"I'll fly fast and low," WroOth responded. He ripped out more bandages. "If they follow, I'll go faster. We didn't cross any territorial lines on the way here. I'll take the same path."
WroOth was binding up the wounds as if all of them required a tourniquet. Amelia supposed that this was because QueQoa could and would heal but needed to gather sufficient strength. As a result, preserving the muscle and tissue was not as important. She slathered more of the salve on, noting that the blood flow was lessening. But so much had already been lost. Bits of thoughts and feelings pulsed beneath her fingertips. This was venom. An unexpected venom. And something more. Something that burned. Terror worked within QueQoa's body as well. True and deep fear. This wasn't simply a horrid surprise, it was a nightmare.
QueQoa coughed weakly. He winced as WroOth pulled another loop of the bandages tighter, but he did not complain. "My blood will draw them. Just give me a few minutes. I'll heal."
"Not fast enough." Naatos finished checking AaQar's pulse and then crossed over to QueQoa. "I don't even need to take your pulse to know what I'll find. You've lost too much blood; you're going into shock. Once you're there, your body will have to manage everything on its own, and you don't have enough resources left to do that and fight the venom and the ilzinium. WroOth, get him to the suphrite now."
WroOth snapped another bandage taut and then crossed over to Naatos. He whispered something in his ear. For a moment, anger twisted Naatos's features. But he made no argument. Instead he nodded. "Get them both back then."
Moving back, he began to shift.
The shifting hiccupped and stumbled. For the briefest moment, Naatos's eyes remained visible, even within the black dragon's, and their expression was one of annoyance and frustration.
Amelia tucked the loose ends of the bandages in and then stepped away to allow WroOth to help QueQoa onto Naatos's back.
This particular dragon form was almost identical to one she had seen him use previously, except that the spines and the ridges on the back had shifted to allow for a more natural resting place, a bone cradle of sorts. QueQoa, now paler than wood ash, laid his head against one of the blunted spines as if it were a pillow.
WroOth struck Naatos's shoulder as if to say that all was prepared and then he stepped back with Amelia. Naatos charged forward and leaped into the air, keeping his back relatively flat. QueQoa held tight with his one good hand, but the shaping of the ridges and scales seemed to protect him from the force of the wind.
Amelia hugged herself as she watched them disappear into the sky. Several of the raptors poked their heads above the grass. More chirruping calls and reptilian barks followed. "Is QueQoa going to be all right?"
"He'll be fine." WroOth forced a smile. The tension radiated off him, expanding and contracting with his breaths. Once more, it struck her that she could almost see the fractures forming around him and the threads holding him together. "Naatos will get him there, and woe betide any who get in his way. Now let's see what's happening with our other brother."
"What did you say to Naatos?"
"The truth." He nudged AaQar with his boot. "He's faster than I am. Besides, QueQoa is bleeding like he has sieves for skin. If the sarsqueches were eager enough to push through the rels, other predators might do the same. So it's better for Naatos to go. Fortunately, we don't have to rush to the same time table."
"Hang on." Amelia held up her hand. "Those things are sarsqueches?" She pointed to the two dead lizards with arms.
"Yes." WroOth nodded, an expression of faint amusement crossing his features. "I told you they were like snakes."
"Snakes don't have biceps and hands!"
"Well, sarsqueches don't have legs, dear heart. Neither do snakes. And I said similar, not identical. If they were just like snakes, I would have said they were snakes."
Amelia shook her head as she knelt beside AaQar. His pulse at least was strong, his skin warm, and his breaths even. "You might have at least mentioned the frog tongues."
WroOth lifted his eyebrows. "Sarsqueches don't have frog tongues."
"Well, not exactly like frog tongues. The ends weren't sticky. Thank Elonumato. But they shot out like lassos. I watched the big one snap up a little raptor like a bullfrog snatching up a fly." She shook AaQar's shoulder. "The big one had a tongue almost long enough to reach the middle of this circle."
"Amelia, sarsqueches don't have tongues like that." WroOth chuckled. "I don't know—"
"You can look for yourself. They're both right there." Amelia waved toward the two massive corpses. The tongue of the largest was already bloating and turning and uncomfortable shade of blue-purple.
"They have long tongues, I grant you," WroOth said as he strode over. "Most snakes do. Far longer than you might think." He paused, sighing. "Why is AaQar's staff stuck in its mouth?...Amelia, what did you do to this creature?"
"It was coming in the circle. And with that frog tongue, it could reach everything. I had to improvise."
He grimaced. "Well," he said, peering inside its mouth. He held onto AaQar's staff for support. "That does resemble a frog tongue. I've never seen anything like that in a sarsquech. I also have never seen a hole in the back of one's head like that. Did you climb inside its mouth to shoot it, little sister?"
"AaQar's pulse is fine, but he isn't waking. Do you think it's what is in the air? The ilzinium? And he passed out after Naatos said there was no evidence of Tri Ce."
"He'll be fine." WroOth removed the hunting knife from the sarsquech's tongue and cleaned it on the grass. He returned to the staff. That took a little more working, but with one hand placed firmly against the top of the jaw to hold it open, he wrested it free. "We all will be. We just have to adapt." When he stepped back, he let the mouth go free. It snapped shut. "I'm surprised you didn't try to get it out yourself."
She stepped back from AaQar. "Venomous snakes on Earth can sometimes strike up to ninety minutes after death. They have much lower metabolisms, which means that their internal organs live longer than ours. And if it can strike, I am not willing to risk it being able to swallow. And what about suffocation? Even if the stomach acid wasn't an issue, there'd be that to contend with. Gases start building up in corpses shortly after death. So no. I didn't go near the mouth. I've had enough bad luck as it is."
He chuckled. "I suppose that explains why you didn't crawl inside its mouth to hide when the other sarsquech arrived. A wise course, I might add. And you're quite right. Especially if one believes in luck. Which you most definitely pressed."
She picked up her satchel. Rummaging through it, she searched for the ammonia salts she was almost certain she had seen. "I think I might have something in here that will wake AaQar. Maybe not. I didn't want to risk wasting time looking for it before."
He waved her away. "He needs rest badly if he still isn't waking. I can carry him."
"Are you going to be able to shift though?" Amelia asked.
He glanced up into the brilliant blue sky. Scraps of clouds drifted across the expanse. "Not unless it's an emergency. Much has changed. The cabizas have changed their patterns as well. The mother cabiza had three venom sacs. QueQoa took the full load of poison in his shoulder. The scales deflected some of it."
"From the looks of him, that might have saved his life." She looked back in the direction Naatos and QueQoa had departed. Two more raptors peered back at her. "They're getting more aggressive. I think they smell the blood of the dead lizards."
"They'll eat anything they can get their jaws on if it can bleed." WroOth picked up the smaller one and lugged it to the edge of the circle. He flung it out into the tall grass. The chirruping calls and barks that erupted suggested that the raptors themselves were quite pleased with this development. "And while they're busy, we should go." He dug out two more small blue capsules, cracked them open, and rubbed the liquid on his palms. He poured some of it into Amelia's hands as well. "Stay close."
She picked up AaQar's staff and his hunting knife. She tucked the hunting knif
e back into its sheath at his side after WroOth hefted his brother up onto his shoulder. For a moment, he staggered under the weight. Then he started forward.
She had to quicken her pace to keep up with him. "How are you feeling then?"
"Fine. I'll be fine, little sister. There's no need to worry about me. I do have to mention that it isn't lost on me that you were in that lizard's mouth."
"I never said I wasn't. I just said I wouldn't get inside a dead one's mouth."
WroOth chuckled darkly. "Yes, because a living sarsquech is so much safer." He shook his head. "It worked though. I'll give you that much, you brazen little monster."
"It had a very long neck, and its head seemed heavy," she said. "I was fairly certain that if I pinned the tongue, that would pull it down. And it would take it a bit to figure out how to get its stubby arms up to its mouth. If it was holding prey in its arms, then it could get to it. But if its head and neck were stretched all the way out, then that was less likely. Besides, I had to be quick."
"That much is true." They passed one of the large sandy brown boulders that resembled a teardrop. A pair of eyes studied them from the grass. Amelia quickened her pace to stay next to WroOth. AaQar remained unconscious, his long straight black hair swinging with each of WroOth's steps. "I shouldn't be surprised. But I am. And I'm impressed. No one can say you don't have esajees, dear heart. Though I don't recommend you make it a habit."
"I have no intention of making it a habit," Amelia said.
He started to respond but halted. He twisted his head, grimacing before he coughed into his hand. A red spattering appeared.
She stopped beside him, her eyes widening. "WroOth," she said softly. "Is that blood?"
WroOth wiped his hand on his trousers and cleared his throat. "Come on," he said, his voice sterner now. "We need to hurry."
17
Toxic
Amelia stared after WroOth, her mouth open. "Was that blood?" she hurried alongside him. Her boots bent the soft green grass with each step, but it sprang up almost at once after she moved over it.
"Most likely." WroOth kept his words clipped and his gaze straight ahead. There was no playfulness about him any longer, only a heavy grimness.
"Are you all right?" She noted that the shimmering fractures were there once more, darker and heavier, more sluggish.
"Wonderful. Thank you for asking. Now let's do a run, shall we?" He didn't wait for her to respond but immediately started. His pace was swift, but not so swift that she struggled to keep up. He had to slow to move over logs and move beneath branches.
The humid air made Amelia sweat at a walking pace. Breaking into a run that involved climbing and dodging escalated that even further. She found it harder to navigate the fallen trees and jagged boulders.
WroOth did not slow when she did, but she compensated with a burst of speed to catch up after each one. Twice though he had to stop again to cough. Both times produced more blood.
"Do you need me to help carry AaQar?" She asked after the second burst. They had stopped beneath a large mangrove-like tree. A rotting red-brown log stretched across the path, reeds and grasses growing out of it at intervals. Two blue crabs with grey streaks, each the size of a labrador retriever, scuttled out from the high arching roots of the mangrove. They waved their claws, clicking their mandibles with frustration. Within seconds, they disappeared into the viny green darkness of the deeper forest.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He then forced a smile. His features had grown tight, his posture tense. "I appreciate your attempts to make me laugh, but we'd best keep the energy focused on getting back to the camp."
She grabbed him by the arm. "You're panting and coughing up blood, and we're getting close to the point where I can run faster than you. We might not be able to go as fast, but if I carry AaQar's feet, you won't have to do all the heavy lifting. Maybe we should rest a few minutes."
His jaw worked momentarily. He then nodded and leaned forward to set AaQar down. She took hold of AaQar's shoulders and helped lower him the rest of the way. "You're a very annoying—" WroOth broke off into an even stronger coughing fit.
She plucked some of the stray leaves and twigs from AaQar's hair. He obviously didn't want to talk about this, and it was most likely yet another facet of this ilzinium problem. Blood tinged the inside of his nose and lips. "Actually I do need a break," she announced. "The rels will protect us, yes? Can you give me ten minutes?"
WroOth nodded. Still panting, he dropped onto the log. He leaned his head back against one of the roots. The shifting of the log beneath his weight struck a pocket of grey foamy material. Three small grey-blue eggs rolled out. Most likely the crab's.
She unfastened the satchel and removed a canteen. She passed it to him. "I'm guessing you weren't poisoned by the cabiza or Naatos would never have let you stay behind."
"It's nothing." He drank deeply and then released another long breath. When she continued to look at him, he scoffed, took another draught, and then thrust the canteen back into her arms. "I am not adapting to the environment as swiftly as I should be."
"AaQar said that the ilzinium is too high."
"It's certainly doing us no favors. That infernal huanna may be complicating things as well. Or it could just be the ilzinium. Who can say? AaQar started that infernal test of his to measure the levels, but all that matters is that this will be a challenge." He cupped his hands over his face and then rubbed them up along his temples. "It's fine though. We'll all be fine."
"Even QueQoa?"
"Even QueQoa."
"Was it really because Naatos is faster that you told him to take QueQoa? Or was it because you knew you were running into your own problems and you didn't want to risk QueQoa?"
He managed a relatively sly smile. His breaths were slowing, his manner calming. "You don't think Naatos is faster than me?"
"No. I think he's a more aggressive fighter. Probably has more endurance. But you're lighter than he is. And flying is one of your specializations."
"True enough."
"Of course," she continued, studying him. "I don't know that Naatos would have wanted to leave you behind if he knew you'd be coughing up blood less than three miles out. So you couldn't have told him that you weren't able to shift or move fast enough."
He smiled. "You're very clever, little sister."
"So what did you tell him? He didn't seem too pleased."
"I told him he couldn't protect you and AaQar at the same time. If something were to go wrong, he wouldn't be able to shift and fly you both out. He'd either have to leave you behind and get AaQar out, or he'd have to stay and fight. And while fighting is his preference, even he could be overwhelmed in a place like this."
"The locking then." She hugged herself.
He nodded. "He can't be in contact with you and then shift immediately afterward. At least not now. The atmosphere is causing me some minor difficulties, but if there were an emergency, I could force a form and get both you and AaQar out of here. For Naatos, there wouldn't even be that option."
"Not even if I was fully wrapped in something to prevent skin on skin contact."
"At some stages that might work. But with Naatos right now… it's too risky. There's something especially potent about your connection. It just isn't safe. Especially for you."
"Are you in pain?" She tilted her head. The thrumming in the veins of his throat was no longer so pronounced, but there was still a tightness about him.
"Nothing I can't handle." He smiled, looking a little more his old self.
She returned the smile.
AaQar started, his arms flailing out and his legs stiffening. He sat up, wide-eyed, gasping in great gulps of air. He seized Amelia's wrist in a vice-like grip. "How long was I unconscious?"
"A couple hours." She leaned over him. "Are you all right?"
AaQar continued to hold her wrist fast. Tremulous energy coursed from his palms to her skin. Bitterness, saltiness, terror, passion, fear. Rapid sha
des of color, streaking too fast for her to see.
She winced but did not pull away.
Images flashed into her mind, slowing enough for impressions. And words. Rasha. Empty. Red and silver. No more.
WroOth crouched down beside AaQar. "If you keep going unconscious and remaining so for extended periods of time, I will do something dreadful to you."
"It looks as if something dreadful has already been done to you," AaQar said dryly, releasing her arm. "Even if I couldn't see the blood, I can smell it. You're struggling to adapt?"
WroOth pulled back and wiped his hand over his mouth once more. "No more than you." He sat on his heels. "How are you feeling?"
"Well enough to walk." AaQar stood slowly. He balanced himself against the mangrove. "At least we have the rels. There is no need to rush."
"The sarsqueches broke through. And—" WroOth gestured toward his face. "—with the fresh blood, others may feel the urge to press the boundaries of the rels. Especially with us on the move."
"They broke through the rels?" AaQar's brow lifted with surprise. He drew in another clarifying breath. "This world has become significantly more hostile in the past centuries."
"And we are now slower to adapt than we should be." WroOth cleared his throat and then coughed into his sleeve. "Can you do more than walk?"
"I can walk." AaQar started forward, his hands resting on his belt. "If something comes for us, we'll deal with them at the time."
"Do you want your staff?" Amelia asked.
AaQar waved her away. "You can hold it. If anything looks threatening, use it."
WroOth moved alongside him. "Perhaps a little run?"
"If you want to run, WroOth, I won't stop you. But I am not running unless death is truly upon us." AaQar continued moving at his steady pace.
"Well I'm not leaving you here," WroOth said. He draped his arm over AaQar's shoulders. "You keep coming too close to death. You need a new hobby. I suggest yarn collecting."
"You mean something other than actually dying," AaQar said with dry amusement.
Wilderness Untamed Page 17