Leah's Hero - Miranda Martin Page 0,34

lays his body over us. I feel the rumbling in my bones, the wind whips against us, and then there’s a pelting sound.

White pellets cover the ground, rising fast, in a few minutes there is an inch-thick layer of them. The rumbling continues but the wind slows, and I can hear screaming. I’m too scared to move, barely able to breathe.

I don’t know how long this goes on. It feels like forever but as fast as it hit the sound stops. The pellets, now four or five inches thick cease, and Urukol rises off of us. Allie is sobbing next to me, so I throw my arm over her and curl my body around hers.

“I… can’t…” she sobs.

“You can,” I say. “We got this.”

Focusing all my attention on her pulls it away from my own fears. She sobs more as the sounds of the others rising to their feet surround us. After one last heaving sob, she shakes her head and rolls onto her hands and knees. I follow suit and rise to my feet as well.

“What the hell was that?” Mick asks.

“Storm,” Urukol says. “Hurry. More.”

“More? Are you serious?” Mick asks, shaking her head. “And you wonder why I hate this place.”

Urukol bends close and looks me over, ignoring Mick. He puts his hands on either side of my face and stares into my eyes.

“Okay?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say, glad I’m not sobbing.

I want to, so badly, but I have to hold it together. I’m doing my best to keep from falling apart, and I’ll take the win for what it’s worth. He frowns, but he straightens and walks past me. Allie is watching, face pale and eyes wide, but she has a faint smile.

“I think someone likes you,” she says.

“You’re crazy,” I say.

“Uh-huh,” she says.

The rope around my waist pulls taut which is all the excuse I need to get out of this awkward conversation I don’t want to be having. We continue our trudge, but now it’s getting full-on dark. I can barely see my feet, it’s so gloomy.

“Shelter!” Angota yells from behind, his voice echoing around the darkness in a creepy way that makes my skin crawl.

“Almost,” Urukol says.

Oddly, his voice doesn’t echo, and his baritone is deep and reassuring. I have no doubts that I’m projecting, but I’ll take all the comfort I can find. We trudge on. The rain falls heavier, and the temperature continues to drop until my teeth are chattering and won’t stop.

It’s too dark to see anything more than a few feet around myself. We’re on a path of some kind and I sense more than see a drop-off to my left. We are climbing, not steep, but trending up. When Urukol stops, he turns around.

“Shelter,” he says, pointing into a dark open maw. He points to me with one finger. “Wait.”

He unties the cloth rope around his waist and lets it drop. Angota pushes past me, and the two men talk. Angota takes his massive weapon off his back. Its long shaft must be six feet long and three or four inches thick. The blade mounted to one end has a wicked look to it. The blade curves in a half-moon shape before coming to a gleaming point.

Angota enters the cavern first, followed by Urukol. Rakstan gathers us humans together and moves us a few feet back from the opening. He also has his weapon, they call it a loch-uh-bur or something like that, in his hands. The shaft is planted in the ground, and the blade pointed straight out from him. I assume this is a ‘ready’ position. I’ve seen how deadly they are with this weapon of theirs, and it’s impressive.

We huddle tighter together, seeking what warmth we can from each other. Ziva wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in tight. Allie maneuvers around until she’s close, too.

“Guess what,” Allie says to Ziva.

My heart flutters, she’s not going to…

“What?” Ziva asks.

“Someone has an admirer,” Allie says, smiling even though her teeth are chattering.

“Reaallly?” Ziva asks dragging the word out, a smile forming on her face. “That’s great!”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s dark and all,” Ziva says. “But I can still see your face is burning. It’s bright red!”

Allie laughs, and I manage to find new depths of embarrassment I didn’t know existed. I wave a hand around between us, ineffective, sure, and I don’t know why I’m doing it. I shake my head and turn away, unable to stand their gazes, which are