Chapter 10: Hyperthermia
The snow pressed down on her, the weight threatening to crush her.
Lilly began to struggle, fighting the snow with every fiber in her body, she stopped.
Her body was a tangled mess within her white tomb. Not knowing which way would lead her to the surface, and which way would lead her to death.
Her lungs began to burn, indicating that she should make her decision quickly. Tears brimmed her eyes, spilling over and rolling…up her face.
Lilly gasped, only to be reminded that she was out of air. She began to dig, kicking and clawing with all her strength downward.
Her lungs screamed as they burned hotter and hotter, her body seemed to think the tears would aid the burn, for they continued slide up her cheeks.
Her tears may not save the burning insanity of her lungs, but they did save her life, as her prison of ice and snow parted, light spilling into the dark abyss that wanted nothing more to hold her in its grasp, and snuff out her flame.
Lilly emerged from the sea of snow with a gasp, her tears realizing which way was up, and as she fell onto the compacted snow, began to slide the correct way, falling down her face.
She continued to take in the frigid air, giving her lungs a new kind of burn, one that fought the warm burning of death, and replaced it with the sweet singe of life.
The sky seemed to look down on her, wondering why she was crying, the grey clouds quickly slaughtered the sky, her sympathetic blue forming into the cold merciless grey. It began to snow.
Lilly tore her view from the grey sea and absorbed her surroundings.
The mountain still loomed over her, and the cold was still in the air, but she was alone.
The mountains tears had left a path of destruction, its obvious path being where the trees no longer stood, trampled beneath the mountains rage.
She shook her head as a new fear replaced the fear of her death.
"Garth!" She screamed into the frozen air, her breath coming forth like steam.
"GARTH!" She screamed louder, slowly standing up and shaking the murderous coat of snow from her body.
"Garth! Snow! Where are you!"
"Hush now pup, you don't want to wake mother do you?"
Lilly jumped, turning to find the wolf that had leapt from the forest glaring at her.
"W-who are you…who's m-mother?" she demanded in a shaky voice.
The scrawny wolf laughed "My name is Clark, and mother is the mountain."
Lilly's tears stopped as she began to grow wary. "Who are you…what do you want… where are my friends…"
The wolf laughed "Dead or dying my sweet. As my father told me the day my birth mother's throat was ripped from her throat in front of me, do not waste your thoughts on the dead, we are the ones that suffer."
"No…not dead, they're alive…you'll see!"
"I'm afraid I won't my little hare, I'm leaving… and you're coming with me."
Lilly's heart stopped. "No…please… let me stay here…Im begging you…"
Clark spat "The weak beg, are you weak my little hare? No matter your answer you're still coming with me,"
Lilly stammered, "If you come near me… I'll, I'll kill you! I know how to fight! I'll rip your throat out!"
Clark laughed and shook his head, You are a funny one my little hare, I like you, I'll try not to hurt you, I don't want blood on that pretty coat of fur."
Lilly was about to threaten him again when he leapt, closing the distance between them in seconds. She was too afraid to move, something about this wolf seemed to stop her body from reacting.
She opened her mouth to scream, but Clark's paw cut her off. His breath was colder than the snow falling around them, and his paw was harder than ice.
"Sleep now, little hare," he chuckled.
Lilly didn't see the wolf move, but moments later Clark's cold paw slammed down on her neck.
She swayed, as her vision failed, the world around her seemed to fade, the ocean of white darkening until there was only black.
Her last thought was of Garth, and if her mate had broken free of his frozen hell.
In her last moments before unconsciousness, Lilly wondered is Garth's lungs were burning as hers had.
Oh how they had burned.
Kate rushed through the now rocky terrain.
The woods had eventually faded, and now her destination towered over her.
The mountain, if it could be called that, seemed to be barren of trees, and appeared to be more of a very large rock than anything else.
Her companions ran with her. Tempest and his men glided silently over the rocky ground, quick and agile.
Daren and Faith ran side by side slightly in front of her, both focused on the rocky haven that awaited them.
Flare ran slightly behind her, his bleeding throat pulsing dully as he ran. And beside him, ran Humphrey, his expression blank.
Kate shook her head, she had objected to letting the little girl enter his mind as well, but Daren has insisted that without it, her mate would die.
Kate's fur seemed to rise at the thought of Bella.
The young she wolf had quickly fallen behind, the strain of controlling two wolves being too much for her to run.
Kate sensed that something was off with the girl, but there would be time for questions later, now the best thing she could do was make it to Tempest's rocky home in time to save Humphrey's life.
Her paws padded against the rock as the mass of stone began to get bigger and wider.
The sky had darkened, and a deep thunder boomed in the distance.
The wind clutched at Kate's fur, wanting to pull her back, keep her from reaching her target.
It seemed to take forever to finally get there, but at last Tempest and his wolves came to a stop.
Kate shook her head in disbelief; two spires of rock seemed to stretch toward the sky, marking the entrance of Tempest's land to the world.
The stone gate seemed to leer at them as they passed slowly.
Daren seemed uncomfortable, shuffling her feat as she followed her father.
They followed a narrow path, rock on either side of them, until they reached a dark cave.
They continued through and utter darkness, their only direction from Tempest was to continue straight.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity in darkness, Kate saw light at the end of the cave.
Slowly, the group of wolves emerged from the darkness and found themselves looking down on the land the Light Walkers called home.
Kate almost cried, it was beautiful. The valley was surrounded by rock, its walls shooting endlessly into the sky. There were trees here as well she realized with a smile. She saw the dens carved into the rock walls, the glimmering lake in the distance, the vast woods that grew dense at some parts, and thinned out drastically at others.
She felt like the creator of some great piece of art, staring at her creation with pride and swelling happiness.
Tempest smiled at her and nodded for her to continue.
Kate noticed the steep ramp that led down to the beautiful world, and realized how far up they were.
The cave they had just exited was half way up one of those mighty stone walls she had noticed before.
Shaking her head in wonder, Kate began the long descent with the rest of her group.
Faith was in awe as well, absorbing the beauty of the land as she walked with Daren.
Kate noticed fields of flowers in bloom, which surprised her, it was nearing snow fall, why would there be flowers in bloom during this time of the year.
Even the menacing grey sky could not diminish the beauty of this place, it was untouched, sacred in a sense, and it was magnificent.
"It's gorgeous…" she finally managed to say.
"Yea…" Faith said in a small voice.
"Glad you think so," Bella said sweetly, her childish voice coming from Humphrey and Garth at the same time was something close to comical, and deeply disturbing.
Tempest grinned and spoke in his commanding voice "Welcome to our home, I'm glad you are enjoying the beauty of it, but I believe we have a life to save."
Kate shook her head, she had almost forgotten about her poisoned mate. She picked up her pace and continued down the descending slow in a quick jog until they reached the surface of the land.
They continued onward, moving through small forests and fields of purple flowers.
Even the patches of grass were defining, its bright green color only compared to its plush, soft feeling.
They passed a small lake, its surface beginning to ripple from the falling rain.
"What do you eat," she asked suddenly.
"There are plenty of deer in the woods, plenty of berries, and a few moose as well," Tempest said with a smile.
Kate grinned as they continued onward, stopping only after passing through the main feeding grounds, and coming to a halt before a den much larger than the rest.
There were wolves everywhere, Kate realized, much more then both packs combined she noticed with a frown.
Tempest stepped forward, "My dear, we have guests, two of which are wounded, one has been poisoned…"
An elegant, gold and silver she wolf exited the den with a frown.
"Bring them inside and send of an Orlando flower, it will cure the poison, we will also need a…"
The gold and silver she wolf stopped as she noticed Daren.
"Da-Daren…" Tears surged to the she wolfs eyes.
"My sweet little girl…" The beautiful she wolf took a step, and seemed to appear inches away from Daren.
Kate jumped, and Faith sighed.
"Great, what does this one do," she said with annoyance.
Kate gave her a look to be quiet and watched Daren closely.
"Hello mother…" Daren said quietly.
The she wolf sobbed and grabbed her daughter in a fierce embrace, tears streaming down her face.
Daren stood as still as the stone that enclosed the land, staring intently at the rocky ground.
"Grace, my dear, there will be time for that later," Tempest said in a polite voice.
"Oh, right," Grace said with a sniffle, releasing her daughter reluctantly.
Grace turned to Kate, "Hello my dears, it's nice to meet you." She turned to Humphrey and Flare and frowned, "Is Bella…"
Tempest nodded and indicated toward Humphrey, "This one's poisoned and is in need of the Orlando."
Grace nodded, and disappeared.
"Where the hell did she go!" Faith said in surprise.
Tempest laughed, "She went to get the cure of your friends poison."
"No, I mean, she just disappeared." Faith said in disbelief.
"My mate moves quickly," Tempest replied.
There was a soft thud in the air as Grace reappeared, a white flower in her mouth.
"I alerted Eleanor as well, she will tend to them,"
Tempest nodded.
Grace smiled grimly and put the flower in her mouth and began to chew. She spat the pasty, partially chewed flower onto the ground and dipped one of her long claws into it.
"Bella, you can leave him now," Grace said with a frown.
"Okay," Bella replied sweetly from Flare and Humphrey, before Humphrey crashed to the ground, no longer under Bella's control.
Grace walked over to Humphrey and quickly slipped her claw into Humphrey's neck carefully.
Grace shook the blood from her nail and smiled at Kate, "He will be fine my dear, your mate will live to see another day."
Kate nodded her thanks and began to cry in joy, they were safe, and Humphrey would live.
The sky seemed to cry with her… Kate smiled.
Hope you enjoyed it, sorry for the long ass delay.
~Bravobravo