Dressed in boots, with jeans tucked in to prevent insect bites and scratches from hostile foliage, both women knew what it took for a prolonged trek through the jungle, but the going was difficult. As a rule, Annabel seemed to have an innate sense of direction, where Riley was completely turned around within moments of stepping off the boat and into the dimly lit interior.
Her mother had always had such an affinity with the land, especially here in the rain forest, almost as if she had a built-in compass. Right now, she showed signs of distraction and anxiety, so rare in Annabel that Riley's alarm for her increased. That along with the occasional stumble told Riley her mother was pulling even further away.
She let her breath out slowly as she dropped back to step closely in her mother's footsteps. She'd learned, even as a young child, the safest place in the jungle was directly behind her mother. The plants protected her rather than attacked her. Everywhere her mother stepped, plants grew as she passed over the thin trail. Fronds unfolded and vines untangled. Flowers sometimes dropped around her. As long as she walked in her mother's footprints no thorn or spiny-leafed plant would harm her.
They walked for what seemed like hours. The heat was oppressing in the stillness beneath the thick canopy. At times the ground beneath their feet was open and it became easy to walk, and then suddenly they would once again be in thick foliage, nearly impossible to penetrate. Riley kept a very close eye on her mother as they trekked, noting she began to lag behind more and more.
Both Jubal and Gary slowed their pace, obviously keeping an eye on Annabel. Riley took her pack. It was significant that Annabel made no protest when Riley shouldered her mother's pack with her own. After half an hour, Ben Charger dropped back and took the pack. The three men took turns carrying it. Annabel never looked up. Her shoulders became slumped, weighed down, the closer they got to the base of the mountain. Her footsteps dragged, as if she waded through quicksand and every step was a terrible effort. Even her breathing became labored.
It was clear the guides were rushing the sun, trying to make the base of the mountain before nightfall, which suited Riley, but her mother wasn't going to make it. She'd fallen silent, watching Jubal's back to stay in line, but she swayed with weariness and her clothes and hair were damp with sweat. They had to stop and rest.
Fortunately, Weston complained bitterly. "Are we in some kind of race?" he demanded. His voice rose with every step.
"Miguel." Jubal's voice carried authority as he spoke to the guide in Miguel's native language. "We have to stop and rest. Half an hour. No more and we'll start out again. Let them rest and get a drink. They'll move faster for you."
Miguel glanced up at the sky, looking very apprehensive, but he nodded abruptly and found a tiny clearing with a few rocks for them to sit on. Riley nodded to Jubal in thanks as she took her mother's pack from him and moved to the edge of the trees to give her mother some privacy. She was grateful more attention hadn't been drawn to her.
"We can't stop," Annabel whispered the moment they were alone. "We have to hurry."
"You need rest, Mom," Riley protested. "Here, drink this." She handed her water pack to her mother.
Annabel shook her head. "You'll have to leave me if I can't make it."
"Mom." Riley forced herself to be firm. Annabel looked so exhausted and pale she just wanted to wrap her in her arms and hold her protectively. "You have to tell me what's going on. What are we facing up there on that mountain? I can't be kept in the dark anymore."
Annabel looked around for a place to sit, found a small boulder nestled between two trees and sank down onto it. Her hands trembled as she folded them carefully into her lap. "All those stories you were told as a little girl about the mountain and the Cloud Warriors, those weren't scary stories, Riley. They were the truth. The history of our people."
Riley swallowed hard. Those "stories" were the thing of nightmares. A terrible evil preying on the greatest warriors, tearing out their throats, drinking blood, demanding human sacrifices, children, young women, yet nothing appeased the demon. "Mom, the Incas conquered the Cloud People ..."
"They were able to because," Annabel interrupted, "their best warriors had already been killed. The people were living in fear." Her eyes met Riley's. "The Incas were strong, with fierce warriors as well. They took some of the Cloud women as wives. Including your ancestor, a woman named Arabejila. She was the one who handed down the truth-as well as her gifts-to her daughter. The evil continued for years and years, killing the warriors of the Incas just as it had those of the Cloud People. No one seemed able to defeat such a bloodthirsty demon."
Riley wanted to scoff at such ridiculous lore. She'd heard the stories, but she'd also read history, as much as had been compiled about the Cloud People and the Incas. There were a few obscure references to human sacrifice and warriors dying, but very little, certainly not enough to support the story her mother was telling her ... But, the feeling of evil was growing beneath her feet as they grew closer to the mountain. She felt the earth tremble every now and then, and with all the strange events, the attacks on her mother, how could she just dismiss what her mother was telling her?
"Keep going." Riley wanted to put her hands over her ears. Her heart beat too fast-in time to the heartbeat of the earth. She felt the shiver beneath her feet, as if the ground itself was listening and trying to warn her, whatever that evil was, that it was about to escape.
"There was one man who had come with your ancestor from a strange land. He fought battle after battle but could not defeat this evil. In the end, Arabejila lured the evil into the volcano with the warrior, a tremendous sacrifice. She locked them there, but every so many years, to keep the volcano from erupting, which would allow him freedom ..."
"No one could live in a volcano for hundreds of years, Mom, and still be alive." Riley made it a firm statement. It was the truth ... wasn't it? The fear she tasted in her mouth said something altogether different.
"I know they're locked in there, at least that evil creature is still there. I've felt him, and right now, every single person here is feeling him. I'm late, and if he escapes, everyone he kills-and he will kill over and over-will be on me."
Riley scowled at her mother. "That's ridiculous. You had no choice but to stay with Dad. We've been delayed here over and over ..." She trailed off. If that evil entity was in some way influencing those traveling with them, was it so far off to think that he could be delaying them? "How could this thing still be alive after all this time? You're talking five hundred years more or less."
"He is. I feel him. You feel him. Evil lives and walks this earth, Riley, and it's your job-and mine-to help stop it. That's the legacy we were given and we have no choice. If the thing gets out into the world and kills, we've failed."
"What do we do when we get up the mountain, Mom?" Riley made up her mind. No matter what, Annabel was determined to go up that mountain and perform the ritual taught to her by her mother before her. There would be no stopping her, no matter how worn she looked, so Riley was getting her up that mountain and getting the job done as quickly as possible. Her mother wasn't living in a fantasy. She meant every word she said. Riley heard the ring of truth in her voice.
"You know what needs to be done," Annabel said. "I've taught you since you were a child. If we succeed, you have to come to this mountain when you're pregnant and have your daughter here. She must be a part of the earth. The gifts are strong in you, much stronger than they ever have been in me, or even my mother. I could feel the earth accept you as her child the moment I put you down into the cradle crevice." She wiped sweat from her face. "The sun will be down soon. That's the most dangerous time, Riley. He's quiet during the day, but at night, he can take command. Never underestimate him. From what I was told, he can appear beautiful and charming but he's wholly evil. If something happens to me ..."
"Mom," Riley protested. "Don't say that. Don't think it. I won't let anything happen to you. I won't."
Annabel held up her hand. "We can't pretend. There's every possibility. And then he'll go after you. We're a threat to him and he will do everything in his power to eliminate us."
Riley scrubbed her hand over her face, as if that could remove the clawing fear. The energy running beneath her feet thrummed of urgency. She had become so aware of the surrounding rain forest, of the vegetation she walked on, and now, the dirt itself, reaching out to her with veins of information, silently screaming to hurry-hurry.
Riley forced herself to nod. Her mother needed reassurance that she could handle whatever was thrown at them. "I think the two researchers, Gary and Jubal, know about the stories. I asked them what was happening last night and both used the word evil, as if it was spreading across the land and influencing all of us. They've been keeping a watch over us and I don't think I could have saved you last night without them. Ben Charger has been sticking close as well, helping to guard us. He seems to realize something beyond the normal is influencing everyone as well, but I haven't discussed anything with him."
Annabel shook her head. "You can't really trust anyone, Riley. This thing-this evil creature-is capable of turning anyone against us."