Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) (11 page)

We worked our way down from the ledge, to head back to the tree. I decided we should walk the rest of the way back to tree, in order to not trip again. I could tell the wolves agreed to have less weight upon their backs.

              Rolf joked, “It is nice to give my back a break.”

              Olivia quickly complained, “Hey! Are you calling me heavy?”

              Rolf answered her softly, “No, you are a light weight. I was just joking around.”

              She laughed and said, “Okay.”

              I watched my grandpa fiddle with something inside his coat pocket, and he caught me staring. He quickly placed his hand to his side, and quickened the pace he walked. My grandpa’s wolf companion walked next to him.

              Mason stood by my side, and grabbed my hand. Olivia looked back at us and smiled at his gesture. I felt the warmth of his palm, and found it to be strange.
I thought vampires were cold to the touch?
I questioned myself.

              I nodded the question away, and decided to just enjoy the moment. The connection I felt with Mason was much more than just a little crush. I looked up ahead, and seen the tree top of where we were headed. I hoped my grandpa knew what he was doing.

              As we edged closer to the tree I was able to see the trunk. The hollow shape still appeared in the center. I looked lower and seen that a six legged snake was now guarding the tree. It noticed us right away.

              We stopped in our tracks and I asked my grandpa, “What do we do?”

              “I am not sure. Let’s see what it wants,” he answered briskly.

              Jack added, “I agree. My bones are getting too old to fight anymore.”

              Olivia giggled at him, and he snapped back, “Keep using that lighter, your lungs will be too weak to do your morning jog.”

              She sighed heavily and said, “I told you, dad, you can trust that I would never do that.”

              “Hush,” my grandpa commanded.

              Rolf asked him, “Do you see what I see?”

              He nodded, and I followed his gaze back to the snake. It stood the length of the tree, and Jack asked, “How tall is that tree, do you suppose?”

              “Six feet exactly,” Rolf and my grandpa answered at once.

              The snake had a diamond pattern on its back, and its feet were just three long toes with nails that seemed to be missing a manicure. Overall its color was black, which made its hiss and fangs seem more menacing than any normal snake that I actually like.

              We walked up to the snake and my grandpa asked politely, “Why are you here?”

              “For something you have,” the snake hissed.

              “What do you think that is?” my grandpa asked.

              “What you took from me, while I slept!” the snake began to yell.

              “It didn’t belong to just you!” my grandpa began to match the snakes tone.

              The snake hissed at him, while getting closer to his face. I saw my grandpa back up as the snake sniffed his coat. I picked up a rock, and held it tightly in my fist. I looked at Olivia, and she had done the same.

              “Together,” I told her softly. She nodded.

              I began to hold back my arm, ready for the throw, and saw a rock fly directly into the snakes’ eye. I looked at Olivia and she was shocked at, what I believe, to be her aim.

              The snake quickly turned its head towards her. Without warning, the snake opened its mouth and dropped to bite Olivia. Rolf was quick to jump in front of her. He screamed, “No!” as he flew up through the air.

              A crunch sound cut through the silence, then Rolf yelped as he hit the ground. His paw had gotten bit, and the snake smirked, “Now it is time for you,” while still eyeing Olivia.

              I swiped Jack’s knife from his hand and tossed it to her while screaming her name to get her attention. She lifted her hand and grabbed its handle. She twirled, as the snake tried to bite her, and dropped to stab its stomach.

              The snake grunted and started to stumble. She stabbed it again, on the other side, causing the snake to drop to the ground. Olivia screamed with anger as she took one more stab at its head.

              “Whoa!” I exclaimed with a smile towards Olivia.

              She looked up at me and said, “No one messes with my friends and gets away with it.”

              Rolf was lying on the ground, barely moving. Olivia dropped to his side and started to weep. The rest of us ran over to them and I tried to comfort her.

              I gently told her, “It will be okay, if anything, we can help him.”

              Her once brown eyes were now masked with tears, and she murmured, “How? He is dying!”

              My grandpa knelt down to examine Rolf’s wound, and watched as it swelled to the size of a tennis ball.  He sighed and told us, “The venom is causing this. We need to suck it out of him.”

              “With what, do you suppose?” Jack interrogated.

              Mason looked at me and took out his sponge ear plugs, and I shook my head
no
. He ignored my request and said, “These will, for sure, soak up the venom.”

              My grandpa took them and placed a sponge in each fang mark. They instantly became swollen with the venom.

              Rolf lifted his head, and looked at Olivia. She wrapped her arms around him and he said, “I am okay, now.”

              He looked at his swollen paw and asked, “Whose idea was this?”

              “Brad and Mason’s,” Olivia answered.

              He looked them and nodded, “Thank you.”

              Rolf used his good paw, and pulled a square diamond leather necklace off of him. He handed over to Olivia and placed it into her shaking hand. He told her, “It will always protect the wearer.”

              She tried handing it back, “I can’t take this from you.”

              He refused to take it back, and told her, “Please, protect you, for me.”

              She nodded and said, “I promise.”

              He began to stand up, and Olivia quickly asked, “What are you doing?”

              “I must be on my way,” he said slowly.

              “What? No!” she demanded.

              He nudged her side and turned to walk away. Before disappearing into the trees, he told my grandpa, “You know what to do.”

              My grandpa nodded once, and slowly turned away.

              Olivia dropped her head, and I decided to place a hand on her shoulder. She stared intensely at the diamond, and placed it around her neck. She looked at me seriously and I could tell she was determined to not let this go.

              I looked away from her gaze and noticed the rest of the wolves leaving. I asked, “Why are they all leaving?”

              Still turned around, my grandpa answered, “To spread the word, of the good we are about to do.”

              I watched as he walked up to the tree, and pulled something out of his coat pocket. It was a crystal, the shape of the hollow spot on the tree. I went up next to him, and asked, “Where did you find that?”

              “Did you not understand what that six legged serpent was here for?” he counter asked.

              I stood in silence as he placed the crystal in the tree. It began to glow and he said, “This is the Crystal of Protection. It makes Olivia’s diamond work.”

The tree shook as the Crystal of Protection took its place. It glowed as it caused a line of light split down the middle of the tree. The branches trembled, and some of the leaves dropped down to the ground.

              I watched the tree begin to split in two. The ground started to shake, yet it stayed intact. The tree was now on opposite sides of the path, and the light finally dimmed. I looked on the inside of the tree and it was white, like the Waterfall of liquid Onyx.

              I looked passed the tree and up to the sky. I saw metal cages dangling there by a thin cable. Some swayed side to side, others stayed still. One of the cages, I saw wings sprout from the inside.

              “They are the aviary creatures. ‘
One with the winds’,
as they are called,” my grandpa announced.

              I looked closer at the cages and hoped there was just a simple button to push that would unlock them all. The top and bottom were metal, but the bars were electric lines.

              “That’s new,” Jack said in a confused tone.

              “What is new?” I asked.

              “They use to be straight metal, now they are not,” he answered.

              “Why did that change that?” I questioned him again.

              Before he could answer me, we heard footsteps coming towards us.

              “Stop!” a man’s voice demanded.

              I turned around, with everyone else, to see a centaur facing us. He looked concerned. I asked him, “What’s wrong?”

              “There are traps hidden everywhere,” he explained.

              “How did you manage to not get into one?” Olivia asked him.

              “Using this,” he held out a stick, and explained, “I tap this on the ground, in front of me.”

              “Why are you telling us this?” Mason questioned.

              “I know who you guys are. I don’t want you guys to get stuck on your rescue mission.”

              “Thank you,” my grandpa told him.

              He nodded at my grandpa and looked at us all curiously. I wanted to know what his deal was, but knew we did not have time to deal with this. I asked the centaur, “Do you know where Holden Bridges is?”

              The centaur raised an eyebrow and answered, “I have not heard of him for years. Why?”

              “No reason,” I smirked.

              He walked towards me with his hooves tapping with every step he took. His arms and stomach were covered in red fur, which matched his lower half of his body. I looked at him with my eyebrows scrunched. He said, “Do not fear me, I am here to help. But only for a short period of time.”

              “What’s the rush?” Olivia asked.

              “I have many things to do today, before the sun goes down,” he answered briskly.

              I decided to use his distraction to try to move away from him. Something didn’t feel right, so I stepped to the side. The leaves beneath my feet began to cave in. The unexpected sink made my balance lose control.

              As the leaves fell, so did I and I could feel myself fall into a pit. It was a short stop, because by the time I hit the ground, it did not seem so hard. Yet, the height of the pit was too tall for me.

              I looked around and the only light I could see was coming from where I fell. I saw Olivia, and the others circle the pit. Mason asked, “Are you okay?”

              I rubbed my head and answered, “I think so!”

              “What do you see down there?” Olivia asked.

              I looked around, to as far as the light would allow, and said, “Not much. It is too dark!”

              Jack threw down a flash light and said, “Here, use this to see if you can find anything that may help.”

              I caught the giant light and used the pits’ opening to find the button to turn it on. The light was bright, and could see from twenty feet away. I pointed it to the ground, and did not see anything unusual. I lifted the light up and started to look at the walls of the pit.

              I looked up and yelled, “I don’t see anything-,” and stopped as I noticed an opening.

              “Milly! Are you okay? Did you find something?” Olivia sounded frantic.

              I quickly looked up at them and told them, “I did! I am not sure what it is, but it looks like a tunnel.”

              They all exchanged confused expressions. The centaur demanded, “Hold that thought.”

              He disappeared, and a few seconds later reappeared and dropped a vine down. Everyone began sliding down the vine, one at a time, and met up with me in the pit.

              “What is this?” my grandpa asked.

              The centaur started walking down the tunnel with the flash light and came back to say, “It is a secret passage through this booby trapped path. It leads straight to the mountain.”

              “How do you know for sure?” Olivia asked.

              “Look for yourself,” he said, shining the light down the tunnel.

              We looked down it and seen that another light is shining at the end, from above. I shrugged my shoulders, and said, “Let’s see if this way is any safer.”

              “I guess you accidently falling down here is a good sign,” Olivia said.

              “There are no accidents, only surprises,” my grandpa said.

              “What is the difference?” I asked him.

              The centaur answered for him, “An accident is something you didn’t want to happen. A surprise is something you want to happen.”

              “Yep,” my grandpa agreed.

              “You guys wanted to go to the mountain?” the centaur asked.

              I looked at him and said, “Yes, we need to save the last of the creatures. They need our help.”

              The centaur looked like he had a surprised expression on his face and exclaimed, as if a light bulb just went off above his head, “Now I know why you look so familiar!”

              “What are you talking about?” I asked him.

              “There are two humans trapped in the mountain. They look a lot like you,” he said.

              “Let me guess, you think all humans look alike?” Olivia smirked.

              “No, you guys look different to me, but these two humans closely resembles you,” he said pointing at me.

              I looked at my grandpa and asked, “Could it be?”

              He nodded and said, “Maybe. There is only one way to know for sure.”

              “We need to go, and quick,” I told him frantically.

              I looked at Olivia and saw her fiddling with the necklace Rolf had given her. I told her, “He will be okay.”

              “I am not worried about that,” she said plainly.

              I looked at her, confused and she said, “I am worried about your parents.”

              “Why? You didn’t know them,” I said.

              “I don’t have to know them, to know how much they mean to you. I know you, though.”

              I embraced her and told her, “You’re a good friend.”

              She nodded and smirked, “I try.”

              We exchanged smiles, and I turned to the group and asked, “What is the plan?”

              My grandpa said, “Simple, just follow this path and prepare for the worst, then hope for the best.”

              “Sounds like solid advice,” the centaur agreed.

              I looked at the centaur and asked, “Do you still have that stick?”

              “Yes, ma’am I do,” he said holding out.

              “We may need to use it to get through. Who is to say Carolyn didn’t booby trap this tunnel?” I explained.