I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.
Hike
I watch as the Lorics, Commander Sharma, and one of Sharma's soldiers fled up mountains on either side of the road, trying to take cover from the soldiers attacking us. They weren't Mogadorians. They were human. But they still seemed more than happy to kill us.
I try to push myself up but before I can, pain shoots through my leg and I drop back to the ground. After a moment, Hawkeye picks me up, sprinting toward the mountain nearby where Marina is taking cover. My head goes light and the trip is a blur. At some point, I'm switched to Rookie's shoulders and there's fresh blood on my side.
"Where's Hawkeye?" I mumble.
"Shut up!" Rookie growles, struggling up the steep incline under my weight.
Before I can ask again, I hear a spray of gunfire below us. I turn to look and see Hawkeye scrambling after us, blood running down his right arm and left leg. He's hit, bad. Finally, Rookie drops me at Marina's feet and she gasps. Then, pain erupts through my side. Apparently, I was shot too after all. Finally the pain subsides and I hear Rookie grunt an apology before the rock in my knee is ripped out of my leg. Then, Marina begins to heal my leg. As she finishes, Sharma's soldier takes off at a dead sprint back down the mountain.
"Where's he going?" Marina asks.
"Heal Hawkeye," I say, standing and pulling my Tavor out of my pack. "Let me worry about him."
The soldier runs all the way down the mountain toward the approaching soldiers. For a moment, I think that he's going to sacrifice himself, but no one fires. Then, the man slows to a stop and the man points back up at us. I swear and put a bullet between his eyes but it's too late. A T34 Caliope missile launcher turns and then raises, aimed directly at us. It wouldn't be a problem with Six probably already planning to destroy it. Except that a second a fair distance away was also turning to aim at us. Both fire. A rocket. One of the rockets flips around, blasting its own launcher but the other speeds toward us.
"Marina!" Rookie shouts.
Marina holds her arm out and the missile drops, blasting the mountain below us. Then, she returns to healing Hawkeye. I smile, then look back at the flames as they start to move, spreading toward our attackers. They reach the other missile launcher and a moment later it explodes. The soldiers retreat as the flames pursue them, destroying every vehicle they reach. Finally, they stop and we all sigh in relief, sitting back.
"I'm not liking the locals much," Hawkeye grumbles, finally healed.
We're all silent for a few minutes before turning and continuing up the mountain. As we walk, Marina pulls a small tree branch from her Chest and holds it out while walking backward. Trees start to reach out with their roots and branches, completely blocking the road.
"Nice," I grin and she smiles sheepishly.
"Just wanted to be of help," she admits.
"You are," I assure her. "You're a massive help. Most of us are still alive because of you. Honestly, it feels like every time we fight someone you end up having to save my life. I think I'm cursed."
"No you're not," she says resting a hand on my shoulder. "You just have really, really bad luck."
"Wish I had telekinesis," I snort. "Then I could keep myself from being shot."
She smiles then returns to blocking the road. After a while, we stop for a break at a stream surrounded by flat boulders. I refil my canteen and after a minute, Marina kneels down next to me, splashing water on her face and neck. She cups her hands, getting some water to drink. Before she can, Commander Sharma wades into the water and announces we need to continue. Marina sighs and stands and I pass her my Canteen as we walk. She smiles and takes a drink before passing it back and I put it away. As we walk, the trail groes steeper and much slicker. Crayton tries running for momentum but slips and goes down hard.
"This is impossible," Crayton says. "We need to cut through the forest to get traction."
"Out of the question," Sharma says. "We will not overcome our obstacles by running away from them. Speed does not matter, only that we do not stop."
"Marina, let me see your Chest," I say and I could swear there's a flash of red across her face before she realizes what I mean and holds it out.
I set it on my right shoulder and she holds out the branch, growing roots and branches across the path so we can continue. And so we do. It's not easy, especially since we're more climbing than walking and I have only one hand, but we make it after a while. From there, Six starts to scout ahead as we walk. Eventually, we reach a fork, which Sharma promptly states is new.
"How can it be new?" Crayton asks. "Both paths look exactly the same and equally well-travelled."
"I promise there was no left trail before," Sharma states. "We are close to Lord Vishnu now. We go this way."
He starts to walk down the right side but doesn't make it far before Ella speaks up.
"Wait," sh says. "The glasses won't let me see anything down that path. Just a dark nothingness."
Six and Sharma begin to argue about which way to go and I sigh, looking down and shaking my head. There's something under my foot, poking out on the side. I move my foot and grin.
"Hey," I say, getting their attention. "It is left."
Marina walks over, looking down at the "8" carved into the ground at the mouth of the path. She nods and we start down the path, the others following. Soon, the path begins to ascend and gets rocky. Then, water starts to run down the path. It grows deeper rapidly and soon we're walking through a river. I look to the others but they're just as confused as I am.
"Maybe we were wrong," Ella says. "Maybe it was the other path after all."
"No, this is good," Sharma says, running his hand along the surface of the water. "This is a sign I've seen before."
Before anyone can respond, the current picks up and it gets deeper again. Soon, it's up to Ella's waste and it's difficult to keep our balance. Marina slips but I catch her around the waste, steadying her. Then, suddenly, the water drops. The ground levels out and the water that remains opens into a large pool. On the far side, a jagged wall ov stone rises with four separate waterfalls falling from it into the pool. In the center of the pool is a boulder of white stone with a gleaming blue statue of a man with four arms and a crown sitting on top. Each hand holds something. One holds a pink flower, one a white shell, one a gold wand, and one a blue CD-looki g disk.
"Vishnu," I guess and Sharma nods.
I turn, looking around. There are trees around the clearing and a good distance of shore between them and the water. Just as I look back at the boulder, Ella shouts what I see. The statue's gone.
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