"You should have felt it was me," he said in a scolding tone.
I leaned back, rolling my eyes. "I've been a bit distracted."
"My father is aware of the escape now."
"Will you be blamed?"
Makari shook his head. "No, he doesn't suspect anything, but I can't stay long. I just had to let you know I won’t be joining you."
My heart sank. "Why?"
"It's the only way to keep my father in the dark about you and to keep him from sending someone else after you. I need to keep up the pretense of looking for you."
I reached out and took his hand in mine as if that would keep him from leaving me. "It doesn't matter, Makari. With you and Kado protecting me, there's no way anyone else can get to me."
"I wish it were that simple. This is the only way."
"He's right, Auren," Shai said, shifting slowly from one foot to the other. "We need to keep moving."
"I'm not leaving you, Makari." It was bad enough I had to leave my father behind.
Makari pulled me into his arms and quickly released me. "I promise I’ll come to you whenever it's safe to do so."
At least that would be something. I didn't like the thought of him staying with the Galvadi, but as long as they believed he was one of them, he was in no danger. Maybe this was the better option. "Okay. Oh, but wait. Shai cut up her feet pretty badly. Can you look after her for a moment while I get the bag I left in the vent in the reconciliation center? I've got some ointment in there, and I got us each a change of clothes. It's a bit chilly."
"No, Auren. You can't go back there. The whole place is rigged so if a shadow stalker is nearby, they will lose their abilities. Not even I can get there and back right now. If you go, you'll be trapped."
"Her feet are going to get infected if we don't do something."
"I'll be fine," Shai argued.
"Let me have a look," Makari said, then winced as he examined her feet. "I’ll see what I can do, but Shai is right. You need to keep moving."
"I'm seriously fine," Shai repeated.
Makari stood and handed Auren a canvas bag he had hooked over his shoulder. "This holds a file with everything the Coalition needs to know about the Beryllonium."
"What's Beryllonium?" Shai asked.
"It's what this is made of," he said, tapping the metal band around her neck. "It also contains information on how to remove the recinder, but it will take acquiring the ore to make the alloy. It's a tricky process, but all the instructions are here. I really need to go."
I stood on my toes, pressing my lips to his. "Please be careful."
"You be careful," he said, then looked over my shoulder towards Shai. "I’ll try to get something for your feet soon, but I can't make any promises. I don't know when, or if, I’ll be able to get away again."
Shai nodded. "Don't take any risks on my account."
*****
I watched the mist surround Makari as he disappeared into the shadow world, my heart feeling empty all of a sudden. Why did we have to struggle and fight so hard just to be together? It wasn't fair. Shai had already begun limping away.
"Let's turn south now and look for a place to camp for the night," I said, jogging to catch up with her.
It was well over an hour before we came to a stream. Shai was biting her lip and hissing with each step. I hoped we'd find a place nearby to sleep for the night. Having the fresh water close by would help. Shai didn't waste any time. I heard her sigh of relief as she stepped into the cold water.
"I'm going to look around and see what I can find. I won't go far," I told her.
Shai nodded, seeming unconcerned. I imagined she was grateful to have some relief, and we were both exhausted. Without my backpack, we were also without food now. I regretted my decision more than ever to leave it behind. Better yet, I should have left it in the cave. Of course, I could have gone back now to get food rations and medical supplies, but I was reluctant to leave Shai alone. If I ended up being in the shadow world longer than expected, she would be on her own, and there would be no one to help her if she got into trouble. There was no way she'd be able to run from the soldiers again if they found her, and I refused to allow her to be captured.
Thankfully, berries were plentiful near the stream. I tasted one to make sure it was edible. They tasted familiar, so I assumed they'd be safe. I picked as many as I could fit into the bag Makari gave me, hoping they wouldn't stain the file. At least the papers would be protected inside the thick folder. I wasn't paying attention as I picked my way along the bush and nearly tripped over a large rock. Oddly it was spongier than I'd expect a rock to be, but I couldn't see it too well in the dark. At first, I thought maybe it was an animal, but an animal would have run off. I hoped it wasn't a dead animal.
I reached down to stroke it and knew immediately it wasn't fur I was touching. It was a kind of moss. I tore a bit off and smelled it. It had a strong scent, like anise. I couldn't recall the name, but if I was right this moss had healing properties. If I could find a way to bind it to Shai's feet for the night. It would quite possibly help prevent infection. I gathered as much of the moss as I could carry and returned to where I left her by the stream.
"That was fast," she said, her feet still soaking in the stream. "My feet are pretty much numb now."
I washed the moss downstream so the dirty water wouldn't wash over her feet. "Good. This will help as well."
As I took a seat next to Shai, I winced and stood quickly again. I felt around and picked up the sharp rock before sitting again as a plan formed. Using the rock as a knife, I cut a three-inch strip from the tunic I wore.
"Give me one of your feet," I told her. I pressed a wad of the moss to the bottom of her foot and wrapped the strip of cloth around it to hold it in place.
"Here," Shai said, holding out her tunic so I could remove a strip for her other foot.
I repeated the process on her other foot, then helped her stand. "How does it feel?"
She took a few steps to test it out. "It's still sore, but much better."
"The moss might sting a bit, but it will help your feet heal faster."
"That would be nice."
I sat again, and Shai joined me as I opened the bag where I had stashed the berries.
"Let's eat and then we can look for a safe place to get a few hours' sleep."
We ate in silence and, thankfully, found a thicket we could crawl into not far from the stream. We'd be able to get a drink in the morning before we left. It wasn't hot, but it would be hard to stay hydrated without a way to take water with us. I could only hope we'd find streams like this often. The thicket wouldn't be the most comfortable place to spend the night, but at least we should be safe enough with our tracks well covered.
"Try to get some sleep," I told Shai. "I'm not really tired, so I'll keep my ears open in case someone comes."
"I'm not tired either," she said.
Moments later I noticed her breathing changed. I grinned. She must have been more tired than she thought. I closed my eyes, taking in all the sounds of the surrounding forest. A rodent or some other small animal rustled in the brush nearby, scrounging for food most likely. A soft wind blew through the trees above. Crickets chirped all around us. The entire effect was almost hypnotic, and I felt myself being carried away from the horrific events of the past weeks into a peaceful sort of bliss as I melded with the natural world around me. I never realized how centered I could feel being in nature. No wonder the shadow stalkers preferred the outdoors and living as closely with nature as possible.
I didn't realize I had drifted off until I woke to an ear-piercing scream.
Chapter 2
"Shai," I said as I instinctively reached out to her. My first thought was she had been spotted and someone was pulling her out of the thicket, but she calmed as soon as I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry, I was having a nightmare."
I let out the breath I was holding. "It's okay, but we better get moving. Someone might ha
ve heard you."
"I'm really sorry," Shai said again after we crawled out of the thicket, looking sheepish.
"Don't worry about it. I've been having a lot of nightmares too. Let me check your feet before we go."
I listened for anyone who might be approaching as I examined her feet. The wounds had closed. If we were careful about where we walked and went at a leisurely pace, they should stay closed. Shai didn't seem to be limping anymore either, so that was a good sign, especially when we had a long walk ahead of us still. The southern shore was still at least another day’s walk.
Now that the sun had risen, it felt a lot warmer than it had the night before. As warm as it was, we had to be well into spring, which meant I had been at the reconciliation center for about four or five months. Oddly, in some ways it didn't feel that long at all, and in other ways it felt much longer. My suspicions about the time of year were confirmed when I came across a familiar sweet scent. I picked a piece of the fuzzy fruit from a nearby tree and handed it to Shai. She turned it in her hand, eying it with suspicion.
"What's this?"
"It's a peach. Try it, it's good," I said then bit into the juicy flesh of my own piece of fruit.
Shai's eyes lit up after taking a bite, and she ate ravenously. I picked several more, handing a few to her, and we ate until we were full. I had no idea when our next meal would come, so it was best to eat as much as we could when the opportunity arose. At least it wasn't winter. We should have an easy time foraging for food this time of the year.
The peaches gave us a burst of energy that had us moving at a swift pace throughout the morning, but our strength wavered by mid-afternoon. We were both still malnourished, and it would take more than peaches to bring us fully back to our physically fit states. At least Shai didn't look nearly as pale as she had the day before when I saw her in her cell in the reconciliation center just before our escape.
"I hope it won't be long before we can return to the Dark Isle," Shai said. "While I was at the reconciliation center, I tried not to let myself think about it. I didn't expect I'd ever get out of there, but now I feel so homesick."
I nodded, though I was more homesick for my life before the Galvadi had invaded. I wished more than ever I could have been the normal person I believed I was when I was a kid. If the world were a less insane place, I'd be going to university right now, making new friends and stressing about getting good grades, rather than fighting for my right to live. "I'll just be happy to get away from Nadiria and back with Kado. I'd rather spend a year in the hole than one more minute in a reconciliation center."
"You and me both."
Shai opened her mouth to say something else when we both heard growling. I scanned the forest, silently cursing myself for not paying closer attention, instead of being lost in my daydreams. I knew better than that. A pack of wild dogs surrounded us. I grabbed Shai's arm and guided her to the closest tree. She didn't need any more coaxing than that. She grabbed one of the lower branches, but her arms shook as she tried to pull herself up. All the physical effort from the last twenty-four hours had taken its toll. I got underneath her and pushed her onto the branch. By the time I began the climb, the dogs closed in. I wasn't fast enough. One of them gripped my calf between its razor-sharp teeth and shook its head ferociously in an attempt to pull me from the branch.
I cried out as one of my arms slipped. I held as tightly as I could onto the branch with my other arm and kicked the dog in the face with my free leg. Shai grabbed my arm and helped pull me onto the branch. Blood dripped from my leg. I pressed a hand to the wound to stop the bleeding. The smell of the blood had the dogs going nuts now though. They circled the tree barking and growling. If Shai's scream didn't attract attention this morning, this certainly would.
Shai winced as she examined the wound. "It's going to get infected, Auren. You need to get to my father for help."
"I'll be fine."
She frowned, but we had no time to argue about it. There were voices in the distance.
"I hear them too," Shai said. "We're trapped here. You have to leave. You can't sacrifice your life for me, Auren. I'll find my own way."
"No. I'll get rid of the dogs, and we're both getting away."
I didn't wait for her reply. I shifted into the shadow world and immediately searched for the spirits of the dogs circling us. If I could convince them easier prey was approaching, they might leave us alone. Plus, it would distract the soldiers long enough for us to get away. I sent the image of the men into their minds as well as the suggestion that they smelled a more appetizing meal from that direction. The stab of guilt I felt when the dogs charged towards their new targets surprised me. I wasn't concerned for the soldiers. They had weapons to defend themselves, but the dogs would get hurt or killed. They were just hungry and hunting for food, but what else could I do? If we were captured again, our punishment would be worse than death.
When I returned to Shai, the dogs had already left, and she was climbing out of the tree. I reappeared on the ground where she had just dropped down.
"That was a neat trick," she said. "Can you walk?"
I nodded, but gasped when I took a step. Shai pulled my arm across her shoulder and helped me hobble along. Covering our tracks would be much more difficult now, and if those men came to the tree, they'd see the blood. They'd know we were here.
Chapter 3
Food was surprisingly hard to come by for this time of year. After the luck of our first day since leaving the reconciliation center, I expected to see food just about everywhere, but we might as well have been in a desert. Thankfully, water was more plentiful. We could last days without food as long as we had enough water to drink. When we came across the first stream that morning, I cleaned the bite wound on my leg as best as I could, but I could already tell it was going to become infected as Shai suggested. Pus oozed from the wound, and it had a funny smell.
We had been traveling south for half a day now. It shouldn't take more than another day or two to reach the shore. If we were quick, we might make it before fever set in. Then Kado could heal me. The only problem was, either the lack of food or the bite—or maybe even both—slowed my pace a great deal. By the time it grew dark, I was dragging my feet.
"Do you think we should risk stopping with the soldiers so close on our trail?" Shai asked.
I sighed. She was right, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could continue. "Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you through the shadow world if I have to."
"You should just go straight to my father, Auren. You really don't look so well. I'm not going to leave you otherwise. You might pass out."
"I'm not that bad, yet. It's just throbbing, and I need a little rest."
Shai folded her arms stubbornly over her chest, and I knew it would be a waste of time arguing with her further.
"Take a nap, then," Shai said, climbing a tree. "I'll keep watch and wake you in a couple of hours."
I nodded. A nap would probably help.
*****
After tossing and turning for an hour or so, I gave up on sleep. I was in too much pain. The moons were high in the sky now, making it look almost like early morning, though I knew we still had several hours until dawn. I hoped the soldiers had stopped for the night, and we would get a head start.
"Let's get going," I called to Shai.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. While we have light. I can't sleep anyway."
Shai jumped off her branch, and we walked slowly towards our destination. She had taken over covering our tracks, so I could just concentrate on walking. I kept my eyes open for food, but still, there was nothing. My stomach growled. If we didn't come across something soon, I'd have to risk traveling to one of Kado's hiding places in the Serpent Isles and get us some ration packs.
Shai tried stifling a yawn.
"We'll need to stop for the night soon," I told her. "We're both exhausted. We'll just have to find a place they won't be able to find us."
She nodded.
<
br /> We were losing the light of the moons as well and, as tired as we were, traveling in the darkness would be hazardous; especially since the flat forest floor gave way to hills as we drew closer to the mountains. I was hoping to approach west of the mountain ranges, so we'd have a straight line to the southern shore. If we had to travel through the passes, we'd likely be adding another two or three days to our trip. I wasn't sure I'd last that long.
On the plus side, the mountains would give us a lot more places to hide. A cliff wall loomed ahead, and one small sliver looked darker than the rest.
"Let's head there," I said, pointing. "It might be a fissure. If it's wide enough we could slip in and rest there for the night."
It was a bit further than it looked, and we were both ready to collapse by the time we got there. As luck would have it though, it was exactly what I thought.
"I'm going to look around and see if I can find something to eat," Shai said.
I doubted she'd find anything. "Don't go too far though. Those soldiers might be nearby."
"I won't."
I crawled inside the small space, but I didn't lie down. I didn't want to risk falling asleep if she got into trouble, not that I'd be able to do much to help her. In fact, Kado probably would have expected me to shift into the shadow world and stay out of it—something I would never do. The more time that passed, the more anxious I felt. I didn't get the sense anything was wrong. It was more about being left alone in the dark. My time on Nadiria did nothing to help my claustrophobia, and my experiences in the reconciliation center seemed to add separation anxiety to the mix. I felt the same way I did when Makari left me after I had been broken.
Thankfully, Shai returned before full blown panic set in.
"Hold out your hand."
I did as I was told, and I felt a few things fall into my hand. At first I thought they might be berries, but they moved, tickling my palm. I almost dropped them. "What is this?"
"Grubs. They're full of protein. They'll give us energy."
Shadow Stalker Part 2 (Episodes 7 - 12) Page 17
