Chapter Thirty Four: A desperate need

The floor was hard under his face. He grimaced as aches from the fall and his previous day’s fight became prominent. Gritting his teeth he spun onto his back looking back up the stairs for a possible assailant.

But there was no one. No noise other than his haggard breaths. What happened?

His hand slid under his cloak and grazed over his arm, but there was nothing new. No added wound other than the one from the day before.

There was not a single hint of movement up ahead as he stared back the way he came. He got up carefully. His eyes never stopped their surveillance as he started to take steps slowly downwards.

It wasn’t more than four steps before the same pain as before roared to life in his arm again. He dropped like a sack of bricks, gripping his arm fiercely as a shout forced itself out of his throat.

He couldn’t help but start panting with short breaths. After a few long seconds the pain ebbed away again. Worry started seeping into him. He needed to find the others.

Supporting himself against the wall, he got up once more and moved with deliberate strides down the last set of stairs. Every other minute the pain would flare up again. But he didn’t fall again.

Long minutes passed before he reached the room with the Morning tree. By then, he could hardly see anything but blurry shapes. The pain was getting worse.

In a moment of respite he stumbled towards where he remembered the stairs going to the foyer was.

With unsure footing, he lowered his feet down for each step. But as he got halfway down, the agonizing pulsing came to life again. He gritted his teeth and tried to take the edge off again, but it was scarcely working. He waited and waited, but the pain wasn’t subsiding this time; he glanced about in worry as the shockwaves ran up and down his right arm.

The feeling distracted him so much that he almost missed the frantic call from close by. He shouted out.

“OVER HERE! Help...” But the last came more out like scream of pain as anything.

Within seconds, a form stormed close to him, and he somehow pieced together that it was Jerry as the boy slung his arm over his shoulder. He let his weight onto Jerry and slowly descended the last of the stairs. The light from the Morning tree filled his vision as the boy helped him to its base.

Then questions flung at him from every side.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did something happen?”

To his alarm his right hand’s fingertips were going numb; he was already panting heavily when a form with black hair came to sit right in front of him. Calin focused his eyes and stared at Tyas. Just then he wanted to pull away. But the man grabbed his face and forced him to look straight into those amber eyes.

The pain was shutting out everything but he looked at Tyas as the man asked, “Calin, you have to talk to me, what happened?”

Calin tried to gasp out the words, but it came out as a series of grunts followed by sharp intakes of breaths. Scraping together strength he finally managed to say, “My arm... hurts... think it’s the bite.”

It was hard not to miss the shock in Tyas’ eyes at the words. The man hurriedly dragged Calin’s cloak off his shoulders. The man’s actions were disconcerting.

What’s wrong? He screamed the question in his mind; however the words were not coming to his gasping mouth.

With some effort Tyas dragged Calin’s shirt off. Through it all it was clear Evany was shouting things at Tyas, but the man was ignoring her.

He tried gathering up some strength through the pain and looked up at the girl kneeling in front of him, the girl’s frantic eyes made him forget about the pain, if only just for a moment before it raged back through him.

“Calin,” she asked “What bite? What’s going on?”

Hardly knowing what was going on himself, he tried to shrug his shoulders. But it only made things worse in his arm. Failing at that, he tried to say the bite on his right arm, the place where the creature’s tooth had gashed him. But the words didn’t form in his throat.

Just then, Kara asked, “What the heck is that on his back?!”

Though even through the severe pulses, Calin was sure she was talking about the lightning scar. But what troubled him was a moment later when Jerry said, “It is his lightning sca—” The boy’s voice died down, but then he exclaimed. “What the? It changed... how—”

But Jerry got quiet as Calin’s shirt finally fell from his body.

Calin became aware that Tyas and the others were frozen around him. He wanted to ask what happened, but everybody was silent looking at his right arm. Frustrated, he drew on his small reserves and glanced to his right.

Pure shock lanced through him as his heavily infected right arm came into view. The area around the wound was all kinds of colours, with his skin turning purple in a severe bruise.

But what was the most disturbing were the silver veins moving away from it. It was unlike any wound or anything he had ever seen. It was suddenly a certainty that it was extremely bad.

Another wave of painful jabs went up and down Calin’s arm just then and he gritted his teeth. Somehow he got the strength to ask something, but it came out as a shout. “I thought you placed anti-septic salve on it?!”

Tyas just looked at him and in a daze the man said, “I did... but you didn’t say it was a bite mark!”

Again frustrated, Calin wanted to ask a certain question, but Jerry was first to ask.

“What does a bite mark have to do with the fact?”

Through it all, Calin was desperately trying to endure the pain, but then the answer to that question popped into his head and he grunted. “Your... Mom...ughhh.”

No time was wasted as Tyas nodded while fumbling in his rucksack for something. Then Kara asked, “What does this have to do with Tyas’ mom.”

A few seconds passed and Tyas drew out a bag of medical supplies.

“Because my mom died from the bite of a Nighthound,” Tyas said. “Though she was severely injured, it was a bite nonetheless.”

Even with the pain, Calin cringed as the fear washed over everyone’s faces. He waited as patiently as he could for Tyas to finish what he was doing, but the pain was almost unbearable. Finally, Tyas moved towards him with a syringe. “This is going to hurt, but it will help.”

Calin wanted to shout out ‘It already bloody hurts’ but he kept silent and steeled himself as Tyas injected him with a green substance. He watched in disgust as the thick stuff squeezed into his silver veined arm and then a horrible pain lanced through it. Calin fell to the foliage and held on as best he could as his right arm shook with what Tyas had done. As sudden as it had happened, the pain lessened into a throbbing ache, it still hurt some, but the edge was away.

He was able to breathe properly again, but while he did, he forced himself back to an upright position. He was met with the girls’ fearful but hopeful eyes. He took a moment to get himself back in order, before nodding that he was okay. A minute later, he looked at Tyas and said, “Thanks... it is better. I ah, think anyway.”

Tyas nodded at him, but there was something missing still; as the man turned away Calin grabbed at Tyas’ arm and demanded, “Talk to me, is it going to get better now?”

The question was met with uncertain eyes and Calin enforced his own question. “Isn’t it?”

The man sighed heavily before answering him. “I don’t know Calin, I’ve taken the edge off, but I can honestly say I don’t know.”

Calin was almost certain, the red face Jerry would grab Tyas by the scuff, but it was Evany who grabbed the man’s arm as she asked, “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I injected Calin with a powerful sedative ‘slash’ antiseptic,” Tyas paused. “But this creature does not come from your side of Earth. It comes from a dark place. Who knows how poisonous it is.” A pained expression passed over the man’s expression.

It was not hard to realize the reason behind the look and Calin wanted to tell him it was okay, but Tyas told them anyway. “I watched my mother die in my arms, I didn’t have this kind of medicine back then, but the point is, she died because she got bitten by one of those things.”

What the man said had everybody quiet, but it amazed Calin that this man had been through so much and still kept the promise to come for him to keep him safe. It would take a real strong mind.

While watching Tyas, still deep in thought that the girls came to sit around Calin. Their eyes were wide and glazed with shock. He didn’t know what to say to them or what to think, especially not Kara... For once in his life his mind was blank.

Just seeing the worry in everyone, made Calin refuse to admit that the bite could mean his end, he had to get his mind off of the possibility.

He almost shook as Kara’s voice split the air without warning. “We have to go find help then! We can...no...we—”

The rest was not loud enough to make up as she muttered under her breath.

“Where?” Tyas asked off to the right, the man was ripping a piece of the dark bark; frustration was clear in his voice. “I don’t see any help anywhere near here. We are five days on foot from the closest city!”

“The Well?” Kara said with a guarded expression.

But Calin shook his head sadly. “It doesn’t work. I tested it earlier. Though, it was more out of frustration than anything else.”

All of them grew silent at that.

After a few moments, Jerry asked, “Then what about the fort?”

“It’s a soldiers’ outpost,” Tyas stated flatly. “It won’t have what we need.”

The caravans lanced into Calin’s mind, he had almost forgotten. He jumped to his feet.

“Guys!” He exclaimed. “We got a more immediate problem. There were caravans out in the valley! I forgot, I was on my way to warn you all when...”

He took hold of his arm, but stared at Tyas for advice on it.

Tyas stiffened and asked, “What kind of caravans?”

Confused, Calin regarded the man, but then said, “They were moving in an odd way and they were playing music. Sounded like flutes. But what does that have that have to do with anything. They could be enemies.”

The reaction from Tyas was disconcerting as his body language showed anxiety.

“They’re not. But—“

“Then, are they a threat?” Calin asked.

Tyas shook his head, but said, “No, but I’d rather we don’t—”

Evany came barrelling in from the side and Calin had to hobble to his right just to miss her.

“You just told us a minute ago there is a chance that Calin could die and now you’d ‘rather not’ seek help where we could get it.”

“Yes I know,” Tyas said. “It’s just that there are stories about the Floating Gypsies...”

A cold glare was enough to make Tyas bring his hands up in defence and Calin wondered if he should try to butt in, but Evany asked, “Will they hurt us?”

With a look like a trapped animal Tyas said, “No, but I’d rather—”

Without warning Evany punched the man on his chest. “Stop it with the ‘you’d rather not’! Calin needs help and well if the Gypsies can help, then we are going.”

It was all true and Calin looked at Tyas to see what response would come. After a few tense seconds the man gave in and said, “Fine, have it your way.”

A strange thing happened then. Jerry took charge.

“Okay everyone, saddle up and let’s get going.”

After walking over to his rucksack, Calin stuffed his shirt into the bag and threw his black and dark blue cloak around his body. As he tried to haul the heavy bag onto his shoulders he stumbled forward. He tried again, but his body was just too sore and tired to lift it by himself.

Before he could turn around and ask, Tyas came and lifted the hefty item.

“Are you sure you can carry this?”

With forced determination, Calin just waved at the man and said, “Don’t worry about that, I just can’t seem to get it on my back.”

The man nodded and helped Calin into the straps. He groaned as the bag seemed twice as heavy as the day before, but he gritted his teeth and followed Tyas and the rest to the Eagle Gates. Jerry was already done removing several rods from a smaller door in the massive gates.

Through the door, they came out on the left side bridge that led out over the river.