Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I crawled over the rocks and over to him. Ben climbed out and offered me a hand which I eagerly accepted. He pulled me out and I beheld a nest of boulders all around us. Vines covered much of the stones and trees blocked our view of the sky. It was a perfectly concealed hole.

We stood on a small ledge beside the entrance and Ben nodded to our left. A long and narrow stood not more than twenty feet off, and I could see three glistening pools, one cascading into another. They were each about fifty feet in diameter with a soft lawn of lush moss growing at their edges. The trees stood some ten feet away from the waters, but they stretched toward the ponds and created a dome with a skylight in the middle. The gap between plant and pond was occupied by wildflowers and a narrow path of flat stones that led up each level to the very top.

The waters of the first ghasl, that most sacred of pools that was our objective, emerged from a narrow slit in a wall of otherwise impenetrable stone. The sparkling lifeblood of the world flowed down a short waterfall before dropping into the round pool, and then making its way into its brethren before it disappeared through the boulders in the direction of the desert.

There was no one to be found so Ben climbed over the rocks that surrounded us and helped me over. Together we tiptoed across the clearing and up the stone path to the first ghasl. I was ever looking over my shoulder for any signs of our watchful foes as Ben removed a vial from his coat and popped the cork.

He poked my arm to catch my attention and held out the glass to me. I blinked at him and pointed at myself, and he nodded as he spoke in my mind. "You need to collect the water."

Why not you? I mouthed as I pointed at him.

He pointed at his dark attire, and the realization struck me. Ben had a curse on him. I couldn't imagine anything more unclean than that. Still, I reluctantly accepted the vial and scurried over to the edge of the pool. The waters reflected my worried face as I dipped my hand into it.

The cold I had felt in the river was nothing compared to the bone-numbing chill that now sank into my body. The horrible cold strangled my cry of surprise as I fell back, my vial filled with water and my body filled with such a chill that I felt my muscles seize.

Ben's hands felt like tiny volcanoes as he dragged me away from the pool's edge. He snatched the vial from me and laid me down on the soft moss. My body shook so violently that I felt as though my bones were going to break.

Ben grabbed my arms and pinned me to the earth. His firm, warm touch soothed whatever had taken hold of me, though he didn't completely eradicate the strange infection that now raced through my body. He lifted me into his arms and his wings spread out behind him before he leapt into the air.

Shouts came beneath us but I couldn't force my stiff body to look down. Another violent shudder of cold ran through me and Ben drew me close to his chest.

"Hold on," he told me as we flew hard and fast. "Just hold on, Millie."

Time was a blur of the sky and Ben's masked face. I felt him land us on uneven ground and Ben's shout rang in my ears. "Dakin!"

"What the hell is going on-oh shit."

Heavy footsteps hurried over to us and Dakin's face came into view. His expression frightened me. He lifted his worried eyes to Ben. "Get her into my cave and get a fire going. Toss the hairball off if you need to."

I was carried into the cave and Qita's yowling voice scratched my eardrums. "What's going on? What in all the nine lives of my people has happened to her?"

"Later," Ben told him as I was placed on the bed.

Qita's tail just barely missed being squashed by me. He pressed a paw against me and jerked it back. "She's as cold as ice!"

"We need to get her warm," Dakin spoke up as he slipped into my field of vision with a pile of blankets in his arms.

He dropped them on top of me and started spreading them out as Ben went to make a fire in the small pit near the cave entrance. Qita slipped beneath the blankets and stretched himself the whole length of my side. Together their efforts paid off as I felt some more of the chill leave my body.

Dakin came in carrying the hanging pot from the communal fire and he hung it over the small one Ben had made. He raised his curious eyes to Ben and jerked his head in my direction. "Now tell me what happened."

"She dipped her hand into the waters of the first ghasl. That's all."

Dakin's bushy eyebrows crashed down. "What were you doing there?"

Ben dipped his hand into his pocket and drew out the vial I had filled. The innocent water glistened within the clear glass. "Fetching some of its pure water."

Dakin took the vial and popped the cork. He lifted the mouth to his nostrils and took in a deep breath. A shadow settled on his brow as he dipped his pinky finger into the narrow glass and touched the water to his lips.

He immediately spat it out and sneered at the vial. "This water isn't pure anymore. It's got something in it."

"A poison?" Ben guessed.

Dakin shook his head. "I don't know, but whatever it is it ain't good."

Qita poked his head out of the covers near my face so we looked like a two-headed beast. "The proper term is ‘isn't good.'"

Dakin held the vial up in his fisted hand. "Pretty speech isn't going to fix this."

"What will?" Ben questioned him.

Some of the old man's ire withered away as he dropped his hand. "I don't know. Did you see or hear anything else while you were there? Where were the maidens?"

"We found a way around them, but we overheard them discussing a darkness they'd seen around the pools," Ben told him.

A faint chill ran through me at the mention of those waters. Qita twitched his whiskers before he dove back under the covers to cuddle against me. My sudden shaking didn't go unnoticed by Ben who looked down at me with pursed lips.

I snorted. "I know that look, Count Castle. I'm not going to die on you, and I'll have you know I'm feeling better already thanks to you guys."

"I'll have the chill off you in no time," Dakin assured both of us as he moved over to the fire and stirred the pot. "But rest is what you're going to need, so take it while you're waiting for the soup to cook."

"But what's wrong with me?" I questioned him as I looked between the worried faces of my host and Ben. "Why did touching that water do that to me? Why didn't I feel this bad when I was pulled into the river?"

Dakin paused in his stirring and lifted an eyebrow. "What's this about the river?"

Ben let out a deep sigh. "A creature of mud and water dragged Millie into the river near the ghasl. I've never heard nor seen of such a creature. My first thought fell on the legends from the catastrophe a thousand years ago."

Dakin cast a curious look in my direction. "You might just have something there, but we should consult with our walking history book with hair."

Qasi squirmed across my gut and poked his head out of the covers again, this time in front of my face. His ears were drawn back and his tail whipped against me. "Are you referring to me, sir?"

"You know someone else as old as the crap stuck to the sewer walls of this old city?" Dakin retorted.

Qasi twitched his whiskers. "What a horrible comparison, but as for your question, I cannot recall hearing anything about a mud monster. However, my family and I were trying our best to survive the waves and could not be bothered to deal with rumors of such creatures."

Dakin scowled at him. "So you're useless."

The cat lifted his chin and nearly knocked the back of his head against my chin. "Then you will not need to bother me further. Good night." He ducked back under the covers, but I felt his tail whip against my stomach.

At that moment Sarie fluttered into the cave. He passed a piece of paper to Ben who read the contents. A dark cloud settled on his brow. "It appears someone is watching the house."

" What?! " Qita snapped as his head reemerged from the sheets. "Who?"

"Soldiers of the king," Ben told him as he tucked the paper into his pocket. "It appears our adventure at the ghasl may have around the suspicion of the authorities. It would be best if we kept away from them for the time being."

More trouble I thought to myself. I sighed and a heavy weariness fell over me. My eyelids grew heavy and I nuzzled my cheek against the pillow under my head.

Ben moved a chair over to my bedside and took a seat. With him over me, I slipped into a peaceful sleep.