Wind Beneath His Wings

by Maggie Walsh

Slowly the earth settled and the noise lessened until all was eerily quiet. Sut rolled over onto his hands and knees, and shook his head, trying to force off some of the shit that covered him. Opening his eyes he found that they still burned and felt like he had a pail of sand in each. Straightening onto his knees he brushed his hands together, then rubbed his eyes.

  Looking around, Sut realized he could see a little more clearly, but the dust cloud had done its job. Now everything was covered in a layer of dirt and dust, but he was still alive. His panicked gaze went immediately to the other door that led into the back room where the cots were, where he had left Logan and the others, then blew out a heavy sigh in relief when he saw that he hadn’t forgotten to close that door.

  Standing, he made his way to the door and opened it, again relieved when the door opened easily. As the door swung in, Sutton stepped inside, happy that the room was clear and smelled clean. He closed the door behind him to stop any lingering dust from getting in, and just in case of another rumble started while he was in there.

  Sutton made the rounds, checking each patient’s stats and wounds. He changed a few bandages and dug out the last bag of IV he had and exchanged with one of the men who had an old bag about to run out. Then he slowed each of their drips, trying to make the IVs last longer. It wasn’t ideal, but it was all he could do for them for now. Hopefully soon someone would wake up and he could try to get some fluids into them that way, but maybe it was better if they all slept through what was happening.

  Sut cleaned up, then adjusted all their blankets and made his way back out of the room. The men in that room were safe… for now, but for how much longer could they wait? Would there be another cave-in? And if there was, would that one now be so severe it would crush them alive? With each rumble of the earth around him, it became more intense. Sut wondered if these were the last moments of his life.

  He noticed the air around him had cleared, and only a light haze filled the area now. Sut made his way over to the desk where the phone had sat and righted the chair that had fallen over. Dropping down into the thing, he reached down and scooped up the bottle of water he saw lying by his left foot, then opened it and took a long drink to clear his throat. Sut sat back as his mind wandered to what would happen next. Then his thoughts moved on to the life he had lived. Memories rushed at him, some filling him with happiness and some with pain. Tears burned the backs of his eyes when he thought of never seeing his friends again. Of never smelling flowers again, or breathing the fresh air again. Sut closed his eyes… and let the visions and the tears flow over him.

  CHAPTER 7

  “Son of a bitch,” Wyndingo said with a harsh breath as they all stood above the gaping hole in the earth. The fissure had to be at least ten feet wide and fifty yards long.

  “This can’t be good,” Illan said.

  “Actually, once I check a few things, this could actually be the best thing that could have happened,” Clint replied, as he moved closer to the edge and knelt, then scooped up a handful of soil.

  Illan threw his arms out to his sides, and growled, “How could this possibly be good?”

  Clint looked up at the dragon and scowled, then stood, and faced the group. “If my calculations are correct, and they usually are, actually… I can’t ever remember a time when my calculations were off. Hmmm,” Clint said, then looked up thoughtfully as if thinking hard.

  “Hello, earth to Clint,” Tobias said, as he snapped his fingers in front of the man’s face.

  Clint blinked, then lowered his head and met Tobias’s gaze. “Yes?”

  Tobias shook his head in exasperation and put his hands on his hips. “You were saying?”

  When Clint only tilted his head and gave Tobias a confused look, Destrain sighed and stepped closer. He wrapped an arm around his mate’s waist and pulled Tobias back a little, then looked at Clint. “You were telling us that this could actually be a good thing. Could you expand on that for those of us who have no clue what you mean?”

  Clint’s eyes widened as his brows rose, then he gasped, and said, “Yes, oh, yes, that’s right. What I meant was, depending on this cave-in here, look at the size of this fissure, and the depth. It looks like mother earth may have done all the heavy work for us. If I can look around a little more and see how stable that flow bed is, this may make it easier for us to bring in some heavy machinery and move this out. If this runs right along a tunnel, and I am pretty sure it does, once we remove some of this, we will expose an opening, then we can make our way through the tunnel to the safe room. Your man, Cas, informed us that your men made it into the safe room, which, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you its exact location from above ground.”

  He instantly swung around and started walking away, making his way along the fissure to the end. Destrain took Tobias’s hand and turned with the rest of the group, then they all followed the strange little man. Once they cleared the fissure, Clint continued to walk for another five minutes, then suddenly stopped.

  After pulling out a rolled-up paper from his sack, Clint unrolled it and looked around, then down to the parchment. Back and forth he looked, comparing the topographical map in his hand with the area around him. He took a few steps in one direction, then turned right and walked a few yards. Destrain could tell that Illan and some of the other were getting frustrated, but Destrain had the feeling this crazy little man knew exactly what he was doing, so he stayed quiet and watched.

  When Wyn caught his gaze a few minutes later and narrowed his eyes, Destrain bit back a laugh. Now was not the time. Some of their people were down there and they had no idea if they were even still alive. Destrain just shook his head, letting Wyn know to be quiet and wait. After a few adjustments to where he stood, finally Clint stopped, and gave them a big smile.

  “It’s here. Right down there under my feet, about one mile under me actually, is the safe room that the men made it to. So, if we look at where we are in conjuncture to the fissure over there, we’re almost on a straight course. Looking at the blueprints, if we can remove all the rubble from the fissure and expose the tunnel opening, we can move through the tunnel right to the room,” Clint explained.

  “So you’re saying that this fissure is lined up with the tunnel leading to the safe room?” Nick asked incredulously.

  Clint nodded, as he smiled. “Yes. Not an exactly perfect line, but yes.”

  “If you know we are standing right above them, then why can’t we just drill down and slowly remove the earth from here as we go?” Mayor Buck asked, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  Clint sighed in exasperation, then gave the mayor a look of pity. “If we dig here, we run the risk of collapsing more of the system directly onto their heads. Yes, they are in a specially made safe room, but if enough earth is thrust down against it, it will cave in on itself. We also have to worry about the Uranium as well as the time constraints. If we start fresh here, the earth is packed so tight and stuffed with granite and such, we’ll need those diamond-tipped drills and maybe more than we actually have on hand. It would take us about ten times as long to go straight down through the packed earth here than over there in the fissure where Mother Nature herself has already done the hard work. We don’t have to force, or dig our way through, we only have to remove.”

  “And what about the Uranium that’s already leaking into that shaft?” Illan asked. “Do we run the risk of causing a fire or explosion if we strike a flame removing all of that debris?”

  Clint looked at Illan in surprise and Destrain was sure he could actually see some of that shock turn into respect. “That is always something we need to watch out for, yes. Whether we dig here or there. But, what I was figuring was, we use the heavy machinery to remove the largest amount we can, then maybe you and your team of strong he-men and magic users here can do the rest, carefully removing the last few yards.”

  “Why don’t we just use the magic of the pixies now? If we can get my mate, Pas, and Toby here, we would also have the Santorini fox powers,” W
yndingo asked.

  “Then there is always Nelson and the butterfly dragons, don’t forget,” Mayor Buck added.

  Clint looked at them thoughtfully for a few moments and Destrain was sure the man had a thousand thoughts and equations running through his head. A few minutes later, he looked at each of them and gave a smile. “I think that may work as long as the magic doesn’t cause a spark. I still think we should start at the far end of the fissure with the heavy machines and pull some of the debris out, so that the magic can just slide debris at the front away. It may be more stable than lifting it. Which can also be done a little at a time as we get closer, so I can check the air quality down there, see if there is a leak, and if the levels are safe for us to go in.”

  Illan slapped his hands together making Clint jump. “Okay then, so we have a plan now. I say we stop standing around and get to work.”

  Seeing his men making their way towards the group, Illan yelled out, “Brax, Jett, Day, and Dallas, get those earthmovers started and go to the far side of the fissure and start digging out.”

  “On it!” Brax yelled and turned with the others to go back the way they had come. Brax stopped lifted his nose, then sneezed

  “Brax, you okay?” Illan called out.

  Nodding, Brax replied, “Smelled something funny in the air.”

  “Don’t we all,” Clint muttered.

  “I’ll get my people to the other end and see if we can lift some of the smaller, lighter pieces from that end, if Clint okays the safety of that first of course,” Destrain said and looked to the man.

  Clint gave him a smile and nodded his agreement. They all turned and headed back toward the fissure.

  * * * *

  Cas paced the small shed, every few minutes trying the phone again, but still couldn’t reach his mate. The fear inside him built to a point Cas thought he would have a heart attack and die. A few minutes after the earth stopped moving, Doc Rob had left to head back to the others to check on things there and to notify them of what had happened. That had been almost an hour ago and Cas hadn’t heard anything from anyone since, but he refused to leave the one connection he could have with his mate.

  His phone was no longer of any use, the damn thing getting crushed under his ass after he hit the floor when the shaking got bad. It wasn’t only that he had cracked the screen, but actually crushed the device. When he pulled it from his back pocket to use, Cas hissed when he saw that the phone was in four pieces. He then threw the useless thing against the wall, ensuring he would never be able to use it again.

  Grabbing up the receiver again, Cas hit the button that would connect him with the safe room phone, but still he got no answer. Helplessness filled him and a familiar feeling came, encasing his body in a cold sweat. Thoughts of a life long ago returned and Cas closed his eyes, trying to fight the images, but it was useless, they still came to him.

  “Jacintha! Jacintha!” Casimir yelled, as he ran through the front door.

  His beautiful wife came running into the room from the rear of their home, her honey blonde hair pulled back away from her creamy skin. Her eyes were filled with confusion and concern as she came to him.

  Casimir grabbed her up into his arms and held her tight, breathing in the scent of her. The smell of lavender filled his senses, but in that moment it didn’t give him peace as it normally did, now it only pulled at his heart. He knew what he must do but didn’t want to. His head and his heart were at war, just like the one that had begun outside their blaze lands.

  “Casimir, what is it? You’re scaring me,” Jacintha asked, her body trembled within his hold.

  Casimir pulled back to look into her lovely green eyes. Eyes filled with love for him. He raised one hand and cupped her soft cheek, luxuriating in the feel of its silkiness. He just wanted to stay in that moment forever and block out the world and what was to come, but he knew he couldn’t. Casimir knew where his duty lay and what was expected of him by not only his father, who was also his leader and king, but what was expected of him as a prince of their people, a warrior who had sworn his life to protect his people and their allies.

  He knew he couldn’t hide this from her, but he could try to keep his love safe. Looking deeply into her eyes, Casimir lowered his head and placed a tender kiss to her lips as he closed his eyes. When he pulled back and looked to her, meeting her gaze again, he saw tears pooling and knew she was aware that he was about to say something that would change their lives. “War has come, my beloved. Father has given me one hour to get you away from here before I must take up my position and fight.”

  Jacintha gasped, a hand going to her lips as her eyes widened and filled with fear. “No, Casimir. I can’t leave you.”

  “You must, my love. You know I have a duty to our people and this kingdom as well as our allies. I cannot stay here and protect you. Please, Jacintha, I must get you away from these lands before it is too late,” he argued.

  “But, where will I go? When will I see you again? Will you come join me soon?”

  “I will take you to the road that leads to my family’s country home high up in the mountains. You know it is a private place and only family members know of it. There is a small staff there and they will look after you until I come for you. I don’t know when I will be able to join you, my love, but know that I will do everything in my power to come back to you,” he promised.

  She gripped onto his shirt tight, her hands trembling as the tears ran down her cheeks. “Please don’t leave me, Casimir. I’m frightened. What if I never see you again?”

  “If anything happens to me, you find Illan. You do whatever you have to do to find my brother and he will help you. Promise, Jacintha. I need to know that you are far from here and safe, so that I can fight without my thoughts being distracted by my worry.”

  She nodded and swallowed hard. “Yes, my husband. I will do what you ask. Please promise me that you will come for me as soon as you can,” she begged.

  “Of course I will, my wife. You are the most important thing in my life and I will fight the devil himself to return to you. Now, quickly, go pack a bag. Time is running out and we must go.”

  He watched as she ran from the room, doing as he bid and wondered if he had told her the truth or not. He had no idea if he would ever see her again, but he needed to give her some comfort in these dark days that lay ahead of them, if only to keep her safe.

  The vision shifted and Casimir saw himself standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder with his brother and their brethren, all primed and ready to do battle. Their once closest allies and friends, the phoenix, were advancing toward them. A scream rang out, pulling his attention and Casimir’s eyes widened.

  A pixie came running toward them, arms flailing about, as she screamed, “The kingdom is being attacked!”

  Casimir’s heart beat faster and he had a deep need to run to the woman. The pixies were a good people and wonderful friends. They were loyal to both the dragons and the phoenix. King Destrain had become one of Casimir’s closest friends, along with a phoenix warrior named Aracas. He and the phoenix had worked many times together as guards for the pixie king and his family. The rift that was now between them was tearing his heart apart.

  “Casimir, go! Protect Destrain and his family and people at all costs! Stay by his side until I send for you!” His father called out the order and Casimir immediately spun and ran toward the woman. Once he reached her, they took off together toward the pixie gardens.

  Again the vision shifted and Casimir saw his friend Aracas running for Destrain as well. He froze momentarily, afraid his friend would strike, but Aracas only welcomed him with their usual handshake. They took off together and once they made it to the king’s side, Destrain gave them a strained smile. Casimir knew what they were about to hear would not be good.

  “I have opened a portal to the pixie realm. As you both know it is something I have been working on for our return some day. It’s not complete, but it is enough to hold us all and keep us safe. We mu
st go, my friends. I must take my people from this threat. They cannot deal with more heartache, loss and pain right now. The wounds are still too fresh from our imprisonment with the fairies.”

  Aracas grabbed Destrain’s arm and said with conviction, “We know this, Destrain, and we understand. Your people must come first. I have been sworn to stay by your side and to help you get your people to safety.”

  Casimir stepped forward and gripped Destrain’s other arm. “I too have been sent by my king to stay by your side and help you and your people, but the battle grows close. If we are to do this, we must do it now. Once we get all your people through the portal, then close it and lock it behind you.”

  “And what of you, my friends? Your people? If I lock the realm we may never step foot in your realm again. This may be our goodbye from this place.” The words the king spoke were filled with pain and sadness, and Casimir could see the same in the pixie king’s eyes.

  “We first need to get you and your people away from here. We’ll worry about the rest later,” Aracas said.

  Destrain turned and chanted and suddenly a large portal appeared, one larger than any Casimir had ever seen before. Destrain gave the order, then pixies came from all directions and quickly moved through the glowing portal. A scream came from behind them and Casimir turned, his gaze fell on the woman who was nanny to Destrain and Clove’s child, Prince Desdain. She was running for the portal dragging a young Desdain behind her. Not far back Casimir saw Prince Rhys, the king’s brother, Dain’s son, who was running at top speed, carrying a few bags, but what he saw behind him sent liquid ice through his veins.

  There was a line of snake shifters racing toward the fleeing pixies, some in their human forms and others in snake forms, and they were catching up to them quickly. Casimir immediately ran toward them, trying to get to the princes before the snakes did.

  Movement to his left caught his attention and Casimir could see that it was Aracas. They were both speeding toward the princes. Casimir snatched the nanny and Prince Desdain up into his arms, a moment later he shifted, then flew above and placed them down beside the portal. Once he saw them rush through and knew they were safe, he turned back and saw that Aracas and Rhys were running, but the snakes would catch them before they were able to make it.