The Jade City

Chapter 24: Escape

It took every ounce of motivation in me to hoist myself up each time. Eventually I couldn't resist and peeked below myself and nearly lost my hold. The tunnel was too dark to see anything too far away, so it looked like an endless pit. You will die if you don't keep going, I said to myself over and over again, ignoring the pain in my arms. They were practically screaming for me to release them from this torture. I swallowed and pulled myself higher and higher.

Pain seared through my right leg from my foot. Shoot. A cramp. I tried to uncurl my it so that it would stop hurting, but nothing worked. My teeth bit down on my bottom lip hard so that I wouldn't howl in pain. I shut my eyes tightly and opened them again and kept going. Tasting blood, I tried my best to ignore the agony as I continued pulling myself upwards. And finally, after what seemed like forever, I could see the stars that sprinkled the night sky. Ruby pulled herself up over the top, and once I was within reach, she grabbed onto my hand and I was on flat ground once again.

I licked the blood off my lips and collapsed.

"We can't rest yet," Ruby said, "They might come looking for us, so we have to get away from here, the further the better. We have to get to the others."

I winced as she pulled me to my feet, but my legs couldn't hold up my body weight and I fell to my knees.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Foot cramp," I wheezed, "And I'm dying, I can't move. I'm sorry."

She knelt down beside me and sighed. "Let's hope that they look far, then. But we still need to get somewhere that isn't right next to this tunnel, you know? Can you really not walk?"

I gnashed my teeth together. What was I doing? I was supposed to be the one protecting Rumi's sister, not the other way around. So ignoring every sign that my body was sending to my brain, I stood up. "Let's go."

We ran, and somewhere in the middle of it, I fainted.

Harumi's POV

Night had fallen upon us again. The afternoon had been pretty uneventful, with Morro's three outbreaks being the most interesting thing that happened. They had been getting even more frequent at an accelerated pace, and calming him down became harder with each time. Once Nya had to drag Morro into the water with her so that he wouldn't attack me. I tried to help but the others wouldn't let me get close, so I was stuck sitting at the other side of the raft. Jay suggested that we use the vial but we ultimately decided that was too risky. Besides, we didn't even know if it would work or not.

The others had fallen asleep and Zane stayed awake with me. I had volunteered to keep guard mostly because my body refused to rest. The sky was like an inky blue veil with tiny stars sprinkled across it, and the gibbous moon was like a brilliant oval orb shining against the darkness. Our raft aimlessly floated about, but Zane said not to worry, for it was still headed in the right direction. The water was illuminated by the moonlight, which casted a silver glow wherever it touched. It beat against the wood at a steady pace, almost like a lullaby. I felt my eyelids droop but was still restless.

"Do you find it strange," he said quietly, "That we have not yet seen the water creatures that captured you?"

Now that Zane mentioned it, I did find it strange. "Truthfully, I haven't really thought about it," I confessed, "But that is quite peculiar."

"Why do you think they have not attacked us at this stage?"

"I think maybe because their purpose has been served already," I said, "I'm guessing the Shadow Knight ordered them to deliver us to the island so we would be easier to ambush. But the island wasn't exactly little, so I dunno."