Chapter Seven

Yasmin’s dreams were filled with Shaldorn and the evil within. She woke bleary-eyed, and her mood was foul as she greeted the gray morning. Her first months after fleeing Shaldorn had been plagued with never-ending nightmares. She had seen the Trinity waiting to grab her everywhere she looked. It had taken over a year before the trio of elves had stopped appearing in her dreams. Though the fear of them finding her never faded.

She could’ve told Durga every harrowing, ghastly moment of her time at Shaldorn, but Yasmin had recognized that the elf wouldn’t relent, no matter what she said. A possible war with the dragons was terrifying, but Yasmin would rather face a horde of dragons than those at Shaldorn.

Yasmin rose and stretched the kinks from her neck, careful not to make any noise. She wanted a few moments to herself before she had to engage with the Sun Elf. A glance in his direction, however, showed he was already awake.

“Great,” she murmured beneath her breath, rolling up her bed sack.

“Something wrong?”

She closed her eyes and bit back a tart reply. Yasmin returned everything to her pack after grabbing a piece of dried meat. “Not a thing.” She rose and faced him.

He smirked, and she felt the desire to shove him into a pile of blood loxa. Watching them swarm him would be as entertaining as the red welts dotting his body from their bites. They wouldn’t kill him—well, enough of them could, but he’d mostly just be very, very uncomfortable.

The picture of him writhing in pain brought a smile to her face. She bit into her piece of dried meat. “We need to pick up the pace today. We’re going to encounter at least one storm in the mountains. Depending on the severity, we could lose hours or even days. It’s better if we get there ahead of schedule. Otherwise, you co—”

“I could miss the deadline,” he said over her. “Good point.”

She raised her brows. Had he really agreed with her? Yasmin didn’t point that out lest he take it back. Instead, they took a few moments separately to eat and ready themselves for the day. It wasn’t long before they headed out.

It was a repeat of the previous day. More jungle, a few stops, and no talking. At times, she almost forgot the elf was with her. Then she’d catch sight of him or hear him and be reminded why she was out here to begin with.

The fear she had lived with for years returned tenfold. She thought about different ways to run away and slip back to Rannora to get the children—that was if Durga didn’t have anyone watching them, and Jaya was well enough to travel. But Yasmin had no coin, and taking the kids on the run with her wouldn’t be right.

She could leave them behind. Some might even say that was the best option, but she couldn’t do that either. They were her family. They depended on her, but she needed them just as much. Nay, she would never abandon them.

That left her with the third option of carrying through with her promise. She hadn’t been able to figure a way out then, and she still couldn’t. With every step she took farther away from Rannora, she realized she might have to do the unthinkable and face the Trinity.

It wasn’t in her nature to be cruel. But she could be. She had been. Still, she never liked it. She had learned to release animosity and bitterness. It only harmed her, not the ones who had hurt her. It wasn’t easy to let things go, however. She had worked hard at it, but those who had injured her didn’t give her a second thought. Why should she give them any of her time?

Life was what a person made of it. She had discovered that through an unimaginable amount of agony and tears. She did what she had to do until she could do what she wanted. Even if every fiber of her being screamed for her to run far, far away. Whatever was at Shaldorn didn’t concern her. Ravi barely tolerated her. If it came down to saving her life or completing his mission, she knew without a doubt which he would choose.

As she walked the rainwood, she thought about the stronghold, pulling up a mental picture after years of trying to erase it. She made herself return to a time she’d attempted to scrub from her memories. Mentally, she walked the corridors and recalled the faces and names. Forced herself to remember the smells and sounds.

And the voices.

Her toe caught a root. She pitched forward. Yasmin tried to adjust so she didn’t fall, but the pack’s weight threw her off balance. She managed to get a foot under her, but it only threw her off balance more, causing her shoulder to glance off a tree. The pack was roughly yanked backward. It twisted one of her arms as she continued to fall. Before she knew it, she tumbled to the side and rolled into one of the lakes.

Yasmin broke the surface and took a deep breath, seeing Ravi rushing toward her. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him she was fine when something yanked her beneath the water.

~ ~ ~

Ravi shouldn’t have been so far behind her. He’d seen the female trip and attempt to right herself, only for her pack to get caught on a branch and be wrenched off before she tumbled into the water. He’d run to help and saw the tentacle gently unfurling from the depths to wrap around her and yank her under.

He dropped his bag and dove into the lake after them. The krelite were sweet, but she’d drown if he didn’t get to her soon. He spotted the animal attempting to play with the human, who valiantly fought to untangle herself from its grip. The krelite was taking the female into the bottomless depths, most likely toward one of the many underwater tunnels connecting the plateau’s lakes and rivers.

Kicking his feet as hard as he could, Ravi swam toward them. The krelite noticed him and thought he had come to join the play. It paused, allowing him to reach them. He didn’t fight when the krelite wrapped a tentacle around him, just tried to get the human’s attention. Unfortunately, panic had seized her.

Ravi kept the krelite’s attention on him. He stroked a tentacle softly, lulling the animal into a near sleep state. It was difficult with the female thrashing about. Humans couldn’t hold their breath as long as elves could, and her lungs likely demanded air. But the krelite wouldn’t release them until he made it sleep.

The female began to gasp, bubbles coming from her mouth as she ran out of time. He kept his gaze on her, willing her to look at him, but her eyes were elsewhere. At least with her no longer fighting, the krelite began to drift off. The minute the tentacles loosened, he moved toward the female and freed her. He wound an arm around her and swam to the surface as fast as he could.

Ravi got to the edge and hauled them both out, dragging her away from the water before another krelite wanted to play. He rolled the human onto her back, but she was too still. Her eyes were closed, and her chest wasn’t rising or falling.

“Shite,” he said as he got on his knees and began pressing on her chest.

He pumped several times before her eyes fluttered. Water dribbled from her mouth. The minute she coughed, he had her on her side to help her vomit up the water she had inhaled. When she finished, he became aware of his arm around her and the weight of her breast against the back of his hand.

She turned her head to look at him, and her eyes flared in surprise.

Ravi removed his arm and got to his feet. He wiped the water from his face and looked around. “Good enough spot to stop for the noon meal, don’t you think?”

~ ~ ~

Yasmin’s throat was on fire from the mix of coughing and throwing up. Her lungs ached, but her chest was what really hurt. She gently touched her ribs. The act of breathing was so painful that she wanted to stop.

Ravi walked to his pack as if he hadn’t just pulled her from the water and gotten her breathing again. She carefully sat up and looked into the lake. It would be an eternity before she forgot the absolute terror that had gripped her as tightly as the krelite when she realized she was about to drown. She had fought to hold her breath for as long as she could. The krelite had no plans to release her. How had Ravi gotten her loose?

Her gaze swung toward him just as he got her pack untangled from a broken limb. He set it near a tree and walked away to his own spot. Yasmin didn’t want to eat. She wasn’t sure her throat could handle it at the moment. She took her time getting to her feet while doing her best not to wince from the pain in her ribs. It was a small price to pay for being alive. She should thank Ravi.

Yasmin walked to the tree and opted to stay on her feet. It was too painful to move too much. She thought the words. ~Thank you~. It was simple and direct. Easy. Yet she couldn’t form them on her lips. She drew out her water flask and took a hesitant sip. Something warm would soothe her throat better, but the water would do for now.

She tucked the flask into an outside pocket of her pack and drew in a deep breath. As she released it, she looked at Ravi and tried to say those two simple words. Yet they still wouldn’t come. It was petty of her to withhold them merely because she didn’t like the elf.

While she had known the cruelty of elves, a few had been kind. It wouldn’t be right to classify all elves as malicious, but from her experiences, most were exactly that. Ravi clearly didn’t like her and likely had only saved her because of his mission. But he had helped her.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t look up from whatever he was studying. “Couldn’t let you drown when I still need you.”

“Of course, not.” That’s what she got for trying to do the right thing.

After a long moment of silence, Ravi lifted his head. She saw him looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She tried to ignore him, but he wouldn’t look away. Finally, she turned her gaze to him.

“Next time a krelite gets you, stroke their tentacles gently. It soothes them to sleep. That’s when you can slip away.” He paused. “You’re welcome.”

She nodded. The information on the krelite was useful. Trying to remember that while fighting for air might be difficult, though.

It started raining before they resumed their hike. Her boots squished with each step, and she couldn’t wait to get them off to dry overnight. She didn’t enjoy the thought of not having protection on her feet, but she hated wet boots even more. She didn’t exactly relish soggy clothes either, but she could endure those.

The rain didn’t let up for the rest of the day. Despite the weather and her pain, they still made good time. Finding a dry location that evening was impossible. She was about to accept that they would have an uncomfortable night when Ravi pulled something out of his bag. A moment later, after he began setting it up, she realized it was a tent.

Yasmin eyed it enviously. She tried to sit, but the pain was too intense. She finally gave up and leaned against a tree that shielded most of the rain from her. She closed her eyes. Her throat felt better, but her ribs would bother her for some time to come. That would make the trek in the mountains more treacherous than it already would be, but it wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to cross those peaks injured.

Something touched her arm. Yasmin’s eyes flew open, and she readied to reach for the blade in her boot when she saw Ravi beside her. He had her pack in his hand.

“The tent is for both of us,” he said, then walked away.

He might have saved her life, but she didn’t relish being that close to him. She looked at her boots, moving her toes against the squishy socks. But she really wanted a moment to get dry. Yasmin swallowed her pride and followed Ravi to the shelter. It was nice, too. The dark green shell camouflaged well in the forest.

She stifled a yelp when she had to bend over to get inside. Every move was excruciating as she crawled in and turned to sit. She closed her eyes and sent up gratitude for the tent. And maybe a tiny bit of thanks to Ravi for sharing it.