The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) (6 page)

"Oh," I replied, noting the disappointment in my tone. For a brief moment he'd been a connection to Theo.

A heart-aching blink of my eyes and I pushed forward, dusting my hands down my pants and stumbling to my feet. Remnants of the dizziness determinedly clinging to my mind.

"We need to keep moving," I suggested, suddenly wanting to put as much space between me and the
Gi
stronghold as we could.

"Definitely," the doctor agreed. "Are you able to run?"

I wanted to laugh, but I lacked the energy.

"Maybe walk, I'm not so sure of running."

"Have you fed?" he asked, cocking his head to the side to study me, as though he'd see evidence of the fuelling of my
Stoicheio
on my face, or in my frame.

"A little, but time's not on our side. It'll have to be enough."

He nodded and then replaced his lighter with a compass from his pocket. He check the direction and then nodded off to the left, indicating the path we needed to take.

I was too tired to argue or question his plan. He obviously had one, and right now I was not in a position to complain. Without him here I'd have to rely on the Earth to guide me, and although that was a pretty solid plan, it also had a major downfall. If the Queen's Guard, or the
Basilissa
herself, got too close, the Earth could be compromised.

I hated doubting my
Stoicheio
, but for now I had no choice. I was still in enemy territory. I needed the hell out.

So, that left me with the doctor, whose name I didn't even know.

We'd been hiking several minutes by the time that realisation hit. Taking a short pause under the canopy of a S
eringueria - or rubber - Tree, I turned to my unexpected ally and asked, "So what's up, Doc? Got a name?"

He laughed, a deep chuckle, and swung to face me. "Noah," he said, surprising me with its un-Greek like sound.

"Noah?" I queried. "That's..."

"Not Greek," he supplied.

"Yeah."

A shrug of his shoulders. "Just because the
Athanatos
are centuries old, does not mean we must all conform to time's traditions." Now that sounded more like an elitist immortal.

"OK," I said with a small smile.

His eyes studied me closely for several long, and rapidly becoming uncomfortable, seconds. I shuffled my feet under his intense stare.

Finally he gathered himself enough to murmur, "It's still another two hour trek from here, so let's get to it."

Two hours. I wasn't entirely sure I could do two hours.

One hour in and my clothes were soaked with sweat and moisture from the humid air. My lungs were straining for breath, my heart was beating a cardiovascular workout fit for an aerobics
instructor, and my feet had actually become numb.

I wondered if I could get gangrene after so short an amount of time barefoot in a jungle. I
dreaded to think of what diseases and infections I was subjecting myself to. But the Earth seemed to make each footfall gentle and soft, protecting the tender flesh of my soles. Even though I couldn't trust its direction and compliance when still so close to
Gi
land, I could trust it to show care. The Earth was rejoicing in my return.

I should have been too. But so much had happened to weaken my resolve. I gained what sustenance I could from Earth's delicate touch, but my mind was replaying my captivity relentlessly, like a horror movie that just wouldn't stop.

Davos was dead, but I couldn't take solace in that fact. He got what he deserved, but I knew there were a hundred more Davoses out there, ready to step into his evil shoes. I'd never met the
Basilissa
, but Davos had mentioned her once or twice. From what he'd said, I'd gathered he answered to her and her alone. And if it was her instruction that led to my captivity and torture, then meeting the Queen was the last thing I wanted to do.

And yet I couldn't help thinking she was hot on our tails, breathing down our necks. About to burst out of the foliage, scattering small creatures in her path, and blazing green from her eyes as she brought me to my knees. She was a shadow, a threat, that wouldn't go away.

So, I kept putting one foot in front of the other, accepted what the Earth offered in support, and followed behind Noah the Doctor with ever increasing drooping lids.

The sun set at some point, turning the forest into a foreboding and darkened place. Noah became a little edgy, but even without light to mark our paths, I felt at ease. My natural affinity to Earth, and all its abundant plant and animal life, setting my nerves to rest. Strangely Noah didn't share that same affinity. I wondered if he was a weaker
Gi.
Theo had said I was exceptionally gifted. Something like the direct descendant of an elder. Noah was probably nowhere near as old as Theo; probably only a fifth, sixth or further generation of
Athanatos
.

By the time we'd come to a vine covered opening, in what appeared a rock face surrounded by tree life - something that simply appeared out of nowhere before my eyes - I had stopped thinking and was only operating on automatic; one step in front of the other. I was exhausted. Battered and bruised still. My body succumbing to fatigue, my mind already lost some time ago.

"Here," Noah said, lifting the branches of the vines and ushering me inside. "This is far enough away from the compound for us to be safe. It's also shielded against
Gi
detection. Make yourself comfortable while I gather some food." His eyes flicked over my weary body. "I suggest you feed your
Stoicheio
," he offered.

"What about yours?" I mumbled, as I shuffled past.

"Mine's fine," he said dismissively, and then let the vines fall once I'd crossed the threshold.

Inside was damp and musty, a sweet cloying smell that I associate with vegetation mixed with the clean scent of spring water. I heard the trickle of a stream come from the back of the cave, and watched, mesmerised, as the light from fluorescent algae along the back wall, above the running water, gradually brightened.

I sank to my knees gratefully on the edge of the stream and dipped my hands into the clear liquid, splashing my heated face and then drinking cupped palmfuls to slate my thirst. I felt a million times better immediately. So didn't waste any time using the water to wash the dirt from my hands and feet, and with a quick look over my shoulder to determine Noah was not yet back, proceeded to give myself an impromptu bath.

I'd had to hand wash myself for the past three months, never knowing if Davos would storm into the room while I performed my ablutions. I'd gotten very good at carrying out my daily hygiene routine in the thick of the night. Davos tended to leave me alone during the darker hours. He was a creature of habit, which thankfully worked to my advantage until today. Where he took things one step further.

After completing my task and feeling infinitely better for it, I moved my aching body across the dirt and leaf strewn floor to rest again a wall of the cave. The moment my back came in contact with what I had assumed was rock face, I realised I'd misjudged our shelter. It wasn't a cave, but a hollow. Inside an enormous tree. The algae was lichen on the bark of the massive and intricate internal trunk and root system. The stream somehow existing beneath the plant and not hindering its structure with rot. I guessed the types of trees that existed in a rainforest were more adaptable to wet environments, but on closer inspection the roots had managed to grow around and above the trickle of water, drawing hydration when needed, but avoiding any adverse effects by its proximity.

Nature, or the Earth, is a very clever thing.

I settled into my spot, feeling the tree accommodate my position, softening its trunk to cup my back and provide a snug seat to rest in. I sighed, closed my eyes and finally succumbed to the doctor's suggestion.
Stoicheio
rushed through me as the Earth hummed in contentment, surrounding me with comfort and sustenance, fuelling my starved soul, attempting to repair the hideous damage my isolation had created.

I was sure it would take multiple feedings to bring myself back to anywhere near normal
Gi
capacity, but I took what I could and the Earth gave me what it could spare. By the time the doctor returned, I was almost asleep, weary beyond compare.

Big meals can do that to you, but the part of me that is human also needed to feed.

Noah pushed through the vines at the entranceway and glanced in my direction, a large fish hanging from the fingers of one hand. You'd think being in tune with the Earth, its plants
and
animals, I would baulk at eating its bounty. But I was hungry and I was not born
Gi,
so although the fish was still whole, its bulging dead eye staring back at me, my mouth watered and my stomach growled.

The doctor chuckled at the sound. "Arapaima," he said holding up the fish. "The most popular food fish in the Amazon. I'll start a fire and we'll eat well tonight."

I didn't offer to help prepare the fish, my body was beyond movement and thankfully the doctor could tell. Twenty minutes later a small fire had been set beneath a gap in the tree above us, to allow the smoke to escape, and Noah was gutting and cleaning the fish. The smell of cooking meat filled the hollow not long after, and for the first time since our drastic escape I began to feel my body truly relax.

Still, I had to ask, "Are we really safe here?"

Noah sat across the space, leaning against the tree's trunk, turning the fish over the fire on a long twig. I noticed the tree hadn't adjusted itself to make his back snug. Maybe I'd subconsciously used
Stoicheio
to achieve it, and the doctor didn't feel the need. In any case, he shifted several times trying to get comfortable before he answered my question.

"I scouted this hollow several months ago, before you arrived. I always thought it would be a good place to go if war broke out, so I reinforced it with some shields and have kept an eye on it since. No
Gi
has ever come close. I believe we're safe."

I supposed the war he talked about was between the Elementals, something similar to what had happened in Auckland when the
Gi
came to take me. It could easily happen here too, from what I understood of the dysfunctional relations between
Athanatos
. But being here now made me realise, if the doctor was aiding me, maybe I could finally get some questions answered.

But first, the most important.

"Why are you helping me?"

He turned the fish over twice before answering.

"The
Basilissa
believes you to be the answer to their plight."

"They have a plight?" I asked, when he seemed to stall.

"Of course. Deforestation of the Amazon is something we all should be concerned with."

"And how does she believe I can help them with that?" I could see no correlation between myself and the drastically reducing size of the world's largest rainforest.

"You have to understand the effects of deforestation on a group of people in tune with the Earth."

My stomach roiled nauseatingly at that thought. How close to the forest the
Gi
were, both physically and elementally. Could they feel the Earth's cries of pain when swathes of the forest were culled? Did it make them as sick as the thought alone was making me?

"You understand," Noah murmured, bringing the fish out of the fire and beginning to break off the cooked flesh for us to eat. "Deforestation has been going on since the
Gi
moved here from Greece in the 16th Century," he added, while he distributed the pieces of food onto two large sized leaves. "In the past forty or so years it has increased exponentially. To the point where hundreds of thousands of square kilometres have been destroyed. The effect on the
Gi
has been devastating."

I suddenly didn't feel hungry for the fish.

"They first noticed that their
Stoicheio
was not as efficient as it had been before," he continued to say, while he handed me my 'plate' of dinner. I picked at the fish, its smell succulent and flavourful, but nausea making it impossible to eat. "Then they realised their connection to Earth was spasmodic. At times it would refuse commands from the strongest of the
Gi."

"The
Rigas?"
I asked, managing to swallow a piece of fish out of necessity. We'd have to move on tomorrow, I needed all the strength I could get.

"Yes, and the
Basilissa
. Both have had their command of the Earth tested over the past few decades."

"I hadn't noticed," I murmured, remembering how powerful the
Rigas
had appeared in Auckland. How inconsequential I felt when he overrode my commands to the Earth and listened in on my conversation with it too. He'd seemed omnipotent.

"Yes, even so, they mask it well." Noah ate a few mouthfuls of fish before going on. "But the real problem began thirty years ago. They stopped procreating."