Disclaimer—See Chapter One
A/N: Thank you so much to those reviewing! I can never say enough how much that means to me! Rain, I laughed so hard when I read your review, thanks for letting me know about the typo, it's fixed now! I definately want to say Brennan exudes strength, not eludes strength! Too funny! :) I'm now working on chapter 13, so still not sure how long this story will be yet, but I'm getting there! Anyway, here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!
Things More Beautiful—Chapter Four
That night, Shalimar dreamed of the helix again. It was a rather boring dream actually. She was sitting in the pilot seat staring out the window, watching miles and miles of fields and insignificant hills fly by below. The sun was high and indifferent. The landscape never varied. She was alone, so no one spoke. There was just the helix, flying perfectly straight, seemingly on an endless journey.
Sluggishly, Shalimar turned over, then pushed herself up on one elbow. It was dark and cool, the wind blowing moist and smelling strongly of salt and flowers. The fire she was sleeping by had died low, embers glowing red in the night. She heard one of the men shuffle his feet as he stood watch; they were taking turns during the night, and she had been fortunate enough to get the first watch.
Wonder what's making me dream of the helix? Shalimar drowsily wondered. With a sigh, she cautiously sat up to arrange the blankets she was sleeping on as they were in a tangle around her legs. A respectable foot away, Brennan groaned and turned over in his sleep. Shivering slightly, she marveled at how chilly the evenings were compared to the heat during the daylight hours. She debated snuggling up to Brennan, but decided it would be awkward with the other men around. Finally she got the blankets back into a semblance of order and lay back down, curled up tightly on her side. After a few moments, she impatiently turned on her stomach. Yawning achingly, her eyes finally fluttered shut.
Moments later she jolted upright. Then she lay back down, flat and stiff, her eyes wide open, her ear pressed to the ground.
"What in the world?" She whispered. She stayed in that position for a long time. Throwing her blanket back, she crawled a few feet to the fire, where she had left her tin glass. She saw the man on watch glance at her, and she waved, signaling she was fine. She pulled the stopper off her canteen with her teeth, dumping water into the tin cup. She set the tin cup down on the ground, watching the water closely for movement, bending so far over the glass that her nose almost dipped into the water; nothing. Feeling the man's curious eyes on her again, she quickly took a sip of the cup and crawled back to her blankets. Impatiently, she again pressed her ear to the ground, turning her head until her mouth touching the blanket under her and bared her teeth. That did it. She could feel an unmistakable buzzing, a tight but distinct vibration in her teeth. Quickly she put her ear back to the ground, clearly hearing the drone, the continual deep hum that had made her dream of the endless din of the engine of the helix. It was if her subconscious was picking up the vibrations and trying to warn her of something. But what could make such a deep and omnipresent sound? Restlessly, she turned her eyes to the red plume of smoke drifting above them, swallowing hard. It's normal, she told herself. Nevertheless, she lay on her back; eyes wide open for the remainder of the night.
Morning dawned bright and cheery, and in the clear of day, her fears from the night before seemed silly. She made no mention of it, and they quickly packed up their make-shift camp, Luka rushing them in his haste to reach the crater. She was tired as they walked, but still had no problem keeping up with the pace set by the rest of the group. She was again on guard duty, and followed the group from the back. Brennan was ahead of her, helping to clear a path as the tropical forest grew so close on either side that the shadows cast by the enormous trees were impenetrable. Chester bounded back and forth between Shalimar and Brennan, darting under and around their moving legs with gleeful abandon. The further uphill they went, the less habitation they found, and she could not sense anything around them. She was bored. Yawning, she found herself studying the thick vines that wrapped around everything, wondering when the vegetation would end, and they would hit the ash plain that separated them from the top of the crater. Chester again dashed around her feet, and she grunted, stumbling as the little dog tripped her for the umpteenth time that morning. Annoyed, she flashed golden eyes at the dog, lips curling into a warning growl that came out louder than she intended. Ahead of her, Brennan turned around just as Chester let out a loud yelp and went running to Brennan, stumpy tail hanging low as she came to a stop, whimpering and cowering under Brennan's feet.
"Shalimar." Brennan's arms crossed in reprimand.
"What?" She defended, eyes narrowing at the ugly dog as she seemed to shoot her a gloating look from between the safety of Brennan's legs. "Did you see that?" She huffed, pointed to the culprit. Chester let loose a pitiful whine.
"Shal." Brennan's voice was heavy with disapproval as he bent over and scooped up the small dog, laughing as she licked his face. "Can't you at least try to get along with her?"
Shalimar opened her mouth to let out a sharp retort, but was interrupted by Luka, calling for them to hurry. Brennan put Chester back on the ground with a sigh, resuming the slow process of cutting a path for them. Morning dragged by, but finally, they could see a change in the terrain.
Brennan wiped dripping sweat from his brow, desperately wishing for a frothy glass of cold beer at that moment. His hand reached behind him, pulling out his canteen, and he grimaced at the stale taste of the brackish water. He swished it around in his mouth before spitting it out and then taking another sip. He swore he could taste the dust that coated everything around them. It felt like it was even scorched into his teeth. At least he was getting a break from cutting out a trail. He was now leading up the back, with Shalimar in front of him and both of the other men swinging their knives. Luka followed impatiently behind them, calling out for them to hurry. He rolled his eyes, watching Shalimar as she stopped ahead of him, waiting for him to catch up. He shoved his canteen back in his pack, and strolled forward, eyes adeptly noticing she was wincing as she flexed the fingers of her injured hand.
"Hey." He greeted her, noticing how she stopped working on her hand the moment she saw him watching.
"Why do you do that, Shal?" He prompted gently, reaching around behind her to capture her hand. "Why do you feel you have to hide this from me?"
"I'm not hiding anything." Her chin lifted.
His brows rose silently.
"Ok fine," She sighed. "It hurt a bit, alright. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Of course not." He massaged her stiff fingers with both of his hands. "Just don't shut me out, Shal, please."
Her heart melted at the vulnerability in his tone. "I won't, I promise."
His eyes fell shut at her whisper, and he pulled her into his arms, feeling the sincerity in her words and the honesty in her eyes as she stared up at him. He dipped his head, lips closing over hers in a gentle kiss. They lingered for just a moment, savoring their stolen moment before reluctantly pulling apart and heading back down the trail.
The view before them was incredible; surreal. The twin volcanoes were separated in the middle by a massive caldera that looked all the world like a giant bowl. The whole inner top of the ancient mountain was sunken, with the twin volcanoes looming up on either side. She stared down at the top of the caldera, awed. Three thousand feet below her dusty boots, Shalimar saw a landscape that was so strangely eerie she felt she might have somehow been shunted to another planet. A bitter and forbidding planet.
I'm afraid, Shalimar thought with some analytical compartment in her mind. Why is that?" Her eyes swept the land around them. "It's not fear, she decided. More like a feeling of dread, of foreboding. There's something about this place…
"Right through the gap, here, is the best path." Luka spoke in a normal tone, somewhat dissipating Shalimar's discomfort as she followed after him. They were walking single file; the ground at their feet was hard-baked and cracked. Going down into the crater was not a steep decline as the slope was gentle, leading down to the sunken floor in a series of gentle rises and falls of the reddish earth. It was a thirsty land, the only colors visible of burnt orange and dull ochre and a thousand tints of brown and lifeless gray and black. Shalimar saw that the dust kicked up by their feet hung sullenly in the air and then settled reluctantly back to earth.
"This area of the mountain is called Benbow Crater. It's a caldera, like a desert really. It's shaped by ancient lava flows from the volcanoes and from continual acid rainfall." Luka gestured around him as he spoke.
"Acid?" Brennan hesitated, foot hovering in the air.
"It's safe right now." Luka didn't stop walking.
They all stopped in a group when they reached the crater floor, looking around in wonder. It was strangely beautiful landscape, stern and forbidding. The scorched stones, the reddish-brown ash, the gray cinders crunched with every tiny shift of their feet. But there was no other sound at all. They didn't speak as they walked. The crater went on for miles in either direction, a seemingly endless and barren land between two towering volcanoes. In the distance, Shalimar saw little cone-shaped hills, perfectly formed from cinder, that dotted the crater. As they continued walking and finally neared the first one, she gulped, realizing they weren't so little after all.
"Damn," She heard Brennan mutter as he stared up at the cinder cone rising hundreds of feet above them. For the first time, a touch of green could be seen. Several plants grew on the side of the cone, clinging precariously to the crumbly black ash. The leaves of the plant were long and narrow, incurving to the shape of a globe, and were a muted green that glinted silvery in the merciless light.
They watched as Luka carefully cut several clippings, tediously wrapping each one in wax paper and then tucking it inside a plastic wrapper. After gathering several leaves, he completely removed one plant, soaking its roots with water from his canteen and wrapping it carefully. In all, it only took a few minutes. Cheerfully, he stood to his feet, hoisting his loaded pack up onto his back.
"Ok, let's go."
"That's it?" Brennan stared at him in disbelief.
"I've got the plant I needed." Luka turned on his heel and started back across the crater, seemingly disappearing in the mist that hovered around them.
Brennan rolled his eyes at Shalimar. "We fly for hours and walk for two days for a few leaves. Is it just me or does it seem like we've been wasting our time here?"
Shalimar smiled at his sarcasm, reaching out and fingering one of the silvery leaves. "Amazing to think this little thing may save our lives someday."
Brennan nodded, reaching out and closing his hand around hers. "Do you want to explore a little?" He changed the subject, attempting to lighten her mood. "How long before he notices we're not right behind him?"
She smiled, and they walked hand in hand around the crater. They could faintly see Luka in the distance, waiting for them impatiently. They kept walking around anyway.
"Two days to get here," Brennan reasoned with a smirk, "He can wait a few more minutes."
The flat earth began to get crumbly, and then they were in a rubbly field that had broken, spiny blocks of old lava jumbled crazily together. Shalimar couldn't get over the silence of the place; it was unnatural. She'd never known another place on earth that had no sound of wind, no movement of any living thing, no murmur of life at all. Again, the feelings of formless dread, of aversion, swept over her. Ahead of them was a jagged line of black rocks, like rotten broken teeth. The closer they got, the stronger the smell of sulphur became.
"It's a hole," Shalimar murmured as they peered past the black rocks. The stench was strong. Her throat grew thick, and she choked slightly, eyes narrowing into slits. Beside her, Brennan began to cough as well. Standing directly over the opening, they could clearly hear the sound of the infernal drone that had given Shalimar nightmares. They felt it in their teeth, which hummed with an unpleasant vibration when they turned their faces down to the blackness.
They straightened, then stared at each other, looking pale and grim. Without speaking, they turned their backs on the bottomless pit and walked away. When they did, Shalimar had the most forceful, frightful feeling that she and Brennan weren't actually moving ahead. They were slipping behind, losing ground, going back instead of forward, back into that black hole… She shuddered and jerked around, eyes wide and staring, her breath hissing through her teeth.
"Shal?" Brennan murmured, taking her by the shoulders and gently turning her to him.
A shout caught both of their attention. They looked up in time to see Luka running towards them, eyes wide in fear. The other two men were sprawled on the ground…on fire.
"What the—" Brennan didn't even finish his sentence before Shalimar leapt forward, pushing him to the ground.
Flames, bright orange, shot above their heads, crackling sinisterly in the strange stillness of the atmosphere. Shalimar curled into a terrified ball as the heat danced inches above her back.
"Shalimar!" Brennan rolled them, pushing her under him as he lifted his head.
"Help me!" Luka screamed in fear as he stumbled around a small cinder cone, clutching his pack with white fingers as another blast of fire blazed past his shoulder. "Help me!"
It was then that Brennan finally noticed a new figure, calmly stalking towards them, palms outstretched as tiny flickers of flame danced across his fingers.
Shalimar fought blindly beneath him, and it took his full weight to hold her down. He could faintly hear her whimpering, and his heart hardened in anger. His own palm lifted and lightening shot forth, steady and sure. Shalimar struggled again, and then the earth rumbled, a continuous, seamless tumult, overpowering them with its might.
It was an earthquake.
Below him, Shalimar fell deathly still, and Brennan glanced up again to see the stranger completely gone from sight. He sat up and noticed Shalimar was shouting, but the din was so high, filling their ears, he couldn't understand her. He jumped to his feet, hauling Shalimar up with him.
She fully intended to run, but the shuddering of the earth made her knees rubbery, and she sat down in an awkward heap, biting her tongue savagely. Suddenly she was lifted, almost thrown into the air, then gripped hard by arms like vises. Brennan held her, and Shalimar buried her face into his chest and grasped him around the waist.
"Should we run?" She screamed right next to his ear.
"To where?" He shouted back.
They stood together, staggering, searching desperately around them. Brennan had one iron arm around Shalimar's waist, and he held her so tightly that she would have bruises on her side the next day. But at that moment, she was aware of nothing except the terrifying clamor, of heat, and of Brennan's grim face, a blur in the chaos.
And then it was over.
The silence was numbing.
And the mists began creeping back.