by Joni Sensel
Ariel wanted to obey, but she doubted Neela would be swayed without proof. "What if we keep going to search?"
"You risk falling prey to those who are lost, and the risk grows every moment. Go back while you can." Mirayna's Essence receded, melting into the background of fire.
"Wait!" Ariel cried. "You said you could peek at people you loved from here. Can I, too?" When no answer came, she whirled away from the light toward the stairs. Hope and longing opened a window at the backs of her eyes. Staring blindly into the mist, Ariel saw much farther.
A cold tremor went through her. She'd wished, perhaps frivolously, to glimpse Nace. But worry loomed large in the back of her mind, and unpracticed with using the force of desire, she instead saw two others she loved and missed--Scarl and Zeke. A bandage swaddled Scarl's head, and they both kneeled on The Plank. Zeke's lips were moving as he sang to the stone.
Ariel groaned. If the stone told him what she and Neela had done there, Scarl and Zeke might try, too. But they wouldn't have the help of the wind.
Mirayna's voice tinkled in her ear. "You knew they'd pursue you. Go back to them before it's too late, or risk sorrows your soul may not bear. I cannot intervene further."
Nudged from behind, Ariel lurched forward a step. Neela stood at her side, mist curling between them.
"What are you staring at?" Neela asked.
"Oh!" Ariel clutched her friend, dizzy. She wasn't sure when she'd opened her eyes, let alone how she'd descended. Perhaps her body had never moved far and only her spirit had climbed. She'd returned to Neela at the foot of the tower. The beam of light dwindled. The vision of her friends on The Plank melted with it.
"I saw Scarl and Zeke. They're coming behind us!"
Neela turned and squinted.
"Not with my eyes." Ariel moaned. "I should have known they'd find some way."
"Don't fret, though," Neela said. "They can't follow us here without help from the wind, and the wind won't give it to them."
"I'm not worried about that--I'm worried they'll leave the world dead! We've got to stop them before they try something crazy." Ariel grabbed Neela's arm and pulled her in the direction they'd come.
Neela resisted. "I haven't done what I came for."
"We can't stand still and argue!" Ariel glanced for threats in the mist. "Here, walk around the tower with me."
They circled, moving faster than the clinging mist. Ariel tried to explain what she'd understood from Mirayna: that Dain had moved on long ago, and he couldn't have if he'd needed anything from his sister.
"I've got to make sure for myself," Neela said. "Just go back without me then, Farwalker girl. I reckon I can make my own way home. If Dain doesn't want my form like those spooks did, anyhow. If he does want it, I aim to give it."
"Don't be stupid."
"It's not stupid. I killed him. I owe him my life."
"I didn't mean that," Ariel snapped. "Although that's stupid, too. I meant I can't leave you."
"Aye, you can. Go back to Zeke and your Scarl. And... and Cass." After a wistful glance up at the lighthouse, Neela stepped firmly away.
"Neela!" Ariel's whole life seemed shaped by horrible choices she did not want and couldn't possibly make.
Neela didn't look back.
Chapter 27
Neela strode into the fog, looking small and alone. But she whistled through her teeth and sang out:
"Wind! I'm your piper, and I'm begging your ear.
Blow me to Dain, or carry him here.
My windpipe is busted, so now I can't play.
Please, won't you heed me and help anyway?"
She finished the verse with a sickly tweet that was dampened by the oppressive gloom.
No wind swooped to respond, but as Neela continued to whistle, streams of mist coiled around her. They looked like snakes tensing to strike.
Ariel raced after Neela before she vanished into the murk. "Stop. I don't think whistling is helping."
"Something's happening, though, so--"
The ground heaved. Ariel stumbled against Neela. A wave passed under their feet, peaked, and gathered into human shape before them.
"Dain!" Neela crowed. "Thank you, wind!"
The figure grew more distinct, mist filled out by sand and pebbles that whirled up from the ground. Flung to the edges, the sand formed a seething false skin. The face took on sharp features that were grey but not unlike Neela's. The male form rose and rose... too tall, unless Dain had grown into a man here.
Neela's joy flipped to horror.
"Where have you been, you disobedient wretch?" Grit scratched in the man's voice. A big hand made of sand, wrapped around mist and memory, shot forward to grab Neela by the throat.
"Papa?" she squeaked.
"Well, I sure ain't the wind!" He shook her. "Never said you could run off like that, neither. But all that rain leaking in was your doing, weren't it? And you called in this fog, too, I bet! Think you'll show me who's boss, eh?"
"Oh, no," Ariel murmured.
"Where's Dain?" Neela cowered, raising her arms for protection. "Isn't he here?"
"Don't you worry about him! It'll be you who gets beat! Where's my lash?" He began to drag Neela away. She struggled in vain.
"Hey!" Ariel jumped after them and grabbed the sand man's arm. Her hand passed right through him, grit peppering her fingers. He didn't seem to notice. Was he so lost in bitter memories that she was invisible to him? He certainly seemed unaware that he'd left the world.
Ariel tried again. It was like catching hold of a sandstorm. As she swiped at him, the symbols on her hand flared, shining forth like tiny flames. Instead of helping her, though, they pushed the arm of sand and mist out of her reach, just as ashes floated away from the heat of a fire.
Yet the dead man had no trouble grasping Neela. Strengthened, perhaps, by her fear and his anger, his fingers were making red marks on her neck.
Ariel leapt around to face him. He shoved her aside, his push knocking her down even though she hadn't been able to grab him. It was as if she'd been moved not by a hand but by the force of his fury.
"Outta my way, Dain," he muttered. "You argue for her too much. This is for your good as well."
As Ariel scrambled to her feet, he jerked Neela along farther and said, "I suppose you made off with my best lash again?"
"I know where it is, Papa," Ariel said quickly. She avoided Neela's confused look. "I'll show you."
The face of sand turned toward her. "You took it? I'm warning you, boy...."
"No, I just saw it. This way. Over here." Ariel stepped sideways. To her relief, the sand man followed.
"See?" he grumbled to Neela. "Obedience. That's all I ask. A few licks taught your brother. You'll learn, too."
Ariel walked stiffly before him, her steps choppy with fright. She'd acted mostly on instinct to get his attention. But where was she leading? She bent her thoughts to her feet and again found that sense of the ground leaking out from beneath her. Stronger now, it pulled hard. She followed with long strides, though she was certain the current drew them farther from the bridge.
A wide glow rose ahead. Another lighthouse? The first was lost in the gloom behind them.
Neela's father grew restless. "So where's that lash, boy?"
"Almost there," Ariel said.
But the sand man stopped. "Here it is." He bent to snatch something from the ground near his feet. When he raised his fist, it looked empty, but he waggled it as if holding a switch.
"Ready to pay for your impudence, girl?" He spun Neela and jerked her shirt up to bare her back. His other arm snapped--crack! Neela yelped through clamped lips. Although Ariel saw nothing to explain the noise, his intent or his anger alone was enough. A welt rose on Neela's skin.
"Stop!" Ariel cried. "Neela, fight!"
"Hush and stay outta this, boy. Or you're next."
As Neela's father cocked his arm for another lick, Ariel's mind raced to come up with an idea or weapon. The cobblestone ghoul had stolen Elb
ert's knife. She had nothing but the empty thong still tied on her leg, the food in her pockets, and the waterskin dangling from--
Water. Ariel yanked the strap over her head. Fresh water was supposed to stop ghosts. It had ended the blood oozing from Elbert's knife. Maybe it also could wash away sand--or at least distract the man long enough for Neela to jerk free.
Crack! Unable to keep her teeth clenched, Neela wailed.
Desperate, Ariel loosened the thong that held the waterskin closed. Gritting her teeth, she swung the bladder as hard as she could at the man's swirling head.
She also swung the full weight of her anger and outrage, and that made a difference. Instead of passing through him like her hand had, the bladder struck so hard it burst. Water gushed out. The deluge broke the dead man's control of his shape. Sand fell with a splat to the ground.
The man roared, and misty hands grasped for Neela. They fell short, the arms anchored in the wet pile of sand. Dry and easily swirled, it had given him form, but now his spirit appeared bound to it.
Ariel grabbed Neela and ran. Her feet took the easiest route, following the current. It increased with each step to speed them.
Neela's father needed only a moment to gather his sand about him again.
"He's c-coming!" Neela panted.
Though the wet sand was misshapen, he surged after them. He caught Ariel's hair and yanked her off her feet.
"I'll show you," he hissed.
"Papa, no!" Neela threw her arms around him. He shrugged her off, flinging her to the ground, too.
A black arrow sped over Ariel. The crow! It darted at the dead man's sandy chest. He bellowed and released Ariel to swipe at the bird. She skittered away.
Dipping and dodging, the crow circled to dive into his back. It emerged out his chest in a shower of sand. Pinched in its beak was a single grain, glowing dully--the Essence from Neela's dead father.
The loss didn't slow him. He shouted, "Thief!" As the bird sped away, also following the current, the man snatched at Neela and dragged her behind. "No! Take this one instead!"
Ariel chased to wrest Neela from her father's grip. Unable to free her, she flung her whole weight on the struggling girl, wrapping her arms around tight and digging in her heels. Neela's father slowed, but only a little. The growing current swept them all along now.
The man skidded to a halt, the clot of sand falling back on itself. He dropped Neela to backpedal, stumbling over both girls. They rolled out of the way, not sure what had happened. He turned to run back the way he'd come, but his sandy legs churned without much effect.
The crow flew on ahead, where the fog vanished, sucked down to flow into a great maelstrom. Currents and mist drained from all sides to the center. The shadows of the dead stood out against that white carpet, and they were drawn, too, rushing and eager. They converged at the vortex, slipping in with the mists.
Yet splashing back up were fountains of light even more brilliant than in the lighthouse. Ariel could only squint at the edges. Sparks burst up in flurries, twinkling amid the incoming shadows. They tumbled and danced before falling again. A few sparks shot higher and arced away toward the bridge.
The crow, small and black against the inferno, released the stolen spark from its beak. The bird soared away while the dull spark spiraled into the fountain.
"Not yet!" howled Neela's papa. "Give it baaa..."
As his spark joined the blaze, the mists that gave him shape vanished. Sand flopped to the ground.
Ariel and Neela were still picking up speed with the current. It pulled hard at their sprawled bodies.
"Get up!" Ariel cried. They scrambled to their feet to run back the direction they'd come. Straining, they pumped their legs without gaining ground.
Remembering a lesson she'd learned from the sea, Ariel turned to angle across the current. "This way, crosswise! Don't fight it directly."
"Like rip tides, aye. Good."
They plowed a zig-zag course away from the maelstrom, shadows and mist flowing opposite them, until they could pause to catch much-needed breath.
Neela ran a hand through Ariel's hair and turned up a palm full of sand. She eyed it sadly. "I asked for my brother, but I guess all that's left of him is Papa's warped memories."
"And his anger. Let me look at your back. Does it hurt?"
Neela shrugged. "Aye. But I've had thrashings before. It'll heal." She looked back over her shoulder. "It seems like a good fire, doesn't it? Not brimstone and pitchforks and such. All those sparkles looked to be having fun."
"I won't be afraid to go there someday." Gently, Ariel added, "I'm sure Dain wasn't, either."
"You think his spark's in there, dancing 'round in that pool?"
"Or it might have already flown back over the bridge. His spark could be in someone else now. Someone new."
"I'd like that." Neela poured the sand from one hand to the other. "You don't think he'd remember me if we met?"
"Do you remember anything from before you were born, Neela?" Ariel slipped her crooked arm around Neela's, both as a comfort and to encourage her on.
"No," Neela said faintly. After weighing the grains in her palm a last time, she flung the sand into the air, where it drifted into the streaming mists and vanished behind them.
"Bye, Dain," she said softly. "Wherever you are." With new purpose, she matched Ariel's strides.
The crow flapped up to circle their heads.
"Thank you," Ariel told it. "You saved us back there. That makes up for every bone you ever brought me." Perhaps plucking and delivering bones in the world had been practice for snatching sparks here.
Neela lifted her arm, and the bird perched there with a smug tilt of its head.
"I bet I was a bird before I was born--before I became Neela," she said. "And that's why the wind likes me."
Ariel squeezed her arm. "I bet you're right, Neela-bird. But since we can't fly, let's run. We've still got to get home."
She thought, but did not add, "If we can."
Chapter 28
Ariel peered at the shadows they met as they ran. She dreaded spotting one she knew, but she couldn't stop searching. What if Scarl and Zeke hadn't given up at The Plank?
"I don't mean to tell you your trade, Farwalker," Neela panted, after they'd loped for a while. "But are you sure we're going the right way?"
Ariel slowed. She'd been running without thinking about a direction. Her feet often worked best that way.
"It seems like we should've passed the lighthouse by now," Neela added.
She had a point. Ariel stopped to search for any glow. The crow had long since taken flight, but as they paused, two sparks passed overhead from behind, and--
BHOOM!
Ariel and Neela clutched one another. A wall of fog surged over and past them.
As the shock faded to silence, the mist began knotting again.
"What was that?" Neela breathed.
"Sounded like the bridge falling down." Ariel's stomach twisted. She wouldn't put it past Zeke to knock the gate flat with a boulder. And if he needed to knock it down, he must still be living. But if the effort had torn down the bridge....
"Prin-cess..."
Ariel whirled. Were her ears playing tricks, or had a whisper come out of the mist?
"Did you hea--"
"Pr-rin-n-cess."
Grabbing Neela's hand, Ariel bolted. Only one person had ever called her princess: Elbert.
"What?" Neela gasped. Ariel didn't waste breath with an answer. They sprinted until their tired legs slowed them. Ariel cried out with relief when the bridge's guard stones loomed ahead, merely indistinct shadows.
"You were right," Neela said. "But we never did pass the beacon."
"It might only shine in the direction it's needed. Never mind. Start begging the wind--" Ariel jerked to a halt at a noise from ahead.
"Shh," she breathed into Neela's ear. They crept toward the bridge, eyes scanning for faces or hands in the mist.
A voice came inste
ad. "There they are!"
Ariel gasped. "Zeke?" She clapped a hand to her mouth, fearing a trick.
He charged from the fog near the guard stones, Scarl right behind him. The Finder's sharp strides quickly put him out front. Both were too robust to be shadows.
"Scarl!" Ariel's voice broke with relief and she hurried toward him. "I'm so glad you're all right!"
He didn't greet her. As they met, he slung a coil of rope off his shoulder, and the look on his face stopped her from throwing her arms around him.
"I told you once before I would leash you again," he said, his voice deadly even. She'd expected a growl, if not barking, but that flat weight told her better how angry he was.
Neela approached, cringing. "Blame me, Scarl, more'n her."
Ariel tried to distract him. "How'd you get here?" She didn't resist as he caught one of her wrists and looped the rope's end around it.
His cold silence scared her. She shot a look of appeal to Zeke.
"Don't expect me to discourage him."
She gazed at Scarl's hands, which were knotting the rope. "I wanted to convince you to stay in the world. I was so scared you were leaving."
His busy fingers paused. "Then you should know how I feel," he replied in a tight voice. "You're not as infallible as you think."
"I know." She forced a small laugh, relieved to get a reply and hoping to ease his anger with humor. "Like I should have hidden your rope! But I was trying to get back before anyone noticed."
It was the wrong thing to say. "Before anyone noticed? And what if..." He choked. He held very still, not even breathing and certainly not meeting her gaze.
"That was a joke," she whispered. "Mostly."
He released the breath he'd been holding, flung off his grip, and spun out of reach to vent his fury alone--where he couldn't strike out and do damage, she guessed. Feeling worse than if he had smacked her, she shifted uneasily, wanting to go to him and knowing it was unwise.
Zeke approached with a sour look and helped her untie her wrist. "It's a wonder he doesn't kill you himself," he said quietly. "But I know he doesn't mean this. Let's get back to the world. If we can."