Song of the Dark Crystal #2

by J. M. Lee

  Fully extended, her legs were almost the length of his fingers, but needle-thin and shining black. She easily climbed his sleeve to sit on his shoulder, where he could see eight faceted eyes in her tiny head, like miniature crystals set in the stone of a pendant. Her small voice was much more audible from there.

  “And alive, thanks to you,” she replied. “It’s not ideal, but it doesn’t matter. If we don’t hurry, all of the Grottan will be gone. Krychk called upon the Skeksis using a Crystal shard when we arrived in the Caves of Grot. I tried to stop it, but I had no power over it . . . I’ve failed you, and the Gelfling, and the Grottan. Now, we must hurry, or risk even more!”

  “What do we do with . . . with your body?”

  The swarm of spiders had fled, leaving the Gelfling alone. The finger-vines twitched sadly, almost completely eaten away. Piles of smoldering leaves and damp brush smoked, and the only light came from the dying torch Amri held. Tavra’s body, occupied by Krychk the spider for only a few moments before it had lost the force to stay alive, lay still on the earth, silver hair quickly losing luster. There would be no returning Tavra to her body, even if Kylan knew how to reverse the spell he’d cast. Her body had died, taking Krychk with it. Now the only place for her was trapped in the spider’s tiny form.

  “Leave it. There’s nothing more we can do. But first, in my cloak—there is the Crystal shard from the Skeksis and a pearl. If I’m to prove my identity when we eventually reach Ha’rar, I will need the pearl amulet.”

  No one was eager to search the Silverling’s cloak, so Kylan did it. He found the shard and the amulet, a pearl drop on a silver chain. The pearl itself was shining, white and blue, wrapped in a silver cage shaped like tiny Vapra wings. The shard was small enough to hold in his hand, black as obsidian, though he sensed a flicker of energy from deep inside it, like the sound of voices just muffled enough to be incoherent. At first he was drawn to it, wanting to peer further into it to see what waited on the other side, but Tavra pricked him with her spider feet.

  “Do not look into it—destroy it, or the Skeksis will find us with it.”

  Taking care not to be caught by the allure of the Crystal again, Kylan placed the shard on a flat stone while Naia and Amri hefted a larger one. After exchanging a glance and a nod, they dropped the larger stone on the smaller, crushing the shard into dust and splinters, its magnetic call silenced.

  The traveling pack was still back at their camp, as were some of their other things. They did not have time to bury or cremate Tavra’s body, so they paid their respects quietly. Naia soothed the finger-vines and gave them thanks for their help and sacrifice. Then they left, and Kylan grabbed Tavra’s sword and hoped the forest would take care of the rest, in time.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as they hurried back along the trail toward camp. “I didn’t mean to . . . do whatever I did. I just didn’t want you to die. I hope you aren’t angry with me.”

  “I’m not angry. My body will return to Thra. When my work is done, I will join it. Until then, I have no time to worry or complain. We need to go to the tunnels north of Domrak.”

  Kylan almost asked about Ha’rar but remembered that had been Krychk’s goal. To chase down Rian and reach the Gelfling capital, where it could then spy on the Gelfling’s plans and relay them to the Skeksis. He felt as though he knew Tavra, but if all this time it had actually been Krychk they had been speaking with, traveling with, and trusting—he realized he didn’t really know Tavra of Ha’rar at all.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, not knowing what else to say. He tried to imagine being in her predicament, but it was impossible. There was no way to know how Tavra felt, after the terror at the castle and being a prisoner in her own mind while Krychk controlled her withered body.

  Despite all that, Tavra’s response was stoic and loyal.

  “I will be all right when the Skeksis are stopped and our people are no longer living in their shadow.”

  When they reached camp, he quickly stowed the amulet in the pack and slung it over his shoulders. The weight felt familiar but not heavy. Tavra spoke in Kylan’s ear, but her voice was so small that he had to relay her words to the others.

  “Amri. What is the fastest way to the tunnels that connect Domrak to the Grottan Sanctuary?”

  Amri’s black eyes were glassy with worry. Kylan remembered when he had first heard that the Skeksis had returned to Sami Thicket—it was no better now.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never traveled there from aboveground. If we were in the tunnels, I could show you the way, but out here I have no idea.”

  “Kylan,” Naia said. “What about the map in the book?”

  “Yes, Raunip’s book,” Tavra agreed. While Kylan got to work finding the book and, within it, the map of the mountains and highlands, she went on to explain. “With my body drained of essence, I couldn’t fight Krychk. I could see and hear . . . some times more than others. I was able to take control long enough to write the message on the stone, when the spider went ahead to relay our progress on the way to Aughra, but it stopped me before I could finish. Called its brethren to cover the markings, though it couldn’t even read what I had written . . . Naia, Kylan, Amri. I’m so sorry I was unable to stop it.”

  The three knelt to look at Kylan’s book when he found the map.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Naia said. “Let’s agree to all be sorry and all forgiven. And then . . . move past this so we can stop them.”

  Kylan and Amri agreed in silence. They turned toward more important things, as Naia suggested: Raunip’s book, and how to most quickly reach the Grottan Sanctuary. The page with the map was marked, and Kylan put the book down so Amri could cast the torchlight on it. He spoke for Tavra as she whispered in his ear, pointing on the map.

  “The crystal spiders are an ancient race. I don’t know how long they have been working with the Skeksis, or how long they have been using weak and dying hosts to spy on the Gelfling. They are not under power, like the creatures that look upon the darkened Crystal or its veins. They are loyal to the Skeksis by will.”

  Kylan thought of the horner they had helped Rian with, back in Stone-in-the-Wood. It had not been like other darkened creatures, instead fixated on Rian and then Naia. Hadn’t Neech found a spidery snack in its deep fur? Another crystal-singer spider, using the horner as a puppet—the horner had fallen unconscious after Neech had snapped it up. Kylan shivered as Tavra went on.

  “Krychk called on the Skeksis while we were in the Tomb of Relics. When it confirmed that it had destroyed the firca, its spider brethren took Domrak by surprise. We were already headed away and in the opposite direction. The Grottan didn’t stand a chance in Domrak . . . Many fled north, toward the Sanctuary. That is the last I heard, this night when Krychk spoke to Lord skekLi through the Crystal shard.”

  “skekLi!” Naia exclaimed. “A Skeksis . . . Could he be urLii’s other half?”

  “I do not know. Krychk was in contact with many of the lords, but skekLi was its master so far as its mission to find you, Gurjin, and Rian. It was promised the Grottan caves as payment for its loyalty. Listen . . . If we hurry, and can reach the Sanctuary before the spiders that chase the fleeing Grottan, we may be able to fight back.”

  “How? We were nearly just defeated by spiders,” Naia said. “And that was just a tiny swarm. What are we going to do in the tunnels and mountains, against many more?”

  “The Sanctuary was entrusted to the Grottan for many reasons,” Tavra replied. “Amri, you’ve heard this, haven’t you?”

  “I—I don’t know. The Sanctuary is one of the most ancient places in all of Thra. I don’t know why it was entrusted to us aside from that it was in the mountains and accessible from Domrak. urLii travels there often. He says it’s to commune with the singing mountains. But . . .”

  “Singing mountains?” Kylan asked. He felt a spark of hope. “In song, those are the mounta
ins that were formed by the bell-birds.”

  “The same,” Tavra said. “The Sanctuary was a nesting place of the bell-birds. When the spider destroyed the firca, I wanted to tell you that your plan was still a good one. There’s still hope. It is possible that there may be bones left of the bell-birds, though they died out many trine ago. If the Sanctuary has been untouched, and protected by the Grottan, then we may yet have a chance.”

  “But a bone isn’t the same as a firca,” Amri said. “Even if we were to find a bone from one of the birds, it would be just a bone. It could have some power, but Gyr the Song Teller is long gone. There’s no one who knows how to make another firca like the bone-flute.”

  The Grottan was saying what Kylan was thinking. The truth was like a cold breeze, and the tiny light in Kylan’s heart flickered. Gyr’s firca was one of a kind, kept in the Tomb of Relics because of its rarity. It felt irreverent to even consider replicating such a thing—whether or not anyone was even capable of it, which was a totally separate question to consider. Even so, Naia stood as if the answer was obvious.

  “Kylan can make one. So let’s do it. How do we get there?”

  Her words were solid, and the flame in Kylan’s breast grew a little brighter. He didn’t know if he could craft a flute from the bone of an extinct bird, but if it was their only hope, he would try. He pointed at the map.

  “Amri, does this mean anything to you? It says the Tide Pass. It looks like an underground tributary to the Black River that comes from deep in the mountains. Is it a place we can enter to reach the Sanctuary?”

  Amri looked at the map where Kylan pointed. Their location was on the western side of the mountains, flanking the Black River where it flowed in the valley below. Where the mountains and the river swerved east before straightening back toward Ha’rar, there was an inlet and a squiggly black line. It connected the Black River to a dot in the mountains that was labeled with a symbol combining the characters for safe and retreat.

  From its proximity to the Domrak and the Tomb of Relics, Kylan could see how the Grottan could likely cross through the mountain tunnels with relative ease. For those outside of the caves, though, the journey was likely to be difficult, or even deadly.

  “The Tide Pass is an underground river, yes, but I don’t know that we will be able to travel it by foot. It’s not been made for passage, even with a boat. It’s just an underground channel, mostly submerged.”

  “We will have to take it anyway,” Tavra said. “We cannot cross the mountain ridge in time, and backtracking to Domrak or even the entrance to the Tomb will take too long and also put us closer to the place where the spiders have gathered the thickest. Naia can breathe in water, and Amri can see in the dark. With their help, it may be possible for us to reach the Sanctuary before the spiders. We will have to take the risk.”

  “What do you think, Amri?” Naia asked. “Is it possible, or will we die for sure?”

  “You and I wouldn’t die for sure,” he replied, but his assurance ended there. He sighed. “If the two of you are willing to come with us, and trust us, then I am willing to do what it takes to see all four of us through.”

  Tavra tapped her legs, touching Kylan’s cheek with one of the eight. It pricked his skin, but it was gentle.

  “This body is small and requires little to live. I will not be in danger . . . Kylan, it is you who has the most to fear. But it is also you whom we need the most—to make the firca and to use it to warn our people.”

  The need to depart was urgent, but the three others said nothing, letting Kylan reflect on his decision alone. It was true: Amri was well equipped to traverse an underwater cave, and Naia had no fear of drowning. Even Tavra would likely be able to find an exit in an emergency; in fact, she might even have been light enough to skate on the surface of a still pond.

  But Kylan would be blind in the Pass, half or more submerged in deep, dark cave water. He was tired of tunnels and being underground. In fact, there was nothing he wanted to avoid more than another crawl through the dark, needing help from the others just to move or breathe.

  Despite her new arachnid form, he couldn’t help but imagine Tavra as she once had been, touching his cheek in the same way and saying the same words. He had not been able to do anything to help his own clan, but maybe there was something that could be done for Amri’s. For once, there was something only he could do, and that was what he had wanted all along.

  He committed the map to memory and packed the book.

  “Then what are we waiting for? To the Tide Pass we go.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Amri found the inlet just as the sky began to lighten. Kylan wished they could stay on the surface of the world at least long enough to see the suns rise, but they had no time. He would have to believe there would be endless other chances in the future.

  The inlet was barely a tunnel, just a place in the mountainside where a river flowed out of a narrow crack. In times when the water level was high, the entrance would have been invisible. Kylan stared at the inlet as he shrugged out of the travel pack and any excess clothing. The others did the same, stowing their traveling bags and extra belongings beside the pack. Kylan was reluctant to leave the book and Tavra’s pearl amulet, but getting snagged on a rock or tangled in their own travel gear would mean sure death. Even Naia shed her cloak and tied back her locs, baring the gills on her neck and upper shoulders. At least if they were caught underwater, one of them would be able to attempt to rescue the others, but Kylan desperately hoped it would not come to that.

  They gathered at the entrance and waded into the river where it flowed from the mountain. The water was cool, but slow moving and clear. Amri bent to sniff the faint draft coming from inside the tunnel and looked back.

  “The tide will stay low for a few more days, and there are no currents here, so as long as we keep calm, there’s no danger of being washed away. I’ll lead. Naia should be at the rear in case of . . . Well, just in case. If we could walk it, the path would not take long, but crawling it will take longer. Remain calm, and your body will thank you for it.”

  “Ready?” Naia asked. It was to the group, but specifically for Kylan. He took what he hoped would not be his last breath of open air.

  “After you, Amri.”

  The tunnel was everything Kylan had dreaded it to be. It was so dark, he might as well have been blindfolded, with none of the luminescent plant life to light the way. The floor of the riverbed dropped away quickly once they were inside the tunnel, leaving them to pull themselves along by handholds on the cave wall. In some places, the surface of the water was so high, Kylan had to tilt his head up to reach the meager sliver of air above it. When he did, he could almost kiss the ceiling of the tunnel, his ears dunked below the water, so he felt deaf as well as blind. Tavra made matters more uncomfortable by riding on the top of his head, her prickly legs tickling his face.

  The going was slow. Amri navigated ahead, checking back frequently, and Naia touched Kylan’s back occasionally to let him know she was there. When the tunnel seemed to end, they paused in the pocket of air. Here, there was enough air for Kylan to get his entire head above the water, but the closed-in space felt like it was closing in even further.

  “There’s a low area ahead,” Amri said. “We’ll have to swim through it.”

  “Should I go ahead and check it out, first?” Naia asked. Unlike how Kylan felt or how Amri sounded, she was hardly out of breath.

  “You won’t be able to see it. I think we should go together. Once we make sure it’s clear, and see how far it is, we’ll come back. Will you be all right, Kylan?”

  He tried not to panic at the idea of being left alone in the dark. If something happened to them, there was no way he would be able to even backtrack out of the tunnel. There was no other choice, though. They were far enough in that, if they could make it, it would probably be faster to find the exit on the other side.
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br />   “Yes, I’m fine,” he said, feeling like a liar. “I’ll wait here.”

  Naia squeezed his shoulder. He felt the hilt of her dagger in his hand.

  “Take this. We’ll be back soon.”

  Then the water rippled and bubbled, and Kylan was alone in the dark with Tavra, who perched on his forehead. She was so light that he almost couldn’t feel whether she was there at all, but then she spoke.

  “We are close. I can hear the voices of the other spiders. When Naia and Amri return, we will pass through this tunnel and enter the Sanctuary . . . but I fear we are too late to warn the Grottan that fled Domrak.”

  “What? Then . . . what do we do?”

  He felt like he was talking to himself, the dark was so thick and Tavra’s voice was so small. She sounded like his conscience, disembodied and pensive.

  “What we came here to do,” she said. “Find a bone of the bell-bird. Perhaps we can yet save the Grottan if we could find one.”

  “You mean there’s a chance we won’t be able to save them . . . just like we couldn’t save those they took in Sami Thicket.”

  “Don’t misunderstand. Even if we’re unable to save these Grottan now, if we can find the bone and you’re able to make the firca to warn everyone, it would still be a victory. This is the beginning of war with the Skeksis . . . Lives will be lost, and sacrifices made. To endure, we must focus on the greatest good.”

  Kylan couldn’t help but think Tavra was speaking to herself. Her brand of optimism was that of a seasoned soldier, a sort of bitter take on the constant bright hope Kylan had tried to commit himself to for so long. Even Naia’s optimism came from a place of wishing for the best; Tavra’s words, though not exactly comforting, were nonetheless realistic.

  “You think the bone could stop the spiders?” he asked, trying to fill the silence so it didn’t overwhelm him. “How?”

  “The spiders are sensitive to sound, and they are close to the heart of Thra. They are an ancient race. If the bell-bird’s song cannot make them submit, I know not what else might.”