The Broken Ones

Chapter 18

Felix:

Before the fairies had a chance to swarm back to continue their attack, we quickly pulled ourselves together and bolted out of the caved area before that was possible. However, I found it increasingly difficult to even move in the slightest as my right leg was tensing up from a burning sensation spreading throughout. Not just in my leg, but in every other place where I had been struck. Kat seemed altogether fine-if you disclude the emotional trauma. But Taylor? She was struggling to breathe by the time we had made it to a place we assumed to be safe. A nasty cut spread across part of her neck, which I was assuming was what was making her breathing difficult, and several over her legs and a couple on her arms. Our clothes were ripped, too.

I wanted to question Taylor, see if she was okay, but before I could, my legs were giving out beneath me and I tumbled to the ground.

"Felix!" she wheezed out.

I groaned at the contact, squeezing my eyes together as I lie breathless against the rough path. "I'm okay," I managed.

She stumbled over to me before dropping down to her knees to help me sit up. Her eyes looked heavy as she glanced me over.

"You guys look terrible," Kat said.

Taylor gave her a sarcastic smile, along with a slight shake of her head. "Maybe you could check the book. See if there's a solution to our-"

Before all her words were even out, Kat was swiftly skimming through the pages in the old, crumbling book. "Cavernae Fairies," she muttered to herself. Her eyes lit up when she stopped at a certain page.

Quickly, she shuffled over to where we were sitting. I was finding it harder and harder to keep my eyes open, but I tried my hardest to listen to her words.

"Cavernae Fairies, possibly one of the most aggressive creatures in the forest, easily angered and fatal. You can find these particular fairies mainly in dark, musty areas with plenty of caves, relating to their name, in which they prefer to be hidden. Mainly Omnivorous, however, they tend to favor their herbivorous side, unless you find them in a more brutal area of the Non Nomen forest."

Guess we were lucky enough to be in the more "brutal" side, then.

"What makes these creatures so hostile is their sheer aggressive spirit, and the spears they are accompanied with. These spears, although on the outside, not very threatening, actually can be quite dangerous, their tips coated with a fatal venom found in certain fungi in the forest. This venom, in the worst circumstances, is deadly. At first, the cut appears normal but quickly spreads throughout your system with the toxins, leaving veins of purple and green. For more information, look for Fairie Encyclopedia on page 45.

"To heal these wounds, you are able to find a certain serum within specific trees surrounding the forest, simply by cutting into the bark where the liquid will be flowing. Drink the serum as quickly as possible before the venom spreads too far. The wounds shall heal completely with the antidote, internally and externally. Picture of tree to left."

Kat stopped reading to observe the image printed to the side. It was a tree, a smaller one than I imagined, with a thin trunk coated in pale bark. What made the tree stand out was its dark purple leaves. She ran her fingers across the picture before looking up at us. "Perfect," she smiled. "Now all we have to do is find the tree."

"Yeah, okay." I snorted at the suggestion. Nothing came that easily in this forest, at least not yet. "Easy. I'll just wait here then while you guys do that, and then you . . . you can . . ."

"Felix?"

My eyes grew heavy and my vision blurry. Gradually, the feeling in my fingertips faded as well as my legs. Dammit. I really didn't want to pass out, but the growing, nauseating feeling over me began overbearing. A gasp of worry sounded beside me as my body fell to the ground once more.

I felt pathetic. I couldn't even help them as I watched through slits in my eyes as they quickly jumped up, looking in the book frantically for something. Kat was speaking to Taylor, however, their voices were just ringing in my ears. My ragged breathing began to slow to a more drawled out pace.

Taylor nodded at her. I watched as she glanced at me for a moment, the fear in her eyes sending my stomach downwards, and then she and Kat bolted off through the clearing. It was brighter now than in the cave area, so I could make out what they were doing even from here. Kat ran between trees, looking them up and down until she was out of my sight, Taylor following her actions.

Just as she approached another tree quickly, she stopped just as fast, frozen. I had no clue what she was doing, and I was unable to ask her. Here I lie, helpless.

Her eyes started drooping as she leaned into a tree for support. I watched her bring her hands up to her throat. At that moment, I realized-she couldn't breathe.

Oh, God. My mind was going wild. All I wanted to do was sprint over to her as quickly as possible, to help her, at least call for Kat. But Kat was nowhere in sight, and Taylor was desperately trying to take in air.

I managed a simple twitch in my fingers, then limp and useless to watch Taylor gasp and clutch at her stomach and throat.

Please, I screamed in my mind. Please, no. And then my eyes shut, blind to the rest of the world.

Contacts:

Email: 55leftturns@gmail.com

Tumblr: 55leftturns

Thanks for reading!