by BC Powell
“It’s what we have to do right now,” she says, staring up at the Swirls.
I pull my hand away from her and lay it on Aven. “I really appreciate all that you’re doing. I hope you know that.”
“I do,” she replies, turning her head to look at me. “But we have to find her soon. The longer she’s in the Barrens, the less likely it is we’ll ever see her again.” She returns her eyes to the ceiling. “Peace.”
After the light of the Swirls fades away, Sash almost immediately falls asleep. Despite how late it is and the two long days of searching the Barrens, I lie in the dark with my eyes open. Guilt-ridden thoughts rattle inside my brain, all of them beginning with the same two words.
What if.
Chapter 30
When Aven wakes up the next morrow, she’s so excited to see Sash and me that she starts jumping up and down on our bed. We apologize for being away so much and try to explain the importance of what we’re doing. Although her first reaction is to pout, her eyes soon glass over and she looks away from us. As though she’s listening to someone in the distance, she cocks her head to the side. Her behavior is almost identical to how she acted in the meadow in front of Home after I returned from being trapped in the Barrens.
“Find Tela,” she murmurs to the air.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” I say.
Her sparkling blue eyes return to me. “I help,” she says loudly.
“You are helping,” I reply. “If you understand why Mommy and Daddy are gone so much, it will be a huge help to us.”
She presses her hands to my cheeks and smiles at me with the faint, knowing smile that I’ve seen so often from her before. It’s as though she knows something important, but can’t—or won’t—tell me what it is.
While we all have our sap, Sash and I take a little time to play a game with Aven. When we’re almost ready to leave our habitat for the morrow, Eval unexpectedly summons Sash and me to a meeting at Sanctuary. We drop Aven off at Home and soar across the red countryside to the Tree of Vision. With both of us now traveling at Sash’s usual speed, we reach the meadow in the blink of an eye.
Eval, Tork, Marc, and Larn are waiting for us when we arrive. Although I’m not sure why she’s there, Maya is also with the group. Standing by Marc’s side, she stares straight down at the grass between her feet and doesn’t look up at Sash and me.
“Greetings,” Eval says. “I asked you to join us so that we can discuss the search for Tela.”
“We covered a lot of ground yesterday . . . the prior morrow,” I reply.
“That’s encouraging. But you can’t do this every morrow.”
Wanting to get Larn on my side for this debate, I turn to him. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but Kale is good enough at traveling now that he can help pick up my load.”
Instead of answering me, Larn looks at Eval. Tightening my jaw muscles in preparation for her response, I return my attention to her as well.
“You aren’t the issue,” Eval says. “Sash isn’t the issue. As we learned while she was with child, the other Hunters can make up for her missing Darkness from time to time. Maya is our concern.”
Maya pops her head up for the first time. “I want to help!”
“And the Pool showed me Maya,” I add.
“We all know that,” Marc interrupts before Eval can say anything else. “But what you’re doing is far too strenuous for her. I could barely wake her up this morrow. Although she’s maturing, she’s still a child. The long morrows in the Barrens are exhausting her.”
“But I want to help,” Maya pleads.
I examine Maya’s face and immediately notice the dark bags under her eyes. Her waist-length hair is stringy, messy, and grimy with dust from the Barrens. I have to admit to myself that no matter how desperately I want to find Tela, it’s not worth the toll it could take on Maya.
“I’ll search on my own,” I say.
“No!” Maya shouts. “The Pool showed me to you for a reason.”
“Marc is right,” I reply to her. “The Barrens is no place for you.”
Maya looks at Eval again. “When I was still very small, not much older than Aven is now, I used to get scared if Darkness came during sleep time. I’d curl up in a ball on my bed.
“I knew the Keepers would protect me, but I was still frightened. Even though Marc would keep watch from the tunnel near my room, I hated being alone. Sash used to come to my room and sit with me until Darkness passed, but then she moved to a habitat of her own when she ended her Apprenticeship.
“During the first Darkness after Sash left, Tela heard me crying. She came to my bed and sat beside me. From then on, every time Darkness woke us, she would come to my side. By the time she became an Apprentice, I wasn’t scared of Darkness anymore. It’s my turn to help her now.”
“You’re a brave girl,” Eval says. “We’re not proposing that you give up the search, but you can’t go out every morrow. Marc has suggested every third morrow. That gives you time to rest and also stay current on your education.”
Maya fervently nods her head. “I’ll do that. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Your courage and dedication are well beyond your height,” Eval says to Maya and then looks at me again. “You and Sash can perform your duties as needed on the morrows Maya isn’t available.”
Tork has been silently standing by Eval’s side the entire time. After taking a step forward, he focuses his eyes directly on me.
“Tela has fallen to the wild sap,” he remarks in a bitter tone. “There’s almost no chance of finding her. She’s part of the Barrens now.”
“It’s not her fault,” I argue. “She didn’t make the choice to drink wild sap. It was the only way I could think of to save her life. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
“But even if you find her,” he counters, “no one knows if she can be restored to a person of value to the Delta.”
“We’ll take it one step at a time,” I say. “The first step is to find her. Then we’ll figure out how to fix her.”
“She may not want to be fixed,” he tells me.
“Then why would the Pool show me Maya?”
When Tork doesn’t answer, Eval intercedes. “I understand your loyalty to Tela. No one wants to lose her or anyone else to the Barrens. But what was the exact question you asked the Pool?”
“I asked if there’s a way to find Tela,” I answer. “The Pool showed me Maya.”
“Unfortunately,” Eval says, “I doubt that even the Reflecting Pool can answer the more important question you didn’t ask.”
“What’s that?”
She folds her hands in front of her. “Will you find Tela?”
* * *
With a sidearm throw, I launch a small stone down a rocky slope. As it skips across the ground, several dull clacks reverberate up the side of the hill. I look down to see if I disturbed Maya, but she doesn’t seem to be aware of anything going on around her. Lost in deep concentration, she’s sitting perfectly still with her feet tucked underneath her and both hands resting on the dirt.
Morrows have turned into what I think of as weeks, and weeks into a couple of months. I’ve kept track of the areas we’ve searched by shading them in on my map of Krymzyn. We’ve covered everything within two thousand miles of the Expanse between the Bridge of Harmony and the southwest corner of the Barrens, about one-eighth of the total space we need to search. We recently turned the southwest corner and began working our way to the east. The process has been moving slower than we first anticipated since we only have Maya every third morrow.
On roughly half the morrows that we couldn’t take Maya out, Sash and I have searched random parts of the Barrens on our own. Proving again that he wants to help in any way he can, Larn has been willing to have Kale take over my traveling duties on those morrows. Since Sash can get sap from twice as many trees as any other Hunter during Darkness, missing a few hasn’t made a difference in the supply. Although searching by eye is a much slower process
than when we have Maya with us, at least we feel like we’re accomplishing something.
Maya stands up from the ground. She looks at Sash and then at me.
“Nothing,” she says.
“Don’t be discouraged,” I reply despite the despondency I’ve felt for weeks. “This is just our first stop of the morrow. I have a good feeling about this morrow.”
“I’m glad one of us does,” she mumbles.
“What’s that pile of rocks over there with a branch sticking out it?” I ask Sash. “That’s the second time I’ve seen one of those.”
“A marker for a trading post,” she answers.
“What you mean?”
“Some of the Murkovin trade things with each other. Things stolen from raids on Travelers or things they make from wood or fabric. We don’t want to go near there. There might be nine or ten who run the post. I’m sure they’re watching us.”
“They actually make things for themselves?” I ask.
“Some do,” she answers. “Others just take what they want from the weak.”
“Survival of the fittest.”
“That’s life in the Barrens,” she says before abruptly changing the subject. “I don’t want to go to our next stop.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“I want to talk to the Aerodyne. Let’s go to the river.”
“That’s almost one hundred thousand miles from here,” I argue.
“If they’ve seen her,” she says, “that’s one hundred thousand miles we don’t have to search. They fly from the river to the outer ends of their domain along the southern barrier. If they haven’t seen anything, we only lose one morrow asking them.”
“Wouldn’t they have killed her if they saw her?”
“Not if she stayed off their land.”
“I guess it’s worth a try,” I say.
Sash glances up at the sky and then back at me. “Darkness is coming. We need to get out of this area.”
“Hop on,” I say to Maya, turning my back to her and crouching low to the ground.
In a routine we’re all too familiar with, she’s fastened in the traveling harness in a matter of seconds. As soon as her hands clasp across my chest, I charge down the side of the hill. I can’t get into my blend after only a few strides the way Sash can, but I don’t have any trouble staying neck and neck with her once we get going.
Before the first drops of rain plummet down, five hundred miles of gloomy wasteland is behind us. What I estimate to be forty thousand miles per hour isn’t an uncommon speed for us to reach during our treks through the Barrens. At times, I think we get closer to fifty. I base that estimate on how fast we can reach the edge of the Infinite Expanse if that’s where our starting point for the morrow is. But with the limited light of Darkness, twenty thousand is probably our top speed.
Anytime Darkness falls while we have Maya with us, we weave through open spaces in an unpredictable path. As Sash once told Larn, our speed is what keeps us safe in the realm of the Murkovin, so we never come to a standstill during Darkness. But instead of traveling in a circle around our next stop like we usually do while waiting for light to return, we blaze a path to the east.
By the time the rainfall ends and the murky light of the Barrens returns, we’re halfway along the southern barrier to the river. Once bright rays fill our vision again, we cover the next fifty thousand miles in a little over an hour. After I follow Sash over the top of a hill, we come to a stop in a wide-open space at the bottom.
No more than a mile to the south of us, fluctuating, semi-opaque colors tint an otherwise gray sky. Below the barrier to the Expanse, the upper ledge of a cliff extends to the west as far as I can see. Between us and the edge of the cliff, the ground is blanketed by tiny black crystalline rocks that look like they came from the black sand beaches of Hawaii.
Starting halfway between us and the edge of the cliff and spaced about a hundred yards apart, enormous, fern-like plants grow from the ground. The dark-purple plants are roughly three times my height and have leaves that are large enough to wrap around my body. Splattered on the leaves are bright yellow spores the size of peas. The roots of the ferns seem to be almost entirely above ground and extend across and rocky dirt like they’re the tendrils of an octopus in search of something. A thunderous whoosh of water resonates across the land all around us.
“What’s that sound?” I ask Sash.
“The Great Falls,” she answers. “We’re not far.”
After Maya climbs off my back, I look towards the east. Flashes of light reflect off the waves of the river in the distance. White foam sprays from the frothing water where the river spills over the side of the cliff.
The undulating colors of the barrier to the Expanse stop at the edge of the river closest to us and begin again on the other side. Through the mist-filled air above the Great Falls, seven spectacular rainbows arc high into the sky and curve out over the Expanse. The rainbows aren’t two-dimensional lines of refracted color like they are on Earth. These seem to have volume, as though each individual color is a chromatic spotlight that blends with the next.
“The rainbows are amazing!” Maya exclaims.
Sash turns her face to Maya. “I know it’s hard on you being out here, but at least you’re getting to see a lot of incredible things that many never get to see.”
“Is the entire width of the river the Gateway to the Expanse?” I ask Sash.
“The Falls are the Gateway,” she answers. “There’s no need for a barrier over them. The water drops over a mile with sharp rocks below. Not even a Serquatine would survive going over the waterfall. The only way through this Gateway is to fly on the back of an Aerodyne.”
“Is the Stone of Passage near here?” I ask.
Sash shakes her head. “There’s not one on this side of the river. I don’t want to waste time going all the way up to the Stone Crossing and then back down. I’ll try to summon an Aerodyne another way. Follow me and make sure not to step foot in their domain.”
“How do we know where their domain is?”
“Do you know what a geyser is?” she asks.
“Yeah, we have them on Earth.”
“Once you pass the first geyser, you’re in their domain. The ferns all grow close to geyser holes.”
“I’ve never seen an Aerodyne in person,” Maya says.
“They’re fascinating creatures,” Sash replies, “but dangerous. Walk slowly and stay behind me.”
As we walk to the south, a few hundred yards in front of us, a two-foot-wide geyser of water erupts at least fifty feet in the air. As the water falls back to the ground, the mist left around the top of the spout forms a winged creature that’s almost angelic in shape. Reflecting the colors of light from the barrier, the translucent figure slowly flaps its wings until it eventually evaporates.
Across the half-mile of land between the first fern and the edge of the cliff, several more geysers shoot upward. Each one of them creates a winged creature in flight that soon disappears. The geyser spouts bathe the ferns with water and soak the ground all around the gigantic plants.
“The spores on the leaves are full of nectar that the Aerodyne consume,” Sash tells us, coming to a halt about a hundred yards from the first geyser. “Never damage them.”
Maya and I stop behind Sash. Hoping to spot one of the Guardians, I survey the sky above us.
“Where are the Aerodyne now?” I ask.
“Somewhere in the sky,” she answers. “They fly through the clouds so as not be seen. I’ll see if I can get one to join us.” Sash looks at Maya. “Have you learned to throw a spear?”
“The Keepers and Watchers have taught us,” she answers.
“Let me show you how I throw,” Sash says. “It’s important to keep your body under control. Never throw too hard and let the spear follow the focus of your mind.”
Sash bounces her spear in the palm of her hand a few times before finding the balance she wants. With her hand at roughly the center of the shaft, s
he curls her fingers around the steel and aims her eyes at the geyser closest to us. One of the huge, purple ferns stands just a few feet past the hole in the ground. When the water erupts from the geyser, Sash rears back her spear. Taking one powerful step forward, she launches her weapon into the air with a graceful but strong throwing motion.
“Never hit a plant or tree that provides for us or others,” Sash says to us while her weapon is in flight. “Even the trees of the Barrens.”
Neither Maya nor I say anything while watching Sash’s spear soar across the sky. At the same time that the angelic shape above the geyser dissipates into the atmosphere, Sash’s spear impales the ground. The point punctures the dirt in a tiny space between the outer edge of the geyser and the tip of one of the fern’s roots. The vibrating steel shaft sticks almost straight up.
As Maya and I follow Sash towards the Aerodyne’s domain, the rocks under our feet shimmer like a field of black diamonds. When we reach the geyser, Sash stops in front of the hole in the ground. She motions with a hand for Maya and me to stay behind her. The tip of her spear perfectly split the middle of a six-inch open space between the hole in the ground and the root of the fern. Sash reaches out a hand, closes her fingers around the spear, but doesn’t pull it out of the dirt. We all look up at the sky.
No more than a spec at first, a winged being emerges from the clouds high above us. As it spirals downward in broad circles, I realize that the creature has the body of a man, including arms and hands. But extending out from the center of his back are two wings with a span of at least sixteen feet each. The wings are covered in snow-white feathers, except for a small row of jet-black ones that line the outer tips.
Still a half a mile above us, the Aerodyne suddenly ends his spiral and dives straight at Sash. The swish of air slicing over his wings pierces through the deafening sound of the Great Falls. When he’s about fifty feet over us, he vigorously flaps his wings to slow his speed. Moments later, he hammers to the ground a few feet in front of Sash. The terrain around us shakes with the force of a small earthquake.
