Chapter 30 #2
“No.” I pointed back toward the way the Sanguir was still crawling toward us. “That’s the direction of Lake Mirae, and we just put another twenty minutes between us and it.”
Izaiah puffed out a frustrated breath. “You should go up first then.” He examined the cliff face. “I could at least slow you down if you start to fall.”
“You’re the stronger of the two of us,” I noted. It was a fact, he had easily fifty pounds on me, and more than half a foot in height. “You should go first, you’ll reach the top faster.”
He shook his head. “If you hadn’t called me when you did, I would be running unseeing in that cave with that…thing after me. You go first so I can make sure you make it to the top.”
Izaiah was more than an acquaintance, he was someone I wanted to stand beside me while we both got our graduation marks permanently inked.
He’d hauled my ass to the Medical center after I’d injured my ankle.
I’d be lucky to have him as a crew member with me on an Arc.
Somewhere along the way, he’d become a friend I didn’t want to see hurt, or left behind.
I’d acted on instinct to help him, even though leaving him in the cave with the Sanguir would have allowed me to run in the opposite direction, closer to Lake Mirae.
My mind hadn’t gone there before I had rushed toward him.
I remembered my promise to myself never to subtract from the efforts of others to try to add to my own selfish glory. Something cold began to thaw inside me.
After years of relying on only myself because I had to, at some point my army of one mentality had stopped serving me. Helping others wasn’t the same, but it was a start.
Realizing at some point my mouth had dropped open, I clicked it shut. “Okay, I’ll go first.” I ran a tentative hand along the rocky wall, finding purchase in a few small grooves.
The rock was even smoother than it appeared, there were barely enough divots to provide the necessary grip and friction to hold my weight up.
Gritting my teeth, I moved one arm, then one leg up after another as I balanced.
My ankle was fully healed, but it still complained when I twisted it too far for a specific position.
Moving slowly upward, I waited until I reached one of the larger outcroppings to look down and ensure Izaiah was still climbing behind me.
He was having a harder time than me. It didn’t look like he was an experienced climber.
Several times, he lost his grasp, fumbling to catch himself.
The outcropping I was resting on was too slight to hold his larger size, but there was another ten feet up that he could rest on.
Below, the Sanguir crept closer, just a few yards from where we were. I was too high off the ground for it to reach, but Izaiah’s ankle was treacherously close to the limits it might be able to jump. If the suction they’d had on Rosa’s face was any indicator, it would climb.
“Faster,” I urged under my breath. “Come on.”
“Keep going!” he huffed, throwing a glance up at me. “I’ll be right behind you.”
I turned and continued climbing. Watching him wouldn’t help him, but if I got to higher ground sooner, I’d leave the path clear for him. The sound of his hissing breaths and grunts as he climbed was nerve wracking. Dread swelled with the wet sucking noise of the creature as it drew closer.
Heaving myself over the edge of another ridge, I chanced to look down. The Sanguir had reached the edge of the cliff, and was squashing its body up in preparation to lunge.
Izaiah wasn’t high enough up. A shout of warning built up in the back of my throat.
It jumped.
With a squelching splat, it hit the wall just beneath him, sliding down several feet and leaving a dusky trail of slime behind. However, it didn’t fall back to the ground. Slowly, menacingly, it began to slide upward.
Izaiah grabbed onto the edge of the first area I’d climbed onto, hauling himself up another few feet.
Screaming at him to hurry would only distract him. Clawing at the rock at my feet, I grabbed a loose hunk and took careful aim. I hurled it at the Sanguir.
It glanced off the side of it, barely slowing its ascent.
Turning to what remained of my own climb, the upper rim of the cliff protruded only another fifteen feet away.
And beyond the rim of the bluff, the gore-stained spikes atop the outer perimeter peeked out.
I made my way up to the promontory, the first fat drops of rain sliding down my face as I cleared the top.
Pulling myself up, I scanned quickly to see where the nearest door in the perimeter was.
Only a few yards away. I lifted my shirt over my head to hold it out in a feeble barrier against the deluge hitting the cliff as the rain started in earnest.
Izaiah was only a few feet behind me, Sanguir still lumbering upwards behind him. It was climbing faster than he was.
Raindrops flooded the shirt’s fabric. It would start dripping within seconds. Precious seconds that stretched out like caramel.
I reached down to help Izaiah up as he crested the edge, yanking with enough force that I tumbled backwards onto my butt.
“Thanks," Izaiah commented, gaze darting toward my breasts, shielded only by a soaked bra.
I rolled my eyes, pulling my sopping top over my head. “Let's go.” Standing up, I pointed to the nearest door, jogging toward it.
Izaiah slammed the door shut behind me. The wet hissing splat noise of the Sanguir impaling itself on a spike moments later echoed in my ears.
We rushed through the inner perimeter gate, and I breathed more fully once we were safely on the other side of the banyan wall.
Blinking up against the rain, I searched for the sun. “Four pm,” I guessed. We only had a few hours left before sundown, and we were on the wrong side of Mesmoria. “That way,” I pointed roughly northwest. We started to run, mud marking our journey before each footprint was washed away.
The landscape rushed by as we made our way toward Mount Kael. Since it sat squarely in the middle of the island, it was the most notable landmark between us and Lake Mirae.
Within minutes, Izaiah had outpaced me so thoroughly he was no longer in sight. The lack of visibility from the rain didn’t help.
What had been a light drizzle woke itself up and chose violence. Rain began to batter down in thick sheets, thunder rolling between the clouds.
The forest that surrounded Lake Mirae yawned out ahead of me.
The profile of a person stood out against the edge of the tree line as they stepped from within it, curly brown hair framing a strong hulking body. Dread seized the pit of my stomach like a viper’s poison.
Nikolach.
How? Why now?
He saw me. It was too late to hide.
Run!
I slowed down. The Voyager combat training would be enough to protect myself. It would have to be, because I wouldn’t run from his shadow anymore. I was sick of running, sick of being afraid.
Another two months in the Reformatory had grizzled his features, new scars and toughened muscles peppering his form. It had also worsened his dust habit; violet stained the edges of his lips. His left hand held a fearsome hand axe which he spun in idle circles.
“I was beginning to get impatient.” Nikolach canted his head to the side, squinting at me. “You remind me of the other one. Nevermind, doesn’t matter.” He slapped his palm against the flat of the axe, making a whistling chirp with his mouth and snickering. The blade’s edge gleamed in the gloom.
He gave a test swing of the axe toward me. I stumbled backwards out of reach on instinct.
My pulse was louder than the storm.
He tilted his head to the side again, listening to something only he could hear. He snickered again.
Was he high?
“You really shouldn’t have framed me,” he chided, wagging the axe at me. He took a clumsy step forward, spitting onto the ground.
I took an instinctive step away from him. “I didn’t.”
He made the chirping noise again, lunging at me with the axe with surprising speed. Dodging to the side, adrenaline narrowed my focus down to just him and I. And surviving the next few minutes.
Reasoning with him was right out.
He swayed when he missed me, spinning and taking another swing. I ducked and darted away before he had time to change the trajectory of the blow.
If he was high on dust, I had a chance.
Lightning and thunder detonated above.
He grabbed my scarf as it trailed behind me, momentarily suffocating me as he yanked me back. I jerked it off, tumbling out of reach of another swing. Mud splattered into my face when I landed. It gave me an idea.
While he was turning to face me again, I threw mud at his face, giving a savage smile as he screamed when it hit his eyes. I kicked at his solar plexus as he swiped the mud from his face, pleased when he gave a winded grunt.
Without waiting for him to recover, I landed a heavy punch to his ear. He shook his head, blinking as if disoriented before he drove a wild swing of the axe toward my side. Dodging back, I studied his stance for an opening.
His posture was not nearly as honed as Zevrials, hunched over the weapon like a troglodyte.
Circling him, I saw an opening on the side where the mud stunted his peripheral vision, and moved in to sweep his feet from under him.
He landed with a wet squelch. I hammered a flurry of kicks into his ribs before he rolled away and clamored back up.
When he rose, he’d put several feet of distance between us and held one dirtied arm defensively over the side of his ribs I’d pummelled.
“Did I crack something?” I asked, hopefulness plain.
He glared at me, spitting blood onto the ground.
Forcing my breathing to even, I listened to him snicker and pant.
I wasn’t about to wait for him to catch his breath.
Rushing forward, I feinted a kick to his right shin, only to drop at the last second and slam one into his left shin. He slashed out with the axe, and I hissed as it opened a shallow cut across my hairline despite my bending backwards to avoid the strike.