The Legend of Valtera: Chapter 11
Prea found her way obstructed suddenly when her face met Kael’s back. The uneven ground had her vigilantly watching her feet, so she didn’t notice when he stopped abruptly. His body language gave no indication of whether or not he noticed her. Prea sidestepped, coming up beside Kael on his right.
Before them the ground gave way to a small river coming down through the mountains. The flow of water had carved out the earth over time, leaving a chasm with steep rock faces on either side. The water level was rather high, the effect of the warmer weather on the mountain source. Prea looked up at Kael, watching as he considered their options.
“Do you think we’ll have to backtrack all the way to the road in order to cross?” Prea asked.
“I’m not sure. We don’t know how far the road is. Our best bet is to follow the river downstream until we find a place to cross. If we don’t, then we’ll continue on until we reach the road and cross there,” Kael decided.
“All right.”
Kael turned and stalked off on the thin strip of ground between the tree line and the cliff edge. Prea hesitated on the edge for a few moments, as the space between her and Kael grew. Standing in this spot had flashes of her cliffs from home streaking through her mind. It was so familiar, yet different, and had her thinking of home. Not a minute went by, when she didn’t worry about her siblings. Was Carr any better or worse? Was Alvie still mad at her? Were Beda and Dal enough help? She didn’t know if anything changed and she would have no way of ever hearing any different until she returned. But she couldn’t return until her quest was complete.
Back in her reality, this cliff represented another challenge on her journey. How many more would there be before this was all over? Maybe she had overestimated her abilities, her motivation; maybe she was in over her head? But that wasn’t the way to think, now, was it? She could do this, she had to do this, for Carr.
Prea turned to follow Kael downstream. The minute she moved, the loose earth shifted beneath her and she lost her footing. Then the ground was no longer under her; instead she was tumbling down the craggy rock face towards the river. A scream escaped her lips before the first rock in her side forced all the air out of her lungs. Her pack saved her backside from danger, but its heft added to the blows to her front.
Prea’s face slapped hard against the river’s quick surface, her chest and stomach crashed against the rock bed below the water. Her pack’s weight pinned her to the ground and she struggled to keep her face above the water as it rushed past. Her whole body ached from the strength of the blows and the water’s cold temperature made it difficult for her to concentrate. It was getting harder for her to keep her head above water.
She needed to move. Now.
She wiggled her arms, struggling to get her pack off, but the shocking stabs of pain made it nearly impossible. With a herculean effort and one arm free, she pushed the pack off the rest of her body, stretching her torso to roll over and that simple movement caused a sharp cry of pain. Prea sluggishly maneuvered herself and her pack out of the river and onto the thin strip of dry, uneven riverbed. There was only about a foot or two where the water level had yet to reach.
Above her, she heard Kael yelling. She had yet to catch her breath but did her best to answer.
“I’m…I’m…” Coughing stopped her for a moment. “I’m down here, Kael.”
Prea raised her head, grateful that her neck had been spared from blows. Kael’s worried face stared down at her as he kneeled on the edge above.
“Good heavens, what happened?”
“Lost my footing,” Prea responded simply, taking shallow breaths. “Fell.”
“How bad are you hurt?” he called down to her. “Can you walk at all?”
“I don’t know, but I most certainly can’t carry my pack.” Kael stood, stripping his own pack off his back and prepared to drop it down the rock face. “What are you doing? How are you thinking of getting down here?”
“I’m going to drop my pack down and then slide down myself,” he responded matter-of-factly.
“Okay, I can see that working for the pack, but that’s a twenty foot drop and it’s practically straight up and down. I can tell you it’s not fun falling down it.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“What do you mean you’ll be fine? I’m already injured. We won’t do well if you get injured as well, would we?”
“Do you want me to help you or not?” Kael asked exasperatedly. “For one, I’m prepared to slide down. Two, I’ve had worse injuries than I could get sliding down this slope.”
“Fine, do as you wish,” Prea conceded.
She was sitting on what was some of the only dry land and turned away, leaning back against the rock. Her back happened to be one of the few places she wasn’t hurting and she didn’t want to see this in case it went poorly.
Kael let his pack drop down the slope; it bumped and tumbled along like a rag doll. With each bump, her body’s aches pulsed from its own blows. The pack came to a stop with a thump, tilting into the river with a splash of finality. The next thing she knew, Kael landed on his feet a few paces away.
Kael grabbed his pack, dragging it over next to her own and he fell to his knees beside her. His stormy blue eyes held worry and he brought his hand up to her left cheek, pausing close to her face but not touching, just for a moment. Kael lightly brushed his fingers along the line of her cheekbone and even that whisper of a touch had her flinching in pain. His fingers were bloody when he pulled his hand back. He got a piece of fabric out of his pack, wet it in the river and cleaned up her bleeding face.
“I don’t know how much I can do for this,” Kael murmured. “We’re going to have to get the apothecary in Flint to take a look at you. Where else are you injured?”
“My whole body aches. I’m sure I’m going to have bruises all over. But my chest…my arms and chest…hurt. It’s hard to breathe,” she stammered, struggling for breath.
“That’s not good. I should take a look.” Kael lifted his gaze to meet Prea’s, his eyes anxious and unsure.
Prea sucked in shallow breaths. “Go ahead.”
His hands were shaking slightly as they reached for the hem of her tunic and he lifted it slowly. Every labored breath met with sore and injured ribs, causing Prea serious pain. Kael stopped when he reached the bottom of her breast and held her shirt still. There were no scrapes or cuts, but most of her midsection was red and beginning to swell. His fingers swept easily over her ribs, searching for signs of a break but Prea couldn’t even handle that much pressure, as tender as it was.
Kael dropped her shirt. “All right, all right.” Her face had started bleeding again and he was quick to wipe it away. “I’m not sure what we should do. We can’t stay here but I’m not sure you can leave,” he admitted.
She had to take a few breaths before speaking. “Well, we don’t have much of a choice, do we? If we can’t stay here then we have to go,” Prea muttered in response. “It’s just going to be slow going.”
“Are you sure?” he questioned.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Prea paused. “Can you help me up?”
Kael stood, situating himself so he was straddling Prea’s legs and grasped her by the elbows. Prea bent her knees, took a breath and braced for the pain; she wanted to do it fast, before she could back out of it. Kael pulled her up as she screamed like a banshee in the night and tears flowed freely.
“Come here,” Kael said sweetly.
He pressed her unhurt cheek to his chest and put his arms around her shoulders as tightly as he dared. It didn’t take long for her sobbing to subside; really she just wanted the pain to stop. But she didn’t move. Her head rested against Kael’s chest for a few more minutes, listening to the steady beating of his heart. It calmed her, like the crashing of the waves against her cliffs.
At last she pulled away, keeping her movements slow and measured to avoid unwanted pain. Kael’s arms fell from her shoulders, dropping awkwardly at his sides. He hesitated, like he wanted to do something, but thought better of it. Instead he bent over, grabbed his pack and swung it onto his back, then picked up Prea’s as well. She wasn’t going to be able to carry it, so Kael was going to have to carry both.
“Let’s go,” was all he said.
Kael trudged off, keeping to the thin ribbon-like piece of dry land between the water’s edge and the rock face. Prea hesitated before following, allowing herself a moment to get her bearings. She looked upwards, noting the sun was still high in the sky, showering them in warmth and light. They had some time at least, to find a way out before dark came.
It was a slow, arduous process, and they moved like inchworms in honey. The slightest movement brought Prea pain, like knives stabbing every inch of her bones. It wasn’t much easier for Kael; he was an able-bodied young man, but he wasn’t a god. And if that weren’t enough, they were traipsing on an uneven, wet rock bed; lost balance and slipping were common occurrences. At times the gorge narrowed, their path of dry land shriveling up, forcing them into the river to plod along.
For hours, the two moved slowly, stopping and starting, stumbling and slogging along, step by step. A glimmer of hope came in the late afternoon when the sun was staring them in the face. It appeared as though the rock faces on either side of the chasm were sinking lower the farther they moved downriver. A welcome sign, given they only had a few hours left before darkness would force them to make camp.
The light continued to fade and the rock faces were getting lower, but not enough. Night was coming and it took every ounce of energy Prea had to put one foot in front of the other. Suddenly Kael stopped, dropping her pack to the ground like a rock. She looked around; the river was shallower here, the space wider overall and the edges of the rock walls were just a little higher than Kael’s head.
“We need to cross here,” Kael said. “I don’t see the walls getting any lower downstream and we really need to get out of here.”
Prea was out of breath and a burning ache radiated throughout every cell in her body. The whole time she tried to stay quiet, but she couldn’t keep the tears at bay; they had been flowing since she fell.
“All right,” was all she dared to say. If she let any more words escape her lips, she would scream, and screaming would help no one.
“I’m going to cross first, see how deep it is. Then you can follow,” Kael instructed. Prea just nodded.
With both packs slung over his shoulders, Kael began treading through the water. As he reached the middle, the water level reached just below his knees which was a good sign. He made it across, dropped his cargo and turned, beckoning her to follow.
Prea slowly waded into the river and the cold water seeped into her boots. The shock of the icy water had her gasping; the gasping had her crying out, her ribs protesting against the sudden expansion of her lungs. Midway through her boots and pants were soaked, her feet and legs growing numb in the impending darkness. As she reached the other side, Kael grabbed hold of her hands, leading her carefully onto the rocks. He didn’t let go; instead he held on while she steadied herself and her breathing.
Prea looked past Kael to the rock wall beyond.
“I don’t think I can do this. It’s too high. I can hardly walk, let alone climb a wall,” Prea confessed to Kael.
“You can do it,” he assured her. “We’ll do it together.” He waited until she turned her face back to him. “Prea, we have to get out of here. It’s getting dark, the temperature is going to drop and we can’t make a fire down here.”
“But how…” Prea trailed off.
Kael was already moving towards the wall, grabbing both packs on the way. He picked one up over his shoulder, gauged the distance and tossed the pack up and over the edge. He did the same with the other before turning back to Prea.
“Come on, Prea,” Kael called, waving her over. “I think I have a way to do this. I’m going to have you get on my shoulders and then lift you up. Does that sound all right?”
“I don’t really have a choice, now, do I?”
“Come now. Face the wall, it will help you with your balance.”
Prea did as she was told, turning to the rock. She placed her hands on the craggy surface and spread her legs. Kael kneeled down, threaded his head through Prea’s legs and slowly lifted her up onto his strong shoulders. She walked her hands up the wall as Kael lifted her until her hands reached the top. Her chest was even with the edge, but she wasn’t going to be able to pull herself over, not with her injuries.
Kael placed his hands under Prea’s legs right below her rear end.
“I’m going to raise you up as far as I can. You’re going to have to get yourself the rest of the way.”
“Okay.”
“On the count of three. Ready. One. Two. Three.”
Kael pushed up as hard as he could, his hands squeezing Prea’s legs tight as he struggled with the task. Prea locked her elbows when she was able, contracted her abdomen and dragged her left knee up and over the edge, howling in pain. She crawled on the smooth ground, away from the edge, crying and moaning every inch of the way. Once she was safely ten feet away, Prea turned over, sitting down on her backside, and attempted to calm her breathing.
Meanwhile, Kael backed as far away from the rock face as he was able while staying on dry land, before running as fast as he could at the wall. He planted one foot a few feet above the ground, propelling himself upwards. He grabbed the edge with both hands and hoisted himself over.
Prea let out a shallow sigh of relief as Kael became visible once more. He detoured, grabbing their packs and dragging them towards her. They were finally on the correct side of the river and here the land was more open. The tree line was still a little ways off, so their journey for the day was not yet finished. Kael reached her, falling to his knees beside her. He softly pushed her hair away from her face, lightly traced the gash along her cheekbone with his fingers.
“How are you doing? Can you walk any farther? We just need to get inside the tree line and then we can make camp.” Prea nodded. She needed to preserve what energy she still had in order to make it to the forest.
Kael stood, holding out his hand for her. As he had before, he helped her up quickly and held her while she screamed. They set off for the woods to the north and, before long, they crossed into the forest. They walked on for another ten yards or so through the trees before finding a place to set up camp. Kael released his load, gathered wood and began making the fire.
Prea could do nothing more than collapse to the ground, turning over to lie on her back which seemed to cause her the least amount of pain. She fidgeted until she was the most comfortable she could possibly be and closed her eyes.
The warmth along the right side of her body woke her; a strong fire had bloomed. Kael sat across the flames, rummaging through both packs to dry anything wet and to find what food remained.
Prea turned her head to the side. “I’m sorry.”
Kael’s head snapped up at the sound of her voice, confusion clouding his face. “What do you mean, you’re sorry?”
“I’m sorry for all of this. You should be off doing what you want, not taking care of me.” Prea paused. “You didn’t sign on for any of this,” she muttered, waving her hand in the air.
“Prea, you didn’t and don’t make me do anything. I offered to take you to Colter, safely, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. And I didn’t exactly fulfill my promise, did I? You’re hurt. I didn’t protect you.”
“You’re ridiculous, you know that? You can’t protect me from accidents and nature and myself. You couldn’t have prevented me from falling. It just happened. But…thank you. For helping me. For getting me out.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Kael murmured. “I’m just glad you’re all right.”
