The foliage was even more formidable up close. But I couldn't wait to get through it- I had to get out of the sun. Exhaustion was creeping up on me, but I refused to give in to it. But the myriad of underbrush that blocked out way proved to be formidable. The stream had obviously gone underneath it all, but heavy brambles still surrounded it on either side. Vanya noted that the brush was thinner in other places away from the dead stream, but Walker blew her off, saying he preferred not to stray far from the stream.
I think Walker was as anxious to get through the thicket as I was. It was nearly sunset, late afternoon, and he probably wanted to get into the shelter of the forest before nightfall. I felt his concern; his nervousness radiated off him like swelling waves of the sea, but either the others just ignored it, or couldn't see it at all. I could tell Vanya and Walker weren't on best terms with each other at the current moment, but couldn't comprehend why.
Walker was inspecting the foliage at the moment, and kept glancing behind us as if he were worried we were being followed.
"We'll just have to get through somehow," Walker declared gruffly, running his fingers agitatedly through his dark hair. "But we'll have to leave it looking like no one was here, without denting the nature so we don't leave a bridge for someone to follow through."
Ah. So he was worried about being followed. And his fever was catching. Vanya looked nervous, and even Adelenia was jittery despite their tiredness. I just wanted to get out of the sun.
No one said anything, so Walker just shrugged and began pushing aside dried, gnarled branches. Adelinia went directly after him, and Vanya and I took up the rear. The dead brush was all twisted, knotted from years of growing in dense, tangled conditions. And the branches had thorns. Some dull and stubby, other long, thin and sharp, but all thorns nonetheless. We'd barely entered the thick growth when it happened.
I distinctly hear the tearing of flesh as a thorn ripped through Vanya's forearm. I couldn't stop myself even if I'd tried. I grabbed Vanya's shoulders, and then scrabbled at her face, by sharp nails digging into the skin of their shoulders. Red was the only color that registered in my eyes now, my instincts overriding all sense of stability and humanity.
Without thinking I leapt at her, and crashed into her with astonishing force. She lurched forward at the blow, running into Adelenia, and we all fell down to the ground.
"Hey!" it was Walker, sounding furious. I didn't care. I scratched at Vanya's face desperately, pinning her to the ground. My nails dug into her skin. Red blood glistened on her arm; it's scent agonizingly alluring after I'd gone days without feeding to the extent I'd needed. I went for her neck, towards the pulsing artery beneath her thin layer of skin, where rivers of blood hastened with the panicked beating of her heart.
The ground beneath us was composed of the fallen members of the dead branches that enclosed us, and our struggle had only increased the danger the others around me were in – the thorns had scratched them more in the frenzied rush.
Before I could sink my teeth into her skin, she managed to wrap her hands around my own throat, in a desperate attempt to push me back. I pressed down at her harder; her arms shook from the effort of holding me back.
Someone grabbed my hair and tried to yank me away. I snarled at the pain, but ignored it.
"Taaja, stop!" Walker was shouting. I turned on him, wrenching my neck from Vanya's grip, for he was the one who had grabbed my hair, and shoved him away, scraping his arm in the process. He reeled back under the force of my push, and more heady scents of blood filled the air. A wave of nausea washed through me, and I realized immediately what it was, though I'd never felt the likes of it before; the force of the blood bond, the result of Walker's ignored command. If that was the only result of disobedience, it would be easy to resist. I could just kill them all now and be rid of them.
The scents of blood now were almost overpowering, and I realized that not only Vanya and Walker were bleeding now because of the cuts from the thorns, but Adelenia as well, who I saw fleetingly huddled a few feet from the whirlwind of the battle, staring at me horrified. She must have been cut when Vanya ran into her and she fell. I'd kill her last, if she was still around when I finished off the other two. Nothing could stop me now. I turned back to Vanya, but she'd scrambled to her feet while I'd dealt with Walker. Another wave of nausea hit me, slowing my reflexes. Vanya grabbed my throat again and forcefully flung me backwards. I reeled back and I collided with someone who wrapped their arms around my torso, trapping my arms. I shrieked and struggled, writing, but Walker constricted his grasp just as a third wave of sickness hit me. I went limp.
Walker pushed me to the ground effortlessly, then leapt atop me, pinning me there, his hands pressing my wrists into the thorny ground. I started to thrash, but Walker hissed at me.
"Stop! Be still!"
The moment I tried to move, the nausea flowed through me, and I whimpered and fell still, painfully aware of the many thorns beneath me jabbing and sinking into my flesh.
Walker was breathing harshly, a slash in his cheek. He hovered over me, the shadow of his face blocking the sun's glare from mine. A droplet of blood spilled over the cut and splashed on my cheek, which I realized with a start, was bare- my sun guard had fallen off sometime during the scramble. I tensed, the smell of the blood rolling around me.
"Don't," Walker warned.
My body started to shake violently of its own accord.
Walker shifted slightly, and the sun hit me in the face through the thin branches of the dead hedges. I screeched at it pierced my face. I could almost hear the sun goddess Amery had once spoken to me of hissing in protest for shining upon me. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to swallow my scream, the pain making me arch my back.
The sun only hit me in irregular paths, the result of the web of thorns above me. It burned like fire! I thrashed wildly now, and Walker flipped my onto my stomach, my face pressing into the thorns and dirt beneath.
Walker yanked my wrists behind me and bound them with something scratchy, but strong.
"Expect to give an explanation of your behavior when we reach the woods," he groled in my ear. He pulled me to my feet. "No more of this, you understand? I don't want to even hear you speak before we stop for the night."
He sounded furious.
He hauled me to my feet.
)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
We passed through the rest of the brush with less difficulty. Surprisingly enough, the brambles were mostly concentrated around the first edges of the forest, within the first few yards. After that, it left a nearly hollow pathway that more or less resembled a cage, reminding me of the interior of a tumbleweed.
I was thankful for this. The sun was excruciating where it touched me, only accentuating my thirst and anger alike. Rage boiled within me. Walker was rough with me, pushing me so harshly that I constantly stumbled, almost falling on the dry branches we trod on.
The forest began suddenly. Tall green trees abruptly loomed right in front of us.
Once inside the shaded woods, Walker cut my bonds and pushed me to the ground. I immediately ripped off my black shroud and pressed my body into the soft green mosses beneath me, savoring the cool dampness.
All that mattered now was that I was safe from the sun.
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:A/N: Please review, it is much appreciated.