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,

Click, click, click.

Pop! Zing.

"Whoal!"

small compartment opened on

you playing with that damn thing again?" Jared asked,

a secret compartment." I grinned

and he

obsessed with

could be other compartments to

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

is worth studying.It might help us with breaking

to a separate line of gears from the ones I'd just turned.They

"No, no more."

the

"Heyt"

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

"But"

is the protective

darkened, and he fixed me with a look that told me it

flat surfaces danced with reflections of the fire flames.It was so hard not

"Eliza?"

"Okay, okay."

wrapped it

hungry? We

held an arm out to

to him and he

my upper arm, just under the edge of my short-sleeved shirt.His

tingles ran through my

guys, there's something you should check

said, jogging back toward

ahead and scout out the area while Jared and I kept our own

we kept

still useless for climbing and we still had

with me to help me

my hips or pressing against my backside as he lifted me or nudged

thought he was doing

afford any

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

with

pink by the prospect of a slight change of scenery,"I

you found.After all this, it

narrowed his eyes at us.Abe led us

mouth of it, tilting my head all

from inside.It smelled earthy

"Hello!"

into the

ello, lo, lo" his

know what this looks like?" I asked

and shook his

about messing with the Cryptex, I

to find some

brush, the kind used in archeology digs, and

set up a light!" Abe called

inside, each

cave for me to see that there were some old artifacts scattered around.I went to a pile

were also bones

these!"

earth on the cave floor and brushed some of the dust away with

finger bones?" he asked,

"Looks like."

out of here.There's still plenty of ground to

leaving

out from the

up, I faced the tunnel that led deeper underground, into the dark core of the

My stomach lurched.

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

the dirt floor, something from the depths called to me,

"Eliza, come on!"