Calypso Initiate

Chapter Eleven

There's movement underneath me. My back scrapes against something rough as a force pulls me by my arms, dragging me slowly with short tugs. I know I'm on the ground. I can feel dried leaves crunching beneath my armor as I move, grass brushing on my bare cheeks.

I pry my eyes open, my lids as heavy as lead fighting to stay closed, but I manage to push them up. It takes a few seconds until I can see through the blur. Tall grass spread on either side of my body. The wind stirs and they shift along with the ceiling of trees overhead. But something else moves among them. Something too fast for me to see. It leaves a trail of blurred lines and disappears faster than I can blink. Am I imagining it? I'm not sure.

Noise explodes in my ear from every direction, some I think are words but I can't bring myself to make sense of them. There are too many things going on. Too many movements. And every tug from whatever is dragging me brings nausea rolling up my throat. I open my mouth for air but end up choking in it.

Blackness wavers in front of my eyes and I have to close them again. My face feels feverishly hot. Pain throbs around my skull and the whole thing feels swollen as if ready to crack open. I wonder if I had hit my head.

I try to fight the ache. I try to push the dizziness down, swallowing it like a bitter stone. But I feel weak. So weak I can barely function.

"Stay awake," says a voice.

I roll my head further up, my eyes trying to see through my lids until I spot a silhouette. When my vision clears, I see that it's a man. His hand wraps around both my wrists as he drags me while the other holds a pistol. He fires it several times, and I hear something drop on the ground. Something must be chasing us.

I try to recognize him, but his constant pulling sends my world spinning. My stomach swirls, rising like a tide up my throat. I clamp my mouth shut just to keep myself from vomiting, forcing to take in slow and even breaths. But an invisible weight presses on my ribcage, keeping me from breathing normally.

I can feel my strength waning away with my consciousness. Like a weak flame that's about to go out. My vision blurs. Darkness creeps at the edge of my sight as the trees mix into an obscure swirl of greens. My eyes roll back in my head and everything goes black.

"Shit!" I hear the voice again. "C'mon Archer! Don't die on me!"

But he seems so distant now, like we're in two separate worlds. The stillness drapes over my senses, thickening with every breath. I feel myself sinking deeper into a sea of blackness, my body getting lighter as though every part of me is fading along with my thoughts. There's not a fight left in me, and what's surprising is how freeing it all seems. Letting go somehow makes sense. I can rest now. Sleep until everything goes away.

But something reaches into the darkness. Like a pair of hands digging into a wall of shadows, pulling me out. I hear a voice calling my name. Then something sharp goes through my chest. My lids flutter. Light fills my irises and I open my mouth to gasp for air.

"Archer," the voice says.

A shadow casts over me, its figure sitting by my side. It takes a moment before I can see clearly and my dark eyes meet a pair of gray ones. The man's face relaxes.

I manage to cough his name out. "Vincent?"

He pulls the sharp object out my chest and I catch a glimpse of the syringe in his hand.

"You scared me there for a moment," he says nearly out of breath. "Welcome back."

I try sitting up but my body feels like cement. "What the hell happened?"

"Bullet Nepters," he says.

He slips an arm behind my back and carry me slowly so I can sit. But it's too difficult to stay upright and I end up leaning my head on his shoulder.