If I go for the Voke Wolf, Aziza will die. If I go for Aziza, Sailor will die. For the first time since I can remember, I am completely torn and I don’t know what to do.
“Rye, help Aziza,” Sunday screams.
His voice breaks me out of my stupor, but I don’t go to Aziza. I step toward Sailor, who’s trying to fight herself free of the Wolf. It opens its mouth, revealing a row of sharp fangs. Sailor cries out but she manages to pull an arm free. She pulls her leg up and whips a small dagger out of her boot.
That girl and her boots.
She thrusts the dagger into the open mouth of the beast. It roars loudly, a sound filled with pain. Sailor rams the dagger in further and the roar becomes a death cry. The Voke Wolf twitches once and then falls to its side, dead. Sailor’s screams join Aziza’s as burning acidic blood sprays over her. The screams are loud inside the tunnel. Too loud. They echo off the walls, magnified by a thousand. I still want to go to Sailor. I can’t bear the thought of her in pain like that. But she has time. Not long, but a few minutes. Aziza has maybe thirty seconds left.
I change course and run to Aziza. She’s barely conscious. I throw myself on the ground beside her, pressed tightly against the wall. I run my hands over her, closing my eyes and blocking out Sailor’s screams, the yells of the team. I feel a sharp pain in my stomach as I heal Aziza. The pain is a welcome relief. It tells me I’m not too late, that I’ve healed her.
I open my eyes again, leaving my hands in place. The main danger has passed. The venom is out of her system, but she is still covered in bites and scratches, her skin hanging off her body in loose flaps. Slowly, too slowly for my liking, they begin to mesh back together. Aziza sits up as she finishes healing. She pushes me away.
“I’m okay now. Heal Sailor,” she says.
I scramble toward Sailor. Her screams have become whimpers of agony. Mel sits over her trying to heal her body, but because unlike Aziza she is human it is taking longer. I can hardly bear to look at the blistered flesh on her face and neck, her arms and hands. The skin is all gone and black char marks interlace the blisters.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper.
I put my hands on her, cringing when I feel her soft flesh sloughing off her bones. Mel gives me a sideway glance, probably registering that this is hurting me as much as it is Sailor. Her whimpers become a scream again as my hands touch her burning flesh. I close my eyes, blocking out the sound of her begging me not to touch her. I feel the pain in my stomach and I relax a little. Sailor’s screams begin to recede and I risk glancing at her again. The black marks are fading, the blisters gone. Her flesh is pink and healthy again and as I watch, skin begins to grow back over her wounds.
She smiles up at me.
“It seems wrong that the kill guy is a healer,” she says with a soft laugh.
“What can I say? The gods have a sense of humor it seems.”
I get up and pull her to her feet. I turn to help Aziza up but she’s already up. She looks a little white, but otherwise, she looks okay.
“Is everyone alright?” I ask.
I get a few yesses back. Aziza pushes past me and pulls Sailor into a tight, almost aggressive hug.
“That was so stupid, Sailor. You could have been killed.”
“You’re welcome.” Sailor laughs.
“When you’re all quite finished,” Nexus says, “the trapdoor should be just around here.”
“What trapdoor?” I say. “Nexus we almost lost two of the team down here. It’s time to tell us what the hell we’re here for.”
“The first Soul Gem is behind the trapdoor.”
Even I have to admit that finding one of the Soul Gems is worth the risk of coming down here. I can feel my heart racing, my palms sweating at the thought of finding it. Nexus leads us down the final bit of the tunnel and turns left. The tunnel opens out into a small room, about ten feet by ten feet. It’s a tight squeeze, but we all gather around a trapdoor that’s sunk into the floor. I step forward and take hold of a thick iron ring that sits in the center of the trapdoor. I heave with everything I have but it doesn’t budge.
“Here, let me try,” Sunday says, stepping forward.
“If Rye can’t pull it open with his super strength, I don’t think you have much chance, Sunday,” Aziza smirks.
“But between us, we might be able to move it,” Sunday says.
Sunday and I heave on the ring together, but it still doesn’t budge. The floor beneath our feet starts to shake slightly, and for a second, I think it’s moving, but then Grace calls out.
“Shit. The tunnel is caving in, guys.”
I look up quickly and see she’s right. Cracks are appearing in the walls.
“Run,” I shout as a loud rumbling noise sounds from behind us.
I grab Sailor’s hand and pull her into the next section of the tunnel. I can hear the others behind me as I pelt along. I realize I am no longer pulling Sailor. She’s keeping up with me easily.
“Faster,” Ya-Ya shouts. “This one is crumbling too.”
Sailor goes up a gear and gets out
