The Canticle of Whispers

by David Whitley

  Where was Lily?

  In a flash, Laud’s brain cleared. He remembered Lily’s scream, still echoing. He remembered how she had run from the throne room, fighting off all who would stop her with manic strength.

  And he remembered her eyes. He really wished that he didn’t. What the Oracle had told them was dreadful, horrific. He had barely taken it in himself. But it had affected Lily a hundred times worse. She hadn’t looked like the girl he had known. Her eyes had been as dead as those of the Oracle.

  He glanced at Ben. The tremors seemed to be dying down, and Mark was with her. She was safe, for now. Without another thought, he ran, following Lily.

  The tremors didn’t stop as he pushed past the curtain and out into the tunnels. Alarming cracks ran up the walls, and some of the glowing crystals lay on the floor. As he vaulted up the stone steps, he saw something glinting on the ground. It was the tiny brass set of scales that had been in Lily’s apron pocket. She had shown them to him less than an hour ago. She had definitely come this way.

  At the top of the steps, the Conductor was waiting, nervous sweat pouring down his face.

  “Sir? What happened?” he stammered. “I was coming to pay my respects, and the earth shifted with pain. And then Miss Lily appeared and—”

  “Where is she?” Laud demanded, grasping the Conductor’s sleeve. “Where did she go?”

  The Conductor blanched, pulling back from Laud’s touch as though it burned him.

  “The Rail Nexus,” he gasped. “But don’t follow, sir. When the rock shakes like this, the Oracle is in distress—the smaller tunnels aren’t safe…”

  But Laud was already running.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, a cart holding three people flew along the rails, sparking with every turn. At the front, two Naruvians stood, operating the cart, their long white hair blowing behind them. The man had given his name as Tertius, and seemed nervous. But the young woman, Septima, was laughing as though the whole thing was a wonderful game. Behind them, Laud crouched, his pack of supplies thumping against his back with each jarring turn.

  For the fiftieth time, Laud cursed that he hadn’t been a little faster. He had actually seen Lily’s cart disappearing down the rails, away from the Hub chamber. But by the time Laud had managed to get any of the Naruvians to help, Lily had long since vanished into the echoing depths. He hoped that Mark and Ben were following behind, but he couldn’t worry about that. At the speed these carts traveled, Lily could be miles away by now.

  “We’re nearly at the Rail Nexus!” Tertius shouted back. The cart swerved, Septima whooped, and the tunnel opened wide. They screeched into a vast cavern, filled with a mass of clicking, whirring machinery. Laud leaped from the cart before it had stopped moving, stumbling across the rocky floor, and grabbed a terrified Naruvian engineer by the front of his robe.

  “Have you seen a girl come through here?” he asked. “Dark, scared, possibly screaming?” The engineer nodded, recoiling from Laud’s grasp, and pointed to one of the side tunnels, where another set of rails disappeared into darkness.

  “She … she took a cart … please … let me go…”

  Laud dropped the terrified engineer. As he did so, Tertius scurried past him, to prepare another cart for their onward journey.

  “What fun!” Septima said, adjusting a couple of dials on the central machine. “We’re off hunting!” Laud scowled at her, but she was already finished, and climbing into the cart behind Tertius. As Laud hurried to join her, the ground gave another lurch, dropping him to his knees. In the distance, he heard a deep, grinding rumble. And something else—something that sounded like an echo of the Oracle’s voice.

  You will not leave me … you will not leave, my daughter …

  “Lily…” Laud said, scrabbling back to his feet. He had to keep moving. These tunnels weren’t safe. If he could just bring her back to the Hub, he’d be able to calm her down. She’d listen to him, to her friends. She just needed to stop running.

  He piled into the cart, and Tertius threw the brake handle. They powered forward, the clockwork monstrosity setting them flying down the rails toward the new tunnel.

  The Oracle’s voice was louder now; there was an edge of pain to it.

  Stay … stay … stay forever …

  With each word, the tremors increased, and the grinding noise overhead grew worse. Laud looked up. Cracks were running all through the cavern roof. The rock bulged.

  “Faster!” he yelled. Septima reached forward and pulled another lever.

  The cart streaked forward.

  The tunnel swallowed them up.

  And the world fell down around them.

  * * *

  Laud pulled himself from the wreckage of the cart and stood on shaking legs. He was bruised all over, but nothing seemed to be broken. He coughed, wiping dust from his eyes. In the dim crystal light, he could see that the tunnel had collapsed both ahead and behind them, sealing them in. Tertius had been thrown free, and was already clawing at the mass of rubble that blocked their way back to the Rail Nexus. He looked shaken, and his robes were torn, but he was unharmed. Septima hadn’t been so lucky. She sat against the wreckage of the cart, a long, deep cut down her leg, glistening with blood. But she was still smiling, though her eyes were damp.

  “You … you certainly know how to take us for a ride!” she said, brightly, through the pain.

  Hastily, Laud bent to examine her leg, but she drew it back.

  “It’s all right,” Laud said, quickly. “I’ve worked with a doctor.”

  Septima stared back at him.

  “No touching,” she said, fiercely. “What are you, a monster?”

  Laud sighed with frustration. Was everyone down here insane?

  He untucked his shirt. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it was better than his other clothes, covered in dust from the cave-in. It was an old shirt, and already a little ragged. He tore off a strip from the tail, and dangled it in front of her.

  “At least keep it covered,” he said. Septima looked at the rag suspiciously, and then grabbed its trailing end.

  As she dabbed at the wound, Laud stared down at the cart. Its mechanism had been crushed. If any of them had been standing a few feet farther back … His morbid thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another ominous rumble. He spun around. Tertius was pulling small stones out of the rubble. As Laud watched, a larger rock began to tremble and slide out, just above the young Naruvian’s head.

  “Get away from that!” Laud shouted. “You’ll bring the whole thing down.”

  Tertius pulled back, just as the rock crashed to the ground. For a second, the whole tunnel shook again, and Laud flung himself to the ground …

  Then, nothing. The ceiling stayed up. Laud straightened, his heart pounding. There was now a little gap in the rubble, where the rock had moved. Light was shining through it. Moving carefully, ready to throw himself under the remains of the cart in an instant, Laud crept up to the gap, and peered through it, back into the Rail Nexus.

  He wished he hadn’t. The cavern was a mass of mangled clockwork. Part of the ceiling had collapsed onto the central mechanism, and gears, chains, and rails lay buckled and broken everywhere. Every tunnel was blocked, every exit sealed. Here and there, Laud could see a few shapes lying amid the wreckage. Shapes he didn’t want to inspect too closely. Near them were tatters of multicolored cloth.

  He rested his forehead against the stone, his head swimming. These tunnels had looked so solid. But when Lily had argued with the Oracle, something had happened. It was as though the tremors in the air had drawn strength from their distress. He remembered those echoes, which sounded like the Oracle, crying out for her daughter. But that couldn’t be it. The Oracle wouldn’t have let her own people die, just to stop Lily escaping. Would she?

  He looked again into the Nexus, his thoughts seeming to whisper back at him from the echoing rocks. What if Mark and Ben had been following him? What if they’d been caught in the cave-in? What if
Lily hadn’t gotten far enough ahead? What if he, and these two, were the only ones left…?

  He straightened up with a grunt, the whispers fading. There was no point in thinking like that. Not now. Ben and Mark were resourceful—if they were alive, they’d find a way out of this.

  He turned his attention to the other end of the corridor. It was pointless trying to get back into the Nexus; it could take days to clear the path back to the Hub. But the rubble at this end didn’t look too bad. The cavern roof appeared stable, and if he just moved a few of the rocks, maybe he could make a gap large enough to squeeze through.

  “Can you help me move this?” he asked, looking over at Tertius. But the young man didn’t seem to hear him. He was sitting on the ground, his whole body curled up, and his head resting against the wall. His long hair covered his face, and he seemed to be moaning.

  “I know this is difficult,” Laud said, gruffly. “But if we work at this, we’ll be out of here in no time. Then we can get help.” He gestured to Septima. “Your friend is hurt. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  Tertius didn’t move. Laud frowned, but didn’t waste any more breath on the man. He took off his jacket and began to tease the rocks out of position, his fingers scraping on the rough stone.

  “You’re still trying to follow her?” Septima said, suddenly.

  Laud kept working.

  “I’m trying to get us out of here,” he said, grunting with the effort. “We need someone to bind your wounds properly. You must have someone you’ll allow near it.”

  “We have the Guardians for that,” Septima said, her voice breaking with pain. “They deal with … touching … urgh…” she make a revolted noise. “Maybe this isn’t so bad … I’ve never been in pain before. It’s … kind of … exciting…”

  Laud glanced over his shoulder. She was prodding at the cut, shuddering with each touch.

  “Don’t do that,” he muttered. “Just … keep it clean. I’ll bring back help, when I get out of here.”

  “There’s no help that way,” Septima said, softly. “There’s just her. Lily. Our wonder.” She yawned, seemingly forgetting about the pain in her leg. “Everyone’s wonder, especially yours. We nearly died and you’re still chasing after her.”

  Laud clenched his teeth, but continued to work at clearing the rubble.

  “She’s my friend,” he said, defensively. “I’d go anywhere to get her back.”

  Septima laughed.

  “Why? She’s interesting, I suppose, but you already know everything about her. She’ll just get boring, like everyone else.”

  Laud bit back a sarcastic response. There was no point; he doubted whether she would understand. He turned to face Septima.

  “It isn’t about what I already know. It’s about her. Her mind, her spirit…”

  “Oh that,” Septima laughed. “That’s easy. I’ll be Lily for you. I’ll sound just like her.” She folded her arms, frowning. “I must discover the truth,” she said, dramatically. “Nothing will stop me! I’ll save the world…”

  “Stop that!” Laud shouted.

  His voice echoed around the tunnel. Laud realized that his fist was raised, and tightly clenched. He had nearly struck her. Septima looked surprised, but not half as shocked as Laud was himself.

  “She’s shattered,” Septima said, suddenly serious, her laughter vanishing as quickly as it had come. “Broken. She heard too much of the truth. She won’t want to be found, now. Knowing too much will do that to you.” She met Laud’s gaze, and held it. “Why do you think we don’t take anything seriously?”

  Laud turned back to his work, deeply shaken. He hadn’t expected to react like that, but to hear that girl imitating Lily, mocking everything that made her special …

  “She’ll come back,” he said, shifting the rubble once more, the slow work calming his nerves. “She has to. Not just for me, or Mark, or any of her friends. For Agora. We need her. The city is collapsing, rallying to the cry of a maniac who uses her words. We tried to keep her vision alive, but it’s been corrupted by a hundred thousand desperate souls. There’s going to be blood, and we can’t stop it without her. Her heart, her strength, her purpose.” Laud dropped his head. “She can’t break. Not Lily.”

  There was a long pause.

  “You’re quite a friend,” Septima said.

  Laud refused to reply. For minutes, they were silent, with nothing but the scrape of the rocks as Laud worked them loose, making himself a gap large enough to wriggle through.

  Eventually, he was done. He stuck his head through the hole. The tunnel beyond looked stable enough, and a few crystals in the walls were still glowing, enough for him to see the metal tracks continue off into the distance. This was the path Lily’s cart had taken.

  Laud looked back. Septima was even paler than before now, the brightness in her eyes more clearly pained. He clenched his jaw in frustration. Lily was probably still ahead, tantalizingly close if her cart had stopped working. But he couldn’t leave this young woman here, with only her useless friend for company. Someone had to fetch help.

  “Can I get back to the Hub this way?” Laud asked Tertius, who was still curled up, leaning against the tunnel wall. No answer. He strode over to him, shouting in his ear. “By all the stars, is there a brain under all that hair?”

  “Help is already coming,” Tertius replied, suddenly. “Listen.”

  He brushed his hair from his eyes, and stood up. Set into the wall, where he had been leaning, Laud saw a small, round gem, light dancing in its heart.

  “Isn’t that one of those resonant crystals?” Laud asked, surprised. “Like the one over the Oracle’s head?”

  “Listen…” Tertius said, gesturing down. Laud crouched, putting his ear against the crystal. As he did—Tertius began to hum, the same sound he’d been making before, but this time, Laud could pick out the tune.

  The crystal began to buzz, sounds emerging from its depths.

  … I don’t care. If Laud and Lily are somewhere down there, behind the rock fall, we’re not leaving without them …

  That was Benedicta’s voice. Laud felt his eyes prickle with tears. His little sister was alive!

  The echoes are growing … That was the Conductor, sounding panicked. Something is happening in the world above. In your home. The Judges must return to Agora. That is the Oracle’s wish.

  We’re not doing anything that madwoman says! That was Mark, shouting so loud that even the echo rattled the crystal. I’m the only Judge here, and I say Agora can look after itself. We came all this way for Lily, and she wouldn’t abandon us …

  But it may take days to clear the rubble, or weeks! The Oracle is calm now, and she has heard their voices. She knows that Mr. Laudate and Miss Lily are alive. But Miss Lily is still running. You will never be able to reach her …

  Laud bit his lip. He was so much closer. But even if her cart had failed, she was getting farther away every second.

  “Ben … Mark…” he said, into the crystal. “Can you hear me? I’ll go after her … don’t worry … I’ll find her…”

  Tertius stopped humming, and the echoes began to fade.

  “They won’t hear you,” Tertius said, softly. “Only the Oracle will hear. But the other echoes are growing stronger. You’ll be lost in the noise.”

  Laud glared at him.

  “What other echoes? What are you talking about?”

  But even as he said it, the crystal began to resonate again. New sounds were emerging from it. Shouts, screams. The roar of a crowd. They were chanting something.

  The Stone … The Stone …

  “I don’t … understand…” Laud said, trying to hide his unease. “What is that?”

  “The echoes from above,” Tertius said, his voice shaking. “From Agora. Every voice, raised in terror, and violence. Something has happened in the world above. In your home. Something … terrible…”

  The echoes from the crystal grew clearer.

  Blood for blood … Death f
or death … The Wheel turns at last … The Wheel … The Wheel …

  Laud pulled away, aghast, but the shouts from the crystal were loud enough to hear, even as he backed away. There were no words anymore. Just screams, and sobs of rage and pain.

  “Can’t you stop it?” he shouted at Tertius. But the young man was now cowering against the far wall.

  “The world is out of joint,” he whimpered.

  “The Day of Judgment is coming,” Septima added, her eyes fixed, as though she was repeating something she’d heard, long ago. “And Agora will be the first to burn. The Judges are needed. Find her.”

  Laud stared at them, backing away. He wanted to go; he wanted to find Lily, more than anything. But he couldn’t. Not like this.

  “I … no … I can’t … I can’t leave my friends … I can’t go after her on my own…”

  “Find her!” Tertius said, suddenly, his voice joined by a hundred others, filling the air. Every crystal in the tunnel flared with light. And above it all, he heard the sound of the Oracle herself.

  Find her! The Oracle’s voice called out. Find my daughter and bring her home!

  Laud pressed his back up against the rubble. Tertius and Septima seemed almost entranced, their eyes glazed. They were no longer speaking. They were wailing, their voices matching the shouts and screams that still rang from every crystal.

  Laud turned, fear and determination pushing him onward, scrabbling through the gap he had made.

  “I’m sorry Ben, Mark…” he whispered, as he landed on the other side. “I … I can’t wait for you.’

  And he ran into the darkness.

  * * *

  Hours later, Laud staggered down the tunnels.

  Nowhere, nothing, nobody …

  He was getting used to the voices by now. He remembered Lily telling him about the Cacophony, of the maddening echoes that haunted the outer caves. Back then, in that precious hour he had spent talking to her before the Director had returned from his audience with the Oracle, and everything had gone wrong, it had seemed harmless. But she had never warned him how loud it was.