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I hope you all enjoy Sophi's story as much as I have enjoyed creating it! Thank you for reading!
Chapter 3
I feel my mind shaking away the heavy blackness. Well, I wonder how long this will last… I am pretty sure I have had less wakeful time in the last however-long-since-I-got-back-to-the-apartment than I have had time under the blackness that I seem to be gaining a level familiarity with... I peel my eyes open to be greeted with the warm light of a fire nearby.
"Hey…" I turn my head to face where the sound came from. Arry. "Glad to see you're awake. I was getting worried about your leg injury." She rushes over as I attempt to sit up. She helps me get into a sitting position that won't affect my leg. I take a long look at where we are. It appears to be some variety of cave… Uh… Pretty much the only thing to see is rock, rock and oh look, more rock.
"So…" Startled by the croak in my voice I end up in a bit of a coughing fit before Arry brings over what appears to be the bottle of water I had put in my backpack, although the water looks slightly less than clean. I eye it, but trust that Arry has likely already drank from it so it must at least be safe. "Do you know where we are?" I look at her but she faces away.
"Well, no. It kind of looks like the west coast, but there are… Uh… Things… Creatures that I had never heard of before out there. That and I think I saw a dragon flying away somewhere."
"Woah, woah, woah…. Okay, pause and rewind. Did you say dragon? As in a mythological, meaning one that isn't real, that is a flying lizard? Cause maybe I heard you wrong…" I look at her, but she isn't making the 'I'm pulling your leg' face she's making the 'the whole truth and nothing but the truth' face. Well… Shit… "I hope I heard you wrong…"
She looks me dead in the eye, "Nope, you heard right. I am not sure where we are, but I'm sure it's not Canada." She manages a quick, small smile. Shit. Fuck. Damn. Dragon. Shit. Now what? We go about trying to not get eaten by something that in all rights should not even exist?!
Okay, okay… Things are evidently not as bad as they may seem. I mean we are alive right? And we are just living in a cave. One of us has a crippling leg injury. No idea where in the universe we are. Drinking questionably clean water. Dragons. Creatures. Death. Destruction. Okay… Maybe they are as bad as they seem. Fuck. Oh but hey, I have my backpack that is full of now meaningless travel documents. And candy.
I look over to Arry, she looks to be deep in thought as well, "So, how long have I been out?"
"Well, it's been a little over two days." Oh my god… I was out for two days? Just for a leg injury. "You were a little delirious yesterday but you weren't really awake. I have gone out of the cave a couple of times to see if I can find anything to eat. Most attempts haven't worked out, but the last time I went out there was some racoon squirrel type animal so I set a trap for it. When it gets light out I am going to out to see if I caught anything… I think I found a berry patch but I never saw anything eat them so I left it alone, it might be poisonous." Yeesh, she sounds so smarty pants with her traps and poisonous berries.
"What about my leg? Did it look serious?" Knowing that before couple of years long year-gap in school she had been going for a degree in nursing I figured she at least had an idea about what was going on my that pesky injury.
"Well, at first it looked really serious, but once I got it cleaned up with that water from your bag and got all the wood splinters out it looked a lot better. I think if we can keep it clean you'll be alright." She looked towards what must be the entrance of the cave. "It looks like it might be getting lighter now… I'm going to head out to see what I might have caught." She stood up dusted off her battered, torn jeans.
"Well, I guess I will hold down the fort." I give my best attempt at a smile, I feel sore spots on my face suggesting that I have scrapes on it. She gives a weak smile back, "Happy hunting, Arry." In my most provoking voice, I hear her scoff as she heads around the bend of the cave, where some light is starting to come through.
After a few minutes I feel the weight of what has happened settle in. Is this even real? How could this have happened?
I feel the familiar sting of coming tears when the thought strikes me, what if this isn't real? I just sat blankly staring at the bloody tear in my jeans where the injury is hidden beneath so torn up strips of cloth. I think about it for a moment, yup, the only reason I am sitting here, in this rock-topia is that stupid leg. I glare right at the injury. Leg, you have betrayed me.
That must be it. This is all some kind of dream. There must have been an explosion, and right now I am in the hospital and this is my brain's way of dealing with the trauma. Yeah, that's got to be it, right? How is there any other way that this is possible? Seriously, that could also explain why I find myself unable to leave here, that would be too much to sew together from fragments in my mind. At least with any convincing look.
I attempt to stand up, but pain shooting up my leg only prevents me from trying any further. If this is a dream it has to be the most vivid dream I have ever had, even more so than that trippy one after almost fainting.
My mind reeled at all the possibilities before it rests on the thought, what if it is real? I shake my head, ahh… I just woke up, my mind isn't working right. That and, I give a pointed look and narrow my eyes to the injury on my leg, my leg has betrayed me. Not to mention that I am stuck in this cave. I glance around the cave. Wow, a cave… Um… Rocks… More rocks… Oh, listen to that! I even heard the authentic echo of dripping water.
Well, that was entertaining. Now what… Well, does holding down the fort really have to include being awake? I mean I can't even walk around… Even if someone were to come in what would I be able to do?
With that having been concluded in my mind a carefully lay myself back down worried about the discomfort of the stone beneath me keeping me awake. However, once my head was down and my eyes closed a soft blackness brought me into a deep sleep.
My dreams were full of magic, demons and dragons flying overhead. Voice goading me, trying to convince me to accept their offers and promises of fame, power and fortune.
The first thing I could sense was the sound of the fire crackling nearby. Using that as an anchor I wrench myself for the sticky blackness that seems desperate to hold onto me. I peel my eyes open which causes the darkness to fully recede and wakefulness triumph. I turn to face the fire where there is some kind of creature in pieces on sticks cooking. Hmmm… I am not entirely sure how I feel about that.
I haul myself steadily into a sitting position and look around the cave to notice an absence. No Arry?
"Arry?" I speak into the cave surprised by the hoarseness of my voice. When there wasn't an immediate answer I raise my voice a touch and repeat "Arry?" This time I see a shadow move at one side of the cave, my heart skips a beat before Arry comes around the corner.
"Yeah, I'm still here." She smiles and moves her arm behind her almost sneakily. "You were asleep again when I got back, I didn't want to wake you up."
I give her a look, "Are you trying to hide something?" She kind of jolts and gives a looks of 'oh shit' before turning away and bringing her arm in front of her.
"Nope, just need to take care of something over here. At this rock wall…" Well gee. She sounds so genuine. It sounds about as true as me saying that I feel like am being pampered at a five star hotel and spa.
"Come on, Arry. I can tell there is something wrong. What is it? Beside the fact that civilization is nowhere to be found."
She turns back around giving a thankful look, "It's just a scratch that I got from a tree when I was coming back here. It's not very serious." She looks down at her arm where she presses a strip of fabric the colour of her torn up shirt "And civilization may not be nowhere. Just before I saw some people. I didn't let them see me though, they didn't exactly look welcoming, what with swords and stuff. So naturally I avoided them." I gave her a questioning look. Really? People with swords? Well I guess they need something with which to fend off the dragons. I'm also entirely certain that they don't just fly down for a quick chat before leaving back to… their lair? A cave somewhere?
"Well… I guess that it can't be all bad to know we aren't the only people around… I mean surely not all the people here would mean harm… Right?" I look at her, and I feel any confidence in that statement just kind of vanish. Shit. I look at the fire, dancing just the same way it does back home. How in God's name are we supposed to survive this? I mean surely there must be a way home, right? We got here somehow and that means there must some way back. I hope there is anyway. I feel my heart wrench tightly inside me, I hope desperately that there is a way home, even if this is a dream.
Arry heads to the fire to grab one of the sticks of whatever she trapped. I then feel something stirring inside me causing a sudden invigorating wave to sweep over me. I see something out of the corner of my eye and for a fraction of a second I thought I saw light at my hands but by the time I focus on them they are back to their normal old selves. Good. The last thing I need right now is to find out that I am having some kind of freakish reaction to this place.
She walks over to me with two sticks of creature and passes one to me before sitting down next to me. We sit in silence watching the fire. I look at the cooked meat that is on the stick in my hand. Whelp. If I don't eat at all I will likely die. I resolve that, just in case this isn't a dream or hallucination, I will do my utmost to remain as alive as I can. Yep. Alive. Hopefully well, but I will settle for alive. I take a bite and pleased to find that it doesn't taste all bad. Bland. But not bad.
Another two days pass in about the same way before I attempt to stand. I manage to get all the way up with Arry's help, but walking was an entirely different story. It must be that the muscles were damaged or at least according to Arry that is the most likely case and suggested we wait another little while before trying walking again. She checked on it at the beginning of each day and before we go down for sleep at night. At my thought of having other people come in while we sleep that yesterday we figured out a system that is based on a trip wire trap that will create a racket if someone passes the threshold of our little rocky shelter.
Arry, has been bringing back enough furry creatures that we aren't starving but I wouldn't say that we are living comfortably. She has been using what little knowledge of hunting she has to salvage as much of the meat as she can, but she has yet to salvage a fur, hopefully she does soon because I am getting back, neck, butt and well everywhere pain from sleeping on the rocky floor of our rocky cave. Maybe I am just being a spoiled city girl. The kind that hasn't ever taken a legitimate camping trip her entire life and knows next to nothing on the subject of "roughing it." I mean when you grow up with enough money to have your own brand new Mercedes at sixteen, why on Earth would you opt to live in the middle of nowhere with no civilization nearby? I mean even if it was only a couple of days. My family's closest idea to camping, is basically going to our lake house in the Shuswap area in British Colombia.
I look around at the cave and the little possessions that Arry and I have in here. Luckily my backpack survived it, boy am I glad that I decided to spend the extra money on the super awesome travel backpack. The bag is dark brown, almost black, leather on the outside and it even has a sort of metal grate preventing the possibility of the contents being stolen via slashing. On the outside I had put several pins to make it identifiable to me, only one of which have survived, the silver Imperial dragon from the Elder Scrolls series. I pull it over to where I am sitting to go over the contents one more time. We have been very careful with our food and are only eating the bare minimum so that any food we have will last, on Arry's insistence, that camping nut. I unlatch the zipper from the clip that is meant to dissuade pickpockets on busy metro systems to reach the main section of the backpack. I pull everything out in the same order I pulled it out last time, arranging everything on the cave floor in front of me.
First of all, most of this stuff is now useless. On the other hand, there are a couple of items that maybe not as useless. I have made a pile for my travel stuff, like my boarding pass. Yup useless. Unless Flight 506 back to reality is now boarding. Travel insurance. Hmmm, now that I think about it maybe if I die here my family can have some kind of compensation… But as for the immediate now it is as equally as useless as that boarding pass. Passport, useless to the exception that if I sustain some kind of head injury resulting in amnesia at least it can tell me the basics of me. Next stuff, iPad and subsequent charging devices along with those to be paired with my phone, which miraculously lives yet. One book meant to last the longer of my two flights, a book about a world ruled by people with silver blood and powers. That at least could be useful to pass time between running for my life and fighting maniacs with swords. Various smaller items like lip chap, hand lotion, ear buds and an eye mask for sleeping on the plane. One item in particular has been most useful, my travel pillow. The last thing is the travel pouch that has one replacement outfit in case of problems en route. Regathering all the items and putting them back into the bag has become something of a science between all the sitting and laying and rock watching I've been getting up to since arriving in this less than near civilization pine forest off a coast.
Over the past couple of days Arry had been looking for places that we could potentially move to if the sword-people get too much closer in the next while. She had found one yesterday that isn't too far from here and is more hidden than this one. We just hope that I will be able to make the trip with my traitorous leg. Her plan has been to move stuff little by little until we can go there as the two of us.
I hear the snapping of a twig outside the entrance of the cave and I grip a large stone to throw at any intruder, when Arry slowly comes around the corner. I relax before taking in Arry's appearance. She is panting as if she had just run a marathon, or two. Her blue and green hair haphazardly placed and her face turning red with exertion. "Arry… Are you okay?" Her slate grey eyes practically bugging out of her face.
She walks in and sits down on her arrangement of dry grass and leaves, "Yep, just ran into a bit of trouble… Namely a bear. I don't think I have ever run so fast in my goddamn life."
I look at her disbelievingly, "A bear?!" Not only that, but she seems to have said it as if it were no big deal. "So how exactly did you escape that situation?" I look right at her.
"Well, it had me cornered, and I think I nearly pissed my pants right before some other people showed up out of nowhere and killed the damn thing. Needless to say, considering that we have been avoiding being seen, I cleared out of there pretty quickly. I even took a really convoluted way back here so that they wouldn't be able to track me back here." She lays back, huffing and panting. "Maybe I should have gone to the running track more often than I did…" Saying that ended the conversation as she immediately fell asleep.
A few hours passed with me putzing about in the cave. Namely me sitting there examining the contents of my backpack cause I can't get up easily without causing my leg to starting bleeding. Again. Traitorous leg. Then I too enter a fitful, uncomfortable sleep. Filled with dreams of chains, shackles and bars that surround me with grand white explosion leaving nothing in the wake.
I wake up and Arry has already left the cave, probably to take things from here to this new location. I groan deeply as I do my best to stretch out the stiffness that I gained. Some of it, however, I am beginning to think has become permanent from sleeping on a giant rock. I narrow my eyes at the empty area where Arry usually sits, usually non-hunter. Ha ha ha, not that I am any better with this fucking leg of mine. Useless blonde.
I look around the cave letting the sleep wear off before I go about my inspection of the goods in my backpack. I am just about to begin my inspection when Arry flies into the cave.
"We are going! Right now!" She grabs what little we have here and comes over to help me up and brings my backpack up to me, her grey eyes lit with panic and fear. "The guys we are trying to avoid spotted me and have been following me. I think I led them the other way for now but we should go to the other place just to be safe."
"Okay, just give me a second, I'll go as fast as I can." I heft my backpack onto my shoulders and try to place some wait on my left leg. Pain shoots from the wound up my spine, I feel myself wince but swallow the pain. If Arry ran here there isn't any time to let the pain get the best of me. Arry won't leave me behind so the best way to make she stays alive is to make sure that I stay alive. I would do the same in her position and she knows it.
She helps me out to the cave entrance so I can get used to walking before I run. The first thing that hits me is the chilling rain that is pelting down from the sky I squint my eyes, not used to daylight yet anymore, even this muted daylight causes my eyes to strain at first. I test my leg again, the pain is still significant but I resolve to not let it stop me from running, if not for my life then for Arry's. "Lead the way!"
She starts off with a good pace but slows up to wait for me to get closer as I slowly increase my speed as much as I can. She led us around trees and up and down, after a while my clothes were soaked through from the increasing rain. I used the cold sensation as an anchor to hold onto to omit the sensation of pain emanating from my leg.
It had been about ten minutes of light running when we hit a slick, muddy slope the wrong way and slid all the way down. Arry hit the bottom and rolled to a stop but despite my efforts to prevent further injury my left leg hit the ground first sending a jolt of sheer, white hot agony through my whole being. My vision turns dark at the edges from the pain for a matter of seconds but I crawl out of it and heave myself back to my feet as Arry comes over. "No, keep going I heard something behind us when we went down." I wave her forward and starting an agonizing pace where the pain in my leg can no longer be ignored.
After another couple of minutes I hear Arry, "Almost there!" I look up, she sounded so far away, but she is right in front of me. I feel nauseous from the pain in my leg. The fall from the ledge definitely did something but I didn't want to look at it until the danger had passed. Not until I was sure that Arry wouldn't be tempted to play the hero, as I am sure she would. I know, without any doubt, that if our positions were swapped and she was the one with a leg injury, I would do the same for her.
She comes over and grabs my arm, pulling it around her shoulders to help me keep going. "I can see it now. We are practically there!" I notice that the rain had stopped leaving in its place an eerie calm as if something worse is just rolling in. "Come on, we just have to get up this rock—" Her sentence is cut off by the sounds of shattering glass all around us, suddenly the area is covered in a dense smoke that makes my brain thick and foggy.
I look around and see people closing in on us, masks covering their faces, I look at Arry, "Arry, go! You can make it if you run! Leave now!" My breath is cut off by an involuntary cough caused by the smoke. "Arry…"
"There is no way in hell I would abandon you here! So if that's you're going to say just shut up!" I see her look around and a series of coughs escape her mouth. I unlatch myself from her and push her to urge her to run away and save herself. My vision begins to tunnel as she bends down to hoist my arm over shoulder.
She rubs her eyes and blinks a few times before attempting to drag me away. The people close in on us, their faces still covered by thick fabrics. One attempts to grab her but she punches in their direction, another goes for me but she kicks at them. Through my blurring vision I see one try to tackle from behind but I use what strength I have to launch myself at them. On the ground again, I try to see where Arry has gone but a sharp strike at the back of my head is the last thing I know before utter oblivion consumes me with no hope of escape.