“If you vish me to promise that, you must first make sure you never do anything to deserve it.”
“No worries on that account, Elf.”
“Victor – he vill grow it back?”
“Yeah. It may take a few hours and it will hurt a lot, but he will. Don’t lose any sleep over him.”
“Ve must get avay from here.”
“We will, darlin’. We will. Let me get these damn needles out of you first. That is, unless you’ve become attached to your lovely ‘decorations’ by now and would like to keep wearing them?”
“I have not!”
He proceeds down the length of my tail, quickly pulling out the needles and tossing them away, then working on the ones in my penis. The last one to go is the one sticking into my glans. That hurts more than I had expected. A drop of blood wells up, but Logan wipes it away with a finger. “Sorry, darlin’.”
I nod a little and smile through clenched teeth.
He glances around, trying to get his bearings. “OK, we’ve gotta be far from here before Victor recovers enough to come lookin’ for us. How far are we from where we were being held, and which direction did we come from? I lost track after the first jump.”
“About two kilometers, I think.” I prop myself up a bit and look around, then point.
Logan leans forward over me. “Then we’ll go in the opposite direction. Put your arms around my neck, I’m gonna carry you.”
“I can –“
“No, ya can’t. Do as I say.”
As he lifts me in his arms, a sharp spasm tears through my guts. I cry out, clutch his neck even harder, and then pass out.
After that I have no consistent memory of what happened for the longest part of our trek through the jungle. I suspect I was unconscious much of the time, with fleeting episodes of half-consciousness mixed in.
The next thing I am sure of is hearing Logan’s voice. It seems to come from far away, but with each repetition it gets louder.
“Kurt! Elf!! C’mon, darlin’! I need you here! Kurt, please!!”
His words penetrate the merciful darkness that held me safely away from my body while he plodded through the rainforest with me in his unwearying arms. At first I try to ignore the disturbance. I am so comfortable here. No pain, no fear, just a fog of nothingness. But the voice is relentless. He jogs me slightly. A sharp spasm of pain parts the curtains of my semi-conscious peace.
“Logan, vas –?” I murmur resentfully, trying to force my eyes open and my mind back into alertness. Briefly, I hope we have reached safety, but the greenery still surrounds us. Bleary-eyed and confused, I realize we are on the bank of a wide stretch of water.
“I’m sorry, darlin’, but I gotta try to see where we are and figure out if we need to cross this river or not. I’m gonna have to set you down so I can climb one of these trees, and I don’t want ya lyin’ here unconscious and vulnerable. Do ya understand me?”
“Ja, I understand,” I assure him.
As gently as he can, he lowers me down onto a fairly smooth spot of ground at the base of a tree. The trunk is so wide that both Logan and I holding hands could not easily encircle it. There are no branches lower than about 50 meters.
“You should be OK here, but could you ‘port up to one of those branches if you had to?” he asks.
He is covered with cuts and welts from insect bites, in varying stages of healing. For the matter of that, so am I. But that is the least of my worries. My gut aches, I am weak as a kitten, and far beyond just exceedingly thirsty, not to mention shaking with cold, despite the high temperature of our surroundings. If I do not get treatment soon, I will die, and not in a particularly pleasant manner. But it will not help to point that out to Logan. He may have guessed, but if he has not, I will leave him in ignorance for now. He has enough to worry about.
I look up at the branches, forcing my mind to focus. “Ja, I can get up there if I must. Go,” I urge him.
Extending his blades, he literally claws his way up the trunk until he reaches the lowest branch, then is quickly lost to sight in the thick foliage. All I want to do is pass out again, but I must not. There is always the possibility that Victor is tracking us even now, not to mention all the possible dangers that may lurk in a jungle such as this. Death follows all too easily in the wake of carelessness in such an environment.
It is not long before Logan re-appears, practically sliding down the huge tree trunk in his hurry to reach the ground. Excitement and relief mingle on his face as he kneels beside me.
“There’s something out there, Elf, and it’s not too far away! I can see the tops of buildings in a clearing. Even if it’s only a village or plantation, all we need is a phone or radio to reach the Mansion and get help. But we’ll have to cross this river to get there. It’s too deep for me to walk across. I tried that before I woke you up and didn’t get very far. Have you got the strength to ‘port us over there, or do I have to swim and tow you along? Or maybe you just ‘port yourself and I’ll swim?”
Swimming is not easy for him, as his adamantium-laced skeleton makes it hard enough for him to stay afloat, much less tow someone else. But I know he will do it if there is no other choice.
By now, he has again lifted me in his arms. I gaze across the river, the glare of light from the setting sun dazzling my eyes. The distance appears to be approximately three kilometers. I can see what looks like a clear stretch of sand on the far side, just about opposite from us. Ordinarily, I could do it easily, but now I am weak and sick.
“I think I can do it, but cannot be certain,” I admit.
He makes an effort to smile, adding a sardonic snort. “Same thing I’d say about my ability to swim across, darlin’.”
“Vell, since my vay is easier and faster, let us try that first.”
I give him no time to disagree. Wrapping my arms tighter around his neck, I take us away from our present position.
Vertigo such as I have never felt before engulfs me, along with that cold and empty place that is so familiar to me. I feel faint, with blackness closing in on my vision. I fight against it. I must be conscious if I hope to get us back to our own reality!
Then we are sprawling in the sand on the far side of the river, so perilously close to a tree that I could reach out and touch it. Logan’s face is distinctly green. My stomach doesn’t feel too good either.
“Rough trip and a sloppy landing,” he says with an effort at a sickly grin. “But any landing you can walk away from –”
“—is a good one,” I finish for him, trying to return his smile but hoping I will not throw up instead. “I am horribly thirsty. Do you think it vould be safe to drink from the river?”
“Safe for me. I’m not sure about you. I know you’re not feelin’ too good and I don’t want to make you worse.”
“Dehydration may be a greater risk to me than the water, right now. I vill take the chance, if you vill help me.” I try to rise, but can get no further than propping myself up on one elbow before my head starts spinning and I must lie down again.
Logan scoops up as much water as he can hold in the palm of his hands and holds it to my lips. I suck it in eagerly, but it is hardly enough to help. After a few more inadequate handfuls, he shakes his head. “No more right now, darlin’. Even if the water’s OK, you may throw up. Give it a few minutes and I’ll get you more.”