“We need to find the way out. And it's most likely that way.” Taya pointed left, to where the river disappeared into the gloom.
The other entrance, where the water poured into the cave, looked impassable. It was a wide crack in a sheer wall of stone, broadened and rounded over time, the water spewing from it under enormous pressure. Even if they could climb up to it, they wouldn't have the strength to fight the current. Unless . . .
“Can you manipulate the water? If we had to go that way?” Taya studied the waterfall for any sign it was possible.
“If there's no other choice, we can find out. But let's try the other way first.” Min looked up at the swooping forms. “If we can get there.”
“I have an idea.” Taya stood cautiously, then ducked as another winged shadow dived at her. It didn't make a sound. Not even its wings gave it away.
The rock she'd reached for was still floating beside her, and she lifted it up higher, above her head, and concentrated on reaching for another one. A piece dark with shadow ore rose and she set the two spinning around her head.
She found another rock, and then another.
The four were all roughly the size of her fist and they deflected the attackers, forcing them to pull up before they got in too low.
“Let's go.”
Min crawled to were Taya stood and rose up inside the little safety zone Taya had constructed, her hand grabbing Taya's tunic like she had in the tunnel.
Another creature swooped in, but instead of flying away, it landed on a large patch of moss growing on the wall near where they'd entered the cave.
For the first time, they got a good look at what it was.
Ugly.
Very ugly.
It was black all over. Its eyes were black and gleaming, and the only part of it that reflected the light. The skin covering it was hard to make out. She didn't know if it was fur or feathers, but whatever it was it lay sleek and close to its body. Its wings were tucked in, but they hung down on either side, longer that its torso.
It clutched the wall with its feet and the claw of one hand, and extended the other towards them in what was an unmistakably aggressive move. But it was the flat, almost squashed, face that radiated the most menace. Its mouth was open, and against the faint blue of its tongue, she could see teeth that seemed to be as black as the rest of it.
“It looks as dark as the shadow ore,” Min said and swallowed. “Like it's absorbed it.”
“I'm already starting to feel tired, so let's go before I can't move the rocks any more.” Taya had forgotten that part of the Change in the excitement and joy of her power. That calling it took effort.
Kas called his carefully, because as village head, he always felt the need to keep some power in store for an emergency. So he called the Change for useful things, repairing or building earth walls, keeping the paths and roads in good condition, by doing a little each day.
Garek--well, he sometimes used his up in one big gulp of power, but he suffered for it afterward. And when he'd been younger, before he'd courted her, when she'd watched him come into his Change as a tall, lanky teenager, she'd once seen him collapse in the street.
Quardi had left him there as a lesson.
No one ever found out who had put the pillow under his head, or the blanket over him after darkness had fallen.
Taya swallowed her smile. If they didn't start moving, she'd be the one lying passed out on the floor. And Min would be left alone to deal with the cave flyers.
She grabbed Min's hand and they headed left, angling to where the fast-flowing stream disappeared into the darkness. Neither of them was particularly fast. Taya was stiff from lying on the stone floor, and from her cuts and scrapes, and Min hadn't fared much better.
She tried to speed up, using the moss light to negotiate the best path.
It was interesting that the moss didn't grow in the part of the cave they were aiming for, didn't grow above a certain height, either.
Taya was fascinated by plants. They provided the color for the dyes she created for her wool.
She wondered what this moss might do in a dye. If she could transfer the luminescence to levik wool, she could name her price per bale.
She pushed the thought aside and concentrated.
The rocks she had lifted weighed on her, heavier and heavier with each passing moment. She and Min had made it halfway across when she realized she was at her limit. The rocks had already dropped to just above her head, and were sinking with every step she took.
“I can't hold them much longer.” She had to force her lips to move through the stabbing pain growing behind her forehead.
Another cave flyer swooped, this time close enough for Taya's hair to flutter in the wind it caused.
They were closer to the stream than to the back of the cave.
Min must have been thinking along the same lines as her, because she gave a grim nod as they both altered course for the water.
“Keep hold of me,” Min said. “I don't have as much control over this water as the water on Barit, but what I do have is better than nothing.”
Taya forced the rocks up a little as another flyer swooped, and the moment it passed, dropped them with an involuntary cry of relief.
“Go.”
They ran, both ducking as a flyer dived at them again. Taya felt the scrape of claws on her upper back, the tug of her tunic as it was caught and then ripped.
They reached the edge of the stream and jumped in.
She didn't know what Min had expected, but she'd had the impression the stream was relatively shallow. She'd actually been worried it wouldn't be deep enough to shield them from attack.
She needn't have been.
The water closed over their heads, and they sank like stones.
On Barit, the water always seemed to cradle her, to allow her to float with ease, but Shadow water had no buoyancy.
It was also absolutely dark. She couldn't see Min, and was grateful that their hands were still clasped together as the strong current dragged them along.
Min tugged her closer, and then clamped both arms around her, pulling her flush with her body and resting her chin on Taya's shoulder.
A strange feeling of lightness grew around Taya's head, and suddenly, there was no water touching her from the neck up.
She couldn't see what Min had done, but she drew in a tentative breath.
“No talking, save the air,” Min whispered in her ear and Taya swallowed her questions, careful to take as little air as she could.
A few drops of water fell on her head, but, although her heart sped up in panic, the bubble around them held, and she tried to see where they were.
It was impossible.
The moss glow did not penetrate below the stream's surface.
They were moving swiftly, and every now and then she bumped into the smooth, slick walls of the channel.
“I can't hold the water back for more than another few seconds,” Min warned, and Taya took a last breath, as deep as she dared.
The water collapsed inward, making her ears pop with the change in pressure.
Her shoes had touched the bottom many times, and now she waited for them to make contact again and then pushed upward as hard as she could, pulling Min up with her.
They broke the surface for a fleeting moment, Taya looking backward first, to see how far they'd come.
The river had swept them to the back of the cave, the area in deep shadow, and relieved, she turned to face the other way before the water sucked them down again.
It was impossible to see where they were going, but there was a new roughness to the water, a choppiness that hadn't been there when they'd jumped in.
She sucked in a huge breath just before the water closed over her head, and heard Min do the same.
Once under again, the strength of the current was more noticeable, and she tightened her grip on Min.
It felt as if the water was trying to pry them apart.
Since they'd jum
ped into the water she'd forced her headache to the background, but now, holding her breath in the cold, dark waters, it muscled its way forward and began to stab at her brain. She kicked out with both feet to get to the surface again, needing another gulp of air with a frightening desperation.
Min's arms seemed to tighten, to keep her down, and Taya struggled against them, and broke free.
She swallowed water and air when she came up, choking and gagging, and reached out with both arms to find Min again.
She caught hold of Min's shoulder with one hand, and flayed with the other to keep her head above water, crying out as she hit her hand against a rock ceiling.
She coughed and sucked in more air, panicked at the thought of being in some kind of tunnel. What if the water level rose and there was no air gap?
She put her legs down, found she could reach the floor, and using her arms to brace herself, fought the power of the stream and came to a stop.
Min slammed against her and she stumbled back a few steps and then managed to hold fast again.
“You all right?” Min gasped for breath.
Taya gave a jerky nod. “Headache. Had to get some air.”
“I'm getting it too. Calling the Change too much does that. I usually don't because calling the Change too much in Kardai is dangerous. I haven't had a headache since I was a teenager.” She was quiet for a moment and both of them slowly got their breath back. “I'm not an expert, because no one talked to me about the Change in Kardai except my father. But I think what you did back there is hard. You're strong, Taya. Very strong.”
Taya was glad to hear that. Her whole life she'd wondered why Kas had been born with the earth Change and she hadn't.
But she had.
And she wondered how many were like her. Had the power to Change, but the element that resonated with them was buried too deep beneath the ground, or too high up, for them to ever come in contact with it.
Min's teeth started chattering. “It's cold.”
“We have to go on, agreed?” There was little chance of making it back, as far as she could see.
“Agreed.”
“There's no point taking risks we don't need to take, though. Let's go slow. I'm afraid of reaching a part where there's no air gap.”
Taya started moving again. It was hard to walk, but she was too scared to let the water carry her along in case she couldn't stop again. She moved forward slowly, taking deep breaths and trying to ignore the cold that seemed to seep into her very bones.
She lost track of time in the darkness, the only anchor Min's occasional touch, confirming they had each other and were not alone.
When the current strengthened, she was grateful the floor and walls of the tunnel were not as slippery and slick as the channel in the cave had been. She moved even slower, inching her way along, fighting against the tug of a current that wanted to grab her and run.
When she took a step and found no tunnel floor beneath her, she went under with a cry of surprise, and Min dragged her back.
She coughed the water out of her lungs, trying to move back against the flow. It was impossible.
“There's a deep hole?” Min asked, her voice strangely disembodied in the pitch dark.
“I think so. The ground falls away.” Another fit of coughing wracked her body.
“What do we do?”
Taya closed her eyes, took a deep, deep breath.
“What can we do? We have to go on.” The thought filled her with terror. “Once we commit and let the current take us, we won't be able to go back.”
“I don't want to do it.”
They were silent for a beat after Min's words, and then they both burst into laughter.
“No.” Taya's arms shook under the strain of holding herself in place against the pull of the current. “I don't want to, either.”
“Hang on tight to me. If I have to, I'll find some power from somewhere, and either make another bubble or do something else.”
“All right.” Taya took a last breath. “Get ready. Go!” They both dropped their hands from the tunnel walls and hugged each other close, lifted their feet, and let the water sweep them away.
Chapter 18
The entrance beneath the sky raider's ship was lit with a faint green glow. It had an extended lower lip and was far wider than it was high. They were in a small sky craft, though, and there was more than enough room.
As they came closer, Garek saw the green glow was more like a solid wall of light, and he slowed the craft down so much they were almost drifting as they hit it. They passed through, and found another green wall blocking their way.
Aidan made a sound of panic, and Garek's finger hovered over the acceleration lights, but before he could make a decision, they hit the second wall.
“A wall that isn't a wall.” Aidan's face was tense, awash in the green light. Unlike the first barrier, this one seemed much thicker.
“They've worked out how to harness light.” It was an idea that had been brewing in Garek's head since the light-dial had lit up under his fingers. “They use it to power their flying ships, and I think they're using these walls of light to keep the air they breathe inside the big ship from escaping out.”
At last they broke free of the wall and he gently brushed downward on the up and down lights.
They dropped, not hard, but with a definite jolt, and Aidan grabbed at the wall for balance.
“It's busy out there.” He crouched down, out of sight.
“I don't know that anyone can see into this window.” Garek hoped they couldn't. “I've seen a lot of sky craft, and they all look solid silver from the outside, and I can't imagine they were all flying blind.”
“You mean, you think they bend light, so we can look out, but no one can see in?” Aidan swiveled to look at him. “That old man who was with you, just before I climbed the ladder I heard him exclaiming that the windows looked solid, even though you'd opened them.”
Garek nodded his head. He stood and walked carefully to the window, bending low, just in case, and joining Aidan in a crouch. It was the first time he'd moved since they'd taken off, and he was stiff from sitting for so long.
Aidan was right. They had come through into a hive of activity.
Sky raiders strode about, calling to each other as riderless carts carried boxes and pallets toward a massive open set of double doors or toward one of the two people-stealers parked beside them. The carts moved seemingly under their own power; nothing pulled them, no one drove them.
He stared in wonder, and was aware that Aidan was doing the same.
Just as he'd guessed, the sky raiders had claws. Their hands were massive and broad, much bigger, proportionally, than any other appendage. They either had pale yellow skin, or a smooth fur covering their limbs. All wore long, dark pants, but some were shirtless, and others had vests on. Men and women alike.
West Lathor was known to be a slightly prudish place, but Garek didn't find the scene shocking so much as interesting. The sky raiders operated with efficiency and focus. There was no joking or teasing, as he imagined would be the case if the same situation was played out in West Lathor, or in Illy in general.
“They're big,” Aidan said.
They were. The average height looked around the same as Garek, and he was used to being head and shoulders taller than most. Their hair contributed to the impression. There was a lot of it, and it was bushy, in various colors from light brown to almost white.
“Something's happening.” Aidan crouched suddenly, and Garek angled his body to see.
Another of the riderless carts had moved forward, this time with no cargo, and then disappeared around the side of their sky craft.
There was a faint thump and a tiny shudder went through the craft, and then they started moving forward, deeper into the huge space.
“Getting us out of the way,” Garek guessed. He saw where they were headed, toward a short line of sky craft, set to one side.
“Do you see what they're doin
g with the people-stealers?” Aidan asked him. He'd turned and walked to the other side of the sky craft, so he could keep watching the loading.
Garek gave a grunt of acknowledgment. Most of the pallets and boxes were being transferred from one people-stealer to another.
“They're a bit different. Do you see it?”
Aidan frowned and then nodded. “The one they're loading up is bigger. It's more like a cargo vessel.”
“Hmm.” Garek tried to remember what the people-stealer they'd seen leaving the big ship earlier looked like. Had it been one of these bigger ones?
He hadn't been paying enough attention.
Their sky craft jerked to a stop, and now that they were next to a few others, Garek saw theirs was in the worst shape. That made him nervous. Someone might feel the need to fix it.
Would the sky raiders be waiting for someone to disembark? And what would they do if no one did?
He shook the feeling of worry off and concentrated on watching the scene in front of him. If they needed to get out of here quickly, their craft had a clear run across the loading area to the light wall.
“Those are the silk bales that were taken coming into Gara a week ago.” Aidan spoke almost under his breath as he watched someone take the bales out of a riderless cart and stack it to one side of the people-stealer's hold. “What could they possibly want with them?”
“I see tools, pots and pans, and crates of fruit going in with those bales. My guess is they're just taking whatever they can steal and passing it on. Because they don't need any of it for themselves.”
“Passing it on to the prisoners?” Aidan leaned a shoulder against the window.
“People need clothes, food, and equipment to survive. The sky raiders want them for something, so they're trying to keep them alive.” Garek hadn't wanted to think about what that something could be, but seeing the sky raiders working so well together, the calm, methodical way they loaded the people-stealers, the fear he was carrying eased a little.
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