7/5/3028
Martin let out a feeble groan when he touched the spot on his stomach where the branch once was. "How long have I been out?"
"A couple hours," I said, brushing aside the strands of hair that were on his sweaty brow. "How do you feel?"
"Sore." Martin craned his neck to the right, straining with every motion, before looking left where he spotted Elossai unconscious on the ground. "Whoa, why is she gray?"
"I'm not sure why she's gray, all I've been told is that she took on your injury," I said.
"Is she okay?"
Keiran and Ilta exchanged a grim glance with Stanjah. "We need to get to Ien as soon as possible," Keiran said, disregarding Martin's question altogether.
This was bad.
"Are you well enough to sit up?" Ilta offered.
"Yeah," Martin croaked as he sat up with Ilta's help.
Ilta kept looking up into the sky, noting the sun's position with her sharply pointed nose. "It should be nightfall in about an hour."
Nightfall. I remembered Elossai making a remark about how fortunate we were to be in the valley during the day.
"Don't we want to be out of here before then?" I asked.
"We do," Stanjah said with a solemn expression.
***
With two horses dead, we all had to ride two up, with the exception of Stanjah. I was with Keiran, Martin rode with Ilta, and Jarek rode with Elossai cradled on his lap.
"Keiran, will Elossai wake up soon?" I asked.
"She's absorbed Martin's critical injuries along with the ones she's sustained right before that. The injuries are far too extensive for her to self-heal. The combination of which would without a doubt be fatal, even for an Elos," said Keiran.
"We've got to do something!" I pleaded.
"There isn't much we can do now. We will see what can be done as soon as we arrive in Ien. You have my word."
I glanced back at Elossai who was leaned up against Jarek's chest. In my mind I felt every bit of the weight of her decision to save Martin's life.
"Why did Martin jump over that log?" Keiran asked.
"I told him not to, but he wouldn't listen. I knew something bad was going to happen."
"How could you know something awful was about to happen?"
"I had a panic attack before the incident."
"You experienced anxiety because you felt that something terrible was about to occur?"
"It was more than just a bad feeling—I literally felt sick to my stomach."
"How is that possible?" Keiran pulled the reins to the left, dodging a large stump in our path.
I slipped to the side but quickly shifted into a comfortable position again. "I don't know. Do you think I was predicting the future? Like, a form of magic?"
"How?"
"Maybe I have some form of magic... or natural ability, like Elossai told me about."
"Magic doesn't exist, and no one has the power to see the future. Not even corin can help you do that."
"Oh," I uttered, feeling kind of silly for suggesting magic.
"Perhaps the environment made you feel nervous," Keiran guessed.
I couldn't explain what it was that happened to me, but I knew for certain that something awful was about to happen—even when my own emotions had calmed down.
Keiran's conjecture would have to satisfy me for now.
***
Dusk.
The horses snorted, nervous in the dim light. Stanjah, who was at the head of our host, escalated to a pace just shy of full gallop as we made our way north. It helped that the terrain was no longer sloped, but we were also riding with two to a horse, except for Stanjah. Elossai remained limp in Jarek's arms and her complexion didn't seem to be improving.
"Nightfall is upon us," Ilta remarked grimly.
"Stanjah," Keiran said.
"Yes, Anmus."
"You must ride on ahead with Elossai to Ien."
"Yes, my Anmus."
Jarek and Stanjah stopped briefly as Jarek helped place Elossai on Stanjah's horse. Stanjah said something in a language I couldn't understand and sent her horse into a full gallop ahead of us. The rhythmic stomping of her horse's hooves grew fainter as she rode off into the distance.
Keiran stamped the flanks of our horse and we, too, were sent into a gallop. We continued onward riding as fast as we could—trying to beat the inevitable darkness.
The end was within our sights with the mouth of Possen Valley funneling out to a narrow exit.
Then, out of the blue, I felt that ominous queasiness in my stomach again. I squeezed Keiran's arm twice to get his attention.
"What is it?" Keiran asked.
"It's happening again—that sick feeling."
"Stay alert, everyone," Keiran announced.
Jarek drew out a sturdy looking axe and positioned himself ahead of us.
"Martin, can you take over the reins?" I heard Ilta ask. She pulled out her long bow that until now had been slung behind her.
Rocks and debris on the side of the mountain began to tumble downward ahead of us, small amounts at first and then more. I looked up to locate the source of the disturbance.
I nearly fell off the horse. "What's that?" I pointed at the two grotesque creatures that scampered on the side of the mountain.
The shale gray humanoid creatures crawled on six hands. One of them looked straight at me, twitching its head rapidly with its mouth opened to bare a black tongue and long fangs.
They scrambled along the valley walls like cockroaches, moving as a unit to one destination. The mouth of the valley.
"What the hell are those things?" Martin cried.
"Night-crawlers." Ilta reached for her quiver and in one swift motion pulled a bronze-tipped arrow with her slender fingers.
"Ellis, do you know how to use a bow?" Keiran asked.
"No." My voice was shaky, but he handed me a bow and a leather quiver anyway before unsheathing a double-edged sword from a gilded scabbard. I slung the quiver around me like I would a purse.
Sink or swim.
Ilta aimed at the mouth of the valley. She drew the bowstring sharply and let loose her arrow. The arrow's trajectory took on a curved arc before striking one of the night crawlers square through its temple. It let out a loud, high-pitched screech as it fell off its perch.
"Aim for the head, Ellis," Keiran said.
Aim for the head? I'll be lucky if I manage to even hit the creature!
"More night-crawlers are coming," announced Jarek. I looked behind and saw several of them, hot on our tails.
"Jarek, tell me—what's the worst thing an Elorian night-crawler can do to us?" Martin asked.
"Eat you," Jarek answered.
"Take it down, Ilta." Keiran pointed to the second night-crawler that descended capriciously toward the mouth of the valley. Ilta aimed swiftly, her lips pursed in the direction of the creature before she loosed another arrow. It struck the nightcrawler clear through its neck. The creature seemed to writhe a little before falling flat on the escarpment. More night-crawlers from the side of the mountain slinked their way toward the mouth.
"There's too many of them," Ilta said, releasing arrow after arrow—taking down as many as she could. "I think we have to charge through."
Keiran spurred our horse to a gallop, rearing back slightly before springing forward violently as a pack of night-crawlers nipped at our heels. Some of them were already perched by the valley walls and they leapt off the mountain toward us. I screamed as I caught one with the corner of my eye vaulting toward us.
With one masterful stroke, Keiran slashed the vile creature in half and the black insides spilled all over us. Surrounded as we were by enemies that were gaining on us, I could see the end of the valley a short distance away.
"Your bow. Use it!" Keiran cried.
I summoned the courage to force my limbs to comply.
I'm not going to die here if there's something I can do about it.
I set the nock of an arrow to the bow string but fumbled, dropping the arrow. I tried again, holding the arrow tightly between my fingers, but couldn't get it notched properly.
More night-crawlers lunged at us as we passed the mouth of the valley and Keiran slashed through them. Our horses, now at full gallop, went from being majestic creatures to truly terrifying beasts. As our desperate charge to safety crashed against a wave of night-crawlers, the momentum of our steed seemed to crush the enemy under relentless, ironclad hooves. I ignored my bow, choosing to use the arrow like a spear. Indiscriminately, I stabbed whichever night-crawler came within my reach.
We finally passed through the exit of the valley when the pained screech of a horse echoed off the walls. I turned to see that Jarek had been knocked off his horse and was clambering to his feet, wielding his battle-axe with both hands.
"Jarek!" Keiran shouted as we wheeled around and rode furiously towards him.
Jarek looked like a huge silhouette in the distance. A bunch of night-crawlers were already on his horse. He widened his stance and let out a war cry, seemingly prepared to fight until the bitter end. Ilta sent an arrow through the night-crawler looming above Jarek, killing it. More began to surround him quickly. Jarek threw the huge momentum of his body into each stroke, dismembering night-crawlers left and right like they were firewood being split on a chopping block.
Keiran slid off the saddle, leaving me alone.
"Where are you going?" I cried.
Keiran charged into the midst of the night-crawlers, a blur of motion as his sword struck a night-crawler, then another, again and again. Jarek wielded his axe like a tomahawk now—with one under-handed swing, he sent an arm and a leg soaring into the air.
My heart pounded in my ears. I was frightened, but I knew I had to help. Even Martin had found himself a sword and was trying his best to keep the night-crawlers at bay.
They were all around Keiran and Jarek and I knew that I couldn't just sit idly and watch them try to fend those night-crawlers off alone.
I raised my bow.