“That’s all very well, but it still doesn’t show us which bridge to take.” He glanced toward the spreading black goo and urgency clenched his gut even as the hiss grew louder. The black tendrils were nearly across the gap. The bottle in his hand glowed through his fingers and a plan hatched in his head. Maybe there was a way to fix this. Risky, but it might work.
He uncorked the bottle of light, whispered a quick prayer to Tau, and allowed a single drop of the light to fall from the bottle before corking it again. The light droplet hung suspended for a moment and then slowly slipped down until it landed with a quiet plop. Another shudder rippled through the ground beneath their feet. This time it flashed silver and left a gleam of residue in the metal below their feet.
Ruaan slapped his forehead. “What are you thinking? You can’t waste that stuff! What are we going to do when it’s all gone?”
“I know. I hoped it would show us the right door.” He scuffed the ground beneath his feet. “It was a gamble that didn’t pay off.” He cast a glance towards the web. It was more than halfway across the gap and closing fast.
Zap stepped back, pointing at Kai’s feet with his eyes wide, “What the heck? What’s up with that…”
The ground where Kai had let the drop of water fall was shifting before their eyes. Ebony gave way to white-silver, the jutting angles smoothed out to soft curves. The patch of transformation was growing. It spread beneath their feet and Zap’s eyes looked ready to pop out.
Loud sizzling hissed behind them. The web had bridged the gap and was spidering towards them.
“I might sound crazy, but that web seems to be able to think. That’s not possible, right?” Ruaan sounded calm, but by the glow coming from below them, Kai could see just how pale he was.
“There’s no telling what’s possible and what isn’t down here. We have to go.” Kai spun around, trying to decide which way was right.
The web reached the edge of the glowing patch and recoiled. A single sliver of brightness branched off from the patch, trailing a direct path toward one of the bridges.
“I think we should trust it.” Kai didn’t wait for the others to agree but took off following the light. The faster he moved, the faster the path ran ahead, leaving the platform to curve along one of the bridges. There was no argument from Ruaan or Zap. They ran right on Kai’s heels.
The black web snaked alongside the light-path, flanking it and travelling faster. Kai threw himself off the bridge at the foot of a door that seemed carved of ancient stone. There was no handle or any other visible way to open it. He banged on it until his palms stung. “Help me push.”
The three lined up, put their hands on the door, and heaved. It swung back easily, and they fell through, rolling in the dirt on the other side. The silvery pathway stopped at the doorway’s edge, but the web crept out. There was light on this side of the door.
“Shut it!” Kai scrambled to his feet and eased himself behind the now impossibly heavy doo.
Zap stood rooted, eyes fixed on the web that seemed to be growing straight toward him. Ruaan ran to help Kai, and together they heaved the door closed, snapping two sections off the web. The bits left on their side of the door writhed and squirmed, turning Kai’s stomach.
“Stand back!” An approaching man put a spear through the closest bit, bellowing out a war cry. Loud hissing filled the air, and the severed bit of web shrivelled to a floating wisp. The man reached into a pouch he carried on his hip and sprinkled some dust over the blackened air. He turned his attention to the other bit of web, yelled again, stabbed, and dusted that bit into oblivion, too.
The man stood a head taller than Kai, dressed in baggy maroon pants with the crotch that hung to just above his knees, barefoot running shoes, and a leather breastplate. His head was shaven all down both sides, leaving a central strip in a plait from forehead to halfway down his back. His jaw jutted out at an angle that was sharper than his sword. His spear got a liberal sprinkling of dust before he strapped it onto his belt. Everything about the man screamed soldier, despite his pants that made Kai bite back a chuckle.
Kai stepped forward and held out a hand to thank him, but the man looped a rope around Kai’s wrists. In a blink, he had the other two hooked in as well. He tied the loose end of the rope to his belt. Then he stepped back and formality slid like steel down his spine.
“I am under oath to the powers that be to detain any strangers found around Stone City. The fact that you came via the Door That Should Never Be Used counts against you. The fact that you did not use the correct words of greeting counts against you.”
“Is this a joke? We just need help finding a friend. You can’t be serious.” Kai looked around for a hidden audience.
“Speaking without being consulted counts against you. Your strange attire counts against you. Approaching an officer of Stone City without invitation counts against you. Withholding your business in our land counts against you.”
“But you haven’t even asked our business. Besides, he said it. We’re looking for a friend.” Zap’s lip pulled upwards along with his eyebrow.
“Interrupting an officer of Stone City during a formal decree coun—”
“Let me guess!” Zap stuck up his hand. “Counts against us. Right?” He grinned.
Ruaan slapped his belly with his bound hands. “You’re making it worse. Shut it.”
“You actually think this guy is serious. That’s priceless.”
The officer glared at them in turn before removing a small object from his belt. The handle fit in his palm and the top was split into two narrow sections just wider than Kai’s turning fork for his guitar. The soldier held it up and pressed a button. Blue sparks shot between the two narrow sections.
Fury flooded red into Ruaan’s cheeks. Kai caught his eye and shook his head quickly. It seemed to get through to Ruaan, as he stayed on the spot, fingers working into fists.
“I hereby declare you lawful prisoners of Stone City until such time as your innocence can be proven beyond a shadow of doubt. You are to accompany me in silence. Failure to comply will be counted against you.” The soldier turned and began walking, leading them behind him as he would a pack of tame dogs. The confidence he had in his authority was absolute.
Kai rolled his eyes but nodded at the others to go along peacefully. This could be the one time that something seemed bad but turned out for good.
9
Evazee came around, choking on the water in her lungs. Someone rolled her onto her side and rubbed her back. With each drop that left her body, Evazee breathed a bit easier. When the coughing stopped, she fell back and wiped her eyes.
Zulu’s ebony face hovered over hers, tight lips and the deep scar making him seem fierce in the gloom.
“Peta. Elden. Are they—” Awareness crept back in slivers.
“Resting.” A smile creased his cheeks and relief calmed Eva.
She pushed herself up, but her head swam and she lay back down. Elden lay sprawled on his back with Peta curled up at his side close enough that she’d touch him if she moved her leg. The lamp they’d hung on the boat sat midway between them all, still shining. Eva’s damp clothes clung to her, and she shivered. Her hair hung in a soggy mass of knotted wetness. She squeezed it out and water dripped onto the grass. “What are you doing here?”
Zulu squatted easy on his haunches, back propped up against a tree. “Helping.”
“You followed us when we left the dome?”
“I did.” His face was an expressionless chiselled mask.
“Were you going to take us back?”
“You weren’t prisoners.”
“But we stole their boat. Well, we didn’t steal, just borrowed.” Her gaze slipped to the riverbank and the bits of boat bobbing along the edges. “That didn’t work out too well.”
“It’s just wood. You are worth more than wood.”
“Zulu, I wanted to ask you.” She pushed herself up gingerly and pain flowered through her ribs. She bit back a grunt. “The
water in the pod. It turned brown. What does that mean?”
“Brown?”
As brown as your skin. “Yes, brown. Do you know?”
“Brown is guilt. He is hiding something.”
“Elden? He couldn’t if he tried.”
“I read it in his eyes.” There was no judgment in his statement. He was simply stating the facts.
She glanced across to Elden, sleeping at her feet. He was relaxed and at peace. Her heart skipped, and she looked away quickly but not before catching Zulu grinning at her.
He shrugged. “This guilt, it doesn’t make him a bad person.”
Evazee angled her shoulders away from Zulu a fraction. She couldn’t get side-tracked now with petty arguments. Peta needed her. “Do you know where we can find the Healing Stream?”
“I do not know of this Healing Stream you speak of. Is it for the small one?”
“But didn’t the water in the pods come from the Healing Stream?”
“It did.”
“But surely you’d know where the water came from? How they got it there?”
Zulu’s head tipped to the side. “No.”
Three different responses formed in Eva’s mind. All of them included the words frustrating, irritating, or stupid. She shut her mouth deliberately and rolled herself upright. Cold and wobbly on her feet, she hobbled over to Elden. She bent down next to him and shook his arm. “Elden, wake up.”
Her gentle voice did nothing but illicit a snore. She leaned in a bit closer to his ear. “Elden! We have to go.”
His only response was a vague grunt. Evazee patted his cheek. His arm snaked up and drew her down towards his chest.
“Elden! No. Wake up.”
Pressed up against his chest, his arms—two bands of heat—locked around her while she balanced precariously on her knees. His chest rose and fell in easy breaths, and he smiled in his sleep. This would not do.
Her toe cramped, and she toppled, head-butting his chin.
Elden sat up straight and yelled, “No! You can’t make me. I didn’t do it!”
He shoved Evazee and she rolled, bumping into the lamp from the boat, landing with an “oof.”
“Oh no, Evazee! I’m so sorry. What happened?” He scrambled to his feet and rolled himself upright while rubbing his eyes.
“Is he always like this?” Zulu pointed sideways, his nose wrinkled up to meet his frown.
Evazee shrugged, brushing dirt off her pants as she stood up. “I guess so. Though I’ve never heard him shout so much.” She stepped close to Elden and pulled down an eyelid to check his pupil response. “Any headache? Dizziness?” Her palm slipped to his forehead as she felt his temperature. Heat crept into his skin below her fingertips.
“Breathing is hard.”
“Probably from inhaling water. I felt the same. It will settle.”
A strange grin tugged at his mouth. “Oh, of course. You must be right.” He reached up to remove her hand from his forehead. “Who is he?”
“He is Zulu from the dome house. He works for Beaver and Shrimp.”
“The same Beaver and Shrimp whose boat we just trashed?”
“I don’t work for them. I help. And yes, the same ones. It’s like I told the girl, a boat can be rebuilt. Lives, not so much.”
Evazee locked onto Elden’s gaze. He mouthed something she didn’t catch. Rather than risk getting it wrong, she changed the subject. “I’m worried about Peta.”
“I’m worried about Bree.”
“We need to find the Healing Stream. Zulu hasn’t heard of it before. Isn’t that strange?”
“What is he doing here anyway?” He turned his back to her as he spoke. “Is he going to take us back?”
Zulu had his back to them, holding Peta’s frail arm in his enormous hands. Her pale skin looked translucent against his dark skin.
He turned to them and smiled. “There is not much time. Come. Let us fix your worries. Both of you.”
~*~
The rope around Kai’s wrist was rubbing away layers of skin. This whole situation was beginning to annoy him. They’d been walking in silence behind the baggy pants soldier with the dagger-sharp chin for a while now, and Kai was about ready to ask where they were going. The only thing that held him back was the deep desire not to hear the words “counted against you” one more time.
Ruaan had long since given up complaining about his missing shoe, probably for the same reason. He limped along in silence now.
They cleared a rise and found another soldier sitting on a rock with his back straight, hands on his knees, eyes closed, and face lifted as a sunflower would bask in the sun. His entire head was shaved and he was dressed in the same baggy pants as their captor. He must have heard them coming. He shot up and stood to attention. As they got closer, his gaze ran over them and stopped at their bound wrists.
He pulled the soldier aside and hissed at him through clenched teeth, “What are you doing? These people are our guests, not our prisoners! Do I need to send you back to training?” His hand hovered in the air as if he were about to swat the one that had tied them up.
“But they came through the door and two of them are covered in dirt. You know what that means.”
Kai felt Zap staring at him and looked over at him. Zap wiggled his eyebrows toward the thick bank of vegetation that ran along next to them.
“I’m keen to ditch these two and their ugly pants,” Zap said.
Kai wasn’t so sure. He glanced across to Ruaan and grimaced when he saw the look in his face. Ruaan’s hands crept up toward his belly. He must be getting hungry. Off to one side, the two soldiers still whispered furiously.
Kai shook his head at Zap and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “We should stick with these guys. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling. It’s weird because I don’t trust them, but my gut says we’re heading the right way. Gallagher said so too. Do you trust me?” He held out his open palm in a gesture they hadn’t used since the first time they’d crept out of detention together at the age of ten.
Zap groaned and slapped his hand into Kai’s. “Sneaking out of detention was a disaster. We got kitchen duty for a month, but fine. Whatever you want, hotshot.”
“How do you keep doing that? Get out of my head.”
Before Zap could answer, the two soldiers finished arguing. Their captor bowed his head, but not before Kai saw the flash of defiance in his eyes. The new soldier ran to them and pulled a knife out of his pocket. It was as long as Kai’s forearm and sliced through their bonds with a single swipe.
“There. That is better.” He faced them all and bowed deeply. “Welcome, honoured guests. Please accept my apology for my fellow soldier here. He is new and has been known to take his job a little too seriously. Please, will you do us the honour of accompanying us?”
Kai rubbed life back into his wrists. “Maybe you can help us. We are looking for a friend. She was last seen in the desert outside the Darklands. She’s most likely injured.” Hearing himself say it out loud made Kai realize how ludicrous their quest was. Short of a miracle, they were never going to find Bree. Kai cleared his throat and pressed on. “We don’t know where to start looking.”
“Also, I’ve lost my shoe.” Ruaan cleared his throat before shuffling in behind Kai.
Deep lines creased the soldier’s face, grave concern expressed by each one of them. There was something about this man that made Kai’s hackles rise, even though he was the one showing them kindness. Stop being paranoid.
“That is a dangerous place. I fear your friend may be more than injured.” He blinked rapidly, eyelids flapping like moth wings. ““However, our people routinely patrol that area, and they have rescued people from darKounds before. They bring all the survivors to our city for healing. If your friend is still alive, this is where she’ll be. Come with me. Maybe Stone City holds the miracle you seek. We’ve got some ground to cover. Follow me.”
Kai studied their surroundings as they walked, searching for anything that s
eemed familiar. It was a relief to be out of the thick darkness that they’d come from. This couldn’t compare to the sun back home, but there was a glow from something in the distance that meant they could walk easy without fear of tripping. The terrain shifted from wild to tame in gentle degrees that almost went unnoticed. In a blink, long, wild grass and tattered hedges became trimmed lawn and clipped hedges. Order had been brought to bear on every blade of grass, every leaf. Trees grew in straight lines that shifted in diagonal chevrons as one walked past.
The two soldiers had split up to flank them. Sharp Jaw marched up front, while the bald one brought up the rear. They marched along, all pulled up and smart, dedication to the cause of looking soldier-ish oozing out of every pore. They carried themselves as if all the higher powers in the universe were watching to award promotion.
Zap dropped back and fell into step next to Kai. “I might have been wrong. This might work out.”
Kai glanced at his friend to see if he were being sarcastic, but there wasn’t a trace of it in his face. “I’m not so sure. Have you noticed?” His arm swung over all the straight lines, “What is up with all this? It can’t be natural, can it?”
“What do you mean?”
Kai waved a hand that covered it all, down to a last point at their guards. “All the straight lines, all the smartness. Isn’t it a bit weird?”
“I like it. It’s neat.” Zap bobbed his head up and down as if his neck were a spring.
Kai scrunched up his nose and peered around, “I guess so.”
Ruaan walked ahead of them all slumped over as if his spine had resigned and left. Regular growls came from his mid-section, and he looked sadder with each noise that escaped.
“He’s going to need food.”
“Let’s just hope they have food wherever it is they’re taking us.”
The light grew brighter as they walked, and soon the air around them took on a yellow tinge and seemed to grow thicker. Soon they faced a wall of swirling mist that stretched up high into the sky. The glow that lit it came from the other side of the mist bank, though the mist made it look sickly. The bald soldier up front stopped them all and motioned the guy at the back to meet him off to the side. They spoke in low undertones, and a few minutes passed before they turned back to the three of them.
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