“Did that hurt?” She mocked me. Laughing as she got her feet.
The pain made my knees threaten to buckle; I placed my good hand on a table for support. I looked at my injured hand. The spike had gone clean through the centre of my right hand, leaving a hole the size of a pencil in its wake. It was bleeding profusely and throbbed like mad.
“Careful! You’re getting blood everywhere!” She laughed and took a few steps towards the opponent she thought she’d defeated. “Let me dress it for you.” She said with false care. “I’ll lick it clean.”
“Sure,” I said through clenched teeth. Still leaning on the table, I took a breath and closed my hand, the blood flowed faster.
“Really?” She sounded genuinely surprised but moved closer.
“You’re an idiot,” I told her as I picked up the table with both hands and broke it over her head. She went down and didn’t get up.
I kicked her leg a couple times to be sure she was out. When she didn’t react, I quickly grabbed a sash from the ground and bound my hand as best I could. It was difficult tying it with my left, but I managed to get the bleeding down to a trickle. Then I pulled the skin from the back of my suit and put it on the ground. It had been pulsing since Cosima activated it and I needed to be away from its pull for a little while. I set about the room gathering all the rope and ribbon I could find. When I had a huge pile, I began to tie Cosima up. I tied her hands behind her back, wrapping three ropes around them and tying each in as complicated a knot as I could muster. I did the same with her feet. I then set to wrapping long lengths of golden cord up and down her body. I needed to make it near impossible for her to get out. If she woke up before I got back to shore, I needed her occupied. She moaned a couple times while I worked but all three eyes stayed shut.
When I was satisfied with my work, I grabbed the skin from the floor. I shoved it back into place as I walked to the bridge. After riding the collapse of the last, this one held no fear for me now. I crossed it and was back to the stairs in seconds. I started down the steps and forgot about the slippery patch. I hit it, and my legs went out from under me. Stupidly, I brought my hands down to break my fall. The wounded hand hit the wood and salt bringing tears to my eyes. I cried out and wrenched my hand from the water. I sat on the stairs and got my feet on a step below me. When I stood up, I was waist deep in the water.
I didn’t fancy trying to swim back with one hand in the air, so there was no way around it. I had to submerge my injured hand. I checked to make sure Mastyx’s skin and my feather were securely in place, took a deep breath and set out for shore. With every move of my arm, I could feel the water pump through the bleeding hole.
22
The swim to shore seemed shorter than the trip out: maybe the pain was distracting me. My hand throbbed as the salt water swished in and out of the wound. Finally, I got in close enough to get to my feet and walk to shore. I was exhausted by the time my toes left the water, and I collapsed to my knees in the sand.
“I smell blood,” hissed a voice in the trees.
“Me too,” came a sibilant reply.
“Think she’ll give us a taste?” One of the snake men slithered from the trees.
“We could always take one.” Its twin followed. They kept their bellies low to the ground as they moved towards me, flanking me on either side.
“Fuck off, guys.” I glared at them.
“Just a little taste?” The creature’s tongue flicked rapidly in and out as its body stretched to meet me.
“Yessssss. Just a little,” its partner chorused. They kept moving down the sand. My heart started to beat faster. I didn’t have much strength left. If these guys jumped me, I was screwed.
“Tegus! Boaca! That’s enough!” Suddenly Mastyx appeared in our midst. “I told you not to harm her!” he shouted at the two snake men.
“Ssssssorry, Master!” They whined in unison.
“She just smelt so good!” One offered. Mastyx grabbed it by the neck and pulled it off the ground.
“I don’t care what she smells like…” he murmured through gritted teeth, “You do not disobey me.”
“My apologies, Master!” With his hand around the creature’s throat, the sound was strangled and hard. Mastyx looked at me as he tossed the creature to the ground.
“They have not harmed you.” It was a statement.
“No. This…” I held up my injured hand, “is thanks to your ex.” A wide grin broke across his face.
“She can be feisty.” His face changed. “She was there?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Then why did you…”
“We fell asleep. Well, I was asleep. I don’t know what they were doing.” Tegus and Boaca bowed their heads in unison. Mastyx gave them a hard look then turned his attention back to me. “When I woke up there was no way of knowing if she was there or not. So I took a chance.”
“How brave.” He didn’t sound impressed.
“More like stupid. She really didn’t want to give it up, as you can see.” I raised my hand to him again. Blood was soaking through the bandage and scratches and bruises stood out on my arms.
“You have the skin?”
“Yep.” I pulled it out of the suit and tossed it to him. I retightened my bandage as I got to my feet. “So. Where’s my wing?” Standing, we were eye to eye. He looked up from the skin he was pressing to his torso and gave me a devilish smile.
“The Archer has it.”
“The Archer!” My dream suddenly made sense.
“Yes.” His servants gave a sibilant giggle as they drew closer to his body.
“Okay, where is he?” Again his servants laughed.
“I don’t know.” He said plainly.
“What do you mean you don’t know?!”
“He stopped attending Guard meetings a long while ago. Right around the time he took your wing.” He sighed. “And I haven’t the foggiest idea where he could be.”
His words hit me like a fast moving car. I could feel bile rise in my throat. I was an idiot to trust this asshole. I had let him bring me here, to a place where none of my allies knew to look for me. I was screwed.
“Don’t look so sad, Phoenix.” He cooed. “I’m sure you’ll get them back someday. But we should be going…”
“Wait! How will I get out of here?” I reached out for him, and his servants reared up at me, hissing, I recoiled.
“Maybe…” He scolded. “Maybe, you should have thought of that before. Hmmm?”
All I could do was stare as he and his cohorts laughed violently. Their bodies shook and twisted with the hissing scraping sound. The snake men at his feet began to twist around his legs, winding their way up his frame. The grotesque display continued until they disappeared.
Despair took me back to the ground, and I lay there for a while crying big drops self-loathing. I was repeating a mantra of ‘I am so stupid’ when something pinched my injured hand. “Ow!” The pain was sharp and made me sit up. I looked down to where my hand had lain and saw a tiny crab sitting in the cranberry coloured puddle my wound had made. The tiny thing reared back on its legs and clicked its claws at me. The courage of the minuscule warrior, coupled with the pain in my hand, brought me back to myself.
“Right. Up.”
I got to my feet and moved into the trees to find my hiding place. The trees all looked the same, and I was glad I’d marked the spot with my bat. I freed the baton easily from the dirt. I wished I’d had it when Mastyx had arrived. A good smack to the ribs might not have got me anywhere, but I would definitely feel better. The problem now was the knot. My right hand was becoming more and more useless, making loosening the knot a problem. After a few minutes of worrying at the knot, I was pissed. “Ahh!” I yelled at the knot. Not able to articulate my rage, I had to settle for animal like sounds. I grabbed the cord that stretched to the tree and pulled on it. I thrashed around trying to use the leverage of my body to snap the cord. Finally, words came. “Just fucking break!” The cord broke. I fell
on my ass, hard as my bag dropped from the tree to land at my feet. The cord was still wrapped tightly around it, but I had an idea. “Unravel.” Instantly the cord began to move. The silver glinted in the fading light as it retracted the spiral of itself that was wrapped around the bag. After a few moments, the bag was free, and the cord lay in a newly formed spool on the ground. “Wow.” I picked up the spool. “Thank you.” The thread twinkled.
Using my good hand, I pulled my bag towards me and dropped the spool inside. I had to do something about my injury. Blood was seeping quite steadily from it now. A thin crimson line was beginning to trace a path down my wrist, and I was starting to feel light-headed. I took a few swigs of water then continued to rifle blindly through my bag until my hand brushed against rough burlap. “Ah ha!” I pulled the canvas sack free and put it in my lap. I worked it open with my left hand and looked inside to see my wing, whole and perfect, lying gently at the bottom of the hidden space. “I hope this works,” I said the words out loud to comfort myself and then I spoke to the wing. “Please, help me heal my hand.”
Using my teeth, I ripped off the bandage, spat it into the trees and looked at my hand. I could see sunlight through the perfect oozing circle in its centre. I took a deep breath and plunged my hand into the bag. Drops of blood fell onto the feathers. I could see them blaze bright red before they were absorbed by the wing. Just before my fingers touched the feathers, I said softly.
“Please, help me.”
Fingers touched feather and a great jolt of energy coursed through my body. Like licking your fingers and sticking them in a socket, it tore a gasp from my throat. Instinctively I tried to pull my hand away, but the wing held it tight. The initial rush of power dissipated, becoming a warm throb that moved up my arm and dispersed through my body. I could feel the skin re-knitting and the small slivers of bone reform. These were not painful sensations. The wing didn’t cause me pain, just made me aware of the changes. When the healing was complete, it released me. My fingers slipped from the feathers, and I drew my arm from the bag.
The blood was still there. It had dried to look like a sticky red glove. I wiggled my fingers and opened and closed my hand. There was no pain and the place where the hole had been was now filled. I put the canvas sack back in my tote and quickly dashed to the water. I went to my knees at the shore and scrubbed my hand clean with the sand and salt the beach provided. I held my clean and whole hand in front of my face, marvelling at what the wing had done for me. Then I heard it. A sound like an angry cat fixing for a fight cut through the sky. Cosima was up. I had to get off the beach.
I ran back to my bag and quickly put on my shoes. I could still feel sand between my socks and skin, but there was no time for more. I shouldered my bag, grabbed the bat and headed deeper into the trees. I needed to put distance between Cosima and myself. I tried my best imitation of Sid as I moved through the sparse forest. The land sloped upwards, and I ran as best I could. I had been moving for about ten minutes when the hill crested, and I stumbled into a clearing.
“This seems like a good spot.”
I figured if the wing could heal me when I asked it to then maybe it could get me out of here. I sat down in the centre of the clearing and put the bat and bag in my lap. I reached into my tote and pulled out the familiar rough sac. Sid had said if I held both wings, in their sac, to me, I would be able to travel. I was hoping with enough concentration I could do it with one. I held the bag to my chest and spoke to the wing.
“Thank you for your help earlier.”
It felt a little silly but what about this whole thing didn’t. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing my mind on two images. The wing, and Benyst.
“Please take me to Benyst.”
The bag became very warm, and I could feel the wing’s energy trying to connect with my body. It seemed to be struggling. The power was growing and fading, never quite getting big enough for Travel. In the distance, I could hear something crashing through the trees.
“Please take me to Benyst.” Again the rise and fall of power but no Travel. I thought back to my hand, the slightest touch had healed it. I opened the bag.
“Please take me to Benyst.”
I dipped my right hand into the canvas sack. I could feel the wing pulsing with growing power. Cosima’s screams of rage were getting closer. My fingers brushed against the soft feathers.
“Please.” The wing locked on to my hand and we were off.
I had never been aware during Travel before. I had thought it was instantaneous but now, with the wing as my guide, I knew differently. We moved through a plain of bright greyish light. I could feel wind against my body indicating our extreme speed. There was nothing but grey light and wind everywhere. Soon in the distance an even brighter spot appeared. We seemed to be barreling towards it. I kept my image of Benyst strong as we hurtled towards the blinding light. When it became too much I shut my eyes, the light burned through the thin skin of my lids. There was a loud crack, and instantly all was dark. The wind stopped, and I landed hard on the ground, my bag and bat on top of me. I struggled to open my eyes as Benyst yelled.
“She’s back!”
23
“Oh! Thank you! Thank you!” Noiryn was here too. “I thought you’d never come back.” She sputtered through sobs.
“Calm down! Let me get a look at her.”
My eyes were finally open. I could see the thick jungle canopy above me.
“It worked,” I to myself. Benyst’s large misshapen skull appeared above me, the folds of his skin quivered as he spoke.
“How you doing, girl?” He didn’t wait for a response. “She’s fine. Come on, let’s get you up.”
He slid one meaty hand behind my neck and helped me to sit up. He crouched down beside me; his raw face inches from mine, and whispered to me so Noiryn wouldn’t hear.
“I thought you were done for.”
“I love proving you wrong.” I chided. He laughed as he hauled me to my feet. Noiryn was standing a few feet away looking very tentative. I smiled at her and opened my arms.
“Phoenix!” She flung herself at me, and I wrapped my arms around her. She clung to me for a few moments then relaxed in my arms and stepped away. “You must be hungry.”
“Food can wait!” growled Benyst. “What the hell happened?”
“Let her sit down!” Noiryn countered. “She can eat while she talks!” Noiryn seemed to have gotten over her fear of Benyst, they were bickering like an old married couple.
“First…” They both turned to me. “I need a shower.”
I looked like hell. My hair had been tossed about by the salty waves one too many times, and Cosima had had a good grab at it. Half of it stuck out at odd and angles, and the other half was flat to my skull and matted. I had a fine layer of salt and sand all over my skin and inside my jumpsuit. The suit itself was becoming stiff with embedded grime, and the sand in my shoes was making me mental. Not to mention the dried blood I hadn’t been able to get off my arm and the scrapes and bruises that were beginning to make me look like a relief map of the Rockies.
“And second… I need this suit cleaning. Then I’ll tell you everything.” I smiled at them. “While I eat.”
“Fine,” Benyst said reluctantly. “There’s a shower round the back of the hut.” He gestured with his thumb.
“I can clean the suit!” added Noiryn.
“Fine. I’ll go make some dinner.” He picked up my bag and bat then stomped off into the hut. I followed him with my eyes, wary of parting from my wing.
“Come on, I’ll show you the shower.” Noiryn smiled at me and walked around the back of the hut.
The shower was a simple and sparse structure near the tree line. A huge bucket sat at the top to catch rainwater and by pulling on a rope the water poured into a large funnel and was forced to pass slowly through a showerhead, forming a steady rain. At the same height as the rope handle was a large shelf, perfect for soap. There was a small platform beneath it to get y
our feet off the ground and out of the mud, and that was it. Not very private. Since Benyst lived alone, I guess he didn’t see the need for a curtain. He was inside, and Noiryn had already stripped me once, so the no curtain factor didn’t really bother me.
“If you give me your suit and shoes I’ll go clean them for you.”
“How?” I asked as I sat down to slide off my boots.
“I can do a few helpful things.”
She closed her eyes and seemed to gather in on herself. Energy pulled from the air around her into her body. She then fixed her eyes on a rip in my knee. She blew out a long thin column of energy that hit my knee with gentle pressure as it mended the suit.
“Wow.” I breathed. Noiryn giggled.
“Are you decent?” Benyst’s voice came from the hut.
“Yes!” answered Noiryn.
“Good! Stay that way.” We could hear him walking around the hut. “I’ve got a towel and some soap and things.” He appeared carrying a large basket. He walked over and set it down beside the shower. “Thought you might like the soap…and some warm water.” I felt it as he threw a ball of energy at the bucket. We could hear the water slosh around inside. “That should be about right.”
“Great, thanks,” I answered.
“No problem.” He went back inside.
When he was gone, I pulled the halter strap over my head. It took a bit of peeling to get completely out of the jumpsuit. As I rolled the suit over my hips the lavender feather, I’d rescued fluttered to the ground. With lightning speed, Noiryn caught it just before it touched the jungle floor.
“This is one of yours.” She remained crouched where she was, gazing at the feather.
“Yeah.”
“But where did you...”
“It’s a long story.” I interrupted. “I’ll tell you after I shower.”
The mention of the water brought her out of her reverie. She straightened up and stepped back from me. As I peeled off the rest of my clothing, she continued to stare at the feather, running her finger gently along it.
Torn From Stone (The Phoenix Series Book 1) Page 13
