Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
S uddenly, Cal was crashing back down toward them, hitting several branches and bushes on the way down.
Dozens of huge black birds burst from the canopy, flapping and squawking loudly. There were so many of them for a moment they blocked out the light streaming through.
Thea felt another magical pull, forcing her attention skyward.
But Cal was falling. It seemed endless as he bounced between trees, his shouts muffled by the impact.
He hit the ground with a thud. His eyes were screwed shut in pain. In one hand he clutched his totem, but the other hand was streaked with blood, a thrashing brown viper latched to the skin between his thumb and forefinger.
The possible call of another totem forgotten, Thea skidded to her knees beside her friend, her heart racing. Prising the snake’s jaw from him without a moment’s hesitation, Thea flung it over the side off the cliff.
‘Got me,’ Cal wheezed, writhing in agony. ‘There were three of them.’
Sure enough, it wasn’t just the one bite on his hand. Thea turned his arm over, finding two more puncture wounds already swelling.
‘Fuck,’ she said. ‘Kipp, give me my satchel and that canteen of water.’
‘I’m guessing it was venomous?’ Cal panted through gritted teeth.
‘Fraid so,’ Thea replied, recognising the brown scales from an experiment Farissa had coordinated a few years ago. ‘But stay calm.’
‘Easy for you to say,’ Cal bit out.
Kipp was at Thea’s side, handing her the things she’d asked for. ‘Should I suck the venom out?’
Cal gave a moan of pain. ‘You’re not sucking anything of mine, Kristopher —’
Thea’s hands worked quickly to unscrew the top of the canteen. ‘That’s a myth,’ she said, trying to keep the fear from her voice. ‘Keep your arm low, Cal. It slows the venom going to your heart.’
‘Comforting.’ Sweat beaded on his brow.
Thea washed the wounds with water and then rummaged in the satchel Wren had packed for her. There had to be something in there. Salve for burns. Bandages. Dried iruseed – might need that later , she thought, forcing herself to think logically. Soot root powder. Lavender tincture for pain —
‘Yes!’ she half-shouted, ripping a tiny vial of brown liquid from one of the inner pockets and pulling the cork from the top with her teeth. Wren thought of everything. ‘This will stop the poison.’
She thrust a small stick at Cal. ‘Bite down on this,’ she told him, placing it between his teeth. ‘Kipp, hold him down.’
His eyes went wide and Kipp grimaced as he placed his hands on their friend’s shoulders, murmuring apologies.
Thea didn’t waste another moment, she poured the liquid on each of the bites.
Cal thrashed beneath Kipp’s hold, his screams muted around the stick in his mouth.
‘Anti-venom,’ she told him, trying to soothe him as the waves of pain took hold and he convulsed beneath their grip. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry,’ she said.
When she was done, she took the clean linen strips from the satchel and wrapped each of his wounds tightly.
Cal lay at Kipp’s knees, drenched in sweat, panting, a slight green sheen to his skin.
Kipp helped him into a sitting position. ‘Will he be alright?’ he asked her.
Thea wiped her friend’s brow and put the canteen of water to his lips, forcing him to drink. ‘I think so. Thanks to Wren,’ she said, patting the satchel at her side.
‘And you,’ Cal wheezed.
‘You can thank me later.’ She turned her back to them so she could gather herself. That was twice now she’d nearly lost him.
But when she faced him again, Cal was grinning weakly. ‘Two down…’ He held up his totem.
Thea’s heart sank, remembering the tug she’d felt towards the flock of birds as they’d broken through the canopy. ‘About that…’ she said quietly. ‘I think there was one with those birds.’
Cal stared at her. ‘What?’
‘I felt it, just before you fell.’
Cal nudged Kipp to help him to his feet. ‘So we’d best get moving. Let’s get you a totem.’ He was unsteady at first, but as they gathered their weapons, he seemed to find his footing.
They were a little slower now, but they made their way to the edge of the island just the same. Only to stop abruptly.
The gap between their island and the next was far bigger than even the first had been. What awaited them was a horizontal ladder made of thin, rusted chains bridging the two land masses together, the waves churning and foaming against the sharp rocks beneath.
Thea rubbed her temples as she surveyed the obstacle.
‘We have to pull ourselves across below. Or climb over the top…’ she murmured.
The back of her neck prickled again and she turned back, scanning the fringe of the jungle they’d just left.
There was no one in sight. Turning back to the bridge of bars, she made up her mind.
‘We've all trained, we've got the strength… Don’t we?’
Cal nodded. ‘I’ll manage.’
They strapped their weapons to their bodies securely and, not for the first time, Thea wondered where the rest of the shieldbearers had ended up.
She pushed the thought from her head as she squared her shoulders to face the next obstacle.
She could see no mechanism or tricks in place…
but her skin still prickled, something behind them pulling at her attention. There was nothing there.
‘You two first,’ she said.
Cal opted to climb above the bars so he didn’t have to bear the full weight of his body on his injured arm. Meanwhile, Kipp swung from bar to bar below, like some kind of jungle animal.
In the distance, just beyond them, Thea’s heart soared. The flock of black birds circled above the island. She could feel the totem pulsing among them. She just had to get across this ladder of chains…
Thea opted for Kipp’s method and fit her hands to the metal bars, checking one last time that her sword, shield and satchel were firmly strapped in place.
Then she started across. She marvelled at how strong she’d grown over the months, supporting her whole body weight with ease as she swung herself from one linked chain to the next.
Before she knew it, she was halfway across, ignoring the roar of the waves below and reaching for —
That was when the first arrow whistled through the air.
The tip grazed her upper arm and she nearly let go from the shock, a startled yelp escaping her.
‘Thea!’ Kipp shouted from the other side, his voice pitched with panic.
Another arrow whirred close to her dangling legs and she cursed loudly, flinging herself to the next bar. She could see Cal nocking an arrow to his own bow in her defence.
As arrows shot across the chasm, Thea put one hand in front of the other, using all her upper body strength, desperate to get across without a dozen holes through her body.
‘Cal!’ she yelled, suddenly thinking of the cursed winged creature who held her totem somewhere nearby. ‘I’m going to need some of those arrows to shoot the bird down!’
‘But –’
‘Don’t you dare use another one!’ she commanded.
She was two-thirds across, she could make it, she could —
Another arrow kissed her side, pain searing as it grazed her skin, only just missing her middle.
Swearing and sweating, Thea hung by one hand and reached for her satchel, her teeth clenched with the effort. Fumbling blindly inside the bag, her fingers closed around the jar she wanted and, still hanging on for dear life, she threw it back at her attackers with all her might.
Thick smoke exploded as the glass shattered on the surrounding stones. Shouts of alarm and cries of pain echoed down the chasm.
‘I get some credit for that one, Wren,’ she muttered to herself as she swung across the final bars to safety.
Cal and Kipp surged for her, pulling her into a near-smothering embrace.
Cal was shaking his head in disbelief. ‘What in the name of all the gods was that?’
‘Soot root powder,’ she replied. ‘I’ve been harvesting those roots since I could hold a trowel.
Nice to see the product in action for a change.
’ She lifted her shirt to examine the damage.
A decent gash ran parallel to the scar Seb had given her.
Though it wasn’t as deep as the stab wound had been, it burned something fierce.
‘Are you alright?’ Kipp asked, catching her grimace and trying to peer over her shoulder at the wound.
‘Just a scratch,’ she assured him, tucking her shirt back into the waist of her pants and scanning the terrain ahead for the birds. ‘There!’ she shouted, surging forward, her pain and her attackers forgotten as the flock circled nearby. The pulse of power called to her again.
‘It’s close,’ Cal murmured. ‘I can feel it humming.’
Ahead, the huge black birds gathered on the rocks, some flitting back to the sky.
Thea held up her fist to signal the others to halt, crouching behind a thorny bush for cover.
Then she saw it. The totem, glinting in a pair of claws amidst a blur of feathers, skybound.
‘Cal, your bow,’ she said, holding out her hand.
‘Do you want me to shoot?’ he offered.
Thea hesitated.
‘It would be my honour, Thea. You saved my life. Twice now. Let me do this for you,’ he urged her, hand on heart.
There was no denying that Cal was the better archer, his skills were next to none with a bow, she’d seen him defy the odds, seen him make countless impossible shots, but…
Althea Nine Lives was not without her own abilities, and she knew that to own that totem with pride, she had to win it herself. ‘Thank you,’ she told Cal. ‘But I can make it.’
Nodding, he handed her the bow.
Hardly taking her eyes from her target, the glint of metal still glimmering in the sun above, Thea gripped the weapon, fitting an arrow to the bowstring and taking aim.
She centred herself.
One shot, that was all she’d have.
You could have Cal do it , the little voice said at the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside and drew her arm back.
Another voice filled her head then. ‘You need to give it more power than that…’ Wilder whispered in the shell of her ear.