Mana Tapu

Chapter 9

The pain in my ankle was excruciating. I have never felt so much pain in my life. I heard the pop, felt the shift, and saw galaxies of stars. Of course fate would curse me with this. Fate was playing with me. It let me believe that I was free and turned around to slap me in the face. Reaching out as I fell, my hands slid across a low hanging vine. I grabbed onto my lifeline and watched in horror as the tree it was snaked across creaked towards me. I couldn't decided if I should thank my lucky stars or curse at the ones floating in my peripherals. Time slowed as the tree came crashing down. The birds scattered frantically, the leaves abandoned their positions. Letting go of the vine I hacked at the root trapping my swollen foot. It wouldn't budge.

Snapping filled the air as the tree collided with the ground. I slammed my eyes shut and ducked my head. The earth stopped shaking - or maybe I stopped shaking. I couldn't tell which.

"I'm dead. I died. A tree killed me..." I opened my eyes to see what heaven looked like. It was so... green. I shook my head and went cross eyed to focus on a broken branch two centimeters from my nose.

"You didn't kill me???" My voice hitched when I heard a moan and saw the twitching hand, "I need to get out of here."

Reaching out I snapped off a gnarled branch. I gripped around the moss and used it to pry my foot loose. I extracted it from the torturous root and gingerly wiggled my toes. I couldn't feel them. Luck would have to carry me far away from this mess. Taking a single step I shifted my weight onto my bad foot before I fell into a pile of leaves. Stray twigs poked through my clothes as a gasp escaped from my lungs. With shut eyes and clenched fists I tried to find enough energy to curse the gods. A warm tongue licked my face and a nose nudged my forehead. A gasp escaped from my lungs and I realized I hadn't been breathing. We laid quietly together for a moment; my hand tugging at knots in the dog's fur. He licked my face again before barking.

"Thanks buddy, let's get out of here."

Letting the Borzoi help, he dragged me to my feet and steadied me as we stumbled away from the wreckage. I couldn't help myself. I looked back. I'm no better than James, I'm a murderer now. The outstretched hand wasn't moving. The leash pulled forward and we lost ourselves in the woods. Step followed by agonizing step carried us through time. I followed the dog at a pace slower than a sloth. At this rate I would be covered in moss.

"Natural camouflage will keep me out of the hands of the Crown right?" I looked at my faithful dog—expecting an answer. "What did they name you by the way? Reaching around his collar I felt around for a tag. My fingers slipped over a metal band on the underside. I shifted the collar until I could read the inscription.

"Hound 32... now that's creative! Hound 32 come here and meet Inmate 3289 or Target Two! Oh, you miss heard? I meant Hound 22 - my bad. We're going to have to find you a real name. How does that sound?" The Borzoi barked.

"It's a great idea. Do you have any preferences?" Another bark.

"You do? Care to share?" Two more barks followed by a growl.

"No? How about Fred? Zach? Bear? Snowflake?" The dog was going berserk at this point and pulled back in his collar. I stopped walking.

"I take it 'Snowflake' is a no." He kept barking and pulling.

"Stop that or I'm going to fall! My bad foot won't support me without you." He pulled out from under my arm and I fell. I fell and I didn't stop. The leash around my wrist pulled taut. There was a yelp and the silhouette of a dog followed me into the shadows. There were a few seconds before we splashed into water. I screamed when my ankle made contact. Water rushed into my lungs and I came up sputtering. The dog was swimming around me and I reached out for support. I'm not too smart — when I grabbed onto him we both started to drown again. I couldn't swim with my ankle how it was. We were going to die, and after everything we've gone through. I didn't even have a good name for him.

"I'm sorry buddy, please forgive me." I choked out my apology as we slowly sunk. Blue and purple hues swum in my vision with the occasional speck of Borzoi. There might have been a fish or two. A melody floated around us. I couldn't feel my ankle as my lungs filled with fire. If I breathed in the flames would extinguish themselves; if I swam up I could drink air. Focusing on the fire we kicked, we swam, and we broke to the surface one last time. I gasped, he whimpered.

"Take off the leash and let go!"

"What? You can talk??" I really was dying. The consistent lack of oxygen was taking a toll on my sanity.

"LET GO!" Our eyes met and I understood.

"You're right, it is best if one of us live. I love you buddy." With that I unclasped his collar and let go. He swam into the darkness. I took my last breath and slipped under the water. The hole I had fallen through streamed light to where I drowned. Bubbles were floating to greet the sunlight. My arms felt like lead. The fire was growing stronger and my will was fracturing. I think drowning passes for a better death than a man hunt. At least I won't die in prison. Accepting this fact I took a breath. The fire drowned, the purple hues faded into a deeper black, and the soft melody sank with me. A few seconds of bliss were all I had before I felt fur brush past my arm. The Borzoi hadn't left me to drown. Laughing in surprise I just about drank a gallon of water before the lights went out.

Painful as drowning is, surviving it is even worse. I will swear by that. The fire I had in my lungs pales in comparison to the lava that I coughed out. I honestly wish I would have died to not experience that. Coughing for an eternity, all lava finally left both lungs. The struggle to achieve such a feat left me winded with an acidic burning in my throat. That Borzoi was a strong dog. Being able to drag himself and I to the rocky shore was worthy of praise.

My voice sounded horrible as I croaked out my gratitude. "Thanks buddy, you saved my life," I reached out to pat him on the head. "GAHHHH!"

Yanking my hand back I looked to my right and stared in horror through the darkness. Squinting I could make out a beautiful, young girl. Wet hair was plastered to the side of her face and fell gracefully down her form. Was she a mermaid? Was she the melodious voice? Did she tell me to let go? Mermaids were only in fairytales. However, the way that things played out today I could believe in a legend or two. This legend was clutching her sides and laughing at me.

"You... you... are beet red! That was so funny. You should see your face. Well, actually you probably can't right now. Your eyes aren't adjusted. It took mine a couple of days to see." My jaw just hung there. "For your information, I did save you, but no I am not a dog. Even if I was a dog I would appreciate it if you looked before trying to affectionately give your gratitude. This might be more proper!"

She held her hand out to me. I flopped back to the stoney ground and weakly shook her hand.

"So who are you? Why did you fall out of the sky? How did you find my cave? Are you here for me? What's your name? Why do you have a dog? Does he have a name? Are you really that bad at swimming? Because if so then we'll really have to work on that..."

She trailed off as she gazed towards the death trap. Who even was this chick? If anything I had questions that needed to be answered. "Who I am doesn't matter anymore. But my name is Callum, I tripped in the forest and ended up swimming," I gazed up at the speck of light above us. How did I even fall through that? "Riddle me this, where is my dog? Why don't you live in the city? Are you a mermaid?"

Giggling, she gestured over her shoulder to a wet lump in the darkness. My heart leapt and adrenaline rushed into my veins. I threw myself onto my feet in an attempt to reach my rescue dog. Taking a few steps I screamed and tumbled on top of the girl. Seething in pain I clenched my jaw and stiffened. Small, strong hands shoved me to the side. They worked their way up and down my injured body until they grazed my ankle. Another scream; more pain. The few objects that my eyes were capable of focusing on burned a dull red. I needed my dog; my dog needed me. We needed each other and not some girl. Gritting my teeth, I rolled to my knees. I would make it to him even if I had to crawl.

"No! Stop moving!"

"I need... him..." I panted; the Borzoi whimpered. I made to inch towards him.

That's when she tackled me. My ankle cried out in protest as I tried to stand with her on my back. I crumpled again but she never let go. She snaked behind me. Her feet were braced against a rock by my side. Small hands were covering my mouth and nose. Water dripped onto her fingertips. The last words I heard were hers.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."