Chapter 8
Hestia
It doesn’t take long to reach the location of our emergency call, and we pull up to find a group of people huddled around a low stone circle. One of the men is crying on a blonde woman’s shoulder.
Orion and Charm approach the group while we unload our equipment.
I hear one woman say they haven’t had contact with their friend since he fell.
“Did you hear anything at all? A splash?” Orion asks.
“I don’t know. We had spread out during the hike, and Silas was ahead of us,” the blonde says.
“I was the closest to him, but I was still pretty far away. I barely saw him drop out of sight. If I had blinked, I would have missed it,” her friend adds.
They don’t have any more information, so Orion has Charm move in. He comforts the group while herding them away to give us space to work.
Magnus and Henri are already pulling out ropes and harnesses.
Like any team that’s been together for years, they work with practiced ease, taking on different tasks without needing to discuss it.
Being packmates probably helps since they can tell what the others are doing through the bond, but still, it takes experience to do things so seamlessly.
Magnus tightens the harness straps around his thick thighs. I look away quickly and focus on my own gear.
Orion shines a flashlight into the hole. At first we thought it was an old well, but after seeing it in person, it doesn’t look like one.
There’s little snow on the stones, so whatever was covering it must have fallen in along with our patient.
“Can you see anything?” Henri asks quietly.
“No, it’s too deep for the light to reach the bottom,” Orion says. “It’s been an hour since Silas fell with no word from him. We’ll send someone down rather than waiting on a drone to check it out first. He likely needs medical attention as soon as possible. Magnus and Cato, you’ll be up here.”
Magnus nods and positions himself near the hole, clearing the snow away so he has a stable place to stand.
“Henri, they’ll lower you down slowly. Radio as soon as you see anything,” Orion says.
Henri nods, and Magnus hands him the end of his rope.
“Wait, I should be the one to go down,” I say.
“No,” Orion says immediately.
“I’m the best one for it since the hole is so narrow,” I say.
“I know you have the training to do this, but you don’t have the experience. I won’t be able to keep an eye on you down there,” Orion says.
He turns away like the conversation is over, and I hesitate only for a moment before continuing, “It’s a simple task, I’ll just be going up and down. It will be a tight fit if Henri brings Silas back up.”
Henri stops tying himself in and waits. The others don’t say anything and I can’t tell if they’re against my idea or not.
Orion watches me, and I struggle not to back down or look away. I don’t think he’s trying to make me submit, it’s more like he’s trying to see if I’m serious.
“You’re sure you can do this?” he finally asks.
“I can do it,” I say firmly.
“Alright, we’ll lower Hestia down. Henri, you can help me guide her,” Orion says.
I swap places with Henri, and he helps me get the ropes on.
“Find Silas and stabilize him. If you don’t think you can get him up safely, radio us and we’ll swap you out,” Orion says, waiting to make sure I understand.
I agree and he nods. I have no problem with reassessing and admitting I’m wrong after getting down there. I don’t know what I’ll find at the bottom.
Orion makes sure my radio is securely attached and looks over my equipment while the others get in place, and then he helps me over the rock ledge and into the hole.
Once all my weight is on the ropes, I look up at Magnus. His gigantic form is clad all in black except for the pale skin around his eyes.
I can’t read his expression under the balaclava, and I don’t know if he agrees with Orion’s decision, but his presence is comforting. I don’t know him well, but I trust him.
“Radio if you need anything,” Orion says as I drop out of sight.
“I will,” I say, voice echoing around me.
I shine my flashlight below, but don’t see anything except more darkness.
I look up every so often to see how far I’ve gone since it’s hard to tell otherwise. The bright circle above gets smaller and smaller as I descend.
When Magnus is just a speck haloed by light, Orion comes through the radio, “How are you doing? Do you see anything?”
“I’m fine. I still can’t see the bottom,” I say.
There were a few scuffs on the stone walls where the dirt had recently been disturbed, along with some smears that might be blood. I’m hoping Silas only sustained minor injuries, but it’s such a long way down.
Orion checks in every so often, and I give the same report.
I’ve been in the dark for so long, it takes me a second to realize when the light reflects off something below.
I can’t make out much until I get closer, but eventually I see broken, splintered boards littering the bottom. They’re probably what was covering the hole until Silas broke through. The debris extends beyond what I can see, the edges disappearing past the circumference of the shaft.
Most importantly, I don’t see Silas.
I squint as I drop lower. There’s something below the boards, hay or maybe sawdust.
I hoped to spot Silas before radioing in, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
“I’m close to the bottom. Slow my descent. I don’t see Silas yet, but there’s a cave or something down here and he’s out of sight from my current position,” I say.
“Got it. Let us know when you’re close to touching down,” Orion says.
I come out of the shaft about ten feet from the ground, dangling above a cavern. I swing my light back and forth, trying to make sense of the mess and find any sign of Silas.
Dust motes reflect in my beam, the air stale and dry.
“How close are you? Can you see him?” Orion asks.
“Not yet. I’m about five feet from touching down.”
I’ll be landing on an enormous pile of wood shavings. Now that I’m close enough, I’m sure that’s what it is. I can smell the pine scent, still potent even after however much time it's spent down here.
I don’t know why that’s here, maybe the hole was used as a trash pit, but it’s good news for Silas since it means he didn’t fall onto bare earth.
“Be ready to stop,” I say.
A groan answers me, and not from the radio.
“Silas? Can you hear me?” I ask loudly.
There’s more groaning and the wood shavings shift around.
“Do you see him? How is he?” Orion asks.
“I heard him, I don’t see him yet,” I say.
That Silas is conscious seems like a miracle, but as I sink into the curls of wood, I see why. My boots disappear, and by the time I touch a solid surface, the wood shavings are up to my waist. It reminds me of the kind you find in barn stalls for horse bedding.
“I’m down, I’m detaching from the line,” I say, already undoing the ropes.
“No, don’t unhook!” Orion orders.
“I have to. There’s debris everywhere, and I need to search for Silas without getting caught on things,” I say.
Orion raises more protests, but I ignore him. It would take too long to explain the strangeness of this situation.
I wade through the shavings, moving broken boards out of my way, heading for where I saw movement. I can smell Silas’s tart raspberry scent under the pine.
When I feel like I’m close, I start digging, careful not to jostle him.
I uncover his chest first, dark blue parka poking out of the debris. I pull more boards away, brushing the shavings off until I reveal his pale face.
His eyes are tightly closed, brows furrowed and mouth pinched.
I feel his pulse, and it’s fast but strong. I see only minor cuts and tears in his clothes.
I use my penlight to check his pupils, and they dilate normally. He barely reacts to my touch, even when I pull his eyelids open, but his face twitches.
I run my hands around his neck and the back of his head, finding nothing amiss. I don’t smell much blood either, just the small amount from the few cuts I see.
I put a cervical collar on him before I do anything more. Alphas are sturdy, but that was a long way down.
I push the broken boards off his legs, their clattering interrupting Orion’s stream of commands about reconnecting to the rope.
Maybe I should have stayed attached.
We’re in a large cavern, and I have no idea how stable this place is. My light disappears at the far edges of the room, or maybe those are tunnels sucking up the light.
No, my decision was the right one. The line would have gotten snagged and potentially damaged trying to find Silas in all of this.
I update Orion on his status.
He finally gives up on telling me to reattach and says, “Do you think you can rouse him before we pull you up? It will be easier if he’s conscious.”
“I think so, he’s responding to stimulus. I’m about to give him a healing vial, and if that doesn’t wake him up, I’ll try the stronger meds,” I say.
Orion agrees and leaves me to work in silence.
I unfold my padded medicine case and find the correct vial.
“Silas, can you hear me? I’m an emergency responder, and I’m going to give you some medicine. Once you’re awake, I’m going to help you back to your friends. Everything is fine, just stay calm,” I say, trying one more time to see if he’ll wake up on his own.
He frowns and tries to turn toward me, but the collar stops him. His eyes remain closed.
I pull his mouth open and press the glass against his lower lip. The gold liquid trickles in, the color briefly staining his teeth before it filters into his mouth. He reflexively swallows, emptying the vial.
I’ve barely pulled the glass away when he jolts upright.
Suddenly he’s looming over me, looking around wildly before zeroing in on me.
“Are you alright? Let’s get you out of here,” Silas says, grabbing my arm.
“I’m fine. You were the one who fell—don’t do that!” I say, grabbing his wrist as his fingers scrabble at the cervical collar, attempting to pull it off.
My meager weight pulling on his muscular arm doesn’t do much to deter him.
“Silas, take a deep breath,” I say firmly.