32. Chapter 31
32
Chapter 31
Dacias
Dacias swallowed hard as the dormant volcanoes came into view, like ominous towers looming over the horizon.
Vinculux was close.
The journey after the attack on the transport was nothing short of terrifying. Out in the open, Dacias could only pray that he and Klorin looked the part of two Lapistrean guardians on their way to Vinculux. With each checkpoint they passed, Dacias breathed a sigh of relief, but the weight of the task ahead hung like an anchor in the pit of his stomach.
Dacias cursed himself for not getting Julen out sooner. What was he thinking? He should have never let Julen go back to that castle by himself. Dacias could have used Klorin’s UIN to sneak Julen through the Rugirean checkpoint, or Julen could have hidden in Cupidor while Dacias and Souzie carried out the plan at the castle. Either way, getting Julen out first would have been the wiser choice.
He hated himself for not thinking of this sooner and knew that he wasn’t in his right mind when they planned the escape. Julen’s description of life with his father made Dacias want to sneak into Lapistra and turn Haligran’s entrails into jumping rope. He would have thought of a safer option for Julen had his mind not been clouded by rage. He couldn’t let that happen again. He needed to be sharp when they reached the prison.
The horses trudged along the road, which soon disappeared under rock and ash as they traversed the land between the volcanoes. The world around them changed. It was like being on another planet altogether—a hazardous planet with poisonous air that ate away one’s innards. The gaseous atmosphere burned Dacias’s eyes, and he choked on the fumes.
Sediment swirled about them as the horses moved along on the uneven terrain. Sympathy tugged Dacias’s heart as the horses took one pathetic step after another through the detritus. They looked exhausted. He considered jumping down from the cart to shift and help them pull, but he had to preserve his energy for Vinculux.
Freezing currents swept over the volcano walls, beating into Dacias and Klorin. They shivered as the wind seared their skin.
“Thank the Mother Planet Souzie’s in the transport,” Klorin shouted.
Dacias nodded in agreement but couldn’t ignore the pang of jealousy coursing through his body. He would do anything to have Julen safe in the transport too.
This was the last leg of their journey before reaching Vinculux. They needed to pass the row and breach the ascending slopes leading to the winding, downward path to the prison. Then, they’d be past the microclimate of the row. The air would normalize, and hopefully, the road would be easier to see.
Dacias had no idea if they were traveling along an established road anymore. Visibility became nonexistent as a cloud of volcanic debris consumed them. Hundreds of years of eroded rock and ash swirled about like a blizzard. The winds picked up speed, and the horses stumbled.
Dacias had to yell over the storm. “I don’t know if these horses can take much more of this.”
“We can’t exactly take a break to rest right now, Dax.”
Dacias hissed. Even rolling, his eyes hurt from the grime in the air.
Souzie screamed from the transport. “One or both of you should switch with me. You can’t take much more of this shit! Come in here and take a break! ”
Klorin and Dacias both yelled “No” simultaneously, and the wagon rumbled from the frustrated kick she delivered.
The wind ferocity intensified, causing the horses to buck and neigh. Flanked by the second and third volcanoes, they knew staying in the center and forging a straight line between them was the safest route; getting too close to the steep walls could be perilous. But now, pushed by the winds, they started drifting, inching closer and closer to the base of a volcano—the last place they wanted to be.
Klorin screamed, “I’m jumping down. They need help getting through this.”
“I’m coming with you,” Dacias bellowed back.
“No! I’d rather you steady them with the reins. You gotta stay up here and man the transport.”
Dacias snarled in frustration. “No! Let me shift. With two horses and me, we’ll manage a straight shot.”
Klorin slammed a foot down. “You’ll scare the shit out of them if you turn into a lion ! Why do you always argue with me? I know what I’m doing here.”
“No, you don’t! You’ve never been here before! You’re just as clueless as I am!”
Souzie’s voice shot out from the transport. “What the fuck are you two arguing about now? I’m getting out. You two are delirious from ash.”
Klorin handed the reins to Dacias and turned to face Souzie. “If you get out of that Vexforsaken cart, I swear by the Mother Planet I’ll lose my fucking mind, Souzie!”
“You’re not my keeper, asshole!”
The ground began shaking, and an ear-splitting rattling echoed above them. Dacias looked up, his eyes darting left and right as cracks ripped through the upper portions of both volcanoes, starting further behind the cart and making their way toward the three of them. An avalanche of debris would soon descend on both sides. They would be buried if they didn’t get through the volcanoes in time.
Dacias whipped the reins and screamed, “AVALANCHE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!”
He snapped the reins repeatedly until the horses picked up momentum, galloping along the rock and ash. Dacias snapped again. “MOVE!”
The thunderous rumbling of the rockslide grew, booming above like the skies had shattered into pieces and were falling to the planet. Dacias craned his head to look behind him, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw the magnitude of the descending rocks accelerating closer and closer to them.
They wouldn’t make it. They needed immediate speed, and these horses were pushed to the brink, with the cart weighing them down.
“Klorin! Get her out! Ditch the cart!”
Klorin climbed atop the transport, shifted both hands, clung to the top with one, ripped the door off with the other, and reached for Souzie. “Grab on.”
Souzie clung to his arm as Klorin pulled her up. He used his other hand to latch his claws into the top of the transport to keep from careening off.
Dacias screamed, “Souzie. Jump on me and grab my mane the minute I shift. Klorin, shift now and go.”
“NO! Not until she’s on your back!”
Fucker. I swear I will kill him. Dacias whipped the reins again. He hoped the horses would keep a steady course. He leaped off the cart, shifting mid-flight, using everything he’d learned from those awful shift-slams. He landed at the side of the cart, racing alongside, waiting for Souzie.
“Jump! Grab his mane and hold tight!” Klorin screamed.
Souzie jumped onto Dacias and gripped his mane. She screamed as the rockslide gained on them.
Dacias took off, barreling past the horses, fueled by adrenaline and desperation. Souzie’s legs hugged his sides, and he could feel the pull of her grasp. Good. She’s secure. He heaved as the ash filled his lungs. The falling rocks sounded like the end of the world. He turned back to see his brother in cougar form passing the horses. Thank the Mother Planet.
Dacias didn’t know he could reach such velocities until this moment. He roared, compelling himself to push harder than he ever had. A massive boulder lay ahead, and Dacias made the split-second decision to bound atop it. His body soared through the air as he and Souzie finally made it past the volcano row. Not willing to risk a moment of complacency, Dacias immediately began climbing to the top of the hill to ensure they were a safe distance away from the chaos behind them; finally, they reached the summit.
Dacias turned around to see Klorin doing everything he could to outrun the avalanche.
“Come on, Klorin! COME ON!” The franticness in Souzie’s voice was palpable. She trembled as she sat on Dacias, who released a mighty roar. Come on, ol’ boy. Do it. MOVE.
Klorin’s roar ripped through the air as he leaped over boulders. The faint cry of the horses was almost imperceptible as the onslaught of rubble gobbled them up.
The ground shook again, even stronger than before. Klorin stumbled but caught himself and kept going. Dacias shook Souzie off and ran back down. He had to help. He didn’t know what, but he had to do something. The ground rattled his bones. A cascade of destruction raced behind Klorin. The tremor didn’t let up. It shook them violently.
The ground opened up right before Klorin. He stopped and tried to maneuver around the opening when the tremor intensified. The crack opened wider, swallowing Klorin.
Dacias’s agonized roar ripped through the air as he sprinted to his brother. The wreckage from the crumbling volcano continued to fall, filling up the crack and burying Klorin alive. Then, the tremor stopped.
The rubble settled, and Dacias ran to where Klorin disappeared and roared to the sky. He shifted, and the tears flowed as he cursed the Mother Planet. No. This couldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t accept it.
Dacias began digging, anguished wails tearing apart his throat as the jagged stones sliced his hands.
Souzie appeared next to him. “KLORIN! KLORIN!”
She dug, too. Together, they pulled the rocks away through gasping sobs.