Thorn Fall (34 page)

I kept flinging dust in the air, alternating between throwing and fanning it with the shirt—and fighting back coughs and sneezes.

“Got a good hit,” Temi called, her words coming out in an excited rush. “It bleeds.”

More thorns sprayed the walls, the clatter almost as loud as the creature’s incessant drown. Two more projectiles bounced off my helmet. I ducked, huddling behind the pile again, but something ricocheted off the wall behind me and stabbed me in the back of the hand.

Dread and pain filled me at the same time. I yanked out the thorn, flinging it to the ground, but for a moment, I was frozen as the implications washed over me. By the flashing lights coming from above, I stared at the tiny speck of blood on my hand.

“Del, stop it,” Temi blurted, jerking me from my revelry. “It’s trying to go back up the hole.”

I jumped up, cracking my whip at the bottom of the exit, hoping vainly that I might divert the
jibtab
. The popper smacked against something, but simply bounced off, as if it had hit a cement wall.

A startling thud came from above, and the light flashing into our chamber diminished. Confusion welled in me; were we being blocked in? Was it another rock fall? There hadn’t been any shaking of the earth…

Whatever had happened, it made the
jibtab
screech, the noise echoing from the walls of the hole. Instead of a cry of pain, it sounded like one of frustration.

“Simon,” I said. He and Alek must have blocked the hole with something.

I had no sooner than finished the thought when light shone down from above. Not the white strobe light from the portal, but the orange glow of flames.

Something hammered into the side of the wall, knocking dust and rocks free, and then a cylindrical form, still invisible but now outlined in flames, flew back into the chamber. I gaped at the sight, at the roar of the flames, at the stench that filled the cavern: burning napalm.

Temi was on the
jibtab
in a second. With its outline now visible, she sprang, running up the rubble pile and leaping off, stabbing it three times before she hit the ground. As soon as her feet touched down, she leaped again, swinging with the power of Paul Bunyan.

“Simon, you’re brilliant,” I yelled. This was
much
better than dust.

This time, the creature’s squeals of pain were so loud that the force of them seemed to knock me back against the wall. Before I could feel triumphant and certain of our victory, it blasted out another round of ammunition. I scrambled for the rock pile even as thorns hammered against my back. A part of me prayed that none made it through the vest, and a part of me wondered if it mattered at this point. The creature had already struck me once. Unless I had gotten it out soon enough, I would be in a coma in the hospital along with everyone else before long.

“Temi?” I called, hoping she had taken cover too.

Firelight leaped on the walls, and for a moment, her shadow appeared there behind me, dancing with the shadow the
jibtab
cast. They were level, the creature no longer hugging the ceiling, but facing her. Or maybe trying to fly away from her.

Ashamed to hide when Temi was fighting, I stood up again, the whip hanging in my hand. I wished for a more effective weapon—I would even take one of Simon’s grenades. But it didn’t matter. The flame-enshrouded monster had fallen to the ground. Flaps battered the rock, its wings—or whatever allowed it to fly—batting helplessly at the earth. Temi slashed the sword down into its body again and again, relentless. A dark ichor stained the rock floor, its sheen viscous, unlike a person’s blood.

By the time I walked across the chamber to see if there was anything I could do to help finish it off, Temi had lowered her sword, leaning against the tip. The flames were burning low, their fuel almost spent, but it didn’t matter. The creature wasn’t moving.

“I think it’s dead.” Temi slumped against the hilt of her blade. Exhausted.

No, I realized, looking at her. More than exhausted. No less than four pricks of blood stood out on the backs of her hands, and a thorn dangled from her jaw.

Tears welled in my eyes as I stumbled close enough to pull it out.

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?” she asked, a strange acceptance in her eyes.

She must have felt the first thorn pierce her skin some time ago and realized she had to finish the fight before it was too late. Before we fell into the same unconsciousness that had taken the hikers and all the others, an unconsciousness that, as far as I knew, nobody had woken from yet.

“Maybe not,” I said, trying to sound optimistic. “We haven’t been by the hospital today. They might have figured something out by now.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t sound convinced.

“Let’s get out of here while we still can.” I headed for the hole and waved for her to follow.

“Delia? Temi?” Simon was leaning over the rim, staring down at the ground. Something that looked like a couple of giant logs lay across the opening up there, partially blocking it.

“We’re ready to come up.” I coiled the whip and waved it, hoping I could toss it up there with the logs in the way.

Simon held out his hand. “Is it dead?”

“Yeah.” I threw the whip, but it bumped against the side of the log. Simon tried to grab it before it fell but knocked his knuckles against the wood instead. Another time, I might have laughed, but I was too tired.

“Sorry, try again,” he said, but was pushed aside before he could finish the sentence.

Alek snapped his fingers. I tossed the whip, my aim poor again, but he lunged down and caught it anyway. He uncoiled it and dropped the end for us.

I waved Temi over. As before, she would have to give me a boost, then jump up and catch it on her own.

She nodded, sheathing the sword and offering her hands. I didn’t like the slump to her shoulders or the faint wheeze of her breathing. She had taken more of that poison, and it was acting more quickly on her. Would she be able to make the jump now?

She gave me the boost I needed. My arm felt leaden as I lifted it above my head, but I managed to grasp the whip, again wrapping it around my hand.

“Wait,” I called up when Alek started to pull me up. “Both of you need to work together, okay? We have to come up at the same time, and we’re going to be heavy.”

I waved my lower hand toward Temi, not certain if this would work, or if the weight would dislocate my shoulder. But what did a dislocated shoulder matter at this point? I wasn’t going to leave her down here.

She stared up at me for a long moment, what looked like a rejection of the offer on her lips, but she must have also sensed that she couldn’t make the jump anymore, not all the way to the ceiling. With what had to be a great marshaling of energy, she crouched and leaped, her hand clasping onto mine.

I gasped, hearing something pop in my shoulder, but I clenched down, gritting my teeth against the pain.

“We’re ready,” Temi called up, doubtlessly guessing at my pain.

Tears sprang to my eyes as we were pulled up, each bump and jolt driving agony through my body. My fingers felt numb, and all I could think about was that I couldn’t let go. Temi’s hand was sweaty—or maybe mine was. She shifted, readjusting her grip, and more pain stabbed my shoulder. I bit my lip, tasting blood, striving for focus. No matter what happened, I couldn’t let go.

Fresh air curled down the hole, making me realize how much the stench of burning chemicals had filled the chamber below. I hoped that draft meant we were close. I could have tilted my head back and looked, but I was afraid to do anything except squint my eyes shut and concentrate on that hand, a hand I couldn’t feel anymore.

Someone’s arm wrapped around my chest. I didn’t let go of Temi’s hand until my back was on the rock, and I was sure she was out too.

“It’s dead?” Simon bounced at my side. “That was brilliant. The napalm, did it help? You said dust, and I thought fire would be
way
better. You can thank He-Man there for the logs. I don’t know where he got them, but he probably ripped them right out of the mountainside with all of his muscles. Oh, the sword. We better get it off the mountain. The portal is still open. I puked again. No bush this time. Gross, huh?” Simon bent down, finally seeming to realize that something might be wrong. “Are you two hurt? Temi?”

I summoned the strength to roll over and rise to my hands and knees, but blackness edged my vision. “We got hit,” I rasped, my throat dry. “But yeah, we need to move the sword.”

Alek started toward me, but I pointed at Temi. “She’s worse. Help her, please.”

Remembering his own injuries, I hated to make the request, but Temi’s eyes weren’t even open. She might have already fallen unconscious. She would need to be carried. I would need… I had no idea yet. As Alek picked up Temi, I tried to rise to my feet. I wouldn’t have made it if Simon hadn’t grabbed my arm and supported me. His burbling had ended abruptly, and he wore one of his rare somber expressions. I wasn’t happy to see it.

Alek strode toward the edge of the butte, toward the easiest way down. The fact that we still had to descend the rock formation was almost enough to make my legs buckle right there, but I doubted Simon could carry
me
, so I told myself I’d just darned well have to stay conscious.

Most of the people had left the top of the butte—I didn’t know
how
they had left it, and I didn’t want to think about that—so nobody tried to attack us or otherwise block our passage. A small gift.

Then a figure climbed into view from the trail and stepped onto the top of the butte. The broad-shouldered man stood silhouetted against the lights of the parking lot far below, blocking the way.

I winced, expecting trouble. Even Alek had to be at his limits of endurance by this point, and he certainly couldn’t fight while carrying Temi.

“Simon?” the man called.

Simon paused, and since he was half-carrying me now, I stopped with him. “Marcus?” he asked.

His brother stared at the portal. It seemed to be fading as we—and the sword—moved farther from the center of the butte, but its dark boundaries were still visible, shifting and shivering, the event horizon blotting out the stars behind it. “What are you doing up here?”

“Nothing fun,” Simon said, resuming his walk. “We need to get to the hospital. Is your car any closer than ours?” He jerked his chin toward the parking lot.

“Yeah, I had to park in the street. Is that Delia?”

I croaked something that was meant to be a greeting. It didn’t manage to be intelligible. My throat felt like it was closing. I didn’t know if it was an effect of the pesticide or my own emotions trying to choke me with the knowledge of impending doom.

Marcus stepped forward. “Here, let me?”

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed me and lifted me into his arms. Another time, I might have felt indignant about having to be carried off the mountain, but I wasn’t sure if I would live to see dawn, so it hardly mattered. I let him carry me and stared up at the stars, not bothering to blink back the tears that dribbled down the sides of my face.

“That big black blob disappeared,” Marcus said.

“Yeah, we know,” Simon responded.

I was too tired to look, but took their word for it. My eyes ached, and I wanted nothing more than to close them, to sleep. But I was terrified I would never wake up if I did. I focused on their voices, on the thumps and bumps I felt through Marcus’s arms as we descended Bell Rock, trying not to let my mind wander, trying not to let my eyes close. As he navigated down the steep trail, Marcus’s face was stern and determined, maybe disapproving. He couldn’t know what had been happening here, but in thinking of Simon’s earlier words, I wondered if he would believe his little brother was somehow responsible for the chaos.

“The car’s over there,” he said.

I tried to feel some triumph at that, but all it meant was a ride to a hospital that probably didn’t know how to do anything to save us. Marcus and Simon took a shortcut, scraping past bushes and cutting across ditches. I hoped Alek and Temi were still with us, but Alek hadn’t spoken, so I couldn’t be sure.

“Sorry, Delia,” Marcus said. “I have to set you down to get the keys out.”

My lips moved, but nothing came out. Words had grown too hard a while ago.

I was aware of myself being propped against the side of some rental car, but couldn’t feel the cool metal beneath my back, and I struggled to focus on the people around me. Alek was there with Temi. That was good.

A moment later, I was being set in the back seat.

“Good thing they upgraded me to the SUV,” Marcus said, eying our party, especially Alek. “Simon, you’re going to explain what was going on up there soon, right?”

“After we get to the hospital.”

Alek ended up in the back with Temi and me, with Simon and Marcus up front. My head lolled back against the seat of its own accord. Doors shut. The car started. Despite my fight, awareness started to slip away.

Before I could pass out, Marcus threw on the brakes, and we all pitched forward. Someone had thought to buckle me in, so I didn’t go flying, but the belt was the only thing that prevented that. I couldn’t feel my own arms.

“What the hell?” Marcus demanded, then leaned out the window. “Get out of the road, man.”

“Wait,” Simon said. “That’s Eleriss.”

“Who?”

“Just pull over. Maybe…” Simon glanced back at us. “Maybe he can help.”

“I thought we had to get to the hospital,” Marcus said, but he didn’t stop Eleriss from opening my door.

“This is not the conveyance I expected you to enter,” Eleriss announced.

“They got hit,” Simon blurted.

“Yes.” Eleriss looked through the door at the three of us, all injured in some capacity. Did he look sad? I couldn’t tell on him. “I feared this was inevitable.”

I wanted to ask where he had been, where
Jakatra
had been—he wasn’t anywhere in sight—but couldn’t manage the words.

“Can you help them?” Simon gripped the seat back.

Marcus frowned at him, his hands flexing on the wheel. He probably doubted a strange guy in black leather could be more useful than the hospital. He might be right. But I looked up into Eleriss’s green-blue eyes, silently imploring him, pleading him to help us if he knew a way. The flashes on top of the butte might have died with the disappearance of the portal, but there was enough ambient light that his eyes didn’t glow. I was glad of that. I didn’t need weird alienness right now.