Golden Thorns Chapter 56

He couldn't believe himself. After all that talk of being there for her whenever she needed him, he bolts at the first sign of danger, leaving her alone at a time when she needed him more than ever.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he repeated, periodically punctuating his rant with a carefully chosen expletive. The beast wasn't even real. What must she think of him? Probably that he was a coward who had totally lost his marbles. GODS! Why did his have to be such a hopeless fool! He swore again, kicking a rock across the cave floor and listening to it echo off of the hard walls.

"Geez, find me some soap. Sounds like someone needs their mouth washed out." the voice spun him around. He raised his weapon and pointed it in the direction of the words, but dropped it again when he saw Devlyn standing before him, whole and healthy.

"What? How?" he looked down. Devlyn was still lying there, unconscious. He looked up again.

"But… you're… this isn't real. You're not really here. There can't be two of you." He murmured. The ghost Devlyn spoke again.

"Oh… Great. You too huh? Coran, I am here, but I'm not Devlyn. It's me, Azura." as she said it, her shape and voice blurred and she appeared in front of him. "You must've been got by the bugs as well."

"What?" said Coran, his head spinning again.

"Those bug things outside in the forest laid some kind of parasite in me. I didn't notice at first, but then I started hallucinating. I found a lump and cut the damn thing out, then they stopped. I think that's what's happening to you. Felt any odd lumps or itches recently?"

"The… back of my neck."

"Oh well, they don't make it easy for me. Turn around. Let's get this thing out, then you can tell me all about what happened to Devlyn. Nice job with the Saline, by the way." Coran swallowed. He lay on his front and bit down on the sleeve of his jacket.

"Go!" he garbled through the leather. The procedure was shorter and less painful than he thought it was going to be, though that wasn't saying much. Even so, once the black worm thing was gone, he felt infinitely better. His mind was clear and sharp.

As Azura cleaned and dressed the wound, he thought through their situation. His leg was walkable, but would only get worse if he kept using it, Devlyn was about as close to death as any of them had ever been, Jo was shaken up but physically intact as far as he was aware, Marie… even if she forgave him he would never forgive himself. Even Azura was struggling, her hand was still shaking and her breaths were heavy. Talk about up the creek without a paddle.

Eventually the Girls emerged from the shadows. Marie's face was pallid and glistening with sweat, her jaw clenched, her eyes wide. She didn't even look at him.

The next few hours were something of a blur for Coran. He and Jo took it in turns carrying Devlyn on their backs, while the other carried a torch. Azura walked ahead with Marie, quietly conversing under their breath. For hours their forced march led them through the winding tunnels in the rock. Fatigue wore away at their feet and tempers, their various injuries plaguing them. Whenever it was Coran's turn to carry their crippled friend, his leg threatened to give out and send them sprawling, but miraculously it held, and they carried on. "So what happened with you guys then?" Coran asked, hefting Devlyn into a more comfortable position on his back.

"I don't really know," Jo replied, staring at the ground. "There was something in the caves, some kind of subterranean Grimm. It leapt at us from a side passage and was on me before I realised that it was there. Dev pulled it off and slashed at it, but it… well. You know what happened next." She swallowed. "After that it just ran off. Don't know why. Maybe it wasn't that hungry after all."

"Well, you guys are still alive, and that's what matters."

"Thanks man." She smiled at him. "What happened to you and Em?"

"It turns out that she has a paralytic fear of spelunking and I had a parasite laid in me. So… not really much better than you." She rolled her eyes and grinned.

"We really need to rethink our life choices, don't we?" she chuckled, slowly shaking her head.