The Ultimate Sacrifice, Talia Jager [novels to read .TXT] 📗

>“Yes, and up to Washington.”

“Then it makes more sense to check out the closer one so we don’t waste time.”

“Agreed.”

The next morning, we were at Mount Elbert. “So, what do we do? Start hiking up?” Mira asked.

“Yes, and Zane will start talking to the animals. I don’t think we’ll have to go far,” Noe replied.

“I hate leaving the car behind. Maybe some of us should stay?” I suggested.

“No, we must stay together,” Noe said. I gave in. I wasn’t arguing with her.

We all started the hike. Zane said, “We need to go off the trail to find the animals, but we’ll scare them off if we all go together.”

“But we shouldn’t split up,” I said.

“Okay, the two of us will go just a little bit off trail, the rest stay close by,” Auralee suggested.

None of us liked it, but we agreed.

Auralee and Zane slowly veered from the path until they disappeared. We stayed where we were, anxiously awaiting, looking back and forth between where they had disappeared and Noe, who informed us, “They’ll find some animals, and he’ll talk to a rabbit.” She giggled. “It looks funny.”

I laughed, imagining geeky, dark-haired Zane talking to a bunny. They came back fairly quickly.

“The animals I spoke to said they’ve heard of the shaman, but she’s not here. They think more west.”

“Do we trust what these animals say or…get a second opinion?” I wasn’t quite sure how to ask that.

“Um…” Zane paused. “I guess I could ask another one?” He didn’t sound sure of himself. “Do you really think animals can lie?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just saying.”

His mouth twisted a little and he headed in the opposite direction to try to find another animal.

“Really, Kassia?” Mira sighed.

“What? I want to be sure.”

Less than five minutes later, he was back. “I talked to a deer this time. No shaman here. She too thinks she heard west. I’m guessing Mt. Whitney.”

“Fine. California, we’re coming home.”

I was relieved we didn’t find any demons waiting for us when we got back to the car. Turning up the radio, Mira and I sang loudly and off key. “Oh please, shut up!” Zane yelled, holding his ears. We laughed.

“How long is the drive?”

“About seventeen hours.”

“That’s seventeen hours of singing we can do!” I giggled.

“Oh God, help us.”

We all burst into laughter.

Four hours later, we were hungry. “Pull over, Daxton!”

“I’m trying to get us as far as possible.”

“Ugh.” Mira threw back her head.

Noe spoke softly as always. “There’s a sub place and a gas station a few miles ahead. We can fill up, get sandwiches, and get right back on the road.”

“Fine.” Daxton scowled.

We pulled into the gas station. “Noe?”

“No demons.”

“Let’s go, be quick.”

We all had jobs to do. Mine was going to the bathroom, getting the drinks, and getting back to the car. I did my job quickly, getting back to the car and letting Daxton go to the bathroom. I started up the car and drove it over to the door for a quicker exit.

When everyone was back, I took off down the highway. I let them eat while I drove. Daxton unwrapped my sandwich and handed it to me. “Thanks.” I smiled. I drove us about three more hours before getting tired. “Can someone take over?” I asked.

“Of course,” Mira said. “I’ll drive.” We pulled over without getting out. Mira and I switched spots. Seven hours down, ten to go.

“Think we’ll make it tonight?”

“Yes,” Noe answered. “But we’ll have to wait ’til morning before heading up the mountain.”

“I hate waiting.”

“Hey.” I sat next to Noe after our next break. “How ya doing?”

She smiled. “Okay.”

I took her hand. “Thanks, Noe. I know you gave up a lot to come with us. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Thanks, but I don’t feel like I’ve been that helpful.”

“You have!”

“I feel blind.”

“You’re awesome, Noe. We’re all doing the best we can.” We leaned shoulder to shoulder for a while. “You’re a great friend.”

“Thanks. You are too. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

The sun set in front of us. Another day done. “Hotel tonight?”

“I don’t know. God! I hate all this not knowing,” Noe answered, frustrated.

“We’ll get as close to Mt. Whitney as we can, park, and then sleep. We have to get up by dawn and get going,” Daxton spoke up.

We all nodded silently. This had to be it. I didn’t know how much more driving around we could take. When we arrived, we couldn’t park as near as we had hoped, but we got as close as we could. We slept, uncomfortably, for the night.

When I woke up, Zane was already outside of the car. He was sitting on the ground face to face with a squirrel. I held back the giggle that was threatening to come out of my mouth.

I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his lips were moving. His head was bobbing up and down and then he smiled. I swear the squirrel looked like he nodded too before he took off. Quietly, Zane snuck back in the car. I crept up to him. “Hey.”

He jumped. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. How did…uh…that go?” I glanced out the window.

His cheeks turned a deep red, and he pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Okay. I think we might be on to something.”

“Really?” I didn’t want to get my hopes too high.

“He says he doesn’t go up, but he has heard that strange things happen up there.”

“Strange things?”

“Yes. He said that the birds might know more. They go up and down often.”

“Naturally.”

He shot me a look. “Don’t knock the gift.”

“Gosh, wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago you were scared shitless of me?”

“A lot can change in a couple weeks.” He looked down.

“Yeah…” I looked at my hands. “Zane?”

“Hmmm?”

“If something happens, you take care of Mira for me.” It wasn’t a question.

He looked over at me and our eyes met. Seeing how serious I was, he responded, “Of course I will.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“I need something else from you.”

“What?” He looked confused.

“I know we’re friends, but out of everybody here, we’re probably the least close.”

“I like you, Kassia. I was just scared of the unknown, I guess.”

“I know you do, Zane. I like you too. But still…if the demons get me and somehow brainwash me or whatever it is they have planned…you have to kill me.”

His jaw dropped. “It’s not going to come to that—”

“Zane,” I interrupted. “I just need to know that you will keep Mira—all of them—safe. If the demons turn me against you…” I started to get choked up. “You have to kill me. They won’t. You have to protect them.”

He was silent for a minute before he responded, “If I know that you are truly gone, I will kill you.”

Hearing that was more disturbing than I thought it would be. “Thank you. Now, go find a bird.”

He scoffed. “Yes, ma’am.” He stepped back out of the car.

When I looked back, I noticed Mira was awake, and she had tears streaming down her face. “You weren’t supposed to hear that,” I told her.

“Obviously.”

I crawled over the seat and sat next to her. “It’s only an emergency backup.” I was crying now too.

“I can’t think about this, Kassia. I just can’t.”

“Okay.” I wrapped my arms around her and held on for a long time.

A warm glow had lit up the eastern sky and soon a large, glowing sphere appeared over the horizon. I dried off my tears and woke the rest of the car up. Zane had made his way back. “A little bird told me there is someone up the mountain. It sounds like the person we’re looking for. It’s going to be a long hike though.” He looked over at the convenience store we were parked at. “They open in a few minutes. We need water and power bars. I’m not sure where this person is, but the round trip hike to the summit is twelve hours.”

Daxton whistled. “Twelve hours.”

“We’re all in good shape. We all have our gifts. I think we can do it, but we may not have to go that far.”

“We may be fighting demons along the way, which will take a lot out of us,” I reminded him, hating to be the downer.

“Yes, there’s that.”

“Make sure we bring the salve and first-aid kits. And, of course, our daggers,” Auralee said, squeezing Noe’s hand. Today, her shirt warmed my heart. It read, Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.

“All right, guys, let’s get in the store and up the mountain,” Zane said. We all banged our fists together.

After shopping at the store, we found ourselves at the trailhead, staring ahead. “This is it. Everybody ready?” Zane asked.

A bunch of “Yups” answered back.

We headed in two by two. The beginning wasn’t too bad. About half a mile in, we came across a water crossing. Somehow we made it across without getting too wet. A few minutes later, a ranger who was coming down the mountain stopped us. “Morning, kids. Can I see your permits?”

Zane and I exchanged looks. “Permits?”

“Yes, you are supposed to have permits to be on this mountain. If you don’t have them, I’m afraid I will have to escort you back.”

Mira stepped up. “Sir, you already saw our permits.” She smiled. “You checked us all and we each have the necessary permit. You’re going to continue going back down the mountain, and we’ll continue going up.”

He looked confused for just a few seconds. “That’s right. I already saw your permits. Thank you. Be careful now.” He smiled and continued going on his way.

I giggled. “You’re awesome, Mira.”

“I know.”

“Let’s go.”

Soon, Zane saw something scurrying off the trail. “I’ll be right back.”

We stood around while people going up the mountain passed us. I figured we looked pretty dumb just kind of standing there. A few minutes later, he was back. “That was a marmot.”

“What the hell is a marmot?” Mira asked.

“I dunno. Some big squirrel-looking animal.” He shrugged. “He said we need to go to Mirror Lake.”

“How far is that?”

“Four miles from the trailhead.”

“And how far in are we?” I asked.

“That sign we just passed, pointing out the different trails, was about a mile in.”

“Great.” Only three miles to go. I sighed. I pushed on ahead of them, knowing we needed to get there. My legs were already aching and I was hungry, but I wasn’t going to complain. We were here because of me; I had to get us there.

We hiked up quietly, each of us in our own heads, except maybe Auralee. She had all of us to entertain her. We stopped a few times for drinks and snacks. A middle-aged man was coming up past us. He stopped for a moment. “Take it one step at a time, kids. Slow and easy. That’s the only way to reach the top.”

“Thanks.” I nodded. If only we were just going to the top. If only we were normal kids on a normal hike. But no, we were trying to find a secret shaman who lived somewhere on this mountain and might or might not help us with our little demon problem.

Noe stayed quiet on the hike. She wasn’t a big complainer, but she grimaced a few times. I assumed something was bothering her. I had developed a pain in my side and each