I quickly dug through Ben’s bag and found the fancy first aid kit my father purchased. I quickly carried the kit to Ben’s side and dumped alcohol profusely over his wound. As the alcohol poured into his torn skin, Ben howled in pain.
“Oh God, Miranda!” Ben cried, “It hurts.”
“It’s okay,” I said softly, “I’ll make it better.”
I grabbed a roll of gauze and began wrapped it around the wound, but blood continued to soak through so I quickly browsed through the kit to see what else I could find. My eyes landed on a suture kit, and my heart began racing nervously.
“I’m going to have to stitch it,” I said nervously.
“You will do fine,” Ben whispered, as blood continued seeping through the gauze, and his consciousness was hanging by a thread.
I had to move fast before Ben lost consciousness. As he was now human, my blood could no longer heal him. I quickly removed the suture kit from the sterile package and dumped more alcohol over Ben’s wound.
I quickly gazed over the instructional images on the suture kit as I said, “This is going to hurt Ben.”
Ben didn’t say a word, but the moment I shoved the needle into his skin, he began to groin in pain. I continued stitching down the wound, thrusting the needle into his skin. Each time I jabbed the needle into his skin, Ben groined in pain, but suddenly his groins grew quieter until they completely stopped.
“Ben!” I cried, “Ben stay with me!”
“Miranda,” I heard a whimper.
“I’m almost done. Stay with me!” I cried as I finished the last stitch.
As soon as I was done, I dumped more alcohol over the freshly stitched wound and wrapped it in gauze. Then I crawled to Ben’s side and took his hand. Ben’s eyes’ were shut and he was white as a ghost. He wasn’t moving.
“Ben!” I cried, “Ben, please wake up.” I shook him softly, but he didn’t move. “Ben, please! I just got you back. Don’t die on me.”
Chapter 10
I continued to shake Ben’s lifeless body, but he was completely still. Tears began to fall from my eyes as I placed two fingers across his neck. As I wiped a tear away, I felt a faint pulse on Ben’s neck, and I felt a sudden sense of relief. I quickly searched through Ben’s bag and found his canteen.
“Ben!” I said again, “Ben! Wake up. You need some water.”
Finally, Ben began to gently move again as he gained consciousness. “Miranda?” he whispered through half open eyes.
“It’s me, Ben. You lost a lot of blood. Drink some water. You need to hydrate.
“I’m really feeling bad,” he whimpered. He was still as white as a ghost.
I held the canteen to his lips, and he took a few sips. I looked through his bag once more and pulled out some jerky.
“Eat this Ben. You need the iron.” As I handed him a piece of jerky, the image of his ghastly face in the dim glow of the cave terrified me. His skin was pale, and he looked as if he was trying to return to the other side of veil. His hand trembled as he took the jerky from me and slowly took a bite.
“It’s strange getting used to human food,” Ben whispered weakly. Then he said, “I don’t belong out here...do I.”
“Of course you do. We’re saving our son—the King.” I took Ben’s trembling hand as fear washed across his pale face.
Ben didn’t say anything else. The two of us rested quietly in the cave as we could only wait and hope that his wound would heal, and he would recover from his loss of blood. He stared blankly at the cave wall, as his mind was growing feeble.
Although it was dark inside the cave, I knew it was very early in the morning and the sun would be rising over the mountains quite soon. As I sat against the cave wall, I was exhausted and struggling to stay awake while Ben struggled to stay alive. Anxiety raced through my mind, as I was unsure if the beasts had eaten the others and if we were the last two alive.
Although the cave was cold, it was much more tolerable than the wind from outside. As I sat against the cave wall, I welcomed the break from the awful Sidhe snow covered mountains. As I remained seated, I didn’t take my eyes from Ben, as I wanted to make sure he stayed alive.
As he gazed back at me, with his eyes half open, he said, “Why don’t you grab a blanket and lay with me?”
I was worried if I snuggled into Ben’s arms, I would fall fast asleep, but I was craving the feel of Ben’s skin, so I did as he suggested and grabbed a blanket and snuggled up by his side. As he wrapped his arms around me, I shut my eyes and instantly fell into a deep sleep.
It felt like I slept for quite some time as I shook myself awake. The moment I opened my eyes, I quickly turned to Ben. He was still as pale as snow, but I saw his slow breathing and could feel his heart beating in his chest. I leaned into him and pressed my head into his chest. I once more drifted to sleep, listening to the comforting sound of his heart beating.
I shot open my eyes and immediately sat up, as I heard the sound of a horrifying howl from outside the cave. The fire in the cave had died, so I immediately threw out my fingers and created a new one nearby. I looked over and saw that Ben was still breathing, so I crawled towards the entrance of the cave to better hear what was happening outside.
As I grew closer to the outside, I could see the light of day and heard a faint yelling nearby. Suddenly the yelling was dimmed by the sound of a loud growl. I crawled closer to the sunlight, and as soon as I could look out the cave entrance, I saw my father and David fighting a single beast. I scanned the landscape and saw the remainder of the feeble group off in the distance.
David stood in front of the beast as he held his hatchet in the air. I could see that blood was dripping down his arm, and he had a gash in his hunting suit. My father was standing behind the beast with a knife in his hand. He had a bloody gash on his face, and his eye was black and blue. As I returned my gaze towards David, I could see the beast was licking his lips, ready to attack his worn down prey at any minute.
I had only a millisecond to think, so I shoved my fingers in my mouth and whistled as loudly as I could as I emerged from the cave entrance. The beast instantly forgot about David and found a new interest as he fixed his gaze on me. As his red eyes stared into mine, he licked his lips and began ferociously stomping his feet into the ground.
“Miranda, No!” My dad yelled, but I whistled again.
The beast didn’t hesitate another minute as he began charging my way. Terror pounded my heart as I flung my fingers towards the disgusting beast. When he was just close enough, I shot a giant flame through my fingertips that flew straight into his face. The beast screamed in pain as his face was engulfed in fire, and he collapsed to the ground. As if on cue, David went charging towards the beast and sliced the hatchet straight into his charred throat. The beast let out his final howl as blood sprayed from his throat.
As I walked towards the dead beast, David pulled the hatchet from his throat and chuckled as he said, “Dinner!” but he was covering his pain with laughter, as he looked pretty chewed up.
As the others headed our way, I told David, “Ben’s inside the cave. He isn’t well.”
David gently nodded his head.
When the others were soon by our side, I could see that everyone was injured quite badly. Damon had tears in his snowsuit as he painfully dragged two backpacks behind him. Nathen looked unharmed but exhausted as he carried his wife in his arms and a backpack was strung on each shoulder. Emerlee was limping painfully through the snow and had tears in her snowsuit with blood seeping through. Her eye was black and swollen, and she had dry blood caked to her face.
“What happened?” I asked as the group gathered around. I was relieved everyone had survived, but curious to know what happened.
“I’m gonna clean this guy up,” David pointed to the beast. He looked at the others “You guys head into the cave, and tell her what happened.”
I led the others towards the cave, and as I stepped inside the entrance I said, “You will have to crawl through the e
ntrance. You can drag your bags behind you.”
Everyone followed behind, struggling to carry their gear until we reached the main room. The moment we entered, I saw Ben was sitting near the dying fire.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him immediately.
“I’m feeling stronger,” he said as a weak smile inched across his pale face. “I just had some more jerky.”
I nodded my head as I looked around at the others. We were pretty crammed together in the small cave room, but it was warmer in the cave than out in the wind, and the cave offered us protection from the beasts.
As the others began setting down their bags and treating their wounds, I went to Damon’s side and began to examine his wounds.
“What happened?” I asked
Damon looked exhausted as he began his tale, “After we killed the beast in camp, I threw on my clothes and grabbed the bags. I tried to take down the tent, but four more beasts appeared soon after. We tried to fight them, but they were too much for us to take on. They tore up the tents and destroyed some of our supplies as we tried to stay out of their way. The only magic we could use was protection magic. The three of us can’t throw flames like you can. David used his hatchet, and our fathers both used knives to attack them while my mother, Emerlee and I protected them with our magic. Before we could kill any of them, one of them jumped onto my mother and injured her badly. I had to direct my magic towards my mother to keep her alive, leaving your father exposed. A beast attacked your father, scratching his face.”
“My God!” I cried.
Damon nodded his head as he kept talking. “My father went to help my mother, and he ran off with her in his arms,” he said, “So I threw my protection magic back onto your father just as David slit the beasts throat.”
I gasped, but Damon continued, “Just as David killed one beast, another jumped on top of him and tackled him to the ground, and another beast attacked Emerlee. I quickly threw my protection magic towards Emerlee as David killed his attacker. Emerlee was hurt pretty bad, but she somehow managed to get away from the beast and escape towards the mountains.” Damon paused, as he looked horrified, “It was just the three of us left—David, your father, and I, to fight the last two beasts. I used my magic to keep them protected as they fought the beasts off. As I continued to keep them safe, one of the beasts attacked me, but David was able to injure him with his hatchet, and I escaped. I grabbed our bags and ran towards the mountain, leaving David and your father behind. I guess your father and David were able to injure the last beast because only moments later, I heard them coming from behind.”
“Wow,” I moaned. “Then what happened?”
“Alexander and David caught up to me. David was able to grab one last backpack before he left. The three of us kept running until we caught up to the rest. My father was carrying my mother, and Emerlee could hardly walk. The five of us almost made it to cave, when the two injured beasts somehow caught up to us. Alexander and David went to kill them, while Emerlee and I tried to protect them. Just as David slit one of the injured beasts throat, it clawed David’s arm.
“Alexander was taking on the other one. I’m not sure if the two of them would have been able to finish the fight if you didn’t jump out to help them.” Damon took a deep breath and said, “I can’t believe we all survived. It was horrifying Miranda….just horrifying...and the entire time, I didn’t even know if you and Ben made it. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said, “Not a scratch on my body. Ben’s doing better, but he almost died.” Damon listed carefully as I told him everything happened to Ben and I after we left camp.
“He looks like he’s better,” Damon said reluctantly.
“Yes, yes,” I said. “He was so pale and weak. It was horrible Damon.” I reached out and wrapped my arms around my husband. “I’m so glad you’re alive.” A tear fell from my eye as my nerves were shot. “Damon you need to take off your snow suit. We need to treat your injuries.”
Damon nodded his head as I opened his backpack and pulled out some clothes. “Put this on,” I said as I handed him some flannel underwear.
“Here?” He said as he looked around at the others.
“Just change under a blanket.” I said.
Damon crawled under a blanket and when he crawled back out, he was wearing a pair of long underwear. As I pulled up his legs and sleeves, I saw he was covered in scratches and bruises, but nothing comparable to Ben’s deep gash. I grabbed one of the first aid kits and began cleaning and covering his scratches. As soon as I was done, I crawled back out of the cave and found David skinning the beast.
“What are ya doing?” he asked.
“I’m making sure you’re still alive.” I said.
“I’m fine,” he said as he sliced the fur off the beast.
“You’re bleeding...bad!” I said as I pointed to the horrible wound on his arm. As David worked tirelessly, blood was dripping down his arm.
“Not the first time I got attacked by a beast,” he laughed, not seeming concerned with his injuries.
“I’ll get a first aid kit and clean it up,” I said. You’re going to get sick if you don’t clean it.”
“Whatever you say,” he laughed as he sliced away at the mangled beast.
I crawled inside the cave and grabbed the first aid kit I had used for Damon, and then crawled back outside. When I reached David’s side, I noticed the pain across his face as he continued hacking away at the beast.
“Take a break,” I said.
“If I don’t clean this guy up now, he’ll rot. We lost some of our food back there, we need him.”
“It will take a minute,” I said as I grabbed his arm.
He reluctantly put his hatchet down and allowed me to look at his arm. His arm was covered in dry blood as fresh blood poured from his wound, and I was surprised David was working so hard after he lost so much blood. I quickly poured alcohol over his gash and wrapped it in gauze. After applying several pieces of gauze, the bleeding stopped and I taped it up. I was grateful I didn’t have to stitch it up.
As soon as David’s arm was cleaned up, I placed my hands above his wound and began to softly whisper the healing chant.
“What are you doing,” David asked as he shook me away.
“I’m healing you,” I cried.
“I don’t need any of that,” he said as he picked up his hatchet.
“You’ll heal faster, and it will make you stronger,” I cried. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“I’m fine,” he grunted as he stood still to allow me to heal him.
Once more I placed my arms above his wound and began to softy chant. After several minutes, David said, “You’re right. I’m feeling better.”
“Need help?” I asked.
David looked surprised and said, “You want to help skin this beast?”
“Sure...why not?” I replied feeling a bit unsure of myself, but I felt like I needed to help, as I was one of the only uninjured in our group.
David reached in his belt and pulled out a knife. He handed it to me and said, “Start skinnin’ him there,” he pointed to the beast's back.
I dug in the knife and felt sick as the blade tore through the beasts flesh.
“Careful now,” David said. “Let me show ya,” he cried as he guided my hand across the beasts back.
I felt disgusted and sick, but I tried to hide it so I didn’t appear weak. I continued to cut the beast just as David showed me and after a few minutes, I decided to make conversation, to keep my mind from the disgusting task.
“Why did you come with us?” I asked casually.
“I just wanted to,” he said hastily.
David’s tone of voice told me I shouldn’t ask more questions, so I said, “I have your hunting bag. I was able to grab it before we ran off.
“Thanks,” he said quietly as he was heavily focused on skinning the beast. By the tone of his voice, it was clear he didn’t want to make small talk.
The two of us s
pent several hours quietly working on the beast, and as we were finishing up, the golden ball of sunlight began to set in the distance. Just like the evening before, the sinking sun created a brilliant mural across the sky, duplicating its beauty as it reflected across the snow.
As I took a moment to admire the stunning multi-toned portrait across the sky, David took out his flask and took a sip of whiskey as he used a rag to wipe the sweat from his face.
“I admire what you’re doing for Sidhe,” David said as he swallowed a sip of whiskey.
“Where did that come from?” I asked, feeling surprised David was trying to make conversation.
“You wanted to know why I came with you. I admire you... and I think a lot of you.”
“Thank you,” I said softly.
As the sky turned lavender and the sunlight began to dramatically dim, David focused his eyes to the ground and gently said, “You remind me of someone.”
“Oh?” I said as I gazed at my surroundings waiting for David to say more.
“I was married...a few years back. That bitch of a Queen...she...she killed my wife. You remind me a lot of my wife—tiny...blond hair...she was a fairy too.”
I looked at David as I saw him gently wipe a tear with his rag Since our trip had begun, I had yet to see him look so vulnerable.
As I gazed into David’s deep brown eyes, he continued on, “She was beautiful and sweet...and pregnant with our little girl. We were gonna name her Alice.”
I gasped, “My God, David.”
He nodded as he decided to trust me with his tale, “My wife was one of Desmorelda’s companions. She didn’t want to be…but the Queen gave her no choice.” David shook his head with disgust.
“My wife and I had a secret marriage ‘cause the Queen had other plans for her.” David paused and frowned deeply before he began to speak once more. Eventually, the two of us found out she was pregnant—with a little girl. We knew we had to keep it a secret. We were hoping to sneak off into the mountains, and find a trading village to live, but before we even got around to leaving, Desmorelda tried to force my wife to sleep with a vampire for her own entertainment. When my wife refused, Desmorelda killed her instantly…and my daughter too. The only reason I knew what happened is because the vampire knew our secret and was nice enough to give me the news.”
The Portal to Sidhe: Book 2 Page 11
