Eva nodded, then remembered that she was invisible. ‘I see what you mean. But why not just make one device? I don’t see the use of building it in separate parts.’
‘It would be easier to transport,’ Tren pointed out. ‘If this was one huge machine, it would be virtually impossible to move.’
‘Good point, yes.’
‘I reckon this is the sort of thing Dev saw. And remember what Griel said? They were building energy collectors! I bet that’s what these are.’
‘The bone serves as a catalyst of some kind,’ Eva mused. ‘It draws the energy, channels it through the conduits, and... does what with it?’
‘Good question,’ Tren murmured. ‘But, remember what Indren told us? She’s been set to research the Off-Worlds, specifically why they’re so unsettled lately. We now know - or suspect - that it’s a disruption in the energy flows that’s causing the trouble, and that’s happening because the draykoni are shaking things up.’
Eva caught on. ‘These are the devices that Griel’s teams were building.’
‘Right,’ Tren said grimly. ‘These are designed to collect Off-World energy in some way, channelling it somewhere else. But as to where, or why, or what a person might be able to do with such a thing, I’m stumped.’
Eva shivered a little, but not with cold this time. She’d felt the ferocious energies surging through Iskyr not long ago, even more volatile than the Lowers had been last time she’d visited. If it was possible to collect and store it, it would make for a powerful energy source indeed. What might an ambitious Lokant like Krays do with it? All she could think of was Limbane’s Library; maybe it was designed to be turned on him in some way. But she was no longer convinced that all this was aimed at Limbane.
‘This doesn’t bring us any closer to the real goal,’ she said. ‘We’ve confirmed an earlier theory - unfortunately - but we still have no real idea why this is being done. We need to carry on searching.’
Tren began restoring the devices to their cupboards. ‘We do, though I’m not sure where.’
Eva thought fast. They could search the rest of the laboratories, but she didn’t expect to gain much by it. Perhaps it had been naive of her to come down here, expecting to find a clear explanation of what each machine did and why it was being built. All they were finding here was the means, not the purpose.
‘I know you hate this, Tren,’ she said, ‘but I can’t think of anywhere more likely to hold answers than Krays’s study. We could waste hours down here without finding what we’re looking for.’
‘And why do you think we’ll find anything useful in there? He’ll have it all locked up behind Lokant technologies that we don’t know how to operate, and I doubt any of it’s conveniently written down anyway.’
‘That’s true, but...’ It occurred to her that Tren’s voice was a little strained. ‘Are you getting tired, Tren?’
‘A bit. Invisibility takes it out of me.’
‘Right. Let’s hurry, then. We could spend all day combing through the rest of the Library and find nothing. We have to try for the study.’
Tren made a sound of disgust, and didn’t answer.
‘Do you have a better idea, Tren? Because if you do, I would love to hear it.’
Silence. Then, ‘No,’ Tren said with a sigh. ‘I thought about trying to talk to someone, but nobody would share secrets with supposed “new recruits”, and if we tried duress they’d just Travel away and our cover would be blown.’
‘Agreed,’ Eva sighed. ‘I don’t like it either, but we’re running out of time.’
Tren came up next to her and linked hands again. ‘How are we going to get in?’
‘Let’s find it first,’ she suggested. ‘Then we’ll deal with that problem.’
‘All right.’ Tren took the lead again as they passed back into the hallway. Rikbeek’s excellent vision revealed an empty passage out, so they took it, almost running through the corridors now. It took a few minutes of hard walking to reach the upper levels where Krays’s study would be; this Library may be smaller than Limbane’s but that didn’t make it small by any means.
‘Right,’ Tren whispered at last, stopping at another plain metal door. ‘This has to be it.’
‘All right. I don’t see a keyhole.’
‘None of them have keyholes. With the other ones I just held the keys against this panel thing here and sooner or later one of them worked.’
‘They won’t work here. Krays would never give Ana access to his own study - or if he did once, he’d have revoked it by now.’
‘True, but we could try them anyway.’ The keys jangled in mid-air and approached the door, then stopped. ‘Eva. Why aren’t there guards here?’
He had a point. She would have expected to see whurthag-mechs outside the door. In fact, it now occurred to her that they hadn’t seen a single one anywhere in the Library. ‘No idea, but there’s no time to ponder it. Consider it a gift.’
Tren went back to work with the keys. But the moment he touched one of them to the panel, everything began to go wrong. An alarm sounded at top volume, and almost instantly three Lokants appeared in the passage. Each held a weapon: some kind of firearm, Eva guessed, though they didn’t look like any gun she’d ever seen. All three weapons were pointed at Krays’s door.
‘Reveal yourself,’ said one of them.
For a moment, Eva stood frozen in panic. This was about as bad as it could get. The three Lokants blocked all possible exits; there was no way she and Tren could sneak past without being caught. And as she formed that thought, four more ran up, all carrying similar weapons.
They were caught, well and truly.
Tren, surprisingly, squeezed her hand, his thumb lightly stroking her fingers. An odd gesture to make under these circumstances, she thought, but before she had time to ponder it further Tren released her and his invisibility dissolved. He held up his hands, signalling that he was unarmed.
‘Who are you?’ demanded one of the Lokants, voice hard.
Tren said nothing. He didn’t move as his would-be captors approached, weapons ready.
Eva felt sudden tears start to her eyes. The foolish boy was offering himself to appease Krays’s people, hoping that they wouldn’t realise he had an associate. That is what his little affectionate gesture had meant. But would she let him do it? She watched, stricken, as one of the Lokants secured Tren’s hands. The rest kept their weapons trained on him, cutting off all possibility of escape.
‘Check there’s no one else,’ said the woman to her colleagues.
Decision time. Eva suffered a brief, wild impulse to give herself up deliberately, make sure she was taken along with him. They’d get out together, later.
But that was foolish. Tren’s heroics may be stupid, but he’d done it to protect her, and she’d have a better chance of freeing him later if she remained at liberty. She would have to be stronger than that, and practical - no matter how hard it was to leave him behind.
All of this passed through her mind in a split second. Decision made, she darted forward as the impenetrable line of Lokants broke, three of them stepping forward to check Tren’s vicinity for accomplices. She stepped sideways and around, blessing the soft shoes she’d worn that masked her footsteps. One of the Lokants came so close she was sure she was caught, and stopped; but someone else shouted something and her near assailant brushed past, oblivious to her.
What had got his attention? Eva refused to be distracted until she was clear of the muddle of bodies; then she cast a brief glance over her shoulder.
‘There’s something here,’ someone said, clutching at the air over his head. Then a black winged shape appeared in the air, swooping in circles over the heads of the assembled white-hairs.
Rikbeek, she called, touched by this display of loyalty but terrified lest he should be caught. For once he obeyed her summons first time and shot in her direction.
Eva paused only to cast one last, anguished glance at Tren, handcuffed and guarded by seven of the
enemy. It broke her heart to run away, but she made herself do it, because he was right: if they were both captured, the chances of either of them escaping were about nil. She remembered Dev’s tales of Krays’s prison cells.
Forcing herself to turn her back on Tren, she ran down the passage as fast as she could, not slowing until she was well out of sight or hearing of the seven Lokants. Her invisibility was fading by this time, as she put distance between herself and Tren.
Rikbeek, she called again, packing it with the force of urgency. The gwaystrel dived for her, grabbing her coat just as she accessed the Map and travelled away.
She was going to need Limbane’s help.
Chapter Twenty Four
Llan? Llan!
Ori was shouting in her head. Only distantly aware of it beneath her shock, Llandry stirred herself with some difficulty to answer him.
I’m here, Ori.
Thank goodness. I need you to not panic, okay? We need to secure Pense’s body. Just keep it together for a few minutes more and I’ll be there.
Llandry hardly heard these words, her mind too stupefied. It took a few long moments for the sense of Ori’s words to penetrate into her befuddled thoughts.
Pense’s body. Yes! If they could retain his body intact, he could be resurrected. They could do it, between the two of them. Her heart soared again for one glorious moment, and then sank once more. How could they secure his body? He was in draykon shape! Even if both she and Ori shifted, they couldn’t carry him away. He was too big, too heavy. And Avane was out of action...
Hurry, Ori!
I’m trying but I can’t leave Avane. Couple of Lokants on their way though, I can see them. Just a few more minutes...
Llandry waited in a fever of impatience. The invaders must have seen Pensould turn draykoni on his way down; they’d recognise who he was. And they knew that Llandry would try to resurrect him if she could. If Ori didn’t get here soon, they wouldn’t even have a chance to try to get him away.
‘C’mon, Ori,’ she muttered under her breath, anxiously watching the skies.
A dark shape flew overhead, blotting out the sun. Then another, and a third, and more... it was too late. Five draykoni were bearing down on her. Would they realise who she was, while she wore human shape? Yes, they must. Pensould had said often enough that he recognised an awakened draykon soul no matter what shape it wore.
That meant they might already have realised that there had been four draykon souls among the coloured birds they’d been chasing earlier. But with Avane and Pensould down, Iver’s plan was in ruins anyway. They wouldn’t be launching any surprise attack now.
Ori, they’re here!
His response was a snarled curse. Then you have to get out of there, Llan.
And leave Pensould?!
You have to, or they’ll take both of you!
I can’t just abandon him.
You won’t. We’ll find a way to get him back.
She hesitated, torn, as the first draykoni found a path through the trees and angled down, coming straight for her. Ori was right, and Pense would have told her exactly the same thing. She must get herself to the Commander. Iver would help her.
In a flash she shifted, her panicking mind grasping at the first thing that occurred to her. Clad once more in her scarlet kreeay feathers, she tried to fly.
No good. She’d flown too much in the past hour; her wing-muscles were worn to the point of exhaustion. Her flight lasted a mere two seconds and then petered out, sending her diving for the ground.
Something small, Llan! Ori yelled. Hide!
Yes! Something that could meld into the shredded undergrowth, too small to be discovered. She became a wole, colouring her fur to camouflage with the blue-green moss and foliage that surrounded her.
Then a disturbing thought occurred to her.
Ori, if we can shape-shift, so can they!
Silence for a moment. Then, How many are there?
Five.
I reckon they’ll need all five to take Pense away. But hold on, I’m coming.
Llandry didn’t wait to see if he was right. She began running, her small legs pumping as fast as possible as she pelted through the fallen leaves at a rustling gallop. She was heading away from Waeverleyne, running blindly, but she didn’t care: her only thought was to escape.
She met Ori a few minutes later. He’d adopted orting shape; at her current size he seemed impossibly big.
Come on, he told her. I know the way back from here.
Avane? she asked.
Lokants took her back to the Library. They said she’ll probably be fine.
Probably? That was an ominous word. Llandry ran on, trying to ignore her growing despair. Two friends down, one of them dead and taken, the other close to it...
When they reached Iver and shifted human again, it was Ori who gave the report. The Commander heard him out in silence, his face grim.
‘I’m sorry about Pensould, truly,’ he said when Ori had finished speaking, ‘But we can’t launch a rescue operation just now.’
‘What?’ Llan said in disbelief. ‘But... he was killed carrying out your plan!’
‘Same as a great many other people,’ Iver said brutally. ‘Thanks to the four of you, the constructs are down, but we still have a lot of draykoni and a number of whurthag-mechs to deal with. I can’t spare anyone!’
‘Think about it tactically,’ she said in desperation. ‘You’ve just lost half the drayks on our side. If we get him back, Ori and I can regenerate him and the three of us can-’
‘No!’ he barked. ‘Do you want to tell me how we’re going to do that? Storming a camp full of enraged draykoni to rescue one comrade is not an option!’ With that, he turned his back on her and stalked away.
Llan covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the tears that drenched her cheeks. She felt weak, weeping like that; worse losses had been sustained in this war. But not for her. The thought of Pensould condemned to the care of those who hated him as a traitor tore painfully at her heart and escalated her fear until she could hardly breathe. They might destroy his body if they chose, so ensuring that he could never be resurrected. With the body taken, all hope of getting him back faded.
She was distantly aware of Ori hovering nearby, awkward and unsure what to do. He gripped her shoulder, the way he might do with a male friend.
‘We’ll think of something, Llan,’ he promised.
‘W-what if they destroy him?’
That silenced him. ‘Surely they wouldn’t destroy one of their own,’ he said, sounding anything but confident.
‘He sided with the enemy. They don’t see him as one of their own.’ She was getting herself back under control now, though an occasional deep sob still shook her.
An idea occurred to her. ‘What about the draykons we captured? We have five or six bodies, don’t we?’
‘They destroyed them.’
‘W-what?’
‘Iver ordered them burned.’ At her stricken look he lost his temper a little. ‘Of course he did, Llan! While the bodies remained whole they were a liability. It’d only be a matter of time before they were reclaimed and brought back. The war could go on forever at that rate.’
‘But that’s awful.’
‘It’s war. All of it is awful.’
Llandry put her hands to her head, suddenly aware of a terrific headache. ‘I was thinking... maybe we could have done an exchange, or something...’
‘Well, that’s not an option. We’ll have to think of something else.’
Llandry shook her pounding head. ‘I can’t think. What else can we-’
A tremor shook the ground, interrupting her train of thought. It lasted only a second or two, but it felt profound.
‘Oh no,’ Ori whispered. ‘What now...’
The ground shook violently again, the muffled roar of distressed earth drowning out all other sounds. When it subsided, it left behind the heavy silence of trepidation. Everyone waited to see what this new mis
fortune comprehended.
Ori had turned and now stood with his back to her, staring into the sky. ‘Llan... look at this.’
Joining him, Llandry looked up.
All the remaining draykoni were up in the air. They weren’t flying; rather, by some extraordinary means they were holding themselves aloft and motionless, arranged into lines with their faces towards the centre of the city.
‘What are they doing?’ Her voice emerged as a scared whisper.
‘I don’t know. But it’s not... oh no.’ Ori broke off as the skies darkened, heavy clouds materialising to cut off the light of the sun. Another tremor shook the earth, this one strong enough to knock Llandry off her feet. Ori grabbed her, keeping her upright. She clung to him.
The air rippled, heat washing over her, and Llandry froze. That was familiar.
‘Ori,’ she hissed, grabbing his arm. ‘They’re Changing it!’
Ori cast her a puzzled look. ‘They’re changing what?’
‘You’ve been in Iskyr,’ she said impatiently. ‘You know how it works! They’re trying to force a Change on the landscape, the way it happens up there.’
‘Can they do that? Down here, I mean, in the Middles? It’s supposed to be solid!’
‘I’ve no idea! Maybe they don’t either, but they’re trying.’ This was why the draykoni had retreated, Llandry realised. They had been resting themselves in preparation for a manoeuvre that would win the war for them - if they could pull it off.
The awed silence was over. Aysun’s machines were active again, but their fire came in short bursts, interrupted every time a new tremor shook the earth. She guessed that the disturbance was making it hard for them to operate, and that alone was to the draykoni’s advantage.
‘What in the Lowers are they Changing it to?’ Ori yelped, thrown off balance by the quake.
‘Something less favourable to us, no doubt,’ Llan said, taking her turn to haul him upright again. ‘They shouldn’t be able to do it, here. The Middles aren’t nearly so... so malleable. But maybe... maybe they can, if so many work together like that.’
The air rippled again, and a flood of heated air washed over Llandry, bringing with it a smell of burning. Her vision flickered, and for a second she saw scorched red rock and what resembled a sea on fire...
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