Panic began to swirl through him.Had the plants found her already, eaten her?
He listened intently.
Nothing.
Think.What to do?He needed to go back to where he’d woken and move outward.They’d been together.Gweneth should be close.
Ellard slinked along a path, which wound between the trees.Tall, pale pink and uniform trunks stood in rows that reminded him of the castle soldiers on parade.The plants hadn’t followed him into the trees, which told him they needed the heat of the glade, the direct light.Perhaps if he circled the open ground.
The hiss of the plants followed him, and they turned to watch his progress.
Ellard growled.Phrull, those plants were creepy.They were watching him from the clearing, and those closest had already sent out seeking tendrils.Keep moving.Don’t stop.He lurched around the edge of the plants.
Blood.He smelled fresh blood.
He hastened his pace, going so fast that the lack of one leg didn’t seem so bothersome.Phrull, it was Gweneth.Her still form lay on the far side of a small pond.No sign of the ship.
Although urgency urged him to enter the water, he slowed.No knowing what lived in that.Better to go around.Curse those phrullin’ dragons.Why hadn’t they mentioned the carnivorous plants?
Ellard skirted the pond and approached Gweneth with trepidation.Phrull, she couldn’t be dead.She couldn’t.
Blood tricked down her cheek.He nudged her, and when she didn’t move, he licked her face, clearing the worst of the blood coming from a gash in her skull.Gweneth.Gweneth.
Ellard stood back and shifted.
A series of shrieks snared his attention.The tube plants had arrived, circling the pond in a mass, moving in a ponderous fashion, their roots dragging their bodies across the open ground.Already, their green tendrils crept toward the water.
He’d have to move her, go deeper into the trees.Assess her once they reached a safer location.
He bent to scoop her up, grunting at the pressure on his one arm.He almost dropped her before a burst of energy had her sliding against his chest.Phrull, he couldn’t carry her.He’d have to dump her over his shoulder and hope he prevented further injuries.Her limbs appeared normal, but her lack of consciousness bothered him.And the blood…
Panicked urgency gave him extra strength, and somehow, he lifted her until she dangled her over his shoulder.On shaky legs, he straightened and almost face-planted.Gods, this was why he shouldn’t be with Gweneth.His limitations made him a liability.
A sibilant hiss made him jump.How had the bloody plant crept so close?Gweneth slid off his shoulder and he cursed at his inability to save her.A quick glance showed the plants had built a bridge of green tendrils across the pond, and the tubes at the front of the pack were starting to cross.
“Phrull.”He struggled to lift Gweneth again.“Gweneth?”
“Burns,” she croaked.
“Ah, phrull.”A green tendril had slid stealthily around her wrist and burned her skin.Ellard freed her with a jerk and slid his arm around her waist.“You’ll have to help me.”
Gweneth gave another pained moan, and it spurred him to action.He directed her limp body from the path of the seeking tendrils.She moaned but staggered beside him.He followed a narrow path into the trees, trying to help her as much as he could.Once he could no longer see any plants, he halted.
“Gweneth, tell me where it hurts.”He stared down at her, concerned at the renewed path of blood running down her cheek.
“Head.Ankle.Chest,” she croaked after a pause.
“I’m going to check you for injuries.Just want to make sure we’re safe.”
“What were those things?”
“Plants.They tried to eat me.”
A shudder ran through her.“What happened?I remember the storm, and I think I struck my head in the ship.That’s all I remember.”
“We crashed.I couldn’t see any wreckage.”
“So we’re stuck here?”
