64. With The Strength Of A Thousand

64. With The Strength Of A Thousand

Dessin

“We shouldn’t have left thembehind.” My hands are shaking with guilt and shame. Their faces were so serene, at peace with the decision they’ve made.

“Dessin, we have to keep running. They’re following us!” Warrose slaps my back in encouragement, pleading with his glistening, sorrowful eyes to get me moving again.

I straighten my back and wipe my face of the splattered blood smearing from the drops of rain. I nod reluctantly, leading the sprint through the dark, muddy forest. Warrose runs with Ruth in his arms now, Marilynn keeps a good pace next to Niles in the back.

Clear your mind of these fucking memories.

Go, son.

The look that alpha gave me sits in my stomach, churning and twisting into nausea.

Forget it!

My eyes water at the mental images of those boys being crushed by the weight of those iron bars. I could have freed them!

Bloom comes close to the front, drawn in by the fact that I now have a memory that’s disturbing my performance.

I’m fine!

We run through this rotting, mucky forest aimlessly, taking turns I’m unsure if we’re supposed to take. I’ve never been in Vexamen before. My understanding of its geography isn’t like how I know my way around the many forests that surround the Chandelier City.

That wolf got hit by those flaming arrows. He tried to get back up to keep fighting. Why can’t I stop thinking about this? Why is this ripping my stomach to pieces?

Warrose matches my strides on my left side, holding Ruth who is silently whimpering into her hands.

“Reset your mind on getting us to Skylenna and DaiSzek. Think only of them,” Warrose instructs.

His sentiment jolts my heart back to life. A brief, fleeting memory of Skylenna holding DaiSzek as a puppy skips over my mind, and it comes from Kane.

Did you see that?Kane shifts closer.

Fondness, longing, and deeply rooted love penetrates my heart cavity. Through all of the demented memories I have of her, that moment pierces my veil of hatred. And nothing sounds more motivating than running to her right now.

I’m coming, baby.

“Gahhh!” Niles wails, his body flopping into a puddle a few strides behind us.

His leg is entrapped in something that blends into the earth. Dark green with slimy skin. Huge jaws.

“Forest gator,” Warrose says. “Here, take her.” He passes Ruth off to me. She reaches her arms out, wrapping them around my neck, trembling like a dry leaf in the autumn wind. I hug her close to my chest, needing this comfort more than she probably realizes. It grounds me to swallow the dishonor down my throat and concentrate on saving our family.

Warrose rushes to Niles’s side, bashing the reptilian creature over the head with his mace. It takes three swings before those wide jaws unlatch their grip on Niles’s calf. He moans, rolling away from the hideous beast as it retreats back to the swampy area it crawled out of.

“You alright Niles?” I call out.

He’s panting as Warrose inspects his leg, dumping a canteen over the bite marks. Niles inhales through his nose as he gets back to his feet, testing to see if he’s able to hold his own weight.

“It wasn’t too deep, just broke the skin,” Warrose assures him.

“I’m okay,” Niles says, cracking his neck. “Let’s keep going.”

Warrose comes back to my side to hold Ruth again, but I shake my head, tightening my grip around her. “I’ll hold her for a while longer. You keep watch for more animals until we find our way out.”

Warrose locks eyes with Ruth for half a second, then turns away to take the lead.

The harder I run, the tighter Ruth’s body coils around my neck and shoulders. She shields her eyes in the crook of my neck as Warrose slays more stray beasts that block our path or try to sneak up on us. And although sprinting with someone in my arms isn’t ideal…it sparks a feeling in Kane.

It feels like we’ve been here before, Kane says with a feeling like nostalgia stirring inside both of us.

It’s the act of carrying someone while we run. That’s the trigger. The feeling of being responsible for a trembling woman in our arms.

I think I’ve carried Skylenna before. I don’t know. It feels like I have.Kane grows impatient and agitated by this thought.

“We’re going to make it out of here, Ruth,” I promise her through controlled panting.

She leans the side of her head against my shoulder, looking so sick, so weak. “I believe you.”

The eerie forest opens up to us, and we pivot through the fog until we see a rocky terrain of small, scattered mountains that look more the size of sharp hills. As I peer farther to the left, I see an area I wish I could have avoided looking at. A setup of red-striped tents, stages, firepits, and cages.

The Meat Carnival.

I shudder, but as I look closer, I notice that every cage is empty…

“I hear them coming!” Marilynn shouts from the back.

I look to Warrose as we both listen, finding the distant sound of a stampede, both human and animal. The trajectory of that noise tells me they’ve cut around Foul Falcon Forest. They’re going to catch up to us.

“We need to get on the other side of these rocky hills. The shore is where our army is at. If we can at least get close, they may hear us in distress!”

Our group is dripping in sweat, taking erratic breaths, and looking so goddamn tired.

But we can’t stop to rest. Not even for a moment.

Weaving through the flat valleys between the short, rocky mountains, our strides become shorter and slower. The uphill effort is leaving everyone waning, in need of water, and sleep. I instruct everyone to be careful where they step, watching the shiny shale rock as it’s slippery while the rain hammers down against it.

The sun comes close to the horizon, just barely peeking out its orange glow. And I can somewhat see its distant reflection over the glassy surface of the ocean.

“We’re getting closer!” I yell back to them.

Marilynn and Niles look like they’re close to passing out or vomiting. Pale faces with sunken eyes and gaping mouths, but God love them because they keep going. I’ve never been more proud.

Warrose scans the smoky skies with pinched brows.

“What is it?”

“Duck!” he shouts.

Following the sheer squawk, we bend downward just as a spine-toothed eagle swoops through our group, attempting to grab someone with its yellow claws.

And everything, through our exhaustion and constant running, seems to explode into violent chaos. Flaming arrows soar through the rain, piercing the atmosphere, then dropping down toward us.

“Seek cover!” I yell. We all dart away from the line of fire, stumbling and falling. I stay on my feet, being as careful with Ruth as I can manage. She screams against my shoulder, and I pat her on the head to let her know we’re okay.

I look to our group, fiercely inspecting everyone for injuries. Niles covers Marilynn’s body with his own, Warrose bats at the birds with his mace, managing to injure three of them.

“We need to get to higher ground!” I point with my chin to the hill that’s covered in nooks, caves, and covered passages.

Everyone scrambles to their feet, huffing and puffing to climb to the wet bedrock. I grimace as I pass Ruth off to Warrose, seeing silent tears blend with the rain down her cheeks. She feels like a burden. Helpless and powerless.

As we hike upward, I glance at our bloody feet. We’re all barefoot, running through the forest, and now digging our toes into razor-sharp shale, butchering that tough skin. But no one complains, begs to stop, or makes a fuss. We’re all running on no sleep, adrenaline, and the overpowering desire to make it to that army. To never have to return to the Vexamen Prison again.

The higher we get, the better view I have of the landscape around us. My stomach tightens at the entire fucking army of Vexamen barreling toward this desert land of gravelly hills, pits, and narrow valleys. They’re storming every inch of the area with wild animals on leashes, cannons, carriages, and Blood Mammoths. And off into the foggy distance, my blood runs cold at the daunting, large cage being hauled. I can’t see what’s inside it. But it’s clear that whatever it is, it is grander in size than DaiSzek.

I turn, scoping the wet granite, divots, and an opening that forms into a tunnel. It’s the perfect shelter to cut across. I point, gesturing to the others. “Through there!”

Wiping the rain from my eyes, I wait until everyone is safely inside the lengthened cave, ducking my head to follow behind them.

“How’re we going to get out of this one, Dess?” Niles asks from the middle of the line.

My throat shifts as I gulp. My bones ache with the same question. But as the person leading this escape, I can’t show weakness. Can’t show doubt.

I confidently say, “We’re almost there.”

A sudden heat wave funnels through the entrance behind us. It’s our only warning before the walls collapse, and an explosion skyrockets us out of the small shelter we obtained. Our bodies, brushed with fire and debris, are forcefully ejected, tumbling down the hill in a torrent of screams, rocks scraping through skin, bones banging against hard edges, and my vision swirling with colors and the flipping bodies of my friends.

As the movement comes to a screeching halt, I blink furiously against my blurring sight. A hot gush of red pours into the corner of my left eye, and the only sound I hear is a constant ringing.

“Call-out-t to m-me!” I yell with an involuntary slur. Blood hangs in a string of drool from the corner of my mouth, dipping into the mud under my jaw as I cough.

My ribs implode with each jolting contraction. Sharp daggers pierce my brain. And for a single heartbeat, I wonder where I am. Is anything broken? My mind goes into survival mode, forgetting about our current situation to determine if I’m dying. I roll my ankles, bend my knees, shift my hips. Nothing broken, I don’t think. But my entire body will swell and bruise tomorrow, if I live that long.

You will, Kalidus commands.

Dust and smoke construct a new atmosphere between all of us. I can’t see past its towering barrier, can’t breathe in its toxic particles.

“I feel—like I just gave birth—to my brain.” The voice isn’t recognizable through the ringing in my ears, yet I know it’s Niles. Because of course it’s Niles. And through the pain of my pulsing jawbone, I smile.

An object cracks into my cheekbone so hard, my head whips to the side from the brutal lashing. More blood and saliva spray from my mouth. As my head turns back to the source of the attack to see what hit me, I only have a second for my distorted vision to process the soldier on his knees, swinging his sickle back to aim it for my chest.

A freckled hand loops around his neck, swiping a wide blade through his major arteries. A shower of crimson liquid drenches my left arm and collarbone.

“I heard you already died that way once,” Marilynn says as the body plops on the ground next to me.

I take her hand as she helps me to my feet. “I did. A second time would have lacked creativity.”

“My thoughts, too.” I smile with a wince, wiping the blood from her forehead.

Niles walks up behind her, massaging his shoulder. He looks pretty beat up, but he’s standing, breathing, awake, and walking. That’s a win.

“Where’s Warrose and Ruth?” I ask them with a spike of panic.

“Here!” Ruth calls in desperation. “Help him!”

Despite the gashes in my feet, I run across the wreckage that is similar to shards of glass, following Ruth’s voice through the fog and smoke.

“There!” Niles shouts, pointing to a figure lying still on a slanted rock. Warrose is unconscious on his naked back, still holding Ruth to his chest.

“He slid to the side so he wouldn’t roll on top of me!” Ruth sobs, trying to reach around and point to his back. “I think his back is injured.”

I gulp as I lift his limp shoulder, and sure enough, the skin has been ripped off in slivers from the fall. Blood coats my fingers while I gently lift him to see if anything else is seriously harmed.

“Marilynn, get some water,” I say in a low voice.

She hands me a canteen, and I use it to splash cold water in his face. Warrose gasps, flinches, then opens his eyes to glare at me angrily.

“It’s going to hurt like hell, buddy. But I need to know you can keep moving.”

My friend groans, guttural, coming from the depths of his core as he sits up. The stomping of feet, wild hissing, and snarling comes closer. Warrose nods, hardening his face in an attempt to show no weakness.

I take Ruth from his arms once more, jogging over the boulders and carnage stretched across our path. I peek at Ruth’s bandages, now sopping with fresh blood. Her shoulder is dislocated, and she has pieces of gravel lodged in a few of her open wounds.

“I’m good,” she murmurs in a slight haze. Probably coming in and out of shock.

“I know you are.”

Please, God. Help us find a way out of here. I can’t let them die. They’re my responsibility. My family.

As we run and jump over pits and volcanic holes, bits of the army finally catch up to us. Warrose slays a few swamp dawpers that jump out from our left sides. Marilynn takes on two soldiers with double-edged swords, and she wields her small weapons with more speed than I’ve seen from a warrior in battle.

But it’s not enough.

A flaming arrow spears through Niles’s arm. He howls in sudden shock and pain, staring at me with eyes that ask what should I do?

Watching his scarred arm dripping blood takes my soul into a death grip. I open my mouth to encourage him, to assure him, but I’m out of options, and we all know it.

“Retreat to that trench!” I shout, pointing to a narrow valley that’s evenly cloaked by surrounding hills.

And as Warrose looks at me with raised eyebrows, I silently communicate to him that we have no other plays here. We have to stay and fight. We can’t keep running.

His Adam’s apple stretches over the length of his throat as he bows his head to me. Understanding that…this is it. This is where we die. Together.

My only regret is that I don’t get to know Skylenna the way I am supposed to. I don’t get to hear her laugh the way I can almost hear an echo of it in my memory. I don’t get to hold her one last time. I don’t get to remember what it was like to love her.

Diving into the muddy, slimy trench, Marilynn breaks off the arrow logged in Niles’s shoulder. He holds his brave face intact, fighting the urge to wince and cry out.

We fight them trickling in one by one. A Blood Mammoth rakes its unnaturally long, yellowed nails across my chest before I open its chest. Warrose bashes in the skulls of two more soldiers, Marilynn takes a knife to the cheek, withstanding fresh blood seeping down the side of her face before breaking the man’s neck.

And Niles shields Ruth’s body with his own, shivering against the trickling rain and flood of entrails being dumped around us with each kill.

I lose my ring sword after throwing it across the trench to behead a Blood Mammoth that makes a beeline for Niles. He nods his thanks, and I reach into my belt for another weapon. My fingers brush something jagged, like a dusty rock.

My stomach does a flip as I speculate if it’s what I think it is…

I pull it out of the pocket it rests in, examining the ash-colored stone in my palm.

Shades were once fae or elves. They turned into dark, vengeful spirits that haunt these lands.

My conversation with Qilan, one of the elders from the Nightamous Horde.

That is a shade stone. The only object that can call to them. So, if you should ever find yourself in dire need of help, rub the stone until flecks of ash and dust float into the wind.

He gave this stone to Skylenna and me.

And help will come.

Whether I believe in that mythology or not, I witness my family being cornered by an entire army. Warrose is soaking with sweat, rain, and gashes pouring out blood. Marilynn fights more soldiers than she can handle.

Skylenna, if you can hear me…I need help. I need you.

And I rub the stone.