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CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

Ryker

We weren’t going to make it to the encampment. The children didn’t have that in them, and the wind threatened to blow some of them away.

Ianto carried one under each arm while trying to shelter the others. I’d created a barrier with my lightning to protect everyone from the bolts hammering the ground as we huddled together.

While they were safe, I didn’t know how long that would last as sparks flew, trees shattered, and branches crashed. When a tree exploded next to us, the women and children cried out as chunks of wood flew. Some slipped through my barrier to pelt us.

Water poured down my face, blurring my vision and pulling my hair into my eyes. I wiped it away, but more replaced it as soon as I did.

“We have to find somewhere to shelter!” I shouted over the storm.

“We can’t keep going this way!” Tucker yelled. “We can’t go near the river. It’s probably already flooding.”

He was right, but I didn’t know where else to go. We stopped to look around, but it was almost impossible to see more than ten feet ahead of us, even with some of the amsirah holding the wind and rain at bay.

When lightning hit another nearby tree, I started forward again. We couldn’t go near the river, but we couldn’t stay here.

I didn’t know how much further we traversed before someone shouted behind me. When I glanced back, I discovered one of the women pointing toward the right as she yelled something I couldn’t understand.

From where I stood, I couldn’t see what she was pointing toward, but when I retreated to stand beside her, a hole in the side of the hill came into view. It was impossible to tell how deep it went or if it would offer us protection.

“Can you climb up there?” I shouted at Callan.

The nimble musician nodded, and a few seconds later, he started scaling the small hillside toward the opening at the top. He slipped a few times, and more than once, he skidded back down the hill before grasping something to stop his descent. After a couple of minutes, he made it to the hole.

He scrambled into the opening and vanished before returning a few seconds later. “It’s an alcove! It will be a tight….” The storm tore his words away. “Should… fit!”

“Do you think it’s secure enough to hold up against the storm?” Tucker yelled.

“Tree roots… interwoven… I think… it… up!”

Filling in the blanks told me that he believed it would be safe.

“We don’t have a choice!” Ianto bellowed.

We didn’t, but getting everyone up the hill was going to be a bitch.

“Let’s go!” I yelled.