by C B Samet
Coco emerged from the moat gasping for air. She was covered in salt water and thick yellow sludge that I could only assume was the giant octopus’s blood. Baird and Han’s helped her out of the water.
I sheathed my sword and smiled. “Well done. DeFay the Squid Slayer. No, that won’t do. We’ll need a more catchy title for when Baird writes about you in his narrative.”
I took a step forward, but halted and raised my sleeve to my mouth. “Mother Moon, the stench.” The creature’s fluids smelled like a mixture of putrid fish, excrement, and sulfur.
After releasing Coco, Hans washed his hands in the water, trying not to let Coco see him gag.
Raven choked. “It’s like someone wrapped a rotten egg in a rotten filet of fish and then partially digested it.”
“You’re welcome,” Coco sneered.
“Hans and I will go fetch the bat.”
“Splendid.” Coco began peeling away layers of saturated clothing. “I’ll be spending that time trying to get the smell out of my hair.”
I glanced at Baird, whose silent nod conveyed he’d stay with Coco so no member of our team was left alone.
“Raven, can you watch the horses?”
From atop Phobus’ back, Raven gave me a salute.
Be careful, Baird spoke in my mind.
You as well, she says with a wink.
He didn’t reply, but I thought I heard a chuckle.
19
Hans and I walked along the edge of the moat until we reached the small boat. We climbed in and began to row across the shimmering blue water.
“Sometimes, I feel like you and Baird have unspoken communication.”
“Is that so?”
Since being an unwitting viewer of Han’s dream of me, I’d distanced myself from him. I was likely overreacting, since people surely had random dreams about those with whom they traveled. Dreams were not always the innermost reflections of a person’s desires.
I watched the water for any unusual ripples, hoping that only one such enormous octopus occupied this area. We reached a small dock on the opposite side of the moat and tied off the boat to one of the posts.
Carrot swooped down and landed on my arm. I stroked her feathers. As we walked through the cave entrance, I was awestruck by the beauty. The white and gray salt had been ornately carved to make a rigged, dome ceiling. Carved steps led deeper into the cave. Along the right-hand wall, white figures in hooded cloaks had been carved to form a semi-circle of statues, all gathered around the carving of a man lying in bed. The background held the night sky, with the two moons carved into the surface—mother and infant moons.
“Mal,” I whispered faintly, running my fingertips along the supine figure. My clever, infuriating friend.
“Do you love him?” Hans appeared beside me.
“What?” I lowered my hand and stepped back from the ornate decorative scene etched in salt and stone.
“Do you love Baird?”
I hadn’t realized we were still on the topic of Baird. When I looked into Hans’s dark green eyes, they were blended with a mixture of dread and anticipation.
“Of course. He's my friend. And he's been a mentor.”
The tension in Hans’ face eased. “What does the mural represent?” He turned to look at the wall.
“It’s the transformation of Malakai to Malos. Legend says he was on his deathbed, with the forces of Bellos closing on Karnelik, when he took the mantle to be Malos—forever ending war.”
Until the forces of Bellos march on Crithos again.
I found a stack of old crates and set Carrot down to perch on them. “I don’t think you want to go any further, girl. We’ll be back.”
I’d crawled through orifices smaller than her wingspan in some caves, and I didn’t know how small the paths we’d be expected to traverse might get.
As Hans and I walked deeper into the cave, our surroundings darkened.
Hans pulled out a jar of bioluminescent algae from his satchel. “When we find the bat, we’re going directly back to the castle?”
Blue green light cascaded over the walls and floor.
“The sooner we get back, the more lives we save.”
Further down the tunnel, the cave lost its sculptured appearance. The walls became rough-hewn, textured with coarse grains of solidified salt intermixed with stalactites and chandeliers.
“Will we see more of each other?”
I frowned at his odd question. “I visit the sanctuary all of the time, and you know where to find me at the university.” I thought of Joshua and our lives returning to normal—well, as normal as possible with children and careers. As normal as possible with war coming.
Hans had fallen silent.
“There may be another adventure,” I offered.
Or we may see each other in the battle to come.
He smirked. “Says the Avant Champion, who despises adventure.”
“I love adventure.” I gasped in feigned shock. “I hate the death and destruction that necessitates it. I like more contained adventures—climbing Mount Karn, spelunking in Optato, saving gypsies after an avalanche, tangling with jewel thieves in Ntajid. The more grandiose—fighting Malos, fighting Hunju giants, stopping a plague—are marred by devastation.”
“You’ve done all of those things?”
“Yes.”
I thought of the simplicity of a quest. When I performed each of those tasks, I had one objective and a narrow focus. Life required less juggling, fewer expectations. My efforts weren’t divided among multiple facets vying for my time. When I wasn’t on a quest, multiple obligations bled, overran, and distracted from each other to the point that each obligation was left wanting, and I was left feeling inadequate.
“You find love after Joshua.”
I coughed and cleared my throat. “I beg your pardon?” This was not a conversation I wanted to have with any young man.
“In the geysers, I saw you with someone else.”
“I don’t like to think about my life when Joshua is gone. This is not an appropriate conversation for us.”
His chattering would distract us from hearing any other lurking beasts. What if the squid was the first of more creatures guarding the cave?
“I’m sorry, Lady Cross. I thought the idea might give you some peace. Some hope.” He lifted the jar of light higher.
“It doesn’t.” My tone was sharp enough to cut glass and, I hoped, to silence Hans.
“Do you know who—”
“Shhh.” I strained to listen to the faint sound of running water.
As we walked deeper into the bowels of the cavern, the cave took on an appearance more like an abandoned tomb than a source of salt.
“Whoa!” Hans grabbed me by the shoulder, preventing me from walking farther.
The ground beneath us had suddenly vanished. I stood on the edge of a dark abyss.
A wave of sickening vertigo had me stumbling backwards. I wasn’t afraid of heights, but as I’d nearly plunged to my death, I had to swallow back my terror.
“Thank you,” I stammered.
Hans grinned.
I stared at the giant crevice in amazement. “It must have a been a cave-in.”
Hans held is bioluminescent jar higher. “Do you suppose the cave-in unleashed the plague?”
“It’s a good theory.” An excellent theory. I thought about my dance with Goran at the spring festival in Marrington. He’d described an earthquake that had devastated eastern Kovia. The earthquake could have sent deep tremors as far south as the mines, and opened this crevice—unleashing the long-dormant plague.
“We’ll have to climb along the ledge to the other side.”
I assessed the sheer face of the rock as Hans held the light high. The tunnel continued on the opposite side, about ten meters below the level of our current platform. The distance between them was too far to jump, and the wall face looked jagged enough so that we could find holdings for fingers and boot tips.
It would be like
climbing Mount Karn, and unlike the last rock face I clung to, at least there’d be no blizzards and wolves.
We started our descent. Hans led the way, trying to juggle the jar of glowing algae in one hand and grip the wall with the other.
Half way around the semicircle, Hans fumbled the jar. As it slipped from his fingertips, he extended his reach. His footing faltered, and he fell.
Hans screamed. I snatched out a hand and barely grasped his wrist. Grunting, he extended his other arm to clasp my outstretched hand.
I strained with the weight of him, using the power of the Warrior Stone to cling to the wall while hoisting Hans in mid-air.
When his jar of algae hit the floor below, it shattered, splattering blue green light across the bottom of the pit. A bed of skulls and long bones littered the floor. We hovered above a grave, or a crypt—one where bodies had been cast haphazardly into a pit. All that remained of the dead, after what I presumed to be hundreds of years, were brittle bones.
I squeezed my eyes shut and I focused on keeping my grip. The distance of the fall would likely break body parts, and I didn’t have a rope to pull Hans back out again.
My muscles strained and my arm stretched. Any moment, Han’s dangling weight would fully dislocate my shoulder. Shifting my weight, I brought my arm back and swung him like a pendulum.
On the third swing, I gave him warning through gritted teeth. “Brace yourself.”
When I released him, he flew through the air and landed on the opposite side of the tunnel. He cried out, but I could faintly discern him rolling in the dark and standing uninjured.
I finished the climb, mostly by feel since our light lay sprawled at the bottom of the pit. At last, I reached the other side.
“Thank you.” Hans placed a hand briefly on my shoulder.
“We’re even.” I rubbed at my shoulder. The hyperextension was going to result in a few days of pain.
He nodded with a lopsided grin, and we resumed walking, relying on the scant glow of my red stone.
As the cave opened into a cavern, I heard faint squeals and fluttering. Bat noises! The light from my stone couldn’t reach the walls and ceiling of this enormous room.
“We need more light.”
“You got any more magic tricks?” He asked.
“Magic.” I looked at my hands and the moons on my palm. I remember the way I glowed in the tent last night and the catacombs of Karnelik. “Moon magic.” As I focused on glowing, white light spread evenly over my skin and radiated outward. I rolled my sleeves to enable more light to glow from me.
Hans blinked. “You look amazing!”
The white glow illuminated the ceiling, looming five meters above us. Hundreds of small, black forms dangled from the ceiling. The sheen of their fine fur shimmered in the light of my glow, and the bat’s eyes reflected light back to me like little red stars.
“We need to capture one, and I can’t transport up and grab it.”
“How do we lure them down?”
“Bats eat insects, but their cave has no vegetation, so we won’t find any bugs around here for them. We’ll have to have help.” I whistled for Carrot.
The trip, which had taken Hans and I a half-hour, took the hawk two minutes. As she circled the room, her attention stayed focused on me.
I pointed to the ceiling. “Fetch.”
As she flew higher, the bats panicked. The room burst with flapping wings. Carrot was a shark among a school of fish. The small animals swooped down from the ceiling and swarmed around in dizzying panic.
To his credit, Hans didn’t cower but tried to capture one with his hands. The bats spun and dodged.
Carrot clutched a small animal as she made her approach.
I unclasped the cape from my shoulders. As she swooped, she released the captive animal. Quickly, I trapped the corners of the cape together and tied them off. The bat stuck inside hit the fabric repeatedly trying to escape.
Sorry. You’re the unlucky one.
That they were harbingers of disease was no fault of their own.
“I’ve got one!” Hans cried.
“In the cape,” I instructed him. I was ruining another red cape.
He shoved the small creature in the makeshift sack.
“Let’s go.” I held the sack closed as I dashed back up the incline and began the climb. My limbs burning from the effort, I pulled myself up the ledge. When I saw that Hans was safely up the ledge as well, I dashed up the steps of the mine.
The exit presented itself—glorious sunlight.
We were so close to finishing this mission. I needed to get free of the salted ground in order to transport.
We stumbled out of the mine and down towards the water. Hans and I reached the boat and shoved off the shore. We rowed as fast as we could, biceps and triceps burning with the effort.
“We’ve got a bat!” I called to Baird, when we neared the opposite shore.
He stood with horses ready. Coco was clean and sitting astride Prince. Carrot flew above us.
As I leaped out of the boat, my feet hit the ground with a crunch of rock and salt.
“Go,” Hans instructed, as he pulled the boat to dry ground and secured the oars.
I ran to Phobus and mounted her in haste. As I took the reins from Baird, I held the makeshift sack containing the squirming bats close to my body.
Raven watched from Fury’s back.
“Ride with the wind,” Baird said. “If we fall behind, I’ll transport everyone. Get to the castle.”
I nodded, then spurred Phobus to a gallop. We thundered across the flat, dry ground, and as I clung to the reins, my thoughts turned to Joshua.
Four days. He’d still be alive, even if he was ill with the disease. The sooner he had the ingredients, the sooner he could heal himself. Heal the castle.
As my horse’s hooves pounded like thunder, they churned the salty ground.
Bless you Phobus, for responding to my urgency.
Twenty minutes into the ride, I knew I was pushing my mount harder than I ever had. Sweat frothed on Phobus’ neck and his nostrils flared.
The ground beneath us transformed from the alkaline salt and iron, sparse of vegetation, to fine strands of grass. After slowing Phobus to a halt, I dismounted.
“Rest, boy. I’ll be back for you.”
20
I transported and instantly appeared back in the deliberation room.
The room had been rearranged, with beds standing where benches had once been, to accommodate the Queen and several other sickly ministers. Guards were posted around the periphery, some looking strong and others as though they might collapse at any moment. To my relief, the Queen still lived. Joshua sat in a chair beside her, looking pale and ill with bloodshot eyes. My stomach lurched to see him so fragile.
On a small, round marble table in the center of the room, two stones sat—the beefy, red Blood Stone and Joshua’s black and white Healing Stone. No third stone. A porcelain bowl rested beside them. Everything appeared carefully arranged, waiting for this moment. Waiting for my arrival.
As two of the guards reached toward me, I relinquished the sack with the bats. Having exhausted themselves, the small animals curled in motionless balls.
“Where is the third stone?”
“They were unable to secure the Wind Stone,” Tarik said grimly.
One of Captain DeFay’s lieutenants stared at the floor.
If we didn’t have the Wind Stone, we had no way to heal anyone beyond this room. Thousands—hundreds of thousands—would die.
“What was the problem?” I asked.
Lieutenant Jok looked up at me. His eyes shone bright against his dark skin. “Those guarding it were able to use the Wind Stone to fend us off. It’s like trying to walk through a tornado. It’s an impenetrable defensive wall of wind.”
I couldn’t blame the stone owners. If a raiding party arrived to steal my stone, I’d object as well. Judging by the dirt stains smeared on his clothing and armor, Lieutenant Jo
k had put up a fight—or at least been the equivalent of a tumbleweed in a tornado.
I placed a hand on Jok’s arm. “Imagine the closest, safest place you were able to reach before you met resistance.”
As I transported with him, I felt the instant humidity of a tropical climate. Around us, giant red cedar trees, banana trees, and rubber trees towered over us. Their thinly-barked trunks rose and then arched above us. Broad leaves formed a great, looming, green canopy. Beads of water pooled and fell from the leaves, evidence of a recent rain.
I swatted a mosquito that squatted on my arm before he could suck his fill. “The stone is here?”
Joe jutted his chin forward. “Through that patch of bamboo.”
“Is this as close as you got?”
“Through the forest are ancient ruins atop a hill.” He lowered his eyes. “We only made it a fourth of the way up the stairs before the winds hit.”
We walked through the bamboo on a narrow, muddy path. As we walked, the wind blew above us. The hollow, pale-green stalks struck each other, creating an almost melodious sound.
After a short walk, the bamboo forest ended and a giant hill rose above us.
Jok halted. “The ruins and stone are at the top.”
I squinted up. Dense foliage obscured the path. I couldn’t transport to it if I couldn’t see where to put my feet.
“I’ll take it from here.” I clasped a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to take you back to the castle now, because once I have the stone, I’ll transport from wherever I’m standing directly to the deliberation room.”
Swiftly, I deposited Jok back to the castle and then transported instantly back to the forest. I circled the base of the hill, until I saw a small ledge several meters above ground. If I started there, then perhaps I could see where to transport next. Star traveling would be faster than climbing this beast of a hill one step at a time.
I transported and appeared on the face of the rock. I gripped the ledge with my fingertips and positioned the toes of my boots on another ledge, only centimeters wide. As soon as I completed that journey, my fingers slipped on the wet, mossy rocks. I fell backwards. Rather than plummet ten meters onto the ground, I transported two centimeters from it. As my back hit the hard surface, I released a grunt.