Rescue: Part 5

Amelia laced her fingers with Katie’s, took a deep breath and plunged into the darkness hoping everyone would follow.

The cave was long and dark and the passageway as getting narrower and narrower. Amelia saw a light ahead and took a burst of speed, her heart racing. She felt the comforting presence of Katie next to her as they all entered the dimly lit room.

Amelia looked around, taking in her surroundings. It was a wide cave, lit by a single candle. There was a cauldron in the corner and a small waterfall dripping soothingly in the very back. Sitting on a rock, smack dab in the middle was a man dressed in a loin cloth and a fur cape. He had dark skin and dark hair weathered by his nature setting. His eyes were dark and mysterious and sent a chill through Amelia’s body. It was the Shaman.

“How may I help you?” the Shaman asked in a gruff, airy tone.

“My friend was killed and I need your help to bring her back from the dead,” Amelia explained, her eyes filled with pleading.

“Why can’t you? I sense you are a powerful being.” the Shaman murmured.

“I am powerful but not with the power to bring back the dead.”

“Ok, I will help you, but you must gather the materials I need.”

“We can do that.”

“I will make a potion that will call your friend’s spirit back from the dead. To make this potion I need a great many things. I need four pine needles from the owl’s sycamore tree. I need a cup of sand from the spring of life 40 paces to the left of the owl’s sycamore. I need a pebble from the river 212 paces to the right from the spring of life. And lastly, blood.”

“Whose blood?”

“Your blood.”

“How much of my blood?”

“A liter.”

“And where is the owl’s sycamore?”

“You will know when you have found it.”

“How?”

“The owl speaks. He will call your name when he senses your need.”

“Ok, we will do it.”

“I need two of your friends to stay here and help me make preparations.”

“Ok, Susan and Summer can do that.”

“I also need one of your friends to stay outside the cave to mark where you started.”

“I will,” Maggie volunteered.

“And one last catch,” the Shaman murmured.

“What?”

“It has to be done by midnight.”

“Anyone know what time it is?” Amelia called to her friends.

Maggie looked at her watch, “Eight O’clock,” she read.

“And I need fifteen minutes to prepare the draught,” the Shaman added.

“Ok,” Amelia agreed, “how are the paces measured?”

“Heel to toe.”

“Ok thank you.” And with that Maggie, Katie and Amelia raced out of the cave to begin their gathering.

When the three girls went out of the cave Amelia turned to Maggie.

“You didn’t have to volunteer to stay here,” Amelia said thankfully.

“I know but we don’t know if this guy is dangerous or not. This way there is someone who stayed behind who has very good self defense.”

“Good thinking! Ok we’ll be quick.”

“Good luck!”

“Thanks we’ll need it.”

Amelia started running in the direction of where the woods thickened with Katie close behind. She stopped running and slowed to a walk gazing around at the forest surrounding them.

It was dark and an owl hooted in the distance.

“Come on let’s go that way?”Katie suggested.

“I don’t think it’s that way.” Amelia replied shortly listening carefully.

“Why not?”

“I hear an owl farther off in that direction?”

“Why go to the one farther away?”

“It’s calling our names.”

“Then how do you know its an owl?”

“It’s hooting in between each name.”

“I’m sorry I doubted you,” Katie said. “Let’s go,” she agreed lacing her hand with Amelia’s.

Amelia immediately relaxed a little bit. And they walked towards the owl. As they got closer it grew louder, “Amelia... hoot... Katie.”

“You want to hear an owl joke?” Amelia asked.

“Ok.”

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Owls.”

“Owls who?”

“That’s right owls hoot.”

“Wow.”

“I know right? Best joke ever?”

“Totally,” Katie said smiling.

Katie noticed Amelia’s hand move toward her sleeve. Katie shrugged it off and kept walking. She walked a few paces then stopped. She heard a noise. The sound of cloth rubbing on skin. She looked down at Amelia and saw her rubbing her left wrist rapidly.

“Amelia!”

“What?”

“I thought you were done with that?”

“Done with what?”

“That,” Katie said pointing at Amelia’s wrist. Amelia looked down and saw that she was scratching. She quickly ceased the action and turned bright red. She pulled back her sleeve exposing an irritated red spot.

“What’s wrong?” Katie said, her voice gentler now.

“I don’t know. I swear I have stopped! I just... I don’t know I’m doing it sometimes.”

“Ok.”

“You believe me don’t you?”

“Of course! Now what’s wrong?” Katie asked sitting down on the leaf strewn ground, signifying that they weren’t leaving until Amelia explained herself. Amelia sat next to Katie and pulled her knees to her chest.

She sighed, “This is gonna sound really stupid...”

“Its ok. What’s going on?”

“I guess I’m worried about the blood.”

“So am I.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, I mean that is quite a bit of blood.”

“I’m just so weak from all my past injuries. Today my mission felt hard instead of the usual ease. I’m scared that losing that blood is going to kill me.”

“Well then don’t do it.”

“I can’t not do it, I have to save Lauren.”

“Even it means losing your life?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were fighting with Lauren?”

“I am but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to save her. I have to. I would save my worst enemy. I need to do this.”

“Can’t it be someone else’s blood?”

“No it has to be mine.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“Why?”

“Your my bffl. I care.”

“I know you do just wanted to check. I’m not going anywhere.”

“How do you know? You just said this could cost you your life.”

“I know but I’ve changed my mind.”

“You can’t change your mind about that.”

“Yes I can.”

“Why did you?”

“You care,” Amelia said sticking out her tongue. “Come on, we better keep moving if we are going to keep the deadline,” Amelia decided, standing up and reaching out her hand to pull Katie up. They kept walking and finally came to the owl’s sycamore tree that was calling their names.

Amelia reached out and tried to take and handful of pine needles, but the tree interrupted her. “Uh uh uh, not so fast.”

“Why not?” Amelia shot back.

“You have to answer a riddle first.”

“Why?”

“Cause I said so.”

“Proceed.”

“A man is lying dead in a field of sunflower’s and he is stark naked and holding a pice of straw. There are no tracks for three miles around him. How did he get there? Why is he naked? And why is he holding a piece of straw?”

“He was zapped there by pink elephants from mars. He is naked because the pink elephants feed their prisoner’s clothing to their purple and green striped piranhas. He is holding a piece of straw because he poops straw cause he is a magical human and the elephants found out he pooped straw and thought he was possessed. So they dropped him from the moon and he fell and died holding his poop and naked cause the piranhas ate his clothes.”

The owl was now laughing so hard that he didn’t notice when Amelia reached up, grabbed four pine needles and started counting her steps heel to toe, moving rapidly away from the tree. Katie realized what had happened and caught up to Amelia.

“Was that really the answer?”

“Of course not.”

“Do you know the real answer?”

“Of course. Him and his friends rented a hot air balloon. They took a joy ride and it started loosing air. They took off their clothes to lighten the load, but of course that didn’t work. They drew straws to see who would be pushed out and he drew the shortest straw. He got pushed out and died.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?”

“He would have said I was wrong. He didn’t want us to get the pine needles.”

“How did you know that?”

“Intuition,” at that Amelia stopped walking in front of the Spring of Life. The spring was a long waterfall at least twenty feet high. The rocks sparkled with a unnatural sheen. The sand at the bottom of the pool was orange and the water as blue as the sky.

Amelia placed the pine needles inside her cloak, which was off invisibility mode right now, and reached in for a cup. She dipped the cup into the spring and came up with a cup of perfectly dry sand. “Hydrophobic,” Amelia whispered in awe.

“What?”

“The sand repels water.”

“Woah.”

“I know right? I’m surprised there is no booby trap here.”

“Maybe the Shaman is on our side.”

“Maybe.”

The two companions turned around ready to leave and came face to face with Wadjet. Wadjet was the protector of all Egypt. She is called the cobra-goddess. While she was one of the main goddesses she made duplications of herself and sent them all over the world. They are tricky creatures and can only be killed when stabbed in the heart.

“The only way you can get past is to elect one of you to fight me,” Wadjet hissed.

“Fine,” Amelia said stepping forward drawing her sword.

“Without weapons.”

“As you wish,” Amelia said sheathing her sword.

“Amelia what are you doing? Are you crazy?” Katie hissed worriedly.

“Trust me.”

“Ready yourself,” Wadjet announced changing into cobra form.

Amelia gazed intensely at the cobra, attempting not to be scared. She locked eyes with the snake and began bobbing her head in time with the snake. The venomous creature began to follow Amelia’s movements exactly. Amelia began to hum a small tune and the Wadjet’s eyes began to droop with sleep. After less than five minutes the huge body of the serpent fell to the ground. Amelia drew her sword and drove it into the snakes’ heart. Wadjet shifted back to human form, dead.

“You did it!” Katie exclaimed running over to Amelia and hugging her.

“It was no big,” Amelia said modestly.

They started counting their paces and reached the river quickly without running into a single creature. The forest seemed deserted.

The river babbled and bubbled the water slapping the shore heavily.

Amelia bent down and picked up a pebble and quickly pocketed it. As she was standing up she heard something in the water. “Run,” she hissed at Katie.

Katie turned and ran and hid behind a tree out of site.

From the depths of the river came the Ra’zac. Amelia gasped and put a hand on her sword. “We have been waiting for you Ms. McKeefry,” the Ra’zac hissed.

“Stalkerish much?” Amelia commented. But that comment cost her. The Ra’zac lashed out a claw with wicked speed and hit her arm. Her arm bled freely and she fell to the ground. Amelia muttered a quick healing charm and mended her arm. She was just about to get up when out of the shadows came Katie, running. She jumped in front of Amelia shielding her from an approaching sword.

Amelia winced when she heard the sword meet Katie’s flesh.