“I don’t feel anything,” she says.
“This isn’t going to work,” Sunday says. “She doesn’t need a healer. She needs anti-venom. You guys go on. I’ll take her back to the cabin and have Nexus fix her.”
“You can’t go off alone, it’s too dangerous,” I say.
“We don’t have a choice, Rye. If we don’t get her to Nexus quickly, she’ll die. And we can’t afford more people missing if another creature attacks. You and Sailor have to be present to get the gem, you might need Mel’s healing skills, and Jinx and Aziza are needed in case you guys get swarmed again.”
I know he’s right and reluctantly, I nod my head.
“You’re right. Go,” I say.
Sunday moves his hand in the air, but nothing happens.
“Shit. I suck at portals. Can someone make me one?” he says.
I step forward but when I move my hand, it doesn’t work either. Aziza tries and still nothing.
“I guess portals are off the table then,” I say grimly.
“I guess so,” Sunday agrees. “Good thing I’m fit.”
Sunday scoops Ya-Ya up and holds her against his chest. He sprints away from us, heading back the way we have just come.
“I can’t believe one of those tricky little fuckers got past us,” Aziza says, shaking her head.
“I know,” I say.
“What if that wasn’t the only one?” Jinx says, nudging Sailor. “You should probably strip. Just to be on the safe side.”
“Do you always have to threaten girls with death to get them to strip for you?” Sailor smiles at him.
He laughs. “Nah, but you’re special.”
She just shakes her head.
“We have to keep moving,” I say.
We start walking again. We have been walking for about half an hour when the tunnel widens out and we’re in a clearing. A trapdoor sits in the middle of the floor. Sailor nudges me and points to it and I know immediately what she’s showing me. It’s the same as the one in the tunnels beneath the school. We’ve found the Soul Gem’s location.
“Let’s do this,” I say.
I pull out a small glass test tube that Nexus gave me earlier. Sailor reaches up and plucks a hair from her head, wincing slightly as it comes loose. She puts it into the test tube, and I hold my hand out to her. She pricks the end of one of my fingers with her dagger, and I squeeze a few drops of blood into the tube. I cover the top with my thumb and shake it around until I can see that Sailor’s hair is fully covered with my blood.
“Keep us covered, guys,” I say. “We have to find a hole small enough for a single hair to fit inside of. This could take a while.”
Sailor and I move to the trapdoor. I look around the chamber as we move but I can’t see anything that could put us in immediate danger. We get to our knees on either side of the trapdoor and begin to scour every inch of it. I give up trying to see a pinprick-sized hole and I run my fingertips over the trapdoor. I soon feel a tiny anomaly on the surface and I pull my finger away and squint at the trapdoor. Sure enough, I see the tiny black dot of a hole.
“There,” I say to Sailor, pointing.
She nods her head and I pull the hair out of the test tube. On the third try, I manage to slot it in. The ground shakes slightly beneath me and then there’s a clicking sound as the trapdoor unlocks. We get to our feet and I pull up on the ring in the center of it. Sailor stands by, ready to reach in and grab the Soul Gem.
I lift it up and orange light spills out. I see an orange gem that’s oval in shape. Sailor reaches in and grabs it. As soon as her fingers touch it, she makes a pained sound and falls backwards.
“Sailor,” I shout, going to her side.
I throw myself down beside her. Mel runs over to us, but Sailor sits up and shakes her head.
“I’m alright,” she says.
She pulls her top down a bit and shows us her tattoo. A bright orange oval shape sits on a flower on one of the tree branches beside the first one. I examine the tree and notice that when the seed first implanted itself in her the tree looked completely dead with four crows on its branches. Now where the gems sit, the tree looks like it is gaining life and only three crows remain.
“We did it.” She grins. “It just stings a bit as it embeds itself, that’s all.”
I get up and help her back to her feet.
“I can’t believe you flashed your chest for them but you wouldn’t strip for me,” Jinx says as he walks over to us with Aziza.
“Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Sailor smirks. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
I check my watch and my jaw drops.
“Guys, time moves differently down here. We’ve been down here for three hours,” I say. “We have to hurry.”
Getting out won’t be anywhere near as hard as getting in. It’s just a matter of rushing through the passageway and up the staircase. We start towards the passageway. We’ve barely gotten going when I feel my chest starting to feel tight and heavy. I look around and the others are rubbing their chests too.
“It’s wearing off. The potion,” Jinx says.
I pull out the bottle, not at all happy about the small amount that’s left.
“Everyone takes a little sip. Hopefully it’ll buy us enough time to get back out,” I say.
I hand the bottle to Sailor, who takes a little bit and passes it on to Aziza. By the time it comes back to me, there is
