Diversion To Urasha
Chapter 19

James sprung free from the cave, leaping into the arms of his rescuer, barely even fathoming the fact that it was Phil who had freed him. Phil’s arms enveloped tightly around James’ body, and for a while, the two men hugged, relieved that they were both okay. Once James’ resentment began to wash away his relief, he freed himself from his captain’s grasp, hugging Zach instead. The truth was, James was glad that both men were okay. James was glad that Crystos appeared alive and well, too. James didn’t know for sure, but it looked as if Crystaline had just given her brother a massive hug. James hoped that the two siblings had hugged one another. They probably both needed it. With a grin, James gave Crystos’ hand a manly shake. “Boy am I glad you’re okay,” he said. James’ eyes found Crystaline. Her expression had changed. She didn’t look relieved anymore. She looked worried.

James scanned the landscape all around him, or what was left of it anyway. At that point, he must have looked the same as Crystaline, as the true horror of the situation dawned on him. This was no longer a landscape, scattered beautifully with an array of cliffs and boulders. This was devastation, complete, total and utter destruction. The air was dusty, filled with the cloudy billows of the tiny little remnants of boulder dust. Then there were the rocks, broken rocks everywhere, some of them stained, deep crimson red.

James’ eyes shifted once again to Crystalines’. Those black pupils of hers were fixed, focused on something in the distance. James followed Crystaline’s gaze, recognising Morcees’ back, hunched over some fallen debris.

Crystaline gave Crystos a searching look, wanting answers from her brother. Crystos merely responded with a grim sigh, provoking Crystaline to walk over to Morcees. James couldn’t help it, although something told him not to, he followed Crystaline anyway.

“Morcees,” Crystaline began to call, as casually and as nonchalant as possible. “Morcees! Where’s Borcees?”

At that very moment, Morcees’ shoulders tensed, rising in response to Crystaline’s mentioning of his best friend’s name.

“Morcees,” she said again, this time, only metres away from the back-turned man. “Where is he?” Before Crystaline could force Morcees to look at her, she paused, dead still, immobilised with horror, as the horrific sight struck her like a bomb. Instinctively, Crystaline placed her hand over her nose and mouth, protecting her airways from the fumes of rotting corpse.

James came to a sudden standstill only inches behind Crystaline. Although James wanted to run, to flee from the awful sight in front of him, he could not move. James was too shocked, too horrified to even summon the slightest bit of strength into any one of his muscles.

Borcees was no more. The Urashan man was dead, shredded to pieces by what James could only assume was one of the gershers. The man’s face was barely recognisable. He had a long bloody gash running from his left eye, right the way through to his neck. Borcees’ chest was blood red, mixed in with black crumply remnants of his clothing. His expression was neither pained nor peaceful. It was just...just impassive? Dead.

James shook his head, too shocked and disturbed for words. Crystaline’s strained whisper of Morcees’ name was barely audible, though it managed to turn Morcees around at last.

“WHAT?” the man shrieked, eyes blood red, lacerated by his own tears. “He’s dead! Borcees, my best friend, he’s dead. Gone!”

Crystaline shook her head, stepping back from the enraged man. She turned once again to her brother, her face crumpling with yet more anguish as another thought hit her. “Chugga-Chugga,” she whispered, at first to herself. “Chugga-Chugga!” she called out this time, loud enough for her brother to hear her. “Where is he?”

Crystos’ expression grew grimmer, yet his eyes shifted this time, to a boulder just metres in front of him.

Crystaline and James both followed Crystos’ gaze. James watched as the boulder grew redder and redder, the blood seeping out from underneath it. James felt his heart exploding. Something else had caught his eye. Although his body felt too numb to move, James approached the boulder, bending down to pick up the chain of purple leaves. This was the necklace that Crystaline had made for Chugga-Chugga, and that could only mean one thing - the blood oozing out from the boulder belonged to Chugga-Chugga. Chugga-Chugga was dead.

Crystaline practically ripped the chain from James’ hands. He watched as she held it tightly to her chest. She looked exactly how he felt, as if both of their hearts had been completely and utterly obliterated.

“We need to get out of here,” Crystaline whispered, her eyes filling up with tears. She looked towards her brother. “Crystos,” she shouted frantically, “we need to go, we can’t stay here.”

Crystos placed a calming hand on Crystaline’s shoulder, trying to shush her. “I know, I know,” he softly cooed. He turned to the rest of the group. “My sister is right. We can’t stay here. It’s far too dangerous. There is no telling when the gershers will be back. Nightfall is approaching. We need to leave.”

“I agree,” Phil chimed in.

Zach inclined his head in Morcees’ direction. “What about him? I don’t think he’s gonna be in any rush to leave his best friend.”

“Morcees,” Phil barked. “We’re leaving, let’s go.”

James watched as Morcees’ shoulders tensed up again. It looked as if the silver eyed Urashan had kissed his hand, and then placed it on the dead body of his best friend. To James’ relief, Morcees stood up, ready to leave this scene of devastation.

After a few hours of silent reflective travel, the group had managed to replace a suitable resting spot, just in time for nightfall.

James tugged on the short purple grass which cushioned his body, studying the darkness all around him. That sound - the one of the river flowing nearby was such a grating, maddening sound. All this, Borcees’ and Chugga-Chugga’s deaths, they had all been for nothing. Water was only ever a few hours away. James and Crystaline had not needed to ascend that cliff, after all.

James studied the overhanging structure of the cliff sheltering him, then he looked towards that river, and the three fruit trees which surrounded it. Food was nearby too, fancy that. James couldn’t help but wish that he’d kept his big mouth shut. Why did he have to mention the water shortage? Why? So that Borcees and Chugga-Chugga could die, that was clearly why.

James shifted his gaze over to Crystaline, watching as she sat opposite the purple fire. Okay, so that talk in the cave had been necessary. James knew that he’d helped her. She’d said so herself. What were her words? He had “freed” her? Yep, that was a good thing, one silver lining to emerge from this dark heavy cloud at least. James watched as Crystaline gave Chugga-Chugga’s necklace another longing squeeze, sniffing it for any remnants of scents from her creature friend. Crystaline didn’t look so free now. In fact, she looked quite the opposite, the darkest James had ever seen her.

Then there were the others. Zach, Phil and Crystos, all three of them silent, desolate, lonely. Then there was Morcees - poor Morcees! As much as James had never liked the guy, he wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even his worst enemy. To lose his best friend was just awful. James thought of Lottie. To lose her was just unthinkable.

James thought of his own trauma. To see Borcees, a man he’d seen alive, all suddenly torn up like that. It was horrific, and quite literally the worst thing James had ever seen in his entire life. He’d never seen a real dead body before. That fact had only just dawned on James. Quite stupidly, he’d not thought about the horrible sights he would inevitably witness out here. How pathetic. His father should have provided him with enough warning. His father! James winced, trying to keep the images of his father lying there, all torn to pieces at bay. Had the same happened to him? James shuddered, trying to summon any image into his brain, any image which would not depict his dead father. The boulder, the blood oozing out from underneath it, Chugga-Chugga! James felt his heart bleeding. He felt a stitch unraveling, allowing the blood to gush free from his loving organ. James loved that lil fella! Literally, Chugga-Chugga was awesome, a true friend. The lil guy had brought him and Crystaline together. It was only yesterday when the baby animal had followed him through the forest to comfort him. It was only yesterday when the three of them had consumed that gold fruit, playing in that river without a single care in the world. How things could change. In the single snap of a second, things could really change.

James felt his heart rate increasing, yearning for something. What was his heart seeking? James knew, his heart was seeking Crystaline. He needed to talk to her. He just had to.

James got up onto his feet, beginning his tentative journey towards Crystaline. With his breath nervously quivering, and his heart wildly pounding, James sat beside Crystaline, watching as she gave the necklace another longing squeeze. “Are you okay?” he whispered, managing to swallow down a tear provoking lump in his throat.

Crystaline sighed, her eyes fixed on the purple flame in front of her. “It was my fault,” she whispered.

“No,” James croaked in return. “None if this was your fault. It was mine. I should have never...I should have never even mentioned the water shortages.”

Crystaline’s eyes shifted to James. She looked confused, perplexed? “James, you did right to mention the water. We weren’t to know that we would replace this river. I... you heard what I last said to Chugga-Chugga, how mean I was.”

“Crystaline, you said it yourself. You had his best interests at heart. He wouldn’t have been any better off up on that cliff with us, would he?”

Crystaline shook her head, disagreeing with James’ reasoning. “Wouldn’t he? Maybe if I hadn’t have admonished him, maybe he wouldn’t have been so compelled to save me.”

James’ head fell below his shoulders. “He saved you because he loved you,” he whispered. “And besides, Chugga-Chugga was killed by a boulder, not the gersher. So, none of this is your fault.”

Crystaline just shook her head, her eyes moving down towards the purple necklace in her hands.

James studied Crystaline, remembering the little rivulet of blood on her head. The cut looked dry. Dry but sore. Instinctively, James wafted his hand through the air behind him, searching for the supply bags. He found them, the one with the healing supplies. “You really ought to get that cut looked at,” he whispered, hoping for a better response from Crystaline this time.

Crystaline shifted her eyes back over to James, searching his expression for what? His motives? His intentions?

James ignored Crystaline’s hesitant expression, delving his hands into the bag to soak a clean cloth with water. Once he was done, he slowly raised the cloth towards Crystaline’s head. She recoiled away immediately, as if James’ mere touch would bring her pain. James looked into Crystaline’s eyes, noting how her frightened, wary little pupils would not leave his. “It’s okay,” he gently whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to heal you.”

Crystaline’s face scrunched up into a tumultuous ball of anguish, yet she moved her head slightly closer to James, her eyes still not leaving his.

With his arm and his hand trembling, James slowly moved his arm through the air, until eventually, the cloth made contact with Crystaline’s pale delicate skin. James felt his breath hitching, just as he noticed Crystaline taking an extra gasp of air into her lungs. As he worked the cloth over Crystaline’s wound, James took extra care to be as gentle as possible, massaging her broken skin instead of rubbing it. Her eyes would not leave his, and those breaths of hers, they were heavy, rapid.

Once satisfied that Crystaline’s wound was all cleaned up, James got rid of the blood-soaked cloth, swapping it for the blue healing bottle. “Just a smidge of this?” he delicately asked Crystaline.

Crystaline nodded, still searching James’ eyes with her own.

James twisted off the lid, squeezing a small droplet of fluid onto his finger. It hadn’t occurred to him that just touching this fluid with the intention to heal, might actually provide even the healer with some form of relief. Although James’ finger was not injured, he could still feel the surges of healing power working its way through his finger.

Like he did with the cloth, James slowly raised his finger to Crystaline, until his skin met with hers. Crystaline’s skin was soft, silky, beautiful! James studied her stunning face, and all its perfect features. Her lips were red, moist, and slightly parted. Her nose was perfect, with not a crooked bend or bump in sight. Then there were those eyes, those exquisite, regal golden eyes. For some unfathomable reason, these beguiling eyes would not leave his. James had done something, something to gain their full attention. James’ eyes left Crystaline’s for just one final brief moment, watching with satisfaction as her wound disappeared completely. Then James’ eyes returned straight to Crystaline’s, noticing her proffering out her hand at the corner of his vision. He wondered what she wanted. Did she want the healing fluid? The cleaning supplies? James’ mouth would not speak, for right now, his intent eyes were taking up all his energy.

“Your turn,” Crystaline whispered, allowing a bit of action to surge through James’ body. Without breaking his eye contact with Crystaline, James passed her the healing fluid, and the bag with the water and healing cloths.

Crystaline shuffled closer to James, her eyes never leaving his, as her legs touched his.

James felt it. That little impulse. That little quiver. That little charge. He watched as Crystaline began work on his own head wound. He felt how gentle she was being. How tender she was being. The pain from the wound, it was no more, and Crystaline hadn’t even applied the healing fluid yet. James watched Crystaline intently, anticipating the moment when her dainty little fingers would make contact with his very own skin. Once Crystaline began to work the healing fluid into his skin, James let out a euphoric gasp. This feeling, it was indescribable, like no one else were here on this planet. It was just him and Crystaline, with her gorgeous sparkling touch. James raised his hand, caressing Crystaline’s healing wrist with his fingers. She flinched, looking cautiously into James’ eyes.

“I’m sorry,” James whispered, realising that Crystaline might have an issue with being touched tenderly by a man.

Crystaline held James’ hand to her cheek, just as her eyes welled up with unshed tears, with anguish. “Do you think I’m a bad person?” she whispered. “For doing the things I’ve done?”

James’ face scrunched up in pain. “No,” he softly assured her. “You’re a person who’s been caught up in bad things, but you’re not bad. It’s bad that’s happened to you.”

“I don’t enjoy it. I never enjoy it. I avoid it whenever I can. I never want to do it again.”

“You never will do it again, not with one of those vile creatures. I’ll make sure of that. It’ll be someone...someone you love next time.”

Crystaline gave James a gentle disbelieving smile. “Love?” she whispered, trying to decipher the four-letter word in that brain of hers.

“Yeah…love,” James whispered in return. “I miss him too, Crystaline. My heart bleeds over Chugga-Chugga just as yours does. He was my friend too, and all I want, all I want right now is to hold you, the one person who feels the exact same pain that I do.”

Crystaline’s breath hitched, whilst her eyes continued to assess James’. Then her soft rouge lips parted. “Then do it,” she whispered. “Hold me, please.”

James took Crystaline in his arms. She sunk right into his body, wrapping her arms around his abdomen, as he enveloped her fragile little body within his protective arms. James felt it, he felt that little surge of electricity, pulsing through his body in perfect sync with Crystaline’s heartbeat. As he felt her soft, delicate body in his, James felt that she was ready to crumble, that her body might just shatter into tiny little pieces at any time. James wrapped his arms even tighter around Crystaline, endeavouring to keep her in one piece. He would never let her break.