Page 73 of The Lands Defying
I let out a frustrated sound.
“Gods dammit, little wolf.”
Strong hands land beside mine, his body pressing into my back, and I watch inky blackness surround both of our hands and spreads over the boulder. I continue pushing, noticing the Elites and Josh have joined us, no longer in wolf, to try and move this small fucking mountain.
Darius grunts behind me, and I try to call for my power one more time, and this time, it answers.
Light blue mixes with Darius’s black, the glow of my hands radiating on our faces as I put my all into pushing this boulder away. Black surrounds my blue, encasing it within as more of Darius’s power is called from his hands.
The boulder groans, moving a little and hope surges within my chest.
“Together,” Darius tells me against my ear as more of the mountains around us fall, the ground vibrating at our feet. “Now.”
I push with everything I have, letting power rush out of me in a huge surge, not even trying to control it. Spider webs of cracks forms underneath my fingertip, the light of my blue and the dark of black peering out from within, almost having a purple tint to it.
Then the boulder shatters in a blast.
Stones fly out suddenly in an explosion, and I clench my eyes shut, waiting for the pain of it to hit me. Only it doesn’t. I peel my eyes open, seeing a barrier of black surrounding me. But not only me, the others with us as well.
I reach behind me and squeeze Darius’s hip in thanks before he drops the barrier and we rush forward, the female troll the first to reach the limp form as she picks the child up and cradles him within her chest, crying loudly.
I swallow the lump in my throat and rush towards her, knowing we don’t have a lot of time and need to move. I look at the child in her arms and without conscious thought, my shaky hands are moving and land on the boy. One on his forehead, the other over his heart.
My markings form upon my face, my fingertips once again glowing blue without my command. I can’t stop it, can’t change it, can’t force it away as all I feel within me is the desire to see this child live as his labored breathing makes my stomach drop.
I feel it then, my power sinking into his skin and beneath his flesh. Muscle, ligaments, tendons, organs, cells. I feel it all, feel everything.
And I feel the damage.
Urgent voices echo around me, but I can’t hear them, not really, it’s just noise. The small child is bleeding within, near his chest and lower stomach, bones shattered and broken. I close my eyes as a familiar hand lands on my shoulder, but I don’t move, I can’t, it won’t allow me.
I aim for the bleeding first, my strands flowing through his body to get to its destination. I reach for it, feeling where the torn tissue is, and my strands of power split off, using itself to stitch the wounds and begin to repair the damage. They crisscross with the flesh, pulling and tightening the tears closed.
I suck in a breath when I sense the blood slowing, my strands acting like it’s a part of his body. I feel all this happening in all the places his body is damaged, in every single strand of my power and in every single piece it heals.
Once the last stitch is done, my power flows around the boy’s entire body, leaving strands of my power within to hold further healing, going to the broken bones, and attaching itself to them to help the healing. Then it retreats back to me, less power than what I gave, and I slump back into a hard chest and open my eyes, seeing us once again caged within the dark.
“Breathe, Rhea, fuck!” Darius demands. “Not again.” And suddenly, Josh is in my face, eyes full of worry.
Droplets of sweat flow down my temples and there’s a burning sensation in my lungs, my heart slowing. My brows furrow, and my vision wavers, but then suddenly a large hand appears from behind me, forms a fist, and thumps my chest.
I gasp in a breath, cough and splutter at the force of it, taking in lungfuls of air when I can.
“Gods, Rhea,” Darius says from behind me before I’m spun and picked up in his arms. “Don’t fucking do that ever again,” he growls as he drops his barrier and runs. His power comes around me, holding me steady.
Thicker dust clouds have formed around the area, the sounds of crashing stones hitting me so fast my head spins. Darius moves, still carrying me as we all run to the clearing that should be just up ahead. A small cry has my head snapping to the side, and I see the boy crying in his mother’s arms as she weeps, kissing his head and holding him tightly as she keeps up with us.
Our eyes connect as I’m still coughing and spluttering, and they’re full of gratitude and tears. I give her a small smile and wave her off, still trying to catch my breath.
“Jump it, now. There is no time to go around,” I hear Zaide call, and I look in front of us, Darius holding me closer as he picks up speed.
“No, no fucking way are we making that,” I screech, my fingers digging into Darius’s shoulders.
The land has split completely ahead of us, like someone took a giant axe and cleaved it in two. The side we’re on is slightly raised compared to the other side that’s lower. I couldn’t tell you how big of a gap has formed between them, but I know we are not going to make it to the other side.
“We’re going to die, this is not how I die, Darius,” I snarl at him. “I will not die by falling down a fucking hole!”
“You’re not going to die,” he scoffs at me like I’m ridiculous when he suddenly thinks I’ve sprouted fucking wings and can fly. “Hold on,” he tells me, and I whimper, shoving my face into Darius’s neck and closing my eyes. “I won’t let you fall, Rhea.”
