The Girl Named Sapphire (Book 1) #Wattys2014

The Split Up

"Welcome to the underworld." Kirito announced; everything was dark.

Randy began messing with his contacts. "Ugh, these contacts are really irritating."

"Stop rubbing your eyes, it's just going to make it worse." Itachi smacked Randy.

"And you might wanna remove that jacket, so no one sees it." Kirito pointed at it.

Randy looked at his back, and he slipped it off. He handed it to Kirito, who put it in his back. He shock his sword, making sure it was secure.

"Alright, the fist thing we need to do, is making our way through the canyon to find Allen. Once we find Allen we can look for the Staff of Demons." Kirito said.

"Why do we need to find Allen first?" Sapphire asked.

"Allen is the only one who can control the Staff of Demons, and I believe Allen would be a good addition to our team."  Kirito put his hand on his hip.

"Alright the canyon isn't far from here. Once we get there; we'll have to watch each other's backs. This place is crawling with all kinds of demons, and creatures." Itachi explained.

"Then, let's head out." Randy smiled.

"So this is Devil's Pass?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, if we want to find Allen, we need to make it through here." Itachi pointed.

Sapphire, Randy, and Kirito nodded. "Lets go."

They walked down the long passage. The walls high above their heads, the dark red clouds didn't make the place seem any friendlier They came to a cross roads. A gust of wind ran up their backs. Kirito pushed the other three out of the way, avoiding a shot of red energy.

The red energy filled the air, making Sapphire woozy. She clenched her head, leaning on Randy. A huge scorpion like demon appeared in between them. It hissed at Sapphire and Randy.

Kirito pulled out his sword and slashed at the monster. The monster turned around, destroying the wall that separated the two path ways. Itachi and Kirito were able to escape, while Randy wrapped his arms around her from the back; jumping backwards away from the demon.

Randy flipped himself over in the air, making it so he landed on his back and Sapphire landed on top of him. He sat up laying Sapphire on the ground. He placed his hand on her head.

"Damn it, she's burning up." Randy felt her pulse. "Her pulse is speeding up too."

"Randy." She panted. "It hurts."

"I know, come on." Randy pulled her off the ground.

"I can walk by myself." She said pushing herself off the ground.

She took a few steps only to fall, and be caught by Randy. She couldn't support her own weight; Randy put his arm around her neck as she did his.

"Come on, I'll help you walk." Randy said.

"No, I can-" She pushed herself off of him trying to walk, when she fell again being caught by him. "Walk." She finished.

"Sapphire, I insist letting me help." Randy pulled her onto his back. "Hear, I'll just carry you."

Randy carried Sapphire on his back as Sapphire's fever started to rise even higher. She laid on his back with her eyes closed, but not asleep. The creek next to them along the trail, hoping that the soothing sound would help Sappire.

"How you doing up there?" Randy asked Sapphire.

Sapphire coughed, "Yeah I'm fine."

"Maybe we should rest." Randy placed Sapphire on the ground.

He put his hand on her forehead. He reached into his bag and pulled out a rag. He walked over to the creek and wet the rag. He came back over to Sapphire, and put the rag on her head.

"Hopefully this water will help bring your fever down." Randy said.

"Randy." She whispered with her sore-throat. "You don't have to do this, just leave me here. I'll mae it out of here. You don't need to go through this trouble for me."

"Don't talk like that, I'm not leaving you here." Randy said.

"Hey, are you guys OK down there!" Some yelled from the top of the cliff side.

Randy looked up to a light blue haired 14 year old girl. She swiftly climbed down the cliff and landed next to Sapphire and Randy.

"Who are you?" Randy asked.

"I'm Mayrin." She smiled."I could sense this girls energy, and it was out of balance." 

"Could you heal her, by any chance?" Randy asked.

"I might be able to, but if I can it won't last long. The reason I came was to see what this weird energy was." Mayrin tried to find Sapphire's pulse.

Randy sat patiently. 

"Her energy is really out of balance." Mayrin said with worry.

"How off balance is it?" Randy asked.

"If you put it on a scale, one side would be in the ground, the other would be in the sky." Mayrin took the rag off her forehead. "Here get this wet again."

Randy did what Mayrin asked, and brought it back to her. She softly rubbed Sapphire's head with the rag.

An hour passed before Mayrin had finished. "There, Sapphire's energy is balanced for now, but it won't stay like this for long." 

"So I should just let her rest?" Randy asked.

"That's be best." Mayrin stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are other travelers I should take care of."

"What, that's it?" Randy asked.

"My job here is to help the people in this pass survive, you're welcome." She said running from them.

Randy sat down next to Sapphire. He wrapped his arm around her, and made her lean on him. She laid asleep in his warm grip. He curled his index finger and and softly stroked her cheek with the flex. She dug her head into his side; fast asleep.

"Everything is going to be fine." Randy said kissing her head. "Everything will be fine."