Deadlands (The Healer Series, #2) (6 page)

“Don’t worry about it, Willow,”
Declan said simply and trudged on. But how could she not? All sorts of scary creatures tried to attack her and eat her in the Everwild, what she thought to be the most dangerous place on Earth. Well, she thought wrong. The Deadlands were worse, and here she was trekking deeper and deeper into it. To say she was on edge was an understatement.

“We stick to our mission, and if any creature comes between us and the key, we’ll kill it,” Declan said with complete assurance.

Willow resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. She wasn’t stupid. She’s been in this situation before and being confident they will survive was easier said than done.

The stifling air seemed to grow thicker the lower they descended down the slope. Willow wished she cou
ld peel her sweaty shirt off. She was wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt, what she always wore, but even the lighter material of her shirt was clinging to her sticky body. She didn’t want to complain already, since they had just begun their journey through the Deadlands, but if they kept at this rate, she would surely strip down to her underwear if absolutely necessary, whether there were boys here or not.

At least she wasn’t wearing a hea
vy dress like Elirana, but the Elf maiden didn’t seem fazed by the change in temperature whatsoever. Willow’s growing irritation with Elirana was just increasing the longer she was with her. There was just something about her she didn’t like. Her know-it-all, I can do no wrong attitude, for starters.

When they reached the bottom of the slop
e, Willow expected there to be flat terrain so they could continue going forward. However, mounds of rolling hills stopped their route. There was a path to the ravine that they could choose to go around the mountains in front of them, either left or right, or, they could decide to climb the hills. Willow looked up dismally. The giant mounds looked steep and slippery. There was no way she was going to make that climb, even if it was the straightest path to take. She would walk for miles around the mountains to avoid that climb if she had to, even if it made the trip longer.   

 
“Hey guys, um… you should come take a look at this,” Chase motioned to them. Willow walked up closer to where Chase was pointing for a better look. What was this? Carved out of the largest spiny tree in the area were…directions? Willow stood there gawking at the engraving and read what was obviously meant to be a road sign to the crossroads of the valley. Distinctive lettering and arrows were cut deep into the tree and pointed out the directions to two different places. The arrow pointing left deemed it Slaughters, and the one to the right, Grungetown.

“Slaughters and Grungetown…” Chase sa
id thoughtfully and looked at Willow. “What does that mean?”

“Places….
or maybe cities?” Willow suggested.

“I think you may be right, Elirana,” Declan said. “Something, or someone, has made a civilization here. Why else would there be signs
pointing out different places? It’s as if whoever lives here established territories or something.”

Elirana huffed. “No, no, no. This is just...not right!
These signs are arbitrary! There are no cities, towns or anything of the sort in the Deadlands!”

“You’re going to have to get over that,” Willow said
irritably, turning to stare at Elirana. “Apparently things have changed since your people established the Deadlands how many centuries ago? You can’t expect things to stay the same for that long. It’s called evolution.”

“But we made it so that
evolution,
as you say, cannot happen! We built impenetrable strongholds for the captives here!”

“Apparently an Elf’s magic can be broken,” Willow crossed her arms.

Elirana snapped. “Do not judge my race, Witch! Our magic is great. It would take someone with great powers to penetrate the Deadlands and change what we have made.”

“
Whatever. I’m not judging your magic. I’m just saying we can’t do anything to change it now, so let’s just choose where to go.”

“We go straight,” Elirana said stubbornly.

Willow pointed ahead of her. “I don’t know if you realize what’s directly in front of you, but there are freaking mountains there! I say we go around them-pick a path and go with it. We shouldn’t exhaust our energy climbing!”

“We do not know if these places
will lead to the heart of the Deadlands,” Elirana argued. “The straightest path is the surest path.”

“So we
just have to take a chance. What if a giant monster lives at the top of that hill? Look around, we have no clue where we are anyways! Who cares what path we choose?”

“Okay
, okay, girls, stop arguing,” Chase said flippantly and stepped up to them. Willow thought,
Oh crap
,
I’m arguing with Elirana the way Chase and Declan do!

“S
orry,” she said quickly and took a few steps back, putting distance between her and Elirana. “So what do you think, Chase?”

“I don’t like the look
of those mountains. I’m sticking with the Healer on this one, Eli. And from the sounds of those names, I think Grungetown sounds safer than Slaughters.”

“Yeah, Slaughters just sounds sick,” Declan gave his two cents on the conversation.
“We’ll try passing through Grungetown.”

Willow
couldn’t help but notice that Declan agreed with Chase (again), and that rarely happened. She knew how it looked when they argued, and she didn’t want to resort to that behavior, yet here she was, arguing with Elirana like a temper tantrum two year old.

Elirana looked at everyone and nodded. “
If that is the consensus of the group, then Grungetown it shall be.”

With a decision made, they
started walking on the path to the right. The bright orange sun in the sky was beginning to dim. The Deadlands did not seem to rotate in an orb around this sun like a planet. Instead, the orange was growing fainter in color the longer they walked. The circular silhouette was still stuck in the same place. Perhaps it was both a sun and a moon.

There was nothing around besides the plants.
There was no sound of life, no call of birds or the whistles of the wind. The land was dead. Yet instead of getting cooler, as normal weather usually did when the sun went away, the temperature only heated up.

They traveled about a
mile on the path, until it abruptly stopped at the edge of a cliff. “Shh….” Elirana hissed and looked down. She motioned for everyone to come take a look, being careful not to make a sound. Willow looked down on the scene below her. It was a village! From this distance, she could see the whole town.

There were several beat up houses
lined tightly next to each other, each one covered in muck and grim. Cobbled stone roads were filled with piles of garbage and a great stench from the village reached her nose, so disgusting it made her stomach clench.

The filthy, dirty slums of the
village seemed to be thriving. There were lights on and figures moving around the streets, rummaging and yelling, conducting business maybe. Willow couldn’t tell what sort of creatures they were, but hope bloomed in her chest when she saw they could easily bypass the town. Nothing but flatlands surrounded the village of Grungetown, and if they stayed far enough away, no one would notice them bypassing. There was about a twenty foot drop down the cliff, but there was a winding dirt road that led to the start of the town, making the climb down easy.

Declan was the first to speak. “What do you—
”

“Shh!!!” Elirana
whispered frantically and quickly darted across the path to a large bush. She crouched down effortlessly and concealed herself like a cunning hunter. Of course, Chase, Declan, and Willow were right on her heels following her.

“
Did you see something?” Willow asked her softly, her heart racing from the sudden adrenaline rush.

“Something is
coming,” Elirana said barely moving her mouth. Chase nodded his head. Willow sighed. Stupid super-hearing! She wished she had heightened senses like that of a Werewolf or an Elf. It could be useful when the time came, like now. It only increased her fear when others heard things she could not. She had no clue what they heard, but they both looked at each other in agreement that something was on its way.

Willow
quickly grew uncomfortable crouching behind the bush. The heat from the ground rose up to slap her in the face, and her forehead dripped sweat and landed on the ground mixing in with the dust. It was so hot that her sweat evaporated as soon as it touched the ground. It was several minutes before she heard what caused Elirana’s alarm. The gruff sound of voices and thick stomping feet was heading their way, coming from the path they were just on. Willow peered through a small space in the brambles to see the upcoming anomaly. Whatever it was, it sounded huge.

Willow
nearly toppled over backwards when she saw what came into view. Rounding the corner, four massive trolls were flanking a large wooden cart filled with barrels and crates. The cart was being pulled strenuously by two Banshees who were manually holding the handles to tug and heave the heavy cart along. The Banshees each had a chained collar around their pale necks which connected to reins that a small goblin was holding at the top seat of the cart. The Banshees were women with long, straggly black hair covering their hideous hag faces. They wore long black dresses and were walking barefoot. Their gnarly feet were bloodied and calloused.  

The goblin seated on the cart lashed out a small whip t
o make the Banshees move faster- never hitting them, but making sure they knew to quicken their pace. He probably wanted to avoid the piercing cry of the Banshee. Nevertheless, the Banshees’ soft moans were high pitched as they struggled with the laborious task. Their voices were loud enough to make Willow wince. It was like the screeching sound of nails across a chalk board.

The large trolls surrounding the cart were
tall and broad with thick pale green skin. They had bulbous heads, small eyes, and large square teeth. Each troll carried a large wooden club with spikes at the end. They grunted, drooled, and staggered along beside the cart, obviously guarding the prized goods within.  

The cart was now passing them, and Willow held her breath, afraid that they would hear even the shallowest breath she took. Her body was tense, her muscles began shaking with holding the position she was in.
Don’t smell me, don’t smell, I’m not here, I’m invisible. You can’t hurt me,
Willow thought over and over in her head, yet her fear wouldn’t go away.

Just after the cart passed them, Willow heard the
sharp crack of the whip and right after, the Banshee’s piercing cry. High pitched and louder than any alarm she’s ever heard before, the Banshee wailed an agonizing screeching sound until Willow’s ears were ringing with it.

The whip
must have licked one of the Banshee’s on the skin with its fierce sting and the Banshee let out a howl so fierce, Willow felt the ground vibrate from the sonication. Willow instantly covered her ears with her hands to drown out the most shrilling, horrible, gut-wrenching bellow imaginable, but still the sound pulsed in her eardrums and penetrated through her, covering her body with tremors. She shut her eyes tight. She couldn’t bear it! The sound was so sharp it was going to split her ears! She would be deaf! Her mouth fell open of its own accord as her face twisted into a look of pain, but she couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t focus on anything but that god-awful cry.

Who kne
w how many minutes had passed until the cry cut off, but the sound of a woman screaming was still being carried hauntingly through the air. Suddenly, a large hand clamped over her mouth and Willow’s eyes snapped open. She sucked in a breath, feeling scratchiness in her throat. Oh god! She was the one screaming! She was screaming right along with the Banshee, and she didn’t even realize it! The Banshee drowned out any other sound in the area. What had she done?

The bushes parted seconds later and
Willow was staring up into the faces of two angry trolls. Willow thought she heard someone telling her to run, but it was too late! The trolls reached out and grabbed her by the hair and harshly drug her out of the bush, her arms getting scratched in the process. Willow wrenched her body fiercely and screamed bloody murder, but it was no use! Their large hands only tightened the hold on her body.

S
he screamed the names of her friends in her struggles, but she couldn’t see anything, couldn’t even look around the thick bodies that held her and squeezed her so tight she couldn’t breathe. A spell! Disarm them! She quickly tried charging her magic to put these trolls in their place, but then something struck her right in the middle of her head. Lights exploded into her vision. Pale green was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.

Sometime later, a soft voice hissed in Willow’s ear.
“Die, Willow Rose. Your desssstiny is to die. Come to meeee.”
She snapped awake. A vicious headache pounded in her head as she attempted to gain her bearings. She hadn’t heard Hekate’s voice in her head for a while, but it seemed like every time she slept it occurred. A bolt of fear raced down her spine. Where was she? When her eyes finally focused, she was standing chained to a wall with large spikes behind her digging into her skin from the back of her head all the way down to her ankles. It was painful and uncomfortable, the chains were tight against her, holding her immobile to the spikes, but it wasn’t enough to make her bleed.

Soft moaning noises came from
beside her. Turning her head slowly, (because the spikes pierced her deeper when she moved), she saw that both Declan and Chase were next to her, only, they were in a much worse state. Both boys were bleeding profusely from the large puncture wounds the spikes inflicted on them. Blood dripped down from their heads, covering their faces with streaks of red. It was fresh blood, and lots of it.

“Declan,” Willow called to him
tenderly. Declan’s eyes were shut tight and it nearly killed her when she saw tears dripping down his face, mixing in with the blood. “Declan, I’m here.” No response.

“Heal…heal…healer,” Chase
managed to breath out from her right. Willow turned her head and saw that Chase seemed to be doing slightly better than Declan since Werewolves had the ability to heal quickly-not as fast as Willow did, though. Every time a spike tried to dig into her skin to draw blood, her body rejected it, pushed it back, and the tingling sensation that came with her healing was now coursing at full strength throughout her entire being.

“Chase…where are we? What happened?” Willow asked looking in front of her. It wa
s dark and damp, a musty smell was hanging thick in the air. It almost felt like they were in a dank basement. The glint of torture weapons hung from the ceiling and caught the faint light coming from the crack of a large door in front of her. The weapons were jagged and menacing-looking.

“Pa—pu—
ba” Chase started to say, but then closed his eyes and gritted out a painful noise through his teeth.

“Pa, what?” Willow asked.

Loud, but muffled music broke out from above her head. There were hearty laughs, stomping of heavy feet and the scrapping of chairs on a wooden floor overhead. What was going on? Where we they? As the music continued to play, a distinct voice started chanting to what sounded like a very creepy tavern song. Soon, a bunch of other voices joined in unison singing.

The worms of the Earth will eat you alive.

Cr
awl under your skin and suck out your eyes!

10 Brothers were here but none have I.

They met the worms that slurped them dry!

The strange song ended with roaring laughter and raucous movement and chaos. It sounded like there was a swarm of people on the floor above her, having a party and a good old time. The crashing of pots and glass cups reminded Willow of noises typically found in a bar. Wait. Where they in a—?

“Pub,” Cha
se’s scratchy voice finally uttered the word.

“A pub?” Willow a
sked thoughtfully. What were they doing in the basement of a pub chained to torture devices? And why would torture devices be in the basement of a pub? Nothing made any sense! “Wait. Where’s Elirana?” Willow completely forgot about the Elf as she searched the small room frantically with her eyes. There was no sign of her! Did they kill her? Did they eat her? Where is she?

“Heal…puh…lease,” Chase moaned again.

Heal? Oh! Heal! Willow nearly forgot about her powers since she was so concerned about figuring out where they were and what happened to them after the trolls attacked. Thankful that she was within touching distance of both boys, she spread out her arms and managed to take hold of their wrists. She clasped her hands around them and called upon her healing magic to transfer to them. Her hands lit with a yellow glow as it seeped into their skin trying to heal as fast as she could.

Declan sigh
ed in relief beside her. Willow concentrated harder on her magic, urging his skin to close, especially in areas near his head. Declan was precious cargo, so mostly all of her magic was aimed at healing him. Still, Chase received some help as well. Willow saw that Declan was gaining strength and gradually recuperated. His eyes fluttered briefly and were slowly opening as he was coming back to coherency.

“Baby,” Declan said hoarsely,
his pretty hazel eyes met hers, striking her with emotions she was trying to keep suppressed. Willow nearly swooned at him from that endearment, but she remembered they weren’t a couple anymore-even though it was all because of her. She changed the subject quickly, because thinking about their relationship at a time like this well…it just wasn’t a good time.

“
We’re trapped, Dec,” Willow said quietly, continuing to concentrate on keeping his body stable. She could feel her strength already waning as it took a lot of effort for continual healing. Normally, she felt only slightly drained after healing someone, but this was way different. If she faltered, if she stopped focusing her magic into him, the spikes would pierce his skin and he would slowly bleed out, no doubt the purpose of this strange torture device. She had to double her concentration just to keep it together. Beads of sweat formed on her brow. The longer she healed, the harder it was to talk.

Declan seemed to understand this as he scanned over her with his eyes. “
I’m okay, Willow. It’ll be okay. You’re doing great.” Willow only nodded. Declan looked like a hot mess covered in blood, but it just fueled her determination more to stop the bleeding. “Got any bright ideas, Wolf?” he addressed Chase.

“Hmm, let’s see, we’re in iron chains pressed up against a million sharp needles with no strength to even move an inch. I’d say that’s
a big fat HELL NO!”

“Not…helping,” Willow ground out.

“I hear someone coming,” Chase gasped.

“IN HERE,”
a booming voice announced and Willow flinched. They had no time to escape! The door opened and immediate light filled the room. Then an actual light was switched on and the room was completely illuminated. Willow saw that not only were there torture devices hanging from the ceiling, but plain wooden boxes that resembled coffins lined the walls, all of varying heights and widths. In the middle of the room was a strange metal table with chains and manacles. Blood stains covered the floor and the weapons. Apparently, the idea of sterilization assailed whoever worked down here. Willow swallowed thickly, a lump formed in her throat. It was a gruesome torture chamber, and they were the newest victims.

Walking i
n through the door were two large goblins accompanied by an even bigger troll. The room seemed to shrink at the troll’s presence. He was so tall that his head nearly collided with the ceiling above. Both goblins looked similar in features, except one was taller and had long pointy ears, and the other had small, barely there stubs for ears. They were both yellow skinned and had jagged teeth. Strange warts speckled their faces and bodies. They were wearing simple shorts. One of the goblins had a strange looking necklace on.

The pointy eared goblin looked at the three of them plastered to the spikes and snorted. “
This? This is what my Master asks of me to bring him?”

The other goblin fiddled with his hands nervously
glancing between the other goblin and Willow’s group. “Yes, sir. We ain’t never seen the likes of these creatures in these parts afore. Truly the King will know what to do with ‘em.”

“Perhaps,” the other mused. “Yet they are broken, now. He will not be pleased with you, Bagalug.”

The goblin named Bagalug whimpered and stuttered over his words, bowing low to the ground. “My-my-my apologies, my liege. I am but a faithful servant to the Dark Lord’s wishes. Anything…a-anything my Lord asks, we will give. Willingly we will, won’t we?” He nudged the troll in his round belly. The troll snorted a yes.

“You can start by unchaining them,” the goblin said gruffly.

“Right away, right away,” Bagalug said and nearly flew across the room to begin untangling and unlocking them from the wall.

“Keep t
hem chained so that I may keep them in line on my journey back!”

“Yes, yes,” Bagalug said, the
n uttered what sounded like curses in a garbled tongue.

“What was that?” the goblin asked when Bagalug finally released them from the wall of spikes. Willow released her healing magic and nearly fainted
to the floor if it hadn’t been for Declan behind her, snaking his chained arm around her waist to hold most of her weight. She felt light headed and sick, and called upon her healing magic to heal her own body, only, she knew it may take a while for her to recover from that episode.

“Nothing my liege,” Bagalug mumbled and
delivered the three in chains to the superior goblin.

“Show the way out,” he demanded, “but do not go back through the pub. We do not want a riot.
These belong to the Master alone. Who knows what those scum will do if they see this lot!”

“Of course,
of course,” Bagalug bowed low and walked over to a set of stairs that led up to a small cellar door. Chase, Declan, and Willow were being pulled harshly in the chains to follow. Declan was basically carrying Willow. Her back was flush against his front and his arm was tight against her stomach helping her walk.

They made it out of the torture chamber and
burst into the night streets of Grungetown. The streets were buzzing with activity. Fires were burning in metal barrels, random imps, goblins, trolls, and mysterious cloaked figures busied about the streets, laughing, yelling, and talking drunkenly. Landing straight in the middle of Grungetown, the stench of garbage, dirty bodies, and much fowler smells made Willow’s head swirl even more with sickness. She felt like vomiting, but then that would only add to the grotesque odor of the village. She had nothing in her stomach to discharge, anyway.

“Be away with you,” the goblin holding the chains declared fiercely.

“I was instructed to lea
d you out of town,” Bagalug paused and looked at the goblin with confusion. His strange yellow pupils widened. “Did you… not know?”

“Oh, well
…my faith in you has grown thin, Bagalug! I will make sure these
things
get where they need to be, for I am the only one with the right to handle them.”

“
My sources tell me more would be in your company, yet you come alone. There were to be many, right Thund?” Bagalug turned to his troll body guard.

The troll grunted. “Aye. Many.”

“What did you say your name was?” Bagalug asked with narrowed eyes.

“You ask too many questions,” the pointy-eared one said and pulled on the chains and began to walk. “My company waits at the footsteps of town. I did not want them to travel through
this filth and muck.”

“
We are goblins, mate. We love it,” Bagalug said incredulously, as if he wasn’t talking to one of his kin, but a completely different race of creature. “Roiling in it, eating it, raw and ravishing!” 

“
You forget where we come from,” the pointy eared goblin looked back angrily.

“
Which is where?”

“You know where. S
top taking me for a fool!” the goblin grumbled and continued to pull them along.

“Fine!” Bagalug relented
giving in and waving his hand nonchalantly. “Be on your way with ya and that lot, then!” He gave a quick glance to Thund and then smiled maliciously to the other goblin.

“Thank you for your
generosity
,” the pointy eared goblin sneered and then pulled the chains forcing them along at a much faster pace.

The pointy eared goblin kept
close to the shadowy areas underneath the houses and through vacant alleyways. Willow looked around and saw several blank expressions on the faces of the creatures they passed, but they didn’t say anything or stop them. The edge of town was near. The houses were getting sparse, and the bustle of the city noises were decreasing, the clinking of their chains seemed to echo in the dark. The goblin slowed down and kept glancing behind him nervously.

Declan was still holding Willow by the waist. She felt electricity running over her skin which alerted her that magic was charging. It wasn’t hers, though.
Her body was still attempting to recover. She turned her head to look at Declan. Whispering in her ear, he said, “I’m going to fry this bastard.”

“Okay,” Willow nodded
back. “Do it.”

“Really? I’d thought you’d totally be against it,” he teased.

“Not when we’re hostages,” Willow gritted. “Now do it already.”

Just when Declan raised his hand
to fire magic at the goblin, Bagalug and the troll jumped out from an alleyway! Managing to make the goblin holding them jump in surprise, he released the chain in his hand with a startled cry. Carrying a long sword, Bagalug lunged at the goblin’s neck, but he dodged it expertly. The sword, however, managed to slip under the chain of the goblin’s necklace, causing it to break and shatter to the ground in tiny pieces.