"Ow," groaned Gia, falling to the ground as her father settled next to her.
Everything hurt. She saw that the rest of her family had also collapsed to the ground, exhausted and sore from the mad dash.
"What is going on?" asked Tom after a few minutes.
"The VulCan god is angry," said the lizardman who made the magical barrier. He pointed to another archway, similar to the one they just rushed through, and said, "Beyond the edge of the world, he is burning the land with molten rock, and filling the sky with thick smoke. These waves are from him stomping his feet in anger, as is the ground shaking."
"Why are you helping us?" asked Carla, taking off her bag with a hiss of pain.
"One of our deities contacted us and told us of your approach. When we received word that the VulCan was angry and would be sending waves of water at us, we knew we had to find you and bring you in or risk angering the other deity. Forgive us for not coming after you sooner, as we had to evacuate our village to this place, to keep our people safe," said the lizardman.
"What else did your deity tell you about us?" asked Vonn, glancing at Gia win a concerned look.
"That you would come with a gift, to allow you safe passage through our lands, and to heal one of your people who has lost his sight," said the lizardman, drawing closer to them.
Gia watched as the light from the setting sun seemed to shine on his eyes and made them turn blood red. Fear rushed through her body, sending goosebumps racing up and down her arms.
"What gift do you bring us that would convince me to do these things?" asked the lizard, leaning forward and looking Tom in the face.
"We have a scale," said Vonn, holding up the one that he had pulled out of his bag before they made a dash for it.
The lizardman took the scale and studied it reverently for a moment before nodding.
"This is do. Come, I will show you to a place where you can rest while I prepare the spell. It is not an easy thing to do, to restore the sight to one who has lost is so long ago."
"How do you know I've been blind for a long time," asked Tom, standing up and waiting for someone to take his arm.
"When someone loses something, they develop ways to overcome that loss," explained the lizardman as they all followed him down a chiseled path in the rock. His black cloak hid his body, but a tail stuck out, swaying back and forth as he walked.
"Like what?" asked Mikey.
"Look at him," said the lizardman, motioning towards Tom. "He steps with his toes first, instead of his heel, as everyone else does, and doesn't place weight until he is sure of his step. He turns his head away from those he is listening to, to better hear them with one ear, or the other. He also flares his nose, using his sense of smell, to determine when someone new walks by."
"I never realized you did all of that," said Gia, looking at her dad in surprise.
"I didn't either," he laughed.
"Your mind craves the missing input that your sight provided. You were not young when you lost your sight," said the lizardman. "You have come up with these ways to gain insight of your surroundings, without intentionally doing them. I have seen it happen once before in one of our best hunters. He went on to become the best scout after he had his eyesight returned to him, but there is a cost to the process."
"What kind of cost?" gasped Carla, alarmed.
"I cannot know that until I have started the spell. Magic such as I do, can be very dangerous. This one will have his eyesight back, but I cannot guarantee at what cost."
"Maybe we shouldn't do this," said Gia softly, looking over at her father.
"No, I want to see. I have missed so much since I lost my eyes," said Tom forcefully.
Vonn met her gaze as Gia scrunched her brow and she knew he would support her in whatever decision she made. Glancing back at her mom, it was obvious her mom wasn't happy about it either.
"What's the worst thing it could be?" asked Vonn cautiously.
"The worst thing would be that it required the life of someone else, but I do not think that it will come to that. He has only lost his eyes, not his heart," said the lizardman as they turned a corner and found themselves in a village.
Each family seemed to be staying in different homes, but the most striking part, was that each home was made from the skull of some giant beast! Most had horns that sprouted from their foreheads, but some had spikes that trailed down their jaws.
"None of the things those came from, are around here, right?" asked Carla shakily.
"These are the skulls of great beasts that died long ago. We pull them from the waters when great storms leave them for us on the beaches below. You will be staying in our guest lodge. We don't have many guests that come around this time of year, so you will have it all to your selves. I will have someone bring you food as it is very late. I will prepare for the spell and will send someone for your blind one when I am ready. It will probably be tomorrow afternoon. After he had adjusted, I will have one of our black-scale scouts escort you through the cleft to the other side of the mountains," stated the lizardman before leaving them at the mouth of a large skull that exposed a dark tent interior.
"We should get settled for the night," said Vonn, leading the way into the tent.
There was a fire pit in the middle, that he quickly got to work building a fire in. Mikey helped fetch some of the wood that was found in a pile in the back of the tent.
"Are you alright?" asked Gia, watching as her mom sat down painfully on the raised dais.
"I'm not sure," admitted Carla, wincing as she lifted her shirt. The black bruises had spread over her entire midriff. "It hurts to touch, and I can barely move."
"Vonn!" called Gia as her mom slowly lay down on her back. "Come see my mom! She looks really bad where the rope caught her."
Vonn came over and went to touch the bruises, but Carla gasped in pain before he ever touched her.
"Let me just sleep some. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning," said Carla, pulling her shirt down carefully. "My head hurts and I feel dizzy. We've been rushing around so much I'm exhausted."
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Vonn, looking worried. "Gia, I'm going to see if the lizards have a doctor. I think your mom might be hurt worse than we thought."
"If we need to, they can use that scale for her," said Tom, moving over next to her and stroking the side of Carla's face gently. "I won't need to see anything if anything happens to her."
Vonn gave Gia another look before rushing outside, calling for someone. Gia moved over to the area next to her mom where their bags were and started going through them. Did they have anything at all that she could use to help her? But after emptying everything out of all the bags, she couldn't find anything that might help Carla. They were supposed to give the lizards two of the scales, but had only given them one. Maybe if they offered another, it would be enough to save her mom? She dreaded the thought of what the additional cost might be, but she didn't want to lose her mom!
Vonn came back, ignoring the mess she had made, pulling another lizardman behind him. The new lizardman took one look at Carla's bruising and rushed back out of the tent.
"When did this happen?" asked a different lizardman, rushing into the room, with the first close behind.
"Earlier today," said Vonn. "We were climbing the cliff, to get away from the first big wave, when it hit, knocking us off the rock. We were all attached to each other by a rope, that kept us from being washed back out to sea."
He lifted his shirt to show the lizards his bruising, and Gia did the same. The lizard seemed horrified. "These bruises are signs that there is damage on the inside. If this isn't treated immediately you may all die! I will be right back with our best healer!"
"We may all die?" asked Gia, looking over at Vonn.
"It hurts, but I've felt worse before," said Vonn, sitting down next to Tom. "Your parents are older, so the damage might be worse. How are you feeling Tom?"
"I'm stiff and sore. Sleeping isn't looking too probably right now. I honestly feel pretty stupid at not thinking about how Carla was feeling. She said it hurt tremendously, but I never gave it much thought. Do you think she'll be alright?"
"Yes, she will," said Gia, determined to do whatever it took to keep her family safe.