The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 60: Immunity

Part 2/3

The group split up, however Aurora was still very skeptical of this plan. She hung closer to Samuel, clutching her spear tightly and looking around in a panic for any potential creepy-crawlies.

“No no no this is just like the dream,” Aurora whispered to herself. Samuel raised an eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nightmare,” Aurora replied, “I was in a swamp and…and there were leeches. It was so hot and there were people. But nobody came to save me.”

Aurora found herself closer and closer to Samuel’s side, and Star sneered at her in disapproval.

“I don’t want to die Samuel,” Aurora whispered again, her voice shaky. Samuel felt his memory reawaken: the night they had been attacked by a group of Raptors.

“You won’t die.”

The murky water beneath them began to shake, and black worms began to squirm and crawl out of the water. Aurora let out a bone-chilling scream, and Star followed up with a squawk of her own as leeches by the dozen began to approach them.

“There’s definitely a lot of them,” Samuel stated the obvious. He drew his spear and swiped a few away, but the others began to jump all over Samuel. Samuel let out a gasp as they latched onto his neck, drawing his blood out at a fast pace. Samuel grabbed a leech and tried to pull it away, but it was like trying to pull your fingers out in a Chinese finger trap. Futile.

Samuel lashed out, and Aurora began to back away. Samuel looked at her.

“Don’t do anything stupid now!”

Aurora turned away and quickly made a run for it, and Samuel groaned again. He looked up at Star, who the leeches seemingly ignored.

“Enlighten me please!”

Star’s chest glowed, and Samuel’s mind began to clear. The sucking sensation all along his neck disappeared, and he closed his eyes. Getting into a stance, he quickly began to run forward.

“If I get to the end in time and find the artifact, then I can get out of here faster!” Samuel screamed to himself, “Star, try getting these things off me!”

Star used her beak and bit down on one of the leeches, ripping it away with ease. The leech squirmed around, and Star quickly dropped it onto the ground. Star slowly began to pull the leeches away one by one, but it was obvious that it wasn’t fast enough.

“Just… Persevere…” Samuel muttered. He felt his vision growing sharper and his legs growing weaker. His arms began to tingle, and he stopped suddenly, putting his hands on his knees and coughing out a huge wad of blood.

Samuel collapsed to his knees, making Star drop to the ground. Star let out a squawk of worry and latched onto another leech, but Samuel stopped her.

“STOP! Just run, get to the others!” Samuel begged her. Star refused, shaking her head violently and latching onto another leech, pulling away as quickly as she could. Samuel’s vision continued to wane, and it all seemed hopeless.

Alone in this damp, stuffy swamp-like cavern, death to leeches seemed Samuel’s way to go.

But as Samuel felt himself giving up hope, a cry echoed throughout the caverns. A cry for Samuel to get up.

“SAMUEL!” a familiar woman’s voice cried. Samuel could see a shadow above him, and tanned hands grasping and grabbing the leeches attached to his neck.

“Who is that?” Samuel asked himself, his eyes twitching and the leeches around his neck pulsating. The tanned hands suddenly disappeared, and a rageful cry from Star pierced his ears. Samuel’s vision began to return slowly and he saw three people running at him.

“Samuel! Aurora told us… We’ve come to help!”

“Neddy,” Samuel groaned, “Andres.”

He felt small hands lift his head up from the water, and strong hands tugging and ripping away at the leeches. One by one, the leeches were extracted, and Samuel could feel his neck wet with water and blood. His vision began to return slowly, and he blinked a few times to see Neddy kneeling beside him with a leather pouch filled with river water, Andres kneeling beside him with hands filled with a weird mucus, and Star looking at the ground gloomily.

“Ugh,” Samuel moaned. His head was inclined, and he saw a woman’s face stare down at him with a smirk.

“Not so irrational now, huh?” Aurora said. A smile began to grow at the corner of her lips. Samuel instantly got up, startling Aurora and making her back off.