Ashes of Eden

Chapter 9

Eric hadn't gotten any shuteye. He could've woken his brother, but truth be told, he hadn't felt tired. The persistent feeling of restlessness inside him roared with growing intensity. He'd watched the sun rise and thanks to the marvel of nature, Eric knew they were heading east. Fi had crawled out of his bag minutes ago and was busy flying around, saying his wings needed the exercise. Carter stirred, sniffing once Fi flew close to his face. His brother blinked both eyes, moving his arms underneath the fleece blanket.

Across from the dead fire, their eyes met.

"You kept watch all night." It was a bleary statement. Eric nodded. Carter looked at the still body next to Eric's. "Isn't that just..."

"Shut it," Eric grumbled, angling himself away from Nadia's sleeping form. Throughout the night, her head landed on his large shoulder. Nadia's head shifted when he moved, causing her to shoot awake.

She looked disgruntled, like she didn't know where she was or who Eric was. Nadia licked her lips, silver eyes still far off. Eric decided to get up, imitating Fi. He needed to stretch his arms and legs. He left his sword with his bag. Carter rummaged in his own stash for food. More dried meat that reminded Eric of jerky. Only staler and saltier.

"Hey, Fi," Nadia murmured through a hard serving of bread Carter had handed her. She made a face once she swallowed it. "I was wondering... if fissures can open up in our world and bring us here, couldn't fissures open up here—in Eden—and take people to our world?"

Fi looked like Eric did when Carter started talking about Descartes and Kant or any other boring subject he was studying at Law school. The Fairy gave a one shoulder shrug along with an audible 'meh'. Nadia didn't look satisfied with their lazy Fairy guide.

"What made you think about that?"

"Fi said those guys—the Paladins—vanished. I figured maybe that could've happened. It just sounds plausible to me."

Carter liked smart people. What Nadia was proposing didn't seem farfetched to Eric, it sounded very intelligent, but his brother kept a skeptic look about him. Eric slid closer to his brother, unsure why. Yesterday, Carter's worry had ticked him off. Now, he wished his brother would pay attention and would act like his stupid self. It felt like Carter was separated from Eric by a transparent, bullet glass wall.

He hated feeling so in-need of Carter. Like his world would split if Carter was gone, sad or hurt. As if their bond ran deeper than blood.

"How long does it take to cross Loron's forest?" his older brother asked their winged pal.

Fi was sitting on Nadia's shoulder for a change. The Fairy had distanced himself from Carter since his brother insulted the Fairy's beliefs.

"Days." The little prick answered dispassionately.

Carter looked unperturbed by it. Eric bit down a sigh. Carter gave him a side-glance and before Eric could dodge, he got his hair ruffled. Through his steaming annoyance, Eric saw a smile on his brother's face—it was Carter's goofiest smile. It made his lips tilt at a corner and caused his anxiety to settle on some level. They packed their things and were off. They only reached the edge of Loron's forest hours later, after a lunch break—more jerky and rock-hard bread. Sundown was upon them. Merchants walked past them a couple of miles back, carrying large straw bags on their backs with what looked like cereals. Wheat or whatever. Eric noticed one had carried a small knife—he'd spotted the familiar bulge under the man's shirt. The merchants hadn't said a word to them, they'd glanced their way, though, as if waiting to be attacked.

Loron was filled with pine trees. Only the needles weren't green like back home, they were a deep maroon and the bark was pale brown. Chipped bark layered the forest ground along with fallen needles and golden-orange pine cones. Eric kept watching his step, dreading another encounter with a killer plant. Carter was explaining a theory to Nadia about why the needles and cones were a different color, talking about the soil's pH and acidity and how it could influence plants colors like hydrangea. Really, was Carter studying to be a lawyer like their father or a botanist? Eric shook his head.

Fi made them stop abruptly two miles later, if Eric had to guess. It was night, very dark and their eyes weren't as well adjusted to the darkness, as Fi put it.

"There's a ravine up-ahead. I can simply fly across it, but you must cross a bridge." They all looked on at Fi expecting a but. "I hear the bridge is old and often repaired. It may be dangerous to cross now—in the low light."

"I wasn't aware wood or rope broke more easily during the night." Carter joked. Eric and Nadia sputtered a laugh, quickly dropping it when Fi raged on about bandits lurking the area. "What's the difference? We either cross the bridge and make camp on the other side or we make camp on this side. Either way, we'll still be in Loron territory and as long as that's the case, we're at risk of being jumped by thieves." Carter smartly put. "The quicker we cross that bridge, the closer we get to crossing this forest."

Eric and Nadia shared a look when Carter and Fi looked at them. Eric didn't like the idea of being robbed or whatever it was those people did, so, he shrugged. Nadia sighed heavily, "It's not much of a choice. I say we wing it." Fi's eyebrow rose at her words. "Wing it means let's do it and see what happens."

Fi didn't like that plan. If something happened to them and he couldn't fulfill his duty to them, Fi could never return home. No wonder the little bug was so stressed out. In the end, all he wanted was to get home, like they were trying to do. Having no other choice but to concede, Fi led them on and not even fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the bridge. It swung and groaned as Carter tested it. The rope on this side looked reliable and strong, Eric noted, tracing his fingers across the rough material where it tied around an old pine tree. The planks had seen better days. They looked like they'd been submerged in water for years, taking wind and storms for centuries. Still, they took Carter's weight as he stepped on. Carter wasn't an idiot, grabbing the rope on both sides as he advanced. When his brother was ten feet away, Eric went ahead, copying him. Everything was going smooth, he even felt the minute when Nadia stepped onto the structure behind him.

Carter had four more steps to go when he stopped, hands fisted on the rope. Eric's eyes squinted at the smooth whizzes cutting through the quiet surroundings. Those sounded like...

"Grab the rope—" Too late. Carter's warning ended in a cry as the sound of ripping cord reached their ears.

Eric only had time to twist his head slightly before the ground he'd been walking on sunk under his weight. Eric's stomach dipped as he went free-falling, along with half the bridge—he gasped—hitting the ravine's wall. His hold on the rope slipped and he toppled down the steep slope, rolling and hitting his shoulder on a bulky rock. A yelp later, a body tumbled down to join him in the large ditch. Nadia hit Eric just as he'd gotten on his knees, knocking him over. Eric released a strangled breath. His ears buzzed for five seconds before his head swung up, searching for Carter. In the dark, he made out his brother, finishing climbing the rope. Him and Fi made it across.

"Eric!" Carter yelled up above. "Are you guys hurt?"

Eric didn't feel too bad. His shoulder ached from the impact and Nadia's knocking him over caused his face to graze a dried branch, scratching his forehead. Nothing fatal. He got on all fours, looking at Nadia. She was sitting up, hunched, touching her right ankle. Eric planned on checking it but caught something—arrows. They were down in the trench with them, lots. The rope had been cut by something. Carter knew what was going to happen before the rope snapped. Which meant Carter saw the fragile rope near the other side of the ravine. It made sense, Eric thought, to make one side of the rope steady and halfway easy to break. It was a trap.

Fi's squeals were Eric's confirmation. Arrows sailed the air—Eric's trained ear identified the whining this time without fail.

"Carter," Eric said loudly. "Run!" He yelled when his stupid brother stayed rooted on spot, a shadow dodging flying objects meant to kill him.

Eric watched his brother tilt back once, watched a hand touch a shoulder? A side? He yelled along with Fi for Carter to get the hell out of there. Carter stopped, giving them—him and Nadia—a final look, before he turned to run. Eric's heart thudded hard as running and voices echoed down to them. He couldn't make out faces. Even if it wasn't pitch black, it would've been hard. They were wearing hoods. Eric saw the gleaming tips of arrows, though. A minute later, he saw a dried out, heavy trunk being thrown at them. Fuck. He flung himself across the space keeping him and Nadia apart and grabbed her, crushing her against his chest. They rolled across hard ground just before the trunk hit bottom, splitting in half.

They're bodies stiffened as a resounding boom shook their surroundings.

"What was that?" Eric braced a hand against the massive trunk he narrowly dodged. The thing that almost crushed them a minute ago.

"It sounded like an explosion." Nadia said, wrenching herself from his hold, coming up beside him, resting her hand on Eric's shoulder for balance. "Can you see anything?"

Eric's eyes squinted against the dust and general darkness of the fucking crevice they found themselves in, coming up empty handed.

"No," he ground out. His fingers dug into the wood, he could feel bark peel away. Blood started to pool under his fingernails. "I need to get to Carter."

Nadia's hands clamped down. She twisted him around just as he shook her off. Still, she pushed him back against the fallen log.

"Are you insane? There's no way we can get to them—"

"Don't tell me what I can do!" Eric shoved her back. He didn't mean to send Nadia flying off her feet, he didn't—but it happened. She landed on her side with a cry. "Crap. Are you…"

Eric's eyes widened when loud yelling and a sudden flare of light came from above, outside the trench. He backed up trying to see anything else. Nothing but a cloudy sky and more dust. A load of dirt came crashing down. Eric ducked out of the way, managing to catch a handful on his head. Shaking it off, he remembered he wasn't alone. Cussing, Eric ran and knelt by Nadia's side. She was cradling her arm, wincing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" he grappled with the words. "Let me see."

Nadia drove her good elbow into Eric's chin. He fell back, biting his tongue. Eric spat out blood, tasting more of it as it seeped from the shallow cut. Any other time he would've screamed at her, this time, though, he'd deserved it. Eric didn't let up. He knew that flash of light from the night Fi saved him from the Dybbuk. Fi was distracting the douchebags. Carter had a magical creature on his side. Him and Nadia? They were on their own. They were piling more dirt down the trench. The ravine became narrow on the way down, they were easy pickings for straight arrows, boulders, giant tree limbs and whatever else those guys wanted to kill them with. As long as they could rob their dead corpses, they didn't care how they died.

Their only option was to climb out and find another path…

"We need to move. They're planning on burying us here."

Nadia's eyes screamed at him, "Now you care?"

"I never said I wanted to be buried alive." He shot back, getting in her face. He regretted it when Nadia shoved her uninjured arm into his chest. Eric was prepared this time, keeping his balance. He made a grab for the arm and slipped it around his neck, Nadia fought him all the while. "I already apologized to you. So, stop fighting me and move your damn legs. Come on, Nadia."

Nadia must've spotted the dirt and rocks being thrown into the trench. Eric had angled his body to shield hers, if anything got close enough to hit them. Nadia delivered a final death glare at Eric. He walked quickly, as quickly as possible while supporting Nadia's weight, the sword at his hip and their bags. He heard a whizzing noise cutting through the night air. His muscles swelled, and Eric stopped for two seconds, tugging Nadia's arm and throwing her across his shoulder.

"Eric, what the hell?" her words ended in a yell as Eric ran up the trench, grabbing every stone and prominent crack he could, pulling them up, further from the bottom where arrows were landing. Climbing a wall while being shot at? Why not. Eric's hand spasmed when an arrow scraped his neck. They slid down. Eric's trousers tore, cuts opened across his knees and legs. Nadia slipped from his hold. Eric felt her arm wrap around his neck. "Eric!"

He wasn't sure why she screamed. Eric just knew his body seemed to be on auto-pilot now. Eric had pulled his sword, stabbing it into the mount, halting their hellish descent. Next, he was hefting Nadia with his free hand and running up the dirt wall like never before. Adrenaline didn't even come close to what he was feeling. He heard more whizzing. He stabbed his sword time and time again, maneuvering them in a zig-zag while he climbed almost with no effort. Occasionally, Nadia would scream "incoming" but he already knew. He jumped when the ledge came into view, the only thing he could see in the darkness. Eric and her flew across the trench's ledge, rolling across the forest ground with a mute thud. Right back where they'd started. Eric kicked up and ran to the edge. His hand dove for the longsword still plunged into the mountain side. Another whiz. Eric brought the sword up and slammed it straight into the arrow's body, breaking it.

He fixed the three men on the other side of the trench, sneering. They were going to pay for this. They were scrambling for more arrows, one was already taking aim. Eric sighed deeply, frustrated. He ran away from the edge, towards Nadia. He wasted no time grabbing her off the ground and then they were running. Nadia limped a little, missing a step. Eric grabbed her around the waist, tugging her closer to his side. Her chest was rising and falling so fast… Eric knew she was hurt. He didn't know how bad it was, her ankle seemed sprained before and what about her right arm? Shit, that one was his fault.

"Put your arm around me." He whispered in her ear.

"I didn't ask for help."

"No, but you need it." Eric leaned her against a tree and crouched in front of her. "Nadia," he urged feeling himself snap. "You're hurt. If they get to us, I'll have to fight them and protect you."

"Or you can leave me." She challenged quickly, making it sound like something she totally expected Eric to do. That thought hadn't crossed his mind once.

"What? Don't be an idiot. I'm not leaving you." Eric craned his neck in a supplication. "I can always toss you over a shoulder again. I just thought you'd like the choice…" That got her. Eric felt Nadia round his neck with her left arm, while the right one hung over his right shoulder. Eric grabbed her legs, hoisting her and securing her. Nadia's arm was a little snug around his neck, pressing ruthlessly into his Adam's Apple. "Ouch," he muttered getting up.

Eric started walking aimlessly. All he knew was that they needed to put some distance between them and that trench, not to mention the people across it. Eric felt a heavy pang in his chest. Carter was on the other side, too. He didn't want to put any distance between him and his brother. Even with the way Carter had been acting lately. With a heavy breath, he carried on, roaming farther away from his brother. Eric walked. He walked and walked. It was a mechanical movement by now, putting one foot ahead of the other. He didn't feel tired. He felt obsessed with getting somewhere. Only he didn't know where that was. He didn't know Eden. Hell, he barely knew Seattle and he'd been living there for a year. But Eric's feet seemed certain of where they were heading. Nadia was quiet, her arm had slacked minutes ago. The last time she'd moved, her cheek ended up pressed against his hair and her chin was resting in the slope between his shoulder and neck. His bag kept banging against his leg, as did his sheathed sword.

"I know you didn't want to hurt me." Came the soft murmur. "I'm sorry about Carter. I know helping me instead of trying to go off—after him—isn't easy for you. I'm sure he'll be okay, though. He seems… really smart." He is, Eric thought. "And he has Fi with him."

"Thanks," Eric mumbled back, afraid if he spoke louder he'd break the peaceful moment they'd fallen into. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know. We… keep going. I guess." She sighed. Eric readjusted his hold on her legs, hoisting her. "Fi said the fastest way to Idril was through Loron. He didn't say it was the only way to reach it. Maybe we can ask someone for directions tomorrow?"

"What if they double back? There has to be other ways across, it can't be dependent of that bridge... What if they come back looking for us?"

Nadia groaned massively, "Damn it. I miss cell phones." You and me both, Eric sighed. "He's your brother. What do you think he'll do?"

Eric didn't know. If they were home, Carter would turn back to get him. With bandits hunting them down? The smart move would be keep going toward Idril, no turning back and trust that Eric found his way there.

"Carter's coming back for us." Eric stated.

"Okay," she hummed. "But we can't hang around here, Eric. You heard Fi. It takes days to cross Loron. If he led us to that bridge it was probably the fastest way, right? What if they take days to come back to this side?"

Eric didn't know what to tell her. Nadia wasn't your typical 'just tell me everything will be alright' person. She was strong, independent and driven—at least he thought so. Nadia wanted a plan of action, not what ifs. Silence came again, staying longer. Eric walked them twenty minutes more until he stopped. He didn't know how he knew, but he lowered Nadia, and went to touch a sizable boulder with moss. Eric walked around it, tracing his hand over it, before pushing against it. Slowly, the rock—only a head shorter than Eric—budged. Sweat covered his brow as he grunted, telling his muscles to suck it up and move the damned thing. Eric managed to roll it three times. It was enough to reveal a hole in the side of the mountain they were standing next to.

"Huh..." Nadia intoned, dumbly, mimicking Eric's thoughts. "How did you know...?"

There would be a small hole-like cave in the side of this mountain? No idea. Eric had been led here by instinct. He told Nadia it was hunter instinct, because what else could it have been? She didn't believe him, she didn't ask again, either. They crammed inside the damp place, coughing. Roots swung from the cave's ceiling, hitting their faces, smearing them with dirt and Nadia ended up lowering her hand into a worm nest. The slimy things, as she put it, burrowed underground just moments later. To add to their comfort, it started raining. It didn't reach them—much. Some water trickled inside. Eric's head hit the dirt wall. Sleep was threatening his vision.

"Shit," the sleepy shroud lifted. He opened one glacier-eye to look at Nadia, expecting the worms to have returned. "Carter had the food."

"Shit." Eric groaned. Tired as hell, he turned his face, eyes closed. "There's nothing I can do right now. Tomorrow, I can try to catch us something." There had to be some game in Eden. He hoped.

Eric could feel Nadia's searing gaze on him. Why, he didn't know. He didn't care. He was spent. And worried. He jolted into the wall as something cold touched his knee. He glared at Nadia.

"That looks bad. We should clean it." Eric followed her eyes. His trousers were tattered, his knees were bleeding and scrapes lined his legs. She pointed a finger to his forehead and then chin. "Those, too. Sorry about the chin."

Eric relaxed, "Don't worry about them." His eyes fell shut and this time, nothing disturbed him.
♠ ♠ ♠
Please let me know if you liked it :)