I stare into the distance for a few minutes, gaining control of myself. Then, as if I hadn’t just watched Soot die, killed two Destroyers, and tangled with Reese and his dark Power, I take off at full speed toward Echo, my feet thumping on the hard packed earth.
She is just as I had left her, and I kneel down beside her. Immediately I notice the bandage I made for her has fallen to the ground, mixing blood with dirt. I can’t use it again – the risk of infection is too high. I place both of my hands on her forehead, pressing down onto the open wound, trying not to hurt her but knowing that pressure is the only way to stop the blood from flowing. Her blue, fear filled eyes find mine as blood continues to pour down her face.
“Snock, it’s bad, isn’t it?” she asks, her voice raspy.
“No…head wounds just bleed a lot,” I tell her, my voice like Entho’s…sure and confident. I push my hand onto the hole in her head harder as deep red liquid spills over my hands. “You’ll be fine.”
“How do you know?” she asks, her voice quavering.
“My dad is a healer. He taught me. We just need to stop this blood from flowing or we will have a problem.”
“Can you do that?”
“Of course…basic first aid.”
“Okay.” She says it more like a question than a response.
I keep my hands pressing down on her forehead. “She’s losing a lot of blood. I need more rags,” I yell out to anyone, realizing that “anyone” would have to be Gunter. My fingers and hands continue to swim in the scarlet liquid spewing out of Echo’s head.
Footsteps on the soft dirt cause my eyes to lift. Gunter is running toward me, ripping at his cloak as he moves. In different times I might have laughed at how comical he looks, hopping and tearing as he runs. He stops next to me and shoves a huge piece of red cloth at me – the front half of his cloak is missing, and his dark legs poke out like long skinny sausages.
I fold the piece of his cloak into a long bandage and wrap it tightly around Echo’s head, making a knot on the side.
“Thanks,” I tell him as I drop to the ground, settling her head into my lap. “Get me something soft to prop her head up, to help stop the flow of blood.”
“I’m on it.” Gunter races to his Crimson and brings back his matching red bag. Together we gently place the bag under her head. Blood continues to leak out of the bandage, but it is slowing. I let out a gigantic breath.
Echo’s blood has leached onto my cloak, and my hands are leaking red like spilled wine. “I need to check on Koree,” I tell Gunter, wiping my hands on my cloak. “Stay with her, try to keep the bleeding down. If you need to, put pressure on the wound.” Gunter is so white and pale that he almost looks like a Light Skin.
“Sure,” he squawks, fear in his almost black eyes. I don’t have time to worry whether or not he can handle it. Koree’s neck flashes into my mind. I rush toward him, noticing that Thann is still locked in place beside the three dead bodies – the two Destroyers and Soot. I will deal with him next.
I reach Koree and perform a quick assessment. I run my fingers along his neck and let out a sigh of relief when I realize it is just bruised and not broken. I take his wrist in my fingers and count his heartbeats like Entho taught me. I count 59 in one minute…not bad. He is breathing, shallow and slow, but his eyes are closed. I shake him. “Koree, wake up.” He doesn’t respond. I shake him more roughly, time and again, but he fails to wake up, to open his eyes. Is he under a spell like Thann?
I survey the countryside, looking for anything aromatic, something that could wake him up. I spot a sage brush, rush over and pluck off a strand of it. I run back to Koree, shove it under his nose as I continue to shake him.
Nothing happens. I shake him, calling out to him as I rub the sage back and forth. “Koree, Koree, wake up,” I shout, running my hands on his muscled, firm shoulder. This continues, and frustration overrides every nerve in my body. I bite back tears, not knowing how much more I can take. I want to curl up in a ball and let the tears out…let someone else deal with all of this. I long for Entho…he would take over. I tamp back more tears at the thought of Entho. Then, I swallow. A deep hard swallow that seems to have words of its own… Entho taught me better than this.
I stand up, realizing I need to just let Koree be…I can’t do anything more to help him at the moment, but maybe I can help Thann. I twirl away from him, beginning to sprint toward Thann when I hear a soft moaning sound, like one from an injured animal. I rotate around and kneel back down as Koree’s eyelids quiver, ever so slightly. He groans loudly now. I pull him up a little.
He is strong and muscled, but leaner than Thann. Still, I strain to prop him up, wishing I could see his green eyes, hear him ask me question after question in that serious voice of his. I watch him closely, noticing him for the first time. I reach out and touch his copper curls, push them away from his quivering eyes. His eyes open wide, glazed and green.
“Where….what….”
“I think you have a concussion….
“Thann!” he yells, his hoarse, panicked voice overriding mine as he jumps up rapidly. His eyes are glassy emeralds darting left and right. I stand as fast as I can, grab by him by the shoulders so he won’t fall.
“He is alive….Thann is alive, okay?” I grip his shoulders more firmly, meet him face to face and stare intently into his eyes
“Where?” He pulls his hand up to his neck, rubbing at it fitfully. “Where…is….Thann?” His eyes land on mine, puzzled.
“By the tree. We need to get to the others…can you walk?” I ask him.
“Uh, yeah…I guess.” He swallows, then the panicked expression returns. “Where is he…where is Thann?” he asks again. I hope this doesn’t go on for too long.
“By the elm tree…he is alive but I need to get you to the others so I can help him, okay?” I speak slowly.
This seems to make sense to him. He nods his head in understanding and I place his arm over my shoulder. I struggle to hold his weight as we begin an unsteady walk toward Echo and Gunter. Every step feels like I am treading through quicksand with a thousand pound weight on my back. Drops of sweat form on my forehead and drip down into my eyes.
After a while I adjust to his weight and we begin to make better time. I try to put everything out of my mind…Koree’s weight on me, my still aching knee, Echo’s wound, Soot’s death. Killing the Destroyers. As we near the elm tree, though, Koree suddenly stops, leaning heavily against me, his eyes wide. I stumble, barely able to hold him up.
His jaw drops and his eyes pop open wide as he surveys the gory scene. “What…happened?” His voice is low, accusing…more serious than I have ever heard it. Is he blaming me?
“They got her…the Destroyers…killed her.” My words come out hollow and weak.
Koree falls down to his knees, his eyes fixated on Soot…her head and body separated like a broken doll that can’t be repaired, blood surrounding her like red glue that failed to work. “No…no…no,” he wails. He beats his fists on the ground. “Not again…just like her…”
I don’t understand what he is saying, and I don’t know what to do. Should I comfort him? Leave him be? “I…I tried…I just wasn’t fast enough.”
Koree is shaking, almost violently. A darkness settles over him, like a black brewing storm cloud. His eyes move over to the dead Destroyers and his voice is ice. “Who killed them…the Destroyers?”
I hesitate, hanging my head, not sure what his reaction will be. “Me,” I tell him, swallowing deeply then biting at the inside of my cheek. Memories of killing the Destroyers…of watching helplessly as Soot was killed overtake me, and tears suddenly erupt from my eyes and quietly stream down my face. I wipe them with blood stained hands, and morbidly watch as they mix with blood and turn pink, dropping to the ground. Pink tears. Pink tears. Pink tears. It is all I can think of…pink tears.
Koree’s voice is hoarse, ragged as it interrupts my monotonous thoughts. “Good,” he murmurs between clenched teeth. “I hate them.” He looks u
p at me, a fire in his eyes I have never noticed before. A green fire. To go with pink tears.
He places his head in his hands and breathes deeply. In and out. In and out. He stays that way for a while, and I let him. At last he looks up and tells me, “This isn’t helping. We need to get going.” His sharp green eyes fixate on mine.
“I know.” A stillness settles between us for a few minutes as we gaze into each others’ eyes. A shiver runs up my spine, a pleasant shiver…something I have never experienced before.
“You need help up?” I ask him, breaking the silence. He nods his head, as if speaking is too much work. I move behind him and pull at his armpits, heaving his body upward. I throw his arm back around my shoulder, and we begin trudging away, step by slow step…away from Soot and the Destroyers…away from death.
Chapter 21