Chapter 302
The trees closed in around Katelina. Jorick slowed but didn't stop. Sorino crashed through the vegetation behind them, Kai on his heels. Suddenly Ronnell appeared long enough to slam Kai into a tree and slash at him with a knife. Then he was gone and the boy crumpled to the ground, only to pick himself up and wipe the blood from his cheek.
Sorino pulled a final throwing knife from his coat and flung it into the middle of nowhere. One second Katelina could see it, spinning into the vastness of the forest, and suddenly there was Ronnell in the same space, jerking the blade out of his shoulder.
Jorick dodged through the trees in a crooked pattern, the sound of the waterfall grew louder and then faded. She couldn't keep track of where he was going. They pounded past a large tree and nearly ran over Maeko and Hikaru. The latter was leaning heavily on his stick and bleeding from multiple wounds. Maeko, meanwhile, clutched a broken tree branch as a weapon.
"No more ammunition," she explained. Katelina assumed she was answering one of Jorick's thoughts.
Arlen was suddenly behind Maeko, swiping at her with a bloody dagger. Then he was in front of Hikaru, slashing at his arm. The vampires all lunged for him but, like a ghost, Arlen was gone.
And then he was back. Katelina registered the hands on her body as the scenery was already flying past. Her left side slammed into a tree and she dropped to the ground in a shower of snow and bits of pine.
She pulled herself up and blinked the muck from her eyes. When she wiped her face, her mittens came away with blood. Though it must be from her nose, she was too numb to feel the pain that should go with it. She saw Jorick tackle Arlen to the ground and punch at his face, but the wind walker dodged the attack. Ronnell appeared long enough to slash Jorick across the back with his claws.
Something thundered towards Katelina, and she looked up in time to see Micah crashing through the trees, Loren over one shoulder. With a furious snarl he threw what looked like a pinecone at Ronnell and then veered away to disappear in the forest.
Ronnell gave chase. Jorick punched Arlen's face before he twisted loose and vanished. Jorick started after him, then turned back abruptly and hurried to Katelina's side.
"Are you all right?" She nodded and he caught her chin to tilt her face to his. His brows furrowed. "You're bleeding, but it's not serious. Come." He tugged her to her feet and then hefted her over his shoulder.
"Jorick-ue, we should split up," Maeko said as she straightened her coat. "There are only two of them and they can't follow us all."
"But that weakens those they do follow." Jorick stopped and then nodded, as if Maeko had presented a silent but compelling counter argument. "Very well. Be careful."
"Be careful, too, Jorick-ue."
And then the pint sized vampiress and her cohort disappeared into the trees.
Jorick's path seemed to have more purpose. The sound of the waterfall grew steadily louder, and soon they were scrabbling down the steep incline. Katelina clung to Jorick, riding piggyback style despite his injuries. She could imagine what it must feel like to have someone bouncing against the slashes on his back, but he didn't complain.
They came to the plateau they'd been on earlier and Jorick paused to survey their surroundings. He squinted towards the waterfall and cursed under his breath.
"What?" Katelina peered over his shoulder. He turned away before she could see more than a dark shape lying among the rocks.
"You're planning to leave him?"
Jorick spun towards the sound of the new voice. It was Sadihra. She dropped down from the rocks, her face bloody and her coat torn. She straightened and moved closer to the waterfall and the lumpy shape. "You really don't like him."
"I never pretended to," Jorick said. He started towards the ledge, but icy suspicion throbbed through Katelina. She pulled free and walked towards the blonde vampiress. As she drew closer, the dark mass on the rocks became distinguishable.
"Oh my God! It's Verchiel!"
Sadihra waded into the water and crouched over him, one hand on a boulder to steady herself against the pull of the rushing water. Katelina stopped at the edge of the stream and stared, horrified. Verchiel lay on his back, his legs and arms sprawled out. Nearly submerged, it was only a portion of his face and part of his torso that was free of the icy water. Through the right side of his stomach stabbed one of the sharp rocks, glittering with a mixture of moisture and blood.
Katelina's stomach clenched and she clutched the rocky bank for support. "Is he dead?" He was a moron, he was an idiot, he was a lot of annoying things, but somehow the thought that he'd never annoy her again made her want to throw up. "Sadihra, is he-"
"No." Sadihra grabbed him by his shoulders and slowly tried to wedge him off of the jagged stone. "The rock did not puncture his chest. He's only unconscious." She looked to where Jorick stood on the bank. "Help me."
"No," Jorick said. Katelina stared at him in disbelief and he groaned. "He's nothing but trouble!"
"So?" she cried. "He wouldn't leave you!"
"You're right. First he'd be the one to cause the accident and then he'd 'save' me so that he could lord it over me for the rest of his life."
"Forget it. I'll do it, myself." Katelina started down the wet rocks and slipped. Jorick caught her and hauled her back. He deposited her on the bank and, with a growl, charged into the stream.
Sadihra and Jorick each took a side and together they pulled the limp vampire free of the rock. As they lifted him, Katelina had a sickening view of the hole in his stomach. If it hadn't been for the gory muscles, squished organs, and the gleam of his spinal column, she could have seen straight through him, as though he were a donut. How in the hell could that possibly heal?
"I'm sure it will," Jorick said as he helped haul the Executioner to the shore. "That's the luck I have."
The vampires splashed back onto land and laid Verchiel out on his back. Sadihra peeled off her wet coat and threw it over him. Jorick wiped his own face and shook the water from himself. His clothes clung to his body, wet and heavy. Most of the blood from the battle had been cleaned away and left his skin shining white in the moonlight.
Katelina knelt next to Verchiel. His face was stretched taut and, though he wasn't withered yet, she knew he'd lost a lot of blood and would be soon.
Jorick's voice threatened thunder. "And I suppose you'll volunteer to help him?"
"No! One of you can surely catch an animal of some kind." She remembered the earlier stop. "Kai said he saw monkeys."
"There may be monkeys, but there are also wind walkers. They aren't far from here and we've wasted enough time." Jorick stood and motioned Katelina to him. "Sadihra can carry the idiot since she's the one who demanded we save him."
The Scharfrichterin started to object, then stopped. "Fine. He's small, anyway."
She scooped him up in her arms and they walked to the ledge and looked down. Katelina reeled from the vertigo and leaned back, clutching Jorick's wet sleeve. The water seeped through her mitten and she let go of him with a cry. "Shit! You're soaked!"
"Of course I'm soaked. I just waded a mountain stream to save a moron. What do you expect?"
"But how are you going to carry me? The water will soak into me and I'll get frost bite."
"Perhaps you should have thought of that."
Sadihra cut into the argument. "It will be hard to carry him down that ledge, anyway. We need to find a better route."
"This is the fastest," Jorick argued. His shoulders sagged slightly and he ran a hand through his damp hair. "Fine. But it will mean circling the mountain and wasting God knows how much time. I hope the clown is worth it to both of you."
"It has nothing to do with his worth," Sadihra said. "He's a comrade and, whether you like him or not, one does not leave a comrade behind."
Jorick snorted his reply, then motioned them to follow him back into the trees. The mountain was steep and Katelina had to cling to the trunks to keep from sliding backwards. They skirted around the lower portion of the slope until she was sure they had to be on the other side of the mountain.
A terrified scream sounded in the distance and the hair on Katelina's neck stood up. She hugged the nearest tree and looked to Jorick, silently asking him who it was.
"Hard to say. Come. We don't have time to stop."
The scream sounded again and she let go of the tree and followed as fast as she could.
