Page 21 of Sea of Stars

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Thud.

I whipped my head around, following my hair's tug, just in time to see Breghton sprawled on the ground unconscious. I pulled on the rope to get the mountain dweller to stop, but instead the beast increased his speed.

“Stop!” I screamed, but it only made the monster continue to run faster. “Oh Lords,” I said looking into the sky above me. “I’m sorry I abandoned you.” I drew a slow breath to steady my nerves and grabbed the rope on the right side of the beast’s neck. “Please do not forsake me.” I pulled left with all my might, digging the rope deep inside the cut on the right side of mountain dweller’s neck. The beast roared with pain and turned to try to strike me, but the pain was so intense that he collapsed onto his left side with a loud boom that seemed to shake the whole mountain. My arm slammed against the stone beneath me, but I moved my leg just in time for my bones to not be crushed into sand. I pushed myself up off the ground and scrambled away from the beast. I relaxed for a moment when I noticed that he had blacked out either from the pain or the fall.

I walked closer to him and placed my hand under his snout. Air escaped from his nose, and before I moved my hand, a little snot did as well. I wiped my hand off on his coarse fur. And then I noticed the small gash on the beast’s nose. This was the same mountain dweller that had retreated from me the first time I was on these cliffs. He was scared of the blue light of the dagger. That’s how Breghton said he was able to capture him. He was not a monster at all, I was.

I turned from the mountain dweller and staggered forwards. Feeling lightheaded, I reached out and touched the shoulder that I had fallen on. It was already swollen, turning purple before my eyes. Most of my skin must have stayed on the rock when I skidded across it, because layers of it were missing from my arm. There was also a deep gash where a rock must have pierced through my flesh. I took another step forward and my mind grew hazy. I was losing too much blood. This had happened to me many times when I lived behind the Iron Gates. After most of my whippings I would either black out from pain or from loss of blood. But the blood loss was always accompanied by a woozy stomach. My stomach felt fine. That had to be a good sign.

I tried to steady my hand as I reached into my knapsack. All the contents danced around in front of me. Somehow I managed to find the salt water. I poured it onto my shoulder and screamed in pain. I tried to clench my fists, but my left hand was limp. I couldn’t move it or my arm. I had definitely dislocated my shoulder. I settled on clenching my right hand, letting my nails dig into my palms, trying to trick my mind into focusing on another source of pain. But after a few moments I was just left with bloody palms as well. I ripped a piece of cloth from my already tattered cloak and wrapped it hastily around my shoulder. Before I was even done, it was soaked through with blood. I continued to rip off cloth and wrap my shoulder until the blood stopped soaking through so quickly.

I climbed to my feet, but the ground seemed to be shaking beneath me as I tried to walk. I needed to get to Breghton. He had to be at least a mile back. I heard a whimpering sound after taking a few steps. I turned around and saw the mountain dweller stirring. I backtracked, wobbling over toward the beast. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my dagger on the ground. “I believe it now,” I mumbled to myself. “Cursed blade.” I picked it up and walked over toward the beast. I slashed the rope off his neck, but the mountain dweller continued to sit there, staring at me with groggy eyes. I didn’t want to be a monster anymore. I reached back into my knapsack and pulled out the healing waters. I patted his wounds with a wet cloth. He whimpered with each touch, but when I was finished his eyes looked a little more alert.

I stood up and backed away from him. I kept my dagger raised, knowing he was scared of its glow. The beast got up slowly. He looked as shaky on his paws as I was on my feet.

“Please don’t eat me,” I pleaded as I retreated from him, but he didn’t have a hungry look in his eyes like he did earlier. I continued to walk away, wishing the mountain dweller would stop, but the beast just kept following me. I really hoped that I was hallucinating.

My pace seemed to be growing slower. I glanced down at my shoulder and noticed that the bandages had turned red. The mountain dweller was still following. He was a few paces behind me, walking very slowly. I put my hand up and he stopped. He just stood looking at me blankly. I moved my hand again, this time motioning him forward. The beast approached cautiously. When he was only a step away from me he lowered his front legs and bowed his head low.

“Stop,” I croaked and touched my palm against the top of his head. He got back up on all fours. He towered above me. I was only a little taller than the length of his legs. He was the biggest of all the mountain dwellers I had seen several nights ago, and possibly their leader, yet to me, he no longer looked scary. “I’ll call you Mikado,” I mumbled and fell to my knees. "I just need to rest for a moment." I let my face fall on his furry paw.

***

I was flying. I knew Chinook would come to rescue me. We soared high above a sandy field. There were large rocks below, intertwined with the sand. I had never seen such large rocks. And the sky was white and gray around us, no blue in sight. I could sense that something was wrong. There was a storm coming.

***

I moaned as my body hit the ground. I rolled over and looked up into Mikado’s eyes. I hadn’t been flying at all, well at least not as high off the ground as I had imagined. The back of my clothes felt soggy. Mikado must have been carrying me. I cringed as I realized that my shirt and pants were soaked in his saliva. I tried not to think about it, I was just grateful for the help. I looked to the side of me and nearly screamed. Breghton was sprawled right next to me, just like the last time I had seen him. He hadn’t moved at all. I laid my hair out over his chest to listen for a heartbeat. I couldn’t hear one.

I looked down at my hair and felt a small surge of hope. My usual red hair was so dirty that it was practically brown. It was possible I just couldn’t hear properly through all the grime. I reached into my bag and pulled out the bottles that Swishel had given me. There were still a few left that I hadn’t even opened yet. I screwed open the cap of one of them and smelled the contents. I cursed under my breath. “Now I find the drinking water?” I took a swig and then tossed it back into the knapsack, opening up a second bottle. The smell hit my nose before I even leaned down. My stomach churned and I felt like I wanted to throw up.

“That might even wake up the dead,” I said as I poured most of the contents directly into Breghton’s mouth.

His lips remained parted and the liquid just sat there. I tried to close his mouth, but that just made the liquid trickle down the sides of his cheeks. I grabbed his nose with my fingers and clenched both of his nostrils shut. I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer. When I opened my eyes his body still lay there, just as motionless as before. I was just about to release his nostrils when I saw a bubble pop at the surface of the liquid in his mouth. His body started convulsing and I quickly removed my hand from his face. I pushed him over and saw the liquid gush out of his mouth and spread around him on the stone. He started coughing, spitting, and gagging all at the same time.

“Why do you keep trying to kill me?” Breghton moaned.

“I didn’t mean...” I hesitated when I saw the playful glint in his eyes. “I was trying to save you,” I protested.

“I've never heard children’s stories of gallantry like this before,” he responded. “Too gruesome for kids I guess,” he said and continued to spit out the gross liquid. “What is this vile juice anyway?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You really are trying to kill me,” he said, but he sounded a little more serious this time. "If you weren't so beautiful, I'd be so mad at you right now." He tried to laugh, but grimaced instead. He looked down at his ankle and I thought he was going to throw up. “I think it might be broken,” he said as he tried to move it. He looked up at me and added, “What happened to you?”

I looked down at my blood-soaked bandage. I tried again to move my left arm but couldn’t. “I think I dislocated my shoulder,” I said. My concern for Breghton had made me momentarily forget about my injuries, but now the overwhelming pain came flooding back.

Breghton turned on his side to get a better view of my shoulder. Suddenly his eyes glazed over and fear showed on every part of his face. “Mahlia,” he said, his eyes focusing behind me. “Where is your dagger?” he hissed as he tried to stand up.

“Shhh. You’ll startle Mikado”.

“You’ve named him?” he hissed, trying to keep his voice low. “I was wrong, that beast is too dangerous. Look at what he’s done to us.”

“Mikado is not to blame. He was captured and upset.” I put my hand up and motioned for the mountain dweller to get closer. I didn’t even look back at him until I felt his snout on my palm. I started to pet his head. I turned away from Breghton, too ashamed to look directly at him. “It’s my fault you broke your ankle.”

Breghton looked like he was going to argue but stopped himself. “Is that an apology?” he smirked.

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