Chapter 267 - Welcome To Amazon

"We are experiencing extreme weather conditions," came the voice of the pilot over the microphone. "Please tie your seatbelt Mr. Silver."

Tension was strife in the air. Daryn tied the seatbelt and looked out of the window again. It was raining pretty heavily. He picked up the phone and asked the pilot, "Are we very high from the ground?" 

"Not much."

"Look for a clearing and land the plane there as soon as possible." 

"But Sir, we can't land on any clearing. We need a large one."

"Just find one and land there!" Daryn gritted his teeth. If they continued to fly in this weather, chances were that they would get fried mid-air. 

Outside the thick grey clouds rumbled ruthlessly. The downpour was so heavy that it looked as if the clouds were being dragged down with it. The way rain was falling over the aircraft it felt as if the plane was inside the flow of a river rather than in a normal rain. The clouds surrounded them completely, giving away to the weight of the water it held. Accompanied with the roar of the lightning and thunder, the rain pelted the metal of the aircraft brutally. 

Chaos ensued and suddenly a band of lightning struck far too close. The airhostess sitting in the rear side screamed, and then she pressed her mouth with both her hands. The plane swayed to the left and loose things tumbled that side. The pilot controlled it skillfully. The airhostess, a girl in her mid-twenties, screamed again. "I don't want to die!" she said as tears started flowing out of her eyes. 

"No one's dying," Daryn grated in order to make her stay quiet. 

The microphone boomed, "Sir I can locate a rough clearing almost half a mile away. I am going to land the plane there, but it is going to be bumpy." 

"I don't care. Just land the fucking plane soon!" 

"Yes Sir!" the pilot breathed and maneuvered the plane towards the right. He was almost there when once again the intensity of the thunder and lightning increased. Even though the jet's wings were slicing through the thick jungle rain effectively, nothing could beat the scary fire bolts that were now too close. Daryn was thinking of Dawn when he last saw her in the bed and hoped to call her the moment they landed. He was in a daydream when one of the bolts from the clouds struck the tail obliquely. The aircraft skittered and then it went out of control as it nosedived. 

"Evacuate! Evacuate!" The pilot shouted. 

Daryn looked out of the window as the whole place was now filled with smoke and screams and fire. "You evacuate first! Use the parachute." He instructed the pilot. 

There was no way out. Using all his strength to stand up, Daryn managed to hold the sides and go to where the air hostess was. His eyes were still on the outside waiting for them to go down to the height he could manage. "Marie, how do you open the door?" he had to shout for the girl to listen. 

The airhostess was all tears and dumbfounded. She looked at him blankly. 

"How. Do. You. Open. The. Door." He asked her again.

Marie gulped and then said in a shaky voice, "Y— You turn the l— lever to the l— left, press it and o— open inside." 

Daryn opened the door and as if waiting for new space to mess, rain and wind lashed them so badly that within minutes they were soaked to the skin. Daryn could now actually see how the aircraft was diving towards the ground. Trying his best to stay against the gravity, he held on the nearest chair and looked at Marie. She was pale as a ghost, and her expressions were that she was on the verge of death. Well, she was. "Do you trust me?" he asked her. 

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" 

"No!" 

"Good," he replied and tugged her to him. Minutes later he jumped out of the plane and was now freely falling towards the ground with a girl tucked against him. Marie kicked and shouted and screamed in the air so violently that Daryn had trouble keeping her. He was beginning to lose her when all of a sudden he saw that the aircraft they were in converted into a giant fireball as soon as it touched the ground. And seconds later they had fallen over the tall, thick trees of the Amazon jungles. Marie let him go as she plummeted downwards. 

Daryn's claws came out and as he fell, he sliced the leaves and the branches on their way down. He pierced the trunks of the trees with his claws in order to impediment his speed of impact. The trees bent on either side with his strength. Just before they were about to snap, Daryn landed on the ground, with his hands all bloodied up. He was a Lykae and Lykae were so powerful that they could lift trucks off the ground and toss them like toys. 

Daryn looked up at the grey sky. 'Welcome to Amazon.' A soft voice came from somewhere. He spun around to see who was there but there wasn't anyone. Where was Marie? Did she die to her death? 

The rain wasn't the way it was in Bainsburgh, it was a heavy downpour with a thick smell of wet mud and rotten leaves and bark. If Daryn had walked beneath a waterfall, it wouldn't have made him wetter than this. The raindrops pelted like bullets on his body. He growled in the darkness of the afternoon as his mood mirrored the skies above. He had to find that girl and check whether she was dead or alive. Through the wet ground he walked around, sniffing the air for Marie's scent, but the rain was washing away whatever scent he had picked. He had hoped to see a large parachute around and that would tell where his pilot was. However, apart from the sound of rain, there was nothing. He chanced upon a deep groove in a large tropical tree that had leaves the size of a husky. He went to stand in it and saved himself a little from the downpour. 

He reached for his phone in the pants pocket and took it out. It had conked off. Daryn looked up and cursed heaven. He closed his eyes and for the first time after the crash, he couldn't believe that this is what he would face. His heart went to Dawn and he shuddered as his heart beat like a freight train. He had to reach her, tell her that he was fine else she would worry crazily. His babies… His knees went weak. What did the fates bring him to? He had to gather his thoughts back. It took him a full minute or so to steady his heartbeat and his weak knees to feel strong again. He had to find his way out of this nightmare. 

When the rain slowed down a little, he sniffed the air to locate Marie, or the pilot or the aircraft, whatever was nearer. He had to send the message back home about his situation. Smell of burning metal was coming from the south and he headed in that direction. A walk of an hour through the puddles, thick tall grass, trees and numerous temporary streams, Daryn came across the mangled mess of the aircraft. It was broken into two and still burning in places. He went to the cockpit, which was completely wrecked. His gaze darted everywhere to find the headphone.