Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chpt 49 Death
BPOV
With a sinking heart I edge us both closer. I don't know about Clarion but I have too many still healing wounds to risk traversing a fire. There's no real fuel down here other than the occasional tree root and vampire venom, how long can it burn for?
Jeez, vampire venom, is that what's keeping it burning?
We creep closer and closer until the glow is bright enough to almost obliterate the dense smoke and the heat is making my venom seethe. Clarion shakes my jeans in agitation, almost giving me a wedgie, but I press forward until I'm as close as I can bear and then I take a deep breath.
The heat is searing and I close my lungs off again, shuffling us back a few steps. It is vampire, but not one we know.
The flames shouldn't last too long, we'll just have to wait. Reluctantly I hitch in another breath to explain to Clarion. He just grips my jeans tighter in response.
My frustration builds until I'm literally jiggling from foot to foot but finally the heat starts to abate and the glow begins to dim. It must be funny because behind me Clarion hitches in a short breath and then wastes it all on a childish giggle. Despite the horror of the situation I manage a smile. I suppose it is funny in a gallows humour kind of way.
At last the fire is out and the inky blackness has taken complete hold again. If I ever get out of this alive I'm pretty sure I'm going to suffer from nyctophobia, there's an affliction for a vampire to be proud of, not.
Very, very, cautiously I lead us forward again, cursing internally as I feel the body crumple beneath me.
Fourteen careful steps later something barges into me out of the dark and attempts to take my head off. It's only Clarion's lightening reaction, jerking me back by the seat of my jeans, that saves me. Though sadly, not the jeans. The phrase 'naked before your maker' has never meant anything to me before.
My unseen assailant launches at me again, knocking Clarion and I to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs. Wickedly sharp teeth sink into my thigh and I kick out with all my strength, to be rewarded with a grunt of pain. Fucker! I surge to my feet intent on finishing whoever it is off. No more distractions!
Awash with adrenaline, or whatever the fuck it is, I kick out in the general direction of the grunt. My foot connecting with a vampire's head. The hardest substance in the universe apparently. And then I hurl myself down onto the culprit, intent on destruction.
As soon as I connect with the hard body I'm flipped onto my back and rammed into the rocky floor.
"Will you stop fucking attacking me." Garrett growls. "I hurt enough as it is."
With a strangled sob I wrap my arms and legs around him, hugging him to me with all my strength. A mixture of conflicting emotions raging through me.
"Ow. Ow. Ouch." He gripes.
I flip us over so I'm on top, not relinquishing my grip and I bury my face in his neck, inhaling deeply, sod the toxins in the air.
Shuffling feet bump into us from either side.
One body collapsing on top of us.
"Bella, how lovely to see you again." Maria purrs. "Or not see you, as the case may be."
"Gah! Ungh." Is all I can manage in response. Jeez it's like breathing toxic soup down here.
With a thud another body lands on the pile.
"Mistress." It gasps. "You are alive."
"Just barely Clarion." Maria rasps. "A little room to breathe, please?"
Clarion rolls to the side and resumes our group hug from there.
Garrett hitches in a breath, lifting us all up with the rise of his chest.
"This is lovely." He growls. "But we really don't have time right now."
"Humph." Clarion and I reply in unison, disinclined to move.
"Up!" Garrett growls with more force. "There are still barrels down here that haven't exploded."
Vampire scardey cats that we are, we all surge to our feet as one.
How did I get to be on point again I wonder, as I stretch my arms out, fingertips to the walls.
The vampire road train begins making its way slowly back to the surface.
Garrett's hand is now the one curled into the waistband of my jeans, index finger swirling across my exposed skin as I lead us upward. I can't describe how comforting that is. Nor how much I now long to be on the surface to check that Edward is still alive.
Progress is quicker this way. I can feel the pressure of everyone's desire to be free from this dark noxious prison impelling me upwards.
The further we go the more my heart lifts. We're going to make it. We are going to make it.
And then we're not. A new, massive, explosion rocks our world.
In place of the cloying smoke we're now enveloped in a cloud of rock and dust. It rains down us, hammering us into the floor.
"I can't believe I'm going to die with my butt cheek hanging out." I groan.
"Sweetheart, I'm always telling you to wear underwear, now you know why." Garrett sighs, giving one of my exposed cheeks a squeeze to emphasise his point. "Is everybody okay?"
"Fine." Clarion responds.
"No, my left arm has come off again." Maria growls. "Oh, thank you Clarion. That's much better."
"I will hold it in place Mistress."
"Thank you Clarion. You see Garrett, some vampires can be very helpful."
"I can't believe I haven't killed you myself." Garrett mutters, hauling himself up and over my body to take the lead in digging us out.
"He's so bad tempered Bella." Maria complains. "I don't know how you can stand him."
It's surreal. The comedy moment. Buried alive, well almost alive, in a dank dark cave, giggling at a three thousand year old homicidal maniac berating her gallant rescuer.
At least the cave collapse seems to have expunged all the smoke, rock dust is nowhere near as upsetting. Somewhere above us there must be an almighty column of smoke curling into the sky. God I hope the others are okay.
"It's not too bad." Garrett reveals, reaching back for my hand and hauling me unceremoniously onto the top of a heap of broken stone.
I sit atop one of the fragments and start brushing myself down as my eyes adjust rapidly to the dark and swirling dust.
Garrett reaches back down and Maria emerges, pushed gently from behind by Clarion, who looks like an angel statue that's been sprayed with black paint and then had its eyes and teeth whitened.
Maria's appearance is a shock. I've never seen a vampire look that gaunt or that pale, it shouldn't be possible. And I've never seen one look that weak, like if I breathed on her heavily she'd shatter into a million pieces.
With great care Clarion settles her on the boulder next to mine and squats down beside us.
"Are you okay?" I gasp, forgetting myself.
"Define okay." She snorts. "I am alive. That is enough, for now. Of course I would be much better if your mate had brought me something bigger than a rat to consume."
"The shops were closed." Garrett huffs, hunkering down next to me and resting his head on my thigh.
Absently, guiltily, I comb my fingers through his hair.
"What do we do n . . . ."
Another earth shattering explosion drowns out my question.
And the subsequent downpour of rock blots out everything else.
Well crap.
The others dive for cover but I can't be bothered. I'm done. I'm all out of fear, dread, self-preservation and whatever the hell else I'm supposed to be feeling right now.
Within moments I'm buried up to my waist. But after a few more it slows to a trickle and stops.
"Are you alright?" Garrett asks, fighting his way up out the fresh pile of debris.
"Meh." I shrug eloquently, dislodging a few stone shards from my still tingling shoulders and head.
His lips quirk up into a smile but his attention is immediately diverted when the rubble to the side of us starts heaving.
Quickly we dig, soon revealing Clarion's back as he curls protectively over Maria and in an instant we have them both out, gasping on their backs like landed fish.
Done I look up, peering into the large hole above us which now seems to be our only means of escape. The protesting of the rock above us vibrates the dried out bronchioles in my lungs like miniature wind chimes.
Briefly I wonder about the fate of those above us but I clamp down on that line of thought, we have to get out of here before I, we, can worry about anyone else.
"Looks like we're climbing out." Garrett observes, following my gaze if not my thoughts.
"I can't." Maria sighs, twitching her weak arms by way of demonstration.
With a broad smile Clarion surges to his feet, slipping her easily but reverentially onto his back. Oh Felix, I hope you appreciate his loyalty to you.
Jeez love is complicated and pathologically inclined to make people miserable.
"Ready?" Garrett asks gently.
I nod.
And up we go.
EPOV
As much as I try to ignore the significance of Felix's order I can't.
The battle is going against us. Save what you can.
All my tethers, roots, are untied. Nothing is left of what I ever was. What price playing the piano now? I can only be measured by what I do next. And I fear it will be so little that it won't count.
Nevertheless I hurl myself down into the caves, heedless of my own safety, mindful only of theirs.
Of hers.
If they are still alive I am to lead them into the side tunnel. If, if, if.
And it seems to be a pretty big if as an explosion hurls me to the cave floor, bringing the roof down on top of me.
The temptation to lie here and let fate take its course is a big one.
But too many people have already died for any of us to give up now.
Still filled with resolve I squirm my way out of the rubble looking around to assess the damage. Collapsing rock won't hurt a vampire, just slow them down. A few feet ahead the tunnel I was in resumes, looks like only a small section of the roof came down only around me. How special. Behind me the entrance is blocked but if the tunnel below is still intact then the side entrance Garrett showed me may still be usable.
I heft enough rocks out of the way to get through the gap and continue downwards.
Thank god there's no fire, the creaking and groaning of the rock surrounding me is enough to cope with.
And it's on that happy note that I find myself flung to the floor for a second time.
BPOV
Climbing beats crawling. Hand over hand, foot over foot. Jeez how big is this hole?
We're climbing quickly, spurred on by the fear of fire, but it seems to take forever. At least I can see now, I can't describe what a relief that is.
A disembodied face appears in front of me.
With a scream I fall back but a hand flashes out and catches my wrist, pulling me up and into a tunnel entrance I didn't see above me in the rock wall.
"Edward!"
"Thank god you're safe." He growls, clutching me briefly and leaning out again to haul Garrett in.
"Bro." Garrett acknowledges him with a nod and then the two of them drag Clarion and Maria up to join us.
"What's happening?" Garrett demands as soon as we're all safely in.
"There are too many of them. We needed to move into a more open area. Felix sent me down here to get you guys out by the side cave, they're going to try to meet us there."
"Is it still there?" Garrett demands.
"Yes, I passed it on the way down. Will we really have to take a limb off?" Edward sounds appalled and the rest of us aren't too happy either.
"No." Garrett chuckles. "But it's a tight fit, we'll be okay as long as no one's suffering from claustrophobia."
"Not anymore." Clarion drawls.
"Let's go then. Lead on Edward."
He hesitates looking around at us, eyes lingering on me, and then he seems to make a decision, attempting to take Maria from Clarion.
"I'm fine Edward." She says gently. "Clarion is just the right height for a crutch, aren't you dear?"
Our smiling friend nods happily in response which seems to confuse Edward. Of course, he doesn't know Maria is the spy, that she would already know Clarion. Poor Edward, there are so many things I should have told him a long time ago that I'll have to tell him when we get out. I'm afraid they're all going to hurt, what if he never forgives me?
There isn't room to walk upright and so we scurry along the tunnel bent double, constantly scrapping our heads on the ceiling.
Edward stops abruptly and we crash into each other, nose to butt.
"Fire." He gasps in horror.
"Where?" Garrett hisses.
"Coming down the tunnel, must be burning gas. It's flowing."
Shit!
"What do we do?" I ask, turning to meet Garrett's appalled gaze.
"Back into the shaft and up! Quickly!"
Clarion is already moving, shoving an unprotesting Maria roughly ahead of him. Garrett reaches back for my hand and I reach back for Edward's.
"Hurry Up!" Edward urges, shoving us from behind.
I front Clarion reaches the opening and with Maria clinging to his back like a monkey disappears upwards.
Swiftly followed by Garrett, then me and finally Edward.
Just in time as a small stream of burning gas flows out of the opening and drops down into the hole.
It's not exactly a raging torrent but it's more than enough to set light to flammable injured vampires. It's a novel sensation to feel delicate, one that I could do without.
"We'll have to find another way out." Edward observes.
"We'll dig our way out at the top if we have to." Garrett growls.
"What if someone's waiting for us?" I ask. Digging our way out will be easy but time consuming and if anyone's waiting for us we'll be sitting ducks.
"We're out of options sweetheart." He sighs. "Let's just hope Felix and The Major have finished them all off by the time we get there."
We have yet to mention the ominous sounds coming from the rock around us and now probably isn't a good time to start.
The pool of fire forming beneath us is now big enough to cast an eerie glow on the tortured stone walls.
The rock we're on seems to pulsate slightly beneath my burrowing fingers and I look up to find Garrett staring down at me, he felt it too.
Maybe the falling rock will bury the fire before we hit it?
I manage a wan smile for him as the rock shudders and separates from the cliff we're climbing with a deafening clap.
Look Ma, I can fly.
I land on a huge boulder, banging my head and nearly getting snapped in half when someone lands on top of me and then bounces off like I'm a trampoline. I reach for them desperately but their fingers slip through mine and they're gone, sucked away into the maelstrom.
I have barely time to register that above me there is daylight before I'm on my feet desperately searching for the others.
Maria and Clarion are on a ledge a few feet away from me, the other side of what is now a very big pit of fire being fed by the trees up top which are one by one giving up their precarious hold on the collapsing ground and plummeting down.
About twenty feet up Edward is hanging from a small ledge.
Where the hell is Garrett?
My heart clenches and I look down into the fire.
There! Clinging to a fragile rim of rock over the merrily dancing flames.
Thank god.
Even as I move toward him another tremor shakes the cave, hole, whatever it is now, and Edward's ledge gives way sending him cartwheeling past me toward the fire.
Miraculously he manages to catch hold of the same lip of rock Garrett's hanging onto, clutching on with his fingertips.
Relieved I start toward him but before I've taken another step the whole ledge crumbles before my eyes.
Without thinking I throw myself forward.
