Damon’s words caused a giant lump in my throat as if I had swallowed a colossal pill. His loving and forgiving nature caused me to feel even more guilt, because my love for Ben was just as strong. While I loved Ben, I was still in love with Damon, and I was horribly confused. Although my mind was warped with emotion, I knew that the time was inappropriate to discuss my feelings, and Damon’s recovery was a greater priority.
As Damon and I sat in quietly in the tent for another hour, I felt a sense of relief when the door unzipped and David stuck his head in.
“We’re back!” he cried, “Dinner is cookin’,” he howled.
“Thanks so much!” I cried. David zipped up the tent and I looked at Damon and said, “Do you think you can eat something?”
“I think so. I’m feeling quite a bit better.”
I finally left Damon as I went to check on his clothes and snowsuit. When I walked outside, I saw the sun was beginning to sink into the mountains. As the golden ball of light, settled beyond the snow-covered hills, it created a fantastic painting in the sky that reflected into the solid lake. For a moment I stood in awe, gazing at the magnificent sight, which was both beautiful yet treacherous all at the same time.
As I continued to stare in awe, I felt someone wrap their arm around my shoulder. I jumped in surprise, but realized it was only my father.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Truly a sight to see.”
I nodded my head feeling a miniscule sense of bliss for the first time in several days. Soon after the sun collapsed behind the mountains and the sky went dark, Ben fetched the two of us for dinner. Damon was still wrapped in blankets as his snowsuit was still dying by the fire when he emerged from the tent.
“Honey we could have helped you,” Delia cried.
“I’m fine Mom,” Damon said softly as he sat down on a backpack.
The rest of the group had a seat around the fire as David was cutting through the rabbit meat with his knife. Surprisingly, the cooked rabbit looked quite appetizing. Once David had the rabbit diced up, he began passing pieces around.
“Eat up!” David said. “This is some good protein and there might come a night we don’t have meat, so eat it while you can. I don’t want to see anything left over.”
I took a bite of David’s rabbit feast, and I smiled at the flavor. It was surprisingly good, and I was starving. The day had been so busy, I only had time to eat a few pieces of jerky.
For the first time all day, the group was finally able to relax. For even a moment, I was able to enjoy myself as we devoured the rabbit meat while laughing around the fire. Damon sat to my right as he tried to stay warm, and my father sat to my left chewing on a piece of cooked meat. As the sun sunk deeper and deeper into the mountains, night came quick, which brought an even colder chill to the air.
“Let’s clean up and get in the tents,” David said, “It’s going to get much colder—dangerously cold.” Everyone stood up as David began giving order, “Once things are cleaned up, Emerlee, Ben and Alexander, take the first tent.” He looked at me, “You and Damon take the middle tent,” and then he looked at Nathen, “You and Delia in the last tent.” Then he went on to say, “I’ll take the first four hours watch,” he looked at my dad, “I’ll wake you up and you take the last four hours. Nathen, Ben and Damon...the five of us will switch watch each day.”
“What about us?” I said looking at Emerlee and Delia.
“Can you fight?” David asked.
“No, but I have some very powerful magic,” I replied.
“We’ll see,” David said, but the tone of his voice spoke otherwise.
After I wished everyone goodnight, I headed into the tent with Damon. I was feeling a bit melancholy that I wouldn’t be able to spend the night by Ben’s side, but I didn’t want to hurt Damon anymore, especially after he almost died. As Damon and I snuggled under a heavy hunting blanket, I felt his flesh against mine as we used our body heat to keep one another warm. As Damon wrapped his arms around me, I instantly fell asleep from an exhausting day.
Not long after I fell asleep, I awoke trembling, as the night grew gruesomely cold. As I lay awake shaking, I heard the wind howling like a wolf in the distance. Even the heavy-duty fabric of our tent allowed the powerful wind to seep through and chill our bones. As the wind grew stronger in the thick of the night, the tent walls began to shake and the poles quivered. I lay awake, in fear the tent would blow us away.
I rolled over and saw that Damon was sound asleep and I didn’t want to wake up. I lay on the ground shivering for several moments, until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I quietly pulled out of the sleeping bag and unzipped the tent. As soon as I stepped from the tent, the thrashing wind burned my bare face. I turned around and grabbed the fabric David gave me for my face and climbed out the tent door.
Once I was outside of the tent, I saw the tiny fire blazing just ahead. I walked to the fire, occasionally losing my balance from the strong winds. When I reached the fire, David was throwing fuel in the fire, trying to keep it ablaze.
“I can help you,” I giggled as I threw out my hands and whispered a few words. “That should last you a few more hours,” I said as the flames grew in size creating pleasant warmth.
David sat down on his bag and took a drink from his flask, “Shouldn’t you be asleep Queen?”
“I can’t sleep. I’m freezing...and the wind.”
“Eh, it’s just wind,” he said as he handed me the flask.
I didn’t want to be rude so I took a sip. The alcohol burned like fire as it slid down my throat, and I made a disgusted face as I swallowed.
“Not much of a whiskey drinker, eh?” he laughed.
I shook my head. “No,” I said.
“It’ll help you sleep and keep you warm inside.” Then he laughed, “Don’t tell the others, I don’t have much to go around.”
“It’s our little secret,” I said.
The two of us sat around the warm fire for some time as its flames warmed our cold bodies. Finally, David said, “If you want to get some sleep, you can lay by the fire. It would be much warmer than sleepin’ in your tent. I’ll be here until your dad comes out...so you don’t have nothing to worry ‘bout.”
I thought about it for a few moments. Even with the howling wind, the warmth of the powerful fire was better than the tent’s thin walls that did little to protect us from the ghastly air. I was concerned if I slept next to the fire, Damon would wake from the freezing air, completely alone. Not only would my absence worry him, but also he would be colder without my body heat.
“I’ll just sit with you for a few more minutes,” I said. “I can’t leave my husband alone.”
David nodded his head and said, “Have another drink then. It’ll help you sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.” He handed me his flask.
I took another sip, this time taking in a bit more. I shivered as the burning fluid slid down my throat. David quietly laughed. Just minutes after my sip, I began to feel the whiskey dawdle through my brain. I wasn’t much of a drinker, and the only times I had been drunk before was under Desmorelda’s spell. David offered me another sip, but I turned him away.
I sat quietly as I watched the fire dance with the wind. I felt a calm sensation flow through my body as exhaustion began to set in and the whiskey numbed my brain. In a daze, I watched the fire waltz with the wind as bursts of snow swirled around the glowing flame. My eyes began to grow heavy and I had trouble keeping them open as my eyelids began to sink shut. I felt my head collapse against David as I fell asleep.
I was thrust from my peaceful sleep when I felt someone shaking me awake, “Miranda! Wake up! Wake up!”
When I opened my eyes, I realized I was bundled in blankets, lying next to the fire. The sky was still black as stars sparkled the night sky. I realized the wind was still howling like a wolf, but the noise was growing louder. I sat up, trying to figure out what was going on.
I saw that it was my dad who had woken me as he was running around
grabbing supplies as he softly cried out to the others. I watched David crawl from one of the tents and look around in confusion.
From across camp, I heard my dad cry, “snow beasts!” as he continued to gather supplies.
The moment snow beasts had been muttered, David moved quickly as he pulled out his hatchet and began to pace around. I knew something was terribly wrong, so I quickly stood up and began to roll up my blankets. I threw the blankets in David’s hunting bag and ran towards Damon’s tent, just as my dad jogged to my side.
My dad’s face was red and he was out of breath as he said quietly, “There is a pack of snow beasts down by the lake. We need to pack up and get out of here fast!” I nodded my head as he said, “Wake the others and pack what you can. David and I will keep watch. Hurry!”
I quickly unzipped the tent and crawled inside as I began to shake Damon, “What’s wrong?” he asked as he scrunched open his eyes open.”
“Damon get up now! Put your snowsuit on, it’s almost dry. There are snow beasts nearby. We have to go!”
Damon’s eyes opened wide and he sat up straight as he crawled from his sleeping bag. He was only wearing underpants as the rest of his clothing was still drying by the fire. He began to shiver from the cold.
“I’ll grab your clothes,” I said as I crawled out of the tent.
When I came back, Damon was already throwing the blankets and sleeping bags into our backpacks as he trembled from the cold. I threw Damon’s clothes at him and crawled out of the tent to wake the others. Ben and Emerlee were already tearing down their tent, so I headed to wake Nathen and Delia. As soon as they were awake, I crawled out to help pack up camp.
The moment I stepped from their tent and turned around, I knew something was wrong. Emerlee, Ben, my father and David were all standing completely still. It only took a moment to realize why, when I saw the enormous beast standing only a few feet from Ben. My heart began to pound as the colossal wolf-like beast’s red eyes glowed in the moonlight, with their gaze directed at Ben. The mangy snow beast licked its lips as it slowly prowled towards its prey.
I began to tremble in fear as I placed my hand over my mouth so I didn’t scream. I looked around at the other’s to find guidance in the situation, but nobody was moving. I could see from across the camp, Ben was trembling from fear as the beast inched closer and closer.
The beast slowly moved one paw in front of the other as he licked his lips exposing his razor sharp teeth. Suddenly the horrible beast leaped from the ground, flailing its knife like claws directly towards Ben’s face. I screamed in horror as I threw my hand forward throwing a single flame at the beast. As the flame slammed into the beast's side it whined as its body crashed into the snow.
While the beast lay wounded on the ground, David yelled, “Grab what you can and run towards that hill.” He pointed to a mountain just ahead of the camp.
The beast whined in pain, then let out a horrifying growl. Delia and Nathen were just emerging from their tent, and Damon was still inside ours. I lunged forward and grabbed David’s hunting bag, as it was only a few inches in front of me. Just as the snow beast growled again, he leaped to his feet to attempt another attack. David sprung forward as he threw his hatchet into the beast's side, and the beast shook and howled in pain as blood sprayed from his wound. As the horrid beast tried to stand on his feet, we heard several more howls just a short distance away.
“You need to go now!” David screamed, “I’ll follow behind.”
I ran to Damon’s tent, just as Ben raced to my side. I unzipped the tent and yelled, “Damon, get the bags, we have to go now!”
Damon just finished zipping up his snowsuit as he grabbed our two bags. Ben didn’t give me a chance to wait as he grabbed my arm and began running as fast as we could towards the hills just ahead. I only hoped Damon was following close behind.
As we ran towards the hills, I was extremely sore from the trek the day before, and my legs cramped in pain. Ben was still in wonderful shape, but now that he was human, his speed wasn’t comparable to what it was as a vampire. I cried out in pain, as each step forward tore at the muscles in my legs. As we ran, we grew closer and closer to the mountain, but suddenly we heard a terrifying growl prowling closer from behind.
I tried to turn around, but Ben yelled, “Don’t stop. Keep running!”
As we ran, the growling grew louder and I could smell the warm putrid stench of the beast’s breath from just behind.
“Get to the mountains!” I screamed to Ben as I turned around to throw another flame.
The moment I turned around I was face to face with the disgusting beast. Its red eyes glowed in the night as it softly growled, exposing its razor blade teeth. The beast lunged at me as I flung my fingers towards it face, blasting a ball of fire right between his eyes.
The beast howled in pain as it began stumbling around. I ran just ahead as I threw another flame at the wounded animal. Just as the flame flew through the air, I shot a ball of energy towards it, sending the flame exploding into the beast. The snow beast screamed for only a moment before it’s body exploded into the air. Blood, fur and body parts splattered across the snow. I threw my hand over my mouth as I began to gag, but suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. Ben hadn’t left my side.
“We need to go,” Ben said as he grabbed my arm again and tried to run, but I couldn’t hold back the sour feeling in my stomach as vomit spewed from my mouth. I leaned over as I began to vomit for several moments while Ben wrapped his arms around me to keep me from collapsing.
As soon as my stomach was empty I stood up and said, “We have to go back for the others.”
“No,” Ben said. “David told us to go to the mountain. I trust him. They will meet us there.”
“I can’t leave them behind!” I cried. “That is my family, my husband, my friends.”
“Miranda! We have to go!” Ben said again, just as we heard another chorus of howling coming from the camp, and the sound of a beast’s scream.
I looked at the camp, and then I looked at Ben. Ben was right, we had to trust David would take care of the others. Ben took my hand, and the two of us continued towards the mountains.
After running through the snow for several minutes, we were almost to the base of the mountain. I looked around and wondered where we were supposed to go. Suddenly I heard a thundering of footsteps from behind. As I turned around I heard a faint howl as I saw two more snow beasts gaining up to us in the distance.
“Oh Ben!” I cried, “There’s more!”
“We’re almost to the mountain, there has to be somewhere to hide,” he said.
Just then, I saw a tiny dark hole at the base of the mountain, just beyond a few trees.
“Look!” I said, as I pointed to the hole.
“It must be a cave!” Ben cried. “The beasts won’t fit, but maybe we can.”
“I hope so!” I panted as I was running out of air.
“That’s why David sent us this way,” Ben said as he gasped deeply for air.
As the two of us ran hand-in-hand, I glanced around and saw the snow beasts were gaining up to us. “They’re going to catch us!” I screeched.
“We’re almost there,” Ben said, “Just a little further. We’re going to make it,” he panted.
We were only a few feet from the cave entrance when I could smell the disgusting beasts’ breath as I heard them snarl.
“Throw the bags in, and you go in first,” Ben cried as we heard the beasts just behind us.
As we were only steps away from the cave, I tore off David’s bag and hurled it into the entrance as Ben threw his backpack inside.
“Get in,” Ben screamed as the beasts were just behind us, ready to devour our flesh.
I crawled inside the small cave entrance and pushed the bags further into the cave, to make room for Ben. Just as I saw Ben’s shadow crawling inside the cave, I heard one of the beasts jaw snap, and Ben screamed out in pain.
“Ben!” I screamed as I tried to help him,
but the entrance was only big enough for him to crawl through.
Ben was down on all fours kicking his leg from behind as he grunted in pain. I looked around, trying to see what was going on, but all I could see was Ben’s shadow in the moonlight of the entrance. Finally I heard one of the beasts cry as Ben continued crawling through the cave. It was dark, but I could see Ben crawling slowing my way as he moaned in pain. The snow beasts were whining and howling outside the entrance, as they could not reach their prey.
As soon as Ben reached me, he put his arm around me and said, “One of them grazed me.”
It was so dark I could hardly see Ben’s shadow, so I threw out my fingers and chanted a short spell as I threw a small fire onto the bottom of the cave. As soon as the flames began to blaze through the dark cave, I saw a trail of blood from the entrance of the cave to Ben’s body. As I looked down at Ben, I could see he was turning pale.
“You don’t look good,” I said as I looked around the tiny cave entrance. I needed to find a place to treat Ben’s wound as the two of us could hardly fit in the cave entrance tunnel. As I continued to look around, I noticed the cave seemed a bit larger as the tunnel continued on. “Can you crawl a little further I asked?”
“Yeah,” he said, but he didn’t sound confident.
I led the way, dragging David’s hunting bag and Ben’s backpack behind me as we continued through the cave. The further we crawled from my small fire, the darker the cave grew, but soon enough, we reached a small room. I quickly cast a small fire on the cave ground and immediately looked for Ben’s wound.
“Miranda, I’m not feeling so good,” Ben said. When I looked at Ben’s face, I saw he was as white as snow.
“Where did it bite you?”
Ben reached down and pointed to his ankle. I reached down and rolled up the leg on Ben’s snowsuit, exposing a horrifying wound. Just above his ankle was a huge gash spewing blood. The skin surrounding the wound was purple and blue and the gash looked deep. I threw my hand over my mouth as I began to feel faint at the sight. I quickly pulled off my snow jacket and wrapped it around his wound, but the blood soaked right through.
The Portal to Sidhe: Book 2 Page 10
