Chapter Eleven
The Reaper narrowed his eyes watching his every move. Pitch met his eyes and never broke eye contact as he reached into his robe. He smiled wickedly pulling a glass vile from his robe. Matthew's eyes widened in fear as it was brought into his line of sight. It was filled with dreamsand.
"This is one of the few times you've genuinely been afraid." The spirit of darkness smirked. "We'll do the same as before, but I've got new ideas." He hummed. "This'll be fun."
The Canadian started to panic. He didn't want to be blinded again. He could still remember the awful searing pain. He was about to start singing. He saw something shift in Pitch's eyes. He knew he made the wrong choice. The King of Nightmares grabbed his throat with his free hand. He put enough pressure to stop the song and cut off his air. He gasped trying to breathe and Pitch smirked. He quickly moved and poured some of the sand as he breathed in. It made its way into his open mouth as Pitch let go to let him breathe. He gasped for air.
Matthew immediately started coughing trying to get it out of him. It only made it go further into his throat and lungs. It felt like millions of tiny little razor sharp knives cutting him and he could barely breathe. It burned. He felt like he was drowning from his own lungs. He was trying to curl into himself, but couldn't.
The Canadian could hear Jack yelling. He couldn't understand what he was saying. He let out a strangled cry as the rest of the dreamsand was suddenly spilled over half his face and into one eyed. He whined closing his eyes and curled into himself still coughing. Blood mixed with sand fell from his lips.
The weight on his legs was gone and he was able to move his hands. He wasn't sure what happened. His mind was foggy from the pain and lack of air. He knew something had broke the bars. He could hear Jack again. He still wasn't sure what he was saying. There were suddenly hands on him. They were cold. It felt nice after the burning heat.
"Birdie!" The Guardian's voice finally broke through the haze of pain. He sounded worried and rushed. "Can you hear me?"
Matthew tried to speak, but couldn't. He opened his eyes. Half his vision was gone. He tried to focus and saw Jack was leaning over on the ground next to him. There weren't any bars separating them anymore. He looked terrified.
"Matthew?" Jack asked again. The Canadian nodded. "We have to go." The winter spirit said quickly. He looked over his shoulder. There was thick ice everywhere. "Can you stand?"
The Reaper nodded quickly. He wasn't sure if he could, but he knew he had to. He had to get Jack to safety. It took all his willpower to start to move. He managed to get his feet underneath him. He shifted towards the wall and pushed himself up. It was difficult. He swayed and leaned against the wall for support. He could barely breathe and almost immediately collapsed. His vision swirled as coughs wracked his body. He managed to stay up right. Each breath sent waves of pain through him.
Matthew offered a hand to Jack and he took it. He couldn't see him since he was on his blind side. He helped pull him to his feet. He heard him gasp in pain when he put weight on his bad leg. He made the winter spirit put an arm around his shoulders for support. He would have carried him if he thought he could.
Neither one was able to stand fully on their own. They had to lean on each other. The Reaper wasn't able to see well as they started to move. He only had half of his vision. He didn't know where the three other spirits had gone. There was a lot of ice. He guessed Jack managed to freeze then. He knew they needed to move quickly. Ice wouldn't keep a fire spirit stuck for long.
The winter spirit helped guide them to the tunnel. He was fighting to stay upright and conscious. He had to lean against the tunnel wall as they moved. They managed to make it to the end of the tunnel to outside. He could see light ahead. He stopped them from stepping further knowing the ledge had crumble before. He didn't want them to fall into the river.
Jack hadn't expected them be in a cave in a cliff down a crack in the earth. The water down below was fast. The Guardian couldn't swim and he knew the Canadian wasn't in any condition to. He looked over to Matthew. There was no way the Reaper would be able to fly on his own either, let alone carry Jack's weight too. They needed the wind, but wasn't sure if they'd listen or understand him without his staff.
"Wind!" The winter spirit called desperately. "Wind, please! We need your help!" The wind blew around them pulling and tugging at their clothes, but didn't lift them. "Matthew, open your wings."
The Canadian nodded and did what he was asked. He was able to open his good wing just fine, but the broken one was more trouble. He couldn't open it fully since the bones had partially healed. It hurt, but was nothing compared to his other pains. The wind swirled and was just able to pick them up. The new pressure on his wing hurt as well.
Matthew pulled Jack to his chest and he clung to him. The wind started to carry them through the sky quickly. The Canadian closed his eyes trusting the wind. He focused on breathing. Jack hid his face in the crook of the Canadian's neck. He could hear how ragged and pained his breathing was. He looked up and noticed there was blood coming from his mouth. He hoped Matthew was able to hold out long enough to get to the pole.
The Reaper was struggling to stay awake. He could barely breathe. Each breath he took was agony. Coughing was worse. He felt like he was burning from the inside out. He wanted nothing more than to pass out, but was fighting to stay awake. He needed to know the Guardian was safe. Jack could see the Canadian was starting to slip.
"We're almost home, Birdie." The winter spirit said quickly. He reached up gently cupping his jaw. Matthew nodded slowly. "Hold on."
The Reaper nodded again. He opened his eyes and saw the outline of the pole ahead. He could barely see it through the heavy snow. He knew they were close to home and safety. The wind was moving them quickly. Faster than he could fly on his own. The pole was getting closer and closer. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe. He was starting to lose his fight to stay conscious.
The wind set them next to the entrance of the pole. It blew the door open scaring the guard yetis. Matthew sighed in relief seeing them. It caused him to start coughing. He couldn't breathe anymore and wasn't getting enough oxygen. His vision swam before he finally collapsed into the snow.