Chapter 16 #2
There’s no more time to spend on her, so I snatch the whole bag and count the items as I hurry back to Ben. Nothing’s missing. My back goes rigid with the thought that I’d been too harsh toward her. There’s nothing to be done about it now; I’ll apologize later.
Not caring who knows the truth any longer, I spill the journal from the bag and flip it to the most worn page.
I stare down at the mundane tracings, details I’ve filled in over the years.
Right now it’s nothing but lines on a piece of paper.
We’d overlapped it with the most modern maps we could find to come up with our expedition path, but now as I stare at it, I can’t find the meaning.
“I don’t understand,” Mr. Bennett says. “This is the map you used to get here? How would they have something similar? It’s nothing but a line through empty space.”
Foolish man. A grotesque whisper has me shifting to the emptiness beside us. The heads of those around us follow my lead. Even though I can see the man clear as day, I know no one else is having the same experience.
Ben’s hand finds my wrist, and then the journal is taken away from me.
You can show them. Show them your power. The words, in Portuguese, are clearly coming from the form of the man in front of me, and yet his lips are not moving.
“What do you want?” I ask. Everything else around me freezes as I step toward the man.
He’s in branded steel-plated armor; a morion helmet sits atop his head.
“You took this land from them!” I call after him, feeling enraged for those that came before me.
Another soft touch finds my arm, so grounding that I have to fight to keep the vision.
I protected what lies ahead. His head turns out over the landscape. No emotion. Somehow that same gaunt face remains even as he continues. I do not wish for you to pass.
At his confession, the whole world shakes. I hear Ben growl my name behind me as his grip tightens.
“Please,” I beg. “There are others behind us who mean this place harm! They are not here.”
They are everywhere.
Pulling against Ben, I break free and approach the man. I pull the necklace from my blouse and hold it up. The glow does nothing to illuminate the ghostly apparition. The emotion stays balanced, but this time he bows his head in recognition.
Forgive me, my lady. There are those here that do not wish to protect the sanctity of this place.
He looks toward me again. The light will only guide those who are worthy of it.
With one shaky finger, the man points east. Your necklace will spare you of what will come to pass, but you must go before the darkness claims the others.
At the next rumble of the earth, the man disappears, and I stumble in the aftermath. “Lillian!” Ben screams through the chaos. “What was that?” Rocks begin to shake and tumble from above.
“The map!” I rasp. I break free of Ben’s grasp and crawl to where the journal lays open.
It’s glowing.
“It changed!” Bruno yells, picking me up from the dirt.
Those behind us are scrambling to collect their things; others are calling for their orders.
“Not more caves,” James huffs under his breath.
At his huff, the first boulder falls, landing feet from where Margaret was seated moments ago.
The journal has shown a new way forward. I hold my glowing muiraquit? up to the page, and the path becomes clear to me. “We need to move,” I say quietly. “Now!”
As the order is given, more rocks tumble, freeing rubble and mud. So much mud. “Go East!” I scream, though a large wave of roiling earth washes two men away before my eyes. Two innocents. Two of Bruno’s men who only came to protect the land.
I freeze at the sight of it. How could we have driven the earth so angry that it was willing to take out anyone and everyone in order to protect itself?
“Move!” Ben screams, tackling me to the side. I hit the ground hard but manage to hold on to the journal. “Up!” Ben screams again. He practically lifts me up to my feet and pushes me in front of him hard.
“My pack!” I argue, twisting in his arms.
He just pushes me faster. “Lillian, it’s gone. We need to get to safety.”
We run together, slipping through the mud and rain until we’ve cleared the overhang completely. The ground is rockier here, more stable. Dropping low, the two of us crouch as the rest of the rumbles wrack the earth and the last of the survivors crawl from the grasp of the sucking mudslide.
I spy Ademir first, and a little bit of me calms. He’s climbed to safety not very far away from us.
As quickly as it started, it stops. The debris at the bottom of the small mountain catches, causing a chain reaction. The mud stops flowing, stops sucking everything down in its path. The sounds of the forest resume, but there’s still a rushing sound pulsing through me.
Ben lets out a lofty breath next to me before collapsing to the ground as the adrenaline crashes. I find myself joining him as we survey the higher ground where a few others have managed to climb to safety.
Further down are Bruno and a few of his men; beyond that, I swear I see Margaret in James’s arms, with Oliver, Mr. Bennett, and Diederick beside them.
Looking closer, I find that my pack made it through as a passenger in Margaret’s arms. I’d been harsh on her about it before, but she’s possibly saved the entire mission by holding onto it.
I look above us, searching for any other survivors. I suck in a pained breath at the sight of nothing but rocky mountainside.
Thirty seconds. That’s all it took.
Out of the 60 people on this journey, this is who is left.
Gripping my journal to my chest like a vise, I force myself to stand. Ben reaches for my hand but doesn’t stop me, merely caresses my thumb before clambering up beside me. “What do you want to do next?” he asks.
I’m halfway to explaining what the man had said to me when the earth begins to rumble again. Ben’s eyes grow in terror while the groans of the rest of our party members rise all around us. Then the shaking starts, but no wave of mud comes for us.
Maybe 200 meters to our west, the trees begin to roll and tumble to the ground. In the midst of everything, I’d forgotten that there were others racing toward our goal, the people we were trying to avoid.
“God,” Ben says, wincing beside me.
The two of us watch on as a tidal wave of a rock slide knocks loose the trees on the very path we had once charted to follow.
Over there, my father was getting his punishment for coming here.
I find myself hoping that it puts an end to everything.
That there won’t be anyone left for us to fight when the time comes.
A guttural chorus of screaming manages to float to us.
Everyone on our side goes still, realizing what is happening.
We had been forced back toward the main trail. Right now, the Germans would be forced toward us too. It would be a true race. I stiffen at the thought. Ben must realize it at the same time because he approaches me and puts a bolstering arm around my shoulders, sheltering me from what he can.
Not even Ben’s strength can shield me from the awful sounds that echo throughout the valley.
Ancient trees are snapped in two, animals and men alike fight against the onslaught to find level footing.
The horrible sights and sounds of the mountain cracking apart conquers all.
It delivers a never-ending deluge of mud and rocks and terror.
I sink further into Ben’s side as the slide sputters to a stop and the world keeps spinning. I clutch my necklace as we all suck in a collective breath and wait to see who or what might crawl out of the aftermath.