Shaman - An Enchantress Novel Book 2

Chapter 6

After a couple of miles, the gentle decline away from the cabin turned sharply up a steep, rocky incline. Adie traced the meandering path between the trees with her eyes, noticing that the trail led back on itself about a quarter mile above them. She gauged the terrain to be moderately steep, though not beyond her capabilities.

“If we go straight up we can cut a good five miles from the trip,” she observed. “Do you think you could manage the climb?”

He looked at the mountainside and shrugged. “I’m game if you are.”

The climb was harder going than Adie had thought, but she managed to navigate round several large boulders and overhangs that blocked their path. They emerged from the dense vegetation at the edge of the trail in less than twenty-five minutes, both of them panting.

“If… you can do… that again… we’ll be halfway… there,” Rick managed to say between gasps. “The trail curves… round the other side… of the mountain… about three hundred metres… up.” He pointed up, directing Adie’s eye to the trail above them. The lack of vegetation on the rocky face made it clearly visible. “Then it’s downhill… the rest of the way.”

“Maybe rest for two… minutes first,” she puffed, pulling the water bottle from the side pocket of the rucksack. After taking several swallows, she stood and did a few stretches to try to ease the burning in her calf muscles.

“Ready?”

“Lead the way.”

Adie used a small amount of her magic to re-align a few tree roots, providing them with hands grips to could climb the near vertical dirt face blocking the last fifty feet to the trail. Both collapsed on the dirt path, breathing heavily in the altitude-thinned air, relieved to have made it.

Adie sat up, turning to Rick who lay on his stomach with his forehead resting on his arm. “You Okay?” she asked.

“Uh huh.” He didn’t have enough breath to elaborate.

Shuffling her way backwards, Adie leaned against the rock face and, using an aching hand, brushed her hair back from her face out of habit. A cool breeze kissed her bare neck thanks to the shorter length.

Barely three feet separated the rock face Adie leant against from the edge; several large stones tumbling over when she stretched her legs out. They ticked against the rocks below as they dropped beyond sight. Movement in the distance caught her eye as she absently watched a few more fall. She strained to make out what she first thought was a person, but after a few seconds, realised several people were moving quickly along the trail.

“Rick?” she whispered, alarm evident in her voice as she reached across to tap him on the shoulder. “I think there’re men heading up the trail. Do you think they’re the shifter and his friends from last night?”

He sat up, instantly alert, to scan the area she pointed out. “Shit, there must be about twenty of them,” he said after a moment. “Maybe fours hike or 12k behind us as long as they stick to the trail.” He jumped to his feet and offered her a hand up. “Rest time is over. Think you can jog down the other side for a few Ks, we’ll have to stick to the trail because the trees and undergrowth are too thick to gain any advantage.”

“How far till we reach the shaman?”

He huffed a breath out. “About ten ks.”

She took a deep breath herself and did a quick calculation in her head. “Ten ks, that’s just over six miles,” she stated and nodded once. “Let’s go.”

She set the pace a little slower than she normally ran because the thinner air had her breathing heavier. With the loose grit surface and steep drop that waited on one side of the trail, she needed to be sure of her footing. They rounded the sharp turn at the top of the incline that Rick had indicated was the turning point, she heard him breathe a sigh of relief at the sight that met them.