“That’s a long way
down...” he muttered.
She growled
impatiently.
“I find its best
not to think about it and just jump.” Connor shouted, the wind
howling behind him.
Darius felt it
pushing him but he hung on tight. “It’s alright for you, you always
know you’ll be able to fly!”
Connor shook his
head. “That never makes it any easier to do no matter how many
times I do it. I’m still scared of falling.”
The ground shook
beneath them as Terry’s body began to shudder, forcing the two men
to cling on tighter. A sprawl of tentacles writhed there way free
from her underside, wrapping their way around and rocky
outcrops.
“Terry wants to go
so if you’re going to jump you’d best do so now.” Connor shouted,
picking his way to where Darius stood.
“But...”
Before he could
begin again, Connor had leapt onto Terry’s shoulder and flung
himself off, lighting into a fireball that sped off down the
mountain side. Terry glanced sideways at Darius again and growled
in encouragement. But the boy stood there, frozen in terror.
Growing impatiently, one of her tentacles whipped around and
grabbed him by the arm. With a flick, she sent him sailing into the
void. Darius’s screams echoed through the mountains as he fell.
Raising herself
up, Terry dove down the cliff face, digging her claws into the rock
to break her speed as she gathered momentum. Her tentacles whipped
in all directions, grabbing rocky outcrops ahead and holding on as
her body sped passed to cut her speed. The tentacles behind her
would then let go and race on to continue the process. Other
tentacles smashed through dangerous outcrops that lay in her path.
She reached the bottom a few minutes later.
She found Connor
sitting on top of a boulder some distance away. The Pyrovite had
been smart enough to give her a wide berth in case she had miscued
and tumbled down the mountain side. Any collision would have spelt
instant death for him had it happened. He waved a lazy hand in
greeting, which she acknowledged with a growl. She then turned her
attention to one of her tentacles. It had been damaged in the
descent and now laid, rather painfully, on the ground, its top
third sporting a gushing wound. Concentrating on it, her dull
copper skin began to knit itself back together, staunching the flow
of dark blood. Her muscle itched as all the nerves and tissue sewed
together. Seconds later the process had finished and her tentacle
was like new. Not even a scar remained. She tested it by flicking
it about. Satisfied, they all withdrew within her body.
A scream caused
Connor to look behind him. Darius struggled to his feet, shaking
violently.
“Are you okay?”
Connor shouted, over the roar of the river that raced passed
them.
“No! I told you it
would hurt!” he shouted, shutting his eyes and winching. His skin
flushed with colour and he drew in a sharp breath, completing the
reassembling of his body.
“Sorry but I don’t
think there any other way down.” Connor shouted as he clambered
down from the boulder.
Darius looked at
him, bereft of forgiveness. “The sooner we are out of these bloody
mountains the better. I’m not climbing another one.”
“I don’t think
we’ll need too. We only came over that one to get into this valley.
There was no other way round as far as I could see. Now we just
need to follow the river, it will take us to the other end.”
Darius’s shoulders
slumped.
“What?”
“If you had told
me that in the first place I would have aimed for the river. It
would have been far less painful.”
Connor gave him a
questionable look. “Why didn’t you just do that anyway?”
“What do you
mean?”
“Why didn’t
you just land in the river? It’s right
there
.”
Terry grumbled as
she walked up to them.
Darius looked at
Connor for a translation. “What did she say?”
“She said to climb
on.”
“I can swim.”
Connor climbed up
one of her legs. “The waters are moving really fast, you might get
lost, no matter what shape you take.”
He sighed. “No
matter what I do I can’t win...” he mumbled to himself as he made
his way over to where Terry waited.
With them both
safely onboard, Terry strode into the fast flowing, icy
current.
The Long Walk
Home
The journey down
river had been a long and freezing one. Terry had only emerged from
the waters to end Connor’s ceaseless complaining. Fortunately for
her, the fast flowing waters had eased as the river poured out into
the foothills of the Gyris Mountains, making the swim for the
banking easier than it had been earlier in the day.
Connor flicked the
water from his soggy sleeves as he squelched up the gravel. Terry
shook herself like a dog, sending spray everywhere. Darius had to
cover his face to avoid getting showered.
The tips of
Terry’s sharp armour fell back against her body. The metal glinted
brilliantly where the setting sun caught the water. Terry growled,
looking at Connor.
He glanced at his
watch. “It’s just gone six.”
Darius hurried
over to him. “Which way do we go now?”
“I didn’t think we
were going any further tonight.” He looked at Terry who growled and
shook her head; a very human expression.
Darius looked out
over the tall grasses that lay beyond the top of the gravel
banking. “How far do you think we’ve come?”
Connor looked at
Terry for an answer as she plonked herself down. Her reply was
little more than a low rumble.
“About sixty.” He
shrugged. “I think that’s what she said anyway.”
Terry regarded
them with her large, cunning amber slit eyes but said nothing.
Darius was
crestfallen. “You mean after all that we’re still over three
hundred miles away from Marrich?”
“Yeah.”
Darius sighed as
he sat down. “It’s going to take us days to get back at this
rate.”
“We’re not going
back to Marrich. We’re going to find Terry’s father and uncle,
remember?” Connor said as he started picking about the driftwood
further up the banking. “They should be looking for us by now.”
Pushing himself
up, Darius crunched through wet pebbles to where the Pyrovite was.
“And then what?”
Picking up a
stick, Connor turned back to him and shrugged. “I don’t know what
you want to do but I’m going back with Terry. Then I’m going to
find a way back to Earth and we’re going to stop Edward.” He turned
back to his task, pulling another twisted stick free from amongst
the smooth black pebbles that clutched it. “I should have been back
days ago anyway. My wife will be worried sick.”
“And how will you
stop Edward? Do you know anyone with temporal technology?” his eyes
shined with desperation.
Connor raised an
eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I
mean. How are you two alone going to stop Edward?”
Connor looked at
Terry, who had lifted her head at the remark. Her gaze met his for
a moment before flitting back to the water elemental. She regarded
him curiously.
“We won’t be
alone. We have Lyle, we have Faye and we have the Alchemists.”
Darius looked
unconvinced. “You’ve not exactly got a team anymore though, have
you? Faye hates you and her father won’t let her go back.” He said,
gesturing to Terry.
Terry’s antennae
twitched slightly but otherwise she remained motionless.
Connor threw up
his arms. “I still don’t know what you’re getting at.”
A smile crossed
the young man’s face, but it was one of desperation, not humour.
“What I’m getting at is you have no plan!” he exclaimed. “I grew up
hearing the story of how you stopped Edward ten years ago! I
thought you were both legends that is why I came to you when Faye
went crazy!” He turned, gesturing all around him. “But here we are.
We are in the middle of nowhere with no way to get back to Earth
and no plan to stop Edward.” He laughed. “You’re not the people I
was led to believe!”
Connor’s gaze
narrowed. “What exactly did you expect?” He stepped closer to the
water elemental so they were almost face-to-face. “Is that why you
came with us to find Rilario? Did you think it was an
adventure?”
“No, of course
not.” He replied, shaking his head.
Connor looked down
at him. “Then why did you say what you just did?”
His eyes widened
and the familiar terrified boy returned. “I’m just...scared...ok?
I’m sorry.”
Connor turned
away, shaking his head. Terry watched him return to his task before
returning her gaze to Darius. She stared at him for a long while,
regarding him silently with ancient eyes. Finally he could stand it
no longer and turned away.
Several minutes
later Connor had managed to gather enough driftwood to create a
small fire. Stepping back, the Pyrovite lit it with a fiery spark
from a flick of the wrist. He went into his backpack and dug out
two small pork pies. Without comment he threw one to Darius.
Terry’s antennae
pricked at the sight of food. Rising onto her six clawed feet,
Terry turned and headed to the river; wet gravel crunching
underfoot. Watching the flow of the water for several moments, she
suddenly began slashing at it.
“What is she
doing?” asked Darius, watching as he chewed on a mouthful of the
soggy pastry.
Connor also turned
to watch. “Fishing.”
True enough, a few
minutes later she returned, dropping half a dozen fish by the
campfire. She squeaked then returned to where she had been sitting
some distance away.
“Thanks.” Connor
said after her.
She squeaked in
reply. Closing her eyes she turned away from them, rolling up into
a tight ball.
Seeking out a
couple of large, flat rocks, Connor placed them over the low
flames. He then laid two fish across the top of them. “It might not
be much of an oven but it’ll do.” He said, giving a slight
smile.
Darius shrugged.
“I don’t care. I’m so hungry I’d eat them raw if I had too.”
The following day
the three of them set out on foot. Despite having scoffed some fish
Terry had reverted back to her human form. They had all been small
fry. It would have taken her hours to catch enough to fill her
stomach – time they did not have. Fortunately the weather was
promising a hot day ahead. The sun was beginning to peak over the
hills to the east and a light breeze stirred the long emerald
grasses in ripples, as if it were a green sea.
Terry caught
Darius looking at her. “What?”
“You smell like
fish.” He smirked.
She laughed. “So
do you.”
“I forgot to bring
my toothbrush.”
“It wouldn’t have
made much difference for me if I had all the toothbrushes and
toothpaste in the world.”
“I never thought I
would say this but I think I prefer what you normally smell like.”
Darius added, peering at the sky.
“Which is?”
“Metallically...is
that a word?” He asked, giving her a puzzled look.
“Thanks
, you know how to make a girl feel
special.”
He laughed. “I’m
only joking! You don’t usually smell like that, only if you’ve
turned into your primeval form.”
She smiled. “You
just keep on digging yourself into this hole, don’t you?”
“Maybe when we get
home we should create our own brand of perfumes.” He mused, staring
back at the sky. The bright sunlight had certainly lifted his mood
from the night before.
Connor gave him a
funny look from the far side of Terry. “That’s a very random thing
to say.”
“We were talking
about smells and it’s just came to me.” He shrugged. “I mean, think
about it. Terry has a stronger sense of smell than anyone else, so
she can pick out the best fragrances and we could market them.”
“I never knew you
had a degree in marketing.” Connor replied.
“We don’t need one
as long as we find the right fragrance.”
Connor snorted a
laugh. “I don’t see it working somehow.”
“Says the IT
consultant.” Put in Terry. “We all know how exciting fixing
computers is.”
“Excuse me? I have
a job!” Connor rebuked. He pointed at her. “You got fired from your
last one.”
Terry shrugged
indifferently. “I don’t need a house and I don’t need money. I can
hunt and I can dig, that’s all I need.”
“
Yeah, I
know you can live underground.” A smile peeled his face. “You could
be queen of the Wombles if you ever decided to move back to Earth!”
he laughed. Darius burst out laughing too.
“Shut up!” she
shouted, giving him a hard shove. Connor was still laughing as he
ran forward a few feet. But the humour abandoned him when he
reached the summit of the hill. Terry and Darius also fell
silent.
In the valley
below, a peach and black mound smouldered, casting long, low plumes
of grey smoke.
“Is that what I
think it is?” Darius asked.
“Yeah.” Terry
replied.
“This is the
second time this has happened.” Connor said quietly, his gaze fixed
on the blackened mound of charred flesh. He couldn’t tear his gaze
away despite the horrific sight.
Terry soaked up
the scene around the briary. The lush grasses had been muddied with
commotion and blood. Bow and spears lay scattered among the few
fallen that the opposition had failed to collect to add to the
flames. She drew a deep breath, the smell of rotting flesh filling
her nostrils. It told her all she needed to know. “This couldn’t
have happened more than five or six hours ago.”
Darius suddenly
became uneasy, looking about in all directions.
Seeing his panic,
she said, “Whoever did this is long gone.” But she scanned the
surrounding hillsides with her eagle-eyed vision once more time
just to be certain.