Chapter 45
It happens so fast, I can’t even call out to Red.
I hit the ground, and the oxygen explodes from my lungs.
I lay there, staring up at the sky in stunned silence a moment.
My first thought is that I’m alive. I don’t get to have another thought before there’s suddenly a guivre flying at me.
I roll away from the fire that erupts from its mouth.
The ground disappears beneath me, and I fall and then hit the ground and keep rolling.
I can’t stop the momentum. The world around me flies past, and I try to stop my fall.
I grab at things, but nothing stops me. It feels like minutes, but it’s probably only seconds later that I finally come to a stop.
I blink as the world rights itself once again.
I blink and try to process what happened.
Everything on my body hurts, and I try not to panic.
But it’s getting increasingly harder when I can’t see the sky.
All I can see is underbrush-twigs, branches, overgrown vines.
I try to sit up but can’t. I push with my arms but get nowhere.
I try to move my feet, and pain explodes in my leg.
Bright stars flash behind my eyes, and I instantly stop moving that leg.
I try to compartmentalize. Before I can, though, my thoughts shoot to Red.
Are you okay? She doesn’t answer, and my growing panic continues. Redara?
Little busy here.
I take a breath and close my eyes, willing her to be all right.
I start counting. Slowly. One, two, three, four, five.
..I am very aware of the fact that I haven’t done this in a very long time.
I used to always count when I was scared.
I learned from an early age that it helps to calm the panic and slow my racing heart.
I refuse to think of what’s happening to Redara and what is going to happen to me.
Instead, I focus on counting calmly to one hundred.
When I get to one hundred, and I still haven’t heard from Red, I start to panic again.
Harper?
I close my eyes in relief at the sound of her voice in my head. Are you okay?
Yes. Those guivres can’t say the same, though.
I suck in a breath. Good.
I can’t believe I fell for their trap. I can sense the anger burning through her.
I know.
You can come out now; they’re gone, she sends to me.
Uh, it’s not quite that simple.
She must pick up on the panic in my voice. What’s wrong? She demands.
When I rolled, I must have rolled into a ravine or something. I dropped quite a ways, and I can’t exactly get out now. Just saying the words causes the panic in my chest to rise. I’m stuck, Red. I can’t get out, and worse, I think my leg is broken.
I feel her alarm through our bond, but just for a moment. Stay calm, Harper. I will get you out.
She goes silent, and I go back to counting again. I get to one hundred two times before I hear from her again. I can’t see you. Can you see me as I fly overhead?
I look up but can’t see anything past the branches and overgrowth. I have absolutely no view of the sky no matter how hard I try. I try moving positions, even though it causes pain in my leg. I can’t see anything.
Okay. Don’t panic. It’s quiet a moment, and then I hear her again. Try yelling; let me see if I can pinpoint your location.
“Redara! I’m in here!” I shout. Anything?
No, but don’t give up. Try again. This is a large area; I’ll find you.
Her words give me comfort, and I try again. I yell until my voice is nearly hoarse. Then finally, she hears me. I hear you! You're much further down than I initially realized. But it’s okay, she rushes to say. I’ll get you out.
As I lay there, my adrenaline starts to fade, and the pain in my leg becomes more pronounced. I can’t even pinpoint where the pain is coming from. But when I try to move my leg, I cry out in pain. I’m pretty sure it’s broken, I send her.
That’s okay. I’ll get you out.
She’s careful to stay calm, but the longer it takes, the more I start to lose hope. Harper, I think I’m going to have to get Rauk. I can’t get to you.
No, he’s protecting the soldiers. You can’t pull him from that.
Well, it’s only a matter of time before they come to us. Noxlyn by now knows that we’re gone.
But they need to help fight, I send her.
I know.
She’s quiet after that, and I am as well. I’m too busy trying to decide if I’m going to die trapped in here. I don’t know how much time has passed when Redara says, They’re on their way.
They can’t, I tell her.
Well, they are, she snaps. A little while later, she speaks again. They’re here now. Noxlyn is trying to see if he can get to you. His bonded is as well. Hope fills me, even as dread does as well. They’re needed on the front lines, not here with me. Can you shout again?
“I’m down here. Can anybody hear me? Hello? Can anybody hear me? I’m down here.”
Noxlyn and I are over the spot; we can hear you.
I stop shouting and try to move to get comfortable.
There’s something digging into my shoulder, and I try to move but can’t.
Pain shoots up my leg again, and I grit my teeth and force myself to think about anything besides that.
I don’t hear anything for a while from Redara. Are you still up there? I ask.
Yes. Just trying to figure out how to get to you.
The minutes tick by, and I fear I’m going to die in here. I try to keep the panic at bay, but it’s really hard. The only thing that keeps me from losing my mind altogether is my connection to Redara. Can you see the battle from here?
No, she sends back.
Can you go check and see how it’s going?
No.
Please, I ask.
No. Noxlyn said our side was winning when they left.
Yeah, well they’re probably not now, now that their biggest weapon is gone.
Redara doesn’t say anything, and I close my eyes and try to think about anything other than the battle or being trapped down here.
After it’s been silent quite a while, I ask, Is it starting to get dark yet?
She doesn’t answer, and that doesn’t feel like it’s good. Redara?
Not yet.
I close my eyes against the rising panic. It feels like hours pass, but I really have no idea. My check-ins with Redara go longer and longer in between, and I try to keep my hope alive. And then I finally hear something. “Harper!”
My head jerks up, and I close my eyes against the pain in my legs. “I’m here!” I shout back.
“Harper!”
“Rauk! I’m here!”
“I’m here. I’m coming for you, okay?”
Relief crashes through me so intensely, it’s hard to breathe. He calls out to me several more times. Each time he sounds closer, but it takes a long time for him to get close. “Harper!”
“You’re close,” I tell him as hope crashes through me again. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the vines being cut down inches from my head. And then suddenly, his face appears.
“Found you.”
I stare at his face as relief crashes through me.
The only thing I can move is my head, but I keep my gaze trained on his face.
He uses his blade to cut down some of the branches around us, and then he slides on his stomach towards me.
I watch him with growing unease. “Is that how you got to me? On your stomach like that?” I ask in horror.
“Yep. You did not pick an easy place to hide.”
All the frustration and fear I’ve felt for the last few hours suddenly rushes forward. “You think I did this on purpose? I am not hiding. I fell down here and got stuck and couldn't get back out and was terrified. If you think—”
“Hey,” he says, interrupting my tirade. “I was just teasing; but it was a bad joke and bad timing. I’m sorry you were scared, and I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” His words are so gentle, and so at odds with what I’m used to from him, I can only stare at him.
“Who are you and what did you do with the other Rauk?” I ask quietly.
He smirks. “Okay, I deserve that. We’ll have lots of time to chat when we get out of this mess. We’re going to have to crawl out. It's going to be a tough go; I’m not going to lie to you. But we’ll get through it.”
And just like that, the hope crumbles in my chest. “Rauk,” I pause and meet his eyes in the near darkness. “I can’t move my leg; I think it’s broken.”
He doesn’t make a sound. And then he says, “Okay.”
“Okay?” I question. “I can’t move. How am I going to get out?”
“We’ll figure it out.” His voice is calm, too calm. “Can I check it out?”
“Yeah.” He moves, and watching him, I realize how bad it is in here. He can barely move. He finally gets down to my leg. “Try moving it.” I do and nothing happens. I feel his hand, and then pain explodes from my leg.
“Stop!” I shout as agonizing pain rolls over me.
His face is next to mine a minute later. “It’s broken.”
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
He's quiet a moment. “I think we might have to have help.”
I close my eyes in defeat. There’s no help to be had.
Anybody that could help is currently fighting for their lives.
I force my breathing to slow down and try to find my calm.
Then I turn my head towards Rauk, even though I can no longer see him with darkness closing in.
“Thanks for coming in after me. Sorry it was a waste of time. Hopefully, when you come back tomorrow in the light of day, it will work out better.”
His low chuckle surprises me. “Harper, Harper. What am I going to do with you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means if you think I’m leaving you alone in here for the night, you’ve lost your mind.”
His words shock me, and it takes me a moment to respond. “You’re not leaving?”
“Nope.”
I don’t know what to say. “Rauk, you don’t have to stay.”
“Actually, I do.”
“Is it too hard to get out at night?” I question.
“I could probably manage.”
“Then why aren’t you?” I ask in exasperation.
I feel his body shift closer to mine. “Man, this ground is uncomfortable.”
I can’t help the smile that tugs at my mouth. “Is the king not used to sleeping on the ground?”
“No. That’s what my incredibly soft, comfortable bed is for.”
I snort out a laugh. “Your royalty is showing.”
“I’m okay with that. You’d say the same thing if you slept in my bed.”
“Ha! Is that a line you use often?”
“You’re terribly cruel, Harper.” But I don’t hear any heat in his words.
“Well, I’m sorry you don’t have your soft bed to lie in tonight,” I tell him. I turn my face towards him, suddenly needing to know. “How was the battle going when you left?”
“We definitely had them on the run.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t have come after me! You should have stayed to fight.”
I can’t see him in the dark, and yet somehow, I know his eyes are on my face. “Harper, nothing would have kept me from coming to you.”
I laugh, trying to lighten the mood because surely he didn’t mean them the way they sounded. “I mean unless we were going to lose the war, right?”
“No, Harper, not even then. I would have come for you even if all three kingdoms fell.”