RIVERBED AND TEETH
1111 Words
Chapter 9:
The riverbed didn’t care that they were alive.
Stone and ice cold water. That was all it offered. Raina hit hard enough to knock the breath out of her lungs, rolled, and came up spitting blood and grit. Her shoulder screamed. The poison in her veins pulsed once, like it was checking if she was still worth keeping awake.
Eli didn’t move.
She crawled to him. His pulse was fast and thin under her fingers. Alive. That was enough. For now. She pressed his head against her good arm and listened to the tower above them. Stone groaned. Fire caught. Then the roar. The Iron Fang shouting. Varek silent. Then nothing but burning.
Kael didn’t make a sound.
She told herself that meant he was fine. Running had gotten them this far. It wouldn’t get them further. But maybe it could get them out.
“Eli,” she said. Her voice was rough. Like the wind had taken the rest of it.
He groaned. Eyes cracked open. Blood in his lashes. He looked at her, then at the sky where fire lit the clouds, then back at her. He didn’t ask about Kael. That was worse than if he had.
“Can you walk?” she asked.
He tried to nod. Failed. His hands shook. Fear and cold. Same thing, different names.
Raina pulled him up. He was heavier than he looked. Or maybe she was weaker than she thought. The poison made everything feel distant. Like her body was a coat she’d borrowed and didn’t fit right.
They moved north. Away from the fire. Away from the ridge. Each step was a negotiation with the ground. The dark didn’t help. The stars were too far away to care. The river kept muttering under the ice.
Behind them the tower fell in pieces. Each crash felt like a door closing. Raina counted them. One. Two. Three. Then she stopped counting. Counting meant remembering. Remembering meant thinking about Kael’s face right before she jumped.
“Stop,” Eli whispered.
She did. He bent over and vomited into the snow. Nothing came up but bile and fear. Raina held his hair back with her good hand. She didn’t say sorry. Sorry didn’t fix anything.
“Keep moving,” she said instead.
He nodded and wiped his mouth. They moved again. Slower now. The poison kept her warm. Kept her sharp. It also kept whispering. Leave him. He slows you down. Varek will find you if you stop.
She ignored it. Leaving people behind was Kael’s choice. Not hers.
After an hour the fire became just a glow on the clouds. After two hours it became memory. Raina’s side had gone numb. That was bad numb meant the poison was winning, numb meant she’d stop feeling the wound before she stopped bleeding.
They found shelter in a rock overhang. Not much. Just enough to break the wind. Raina pushed Eli against the stone and built a small fire with wet wood and stubborn hands. Smoke would give them away. Cold would kill them faster. Pick your death.
Eli watched her. His breathing was steadier now. His hands still shook.
“You’re hurt,” he said finally.
Raina looked down. Her side was dark with blood. She’d stopped noticing. “It’s fine,” she said. It wasn’t.
Eli tore a strip from his shirt. His hands fumbled with the knot. She didn’t stop him. Letting him help meant he wasn’t broken yet.
He pressed the cloth to her side. His fingers were cold. She didn’t flinch. Flinching was giving him something to worry about.
“Kael stayed,” Eli said. Not a question.
Raina stared into the fire. “Yes.”
“He knew he would die.”
“Yes.”
Eli’s jaw worked. He wanted to say more. Wanted to ask why. Why Kael. Why her. Why any of them. Raina had no answers that wouldn’t sound like excuses.
The fire popped. A spark landed on Eli’s sleeve. He didn’t notice. Raina brushed it off.
“Why didn’t you go?” he asked. Voice small. Broken.
Raina closed her eyes. The poison made the darkness behind her lids look like Kael’s face. Set and calm and resigned.
“Because someone had to get you out,” she said.
It was a lie. She could have stayed. She could have died beside him. That would have been easier. But easier wasn’t the point. The point was that Kael made his choice. Now she had to make hers.
Eli leaned his head back against the stone. “I threw the stone,” he whispered. “It hit his knee.”
“I saw.”
“I didn’t run fast enough.”
“You’re alive.”
He nodded like that was a bad thing. Like being alive was a debt he owed to people who weren’t.
Raina checked the wound. Blood had slowed. Not stopped. The poison was doing something. She didn’t know what. She didn’t ask it to explain. You didn’t negotiate with poison. You survived it or you didn’t.
Outside the wind picked up. It carried ash from the tower. Ash landed in the fire and turned black. Everything turned black eventually.
Eli fell asleep first. Head on his knees. Hands still fisted like he was ready to throw another stone. Raina kept watch. Kept the fire low. Kept her dagger in her good hand.
She thought about Kael. About the way his sword never stopped. About the way he said “Run” like he was giving her a gift and taking one at the same time. About how he always understood her signals. That was why leaving him hurt.
The poison pulsed again. Colder this time. It showed her the ridge. Varek standing in the fire. Looking down. Looking for her. Looking like he had all the time in the world.
Raina pulled her coat tighter. Live now. Argue later. That was the rule.
Dawn came gray and slow. No sun. Just less dark. Eli woke coughing. The fire was coals. Raina’s side was stiff. Her dagger was still in her hand.
“North,” she said before he could ask. “We keep going north.”
Eli nodded. He didn’t ask about Kael again. Maybe he understood there was nothing to ask. Maybe he understood that asking would make it real.
They stood. The wind hit them like a fist. The riverbed stretched ahead. Cold. Empty. Full of teeth.
Raina took the first step. Eli followed.
Behind them the tower was ash. Ahead of them was nothing. Between them was running.
Raina ran.
Running was all she had left.
- Writer
