The Last Hunter - Ascent (Book 3 of the Antarktos Saga) (25 page)

“Sol!”

It’s Em.

I turn to the voice and find Em and Tunis supporting Kainda’s blood covered body. What are they doing?

“She’s not dead yet,” Em says, her voice desperate.

Not dead! Pain wracks my body as I fight against my exhaustion and stand up. I slosh through the water to meet them. They lower Kainda down, kneeling in the water. I fall to my knees in front of Kainda’s limp body. Her tan has faded to a ghostly white. The wound is just two inches wide. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s just to the right of her heart. And now the organ is pumping most of her blood to places in her body where it does not belong. Even with the world’s best team of surgeons, I doubt there is anything that could be done. That she has yet to die is a testament to the woman’s strength, but her wounds are far beyond my ability to heal.

“She’s not going to make it,” I say.

Em sniffs back her tears. “Solomon, don’t—”

“He’s right,” Tunis says. “Her wounds are too grave. Without blood of the masters, there is nothing—”

A thousand exclamations blast through my mind, but I don’t take the time to utter one of them. I plunge my hands into the water, searching Kainda’s waist. When I find what I’m looking for, I untie the leather thong holding it tight, with shaking hands.

“Lay her down,” I say. “Under the water.”

There is a moment of hesitation and I scream. “Now!”

I get the waterskin free and stand. “Get away. Move back!”

They obey, laying her back beneath the water and propping her head up on a stone. I pluck the stopper from the skin. The smell that rises from the vessel is vile, but confirms its contents. Nephilim blood collected from the shifter, Eshu, formally known as Krane. Kainda’s foresight might just save her own life. Hopping out of the water and clinging to a tree, I pour the purple liquid into the water over Kainda’s chest. Applying it directly to the wound would kill her even more quickly, but diluted in water, the blood will merely burn as it heals.

The purple blood clouds out around her body. But nothing happens. We wait in silence. Ten seconds. Thirty. “Should I add some more?” I ask.

“That was plenty,” Tunis says. “Any more and—”

Kainda screams and sits up. She claws at the wound on her chest, feeling the pain afresh, but when the blood is wiped away, the puncture is gone, healed completely.

“Kainda,” I say, leaping down from the tree.

She flinches back from me, confused. I crouch in front of her, a wide smile on my face. “Kainda, it’s okay. You’re okay!”

She finds my eyes and sees my smile. She glances down at the purple haze in the water, then feels her skin where the wound should be and understands.

“It’s okay,” I say again, and then, overcome with relief, I pull her to me and squeeze her. With her sitting and me crouching, it’s an awkward embrace, but I don’t care. And apparently, neither does she. She squeezes me tight, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face into my shoulder. The excitement of seeing Kainda alive has pushed away my exhaustion and I lift her up out of the water, giving her a proper hug. Em joins us and Kainda embraces her, too.

“Thank you,” she says. “I was dead without you.”

“It was you who thought to bring the blood,” I say.

“I’m not talking about that,” she says. “Before you. Before you…changed me. I was as dead then as I was a moment ago.”

“Oh,” I say. The words are kind and honest in a way I never thought I would hear Kainda say, and hearing them reassures me that no matter how powerful the Nephilim and Ninnis become, what we have here—this transforming power—will always be stronger.

35

I stop and stretch. My legs are tight from endless hours of hiking over rough terrain. Kainda stops next to me and leans against a tree. She would never admit it, but she’s feeling worn down too. How could she not? We ran from the lake nearly all the way to Mount Olympus, then swam through rapids all the way back, fought Ninnis, nearly died and then spent the last two days moving back up river. But we aren’t following the river this time. Nephilim have been swarming above the water, probably searching for Enki and Ninnis. Two of their three leaders are missing.

So we’ve taken a roundabout route, away from the river and over the craggy foothills leading up to Olympus. We’ve hacked through vine-laden jungle and waded through swamps. Two flocks of turkuins harassed us, but provided meals, and if not for a one hundred foot stone wall that we had to scale, we would have had to face off against a thirty-foot male cresty and its pack of nearly thirty. This wouldn’t have been impossible with my abilities, but I’m still feeling the effects of my fight with Ninnis, not to mention my recent physical exertion.

But it feels good to be making progress. To be acting, rather than simply reacting. Kainda knows where Hades’s quarters are inside Olympus, so that’s where we’re headed. From there, we’ll find the Jericho Shofar. I’m hoping Hades can explain what it does. Once we have the Shofar, we’ll rendezvous with the others underground and move Luca someplace safer. After healing Tunis’s wounds with Eshu’s blood, we sent him after the others to explain what we were doing. They’ll be expecting us. And after that? I’m not sure. But at least it’s a start.

Em stomps up the hill past Kainda and me. She has a crafty look in her eyes. “Look at you two, lazing around like a couple of seals.”

Kainda and I look at each other as Em passes between us. Kainda gives me a smile that I’ve come to adore. She motions with her head to follow Em. She won’t back down from the taunt, even if it was made in jest. Rest time is over.

I take a deep breath and let out a grunt. I have no trouble with being made fun of. Reminds me of my childhood. When Kainda offers me her hand, I take it and set off up the hill. I make it only two steps when a flash of pain rips through my head. I shout in agony, and fall to the ground.

Solomon.

The voice in my mind is faint, as though distant.

Solomon!

“It hurts!” I shout.

Kainda and Em are by my side in an instant.

“What’s happening?” Kainda shouts.

“It’s…it’s…” I can’t get the words out. My mind is filled with images, like I’m running through the jungle at high speed. I see Kainda and Em kneeling over my prone form. I zip past, moving a mile in a second, and see oddly shaped tree trunks ahead.

Moving tree trunks.

Legs!

Lots of them.

The Nephilim are coming!

My vision moves around, covering a lot of ground. They’re everywhere. And moving among them—hunters. But are they looking for us? Or are they searching for Ninnis? It doesn’t matter, either way, they’re going to find us. Then, suddenly I’m moving up through the canopy. I slip through the leaves as though they don’t exist and stare up into the bright blue sky that strangely doesn’t hurt my eyes. But it’s not a beautiful sight. It’s horrible. The sky is filled with large, moving bodies. The Nephilim army has taken flight. There are more of them than I ever imagined, and they’re headed out, into the world.

I’m pulled back through the canopy, past the hunters, past the Nephilim and then past myself. I move deeper into the jungle, over a fallen tree and then into a sliver into the ground. A cave.

Run!

Run, Solomon!

RUN!

The pain disappears and my mind returns to my body. I sit up fast with a deep gasp.

“Sol, what happened?” Em asks.

“Xin,” I say between deep breaths. “It was Xin.”

“Xin,” Kainda says, her voice oozing distrust.

“No,” I say, taking her arm. “He was warning me.”

“Warning you?” Em says. “Of what.”

I turn in the direction I saw the Nephilim approaching. “They’re coming.” I jump to my feet. “We have to go. Now!”

Before either can argue or question me further, I do exactly what Xin said. I run. My perfect memory guides me on the same path I took while in the dreamlike state. I see the fallen tree ahead. “This way!”

I leap over the tree and find the small opening in the ground.

“How did you know this was here?” Em asks.

“Xin showed me.”

“You shouldn’t trust him,” Kainda says.

“He would say the same about you,” I say, and then wriggle through the opening. After a momentary tight squeeze, the tunnel opens up into a cave. Em and Kainda slip in behind me and Kainda manages to yank the fallen tree over on top of the hole.

The world grows dark, but our hunter eyes quickly adjust and our other senses pick up the slack. When they do, all three of us know we are not alone in this cave. There are hushed voices further in the cave. A man and a woman. Wood smoke lingers in the air. And meat. They’ve cooked something recently.

These are not hunters.

I motion for the others to follow me and lead them deeper into the cave. We don’t make a sound as we approach. I see the dim glowing rings of a flashlight ahead. I stop at a bend in the cave and listen.

“We need to go back,” the man says. “Regroup with the others.”

They’re speaking English. Their accents are American.

“We’ll never make it,” the woman replies. “You’ve seen what they can do. How many of them there are. We need to find a way to stop them, here. Now.”

“It’s not possible,” the man says. “We’d need an army.”

In that moment, I know we’re on the same side and decide to take a chance. I step out from behind my hiding place, hands raised and weapon-free. “I might be able to help.”

The flashlight whips toward me, illuminating my body in its dull yellow glow. Despite the light in my eyes, I see the man and woman, who are dressed in black military fatigues, jump to their feet, knives at the ready. They’re quick and probably skilled fighters, but I don’t fear them.

That doesn’t stop Kainda and Em from stepping into the light, knives and hammer out and ready for combat. I look at my two friends and say, “Put those away.” They begrudgingly grant my request, most likely because they can now see that these two don’t pose an immediate threat.

“What the hell?” the woman says.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” I say.

The man lowers his guard a little.

“Wright!” the woman shouts. “What are you doing?”

“They look like they could have killed us already if they wanted to,” the man named Wright says.

“They’re just kids!” she says.

“Watch it,” Kainda growls.

The woman’s eyes lock with Kainda’s. It’s like seeing two lions sizing each other up. The woman must realize her partner is correct. She lowers her knife, though she’s not happy about it. “Fine.”

I motion to Em and Kainda, introducing them one at a time. “This is Em. And Kainda. My name is Solomon.” I reach my hand out to shake Wright’s. “Solomon Vincent.”

“Awfully polite for a boy in a loin cloth,” the woman says.

I ignore her, as does Wright. He takes my hand with a strong shake. He motions to the woman with his head. “This is my wife, Katherine Ferrell. I’m Captain Stephen Wright, U.S. Special Forces.”

“Stephen Wright?” I ask, my mind racing backwards through time and then I ask, “Junior?”

The man squints at me. “Yes. How did you—”

“I met your father once,” I say, remembering Stephen Wright senior. He was a member of the expedition at Clark Station 2. He mentioned he had a son, who wanted to join the expedition, but his father kept him home. Said he thought his son would end up being killed on Antarctica. Looks like his father could be right.

“That’s impossible,” Wright says, letting go of my hand. “He died when I was eighteen.”

I nod. “I met him twenty-three years ago.” I raise my hand in a three finger salute, knowing he’ll recognize it. “Scout’s honor.”

Wright and Ferrell look a little bit stunned.

“He mentioned you were in the boy scouts,” I say.

The man leans against the stone wall and slides to a sitting position. He’s clearly exhausted, possibly injured and struggling to comprehend what I’m saying.

“I met him here, on Antarctica, during the expedition to Clark Sta—”

The man’s eyes light up. “What did you say your name was?”

“Solomon,” I say. “Solomon Vincent.”

“You’re the boy!” He sits up straighter. “The boy who disappeared!”

I nod. “I was kidnapped.”

“They never found you…”

“I’ve been here. Underground. With the Nephilim.”

Wright and Ferrell both tense at the word, so I know they’ve encountered them.

“You know who they are?” I ask.

The man nods. “Clark explained it.”

“You were with Merrill?” I say, feeling excited that I’ve actually met part of Dr. Clark’s group.

“Do you know what happened to them?” he asks.

His question gives me my answer. “They made it, I think. Mira killed Enki. Last I saw, they were headed down river toward the sea.”

Wright relaxes a little. “Enki… He’s the one that nearly killed us.”

“How did you get away?” I ask.

Wright nods at his wife. “Kat shot off his—I guess ‘crown’ is the best word for it—and he dropped us. If we hadn’t fallen in the river…”

I see he’s replaying the scene in his mind and I pull him back. “Captain Wright,” I say. He looks me in the eyes. “Do you understand what’s happening—the war that’s about to be fought?”

“I think I do,” he says.

“Then you know that we’ll need an army?”

“I do.”

“Can you get me one?”

“Get
you
one?” Ferrell says. “I’ve said it before, but no one seems to be paying attention. You’re just a kid.”

I ignore her and keep my eyes on Wright.

“I just need a way to call home,” he says.

“
Steve
,” Ferrell says.

He holds his hand up to her as if to say
don’t worry, I can handle this.
He turns back to me and says “
But
, even if I could make that call, I’m not going to until you give me a damn good reason.”

I point to the canteen attached to his belt. “How are you for water?”

He unclips the canteen and shakes it. Bone dry. I can tell he thinks I’m going to refill his canteen from my waterskin as some kind of peace offering, but that’s not my intention at all. Not only would it do nothing to convince him, or his wife, whose attitude matches her name, but I tend to not do things small.