Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 67 : We Made It

After a night of rest, it was time to get moving again.

My arm and hand were still mangled, so Abe and Jared did the heavy lifting to pack up camp.

While they worked, I studied the rough map I'd drawn as our guide to Myrel.

It wasn't perfect, but it would get us there.I wandered out of the cave and looked at the river.

Then I looked at the map.

I turned in a complete circle and then lined the map up with the river so they were parallel.

From there, it was easy to figure out where we were going.

We'd saved as much as we could from the river, and the fire had dried everything out overnight.

With our shortage of gear and supplies, packing up camp took hardly any time at all.

Jared helped me get my backpack on since my hand was still too injured to use, and we set off again.

We headed along the bank of the river.

The further we got, the deeper the gorge around the river became.

Soon, it was a sheer drop into the rolling rapids below, and I heard the sound of rushing water more than saw it.

Around midday, we stopped for lunch.

lopened my pack and took out the Cryptex.

"What are you doing!?" Jared asked, wide-eyed.

"I'm just messing with it.There's a lot we don’t know about it, and now that it is partially assembled, I think it is worth exploring."

"Remember what happened the last time you messed with it?"

He pointed to my bandaged hand.

"Look at this.These pieces still move, even though the Cryptex has locked itself together.I'm willing to bet there are hidden puzzles in this thing."

"Is losing your hand worth figuring out the puzzles?"

Jared's voice took on that overly protective tone I knew all too well.

I ignored him and started fiddling with the pieces of the Cryptex.

They reminded me of clock gears.

When I spun one, some of the other pieces would spin in a chain reaction along the curve of the device.

"Alright, put that away.We've got to keep moving," Jared said, standing up.

I bit my lip and reluctantly tucked the Cryptex back into its waterproof case.I slipped it back into my bag, patting it into place several times before I zipped my pack up again.

We continued walking along the river.

The sun had moved through the sky and was at our backs now.

Abe led the way, and we walked single file along the edge of the gorge.

On one side, there was a drop-off into the river.

On the other, there were scraggly rocks as tall as houses, making a narrow passage for us to traverse.

When we made camp for the night, I immediately took the Cryptex out again and started playing with it.

Jared was busy setting up our bedrolls and coming up with a meal that we could enjoy with what little rations we had.

Abe was checking the perimeter and stoking the fire.

For a while, neither of them bothered me.

I stared at the little moving parts of the Cryptex.

My eyes followed them ina line and I could see how several of them interconnected.

Grinning, I started turning one of the pieces.

line, it turned another, then another, and

Click, click, click.

Pop! Zing.

"Whoal!"

as a small compartment opened on the

that damn thing again?" Jared asked,

I opened a secret compartment."

sternly and

with

be other compartments

Eliza? That one looks empty.And the more you mess with it, the more you're putting yourself in danger.You could have died the last

on

barely know anything about it.I think it is worth studying.It might help

started turning another piece that connected to a separate line of gears from the ones I'd just turned.They whizzed and whirred, flashing gold as

"No, no more."

the

"Heyt"

it isn't healthy.I'm going to carry it from

"But"

is the protective

with a look that told me it was useless to argue with

reflections of the fire flames.It was so hard not to

"Eliza?"

"Okay, okay."

quickly wrapped it and tucked

you hungry?

held an arm out to

him and he wrapped

upper arm, just under the edge of my

tingles ran

guys, there's something you should

said, jogging back toward

would hurry ahead and scout out the area while

we kept my

still useless for climbing and we still had a lot of

stayed with me

standing behind me, hands gripping my hips or pressing against my backside

points, I thought he was doing

afford any more delays,"

deviated from our path for days.Besides, this isn’t a detour.We don't even have to leave the

with a

of a slight change

let's see what you found.After all

eyes at us.Abe led us to a

mouth of it, tilting my head all the way back on my neck just to see

air gushed from inside.It smelled earthy

"Hello!"

shouted into the

ello, ello, lo, lo" his

what this looks like?" I asked arching an eyebrow at y

and

the Cryptex, I was glad to see I could still get him

to

bristled brush, the kind used

me set up a light!"

inside, each

beams illuminated enough of the cave for me to see that there were some old artifacts scattered around.I went

were also bones scattered among the

at these!" I

cast his light over the pile.I knelt down in the soft, moist earth on the cave floor and brushed some of the

those finger bones?" he asked,

"Looks like."

here.There's still plenty of ground to cover

leaving

whisper of breath puffed out from

I faced the tunnel that led deeper

My stomach lurched.

hook looped around my insides, gently tugging me deeper into the cave.I stared into

from the depths called to me, whispering to

"Eliza, come on!"