Chapter 6- Healing

19 2 0
                                    

     Liana woke, still lying on the rock she had landed on when thrown by the Hellhound. She blinked and looked around. She noticed that in the leaves, about 20 feet away, there was
something shining. The thing glowed bright in the reflection of the morning sunlight.
Wait, morning? How long had Liana been here? She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her entire body when she did. "Ow!" It was very uncomfortable on the rock, but she couldn't move.
There was nothing she could do right now but wait. Wait for something to happen. Wait for someone to come. Wait for a miracle. She couldn't reach the glowing thing on the leaves over there. And no one was in sight.
It seemed to be hours lying alone on the rock, when Liana heard, "Back off, beast!" And a roar followed.
But still, Liana could barely move, so she couldn't see where that was coming from. Now, she heard, "Chiron, search the woods, I'll handle the Hound!" It was Firenze talking. He sounded like he was moving a lot when he talked, and the 'Hound' had to be the Hellhound. So it was still alive, and trying to kill. They were obviously still fighting it.
That's when Liana heard the leaves being trampled on, and the ground below was being hit with hooves every other second. "Liana, Liana are okay? Where are you? Can you hear me? Liana!" Chiron was searching for Liana.
Liana tried to call out, but she couldn't.
Chiron appeared next to Liana within seconds. He asked gently, "Liana." He said it with so much relief. "Can you hear me?" Liana's eyes were closed, so Chiron bent down to check Liana's heart beat. "Still alive, thank god. But you're going to need this." He reached around and lifted a leather bag off his shoulder. He pulled out a flask that was filled with some pink liquid. "Liana, drink this. It will heal you. You'll feel better." He held out the flask, and Liana was thankful that she could at least move her arm.
"Buck, how did it turn out?" Liana could hear Firenze asking the centaur that was mentioned earlier, Buck. Then there was a roar again. "Grab your shield, and take that spear! Help fight the Hound, it's charging!" There was a yelp, and a shout, then all was quiet.
Chiron handed the flask to Liana, and turned to look somewhere further into the woods. Liana was very confused right now. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious. She didn't know what was happening in the woods behind Chiron. She didn't know what she was about to drink. And she didn't know if she was going to live.
But the drink did something odd to her. The instant she swallowed, she felt normal. She didn't feel any pain, and when she tried to sit up, it was fine. She was healed.
"What is that stuff?" She was very curious about it
"Ambrosia. It heals you, though it only works for Seekers, or anyone and anything that belongs in the world beyond the Stone." Chiron took the flask and placed it back into his bag, which he slung back over his shoulder.
"What is the Stone?"
"The tunnel that you got here through. It's proper name is the Stone."
"About that, it appeared after a twig snapped. Was how the twig snapped important?"
"Well, in fact it was. But it was not us. It was the Captors. They threw a rock, which snapped the twig as a quick distraction for you. When you turned, the Captors took your parents and froze your brother, Gabe."
"How could they do all that in under a second?" Liana asked.
     "They travel at the speed of light." Chiron looked annoyed, though not at Liana.
     "Where did they go?"
"That's what we are trying to figure out. You wouldn't believe how many family members of the Seekers they took."
"What?"
"Every time a Seeker comes to the entrance, the Captors create a distraction and turn the family members into hostages. But they can't go into the Stone. There is a protective border that won't let them in. They can only take what is on the outside of the border."
"Okay, but first tell me what the Captors are."
"They are monsters that can transform into anything they want, living or not living. A lot of the time they will transform into trees, then when the distraction is made, they turn into people and take what they desire."
"Is that what that big pine tree was?"
"No. That was a sign, the one that gives a clue about- never mind. Let's not worry about that yet. We need to get you to camp."
"Wait," Liana remembered the sparkling thing in the leaves. "Chiron, there is something in the leaves over there." She pointed to the spot.
Chiron trotted over to it and reached out to brush the leaves away.
It was the parchment.
"It wasn't glowing like that when I first had it." Liana was curious.
"It is glowing now, because it is lost. It is trying to give out a signal as to where it is. You cannot lose this. So it won't let you." Chiron did not pick it up.
"What are you waiting for?" Liana asked.
Chiron looked at Liana. "You have to get it. It has already been touched by you. Another cannot touch it. That would destroy everything." Chiron looked back at the parchment, then walked over to Liana.
He reached out his hand to help her up. She took it and stood. She brushed herself off, from getting thrown through the woods and lying in the dirt on a rock for so long, she got dirt all over her clothes. She reached down and picked up the parchment. Again she felt that shock through her entire body, and almost dropped the parchment.
     But the good thing was Liana was healed, and alive.
     "Okay Liana, let's go take care of that Hellhound, and get you to Camp."

The SeekerWhere stories live. Discover now