Inheritance cycle 5th book: Islingr

Rescue

My eyes snap open to the sounds of twigs snapping. And then all at once the pain comes flooding in. I cry out and am rewarded by a small whine and can barely see Hachi in the fading light. Oh no how long was I asleep? I wonder.

"H-Hachi" I choke out. I try and slowly get up but fail miserably because of the excruciating pain in my back, head, ribs, wrist, collarbone, and ears. I had to have been asleep for hours..." my head starts to pound and I lift my hand to my forehead only to find blood. Not good..." I look up at the tree and am surprised that my phone is standing there, most likely still recording as all it's data had been erased and storage cleared up. It was so far away though.

Slowly, painfully, and horribly I propped myself up on my hands screaming at the pain, and cursing because blood and screaming does not mix well with the wild creatures in the woods especially in the dark. I notice my staff and haul myself up grunting. Hachi's at my side giving me puppy eyes.

Only then do I see the stone. It's not fiery any more but I see e trees around it are scorched. I slowly limp over to the stone and kneel down. I know it's been hours but for some odd reason I expected it to burn, but it was cool. The stone was about two feet long and a foot tall, perfectly shaped into an oval, it was beautiful... like a giant diamond, wait but what exploded? Surely this stone didn't cause it, maybe the heat of an animal coming inn close range or I stepped on something... it didn't matter at the moment though it was just glowing, but I couldn't take it with me... no car could reach up here, not even the dirt bikes. No one even knew where I was for that matter until I call them that is. Something seemed off about leaving it here though, like something in the night would get it.

I hold out my hand to it as if it beckoned me to. I lift it up and it it's extremely light. I slip it into my bag growling at each move I make. Then a thought hit me, if I were gone for hours where is my family? I try as fast as I can to get to my phone and press the power button and realize. It's dead.

No, no, no this is not good.... Not good at all. I was up in the mountains, in the dark, completely broken, and predators looking for food. I'm as good as dead. Until my head snaps down to Hachi. Hachi. My best friend. My best friend I valued over my actual human friends was about to save my life yet again.

"Hachi. Go. Go get dad! Go get Dawn! Get help. Home. Come back." I command him, he gives me a small whimper, not wanting to leave me. "Go!" I yelled and he took off down the mountains

Yes, I hated to be alone but he knows what to do. One of my friends father was a K-9 police officer and helped me teach Hachi from a puppy. He knew what to do.

I look around at the surrounding darkness. I forced myself into a tree and almost started crying because of the pain, I was up only ten feet until I couldn't take the pain. I tied my belt around the pine tree and I was laying down in the fork of the tree. I closed my eyes and started hearing a low hum, a vibration from the backpack. It hummed louder though. What was it? I opened my eyes and it stopped. Okay. Maybe I'm hallucinating, that's okay... my eyes drifted closed once again but yanked open as the humming intensified its pitch.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I pulled my pack off. What could be making that noise?" I pulled open the flap and the sound died. Hmmm... I thought to myself. I closed my eyes and immediately the pitch sounded again, I yanked the backpack open and gasp as the stone was vibrating. It stopped at once.

"Wow." I breathed. What could cause this? Was it a box? Well of course it's not a square but it could easily hold something within. I take my knife out and tap it across the surface not wanting to harm It and a sound woodshed across one of my ears. It's hollow... One of my ears. Uh oh. I put a finger to my ear and scratch dried blood. But can hear nothing. No. Am I... am I deff? No I can speak. And hear from the other, it's just damage...

I hold the large form in my arms and my eyes droop, I'm so tired... So, so very tired. Then It squeaked and squirmed. I almost dropped it. "Will you not let me sleep?" I asked it annoyingly. Sleep. Oh. Sleep. My mind drifted back to the story my dad told me about a man getting attacked by a lion and he was dieing and laying by a tree when a water buffalo came up and layed next to him. She was protecting him. Then when the man tried to sleep he was continually bit by giant ants. When he got to a doctor he said that if he slept, he never would've woken up again.

So was this stone trying to keep me awake? I do- my thoughts stopped at the sound of barking.

"Jade!"