Ocean of Dust

by Graeme Ing

  "I caught a glimpse of the meadow up there," he continued, pointing up the steep slope. "After all we've been through, Anjan owes us. Maybe we’ll find a whole lake. Let's go and look while it's still light."

  "Shouldn't we search for the captain and Coy? Make sure they're safe?"

  He shrugged. "I ain't going back in case there are more Tagraks. We'll meet them at the beach. Come on."

  They scrambled around huge boulders. She grabbed a low branch to pull herself up, but it snapped and she tumbled down, head over heels, crashing against a tree. Maybe she should have stayed on the ship. Farq would probably have sent her back to the galley. Things couldn't have gotten any worse, and she would be with Branda now.

  Jancid slid down beside her and helped her up. She gave him a small smile. He'd been mean on her first day aboard, when he wouldn't tell her how to find the galley, but had become much friendlier here on the island.

  "D'ya hear that?" he said.

  The noise was distant but unmistakable.

  "Water," she said. "Or another one of those horrible plants."

  He scratched his beard. "One way to find out."

  The forest grew lighter as the trees thinned. Both suns were halfway down the sky when they emerged into a meadow of yellow grass as tall as her waist. A rocky cliff towered in the background. It looked impossible to climb, and she hoped they wouldn't have to try. She would never make it. They had to be close to the water but all she could see was grass.

  "It must be around 'ere somewhere," Jancid mumbled. He moved out into the meadow, flattening the grass with both arms. "Over here-"

  He disappeared right in front of her. The sound of gushing water became deafening. She teetered on the crumbling edge of a gaping hole that had opened beneath him, and flung herself flat onto the trampled grass.

  "Are you all right?" she called and peered down.

  Ten feet below her, a river poured out of a tunnel running beneath the meadow and gurgled into another on the other side of the cave-in. Jancid clung to a root with one hand, fighting the torrent of water that threatened to suck him underground. Her heart pounded as she relived the flash flood on Us-imyan.

  "Me arm is broken," he yelled. "The water's got me pinned to this rock."

  The ground beside her gave way, dropping chunks of earth and grass into the ravine that the river snatched and carried away. She crawled back from the edge.

  "I can't reach you," she cried. "If I try to climb down it'll collapse."

  "Don't try. Go for help." His root snapped and he crashed onto the rock, half in and half out of the water. "It's freezing, hurry."

  "You can't hang on that long."

  His knife was perched on a mud ledge below her. Grasping a clump of grass with one hand, she stretched her other into the crater. Her fingers edged along the blade to the handle, and then she pulled it up and rolled away, just as the whole section where she had been laying tumbled into the hole.

  "Hang on," she shouted. "Just hang on."

  She ran back to the trees and frantically cut at the hanging vines. Once cold took hold, he would pass out and let go, and if he was sucked under the meadow, she would never find him alive. She tied them end-to-end with double knots, praying they would take his weight. Then she wrapped one end of her vine rope several times around a tree and tied it. Back at the crater, she tossed the other end down next to his head.

  He didn't move.

  "Jancid," she screamed. "Wake up. Grab hold of the vine.”

  His head rolled around and he slowly shifted his body. His face was blue and his eyes moved lazily.

  "Do you see it?" she cried. "Take it."

  It seemed to take him forever to nudge the vine closer, using his broken arm. She was about to scream at him again, when he reached out with his good arm and grabbed the vine.

  "I can't pull you out," she said. "You'll have to climb. Use it to support you."

  He took a deep breath and pushed up from the rock, taking a higher grip on the rope. He climbed, hand over hand, moaning and cursing every time he was forced to use his broken arm. Half way up, he lost his grip and fell back. Her pulse raced, but she ignored her fear and shouted at him continuously, not daring to think what she would do if he fell unconscious. After an eternity, his hand clawed at the top of the hole, and she pulled at his shirt until he rolled away from the edge and lay shivering and coughing.

  "You're a miracle worker, young missy," he said, and gave a weak smile. His whole body was blue with cold, but the day was still hot enough to revive him. "I'll crew with you any day."

  "Let me look at your arm," she said, feeling the flush in her cheeks.

  Apart from a graze there was no obvious external wound. The best she could do was fashion a sling from his torn shirt.

  "We'd better find the captain,” he said. “Tell 'im we found water... the hard way." He gave a half grin, half grimace.

  "We'd never have found it if you hadn't fallen into it."

  "Aye. A broken arm's a fair price."

  She retrieved the empty bucket from the grass, and studied the roaring torrent below them.

  "Let's take a full bucket back with us." She tied the vine to its handle.

  "No ya don't." He reached out with his good arm. "It's too dangerous. Let me."

  "Not with a broken arm," she replied. "We barely got you out alive."

  She lowered the bucket into the river, let it fill, and hauled it back up. They took turns to drink. The water was icy cold, but fresh and invigorating. She splashed plenty on her arms and face, wiping off the dirt and sweat. She longed to wash her hair, but there was no time.

  Both suns hung low over the trees when they returned across the meadow and into the forest. After the deafening roar of the river, she found the chattering of the animals and chirping birds relaxing, but they kept a wary eye out for predators. She wanted to get back to the beach as quickly as possible, and kept up a cheerful monologue about how thrilled the captain would be with their discovery. Jancid didn't seem to share her excitement, and walked beside her with a grim face, so she shut up. He was probably still upset at losing his friends, Sawall and Grad.

  After they had traveled a league or more, she tried again. "The captain wants to build another boat and leave the island. How long would it take us?"

  "We ain't got the proper tools," he said. "Between our boat and the other we found, maybe we could cobble something together. We'll certainly 'ave a go if you can steer us."

  "I'll try."

  A warm, fluttering feeling filled her insides to think how much faith the old sailor and the captain had in her.

  He stopped. "What in Anjan's name's that?"

  A crackling sound came from ahead of them, and Lissa gasped when a billowing wall of blue flame careened through the trees, consuming everything it touched. It seemed possessed by a cruel spirit, probing in all directions with tendrils of fire. Whole trees and undergrowth ignited at their touch. The fire marched forward, unstoppable, spitting and crackling. It leaped into the forest canopy, overrunning the fleeing wildlife. Charred animal corpses rained down.

  "Run," she screamed, tugging at his good arm.

  "What nightmare is this?" he asked.

  "I've seen it before," she said. "It's Farq."

  "What? What do you mean?"

  "Just run."

  He veered to the left. "Back to the meadow. We have to get out of the forest."

  "No, not that way," she said. "It'll burn that too. Run for the beach."

  "But the beach is over there." He stopped and pointed.

  The wall of blue fire surged closer.

  "Not our beach," she cried. "Farq will be there, waiting. This way."

  She weaved between the trees, keeping an eye out for Tagraks or War-blit nests. Animals raced before her, and swarms of insects and whirling tentacle bugs scattered in all directions. She slowed often to allow Jancid to catch up. He panted loudly, and his arm banged around in its sling. She took the heavy bucket from him and ran on, i
gnoring the precious water that sloshed out. The crackling of the fire diminished as they outran it. Red sand came into view on her right, and she angled toward it, shooting out of the forest to collapse onto the hot beach. Jancid dropped beside her and they both gasped for air.

  "Were you followed?"

  She jumped.

  The captain stood a short distance away, knife in hand, Coy behind him.

  "Only by a bloody wall o' fire," Jancid said. He got to his feet. "I'm glad you're safe, cap'n."

  "Likewise." His gaze flicked to the Jancid’s sling, the bucket Lissa carried, and then past them into the forest. "Are Farq's men behind you?"

  Jancid's head snapped up and he scanned the tree line. "What does he have to do with this? She's been telling me the fire's all his doing."

  The captain looked at her and his eyes narrowed. She said nothing and he turned away.

  "Wipe these tracks," he said, "then we'll make for that headland."

  "What's wrong with our camp?" Jancid asked. "Farq's there you say?"

  "Let's move before they find us."

  Smoke rose from the forest, staining the sky an ugly black. Blue fire flickered between the trees. They hurried along the beach, using fallen branches to erase their tracks. By the time they had scrambled across the rocky headland and into the next bay, Eldrar had colored the dust ocean myriad hues of orange.

  The captain led them directly to a tiny cave in the rocks. She wondered how he knew it was there. The entrance was a tight crack, but opened into two spaces, neither tall enough to stand in, but plenty of room for the four of them to sit or sleep.

  "So you found water," the captain said the moment they collapsed onto the sandy floor.

  She placed the bucket between the four of them. He detached a mug from his belt and took a long drink, wiping his stubbled chin with one hand.

  "Ah," he murmured. "Well done. What happened to your arm?"

  He peered at Jancid in the growing darkness, and handed the mug to Coy.

  "I broke it getting the water," Jancid replied. "It's a fine tale, but I want to know how Farq's here."

  The captain nodded and leaned back against the wall.

  "After running from the Tagraks, we thought you'd rendezvous at the camp. We'd been there barely half a bell when the whole forest erupted into blue flame. That scared the stew out of us both, I can tell you. Coy, sharp eye that he is, spotted the ship outside the reef, launching balls of fire from the deck. We ran for it, just in time too, since one of them things incinerated our boat and the others as well."

  "But why did he come back here?" Jancid asked.

  "I’m sure he found the missing boat."

  Jancid grunted. "I bet the navigator told him where to look."

  "He’s on our side," the captain said.

  Lissa fingered the letter in her pocket and nodded. The navigator would never willingly help Farq, but maybe he'd been forced? She took a long swallow from the mug.

  "What do you know about this, girl?" the captain said.

  She choked on the water. "I didn't see anything. We were at the meadow."

  "He said you mentioned Farq when you saw the blue fire. Why?"

  She squirmed and looked away, staring out at the last light of the day.

  "Well?"

  "I tried to tell you on the ship, sir, but no one would let me. I wanted to warn you-"

  "About what? What do you know about Farq?"

  The story of the weapon gushed out of her in a long and rambling explanation interspersed with gasps when she remembered to breathe. She told him everything: about Lyndon and Alice in the hold, the boy's plotting with Farq, how she had followed them on Us-imyan and witnessed the weapon in action. She described the destructive blue and purple fire in detail. Finally, she stuttered to a stop and sank against the cave wall, staring at her bare feet.

  The captain exhaled loudly. "He was after the cargo as much as my ship. I had no idea."

  "I tried to warn you-"

  He waved his hand. "No matter. It's done. He came back to make sure we're dead."

  They huddled together in the dark grey of dusk. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her against the chill air.

  "They'll be searching for us," Jancid said. "Unless they think the fire cooked us."

  "We saw a boat land on the beach," the captain said. "They'll be sure to look for us, but I doubt they'll try at night."

  "I say we attack," Jancid growled. "Right now. He won't expect that."

  "Don't underestimate Farq. The boat'll be well guarded. That's our last option."

  "Could we distract the men, and steal the boat?" she said.

  Six pale eyes stared at her out of the near darkness.

  "Possibly." The captain rubbed his jaw. "That weapon was deadly accurate. I wouldn't like to row out under fire. We'd never make it."

  "Then we wait for 'em to lose interest and leave," Jancid said. "After that we can build our own boat."

  "Their attack on the beach destroyed all the flux vanes."

  "I'm hungry," Coy said.

  The captain straightened his drooped shoulders. "Aye. Find what food and wood you can. We'll build a small fire where it can't be seen from outside."

  In the dim light of two moons, Lissa helped Coy search the tree line for dry wood and fruit. The acrid smell of smoke was heavy in the air but there was no sign of blue flames. Had the fire died out, or blown toward the meadow? What if it burned the entire island and destroyed all the food? All their efforts to find water would have been in vain then. She chewed her lip. The ship was their only means of getting off the island, but how to get aboard?

  She said nothing while they started a small but warming fire, and shared plenty of fruit. An orange glow flickered across the cave walls and grim faces. Ideas began to form in her mind.

  "Captain," she whispered. "I know how I can get back on the ship."

  Chapter 27 - The Fair Maiden Again

  The captain paused midway before putting a piece of fruit in his mouth. He studied Lissa intently, one eyebrow raised.

  "You said I, and not we. Explain."

  "My plan only works if I go alone," she said. "I can get a message to Oban- I mean the navigator, and he could sneak a boat back to you."

  "And how do you intend to reach the ship?" He popped the fruit in his mouth and chewed slowly.

  She swallowed hard.

  "This is going to sound silly..." She searched their faces for support. Even Coy eyed her suspiciously. "I can't explain how, but I can swim."

  Jancid snorted. "Ain't no one can swim in dust, missy. You'll drown."

  "I've done it before. In the downpour on Us-imyan. It swept me into the ocean and that's when I found out I could swim in it. I made it to the ship."

  "Ridiculous," the captain said. "We need a sensible plan, not some flight of fancy."

  "But-"

  "I thought you were smarter than that," he said, and turned away.

  Her shoulders dropped and she stared at him. He had trusted her to find the island, given her the navigator’s secret letter, but now he thought she was a stupid girl. His belief in her had felt good. She didn't want to let him down. For the rest of the evening she sat in a corner, not caring if they thought she was sulking. None of their own plans sounded viable, and eventually they let the fire burn down, and wriggled about in an effort to get comfortable in the tiny cave.

  She made herself as comfortable as she could on the rough floor and pretended to close her eyes, but peered through her lashes at Coy who knelt by the entrance. He had volunteered for first watch but seemed more intent on practicing writing with his finger in the sand. Once she heard the two men snoring, she edged beside him, put her finger to her lips and slipped outside onto the moonlit beach. He followed, and she led him to the dark expanse of dust rippling gently and mixing with the sand.

  "You gonna try it?" he hissed, his eyes wide.

  She nodded. "Don't wake them until I'm long gone."

  "Promise. Can yo
u really swim in there?"

  She was betting her life on the Klynaks. What if they didn't save her this time? She glanced back to the cave and chewed her lip. She could laugh and tell Coy that she'd only been joking.

  He removed his cap and gave it to her.

  “I can’t swim with that on,” she said.

  "Then carry it. For luck. I believe in you."

  The moment to back out had passed.

  "Thanks." She forced a smile. "See you soon."

  "Be careful."

  They stood face to face for several heartbeats, and then she scrambled out onto the rocky headland. Her shirt was no protection against the freezing night air as she perched on a boulder at the ocean's edge. She wrapped her arms about her chest. Further out, the surface sparkled in the moonlight, but remained a dull, matte color at the shoreline. Coy watched her from the beach, with the pitch-black forest behind him.

  More alone than ever before, she heaved a heavy sigh and stepped into the dust. It clung to her skin, and scratched gently as she walked in deeper, and when it reached her waist, it warmed her and began to pull her down.

  Can you hear me?

  Silence.

  Please, I need your help to get back to the ship. I need to save my friends.

  How much did they understand about her world, and would they even care about the danger she was in?

  An object broke the surface in front of her, and she recognized the hairless, striped head. She still couldn't tell if the short stumps were ears or horns, but as it rose, a pair of red eyes regarded her. The stumps twitched and glowed green from within.

  We will take you to your nest that travels, but we will not fight your battles for you.

  I understand, and I don't want you to. I must prove myself.

  To whom? The captain? Farq? No, to herself.

  It will be like before, the whispers hissed in her mind. Do not fight the substance of life.

  Something slipped around her waist, startling her. It felt damp and sticky against her skin. Her lip quivered, and her stomach churned. It was worse knowing what was about to happen, and she shivered despite the warm cloak of the dust. What she imagined to be a tentacle tugged at her, and with a whimper, she sucked in a final breath. Then she was under the surface, enveloped in suffocating dust. She scrunched her eyes closed and resisted the urge to scream.