It looked like a tree. But it shone and glimmered in the pale light. Whatever it was made of wasn’t transparent like the water but looked like it was filled with smoke that didn’t move.
The island the tree grew from was as small as Alronna had described—no bigger around then a small family’s hut. It was in the middle of a pond of water so clear that Lakhoni easily saw to the bottom. Which was not covered in rocks and dirt. It was simply unblemished stone.
Hilana and Lamorun’s bodies sank deeper into the water.
“They won’t be able to breathe.” Simra knelt at the water’s edge. She seemed to be taking care to not touch the water.
“They weren’t breathing anyway,” Alronna said.
Lakhoni darted a glance at his sister. But she wasn’t being flippant. She was just stating fact. “We have to get them out,” Lakhoni said. He cautiously approached the water’s edge again. His right leg, the one that had been injured, didn’t throb as it had been doing for the last hour or more. Had it been longer? He glanced at the sky, but the sun was invisible behind the cloud cover, which appeared to be growing thicker. He examined his leg. The bandage was still there, but all the blood was gone. Not a trace was left.
The water. He’d stepped into the water while moving Lamorun. Had it healed him? “Simra, my leg!”
Simra’s brows drew down and she swiveled around to see.
“No wait, we need to get them o—” Lakhoni swallowed his last word. Lamorun and Hilana bobbed to the surface at the same time. And the moment they broke the surface, they floated directly toward where Lakhoni, Alronna, and Simra stood.
Lakhoni swallowed. No splash came from their movement. No ripple. Lamorun and Hilana simply drifted toward them.
“There is no current in that water,” Alronna said. She dropped to one knee to reach for Lamorun, who was within reach now.
“This… this is not normal water.” Lakhoni reached for the shoulder of his brother that Alronna was not going for. His fingertips brushed Lamorun’s muscled bicep.
Lamorun’s eyes opened and he immediately put his feet down, standing up and turning to face Lakhoni and the women. “Lakhoni?” Lamorun blinked. “Alronna?” His hand went to his side and brushed the wound under the bandage that was still there. The bandage that was now pristine. And Lamorun’s breeches were pristine.
Lakhoni caught his breath as Lamorun’s eyes met his. In that first moment, something—some kind of light—flashed deep in Lamorun’s dark brown eyes. But it was gone. “Lamorun.” Lakhoni reached out carefully. “Are you all right?” Was this still his brother? Had something changed in him because of the water?
Lamorun turned as Hilana stood and faced the group. Simra had been reaching for her, and the moment she had touched Hilana, the Zhimana woman awoke too.
“Crazy woman.” Lamorun’s lips stretched in a small smile.
Hilana pursed her lips and looked Lamorun up and down. “Club leg.”
“It appears we yet live.” Lamorun stepped out of the water. Hilana followed.
Lakhoni stared. He glanced at Simra, then Alronna. Did they notice?
Simra’s mouth had dropped open as she studied the two. Alronna cocked her head at Lakhoni questioningly.
Lakhoni leaned closer to his sister and whispered. “They’re not wet.”
Alronna looked confused. She turned to Lamorun and her eyes went wide.
“I feel… strange.” Hilana put her hand to her side. “It’s still there. I think.”
“But the bleeding has stopped,” Simra said. “Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but neither of you is wet after your bath in there.”
Lamorun stood taller and gave Simra a questioning look. “Of course we are.” He patted his breeches. When they didn’t smack wetly, he looked down. “Or…” he trailed off, then pivoted, staring at the water. Hilana’s fingers roamed over her body and clothes. She was shaking her head and muttering to herself. She turned to the water after Lamorun and they both stood there for long moments.
“It healed you,” Alronna said, wonder in her voice.
“It cleaned every trace of blood off you,” Lakhoni said. “Out of your clothes too.” He found his attention drawn to the water too. The Water Pure. It was real.
Simra laid a hand lightly on Hilana’s shoulder. “Can I see?”
Hilana nodded and watched as Simra carefully lifted the bandage away from where Gadnar had stabbed her. When Simra’s eyes narrowed and she bent closer, Hilana asked, “What? Is it healed?”
“It…,” Simra trailed off, then tried again. “Yes. Sort of.”
“What does that mean?” Lakhoni went to one knee next to Simra and looked under the bandage.
The puncture from Gadnar’s dagger was closed. There were still two sides to the cut in Hilana’s skin, but they were together, as if they were stitched. But the wound didn’t look like it had knit together, like a wound usually would after a few days. No blood seeped through.
“Is it healed or not?” Hilana asked. “If it is, I would like to be able to breathe fully and this bandage is tight.”
“It’s closed,” Simra said. “But not healed. It’s not bleeding, but I have no way of knowing if it will open again.”
“It doesn’t hurt.” Hilana tugged lightly at the bandage around her torso.
“I think we should be safe and leave the bandage on.” Simra turned and examined Lamorun’s wound. “This is the same. We don’t want it to open again.”
Lamorun nodded. “Wise. It feels tight there, like a freshly healed wound.” He saw his cudgel on the ground and bent for it. “We will leave the bandage on.”
Simra turned to Lakhoni. “You should get in the water too. For your leg.”
“I already did.” Lakhoni rose up on the balls of his feet, then back down. He took two steps in place, lifting his legs high. “I feel like I have my strength back. There’s no more pain either.” He started as Hilana and Lamorun both suddenly dropped to their knees at the water’s edge and put their faces in the clear water. “What are you doing?”
Lamorun straightened and turned to Lakhoni. He swallowed. “Drinking.” Lamorun’s face had no water on it.
“If it can heal, what else can it do?” Hilana grinned, she pushed to her feet, her face also dry. “We decided to try it.”
Lakhoni looked from Lamorun to Hilana, then back. “So? How do you feel?”
They glanced at each other. Lamorun gave a small shrug. “The same. Still thirsty.”
Hadn’t he heard what Illiana had said about Gadnar wanting to become immortal by using the Water Pure? “Still thirsty?” Lakhoni rubbed his face in frustration. “Have you lost your—”
Thunder cracked then rumbled. The sky had grown darker. “We should find shelter.”
Simra looked back the way they’d come to the edge of the bowl valley. “That came from in the cavern.” Her gaze darted to Lakhoni and the others. “You felt that right?”
“She’s right.” Alronna’s expression grew tight. “That wasn’t thunder.”
Another rumble rolled across the valley. Lakhoni knew that sound and sensation. They’d felt it under foot in the mining city. Understanding dawned like a kick in the stomach. “It’s black powder.”
Lamorun hefted his cudgel and snarled. “This time, he dies.” He broke into a run.
Lakhoni shot after his brother. His leg felt stronger, like it could carry him better. But on some level, he knew it wasn’t fully healed. Which meant Lamorun and Hilana weren’t either. “How did he find the path?” Had Gadnar found the tree carving somehow?
“It doesn’t matter.” As Lamorun ran, he swung his cudgel and rolled his neck, loosening his muscles. A growl began to pour from his lips.
The marker. The stack of rocks he had left so he and his family could find the path again. Lakhoni had left it there. A shout of frustration burst out of him, tearing at his chest and throat. That was the last mistake he was going to make. No more. Gadnar was going to die now.
“What
’s he doing in there?” Alronna caught up to Lakhoni and Lamorun. “Why would he be using black powder in there?”
“Because he’s evil.” Hilana spat as she ran just on the other side of Lamorun. “I will see his blood spilled until he dies.” She pulled her katte from its straps on her back and held her dagger in her left hand.
Simra fell in next to Lakhoni as they crossed the gentle slope that led up to eastern edge of the bowl valley. The riverbank provided a convenient path. “We have to be careful.” Simra bumped Lakhoni’s arm with an elbow. “He might be trying to lure us into a trap.”
“Maybe you should stay back,” Lakhoni suggested. He kept his legs pumping, falling just behind Lamorun. He brought the memory of the cavern to mind, picturing how a fight would go on the treacherous ground. The hot fissures could be a problem. He would need his eyes to adjust quickly so he could be ready for anything.
“I’m not staying behind,” Simra said. “But I will keep out of the way.”
A loud crack sounded from the opening to the cavern, which was only a hundred paces away now. Then came the rumble that they both heard and felt. “What is he doing in there?” Lakhoni gritted his teeth, anger building.
The rumbling changed in pitch and didn’t stop. The vibrations underfoot increased.
“What is that?” Alronna cocked her head as they ran. “That doesn’t sound like an explosion anymore.”
“It sounds like rock falling on rock.” Lakhoni accelerated. Fear, sharp and sour, tamped down on the anger building in him as the smell of sulfur filled his nostrils. Something terrible was happening. They had to stop it. Stop Gadnar.
“Enough talk!” Lamorun lengthened his stride. “He will die and that will be the end of it!”
Everyone poured on the speed, leaving the Water Pure and the strange tree behind.
A man holding a long object darted from the opening to the cavern. He moved incredibly fast and immediately disappeared into the thick trees just down the slope.
The shout tore through Lakhoni’s throat, erupting from hot fury in his core. “Gadnar!”
Lakhoni pulled his dagger and planted a foot in the dark, wet dirt of the riverbank. “I’m going after him!” He turned and headed for the forest.
“He can’t make it to the water!” Alronna followed Lakhoni, a little slower.
“I will cut him off.” Lamorun stopped and turned, then raced back down the riverbank toward the Water Pure.
“What about in there?” Hilana skidded to a halt. She watched Lamorun run. “What did he do?”
“We have to find out,” Simra said.
Alronna nodded and grabbed Lakhoni, pulling him hard to get him to stop. “I don’t know for certain, but it’s bad. Really bad.” Her eyes were unfocused.
Lakhoni searched Alronna’s face. He could practically smell Gadnar, hear him getting farther away. The need to chase the wicked man down urged Lakhoni to break into a run again. He forced himself to remain still. “You feel it too.”
She nodded. “We have to stop it. Whatever it is.”
Lakhoni peered through the thick trees, trying to spot Gadnar. He had been swallowed completely by the forest. “But Lamorun’s alone.”
A massive, ground-shaking crack sounded from in the cavern. Lakhoni was being torn in two. Gadnar needed to die. But what had he done in the cavern?
“Come on!” Hilana took off, racing toward the rough entry to the cavern. Smoke and steam rolled from the dark doorway. As she ran, Hilana slid her katte back into its straps.
Simra raised her eyebrows and glanced back toward the Water Pure.
Lakhoni nodded. “Let’s go.” He, Alronna, and Simra ran toward the hole in the stone wall of the valley. The river rushed by on their right, getting louder and rougher as it broke over rocks then fell from the edge of the mountaintop valley.
Hilana disappeared into the cavern before Lakhoni caught up. Her high-pitched shout drove them faster. Lakhoni, his dagger in his right hand, ducked through the doorway, immediately forced to put his hand over his mouth and nose. Steam and rock dust and heat made the air so thick he could have cut it if he’d tried.
The cavern was in shambles. In the glow from the fissures, clouds of steam rolled up and filled the top of the cavern. Massive chunks of rock littered the area where the near cavern wall met the floor.
The air was filled with hissing and popping, like water thrown on the hot stones of a fire pit.
Lakhoni reached the bottom of the slope that led to the cave floor. Hilana had run to the base of the nearby wall, her hands roaming over it. Lakhoni held his forearm over his mouth and nose and peered through the haze. “He broke one of the boulders.”
Alronna nodded. “But why?”
Simra pushed by them and stepped deeper into the cavern. The red glow from nearby fissures made her look like a being from a different world. “Some of these are bigger.” Simra looked up and caught Lakhoni’s eyes. “The cracks, I mean. These are wider than before.”
A crack and a rumble made them all jump. The ground shook for long seconds and the rumble took a lifetime to fade. “We have to get out of here.” Lakhoni struggled to see more than ten paces away. He reached out, gesturing at Simra. “Let’s go.” He moved toward Alronna and Hilana, who were both at the cavern wall. Why was the floor cold? Confusion pulled him to a halt and he crouched, extending his fingers. Not cold. Wet.
Water ran through the cavern, flowing from the wall where Alronna and Hilana stood across the cavern in the direction Lakhoni and his companions had first entered the cavern. The water was deep enough to cover his feet. As he stood, the reason for all the steam came to him. Wherever it was coming from, some of the cold water was finding its way into the fissures in the stone floor and hitting whatever was down there that gave off so much heat.
Simra joined him and they pelted toward Alronna and Hilana. “Where’s the water coming from?” Lakhoni wished he had some kind of mask he could put around his face. Every breath he took felt like wet fire cooking through his mouth and lungs.
The fissure they’d just jumped over belched steam at the same time as another sharp crack reverberated through the cavern.
“I don’t know.” Simra glanced back. “But I think it’s making those cracks wider.”
They angled around the one remaining giant boulder that sat at the base of the wall and pulled up as Alronna and Hilana jerked to a stop in front of them.
“We have to get out of here,” Hilana said. “That wall there,” she pointed behind them, “is full of cracks. The river’s right above this.”
“And on the other side of that wall.” Alronna’s expression was grim. “The cracks are getting bigger.” She put a hand on the boulder. “I think this still being here is the only reason the entire cavern wall hasn’t collapsed, releasing the entire river through here.”
Cold fingers clawed down Lakhoni’s neck and back. “Gadnar did this on purpose.” He and Simra started back toward the sloping ramp that led up to the hole to the bowl valley outside. The ground rumbled and vibrated. More steam filled the air. A fissure ten paces away erupted with steam.
“But why?” Hilana and Alronna followed. Confusion and anger infused each of Hilana’s words. “Why would he do that?
“To distract us!” Lakhoni growled. “So he could get to the Water.” He sheathed his dagger and reached back. “Hurry, before that river breaks through!”
“Oh, no.” Alronna’s voice was quiet, almost impossible to hear.
Lakhoni spun. “What?”
Hilana and Alronna had stopped in their tracks. Alronna stared at Lakhoni.
Simra pulled at Lakhoni. “We have to get out of here!”
Even in the dim red light of the cavern, Alronna’s face had lost all of its color. “The village. Down the mountain. He’s going to kill all of them.”
“That’s their fate,” Lakhoni said. “They chose to follow him.”
“Lakhoni!” Simra’s hand squeezed his arm. “It couldn’t have been all of
them. There were at least fifty homes there. Families. Children!”
A fissure not far away erupted so powerfully that shattered, warm stone bounced off Lakhoni’s arms and chest.
“We can’t let them all die.” Alronna looked back and started down the slope. “We have to warn them. Get them to high ground.”
Hilana moved to follow but hesitated. “If the river breaks through—”
“When the river breaks through,” Alronna said.
“Anybody who goes down there to warn them could be killed.” Hilana looked around. “We’re going to save the people who just tried to kill us?”
A deep grating noise that Lakhoni felt in his bones filled the cavern. Something he couldn’t see was moving. He peered through the murky air. Had the immense boulder shifted?
Alronna’s eyes flitted from Lakhoni to Simra, then to Hilana. She bit her upper lip and nodded. “We can’t let them die.”
Hilana threw her hands out. “But Lamorun’s out there fighting him alone! The man responsible for all of this. We have to help him.” She reached for her katte again.
Another deep, grating rumble filled the cavern. The floor shook.
Alronna spun and stared toward the weakening cavern wall. “It’s the boulder!” She leapt down the slope.
“Alronna!” Lakhoni dove after her. His injured leg nearly gave way on his second step. He stumbled the rests of the way.
“Lakhoni, wait!” Simra’s shout was cut off by another fissure erupting, steam and rock shards flying everywhere.
The water underfoot was nearly to his ankles as Lakhoni ran. “Alronna, what are you doing?”
Alronna ran directly at the single remaining boulder, which was twice as tall as Lakhoni and almost ten paces wide. She didn’t answer, but slammed into the boulder and pushed against it.
Lakhoni finally reached Alronna. He pushed on the boulder too, knowing it was futile. “Are you going to try to hold this boulder back?”
Red Prince Page 28