When the convulsing stopped, Meical ripped Cappa’s shirt down the middle and examined every inch of skin. Jovi had her eyes open, but if felt like she sat miles away, not able to take anything in. Not really. This felt like a bad dream, a horrible nightmare, one she needed to wake up from. Meical and Bastien’s voices echoed toward her, like they traveled through a tunnel.
She’d once thought about seeing his bare chest, now all she could do was search for damage of any kind. Even the redness from the Fire Mages had faded, so it couldn’t have been that. But, as she looked over his bare neck, her eyes caught on something wiggling under his skin.
She pointed with a shaky finger. “There’s something moving on his neck.”
When Meical looked, the movement stopped. “I don’t see anything.”
Maybe she’d imagined it? Maybe she’d wanted to find something wrong so badly her brain had planted something.
But, then, Meical poked at Cappa’s neck and the skin raised. Something had squirmed inside there. She hadn’t made it up. Jovi almost screamed at Meical as he stood and walked away without saying a single word. When he returned, he held a small knife.
Jovi’s heart stilled, and she grabbed handfuls of grass. “What are you doing?”
Meical ignored her question and focused on Bastien. “Make a camp here. We need a fire.”
Bastien nodded and stirred, collecting limbs and sticks from fallen branches, piling them into a peak. He shuffled to his mammoth, dug through a bag until he brought out some flint and struck it together to make a spark. The fire lit. “Meical, the fire is ready.”
Meical took the knife and placed the blade in the heat, then followed by heating his canteen of water and pouring it over the blade. He finished by washing his hands with the sterilized water. He choked back a gasp.
Jovi cringed. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“The fire heated the water, sterilizing it. Now I have a clean knife and clean hands. Hopefully.”
Jovi raised her brows, her eyes wide. “What is wrong with him? Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”
Meical frowned at her. “It’s called a fire worm. Only the Fire Mages flames can cause them, and they embed inside, finding a way into the veins. They will boil every drop of blood from the inside.”
Jovi’s stomach dropped. They had to get it out of him. Now, the knife made sense. They planned to cut it out. Her uncle would cut him open and remove the worm before any long-term damage was done.
And Jovi really didn’t think she wanted to watch.
A lump formed in the back of her throat, along with a sour taste, as Meical pushed the knife to Cappa’s neck. He took his time and positioned it before he sliced. Blood welled and spilled into the grass. Not much, but it was enough to make Jovi’s hands clammy and heat rush to her face.
After he’d made the cut, he set the knife on the ground beside him and inserted two fingers into the opening while he pulled the flaps back with his other hand. His fingers moved under Cappa’s skin and Jovi’s stomach lurched.
Jovi gagged and turned away before she threw up. Not that she had anything left in her stomach but bile.
Only minutes passed before Meical squealed with excitement. Jovi looked back in time to see her uncle holding a small worm between his thumb and first finger. A short, stubby looking thing with a fat body stared at him with attentive black eyes. Intricate orange patterns wrapped around a swollen, red form, blood running in a film over his body, even on Meical’s hand. Its mouth opened and revealed a line of sharp teeth, way too big for the small mouth they sat in.
For a moment, Meical stared at it, as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen, but then, as if he’d grown bored, he threw it in the fire. The flames blazed hotter and turned white before they shrank back to the smaller flames they were before.
Bastien held out a small white cloth and applied pressure to Cappa’s neck. After he had soaked up most of the blood, he brought forth a new, clean cloth, which he attached to Cappa’s skin with some kind of tape.
Cappa didn’t stir once during the whole process, which was a miracle and a blessing. They shuffled him over to the base of a tree and placed a bundle of clothes under his head. The heat of the day wrapped around them, and with nothing else to do, Jovi laid on the cool grass and shut her eyes before she let sleep take her.
Jovi gasped as she sat up, a loud noise pounding against her head. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. What the heck is that? she wondered.
She blinked her eyes a few times and brought them in focus, only to see her uncle running around a long-ago burned out fire. He held a long stick in one hand and a pot in the other as he banged them together with a wild grin on his face. His long hair flowed behind him as he ran.
Jovi hopped to her feet. “What on God’s earth are you doing? Stop it right now.”
He dropped the items in his hand and let them thump to the ground. “Oh, good. You’re awake. I didn’t think either you or Bastien would ever wake up.”
Jovi rolled her eyes, but a groan from Cappa drew her attention. He’d woken up. He was okay.
Jovi didn’t care who saw it, she bent over him and kissed his cheek. A smile spread across his lips. “Well, that’s quite a nice thing to wake up to.”
Meical growled. “Ugh. To be young and in love again. Not. Never want to live through that era again.”
Jovi’s cheeks heated.
Bastien smirked as he walked by them and gathered their things. He was more alert than Jovi figured he would be, if he had been asleep. She’d started to think he hadn’t been.
Meical helped, but stared at Jovi as she ran her hands down Cappa’s arms over and over. “Hey, niece. You might be a Princess, but you can still help us clean up.”
Jovi shook her head and mumbled incoherent words as she left Cappa’s side and helped pack up the rest of the things. Once she’d finished, she assisted Cappa up into a sitting position and gave him a drink of water. They were running low, so thank goodness they’d be at the cabin soon.
After they got Cappa on the mammoth, Jovi and Meical mounted Horn and they were off, trotting through The Forest of the Giants toward the cabin. It wouldn’t be long now. From her calculations, six days had passed, so she still had one day. The potions had to be made, and she figured it would take a good chunk of the day for that to be finished. Then, they would arrive at the castle by nightfall and give the Frost Mages their cure, which would make it safe for her parents once more.
The sun had just begun to make its descent as they stopped in front of the cabin. Right away, she could tell something was wrong. Her stomach churned, and not from hunger. With a racing heart, she jumped down from Horn.
Heavy steps surrounded her and they moved as a unit toward the cabin, up the stairs, and inside. Jovi grasped the doorframe so tight her knuckles turned white.
Someone had found Belisandre, and not a friend.
The small table had been upturned and its papers scattered all over the floor. The cabinets were ripped from the hinges and pots and pans were skewed all over the ground. Whoever had attacked had been there to hurt, not help.
Jovi slid her hands over the wooden doorframe and ran over something soft. Looking down, she yanked off a piece of purple cloth, the same color of the dress Belisandre had worn when they’d left.
“We have to find Belisandre.” Her words came out as an exhale. She hadn’t even realized she’d said them, or that her feet moved toward the forest behind the cabin.
Strong arms gripped her shoulders and trapped her back against a solid chest.
With a glare, she spun around, which knocked loose the hold on her. “Let me go. We have to find her.”
Meical frowned and his eyebrows drew together. “We have to find them. Two of my men were left here, too.”
Jovi had somehow forgotten about that. Gideon and Simone had stayed behind to watch and protect Belisandre.
Cappa walked slowly, as if every step hit him with unexpected pain, but h
e sidled up beside them, followed by Bastien.
“Bastien and Cappa, search the pond for bodies. If you find nothing, take to the woods. Jovi and I will go there first. Spread out, but don’t overlook anything. We have to find out what happened here,” Meical barked.
As Jovi entered the woods, Meical stopped her. “If you get in trouble, scream. We don’t know if the attackers are still here. But, keep your eyes open for my warriors, and the sorceress. More than likely, they’re dead in the woods.”
Jovi nodded as she had already come to the same conclusion. Her boots crunched leaves and sticks under her feet as she wove through the thick trees. Bushes sprung out in the strangest places, but she didn’t let them deter her. She struggled through them as thorns scraped at her clothes. It didn’t hurt since they never touched her skin.
Plus, jitters wracked her body, so much energy moving through her she couldn’t release it all. Her breaths came faster and faster, like she might hyperventilate, but she held it together, piece by piece. She jogged through two thick plants that had grown together as one, but her foot smacked against something hard and she flew face first, barely sticking her hands out in time to catch herself. Her nose landed inches from the ground, and her chest slammed into it, knocking every bit of air from her lungs. She rolled to her back, then to her side as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried to breathe, but it burned and made her choke momentarily.
After she gained control and had moved again, she risked a glance behind her to where she’d fallen. Two feet stuck out from the bush. She gulped, then crept forward as she shuffled through the short, bushy branches. A pale face, almost scratched apart to where she had a hard time recognizing it, met her eyes. His lips were blue and he looked as if he’d been dead for days, but she knew who it was even though she could barely see his features. Gideon. Kind, thoughtful Gideon. Dead.
Who would do this to him?
The smell of decayed flesh mixed with dried blood hit her then, and the bit of jerky she’d had the night before came back up. Sweat dripped from her forehead as her stomach lurched again. This time she controlled it and swallowed the bile down her throat.
She tried to stand, but as she put weight on her ankle she fell. Looking down, she pulled her pants up from the bottom to reveal swollen skin wrapping around her bone.
“Meical. Cappa. Bastien. Anyone!” she called out as fear clutched her heart and squeezed her until she could barely move. Gideon was dead and she sat by his body. What if the killer still hid in these woods and she sat here, unable to move, with nobody around to hear her?
She wouldn’t be a sitting duck. She wouldn’t sit here and wait to die.
She crawled, digging her hands into the ground and pulled herself away from the body. She knew she couldn’t keep this up for long, so she made it to a half-tree, partially cut down, and used the base to get on her feet. The minute she put pressure on her swollen ankle, a burning pain shot through her. She took her weight off it, which released a throbbing that made her teeth clench. She hopped from tree to tree when she could, keeping most of her weight on her good leg while she limped with the other one. Inch by inch, step by step, she made her way closer to the cabin.
A rustling of leaves drew her gaze to the left, but a hand swept up behind her to cover her mouth. She tried to scream, but it came out muffled, so she did what any threatened girl would do. She grabbed whatever skin she could with her teeth and bit down. Hard.
The hand dropped and she tried to run, but she fell within a few steps as pain radiated up to her hips, but she quickly rolled around and faced her attacker, arms up and ready to fight.
Her mouth dropped open as she realized her attacker wasn’t an attacker at all. Cappa stared back at her with a frown on his face and a creased forehead as he drew his brows together, shaking his hand out in front of him. “Jesus, Jovi. What the hell did you do that for?”
Jovi placed a hand over her heart, which could probably have flown her through the air right now. She took a long, rough breath, and blew it out slowly. “Well, after what I saw back there, you would have freaked out too.”
“What is it?” Cappa stooped down in front of her. “Are you hurt?”
She nodded. “My ankle…”
Cappa stood up. “Stay here. Which way?”
Jovi pointed behind him. “Straight back, but, Cappa, wait. Don’t go alone. Gideon is dead back there.”
Cappa stared at her for a moment, his mouth hanging open, then he shut it and nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m going to go check it out. Stay put, will ya?”
As he moved away from her, Jovi’s chest grew heavier and heavier. “Wait. Don’t leave me.” Now that she had found someone, she didn’t want to be alone. Her hands shook so bad she could barely wipe the sweat from her brow.
Cappa’s gaze ping-ponged from behind him to her. He crouched down in front of her and caressed her cheek. “I won’t be long. I promise.”
She forced a half-smile. “Be careful.”
When he grinned, his eyes twinkled. “Don’t worry, Princess. I’ll be back before you know I’m gone.” Then he winked and disappeared.
Never in her life had Jovi focused so much on listening. Every leaf that rustled in the breeze alerted her to danger, and then she felt like a fool when she saw what had made the noise.
The pain had gotten worse, so she drew her leg up and untied her boot, shoving it away from her foot. The ache spread for just a moment, but soon dissipated as she straightened her leg out and laid it flat, making sure not to move her ankle.
Her ankle had swelled more and looked like the ball she used to kick around outside when her father actually let her out there. Not good…at all. She knew she hadn’t broken it because she could still move it a little, but she’d done some kind of number on it.
Leaves rustled beside her and she snapped around, the pain in her ankle becoming a distant memory as she hopped to her feet. If she died today, she’d go out swinging.
The thick foliage hid the body, but she could see his legs, so she aimed where she thought his face would be and connected with what felt like a jaw. She shook her wrist as pain lanced through her hand.
Great. Now I hurt my wrist too. Aren’t I just a walking accident? she thought.
“Jovi! What are you doing?”
Jovi’s mouth formed an “O” as the leaves fell away and revealed her uncle as the man she’d slugged. “Oh, geez.” She dropped her hands to her side and rushed forward to check his face, but her ankle gave out and she fell. Her uncle caught her even as he rubbed his jaw.
Meical’s eyebrows touched his hairline, then his face turned serious as his eyes darted back and forth. A warrior assessing the situation. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Jovi shrugged. “Cappa was here, but he went to find Gideon.” She averted her eyes to the ground. “He’s dead. I found him. Something really bad happened to him, Uncle. His face looked like it had been scratched right off him.” Jovi paused. “I tripped over him when I found him. Whoever killed him hid him in a bush. But, anyway, that’s how I hurt my ankle.”
“Sit down, niece. Let me have a look.” Meical helped her down and pulled her pant leg up, then sucked in a breath. “Ouch. It looks like a bad sprain, but I don’t think it’s broken.” He grabbed her ankle and Jovi looked away as he moved it back and forth. She found it didn’t hurt when he moved it to the left but it burst with pain when shifted to the right. He smiled. “Definitely not broken, but you’ll be out of commission for a good week while this heals.”
“I don’t have time for that.” Jovi ran a hand roughly through her hair. “But it doesn’t matter. Go help Cappa. Did you find Simone?”
Meical covered his eye with his hand and sighed a long, deep sigh. “Simone is dead. Looked like she’d been choked, or hung, I’m not sure which. But, someone killed her.”
“I’m so sorry, Uncle. Neither of them deserved this.” She paused. “No sign of Belisandre?”
Meical shook his head.
Someone probably took her, maybe the Fire Mages, to stop the Frost Mages from getting the cure.
Meical climbed to his feet. “Sit tight. I’m going to go check it out for myself.”
Just as he took the first couple of steps, Cappa came through the trees, carrying Gideon along with him. He set him gently on the ground at Meical’s feet, who rubbed his hand through his beard, over and over. “Something bad happened to him, for sure, but who could do something like this? It almost looks like an animal attack.”
Cappa’s fist curled at his side as he met Meical’s eyes. “The same thing happened to my mother.” He looked at Jovi as he placed Gideon’s body on the ground.
But a sorceress had killed his mother, right? Could the same sorceress have taken Belisandre? Or, what if they were working together? What would they have to gain? Nothing about this made any sense.
She, yet again, had no answers, but she’d find them.
Jovi crawled to her feet, trying to stand. Cappa slid his strong arm under hers and held her tight. “We need to get back to the cabin. Where’s Bastien?”
“He is waiting there, with the body of Simone.”
Jovi felt sick in her heart, her stomach, her whole body. How could this have happened?
Meical lifted Gideon’s body and Cappa picked Jovi up.
She swatted at his arm. “You don’t have to carry me. I can walk just fine.”
Cappa laughed. “No, you can hobble just fine, and you are light as a feather, I swear.” He swayed, acting as if he might drop her.
She shook her head. Always a jokester, her Cappa. At least even in the direst of situations he still found something to smile about. That had never been easy for her.
Jovi peered over Cappa’s shoulder to her uncle. “How will we find Belisandre to make the potion now?”
Her hope shattered and fell in pieces to the ground. If they had no potion then her parents would die, and that would be the end of it.
Land of Strength and Sorrow Page 17
