Illiya - Taylor Neeran Chronicles #1

Chapter 25 - Loss

River

Char felt the Vaseth claw pierce his leg, then his muscles went limp. He watched the terrified expression on Taylor's face as he slid into the fast-flowing river. Char tried to hold his breath but his mouth would not close. He felt water rushing in, then a sudden pain as his head hit a boulder. His face disappeared under the water and darkness overtook him.

Drowning

Taylor wove in and out of the trees, keeping close to the water's edge. The embankment was steeper here, the river narrow and the water fast flowing. There was no sign of Char.

Taylor followed the river around the bend, stumbling on roots as her eyes blinked away the smoke. She ran as close to the water's edge as she dared, searching for Char. Past the rapids the river broadened out, and the embankment grew less steep. Taylor ran along the river's edge, trying to keep below the smoke. In the distance, she spotted something white floating in a broad pool. The smoke was thinner here, away from the main flow of the wind.

"Char!" She ran over a small rise and slid down the grassy bank. She waded out into the water up to her knees and began to swim. Char floated face up in the water, unmoving. He had cuts and gashes all over his body. She reached out and grabbed one of Char's arms. She kicked out at the water with her legs, but he wouldn't move.

His belt was caught on a submerged tree branch, which had prevented him from being swept further downstream.

Taylor let her legs drop in the water and felt around with her feet. She found a large boulder and set both feet against it. She pulled Char with all of her strength, her feet sliding on the slippery rock.

The snag suddenly gave way, and Char floated towards her. Her head plunged under the water and she almost lost her grip on his arm. She flailed with her other arm and took a gasping breath as her face broke the surface of the water.

With a firm grip on Char's pale arm, she pulled at the water with her free arm and kicked with her legs.

Slowly and steadily she pulled him across the slow-moving current until she was back in knee-deep water. She turned Char around so she could get her hands under his shoulders and heaved him out of the water onto a sandy area with few rocks. She lifted and pulled a bit at a time until his feet were the only thing left in the water.

She knelt down beside him and pressed her ear against his chest. There was a faint heartbeat and a gurgling sound as he breathed. "Char?" He did not respond. Gurgle.

Taylor struggled to pull him over onto his side, one arm above his head. Water dribbled out of his mouth. When the water stopped flowing, Taylor turned him onto his back and listened. His breathing was steadier, but his pulse was still weak. He was bleeding from several gashes on his arms, legs and chest. She didn't know for sure but it looked like he might have broken ribs, noting the spreading stains under the skin of his chest.

"Stay with me!" she yelled at him. "You're not going anywhere!"

She tugged at the zipper on her backpack and pulled out her clothes. She used her pocket knife to cut her shirts into wide strips. She tied them around his arms and legs to try to slow the bleeding. She folded her spare shorts into a square and pressed down on the deep gash in his chest.

She looked out at the forest as she listened to his breathing. Animals continued to flee through the forest, but there were no signs of meat-eaters.

"You're going to need more help than I can give you," said Taylor. "I need to find you a Yahnee. Don't go anywhere."

Taylor looked at the forest, then back along the river. Most of the animals were off in the trees, moving away. None seemed to be interested in Char or this section of the river.

Taylor looked down at Char's pale, slack face. She placed her hands on each side of his head and pressed her forehead and nose against his, breathing slowly. She could barely feel his breath. "I don't know if this will help, but I share my breath and spirit with you, like Henry did with me. Don't you die on me."

She kissed him and stood up. "I'll be right back."

She did another check for animals. The last things she wanted was for another Vaseth to finish the job.

Taylor scrambled up the bank and ran back and forth through the trees, checking their bark. She needed to get him to a Yahnee tree as fast as she could, but it had to be close by. He was a lot heavier on land and she couldn't drag him very far.

Smoke drifted through the forest as the wind gusted in her direction, making her search more difficult. After a few minutes of searching Taylor found a Yahnee. She made a mental note of the tree's location, then made her way back to the river.

Taylor slid down the embankment and scared away a small bird that was pecking at one of Char's cuts. "Shoo! Go away!"

"Stay with me!" she grunted as she hooked her arms under Char's shoulders and began dragging him towards the Yahnee. She paused to catch her breath every few steps, coughing at the wisps of smoke coming through the trees. She hoped it would be held back by the river. If not, at least they would die together. Taylor saw his legs and feet catch on roots as she dragged him uphill. "I'm sorry!"

She finally got Char to the Yahnee tree and managed to push and pull him into a sitting position against the trunk. She placed his hand on the bark and watched the tree. Nothing happened. She lifted his hand and set it on the root again and again, but there was no response from the tree.

"No!!!"

She wriggled him closer against the tree and tried again. Nothing happened. "It's not fair!"

Taylor placed her ear against his chest and listened. His heartbeat was faint, his breathing shallow and rapid. She smacked her hand against the trunk in frustration.

"Dammit! Don't you die on me!"

Taylor gritted her teeth and stared at the Yahnee tree. "Now you look here, Char's not allowed to die. You hear me? You-"

Taylor paused, thinking. She got an idea and snuggled in beside Char. She placed his arm over her, put her palm on the Yahnee root and concentrated. Yahnee, we need your help. Please heal Char, the one beside me.

She closed her eyes and prayed as she felt a warm tingle spread across her back. She opened her eyes and let out a shuddering breath as she saw white filaments emerge from the bark and begin to cover Char. The silver threads grew longer, probing, working their way over his shoulders, then along his arms and across his chest. Where they encountered an injury, the silvery threads formed webs that covered that area more thickly. The threads moved under the bandages and steadily worked their way across him until Char's entire body was wrapped in silvery white webs. "Thank you, Yahnee," she whispered as she felt the threads spread across her shoulders and over the top of her arms. Her eyes grew heavy, and she drifted off into a deep sleep.

She dreamed of Aeden.

Dream

Taylor stood on an ash-covered hill, the Hunter moon high in the cloudless night sky. The mouse moon had escaped again, a thin crescent creeping out from behind the Hunter moon. She watched the wind stir up the ash. A strong smell wafted up into her nostrils. She turned and looked at the mountains in the distance, dark outlines under the silver moon.

As Taylor watched, time sped up. Night gave way to day, and the sun chased the moons around the sky as the days became a flicker between the nights. She looked down at her feet and watched green plants thrust their leaves up through the dirt and ash, until she was knee deep in grass, and small seedlings grew into a towering forest around her.

A lone Drazen scampered up onto a rock beside her. Taylor lowered her hand and the little mouse climbed up onto her shoulder.

Together they watched the seasons flicker by. The brief flash of a forest fire left nothing but ash behind in a blink of the eye, then the cycle began anew.

Taylor felt the life of the planet stirring beneath her feet, growing, searching.

Taylor closed her eyes as Aeden slumbered.