Majus E’Flyr shook her head. “We could get down, yes, but how would we get back up here? Just walk through the portal and hope we catch an anchor while falling? I don’t think I can place one that exactly—I need a larger area.”
The majus pulled on a head-tentacle. “In fact, I’m not sure I can make one at all this close to the wall. As I said, its music resists changes, and a portal needs a big change to open.”
“Wait—could you have opened a portal to the top of the Nether this whole time?” I asked her. Why are we doing all this climbing?
“No, girl.” The majus turned her wide silvery eyes to me. “At least one majus has to have physically been to both endpoints of a portal. No one’s been up there,” she pointed above her head. “That’s one reason I’m here. It’s why the Council is interested.”
I tried to keep my face from showing my irritation at the majus calling me a child, again. Though she’s probably about six times as old as I am…
“Yes, who is to be saying what treasures may be above the clouds?” Wailimani put in, and we all stared at him. “There is to be no reason to stop now.”
“Treasures you want to claim discovery of? Like you got a permit for the same dig site?” Mom thrust one finger down at the ground.
“Surely there is to be enough credit for all,” Wailimani whined. “Six people discovering what is to be above the Nether’s clouds is not so much different from four.”
Is that all he wants? My anger at Mom for dragging me all the way up here had faded, now I’d seen such incredible sights. Even if my arms ached. But I hadn’t even thought about making money off our climb. Isn’t the achievement enough? We’ll be the first people to reach the top. I might even be as famous as Mom!
That thought ricocheted through my brain and suddenly I wasn’t so sure. Will my friends want my autograph? How will I be sure they want to be with me, or if they just want to be near a famous person? I gripped my ropes tighter, unsure of what would happen when—if—we returned from this expedition. What did Mom haul me into?
Mom made an annoyed noise, interrupting my flailing thoughts. “We’re wasting time. If it’s the only way, then that’s what it is.” She jerked her head to the Kirians. “We’ll keep an eye on these two and combine the drills.”
“Doesn’t anyone want to be asking for my permission?” Wailimani said. “After all, my team was responsible for excavating this drill—”
“No!” said Mom and the majus together. Partino cracked his knuckles menacingly.
“Be grateful we’re letting you climb up with us,” Mom told the Kirian. “It’s a long way down.”
* * *
The repairs took the rest of the day, and while Majus E’Flyr and Partino worked on the two beetles, Wailimani and Mom stayed out of each other’s way as much as possible while combining our supplies.
I glared daggers at Wailimani and his assistant, who still hadn’t said anything. He’s just as shifty, though.
The other Kirian was short, nearly as short as the majus, and moved with quick, little motions. It looks like he’s always trying to make sure no one sees what he’s doing. But I saw. Even when he slipped some of our rations out of the netting and ate them.
“Hey!” I called, but he scampered away in his harness back to their beetle. I tried to get Mom’s attention to tell her, but she was too busy avoiding Wailimani. I‘m watching you, buddy. Assistant Sneaky gave me a pointy-toothed grin, and I shivered. I looked around quickly, but everyone else was busy. No one else had seen.
The wall had dimmed by the time Majus E’Flyr and Partino started up our crystal beetle drill. We all looked up at the familiar hiss of the crystal drill mandibles.
“She’s working!” I yelled. Finally!
Mom’s face relaxed for what might have been the first time that day. “Let’s start it climbing while we sleep,” she said.
“What if it hits another crack in the wall?” I asked. I doubted another party would ride up on a third drill with convenient spare parts.
“We’ve got to make up for lost time, Natina,” Mom said, and I slumped in my harness.
I see how much my opinion is worth.
Unexpectedly, it was Majus E’Flyr who spoke up. “The girl has a good point. I want to keep an eye on the drill while we’re climbing, from now on. We’re too high up for anything else to go wrong, unless you want to cut this expedition short with an emergency trip to the ground by portal. We’d have to climb back up, without the drill.”
“We were to be climbing through the dark without trouble,” Wailimani offered.
I rolled my eyes. I guess he didn’t know Mom that well, for all their arguing. He was helping me without meaning to.
“There are only two of you, and you evidently don’t care if you fall and break your neck,” Mom shot back. “The crystal beetle drill can’t hold the four of us and climb, and it certainly won’t hold six. You’re right, Majus. We’ll have to wait until morning to start.” She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to be more upset at the Lobath majus or the Kirian explorer.
“The crystal beetle—?” Wailimani’s crest rose in surprise.
Nope, you’re not going to argue with that too. “It’s my name,” I said before he could finish. “If you think it’s stupid, then tell me.” I gave the Kirian my best frown, like when I bossed my brothers around.
Wailimani stared at me a moment, then his crest settled back down and he bobbed his head at me. “I would not be dreaming of doing such a thing. We shall gladly spend the night here and start tomorrow well rested.”
I glared back. None of us will get much sleep with that squeaky Kirian and his creepy assistant.
Mom and Partino talked quietly while we were getting our mats ready, but I saw a lot of looks toward the other party, who were planning to sleep tied to their non-working beetle, which still gripped the wall, unmoving. Its back was opened like some larger beetle had emerged from its shell. Its one, blunted, horn pointed straight up.
My muscles pulsed with weariness and, even though I wanted to watch what happened, I could barely keep my eyes open. I fell asleep while Mom and Partino were still bickering.
* * *
A sound woke me in the middle of the night.
What was that?
Maybe it was a dream. My eyes were closing.
Hsss. Tump.
My eyes opened again, and I leaned out over the edge of my hammock, moving quietly so the mat wouldn’t shift under me.
There was a dark shape moving beneath me, visible against the low glow from the wall, which was never completely dark. The shape was too small to be Mom or Partino, or even Wailimani. Is it Majus E’Flyr? Why would she be out?
I looked over to the majus’ hammock, to my right and above mine, but I could see the dent her weight made in it.
I looked back down. So it’s Assistant Sneaky. The only other person that size.
If I wake everyone up, they will ask a lot of questions, and Assistant Sneaky will shrug it off and give us one of those creepy grins. I’ve got to catch him in the act this time.
I watched for several minutes, ready to call out, as the little Kirian moved around the camp. He touched nothing, though he climbed all the way up to our crystal beetle and all the way down to the nets holding our supplies.
I still couldn’t wake everyone. He’ll say he woke up and wanted to stretch his legs. Or Wailimani would, since the little Kirian was as silent as he was shifty. Then everyone would be even crankier tomorrow.
Assistant Sneaky made no other noises like the ones that had woken me. It had been when he passed close by, probably because my hammock was the closest to their beetle. He soon returned to the beetle and strapped himself back in. Despite trying to watch him, I soon fell back to sleep.
* * *
“You’re grumpy today,” Mom told me after I complained about the harness being uncomfortable. For the fifth time. It didn’t help that it was cloudy and c
hilly. The cloud layer had dipped lower in the night and surrounded us. I couldn’t even see the nearest column.
“So are you.” I wasn’t in any mood to be agreeable. You’ve only told us about twenty times how the crystal beetle drill isn’t moving as fast as before. The beetle was visible a short distance above, contentedly drilling holes in the Nether wall. The rope that connected her to us was like a limp length of seaweed, hanging nearby. I took my purple goggles off to clear the condensation away. The anchors were slick, too.
I looked down and saw the small tree nestled in the crack, now far below us. We had stopped for Mom and I to make a quick sketch, but mine got smudged.
I hope my notebook isn’t getting wet. I’d wrapped it in oiled paper and put it in the food supply net after I finished. I’d drawn a few sketches of the repair job yesterday, but unless we stopped for a while, it was impossible to take any notes while climbing, especially in the damp.
“Partino and I didn’t get much sleep,” Mom admitted. “We were both trying to keep watch to make sure Wailimani didn’t try any tricks.”
“So you saw him then?” Maybe I won’t have to prove anything. I hadn’t mentioned Wailimani’s assistant, hoping I would spot something out of place, or a piece of equipment missing. Nothing.
“Wailimani?” Mom asked. “He was asleep all night.”
“No, Assistant Sneaky,” I said. How could they have missed him?
“Assistant Snea—” Mom cut off with a chuckle. “Well, I suppose that is fitting, and he hasn’t said one word. He is kind of strange.”
“This is serious, Mom,” I told her. Don’t just laugh it off. “He was sneaking around the whole camp in the middle of the night.”
Mom sobered, holding onto an anchor. She looked up to where the two Kirians were climbing in the middle of the group. Their robes were flapping around their legs, even though they’d tried to tie them back like Mom and I did. They must be heavy with all that water soaking in.
We’d decided it was best to keep them where we could see them. Our original team could handle placing the anchors, so Mom and I took up our positions hauling them up, while Partino and Majus E’Flyr placed new ones up above.
“What did he do?” Mom lowered her voice. “If he touched anything—”
“I…I don’t think he did,” I said. “That’s why I didn’t wake everyone up. He just looked around, then went back to sleep.”
“Probably trying to decide what supplies the two of them could steal,” Mom said. “Thank you for telling me. I don’t know how Partino and I missed it last night, but we were all tired.” She sighed. “I don’t trust either of those Kirians. Even if the drill hadn’t broken, they would have caught up to us.”
“And passed us,” I said. “This way, you still get to be the first to the top.” I realized I hadn’t been mad at her dragging me our here since the Kirians showed up.
Mom gave me a nod. “That’s true. However, following us so quickly smacks of inside knowledge from the Imperium. Someone near the Council of the Maji or the Effature sold information about our expedition.”
“They’d do that?” I asked. “For what?” Is this part of exploring? Watching for crafty rivals? I wondered if Mom dealt with this sort of thing all the time. If so, I’d never heard about it.
“For money, or for a share of what we might discover up there,” Mom told me, jerking her head upward. “There’s a lot more to the real world than studying artifacts. It’s one reason I wanted you with me. I just didn’t think you’d get such a close-up example.”
“I’m a quick learner,” I said. “I’ll figure out what he’s doing.” I pondered ways to catch the Kirians while they were doing something underhanded.
“We’ll all have to try harder.” Mom took the pulley from her harness. “Time to bring the anchors and food net up. Get ready.” Her fingers waggled toward the bottommost anchors and the netting that hung beneath us.
We set everything up. “I can help,” I said. “We can take turns watching.”
Mom was silent as I rappelled down, got the anchors, tucked them into my harness, and climbed back up.
I grimaced at the ache in my arms. The majus had done her thing to all of us again this morning, but it was clear it took a lot out of her, and it felt like it wasn’t working as well as it had been. How long until we can’t climb anymore? How high is this wall?
When I got back, Mom had made a decision. “We need you rested,” she said. “Partino and I will keep watch, but tell me if you see anything. It will be easier after we get through this cloud layer.”
I watched Wailimani and Assistant Sneaky the rest of the day. It helped break up the monotony of the climb, surrounded by gray clouds. It’s like climbing through cotton. Wet cotton, that sticks to my clothes and hair.
* * *
I didn’t sleep well that night either, my mind churning as I listened for sounds of the Kirians doing something funny. Mom and Partino’s hammocks were both occupied, and I wondered which one was watching.
I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the same sound awakened me.
Hsss. Tump.
I shifted carefully to peek over the edge. With the clouds around us it was nearly impossible to see anything, even with the faint light from the wall. Where is Assistant Sneaky? What is he doing?
Try as I might, I couldn’t see him moving around. I thought I heard a faint buzz, like rope rubbing against an anchor, but neither Mom nor Partino cried out. It could easily have been hammock ropes rubbing against each other. I fell asleep, still trying to listen for movement.
* * *
It was raining the next morning.
“Blaugh!” I cried, waking to droplets falling on my nose. I was twisted up, my head hanging out one side of my hammock. The others were already packing up. I shook my hair and clothes out as best I could, but everything was soaking wet.
What did I hear last night? Or see? Everything was jumbled up in my memory. I opened my mouth to say something, but Partino spoke first, making the thought flee like the remnants of a dream.
“Be very careful climbing today,” he told us. “If you feel like you’re going to slip, depend on your harness. You’ll need to tighten it up. It will catch you, but you might fall a little further than normal. The ropes are wet. That means they’re heavier, and if you fall, your harness will jerk you around more than usual.”
“At least we can fill up the water jugs,” Mom said. She held one out as an example, catching the rain. We’d filled them once before, holding the jugs out on long poles during a quick shower in the balloon. “We were getting pretty low.” She looked up to Majus E’Flyr. “Can you help us out one more time today? I promise I’ll let you rest tomorrow.”
The Lobath majus sighed heavily. Her head-tentacles were drooping, and she looked even more wrinkled than usual. “I can do it,” she said, “but I’ll need a good rest tonight. I can’t keep spending my notes like this. I can get most of them back when reversing the change to the Symphony, but there is degradation over the course of a day.” She came around to me first, then Mom, and the Partino.
“What about me?” Wailimani squeaked in his high-pitched voice. His assistant nodded vigorously, but said nothing, naturally.
That voice is really starting to get on my nerves.
“Yes, even you,” Majus E’Flyr said. “Can’t have you lagging behind and holding us back. We’ll be climbing slowly enough as it is.” She clambered over to the two Kirians, whose robes were soaked. Their crests hung limp in the rain.
Good, I thought at them viciously. Something nagged at the back of my brain, watching the Kirians. Had I seen or heard noises the night before, or was it a dream? What was it? I couldn’t remember. Maybe events during the day would bring it to mind.
Climbing before had been monotonous, but climbing in the rain, inside the clouds, was exhausting, even with Majus E’Flyr making us stronger. It was so common for someone to slip off an anc
hor and swing around in a circle that I stopped paying attention. We’d tightened up the rope to the beetle so it could act as another failsafe.
I had my fair share of slips, but each time my harness saved me. We were very careful to tie our ropes well whenever we had to adjust them. The metal of the anchors was slick when wet, and my hands grew so tired I could barely grip them. Everything stank of wet metal.
Sometime in the afternoon, Partino had one hand in a bare hole, ready to put in a new anchor, when he slipped off. It had happened before, and I didn’t even look up at his cry.
“Your harness!” At Mom’s shout, I looked up. Partino was dangling, half out of his harness. I froze, my hands locked around anchors. I could see the tear, right by his hip.
Then everything happened in a blur. There was a riiiip and Partino was falling, long arms and legs stretched out to catch something, anything.
No! I threw out my arms, heedless of how it made me swing out from the wall. Maybe I could catch him as he went past.
Instead, Partino caught on Wailimani’s arm, pulling the Kirian off his own anchors, and swinging them into Assistant Sneaky.
“Get off me, you oaf! You are to be pulling me down!” Wailimani squeaked at Partino. He pushed the porter, and Partino grabbed at the assistant instead.
I don’t know if Assistant Sneaky had been lazy with fastening his harness, or the rain made it looser, or Partino was too heavy, or what.
In a flash, both Partino and the Kirian were free, away from the wall and tumbling, down, out of sight.
“Partino!” I screamed. I could hear the others shouting too, but there was absolutely nothing we could do. The two figures vanished into the clouds in a matter of seconds.
“Partino!” I screamed down the wall. “No! Come back! Partino!” I don’t know how long I called for him—it felt like hours, and my voice was a rusty squeak by the end.
Tales of the Dissolutionverse Box Set Page 51