Fire Lines

by Cara Thurlbourn

  Tentatively, Tsam asks her to sit down and explains that we are here to take her back to Abilene. He tells her that Mahg is getting closer to finding out where we are. He tells her the Elders need us in Abilene, where they can watch over us, that he knows it will be difficult to leave her home, but it really is very important. Ava doesn’t even blink. She absorbs every piece of information and when Tsam has finished she only has one question.

  “When do we leave?”

  Weary, and aching in places I didn’t know existed, I’m relieved when Tsam suggests we wait one more night, before starting back in the morning.

  Ava smiles around the room. “What do you want to do today?”

  Tsam scratches at his shoulder blade and I can tell he wants to fly but it’s impossible here. The snow comes too quickly and the air is too thin. “I think we should rest, try to gather some strength for the journey home.”

  Ava looks bitterly disappointed. She chews at her fingernail for a moment, then turns to Garrett. “Do you need to rest too?”

  Garrett blushes violently and stutters, “I… ah…” which causes Tsam to stifle a laugh.

  “I could show you the village?” she asks, wide-eyed.

  Garrett’s pinkness reaches all the way to his ears now. “Ah, sure. I’d like that.”

  When they leave, I slump down by the fire and rest my head in my hands. Tsam crouches beside me. “I find her exhausting,” I tell him. “I don’t know what I expected, but…”

  Alyssa bobs down too, on her haunches, and prods the fire with a twisted branch. “I wouldn’t worry,” she says. “It looks like my brother’s going to take her off your hands for a while.”

  Kole is standing behind us, so quiet I’ve almost forgotten he’s here. “Why hang them like that?” he says. For the first time, there’s a wash of emotion in his voice. “How can their souls pass on when their bodies are suspended?”

  I remember something we saw yesterday, just before we reached the village. “We’ve seen the remains of animals on the mountains. That leopard’s carcass – it wasn’t decayed, but it had been scavenged.”

  Tsam and Alyssa are looking at me as if they have no idea what I’m talking about.

  “It would be almost impossible to bury someone in the snow here, it’s too hard. And if the body was close to the surface then—”

  “The scavengers would eat them,” finishes Alyssa, shuddering.

  “Up there, in the coffins, nothing can reach them,” I say. It is a plausible explanation. Although I have no evidence to support my theory, Kole seems placated.

  Ava and Garrett are gone nearly all afternoon. It is dark and stuffy in the hut but I don’t have enough energy to explore further than the doorstep. Instead, every so often, I stick my head outside and let the sun warm my face. Alyssa and Tsam spend the time reorganising their packs, while Kole sits in the corner of the room with his eyes closed, meditating. I try to sleep but feel restless, so I walk to the back of the hut and look at Ava’s bookshelves. She owns volume upon volume of magickal texts. Histories, theories and practical works. I take down the one called The Essence of the Elements and return to the fire.

  When I open the book, a map falls out from between the pages. It is hand drawn on thin leathery paper that might be an animal skin. It depicts the mountains, with notes and remarks about the most accessible routes and the locations of plants and herbs. I pass it to Tsam, thinking perhaps he can find a quicker path to the foothills, and he spreads it out between himself and Alyssa.

  I am only a few paragraphs into my book when Ava returns. She is bouncy and grinning. “We had a wonderful time. Garrett is very good at climbing.” Then, her face freezes. She is looking at the map on the floor, and the book in my hands.

  “You took my things,” she says quietly.

  I close the book. “I’m sorry, Ava. I should have asked.” I hold it out to her. “Here, I’m finished with it.”

  Ava doesn’t take the book. She is trembling. “What else did you take?” she asks, hurrying to the bookshelves.

  I glance at Garrett but he shrugs and shakes his head so I walk over to her. “Ava, I promise. It was just this one…”

  She whirls around and grabs my hand, the one holding the book. Her touch is hot and, even through her gloves, I can feel her skin fizzing. Her eyes flash at me and she tightens her grip. But then, as quickly as it appeared, her anger is gone and she is small again, delicate. She lets go of my hand and hugs me, patting my hair. “You’re my sister, Émi. You can borrow anything you like. I’m sorry I was unkind. Sisters share things but I’ve never had one before and I’m not used to sharing.”

  I hug her back and tell her it’s alright, I don’t mind. But when I return to the fire, I exchange a look with Tsam: I told you. Something isn’t right.

  Ava doesn’t seem to notice that the mood has changed. Garrett is the only one still managing to be friendly, listening as she says how wonderful it is to have people to talk to.

  “It really is lovely to have guests,” she says. “My friends want to invite you for dinner tonight, in the village.”

  I was hoping to simply go to sleep, wake early and get off this mountain as soon as possible but it doesn’t look as though we have a choice. When the sun goes down, we wrap ourselves in our cloaks and boots and follow Ava outside.

  A faint mist has descended over the mountainside and it clings to the rocks and to my skin. Dinner takes place outside, in a small stone circle behind the hut of the old man with the grey beard. In the centre of the circle, a dead goat lies stripped of its hide. It has been butchered, and beside it a bloody knife lies on a rock. A handful of villagers, twenty at the most, sit beside one another. There is a fire, but it is small and produces little warmth. The goat’s meat sizzles on a grill.

  Ava gestures for us to sit down and when the meat is cooked through, chunks are passed around the group by a short woman with black teeth and long white hair.

  Kole declines. He bows his head and puts his hands together, respectfully. “No, thank you. I do not eat meat.”

  The woman holding the platter frowns and shoves the meat at him, jabbing a finger at the food and then at Kole’s mouth. Once again, he says, “No, thank you,” and she moves on, shaking her head.

  While we eat, the mist bites down harder on the mountainside. The Watchers hug their wings closer to their shoulders to draw in some warmth but Kole and I have no protection other than our cloaks and we’re beginning to shiver. The woman with black teeth joins the circle to enjoy her share of the goat, when Ava scurries over to me.

  “They’re going to perform, in your honour,” she whispers, excitement dancing across her face. She doesn’t give me a chance to respond, but hurries to a nearby hut and returns with a pile of thick furry blankets, which she hands out, one between two, around the circle.

  Kole and I have to share. “What are they performing?” he whispers, leaning so close that I can feel his breath on my ice-cold earlobe.

  I shake my head. “I don’t know.”

  The performance is a silent dance. At first, it is comical – plodding and squatting, and not particularly rhythmic. But the more they move, the more entranced I become. When they finish, I almost clap and then stop myself, bowing my head and smiling instead. They don’t smile, just nod at us and then quickly file back to their homes.

  There is no moon here, no lanterns or torches to light our path, so we stay close to Ava and stumble our way back to her hut. Tsam tells Ava we will leave at sunrise, then we arrange ourselves into rows at the back of the hut for a few hours’ sleep.

  Kole says he will take the first watch. Last night, Ava persuaded us there was no need, the colony being so isolated. But tonight Kole insists, I suspect so that he can ensure we don’t oversleep, and I agree to watch with him. It is too cold to stand guard outside, so we take a rug and a blanket and huddle by the doorway. Ava sleeps facing the wall so I can’t tell whether she is awake or not.

  “What do you think of her?” I ask K
ole, as quietly as possible.

  He shifts and stretches out his legs, rubbing his calf.

  “She seems very…” he searches for the right word, “child-like. She clearly understands why we’re here, but I’m not sure she appreciates the magnitude of it all.”

  For a man of few words, Kole has phrased exactly what I was thinking. I pick at a splinter in the floorboard beneath my thigh and I’m about to say that maybe she will be different away from here, when a flash of jumbled thoughts that aren’t mine cloud my vision.

  Trust – don’t trust – Mahg – father – lonely – so lonely – friends – happy – sister – mine.

  I shudder and Kole nudges me. “Émi?”

  I’m seeing Ava’s thoughts. They’re here in my head, but I can’t bring myself to share them with him. Instead, I tell him I’m feeling sleepy and wake Tsam to take my shift. Kole looks over at Ava, as though he senses something, but greets Tsam with a silent nod when he takes my place.

  I want to sleep but the words haunt me, repeating themselves over and over on a loop until I begin to wonder whether they really were Ava’s… or mine.

  Nineteen

  The following morning, I feel more stiff and achey than I did the night before but Ava looks as though she has been awake for hours. Alyssa – who took the final watch – confirms that Ava woke before sunrise and has been pottering about ever since, filling a backpack with clothing, books and trinkets.

  “She’s packing,” says Alyssa, with a raised eyebrow.

  Tsam sighs and ruffles his feathers. “Let her bring it,” he says. “But if she can’t manage the weight of it once we get going, she’ll have to ditch it.”

  We waste no time wrapping ourselves up in our travelling clothes and we are at the door, ready to leave, when Ava rushes back inside. She returns with The Essence of the Elements and tells me she would like me to keep it. I thank her, flipping through the pages for the map of the mountains, but it’s no longer there. Tsam doesn’t have it either, so he and Alyssa have to try and conjure the route they planned from memory.

  Leaving the village, light bounces off the snow. Although the ground is still frozen, sunlight warms my face. The sky is clear and blue, allowing us to make the most of the calm and move as quickly as we can.

  We have stopped for some water, when Ava says to Kole, “Do you have an elephant?”

  He blinks at her. “Maya is not mine. We are each other’s.”

  “Maya’s a pretty name. Do you ride her? I’d like to ride an elephant… I’ve never seen one. Only pictures in my books.”

  Kole stiffens. “The elephants allow us to ride them in battle. Only in battle.”

  “Do you think she’d let me—”

  “No.”

  “That’s a shame,” she says, shrugging.

  While the rest of us find Ava’s childishness unnerving, Garrett is drawn to her. He walks by her side and helps her over rocks, even though she doesn’t need assistance. He chatters to her about life in Abilene, telling her about the things we will show her when we return and answering her questions. And all the while, Ava’s eyes sparkle.

  We walk as close to sundown as we dare, then find an enclave to shelter in. I am using the last inches of daylight to finish a sketch, when Ava sees what I’m doing.

  “Oh,” she breathes, “you draw beautiful pictures.”

  She takes the sketchbook from me, without asking, and starts to leaf through it. I tell myself not to be annoyed. After all, I took one of her books without permission. I try to be flattered by her interest. She flips from back to front, so it is a while before she comes across the drawings of my second night in Abilene, when I saw her in the mist.

  Ava runs her fingertips over the sketch. “Is that me?”

  “Yes,” I tell her. “I dreamed about you before, too. Back when I lived in Nhatu. I didn’t know about you then. But I saw you.”

  Ava’s face creases. “Why didn’t you know about me?”

  I glance at Tsam then back at my sister. “Ava, I thought Søyen told you that I was hidden in Nhatu. So Mahg couldn’t find me?”

  She frowns at me, as if she has no recollection of ever knowing this, but then she nods hurriedly. “Oh yes, of course. Yes, I remember.”

  “I didn’t know who I was until Tsam came to fetch me. Just over a week ago.”

  Ava takes my hand and squeezes it. “But it’s alright, Émi. You know now. And they’ll never part us again. Ever.”

  That night, I dream. Not pictures, nothing solid or fully formed. Just shapes, darkness and words. On waking, dread throbs in my stomach. Dread that solidifies every time I look at Ava. I tell myself I’m being ridiculous, that I’m just struggling to accept she’s different from me. But I’m not sure I believe it.

  It has snowed overnight, and when we emerge from our hiding spot Ava claps her hands.

  “Fresh snow!” she cries.

  I catch Alyssa rolling her eyes and muttering, “Yes, because she’s never seen snow before.”

  “Émi, Émi,” says Ava, swirling round. “Can I show you a game?”

  I adjust my pack on my shoulder and say, “Not really Ava, we need to—”

  “It will only take one minute.” Her eyes beg. “I promise.”

  I shrug at the others, and rest my pack on the ground. Ava puts hers beside mine and pulls me to her, then tells me to lie down. When I hesitate, she laughs.

  “Go on…” she says, tugging me down.

  I lie down. She lies beside me, but leaves a large space between us and stretches out her arms. I do the same. “Like this,” she says, moving her arms up and down in the snow. I copy her and, when we stand, she hugs me to her side and says, “See? We made Watchers, from the snow!”

  She’s right, our bodies and arms have carved Watcher-shaped silhouettes.

  “You know what would be fun?” Ava says, to Garrett. “If you do it, too! Then it will be really a Watcher!”

  “I’m sorry,” Kole interrupts. “Enough, now. We need to go.”

  Ava’s smile hardens. “Okay,” she mutters, making a scene of struggling with her pack. Garrett helps her, telling her it’s a bit too heavy for such a trek. She blinks back at him. “I know, I was silly bringing so much. Maybe, would you…?”

  Garrett blushes, then fumbles with the pack, trying to figure out how to carry two at once. “Of course, I’ll take it for a bit.”

  Alyssa loses her temper. “No. Absolutely not. This is ridiculous.” She snatches Ava’s pack. “Garrett has his own things to carry. If you can’t manage it, you’ll have to take some things out.”

  Ava pouts. “But I can’t. I need them.”

  “Right then,” says Alyssa, marching towards the edge of the rock face. “Your choice.” And she throws Ava’s pack over the edge.

  Ava cries out and rushes over. “No, no, no, no.” She is crying. Her pack is gone.

  Garrett rushes to Ava to try and calm her, but she pushes him off and rounds on Alyssa. “My things!”

  Ava’s eyes are full of fury. She is shaking. Then, she screams. She holds her hands out and, for the first time, I realise how terrified the Cadets must have been when they saw me attack Falk. Sparks stream from her fingers, forming a fireball, bigger and brighter than anything I could conjure. Tsam pulls Alyssa back and I start to reach for Ava but she raises the fireball in the air, aiming it at Alyssa.

  Garrett and I shout, “Ava, no!”

  At the last moment, she swivels round and hurls it at the mountainside. It speeds through the air, burning orange, until we can’t see it any more. I release my breath, but I’m shaking. Then I see Tsam’s face drain of colour.

  “We have to fly,” he whispers.

  Alyssa says, “We can’t, Tsam. The air’s too thin…”

  But he’s not listening. He points. “We have to fly.”

  Alyssa’s hand flies to her mouth. And then I hear it. The distant rumbling.

  An avalanche.

  We can’t move quickly enough. Tsam shouts at
us all to leave our packs, then tells Alyssa to take me. He wraps his arms around Kole’s waist.

  “I’m too heavy,” protests Kole but Tsam shakes his head and braces himself to fly.

  Ava is still trembling, her limbs stiff, her lips thin and pinched. Garrett gently tells her he’s going to fly her to safety and she lets him take hold of her but she’s rigid and uncooperative.

  The snow is hurtling towards us, like a violent, fast-moving cloud. Tsam manages to take flight but he’s struggling to hold on to Kole, who is bigger and heavier than he is. Gripping me tightly, Alyssa propels us up beside them. The avalanche is almost on us, but Garrett is struggling with Ava’s dead weight. Just seconds before the thundering carpet of snow hits, he gives a final heave and launches himself into the air.

  We are safe, but the force of the avalanche rips through the atmosphere and throws us off balance. The Watchers tumble into one another. They beat their wings ferociously, trying to right themselves, but Tsam cries out and starts falling.

  As he hurtles towards the ground, he loses his grip on Kole. The two of them tumble, and fall, and hit the snow with such force they are propelled down the mountain. They are on top of it, and beneath it, and on top of it again, faster and faster, as they travel further and further away from us. I am screaming, Alyssa is holding on to me, flying after them, I can’t see Garrett and Ava.

  We land awkwardly at the bottom of a ravine and Alyssa releases me. The avalanche has come to a halt, but we can’t see Tsam and Kole. I am frantic, my heart is pounding.

  Alyssa is trying not to cry, muttering to herself, “Where are they? Where are they?”

  When Garrett and Ava lands behind us, I think Alyssa is going to grab Ava and throttle her. But she doesn’t – she runs to her brother and lets him embrace her.

  “It’s alright, Lyss,” I hear him whisper.