Green Canyon Magic - Ch.13 - Deadly To Humans (Patreon)

My ears were folded back and all three tails tucked down low as I continued staring in shock at the scene before me. Next to me Stef's tail had puffed up in alarm, while their ears were also folded back. Theo was crouched down low, watching and listening intently while remaining very still.

The silence was finally broken by the guide who'd led everyone here. He started pulling off his boots as he yelled, "Get some rope ready!" 

Then he shed his jacket as he dashed forward. He leaped from the edge of the cliff and into the water below, and that finally spurred the others into action. One of the officers began giving orders, while some of the younger soldiers hurried to get rope out of their packs. Most of the other scientists were still staring in shock, but the photographer kept busy. He was taking picture after picture, capturing the rescue on film as it played out in the lake alongside the natural dam.

The guide quickly swam to the unconscious man, and managed to roll him over so his face was out of the water. Then he turned and started slowly making his way back towards the staircase I'd made a week before, while pulling the injured man behind him. The two officers were standing by at the top of the staircase, they had a couple coils of rope at the ready so they could help get the engineer up out of the lake and back on dry land.

Except I knew it wasn't going to be easy. My stairs were narrow and steep, they were pretty much the opposite of accessible. They were adequate for a single able-bodied person to climb out by themself, but they'd be next to useless for rescuing someone who was unconscious or injured.

The officers could see that as well as me, which is why they didn't bother using the steps themselves. Instead they lowered a rope down, thinking the guide could tie it around the engineer then everyone up on top of the cliff could haul the injured man straight up and out. Unfortunately that turned out to have its own drawbacks.

After a couple attempts the guide shouted, "I need a hand down here! I can't keep his head out of the water and get a rope around him at the same time!"

As soon as I heard that my tails began anxiously swishing back and forth. I couldn't just sit still and watch anymore, I had to help. My senses stretched out through the earth, to the rocky cliff overlooking our lake. As my magic focused on those steep narrow stone steps I whispered to my friends, "I'm going to help them get him out of the water."

Stef gave me a worried look, their ears were still folded back and their tail remained puffed out in alarm. They didn't argue though, my enbyfriend just nodded silently before turning their attention back towards the drama playing out in front of us.

There were some shouts of alarm from the soldiers and scientists all crowded around near the edge of the cliff, as they all felt the rock start to move beneath their feet. Every last one of them quickly moved back several meters thinking the cliff was about to collapse into the water, but I'd just given it a little nudge to get them out of the way before the real changes began.

That staircase I made last week started to grow wider and deeper, while the actual steps got shorter but more of them appeared to make it a much easier climb. I even added a sort of landing right at the water level, so there was plenty of room there for people to get in and out of the lake. Basically I took something that was more like a stone ladder and turned it into a spacious stairwell, wide enough for three or four people to use at the same time. I even added a stone railing set into the walls. 

And I did it all as fast as I could, it took less than a minute for the whole thing to come together. It still wasn't properly accessible, but it was good enough for the moment. And more importantly, there was now plenty of room to get the unconscious guy out of the water.

Almost the instant the stone stopped changing the guide began to pull the injured man out of the water and onto the new landing. He didn't question where it came from or how it happened, his only focus seemed to be saving the other man's life. 

Most of the others seemed unwilling to approach the magically-enlarged staircase, apart from one of the other scientists and the senior officer. They raced down the stairs to help out, and soon the two of them were administering CPR to the unconscious man while the guide slumped back against the stairs to catch his breath.

I couldn't do anything else to help, so I just crossed my fingers and tails as I hoped they could save the guy. Fortunately I wasn't the only one who wanted to help, and my enbyfriend had some tricks up their sleeve as well.

"My turn," they whispered, as a look of concentration settled on their expression. 

I couldn't tell what they were doing, but I knew better than to distract them by asking so I just watched and waited. Whatever they were up to, it seemed to last a good minute or two, before they finally relaxed again.

Then they explained quietly, "A little magical boost to the CPR, to help get fresh air moving in and out of the guy's lungs."

It obviously worked, the injured man coughed a few times then seemed to start breathing on his own. There was a sigh of relief from everyone else, then the three men on the landing helped carry the engineer up the stairs and well away from the lake. 

Another of the scientists and the guy who'd been talking about blowing up the dam both moved closer to help, while the guide stepped back out of the way. They got the injured guy laid out ontop of a sleeping bag, while the guide moved to where he'd left his gear. He sat down on the ground there, then pulled out a towel and some dry clothes for himself.

By that point almost everyone else apart from the young conscripts had all started arguing about what to do next. A couple of the scientists wanted to pack up and leave immediately, while others wanted to stay and get on with their work since they only just arrived. And through it all, the photographer kept taking pictures until he finally had to stop to reload his camera with more film.

With the crisis apparently over for now I breathed a sigh of relief as I let myself relax. My ears slowly perked up and my tails swished a few times behind me, while I flexed my shoulders and stretched my back to try and work out the stress that had build up over the last few minutes.

"That was intense," I whispered as I glanced to my companions. "What do you think's going to happen to the two guys that were in the water? Do you think they're going to end up with fuzzy ears and furry tails like us?"

Stef was also starting to relax, but their ears folded back once more. They replied softly, "I'm more worried about them getting magic, my little star. I'm pretty sure they were both in the lake longer than we were that day we fell in, and that's when we first found out about our magic."

"You're right," I frowned as I looked towards the unconscious guy and the guide who saved him.

My enbyfriend's tail puffed up again as they added, "I'm still freaked out about the lightning too, and what it did to the other guy. That's not... Normal lightning doesn't do that. People don't explode."

My tails all tucked down behind me again as I nodded slowly. It was a very disturbing mental image, but as much as I didn't want to think about it I had to agree Stef was right. It wasn't normal or natural. 

"I think I know what happened," Theo suddenly commented. He'd been quiet through the whole crisis, but he'd obviously been paying attention to everything.

He continued softly, "It's not normal lightning, I think it's more like condensed magic? That's what's making the water magical. And when the lightning gets to the top of the mountain and goes into the sky it's adding magic to the air and clouds too. I think it's Gaia's doing, she's using the mountain to send magic out into the world."

"The lightning has so much magic in it that it's deadly to humans," he added. "It might even be enough to hurt people like us, if we get too close to it."

It took a few seconds for all that to sink in. Then I asked him, "Do you know why it killed the one man but spared the other? And do you think the survivor and the guide are going to get magic like us? Or fuzzy ears and tails?"

Theo's head tilted to one side as he stared at the people who were still debating what they should do next. He finally replied, "I think the one who died was probably someone who didn't respect nature. He would never have been friends with Gaia. He'd have been one of the first ones to get sick, if they're going to start drinking this water."

"I don't know about the one who fell into the lake," our wildcat friend continued. "Maybe he was spared because he has more respect for nature? The one who jumped in and saved him is definitely a person who would get along with Gaia."

After another pause Theo decided, "That last one might get ears and a tail and magic someday, I think. But probably not today."

Stef and I exchanged another look, then the cat-kin responded "Thank you Theo."

At that point my ears twitched in the direction of the humans. I looked over towards them again as I said, "It sounds like they've come to a decision."

The officer in charge and two of the civilians seem to have reached an agreement, as the military man began issuing some new orders. Two of the scientists and the second officer were gathering up their belongings, same with about half of the young conscripts. And while they were doing that, a few of the others got to work setting up a make-shift stretcher. 

"Looks like some of them are leaving," my enbyfriend commented. "They're going to take the injured man back out the way they came."

I nodded, "Seems like it. I think I heard the officer say they had a base camp at Retz."

"Makes sense," Stef replied. "I wonder if the train station is still working, or if it's inside Gaia's no-tech zone."

Retz was just over a kilometer south of the land Gaia had given us, so it was too far away for any of us to sense what was happening there.

I shook my head, "No idea. Although if there's no power at the station, they could just stop the trains outside the zone where they do have power. Depending on how long they intend to stay, they could probably set up a temporary platform pretty easily."

"Either way I'm not sure I'd want to take the chance of visiting Retz to find out," I added. "Especially not if the Bundesheer have set up some kind of military base there."

My enbyfriend nodded quietly in agreement. Meanwhile the thought of going to Retz, or rather, not going to Retz led me to think about another trip we kept putting off.

"I guess we're not going to Hardegg today after all?" I asked while my tails started slowly swishing back and forth again. "We have to go tomorrow for sure. We need food and stuff."

Stef sighed and their ears drooped, "I know. I wasn't entirely joking when I suggested scaring these guys away so we could take their supplies."

"We could still do that," Theo commented. His ears were pointing forward while his tail stuck straight out behind him, like he was ready to pounce or hunt or something. "Half of them are already leaving, so it should be easier for us to frighten the rest away."

Our little wildcat friend seemed serious, but I wasn't entirely convinced my enbyfriend was too. So I asked them, "What do you think is the best way to scare them off? Without revealing ourselves or hurting anyone else."

"With our magic it should be easy," Stef replied with a little shrug. "You could shake the ground, make them think it's an earthquake. I could have some fierce wind blow down their tents and shelters."

"And I could start some small fires," Theo offered.

I frowned slightly as I thought it through. Then I asked Stef, "Do you really think it's a good idea?"

The cat-kin shrugged once more, "I think I'd be happier if they went back where they came from, my little star. I certainly don't want that demolitions guy to blow up the dam and drain our lake. And if we could get their supplies that would save us from having to go to Hardegg, and having to deal with the humans there."

"If we could get these guys to leave everything behind that would be even better," they added. "Sleeping bags, clothes, packs, the lot. I know Gaia said she'd look after us, but in the meantime we have very little to work with. We still want to expand our cottage and make it into a proper home, after all."

I nodded slowly as I thought it all through once more. Then I finally agreed, "All right cutie, you've convinced me. Let's wait another hour or two, so the first group has plenty of time to get clear with the stretcher. Then we'll see what it takes to send this lot packing."

"I thought we didn't want them to pack?" Theo asked as he tilted his head again while his tail twitched back and forth. "Wasn't the idea to make them leave everything behind?"

Stef and I smiled at each other, then they reached down and ran their hand over the wildcat's fur. "You're right Theo. 'Send them packing' is another expression, it just means get them to leave in a hurry."

With our plans made the three of us settled back to watch the group of men in front of us for a little while longer, while also using our magical senses to monitor the ones who'd already departed. 

*** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Lucy who commissioned it! ***