by A. K. Wilder
“We have to move.” Kaylin finishes securing the rope around his waist.
“Move?” I ask. “Tell me how in the name of the deep dark Drop we are going to survive the Capper Point Falls!”
“We’re going to hike down beside them.” The raft twists to the side and picks up speed as he speaks.
“Shove the horses off,” Kaylin commands and dives into the water.
“The horses?” Both hands go to my temples. “Shove them off?”
The roar increases, and the lip of the falls comes into view. White mist rises around it, stirred by the pummeling water below. Rita leans against me for comfort. “You want us to push the horses into the water?” I shout at the dark surface where Kaylin last was seen.
He pops up much farther away. “It’s their only chance.”
Marcus protests as he struggles to stand. “They’ll drown.”
“They can make it to shore,” Samsen says. “If I were you, I’d be more distressed for those of us who may not.”
Kaylin’s right: we have to do this. I kiss Rita’s nose and step aside as Samsen slaps her rump. The mare’s reluctant but soon bunches her legs together and leaps into the water. The splash washes over the deck and Echo is pushed off behind her, all while Marcus protests.
Samsen removes Frost’s arrow from her rump and she jumps into the water, leaving him standing there with the bloody arrow in his hand. The little ferry dips and shoots sideways, floating much higher now, and faster. The three horses swim for the western shore, only nostrils, eyes, and ears visible above the surface. For every length forward they gain, the current drags them farther downstream, toward the falls.
“Will they make it?” I follow their progress as the ferry moves parallel with them.
“One way or another,” Piper says. “Hope we can say the same for us.”
By then Kaylin nearly reaches the opposite shore.
“What’s he doing?” Marcus clings tight to the central post.
I crouch next to Marcus. “Trying to save our lives.” I make Kaylin out in the mist-cloaked willows. He swings up into a stout branch and unties the rope from around his waist.
“Hold on,” he shouts and loops the rope around the branch twice before it pulls taut. The ferry strains to a halt. I grip the railing and wave at Kaylin. “You did it!” Though bobbing in the middle of the current, tethered to a tree branch by a straining rope isn’t a permanent solution. Kaylin waves back and dives into the water.
Seconds later, his mop of curly black hair breaks the surface and his hands clamp onto the deck. He’s up in one motion, slinging water out of his eyes. “You can go hand over hand to the shore,” he says. “Belair first, the strongest swimmers last.”
“Strongest? Only Ash can swim,” Samsen says. “And the Tangeen, though not so well with an arrow wound.”
“Then don’t let go.” He pulls Belair into the river, one arm around his chest, the other gripping the rope. “Roll onto your back,” Kaylin commands.
Belair complies and manages to keep his head above water.
Kaylin flips onto his back as well and wraps his legs around Belair’s chest in a wrestler’s hold. He hauls on the rope, hand over hand, towing Belair quickly toward the bank. “Be at it, all of you.”
We stare after him.
Marcus recovers first. “You next, Ash.” He struggles to his feet.
“Strongest swimmer last,” I say. “You’re next.”
There’s no time for argument. Marcus reaches for the rope, holds it tight, and falls into the river. “Keep the party’s number to five,” he mumbles. Then he copies Kaylin’s technique and turns onto his back, holding his upper body high out of the water. Probably too high. He’ll use up all his arm strength. He pulls himself toward the safety of the bank, his injured arm slipping more with each new grip. Piper follows, then Samsen, then me.
I lower myself in and hold tight, arms already trembling. The weight of my coat drags me down, so with one hand, I undo the buttons and shrug out of it. The current carries it away. The water is ink black and bottomless under the clouded sky, making my mind shift to what creatures lurk below.
“Don’t dally.”
My inner voice needn’t bother. I’ve every intent of hurrying to shore. Though whether the warning comes from the threat of the falls or what lies below, I can’t guess.
“It’s the—”
Don’t tell me.
I crane my neck, trying to spot Kaylin. He is only a few lengths from the willow tree, Belair safe in his grip when the raft slowly arcs toward the shore. The line slackens ahead of me and Marcus lets out a cry. The horses shriek, and I jerk around in time to see Frost disappear over the falls. The other two are nowhere in sight. My eyes close tight. No. No. No.
“Ash,” Kaylin calls to me. “Keep coming.”
Before I can start up again, the raft hits a rock, the far side lifting out of the water, the front end plowing under the waves. Splinters fly into the air, and the rope goes completely slack.
“Hold your breath.”
I sink with the rope until it slowly rises back to the surface in time for me to see Marcus, Samsen, and Piper whisk by, gulping for air. They didn’t hang onto the rope!
I hear Kaylin shouting, “No!” even as I let go and swim for Marcus.
But the current’s too fast.
We’re all headed straight for the falls.
23
Kaylin
For the love of the sea, these landers…
I pull Belair up onto the shore where he staggers, finding support against the tree. “Hike to the bottom. We’ll meet you there.”
I push off the bank and stream underwater, kicking hard. In seconds, I’m at the edge of the falls and take a quick look at what lay below. It’s decent—plenty of water in the churning pool. Like a leaf in a stream, I glide over the lip. A heartbeat later, my feet smack the surface and I plunge into the depths. The sound is deafening until I sink toward the bottom of the gorge. There, an eerie silence surrounds me, the roar of the falls muted by an ocean of water over my head. I shoot for the surface, searching for the others. Ash is there, treading water, safe. Relief floods me, a feeling completely novel. One of many new sensations experienced since we met. Was that only six days ago? Luckily, she’s not a bad swimmer, my lass. Can’t say the same for the rest of them.
I dive back down and find two shadows; one swims weakly for the surface, the other drifts in the current belly-up like a dead fish.
Piper is closest but out of air, her face stricken. I circle her waist with one arm and rise. She gasps when we break the surface.
“I’ve got Piper,” Ash calls over the roaring falls as she reaches me in two strong strokes. “Find the others, please.”
I dive straight back under, flowing downstream with the current. Marcus isn’t hard to spot, his heavy coat open, floating around him, hair fanned, blood inking the water from his phantom wounds. I drag the Heir of Baiseen to the surface and search for Ash. She’s on the bank, sleeves rolled up, supporting Piper. She storms to the shore when she spots me. Piper staggers after her.
“Samsen?” I ask as I bring Marcus to her.
Piper’s dark eyes are wide, her breathing fast. “I can’t see him.”
I disappear back under the water. The lowering sun cracks through the clouds and sends beams of light into the crystal depths, turning the gorge emerald-green. There, on the rocky bottom, a glint of gold shines, and I sweep it up before letting the currents take me downstream. Samsen’s farther along than I expect, clinging to a rock, unable to pull himself out of the water.
“Piper?” It’s the first thing out of his mouth.
“She’s resuscitating Marcus. Everyone else is fine.”
He tips his nose toward his left shoulder. “I’ve come into a bit of strife.” His arm hangs unnaturally low. �
��Can’t pull myself out.”
I boost him onto the boulder. “Let me look.” I take his left hand and lightly rock it up and down. “You never learned to swim?”
Samsen starts to explain and then cries out as I traction the dislocated shoulder joint back into place.
“Blood and guts of the mighty Er, that hurts!”
I nod agreement. “Better now?”
“Maybe.” He rolls it and struggles to his feet.
We make our way down the other side of the gently sloping boulder, through the reeds, and onto a grassy bank. Tangles of vines and weeping willows make the way slow going, but in time we are back upstream to the others.
Ash is with Marcus where he lies on his side, coughing up half the river. Piper runs to us, opening her arms and burying her face in Samsen’s chest. Her serpent has its fangs in Belair’s shoulder, as he leans against a tree. Ash turns to me with a look as fierce as knives.
“Are you well, lass?” I’ve not seen this expression on her face before.
“No thanks to this escape route of yours.”
I lock onto her eyes. They are more turquoise now than ever, like the waters of Tutapa. I start to smile but curb it. She’s in no mood for fun. “A difficult twist in the path, I agree, but we’re safe, for now.”
“Safe? You call this safe?” Her voice goes up an octave. “We lost our gear, travel documents, records, seal, supplies, coin for passage to Aku, the horses—peace be their paths—and there is no time left to make it to Capper Point. Do you realize what this means for Marcus?” Her eyes well.
“We can still make it if—”
“I thought everyone was dead.” Her tears overflow, the anger giving way to fear.
“Lass…” Somewhere in the depths of my chest I feel a twinge. “I didn’t mean to—”
“I thought you were dead,” she whispers.
“You see it is not so.”
A neigh in the distance stops us all short. The sound blasts from across the water and I turn toward it, half expecting a line of Aturnian bows pointed our way. But it’s Marcus’s horse, her black coat dripping wet and turning blood red in the sunset. She stands on the far side of the river. “Ah, the horses are back.” I smile. “Things are looking up.”
The mare remains long enough for Marcus to call to her. She tosses her head, rolls back on her haunches, and bolts away. Behind her streaks a flash of gray and frost-white through the trees.
“And there they go.” Ash sits in the grass, hands over her eyes as if she can’t bear to watch. “Samsen, can you call them?”
He shakes his head. “Not unless there’s a ford. Otherwise they’ll be swept away.”
“We could search for one…” Her face comes up with a start. “Kaylin? What did you mean when you said we are safe for now?”
“As I hear it, Aturnians aren’t known to give up the chase. We need to keep moving.”
Marcus struggles to stand. “How long do we have?”
“Depends on that ford.”
“Best guess?” Samsen tests his shoulder.
I scan for the fastest way out of the river valley. “With luck, we’ll be on a sloop to Aku before they know which way we went.”
“And without it?” Ash asks, taking the hand I extend and allowing me to pull her up.
I don’t release her right away, the proximity like a sweet southerly breeze over cresting waves. “You should know by now, lass, luck is one thing I’m never without.” I give her a wink and let go, following Marcus to the edge of the river. From deep in my pocket, I fish out his medallion and hand it over. “Your family seal, I believe? Could help when we land on Aku.”
He grips it tight, rubbing his thumb over the engraving. “How did you get it back?”
“Like I said to the lass, I’m never out of luck.”
24
Ash
We have a new plan, which involves getting ourselves to Capper Point at the speed of thought, but I lag behind as we trudge under a vast and velvety night sky. It’s filled with brilliant stars and a waxing quarter moon gliding high overhead. The storm has passed; the air is frosty. Dirt and sparse blades of grass crunch under my boots. I don’t know how I keep moving. My legs are dead weights. Inside, I beg for a rest as we climb yet another hill.
This farmland is peppered with black sheep, all camped for the night, chewing their cud and huffing out foggy breaths. We stumble through strips of chaff crosshatching the fields, remnants of where the farmer dropped hay. It’s early in the year for the stock to need hand feeding. It’s going to be a hard, cold season by the look of it.
“At least they have warm wool coats.” My hands are shaking, my toes and fingers numb. I’m certain my nose is red as an apple.
“You’re worried about your appearance?”
I’m freezing, is all.
“I would think you’d be more focused on the recording after such curious events.”
Irritation warms my skin. First of all, the weather is part of the recording. And second of all, curious?
“Out of the ordinary?”
Extremely out of the ordinary is more like it. My limbs tingle with new circulation as I map out in my head what has happened in the last twenty-four hours.
“It’s not far now.” Marcus interrupts my thoughts. He’s recovering, keeping up with Kaylin, thanks to Piper’s healings. I’m sure she never thought her skills would be tested so deeply on our way to Aku.
“If they don’t all mutiny at what’s coming next…” Kaylin’s words drift back on the wind.
Wait. Was that Kaylin, or my inner voice?
“Can you not tell the difference?”
I can barely tell my left foot from the right just now. And it’s not only the exhaustion or cold wearing at me. If I allow my thoughts to sift through the last hours, from the moment the Gollnar scouts caught us and everything that transpired since… I shudder. Definitely more than curious, or out of the ordinary.
“Don’t linger there.”
No. I won’t. I can’t. I realize abruptly that my inner voice’s banter has been intended as a distraction to help me keep going.
“Am I?”
I’m too worn-out—and grateful—to argue. I shake my head to clear it. “Why are we talking about mutiny?”
Kaylin turns to me, brows raised to sharp points, but doesn’t reply.
“You’re hearing things,” Marcus says. “No one’s mentioned mutiny.”
You? I ask my inner voice and receive a cerebral snort for an answer.
Strange. I tap the side of my head with the heel of my hand. “Water in my ears, I guess.” I want to say something to Marcus about De’ral, now that I’ve seen his phantom for the first time. But the horror of it all… I best leave it for a private chat.
Kaylin studies the sky as Samsen’s phantom flies over us in the form of a sparrow owl this time, better to escape notice if other enemy savants patrol the air. The bird is the size of a child’s hand, a brown dot in front of the twinkling stars. Being smaller than the phantom’s full form, some of its mass has to be left behind, and it isn’t hard to see where it’s gone. Samsen sports a feather cape that falls to his thighs.
At least one of us has something warm to wear.
“Look at the lights!” Belair gasps as we reach the top of the hill.
It’s like the stars have touched down to illuminate the city of Capper Point. So many lanterns. The spectacle flows in a V-shape, two fingers of settlements, one on either side of the Ferus River. We’ve come out on the north branch, which I hear Kaylin say is a good thing. But b’lark the bones, I don’t see his mouth move. Has he said it aloud or am I delirious? Imagining things?
“Imagination is a resource,” my inner voice observes.
Food and sleep are a resource, too, and I’ll need some of both if I’m ever to make sen
se again.
“We’re nearly there.”
I know Kaylin spoke those words. Watched him do it, which is a relief. He’s definitely excited, and I catch the feeling, too, allowing it to warm me. Still, we have problems ahead.
“How are we going to hire a sloop without a coin between us?”
“Over that rise is a ranch house.” Kaylin points the way. Is he trying not to smile?
“Will they help us?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then why are we headed there?” I tuck my frozen fingers into my armpits and shiver. This would be a good time for him to explain things clearly.
“It’s on the way,” Kaylin says.
“What kind of answer is that?”
“A true one.” He heads down the hill at a jog.
I run after him. “You’re being odd, Kaylin.”
“Ash…” He says my name like he’s pleading his case.
I give a little laugh and relax. “I’m not cross with you, Kaylin. It’s just… Please, one of you, tell me what’s about to happen.”
Marcus steps up beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “Kaylin can get us coin and supplies for the crossing to Aku.” His eyes go to the farmhouse.
I turn back to Kaylin. “Explain.”
“Very well, but Marcus says you won’t like it.”
“Gaveren’s stuggs!” I snap, my nostrils flaring. “One of you spit it out.”
“Ash!” Piper chides me.
“Sorry.” I send her a beseeching look. She’s offended, but not Kaylin. He can hardly hide his smile.
Still, Piper’s correct. I have no right to use the name of Gaveren the Great in a curse, peace be his path. As the stories go, he was the most celebrated savant of all times with a warrior phantom larger and more powerful than any ever raised. Well, before De’ral that is. “I just want to know what the plan is. Plain and clear.”
“Lass, the plan is to sneak down to the farmhouse and steal what we need.” Kaylin looks at me expectantly, like he’s waiting for a thank-you.
My body stiffens and the heat of anger flushes through my veins.
