Shangri-la
Chapter 11
“You’re bleeding.”
The words were passing over his lips before it even registered in his mind that he wanted to speak. The woman’s hand clapped onto her side as if he had reminded her of an old forgotten pain. That made him want to smile.
“Just a little bit though.” He tried to move his arm, but the sleeve was still stuck in the ice and his muscles lacked the strength to free it. Looking down at his feet still fully encased in frozen water, his gaze then traveled to the copper ghost pacing anxiously behind the woman.
“Wolf,” his mouth formed involuntarily, and her eyes opened wide, her animal spirit stopping to stare at him. He looked around for his own guide, but it seemed to be missing.
“Who are you?” the woman asked, and his eyes returned to hers.
“I am . . .” What had his name been? “. . . the forest.”
Shangri-la, who am I?
She looked unsurprisingly skeptical. Of course he wasn’t really the forest–he had been buried underground in a tomb of ice. There was nothing alive about him, not at the moment.
“Who are you?” he repeated the question.
“Lotus,” she answered warily.
Her name had something in common with his, but he couldn’t remember what it was. “Lo-tus,” he said, his tongue thrusting too much into his teeth and drawing out the first part of her name. “Help me.” He tried to move his arm again, and his frozen sleeve stayed fastened in the ice. “Please.”
Lotus seemed hesitant. Then, taking a few reluctant steps she crossed the distance between them and began fiddling with his sleeve, staying pointedly focused on her work. He studied her hair. He liked the color, an earthy red-brown that reminded him of a place he had once been, a place he had once loved.
Of course. It’s her, Shangri-la. She’s the one.
He looked at her animal spirit guide, and it bared its teeth at him. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“I already told you,” the woman said stiffly, giving the fabric a hard yank, freeing most of it.
“Not you,” he murmured. “The other.” He stared at the wolf until it sat down and perked its ears forward. “Lune.” Again he put too much emphasis on the L, making it thick and heavy.
“What are you talking about?” she muttered, liberating his arm from the ice. Suddenly his torso felt too heavy for him to support, and he fell forward onto Lotus. Her body stayed up firm under his weight, and he closed his eyes, breathing in her sweet smell.
“What kind is it? Your perfume,” he whispered into her neck.
Lotus didn’t reply, a tremor coursing through her body instead. Then after a pause she asked timidly, “Why are you here like this?”
“To protect my love.” Again his cold breath tickled her skin and she shivered. “Her name is Lune.” He wondered if his new pronunciation of the letter L would wear off with the cold or if it was a new accent. “Your animal spirit guide.”
“How do you know that?”
“I asked her. Have you never asked?”
Lotus’s skin flushed warm underneath him, and he felt titillated. He had embarrassed her.
“She cares for you anyway. She would do anything for you.” Slowly bringing his hands up to her shoulders, he used Lotus to lift himself up. “My feet.”
“There’s too much ice!” she burst out.
“Then will you wait with me?”
She was very flustered; he could feel it in the air around them. There was something that was making her uneasy, something that made her desire to leave almost tangible. Had Shangri-la been able to send her some kind of warning?
I told you Shangri-la, this is for your own safety. Don’t try to fight me.
“Yes,” she breathed. Whatever it was that bothered Lotus, her curiosity was winning over it. Or maybe it was something else. He had never been good at guessing other people’s thoughts. He didn’t even know why she was there, other than it was some twist of luck orchestrated by the divine cosmos. He would thank them later.
“There you are, Talon.” He smiled at the shimmering shape that glided toward them through the air. “I was wondering about you. Good, now we’ll be able to get out.”
Pausing, he then added, “My name is Alder.”
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