Branches of Life

Koa spun our bodies around as we roughly fell to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall. One arm was wrapped around my back, while the other cradled my head to his chest. When I raised my head, I saw blood staining his shirt, my blood. Raising my hand, I not-so-gently touched the side of my head, flinching at the sudden pain. My fingers came away stained red with my blood.

The sounds of the others groaning, muttering curses, and climbing to their feet, drew my attention away from my bleeding head. Koa's arms refused to budge when I tried pushing myself off of his chest. Somehow he managed to stand up, all the while cradling me to his chest.

'I wouldn't try and fight him on this. His dragon is on the brink. Let him take care of you.' From Rowan's warning, I knew she figured it out. Mates tended to lose control when their mate was hurt.

I finally registered our surroundings and was surprised I didn't notice how fucking hot it was sooner. The ground was made up of volcanic rocks and crusted over lava. I wasn't surprised to discover a lack of a sun in the smokey gray sky.

A crashing roar drew my attention to my left, where a jagged cliff face made up of some sort of red rock had a waterfall made of lava—a lavafall?—pouring into a lake of more lava. Several miles to my right sat a smoking volcano, that better not be erupting anytime soon.

Now that my face was no longer buried against Koa, I was able to smell the acrid air, smelling like sulfur and something akin to burnt matches only a hundred times stronger. This wasn't my ideal vacation spot, not by a long shot. But I preferred the open landscape to the ominous forest.

After debating on where we should rest, we finally agreed on following the narrow path winding up the cliff face. Apparently, Ander was able to see the opening of a couple of caves. I was against this plan, as the path would take us right behind the waterfall of molten lava.

The path was maybe three feet wide, forcing us to go one at a time. Koa refused to put me down, and at this point, I was too comfortable to complain. Well, that and I had zero desire to attempt walking on this narrow path as we got further and further from the ground.

None of us spoke as we made our way up the path, more focused on our new environment, and the new creatures that might attack. I figured none of the creatures from the forest would follow us through the portal, but I still kept glancing in the direction of where we came from. Just in case.

Our pace drastically slowed when we approached the flowing lava, throwing off some serious heat. My shirt was just about soaked in sweat, and I wasn't even exerting myself like everyone else. This region was stupidly hot and had me wanting to strip naked.

As we passed behind the lava, we pressed ourselves as close to the wall as possible. Koa angled his body so it shielded mine. I was starting to believe he was the perfect man for me. He carried me up narrow paths, kept me from getting burned by lava, and gave me multiple orgasms. Now I just needed for him to start telling me the important shit I needed to know, and oh yeah, stop being an asshole to Ander.

Lava splashed off the flowing stream and hit Wyatt and Ari. Both of them stringing together swear words in rather colorful ways. It was actually pretty impressive.

Halfway up the cliff, but still too damn high in my opinion, we came across a small opening of a cave. Wyatt took one for the team and scouted it out. Several minutes later he returned, confirming it was empty.

"If you're wrong, we're leaving you behind to be eaten," I grumbled as my feet brushed the wall of the narrow cave. The low ceiling was only a couple of inches above Koa's head. After a couple of minutes, the passageway widened to nearly six feet across as we neared a dead-end.

Wyatt pulled out a glowing green crystal the size of a fist and set it in the middle of the floor. Despite its size, the crystal threw off a decent amount of light.

"We should take turns on watch," Ander murmured, eyeing the passageway. He remained standing several feet away from the rest of us as he leaned against the wall, popping dried fruit in his mouth. "I'll take the first watch."

"Jay, let Harm take a look at you." Ari's words were said to me, but her focus was above my head.

Reluctantly, Koa set me down, keeping his hands on me for longer than necessary. Not that I was complaining. When he backed away, he left me feeling almost cold, which was ridiculous since it was fucking boiling here.

All traces of adrenaline had worn off and I was now feeling every throbbing ache and pain. Every time I breathed too deeply, I was reminded of the existence of my cracked ribs. Standing on either side of me, Ari and Harmony helped ease me into a sitting position, with my back resting against the jagged wall.

"Your cut has nearly healed," Harmony murmured, pushing my hair out of the way of the gash at my temple. Her focus drifted down my face to my neck, her fingers lightly tracing the tender area. "Is this what I think it is?"

Obviously, I couldn't see my own neck, but our instructor had shown us pictures of the burnt handprints wraiths left behind on their victims. The handprints were nothing like a regular burn. For starters, it was black, almost like the skin was charred. It also took at least a day to heal, if you were lucky enough to survive. "Yes, I was lucky enough to encounter a wraith."

After I detailed all of my injuries, Harmony gave a long whistle. "That wraith really did a number on you."

Giving a noncommittal grunt, I looked away, not wanting to admit how I received most of my injuries. Unfortunately, my sister knew me too well. "You're leaving something out, aren't you?"

"Stupid fucking trees," I griped, crossing my arms. Or at least I tried to until I remembered my ribs and fucked up shoulder. Growling under my breath, I dropped my arms uselessly to my sides. Ander tried to hide his chuckle. A courtesy Ari didn't even attempt, her snorted laughter echoing throughout the cave.

After observing my injuries, Harmony said, "I'll have to reset your shoulder. Ari, can you hold her still?"

Ari pulled me away from the wall, sliding behind me and gently wrapping her arms around my midsection, careful to avoid my ribs. At Ari's nod, Harmony grabbed my arm and eased it up. A sharp bolt of pain shot down my arm and I gasped, irritating my ribs. Harmony quietly counted down from three. Jerking my shoulder back into place before reaching one. That sneaky bitch. My eyes were squeezed shut so tight, I saw bursts of light as I gritted my teeth against the burst of pain.

Harmony pulled out a floral-scented salve and smeared it on my shoulder, hip, forearm, and ribs. She pulled out another jar, this one smelling vaguely minty, and proceeded to rub it over the burnt handprints. "Where did the lava get you?"

Knowing better than to argue with Harmony when an injury was involved, Ari shifted out from behind me. She lifted her shirt and showed us the burn on the back of her shoulder, that was already healing. If a human doctor saw the burn, there was no way they'd believe it was from lava. Harmony applied the minty salve and then turned her focus to Wyatt. He tried to refuse, saying he was fine and that it would heal on his own. Naive fool, that shit didn't fly with Harmony. A fact he quickly learned.

"Jay, try and keep your shoulder still until it's healed. You should eat something and drink plenty of water," Harmony said as she applied the salve to Wyatt's arm. From the look on his face, he wasn't too happy about it.

Ander tossed some snacks to Ari and me, before heading toward the entrance of the cave. I all but devoured the food within minutes, trying and then failing to open my thermos one-handed. Heaving a sigh, I sat back, too stubborn to ask for help. Rolling his eyes, Koa grabbed the thermos from my hand and twisted the lid off before handing it back to me. With a muttered thanks, I chugged down the water.

My black thermos, like my bag, was not as it seemed. The metal was imbued with elemental magic, so that the water never ran out, and remained cold. Perfect for going on a trip to an inhospitable realm, with questionable water.

Shifting around, I tried finding a comfortable position leaning against the wall, but the rough and jagged surface was unyielding. A pair of hands gripped my hips, gently lifting me and placing me between Koa's thighs. He loosely wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my back against his warm and hard chest. Somehow the heat from his body didn't overwhelm me, or make me feel like I was overheating. It was the strangest thing. All of my tense muscles immediately relaxed, and my body sank back against his. My hands trailed up to his hands and began tracing the veins and tendons.

"Are we planning on using random portals, hoping one will lead us to the demon's territory? Or is there a way to tell the portals apart?" Startling asked, shifting her bag around, trying to get comfortable.

Wyatt leaned back against the wall across from me, his legs stretched out in front of him. "Not without magic."

"So just to summarize everything; we're headed to the demon's territory. Which we don't know where it is. And even if we did, it's not like we can just walk to it, because oh yeah, there's a fucking river in the way. Full of all sorts of horrifying creatures. We can't make our own portal because, again we don't know where it is, and the last one you made fucked up. And there's also the fact we aren't allowed to use our magic. Have I left anything out?" It was a serious struggle to keep my voice at a low whisper when all I wanted to do was yell.

"I'm open to hearing your plan." Wyatt closed his eyes, dropping his head back against the wall. None of us responded, knowing damn well we didn't have a better plan. "We shouldn't stay here too long. Once Jade's injuries are healed, we'll be on our way. I don't know how often the volcanoes erupt here, and I'm not too keen on finding out. Nor am I in the mood to find out what creatures live here."

"Do you feel the energy of the next portal?" Starling asked, bringing her knees up to her chest.

Without opening his eyes, Wyatt answered her question. "I feel the energy, it's faint. At least ten miles away. Hopefully, we can avoid gaining attention. I have a feeling the type of creatures living here aren't the type we can fight without magic."