CHAPTER 14
“Oof.” The noise returned Allison to consciousness from the daze she had been in for what seemed like eternity. Her head was pounding, and a sharp stone was digging into her left shoulder where it pressed against the ground. From what she could tell, she was inside a large burlap sack, her hands and feet both tied tightly. Small pinpricks of light poked through the fabric, though she couldn’t tell if it was only morning or if she had been out longer. A river burbled nearby, and a crow called off in the distance. The only other sounds were the grunting noises of their captors. Allison tried to wiggle herself off the rock and a groan escaped her lips.
Jimmy whispered from nearby. “Allie? Is that you? Are you OK?”
She murmured assent. “Your voice sounds like I feel,” she whispered with a chuckle that she immediately regretted. Pain shot up and down her chest, and she only barely kept in a gasp. “And you sound terrible,” she finished once she had caught her breath.
“Tell me about it,” Jimmy responded. “At least you went down quickly. I’m pretty sure one of my arms and about a dozen of my ribs are broken. I’m something of a mess over here.” Despite his obvious pain, he seemed cheerful enough, which totally blew Allison’s mind. As if reading her thoughts, he continued: “The bright side is they haven’t killed us yet. So maybe we’ll have the chance to enact a daring escape. Or something.”
“Quiet, dog,” a voice grunted, and Allison heard the unmistakable sound of a boot hitting flesh. Jimmy let out a whoosh of air but otherwise kept silent. With the bag over her body she had no clue if her friend had lost consciousness again or if he was simply following instructions, and she was in no mood to test their captors’ patience by asking. She was sure she wouldn’t take broken bones nearly as well as the berserker.
Taking a moment to clear her mind, Allison attempted to channel her healing energies toward herself. Clearly, it was somewhat different from curing others. Rather than welling up the energy from inside herself, as she’d done to save TJ’s life, she drew the energy into herself from the ground. As the power spread through her limbs, the pain receded, but it was replaced by pins and needles. The magic faded and her body felt almost as good as it had before she’d gone to bed the night before. She had only a few moments to enjoy her new health before a wave of exhaustion passed through her and she drifted into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER 15
As Chuck progressed farther upstream, the terrain became steeper, and therefore more difficult to traverse. Millennia of rushing water had carved its way into the ground, and there was a gradually heightening ridge on either side of the river. Small scrub clung to the sides, though the ground was too rocky to support larger trees. Chuck’s bird friend alternated between disappearing into the distance and continuing to hop from rock to rock, leading him farther upriver. He interpreted that to mean that his quarry had not yet left the water, but he still took his time as he went, looking for signs on either bank that boots had exited the river and resumed their trek across dry ground. After a time, when the ridges on either side had gotten steep enough, he stopped looking quite so hard. That many bodies trying to climb out of a gorge would leave some pretty obvious tracks.
Sure enough, when he finally came to the spot where they’d left the river, it was as obvious as he expected. Rough steps had been hewn from the rock walls in what looked like quite a hurry. Stone fragments littered the steps, and a pickaxe bent beyond repair lay cast aside, half-submerged in the rushing water. The air even had the smell of freshly crushed rock to it, a smell that momentarily flooded his mind with memories of treasure-filled caverns. Ever cautious, he took several deep breaths to calm his nerves and focus his hearing before he began climbing the still-damp stairway, one step at a time.
Nearing the top step, he briefly peeked his head over the ridge to get a glimpse of what might be up there waiting for him. At first blush, there was nothing getting ready to bash his head in when he climbed over the top. He took a second, longer look to be sure, and let out a sigh of relief. All that was waiting for him were the remains of a hasty campsite.
The embers of a campfire glowed within a small ring of stones. Larger rocks suitable for sitting were placed in a larger circle around the fire pit. While the ground near the steps was damp, the area close to the flames was completely dry. Chuck surmised that they had taken a few minutes to dry their boots before moving on. If the boots were anything like that harness piece that had come floating down the river, their feet would’ve been sopping wet after the march upstream.
He was disappointed to discover that there still weren’t any signs of his friends, but the fact that the fire still burned indicated he couldn’t be very far behind them. The creatures, having hidden their tracks through the water, were apparently no longer concerned about being pursued. The trail was once again absurdly easy to follow. Small stunted trees that looked like cedars sprouted here and there, and low scraggy brush grew between them. A wide path of crunched-down brush led directly away from the camp. Despite the quality of his boots, some water had splashed up over his calves and dripped down into his socks. Chuck took a few moments to warm his own feet by the fire and then set off again.
Determined not to lose his friends again and rely on some bird to find them, he proceeded at a trot. He hoped that any noise he made would be covered up by his quarry’s own thudding boots. After about twenty minutes of traveling, he began to hear noises ahead, so he slowed down to keep from running into their rear guard. He still had no idea what they were saying, but they were the same noises he heard earlier at the campsite.
The terrain continued to get rockier as they moved away from the river. In the distance Chuck was able to see mountains rising up into the clouds. “How stereotypical,” he mumbled to himself, assuming that was their ultimate destination. “Now all we need are a bunch of saliva-dripping goblins to burst into song and we’ll be in Middle Earth.”
Night fell, but the creatures kept up their march through the dim light. Darkness had been his friend from childhood, so Chuck allowed himself to get within sight of them. He crept forward until he could see the entire group. Either he had miscounted before or some had split off, because there were fewer than half as many in the group as he expected. Still far too many for him to fight single-handedly—even one would have been impossible—but few enough to make him believe that maybe it wasn’t hopeless, particularly if any of his friends were able to help. He was surprised to see no rear guard. Either they were too stupid to have one or they assumed they were home free.
As for his friends, four of the monsters had sacks slung over their shoulders. Assuming that TJ and the rest were in those sacks, that would explain why he hadn’t seen any further traces of them after finding Stu’s arrows. If TJ and the rest were not in those sacks, he was well and truly out of luck. Or rather, they were well and truly out of luck. He would just go live a long and fruitful life. The part of his personality he had stuffed into a dark corner perked up hopefully.
One creature near the front barked out a growl, and the group came to a halt. The bags were flung to the ground, and Chuck gave a silent sigh of relief at the muffled groans. His friends were alive! (Back into the corner with you, he thought.) The creatures began to mill around—they had decided to camp here for the night. The one who had given the halt order and his companion began chattering back and forth, along with a number of gestures and foot stomping. Quick as a blur, the leader struck out with his club, smacking the other in the side of the head. Taken completely by surprise, the second dropped to the ground and lay still. The leader gave another loud growl, the moaning sacks were once again hoisted over shoulders, and the group continued on.