Page 103 of Dark Shaman: The Lost Treasure
"Hold on tight," he told the boy. "Help the woman through the opening and follow me."
The journey back to the stairwell was nightmarish. Bleeding knuckles that were already healing but painful, water chest-deep and rising, and the weight of three children, two infants who he had to hold up above the water and a five-year-old clinging to his back.
Eluheed's legs moved through sheer will, each step a battle against exhaustion and physics. He climbed fast, and behind him the adults struggled to keep up, but he could hear them following. Fifth floor. Fourth floor. He was pushing his body beyond the limits of its endurance. The infants were slipping in his grip, slick with water. The boy on his back was choking him with terror-strengthened arms.
Third floor. Second floor. Black spots danced in Eluheed's vision. His legs moved without conscious thought, muscle memory from centuries of survival.
Just a little farther. Just a little more.
First floor. One more flight.
He burst onto the surface for the final time, legs giving out the moment he cleared the exit. He managed to pass the infants to Tula, felt the boy being lifted from his back, then collapsed.
Rain pelted his face, mixing with his sweat. His chest heaved, trying to pull in enough oxygen to feed muscles pushed beyond all reasonable limits. Even his immortal body needed recovery time.
"Elias!" A familiar voice, high with fear and relief.
Then Tamira was there, dropping to her knees beside him in the rain. Her hands framed his face, her eyes wide with tears that mixed with the deluge.
"You magnificent fool," she sobbed, pulling his head into her lap. "I was so afraid?—"
He tried to speak, but his body was too focused on the simple act of breathing.
"Did everyone…" he finally managed to gasp. "Did everyone make it?"
"Yes," she said, running her hands through his soaked hair. "We are still counting to make sure we didn't miss anyone, but Shalini says they are all here. The Fates were merciful tonight."
Relief washing over him, Eluheed turned on his back, closed his eyes, and just let the rain pelt him.
"Oh," he heard Tamira exclaim. "I forgot about the guards."
He opened his eyes and saw a procession of guards emerging from the pavilion in pairs, each duo struggling with a heavy chest. Diving masks dangled from around their necks, and theiruniforms were soaked and smelling of the mineral-rich flood water from below.
They'd gone diving, he realized.
While people were fighting for survival, these guards had been swimming through flooded vaults to retrieve—what? Gold? Jewels? Papers?
Eluheed watched them struggle with their burdens, saw Lord Navuh directing them to load the chests into waiting vehicles. Whatever was in those chests, it had been deemed more valuable to him than human lives.
The bitter irony burned worse than Eluheed's overworked muscles. He'd pushed his body to breaking point to save strangers, while Navuh's guards had done the same to save possessions.
Two types of treasure, two sets of priorities.
What could possibly be so important? Gold wouldn't dissolve in water. Precious stones would survive a flooding. Important documents were probably backed up digitally. But lives were irreplaceable.
"What are they carrying?" Tamira asked, following his gaze. "Did he have corpses stored down there?"
The chests were large enough to contain dead bodies, but they didn't look like coffins.
"Priorities," Eluheed said. "They are carrying Lord Navuh's precious treasures."
35
AREANA
There was only one thing that Areana valued enough to put in her purse before evacuating her suite, leaving everything else for her staff to decide on.
The hidden communication device was her most prized possession, and the one thing she had kept hidden from her mate for years. Well, there had been some inconsequential harem shenanigans that she'd kept from him to protect people she cared about, but he probably preferred her keeping those to herself.
