dried, fell away.

  WroOth spread his arms wide as he faced her. "Give your favorite brother a hug."

  She started to make her way down the mountain. Her footing slipped a little. Catching herself on the boulder, she shook her head. "I don't think so. There's been enough displays of affection. And right now we should probably get out of this place before we all get eaten." She resumed her descent, slower this time.

  Naatos muttered something under his breath that she didn't quite catch. He picked up his spear, collapsed it, and hung it back on his belt before leaping to the ground below.

  WroOth just grinned. "You don't have to be shy about this now, Amelia. Everyone knows you're one of us."

  "Well everyone is wrong!" She lowered herself a little farther, taking her time. Another tendril of pain worked its way back into her consciousness. She gritted her teeth. "I am not one of you."

  WroOth pounced on her, scooping her up in a tight bear hug. He then jumped to the ground with her and spun her around. "Yes you are."

  "Ahhh!" She dug her fingers into his shoulders, straining to pull back.

  "WroOth!" Naatos snapped. "She's still hurt. I haven't been able to heal her yet."

  "Aha." WroOth gave her a sheepish grin. He set her down carefully, then patted her shoulders. "You're still one of us though."

  She winced, trying to shoot him a glare through the hot mist of pained tears. Her head spun, the voices ringing and echoing in her mind. And though the raging pain slowly drew back, it was slower this time. Deep lines of it remained, cutting deep into her core.

  Something roared in the distance. A deep guttural sound that sent chills through her despite the hot pain. Another attack was the last thing they needed. She pressed her hand against the mountain, steadying herself.

  Naatos listened closely. He then removed his spear. "We need to find shelter. WroOth, signal QueQoa and AaQar. Amelia, can you walk?"

  "Yes." She released a sharp breath. The fire was easing but not as fast as she wanted. She forced herself to stand straight. That deepened the remaining lines of fire. The healing properties of the medicine were fading swiftly. Perhaps all of the adrenaline and running had increased the rate of consumption or perhaps she'd worsened her wounds or perhaps the estimation had just been wrong. She'd been remarkably lucky thus far. As rough as all this had been, it could h
ave been far worse. That luck had to run out at one point or another. "I'm fine."

  "Then come on. We'll head south. After we find shelter, we'll tend to your injuries."

  It was hard to listen. Naatos's voice faded in and out, but it didn't matter. She had caught the first part. That was enough. Most likely. "Let's go then."

  "We can carry you if that's necessary." WroOth hoisted his club over his shoulder, a more somber expression on his face. "There's no shame in needing help. We've all been there. Some of us more reluctantly than others."

  "I'm fine." She retrieved her satchel and then started to follow Naatos, staggering only a little.

  WroOth cleared his throat. "Her foot is bleeding, Naatos."

  She lifted her foot, sighing with annoyance. She'd forgotten about that. Dirt and leaves caked the deep wound, the makeshift bandage having ripped off at some point. "I'll just bandage it real quick. It's fine. It doesn't hurt." She sat back on the boulder and removed one of the bandages from around her waist.

  WroOth grabbed her foot, almost tipping her over. "This doesn't hurt?" He removed his hunting knife and stuck the tip into the wound.

  "Are you trying to get me infected?" She jerked her foot free. "It's fine!" Though she glared at him, a frightened spasm cut through her. That should have hurt. It wasn't that she wanted more pain, but this wound in her heel was new. There was no reason for it to stop hurting when it was so raw and filthy.

  Really, as she thought about it, there was little sensation in her foot at all.

  "You do realize that pain is not something to ignore?" WroOth arched an eyebrow. "It's a warning. Something that tells you there's a problem. And if you aren't feeling anything where there is obviously a deep wound, that's a problem in and of itself."

  "Yes." She spoke testily. "I know that. But we don't have time to worry about it. There's probably a reasonable explanation for it."