No.
Please,I ask.
No. Noxlyn said our side was winning when they left.
Yeah, well they’re probably not now, now that their biggest weapon is gone.Redara doesn’t say anything, and I close my eyes and try to think about anything other than the battle or being trapped down here. After it’s been silent quite a while, I ask,Is it starting to get dark yet?She doesn’t answer, and that doesn’t feel like it’s good.Redara?
Not yet.
I close my eyes against the rising panic. It feels like hours pass, but I really have no idea. My check-ins with Redara go longer and longer in between, and I try to keep my hope alive. And then I finally hear something. “Harper!”
My head jerks up, and I close my eyes against the pain in my legs. “I’m here!” I shout back.
“Harper!”
“Rauk! I’m here!”
“I’m here. I’m coming for you, okay?”
Relief crashes through me so intensely, it’s hard to breathe. He calls out to me several more times. Each time he sounds closer, but it takes a long time for him to get close. “Harper!”
“You’re close,” I tell him as hope crashes through me again. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the vines being cut down inches from my head. And then suddenly, his face appears.
“Found you.”
I stare at his face as relief crashes through me. The only thing I can move is my head, but I keep my gaze trained on his face. He uses his blade to cut down some of the branches around us,and then he slides on his stomach towards me. I watch him with growing unease. “Is that how you got to me? On your stomach like that?” I ask in horror.
“Yep. You did not pick an easy place to hide.”
All the frustration and fear I’ve felt for the last few hours suddenly rushes forward. “You think I did this on purpose? I am not hiding. I fell down here and got stuck and couldn't get back out and was terrified. If you think—”
“Hey,” he says, interrupting my tirade. “I was just teasing; but it was a bad joke and bad timing. I’m sorry you were scared, and I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” His words are so gentle, and so at odds with what I’m used to from him, I can only stare at him.
“Who are you and what did you do with the other Rauk?” I ask quietly.
He smirks. “Okay, I deserve that. We’ll have lots of time to chat when we get out of this mess. We’re going to have to crawl out. It's going to be a tough go; I’m not going to lie to you. But we’ll get through it.”
And just like that, the hope crumbles in my chest. “Rauk,” I pause and meet his eyes in the near darkness. “I can’t move my leg; I think it’s broken.”
He doesn’t make a sound. And then he says, “Okay.”
“Okay?” I question. “I can’t move. How am I going to get out?”
“We’ll figure it out.” His voice is calm, too calm. “Can I check it out?”
“Yeah.” He moves, and watching him, I realize how bad it is inhere. He can barely move. He finally gets down to my leg. “Try moving it.” I do and nothing happens. I feel his hand, and then pain explodes from my leg.
“Stop!” I shout as agonizing pain rolls over me.
His face is next to mine a minute later. “It’s broken.”
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
He's quiet a moment. “I think we might have to have help.”
I close my eyes in defeat. There’s no help to be had. Anybody that could help is currently fighting for their lives. I force my breathing to slow down and try to find my calm. Then I turn my head towards Rauk, even though I can no longer see him with darkness closing in. “Thanks for coming in after me. Sorry it was a waste of time. Hopefully, when you come back tomorrow in the light of day, it will work out better.”
His low chuckle surprises me. “Harper, Harper. What am I going to do with you?”
