The Healer and the General

Part 21

For what felt like hours, Eric sat in the forest, unable to move or touch his magic. Anger at his mate and fear for her, coursed through his veins. The twins can stop her. They had to. They haven't checked back in, but that could mean anything, Demi taking their magic as she did him, was only one possibility among many. Right?

Logan? Parker? Eric tried and tried to contact them, but had no luck.

We're here. Relief filled him, and dread. Eric knew the next sentence before anybody said it. She got away. Sorry. It wasn't their fault, but he still felt angry at them. And so Eric sat there. Waiting, until he could feel his magic again and take back his mate. Then he felt it. Nobody else would've felt it, but to him, it was like a shock wave.

Demi had left the territory.

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Demi felt the boundary along her skin like oil. She knew that the feeling would be quite painful if she hadn't lived in the southern lands once. Demi felt a strange urge, a tug really, trying to pull her back across the border. And even stranger, she felt like it was Eric.

Demi could practically feel him at her side. She could smell his scent of rain and nature, just earth in general. At that moment she realized that she had come to depend on Eric in the past few weeks. His steady presence, his warm eyes, and his beautiful smirk were all reliable comforts that she wished for. Demi just about walked back over the boundary.

Gods, she needed to focus. As soon as she got the plant, she'd head back to camp. "Back to Eric," she whispered under her breath. Demi laughed at herself. What was she turning into? A lovesick puppy?

Demi tried to focus on the task before her, she still had half a tree to cross. After finally making it across, she made her way to the purple plant. So far everything in Demi's dream had come true, except for the ground opening up and swallowing her. Perhaps it was just a way to end the dream dramatically? She thought sarcastically to herself. Careful to avoid edges, Demi walked to the purple plant. She felt like something was missing like something should go wrong, like it would be too easy. Not that any of this had been easy.

Then she heard a twig snap. It had been fairly loud and close by. Demi reached for a weapon that she didn't have. Only now, did she realize that she'd come unarmed, except for her magic. Demi was so close to the plant that would fix everything, and against her better judgment, she ran the last couple of feet. She reached her hand out, almost able to touch it when the ground opened up, and she fell in.

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Demi opened her eyes to darkness all around her. Looking up she saw some light, meaning that the sun was going down. She didn't have a lot of time. "In three days' time, the children will die," Demi muttered, pretty close to having a panic attack. She wasn't claustrophobic, but small spaces weren't her favorite, and she didn't have necessarily happy memories when it came to darkness mixed with a limited amount of room. Taking a deep breath she stood up and tried to see her surroundings.

Demi couldn't see very well in the dark but knew that she was in a deep hole of some kind. Running her hands along the dirt walls as high as she could, Demi tried to find the opening but had no luck. All it did accomplish was knocking dirt into her eyes. Panic seeped in, Demi was in enemy territory, and who knew how long she'd be stuck in here. And what did Eric think? Demi had said she'd come back after she got the plant. It wasn't supposed to take this long. Did he think she wasn't coming back?

Unhelpful thoughts raced through Demi's head. "Eric isn't what I should be focusing on in this situation!" Scolding herself, Demi continued to look for any type of foothold. If she could climb out, she could get the plant and go. And get back to Eric, her mind added unnecessarily. Gods, what was wrong with her?

When Demi finally found a foothold, she began to climb out. It was completely dark, and she couldn't see anything. Before she reached the top she hit her head on something metal. "Ow!" Demi tried to feel what it was, but lost her grip and fell to the ground. "Shit." She had landed on her already hurt ankle.

"Guess I'm stuck in here," Demi felt the joint and could tell that it was a bad sprain, nothing she would waste magic on when she was already pretty low. She heard the familiar snapping of twigs, mixed with quick footsteps. Demi almost stopped breathing. Please be Eric, please be Eric. Her mind chanted.

"Well, hello down there." It wasn't Eric.