Not out there. Come back to the camp. Come back now. Dax's tone changed. He wasn't making a suggestion.
Riley moved away from the group, releasing the eyes of the forest, but not her connection to the earth. Slowly, she pulled her awareness back to their own encampment, and found herself searching for Dax among the people preparing for battle, needing his calm, reassuring strength. Her awareness shifted downward, and she found him, wrapped in earth, solid and calm in contrast to all the chaos above. Strength radiated from him even while he rested. She could feel his hands running over her arms.
Are you up for a little more?
With the power of the earth running through her veins and his mind connected to hers, she'd never felt so strong before. What did you have in mind?
I was thinking about defense.
Defense? Were you thinking a moat or something?
This is what I was thinking. Her mind filled with an image of the trees behind the camp interlocking to form a dense wall. Two of the trees in the wall remained upright, growing taller than normal. Riley frowned. Weaving the trees into a fence to stop the oncoming attack made sense, but the picture Dax had formed showed the wall being erected at the back of the camp, not the front.
I don't understand. You want to trap us in? Why wouldn't you put the fence between Mitro's puppets and our camp?
I won't let any harm come to the people in this camp, if it can be avoided. Have faith.
Even as Dax spoke the group of thirty or so in the camp, some only armed with spears, began running toward the tree line he'd shown her. Four of the men broke off from the group and ducked into the big tent. Moments later, they came back out, carrying the professor on a makeshift gurney. His remaining student followed close behind, the professor's pack clutched in his hands. Together, the small group moved back into the tree line.
Riley reached for the trees and the plant life with a mental sweep of her hand. The foliage vibrated at her touch, then leaves unfurled and roots extended as she encouraged the plants to grow. Soil was rich with nutrition and water. Bushes thickened. Trees grew taller, branches reaching out. Limbs and vines entangled, weaving together rapidly, and a wall began to take shape.
Excellent, Riley. Leave an opening here. He showed her a small opening in the middle of the wall, just large enough for a single person to fit through. When she formed the opening and grew the two trees on either side to his specifications, he said, I have lived a very long life, even by the standards of my own people, but I must say I've never been as impressed with anyone as I am with you. You are amazing.
Riley didn't respond, but warmth unfurled in her belly. It was nice to feel helpful. She still couldn't believe she was doing most of the things he'd shown her. Seeing through the eyes of forest creatures. Making plants grow with just her will alone. Even her mother hadn't accomplished such feats, and yet, with Dax's help, the abilities seemed to come almost instinctively.
She continued to grow the wall of vegetation, spreading it out in a semicircle around the back half of the village to form a natural funnel, with that opening in its center. The rest of the camp filed through the opening in short order.
All right, Riley. That's enough. It is time for you to leave.
Are you sure the wall will hold? She could feel the attackers drawing nearer. There were so many.
I am sure. Let go of the earth and come back into yourself.
Her hands still in the soil, Riley pulled her consciousness back into herself. It was just as disorienting leaving so many minds as it had been extending out into them. When she was fully back in her own body, she slipped her hands free and staggered to her feet. Her arms and legs felt like she had just run up a mountain, and her head was pounding.
She stood for a moment to catch her balance and stretch her back. The camp was deserted. Only her tent and the big tent at the center were still standing. Everything else had been packed up and carried away.
She turned to face the living wall behind her. It was a sight to behold, dense and impenetrable, already covered in moss, leaves, and little flowers of every color. The wall had grown so quickly, the ash hadn't had time to cover it yet. Gary and Jubal had climbed the two large trees on either side of the center opening, and they had each taken a perch high up in the branches.
Ben emerged from her tent, carrying her backpack. He moved with calm efficiency.
"Time to go, Riley." He gestured for her to precede him toward the opening in the wall. Evil was on the wind and getting closer, and they were the last ones left in the camp.
As they approached the opening, Riley could see the tips of rifles and blowguns poking through the wall of foliage. Everyone who had preceded her through the wall had taken up defensive positions on the other side. Now, she understood the plan. This evacuated camp ground was to be a killing ground, plain and simple. She turned sideways to get through the small opening. Ben followed close enough behind that he bumped against her with every step.
Slipping one shoulder down she ducked through the last few inches of the tunnel and emerged on the other side of the wall. She stepped clear of the opening to let Ben pass, then laid her hand on the wall and willed the branches to grow and intertwine to close the opening. Through the barrier, she could hear the sound of marching feet, growing louder as their attackers neared the encampment's perimeter, and it gave her pause. Dax clearly wanted her on this side of the wall, safe and tucked away. Lord knows, she didn't belong out there in the fight. But she had skills that could help. She wasn't sure where she belonged.
"You belong exactly where you are."
His voice sounded in her ears this time, rather than her mind. She spun around and found him standing less than ten feet away. The sun hadn't yet set, and he stood there in the muted light of the ash-filled sky. Tall, strong, otherworldly. Sparkles of red-gold light flashed around him like fireflies as the dust from his scales rained down from his rising. Riley couldn't take her eyes from him.
With a few long strides, he closed the distance between them. "Right now you are here with me. I wouldn't want you anywhere else." The man's presence was enough to make her forget where she was. He bent his head toward hers, his lips hovering close. Energy crawled from the tips of her toes and traveled up her body, warming and swirling. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her right there, and she couldn't think, couldn't move. She could only stand there, staring at him in anticipation.
His head tilted to one side, and he pressed his lips to her cheek. The contact was intimate, soft. With him standing so close it was impossible not to feel the strength of his big frame. The combination of strength and tenderness shifted something down deep, and Riley almost wrapped her arms around his neck.
She needed him. Her heart was thudding like a drum. She wanted to cry for the villagers who had lost everything because she hadn't been strong enough or fast enough to keep Mitro imprisoned.
"Had you kept the volcano sealed, we would never have met," he reminded gently, his thumb tipping her chin up while his other hand cupped the side of her face. "I believe in fate, palafertiilam. Mitro was meant to escape. I have no idea why. Maybe the Universe decided I deserved one such as you. If so, I am forever grateful to it. I am deeply sorry that you have to see the ugliness a vampire leaves in his wake."