Destined (13 page)

“What is this?” she exclaimed with clear anger.

“This is no ordinary wound! You have misled me!”

“He took an arrow,” Laura said quickly. “Please, don’t be angry.”

“No arrow could do this, girl,” Selaine said. “This is the work of the devil.” The wound had opened up again, and was moist, and very dark. The skin around it that had looked only bruised before was now a ghastly black. “Poison, extracted from the rarest of plants this world has ever known. A plant long extinct. But who would waste it on him, and why, I wonder?”

Selaine looked at Laura questioningly for a moment. Then she shook her head. “I wil not do you the disservice of asking. You have secrets, I understand, but more than I initial y believed. If you were smart, you might tel me, but I wil leave that to you.”

Despite herself, Laura sighed. She had no intention of tel ing Selaine, or anybody else, how that tainted arrow had pierced Alexander’s shoulder.

“Can you fix it?” Laura asked with concern. “You said you wil try!”

“Aye,” the woman answered, “I wil do my best. But I did not think I would ever see this poison again.”

“…again?” Laura asked. That meant… “You have dealt with it before?”

Absently, Selaine rol ed up the sleeve to her right arm. Laura gasped as she saw the upper part of Selaine’s arm. The skin was stained a deep black, and marred with unhealthy yel ow areas. It looked like the smoker’s lungs she would see in those commercials advertising the dangers of tobacco.

“It happened to me,” Selaine said simply.

Instantly, a seed of hope blossomed with Laura. Hope that she was desperately missing before. “That means you survived it,” she exclaimed. “It means you know how to save him!”

“Survived… yes. Save him – maybe.” Selaine stood up to eye Laura intently. “Time is short, and he is burning up. His body is strong, but I’m afraid he has already exhausted his last reserve of strength in fighting the poison’s taint. It is probably too much, even for him. I might be able to help, but we can only even for him. I might be able to help, but we can only pray I have come soon enough.”

“You have,” Laura said determinedly. “I know it!”

Selaine looked Laura up and down while pul ing her sleeve back down. “You show much concern for his life. He is… a lover?” She shook her head. “No. You do not have the look of a mourning partner. But you did not lie to me either. He is a friend as you said. And you do care for him.”

“Yes!” Laura exclaimed. “Of course I do.”

“Good.” Selaine smiled. “Where you’l be going, you’l need to have strength.”

“Where
I’m
going?” Laura asked. “What do you mean?”

“There is but a single remedy that can cure him of the poison. And it includes a vital ingredient which, unfortunately, I do not have.”

“You don’t?” Laura asked. “Why?”

“It is a fungus – a sort of mushroom – that grows deep underground. Not many know of it. I do. There is a mine here, on the outskirts of town. It was closed down many years ago, but you wil need to go there, to find the mushroom for me. Only with it does your friend have a chance to survive.”

Laura gulped, and shivered involuntarily. She remembered her last expedition underground, and was not eager to repeat the experience. Final y, she nodded. “I can do it, if I must.”

“If you value your friends life, you wil ,” Selaine said. “Now. It might take you a number of days of travel before you can find the ingredient.”

“Days?” Laura asked, aghast. “You said he doesn’t have any time! How wil he survive if it’l take
days
to get the remedy?”

“You are right, of course,” Selaine said with only the slightest hint of sarcasm. “How smart of you it was to point it out.” She coughed once, then continued. “I can make him something that wil relieve the symptoms. But if the poison remains in his system unabated, those symptoms wil return within the week, and he wil be beyond my powers to heal. You wil have your
days
, girl, once I have my herbs prepared.”

“How long wil that take?” Laura asked. “You can do it now, right?”

Selaine shook her head. “No, his symptoms wil take more than what I’ve brought with me.” She tapped a pouch tied to her belt. “I wil need some hours to prepare the remedy.”

“Hours?” Laura asked. “Do we have that long?”

Selaine’s tone turned harsh. “Do not question me, Laura! You think I do not realize the severity of your friend’s condition? It wil take me hours to prepare, and that is if I move my fastest. The only thing you can do is pray he lasts that long.”

“He wil ,” Laura said to herself through gritted teeth. “I know he wil .”

~Into the Mines~

Laura fol owed Selaine back to her shop. They walked briskly, and there wasn’t much conversation between the two. Instead, a steely determination gripped both woman and girl.

Selaine took Laura through a side door that led into her shop. The inside was dark, and there wasn’t a single light on. Laura could see just fine, though, and Selaine moved with the surefootedness of somebody who’s walked the steps a thousand times before.

Inside, a set of dusty stairs led to a smal second storey. Selaine gripped the handrail tightly as she pul ed herself up, and Laura fol owed silently behind. When they reached the second floor, Selaine flicked a switch on, which powered a single lowhanging light bulb in the middle of the ceiling. If it was possible, Laura thought the upstairs level was even
more
crowded than the one downstairs. Tables and shelves covered nearly every centimeter of the floor. On the shelves, old worn books and dark metals twisted in odd shapes stood beside strange flasks and empty glass bottles. On one table, Laura noticed a col ection of impressively-sized gems, which lay in a neat pile atop a col ection of scripts and papers and parchments. On al the other tables, parchments and open books and documents lay sprawled open. Everything was dusty, though, as if it hadn’t been moved for a very long time.

“Here, girl,” Selaine said, sitting down on a wobbly stool behind a large table. “You’l need to know where you’re to be going.”

Laura walked up to her, and leaned on the edge of the table. Selaine tsked loudly, but didn’t comment otherwise. She pul ed out a yel owing parchment, and produced a quil pen in her hand.

“This is where we are right now,” Selaine said, drawing a smal circle in the middle of the parchment.

“And this is the general area of our town.” She traced a much larger, uneven circle around the first. “The river is on the west side, here.” With a few quick strokes, she drew a few wavy lines that bordered one side of the bigger circle, on the left. “One road goes into town, and another one out of it, and there’s forest al around.” She drew another set of lines, these ones straight, going south and north. “If you fol ow the road north, you’l walk until you find a set of browning cliffs.”

She designated them with a few triangles. “When you see the cliffs, you’l find an old wooden sign. The lettering has long since worn off with age, but the base is there.”

“What does it say?” Laura asked.

“No matter,” Selaine replied. “Al you need to

“No matter,” Selaine replied. “Al you need to know is that once you see the sign off the side of the road, you’l need to walk straight towards it. Down, towards the cliffs. There’s a twisting path craved into the rock, there.” She marked the spot with an ‘X’ on her makeshift map. “Go down al the way, and continue forward. Eventual y, you’l come onto a long fissure of sorts. There used to be a road there, once, and you’l be able to see its remains if you’re alert.”

“Ok,” Laura said.

“Now, you need to keep going straight,

continuing down the fissure. There’s only one path, so you won’t get lost. Keep going straight, and at the very end, you’l find an entrance to the old mineral mine. It is inside where you wil find the mushroom that wil keep your friend alive.”

Despite herself, Laura shivered again. She was not looking forward to going underground.

“How wil I know what to look for?” Laura asked.

“Ah. That’s easy. The fungus grows in smal bunches, and looks much like any regular mushrooms you would find anywhere else. The difference is this. It has a long blue stalk that’s dotted with smal white stars. Remember that, Laura – it’s important. Although there real y is no other mushroom you can confuse it with. But, as I told you earlier, it only grows in the deepest reaches of the earth. Likely, it wil take you a ful day, maybe more, of walking down the mine before you stumble upon it. And the same time back.”

“Ok,” Laura said determinedly. It would take her
days
, would it? Too bad Selaine didn’t know how fast Laura could go. Laura would run faster than she ever had before, if that’s what it took to get Alexander the cure.

“You wil have to be observant. The mushroom only grows where darkness rules and moisture beckons. When you start to hear the drip of water off the rocks, you wil know you are close.” Selaine paused, and ducked down to reach underneath the table. When she emerged, she held an old oil lantern. She set it down with a loud thud. “You wil need this. It is recently fil ed, and should last your entire travel time.”

“A lantern?” Laura asked. “Why do you have a lantern?” Then, thinking quickly, she added – so as not to look suspicious – “Couldn’t a flashlight do just as wel ?”

“Could, yes, would, no. Flashlights are undependable, and besides, I don’t have any on me. If I recal correctly, you don’t have any money with which you can purchase one, either, hmm?” Laura sighed and nodded. “Take it or not, it’s up to you, but I assure you you wil find it difficult to traverse the old mine without a source of light.”

“Thank you,” Laura said, taking the lantern. It was unfortunate she would have to carry it – it wasn’t heavy enough to give her pause, but
was
uncomfortable to hold. But she knew she had to put up certain appearances

so

Selaine

wouldn’t

become

suspicious. Maybe she could leave it just outside the mine, and pick it up on the way out…?

“You’l also need food, and supplies. I don’t have much, but I wil give you what I can. You have to ration it careful y, though. Food and water are your lifeline down in the mines.”

“Right,” Laura agreed. Fortunately for her she had fed recently, and wouldn’t need to again for a very long time.

“Come on down then,” Selaine said, “and take the map.” Wrapping the parchment up, she thrust it into Laura’s arms. “We wouldn’t want you getting lost, would we?”

Half an hour later, Laura left Selaine’s residence. Bundled onto her back was enough food and water to last for three days, if not more. The food consisted of little more than dehydrated bread bits and tough jerky. Laura was glad she wouldn’t have to eat it, much less worry about rationing it properly, on her upcoming journey.

She had agreed with Selaine that she would go to the mine right away. Selaine, in turn, would look after Alexander, giving him the herbs that would ease his symptoms while Laura was away for whatever number of days.

Laura had other plans, however. She planned to be back before nightfal with the fungus, or mushroom, or whatever it real y was. And if Selaine made comment, she would just say she got lucky and found a patch of the stuff close to the entrance.

She thought she could do it. With her nearperfect night vision, and blinding speed, she doubted it would take her more than a few hours to find the mushroom. She would be deep enough in the mines very quickly regardless. She had to. Alexander’s fate rested squarely on her shoulders, and she was determined to not let him down. Not after everything he did for her – from staying with her on the journey, to fighting off
three
other
Vassiz
, to taking the arrow for her. For
her
. It had al been for her, and now he was the one suffering. He was the one nearing death. Laura couldn’t let him drift away.

Quickly, Laura went back to the barn. She found Gray outside, stil keeping watch. Kneeling beside him, she formed the connection briefly to show him where she was going. After a split second, another image came back to her, this one of her in the mine but with Gray beside her. She smiled and shook her head. “No,” she said, “you need to stay here.” She felt
disappointment
, but also
understanding
. Next, Laura came inside to check on Alexander. He was stil lying down, near the side wal where Selaine had tended to him. He had turned to his side, however. Laura came close to put a hand on his face. He was stil burning up. She hoped Selaine would prepare the herbs quickly.

Standing up, Laura took one last look around the barn before heading out. She itched to run, to make use of her speed, but knew she couldn’t do it just yet. She had to at least walk to the mine entrance at a normal pace, lest Selaine think she had not gone at al when she came back. Forcibly, Laura made herself walk slowly.

She fol owed the main road out of Nakusp north, just as Selaine had marked on her map. Smal houses dotted the sides of the road, and some random cafes and shops stood out here and there. Laura had no time for any of them. She picked up her pace. A little. Eventual y, she was out of town, and walking alone down a long stretch of road. Every once in a while a car would pass by, but besides that, the place felt absolutely abandoned.

The wide river roared to her left, and she could see the dense trees lining the uninhabited opposite bank. On her right was also the same dense forest; the one she had gotten so used to over the past week or so. It went on in both directions as far as she could see. She doubted the cliffs Selaine pointed her to would be nearby.

She wanted to run – she was getting anxious with how much time it was taking her to get there – but again deliberately made herself walk slower. It was hard, though, as the forest on her right showed no signs of letting up anywhere up ahead.

Had she been misled? She couldn’t possible see why Selaine would do that, but then again, she had walked for over an hour, and Laura had no idea how the forest to her right could just turn so quickly to

– oh. She saw something in the distance, where the road curved slightly, that had been out of her line of sight before. It looked to be a clearing of sorts, where there was an edge to the trees before they just stopped. Laura’s self-control vanished, and she bolted the short distance to it.

Sure enough, brown and dark orange cliffs stood where forest had been before. They weren’t huge –

maybe the same height as a four-or five-storey building – and the distance down wasn’t very far. And further away, a bit in the distance, stood the big wooden sign Selaine had told her about.

Laura came up to it. There was no lettering, and it looked just like an old bil board, except made from split timber logs. And, right beside it, Laura saw a path carved into the side of the rock.

path carved into the side of the rock.

Careful y, she started picking her way down. The balusters that had once been put up had long since fal en away, although a few metal spokes stil stood in place every few paces or so. The path zigzagged down and across the side of the cliff, and some parts were so narrow that Laura had to press her back against the rock behind her to avoid losing her footing. The bag of foodstuffs over her shoulders and the single lantern definitely made the trek down harder than it should be.

Eventual y, though, she reached the bottom. She looked back up – and saw the top edge of that sign. She looked around her. The cliffs on either side were dusty and weathered with age, although some parts looked cleanly cut. She guessed when the mine was operational, those parts had been cut away to make room for the road. On the ground lay the barest remnants of that road – pieces of graying and cracked concrete here, a bit of asphalt there. Although most of it had been worn away by time and age.

Laura set forward. Further down, she could see the cliffs on either side narrow, making it possible for her to walk down the middle of the road, reach out with her hands, and brush her fingers against the sides. At the end of the fissure, she would find the old mine.

She continued on slowly; deliberately. She walked for thirty minutes, an hour, two hours. Al without seeing an end to the terrain. She guessed the road she was on, and the thin fissure she was walking down, must stretch for miles.

Soon, the shadows grew long, and not long after, twilight fel onto the area. The sky became a dark red, which embel ished the coloring of the hard earth cliffs. Laura felt herself shiver. It was not because of the cold, no – rather, it was because of how long this expedition was taking. But she continued walking onwards, stubbornly set against making use of her speed.

She kept walking. There was only one path, and one way forward, but Laura stil had an uneasy feeling in the back of her mind that she may have taken the wrong path. Why else would it be so far away?

Then, taking another step forward, she saw it. The rocks on either side of her opened up, and made room for a wide clearing. And directly in front of her stood the ragged slope of the bottom of a mountain. A smal pond stood off to the side, fil ed to the brim with crystal clear water.

Laura frowned. Why hadn’t she noticed it from further away? She stepped back – and gasped. The opening was gone; she couldn’t tel it was there or ever had been there. She took a step forward. And everything reappeared, as if hidden by some veiled everything reappeared, as if hidden by some veiled cloak of light.

After a minute of studying her surroundings, Laura realized what was happening. It was the way the dusk light shimmered off the surface of the pool, and the off angle at which the earth sloped down in front of her, that hid everything, camouflaging it with the rocks. An optical il usion. As if there was an edge to the air, before which it looked like the rock face of the cliffs just continued, but after, it was possible to see everything.

Slowly, Laura walked to the mountain slope. She looked up, and saw that trees started dotting its terrain about a quarter of the way up, and as it ascended even higher, it only became greener. The bottom half of the mountain, however, had been stripped down to its core, as if someone had taken a butcher’s knife to mother nature’s side.

In front of her was the smal entrance into the mountain. A few rotted planks of wood barred it haphazardly, and a hanging red sign read “Danger.” It was the entrance to the mine where she would find the mushroom that could heal Alexander.

She took a deep breath to brace herself. Going underground like this was eerily familiar of what she’d done before, on the run from the
Vassiz
. She told herself it was alright, that there were no vampires trailing after her this time, and that she’l be able to get out. Her… apprehension… was her own personal weakness, a psychological flaw, and she recognized it as such, but stil … it was hard to push away the uneasy feeling she felt in her gut.