“It wouldn’t do any good to take normal supplies down with me,” she denied, slipping her legs into the harness and pulling it on over her hips. “The water is gushing out of the holes at such force that nothing would harden, not even with magic. I’ve got magical seals that I can slap over it that can hold a charging elephant. I’ll try those first.”
“If those don’t?”
“I have a backup plan.” Unfortunately, she had less faith in her backup plan than in her first, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. “Let me down, Dougan.”
He let her down in easy stages to the first hole. Actually, it wasn’t as much of a hole as some of the others, as it seeped more than gushed. Sevana reached into the pack strapped to her chest and pulled out a ready-made seal designed to detect the material it affixed to and duplicate its strength and permeability in a five-foot radius. Some of the holes in the dam were larger than that, so it would take more than one seal. Sevana started praying she had enough on her. If she didn’t, they were in trouble—these took a week to make. Individually.
Because the heavens were not listening, and her magic was less than cooperative, the first seal barely had enough magic to activate with. But activate it did, strongly enough to hold back the water and keep anything else from seeping through. Phew, alright, it worked. Although why was the spell spluttering like that? It was almost like a magical hiccup happening in front of her eyes. To her relief, it only lasted a second, and then it settled down into an overall hum like it was supposed to. Still, that worried her. Sevana had never seen magic do that before.
“That do it?!” Dougan yelled down at her over the roaring sound of the water.
She didn’t have the ability to yell back and be heard so she put both arms over her head in large circle, signaling an affirmative, then pointed to the next hole. Dougan pulled her the right direction, she put two seals on it (as her magic was still not cooperating), and then it was onto the next. And the next. Sevana had of course counted the holes before she ever got into the harness, but what she hadn’t been able to calculate was how many seals it would take to close them all.
The skies overhead were also in an uncooperative mood. As the sun started to set, the rain came in harder than before. Worse, lightning started to flash overhead. Sevana felt half-drowned. She constantly wiped water out of her eyes, for all the good that did her. Today was becoming thoroughly rotten.
From her angle halfway down the dam, she had no way of checking on the workers on top. She couldn’t begin to see them from here. There was also no way for her to communicate with Dougan to ask. He could barely see her as it was, and if not for the head lamp on her hat, he wouldn’t be able to at all. She had to trust the workers hadn’t been fried by lightning and were still working. It was too much of a miracle to ask that they finished before the storm truly hit.
She ran out of seals before she could patch all of the holes, but the last two weren’t actively gushing out water, so she felt it was safe enough to leave them alone. Tomorrow, after the storm had abated, she’d come back down here to check on things properly. Getting out of the way before lightning could strike her or she was swept away by a flood of water seemed like a higher priority.
Sevana gestured to Dougan to pull her up and he did so with commendable alacrity. When she got near the top, she found that Booker was helping him, and she thought a little better of the man because he had stayed behind on a dangerous ledge just to help her.
They spoke no words to each other. Sevana quickly shucked the harness and unclicked the main part of it to carry along with her. (The thing was expensive and difficult to make.) They didn’t dare run on this slick, wet surface that was only two feet wide, but they moved at a fast walk and with many a worried glance toward the sky. The other eight workmen were already off, also anxious to get back onto land before lightning could strike them. She didn’t breathe easily until they cleared the dam entirely and made it back to the work shed.
Kira handed her a towel the moment she came through the door, which Sevana took with heartfelt thanks. Drying her exposed skin and hair, she stepped through to see the result of their work.
The workers had managed to get all of the beams and sheetwood in place. It was just as well, too, as the water level continued to steadily rise. Already it was above the normal level of the dam. Without the boards in place, it would have spilled over before she could have gotten back onto solid ground. That had been too close for comfort.
Not a word passed between them as time ticked relentlessly by. There was a small brazier near the door of the shed, giving off some heat, but Sevana shivered while standing around in her wet clothes. She wasn’t willing to leave yet and try to find something warm, though. Any second, she might have to dash back out again and try some other fix to keep the dam intact.
Slowly, she realized that the storm was abating. Lightning had ceased to strike and the visibility had increased so that she was no longer straining to see the dam.
“It’s not rising,” Booker breathed, sounding as if he almost doubted his own words.
Sevana pulled out her glasses, choosing the telescope lenses to get a better look. She let out a low whistle. “Six inches from the top of the boards. That’s cutting it close.” Turning her head, she peered toward the direction of the river. “The water seems calmer now than it was before. There’s no choppiness, at least.”
Yosef let out a loud breath. “We might survive this night after all.”
As he spoke, the storm died down to a sprinkling of raindrops. They all held their breath and waited to see if this change was permanent or just a break in the storm. Minutes ticked by and the storm stopped completely, leaving a cool and moist feeling to the air. Sevana grinned, relief mixing in with a heady sense of victory. “I think we did it.”
The whole shed burst into a raucous outcry of celebration. Sevana laughed at their reaction and then joined in. They had beaten the odds getting it done. Truly, there were few jobs that could rival this one in gut-wrenching tension.
“I’ll stay the night and watch it,” Yosef volunteered readily. “I’ll sound the alarm if the situation changes for the worst.”
“Good idea,” Booker agreed, clapping the man on the back. “Meanwhile, the rest of us should find our beds. We should get some sleep in case we need to be back at work.”
Sevana had no idea what they would do if their patches failed. She hadn’t the slightest inkling if her backup plan would have really worked or not—it was just the only other idea that she could think of to try. It was true, though, that they all needed rest. When she had arrived this morning, they’d already been up for one full day trying to fix the situation. Most of the people standing here had been awake for over fifty hours, which wasn’t good. Tired people made mistakes.
“Artifactor,” Kira motioned her toward the door, “there’s a house nearby that has agreed to shelter you while you’re here. They have a bed made up and waiting for you.”
Now when had she found the time to see to that? “Let’s go, then. The place is nearby?”
“Very close. We’ll call you first if something happens.”
Well enough. Sevana followed her out the door, but stopped by Jumping Clouds long enough to grab her bag. She wanted dry clothes to change into before trying to sleep.
The house was owned by an elderly couple that seemed oddly in awe of her. Sevana had no idea what part of her reputation made them react so, but enjoyed the stroke to her ego so did nothing to dissuade their over-the-top hospitality.
Still, it wasn’t long before she was in dry clothes, in a country-style room, on a soft feather-tick mattress. Snuggling under two quilts, she expected it to take a few minutes to warm the bed up enough for her to get comfortable. Even longer for her to actually fall asleep. Her expectations were proved false, as she didn’t even remember when her eyes closed.
Her sleep was deep, dreamless, revitalizing. A passing chill awoke her, and she reached for the blankets to draw them up close
r to her chin, only for her hand to grasp empty air. Something poked her back and she realized that the comfortable mattress under her was gone. Eyes snapping open, she flailed upright in a panic.
Bed, room, house, everything was gone only to be replaced by forest.
A forest she didn’t recognize.
Sevana stared straight ahead, heart still racing and sounding like a war drum in her ears, eyes locked on a group of three of the strangest people she had ever seen standing in front of her. Was this a dream? Surely not, it felt all too real to be a dream. Although this gathering of oddities in a forest setting certainly made it look like a dream.
A robust man with a round belly, oblong hat of silk, and droopy black mustache was shaking a finger to emphasize his point. “—not to be confused with any other Artifactor or magician. She is the one that has saved not just one royal family, but three!”
“She is known as a curse-breaker,” a large...wait, what was he? His shape seemed to shift between a man and a large black bear, making it seem as if he were shifting from one to another in a constant transition. “There is no curse here to break. What good is she?”
“While I agree that her reputation does not give her the qualities we need, I am also inclined to think that she may be the most suitable to help us.” The third and final member of the group was not human, not beast, but something that Sevana had only ever read about. This was a Qi-lin. It simply had to be. It resembled a dragon with scaly red skin and three horns on its forehead, but it was in the general shape of a deer, and had hefty manes of hair flowing out. They were not to be confused with a unicorn, even though their general body shape made one think they were a cousin of that race.
There was only one place in the world that the Qi-lins lived. “I’m on Nanashi Isle,” she blurted out incredulously. How?! This place was at least a two day trip from Stillwater! How could she have possibly crossed that distance in one night?!
All three stopped and turned to look at her.
“You are,” the mustached man confirmed. Well, the term ‘man’ was misleading. There was no way he was a regular man, not with the way he glowed. “Sevana Warren, stand and speak with us. We wish to see if you are adequate to the task.”
He made this sound like a job interview instead of a kidnapping. Sevana stood, but did so crossly. After all, she was still in her nightclothes (although fortunately she had worn pants and a shirt as a precaution, since she had half-expected to be yanked out of bed) and didn’t have any shoes on. If they imagined that she would meekly go along with whatever they wanted, they were sorely mistaken. She’d come up with suitable payback shortly, but first she had get the full scope of the situation. Making her way gingerly across the forested floor, she tried to avoid any fallen twigs or stones, and came to stand with them.
“First, who are you?”
They seemed taken aback at her brusqueness. The Qi-lin’s mane actually huffed out like an enraged cat’s. “You do not know who we are?”
“You are a Qi-lin,” she riposted flatly. “So I’m assuming that I’m on Nanashi Isle, and you are the inhabitants, perhaps the minor deities of the Isle, but I want proper names. Who are you?”
The Qi-lin’s golden eyes narrowed to mere slits. “I am Chi-lin.”
Oh? Sevana’s memory was a bit dusty, as she hadn’t studied the Nanashi mythology in some time, but if memory served, if a Qi-lin took on a variation of the race’s name, they were very highly ranked.
Without prompting, the bear/man took a half-step forward. His form settled more into that of a man, black hair, slanted dark eyes in round face. “I am Da-Yu.”
“Cheng-Huang,” the last man introduced himself, the only person to not have a challenge in his voice. He seemed more inclined to study her as she caught up. “You are correct. We are deities of Nanashi Isle.”
At least she’d guessed that part right. They were likely not the only ones—her memory drew a blank on how many there actually were—but that was fine. She had enough to contend with at the moment with these three. “Why did you bring me here?”
Da-Yu gave a pointed look at Cheng-Huang. “I didn’t.”
“Artifactor Sevana Warren,” Cheng-Huang faced her squarely, “there is a disaster facing our isle that will consume it utterly unless it is stopped.”
In spite of her better judgment, she felt a flicker of intrigue. Sevana never could turn down a challenge. It was a failing of hers. “Three minor gods can’t handle it, but you believe I can?”
“Your reputation precedes you,” Cheng-Huang answered simply.
“She also solved two major problems for the Fae,” Chi-Lin added, more toward Da-Yu than to her, “which is why I’m inclined to at least let her try. Our powers are not suitable to this task.”
“Despite all of the prayers we’ve been getting,” Cheng-Huang added sourly in a mutter.
Yes, this had to be good. Sevana didn’t know what ‘two’ problems they were referring to. She had given children to the Fae, certainly, but that wasn’t a ‘solution’ to her mind. She’d also helped magic-proof the Fae storerooms to prevent any more thefts, but that wasn’t a ‘solution’ either, not really. It had barely been a problem to begin with, what with that evil prodigy dead. For the moment, she wouldn’t argue either point. She wanted to hear what was so dire that they had brought her here. “So what is the problem?”
“You are aware that Nanashi has an active volcano on it?” Cheng-Huang inquired. At her nod, he continued, “It will explode soon. The pressure is rising quickly and there’s little that we can do to stop it.”
A volcano? Sevana’s eyes threatened to pop out of her head. “You want me to stop a volcano?!”
“You have the ability to save kings and help the Fae,” Cheng-Huang answered forthrightly. “This task is within your capabilities.”
Sevana stared at him, completely flabbergasted. For the first time in her adult life, she felt like protesting that she couldn’t do something. It was a rare moment, as she had been stumped before, many times, but not once had she felt like it was completely outside of her abilities. Was this how normal people felt?
Da-Yu snorted, bitterly satisfied. “Look at her expression. She has no idea how to help us.”
That reaction put her back up so fast a few vertebrae snapped. “Stuff it, bear-man.”
“B-bear!” he spluttered, hackles rising.
“First, boots,” she ordered Cheng-Huang. “I’m not walking around this place barefoot. Then you’ll show me this volcano before I make any decisions. Oh, and don’t think you won’t pay through the nose for dragging me here without my consent, because you will.”
Chi-lin raised his head in a small jerk. “You think you can do something about this? When even we can’t?”
“I’ve never turned down a challenge in my life and honestly this doesn’t qualify as the hardest thing I’ve had to do.” Although it was coming in a very close second. In her opinion, having to break Kip’s curse would always be the hardest job she had ever taken on. “Show me the problem first. Then I’ll be able to offer solutions.” She pointed at her feet. “Boots.”
Cheng-Huang gave an expansive wave of the hand and her boots arrived on her feet, laced up perfectly as if she had just put them on herself. Sevana was dying to know how he did that trick. “Anything else, Artifactor?”
“I’m not done having you summon things,” she informed him, doubling back for her pack. “But for now, I need to see the volcano. Then I’ll tell you what I need.” He was also going to call home for her and inform people where she had gone, although he didn’t know that yet. Forget Master or Sarsen’s reactions when they discovered her missing. It was Aran’s that she worried about. Aran would not take her disappearance well, and he was as likely to hunt her down himself as to inform Aranhil. And if her Fae King learned of this, he was just as likely to slaughter people first and put flowers on their graves afterwards.
Volcanic islands were not shaped like most islands. They were crafted from large
amounts of magma all pushed upwards through the crust, so they always formed a rough cone shape. Nanashi Isle was no different. Shaped like a giant mountain, it had little in the way of flat land. There were trees, of course, vegetation of various sorts, thick and dense. Because of the severe slope of the mountain, Sevana was able to see some of the beach below, although tree limbs did obscure her view.
The inhabitants of the isle had wisely chosen to settle first along the beach, as that would be the easiest place to build and the only sensible location for trade. Growing things was the challenge here without any real flat land to work with, but the people here had adapted by carving out sections along the side of the mountain, creating narrow fields that went steadily up. From her high vantage point, she could see paths that wound in and around them. Her three guides did not lead her down the mountain but instead went up. Sevana quickly appreciated boots on her feet, as the climb became more and more rocky. Lava rock could be horrendously sharp, especially against bare skin.
Somewhat to her surprise, the area did not go straight upwards. Instead they reached a small plateau that went more or less flat for several hundred feet before rising sharply again. This area had limited vegetation, mostly grass and ferns, and the area ahead was even sparser. Sevana took one look at the volcano, saw steam and gases rising out of the top, and felt like swearing. “You’ve seen no sign of magma coming out? It’s just bubbling and causing deformities?”
“This is the most we see coming from the top,” Cheng-Huang responded. “In fact, the summit bulges a few feet upward a day but nothing overflows.”
Sevana swore some more, louder this time.
Chi-Lin gave her a nod of grudging respect. “You know what that means.”
“I do,” she acknowledged grimly. “That volcano is on the edge of erupting. We have days at best to stop this thing.” Her mind raced. What could she possibly do about this situation? Evacuating the inhabitants of the isle went without saying, of course, but this volcano was large. Large enough to impact the mainland. Belen would not be getting out free and clear if the volcano blew. It would likely impact the lives of tens of thousands of people for hundreds of miles around.
The Canard Case (The Artifactor Series Book 4) Page 2