by Brondos, Pam
Her hands and arms burned from exertion. She pulled herself higher and higher into the sky, away from the dream. The vine shook violently, but Nat refused to look down. Pressing upward, she saw the distant outline of the border to her dream space. A hissing sounded beneath her, and she brought her heel down onto the face of the Nala before propelling herself over the ledge.
“Let us in—now!” Annin called. She and Soris hung from separate vines on the opposite side of Nat’s dream barrier. Soris kicked at the Nala springing up the vine.
“Come in!” Nat shouted and grabbed each of their hands. Soris and Annin leapt over the stone partition. Nat imagined the protective beams of light. The beams shot to the sky, and the three jumped away from the ledge to avoid having the hot lights sear their skin.
Nat relaxed her hold on Soris’ hand. He let go immediately and averted his eyes from hers. The light from the ledge cast odd shadows on his face. I’ve got to get through this, and then I’ll fix everything with him, she thought as she watched him scan her dream landscape.
Annin dusted off her tunic. “I hate climbing,” she grumbled.
“Sorry my subconscious wasn’t more accommodating.” Nat gave her a withering glare.
Annin shrugged. “I suppose it could have been worse. At least it wasn’t difficult getting Soris here. I thought it would be more of a challenge.” She focused on Soris. “Have you been here before?”
“Not here, no,” Soris said too quickly. “I saw a piece of one of her dreams after I was bitten, that’s it.” Now it was his turn to blush, and Nat gave Annin a confused look, wondering what had made Soris look so uncomfortable.
“Must just be that friendly connection between you two that made bringing him along so easy. Am I right?” Annin lifted her beautifully arched brows.
“How am I supposed find the Nala again, Annin?” Nat asked, wondering why she was teasing them. She had to know how angry Soris was with her. Just look at him, she thought. His once open face was set in a scowl, and dark circles shaded the skin under his eyes.
“Just like we discussed. Start with protection.” The humor faded from Annin’s expression.
A transparent column formed around the three of them. Nat stood on tiptoe and touched the smooth ceiling, checking its structure. She released her orb from the confines of her pocket.
“I still can’t believe you actually made one of those,” Annin said with a hint of envy.
“Barba made it,” Nat corrected. “I made it my own.” She held up her hand and the ball spun around her fingers.
“Can we get on with this?” Soris asked.
“Look who’s in a rush,” Annin quipped. “You of all people should enjoy what time you have here.” His cheeks flamed again.
Annin’s Nala eye contracted and she focused intently on Nat. “Can you feel the Nala out there?” she asked her as she gestured to the dream landscape.
“I feel something. Like something’s pulling on my shoulder.” She gently rubbed her wound and peered through the column, past the beams of light shining along the ledge.
“I can feel it, too.” Soris joined her and looked as if he saw something in the distance. “Be careful, Natalie,” he whispered. She pressed her fingertips against the column and focused her eyes in the direction Soris was looking. Her other hand brushed his, and she felt his fingers twitch.
“Allow it in and use your dream space abilities to force yourself into its thoughts immediately. You have to visualize what you want and keep control, or you risk letting it into your own thoughts,” Annin said, grabbing Nat’s hand.
A single Nala materialized on the opposite side of the ledge. Nat took a sharp breath when she saw the gaping wound in its abdomen. Steeling herself, she let her barrier lights dip.
“Come in.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
The Nala flew over the ledge and slammed into their invisible protective cage with enough force that it shook with the impact. Nat gasped and fell against Soris as a fiery sensation spread through her shoulder.
“Soris, take her hand! Help her keep control!” Annin ordered above Nat’s frantic breaths. The Nala paced around the exterior of the column, poking and probing for a weak spot. Soris, eyes full of pain, clutched his arms across his chest.
“Soris!” Annin yanked at his arm. “Take her hand now!”
Soris shook his head as if trying to wake himself. He pried Nat’s hand from her side and squeezed her fingers. Nat slowed her breathing.
“Control it, Nat.” Annin’s voice was barely a whisper. “Remember what you can do in this space. Make it reveal itself to you.”
Nat glanced at Soris. His face was contorted, but he managed a nod, encouraging her. She held tightly to both Soris’ and Annin’s hands and looked directly at the Nala and imagined peering into its thoughts. The creature ceased pacing and opened its wide glistening mouth.
Darkness descended over the dream space. Nat felt Soris and Annin slip away. Huge waves tossed her about, lifting her up into their violent foamy crests before dragging her down again. Black rock loomed in front of her, and a wave spit her onto a narrow, rocky ledge high above the ocean. Below her, the waves swirled and beat against the jagged rock cliff. Rock formations, erupting through the surface of the ocean, rose higher and higher into the dark-blue sky. She placed her hand against the stone to steady herself. The eruptions stopped, and sharp pinnacles now formed a barrier around the cliff.
Nat turned away from the ocean and faced a dark opening in the cliff face. Water droplets fell from the ceiling, trickling down the back of her neck when she entered the dim cave. She stepped carefully to avoid falling onto the craggy, razorlike rocks bordering a worn path. A blue light deep in the cave pulled her farther and farther in, until she reached an expansive cavern with a peculiar pool set in the center. She stared at the pool, riveted by a white flash under the smooth surface of the water. The sound of dripping water echoed around her.
She turned in a circle, scanning the high cavern walls. Little pockets of blue light emanated from them. A single light, halfway up one wall, shone with a bright, beckoning hue. She found the base of a narrow trail chiseled into the rock and set out for the light. The trail wound around the cavern, leading her upward, past narrow openings. She peered into a few of the dark gaps, but a sensation pulled her onward toward the special light.
When she reached the source of the light, she found an entrance similar to the dozens she’d passed. A wave of cold air washed over her when she ducked into a passage leading to a small chamber. Someone or something had chiseled a bench into the wall on the opposite side of the chamber. The body of the Nala Nat had killed on the riverbank was lying on the bench.
She approached cautiously from the side, pulling her dagger free from her belt. Her heart pounded as she held her dagger above the inert Nala. Sweat trickled from her forehead down her cheek and landed on the Nala’s smooth head. Its eyes flew open. One silver eye and one with familiar green and brown flecks stared at her. The Nala’s face transformed, taking on Soris’ features. Her dagger clattered to the floor.
“Break from its thoughts, Natalie! Remove it from your dream space!” Annin’s urgent command echoed in the chamber. The chamber grew blurry and Nat found herself in total darkness. She clenched her jaw and thought of the crashing waves barreling against the cliff. A wave bursting with blue light formed in front of her. The Nala tumbled from the crest of the wave onto another wave Nat imagined in her mind. Water poured over Nat as she ran next to the wave, propelling it along until it crashed into the ledge of her dream space. The Nala disappeared the moment it passed over the barrier on the crest of the wave. Her protective lights shot up. Silence replaced the roar of the water. She stumbled from the ledge into the emptiness of her dream space, realizing she was completely alone.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Sun burst through the window of her room. Nat opened her eyes. The cheerful light did nothing to erase the dark images from her mind. Annin barged in and set a steaming mug
on the table.
“Compliments of Ethet. Drink up, we’re leaving shortly.”
Nat sat up, rubbing her eyes. The tea tasted like algae mixed with soy sauce. She forced a few gulps before standing and stumbling toward her clothes hanging from a hook behind the door.
“How much of the Nala’s thoughts and my thoughts did you see in my dream space?” Nat asked warily as she pulled on her boots.
“Enough.” Dark circles hung under Annin’s eyes, and Nat wondered how much sleep she’d had after she’d left Nat’s dream space.
“What about Soris?” Her fingers caught in the leather laces, and she silently hoped Soris hadn’t seen the Nala when it had opened its eyes.
“You’ll need to ask him. He wasn’t too communicative when we broke the connection to your dream space.”
Nat’s heart sank. Annin tossed her a leather bag. She caught it with one hand and swung the straps over her good shoulder. She grabbed her orb and tucked it into the inner pocket of her cloak.
Annin led Nat down the hall to a set of thick wooden doors emblazoned with the emblem of the sun. When she pushed them open, the hallway flooded with light. Even at this early hour, dozens of people, young and old, tended the gardens that grew just beyond the door. The looming fortlike walls cast geometric-shaped shadows over the gardens. Nat followed Annin down a twisting stone path that bisected the rows of plants. A woman with brown plaited hair looked up from a mound of slender-leaved stalks and watched them pass. Annin gave her a curt nod. The woman’s hand holding the harvested stalks formed a perfect tapered tip. Nat quickened her pace.
“Does she make you nervous?” Annin asked, hopping over a stray rake.
“No, just mad.”
“Good, you’ll need that anger where we’re going.”
“Have you ever seen the cavern from my dream before?”
“No. But based on the pinnacles in the sea, we know where it is. Two days’ journey from here will get us to the coast . . . That is, if you don’t slow us down.” She nodded respectfully to a pair of Sisters conversing with a duozi boy whose only Nala feature was the bluish tint of his skin.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” Nat said. “My leg is good. Whatever Ethet and Ethes did worked. Soris is kind of slow, though, he couldn’t keep up with me when I was here before.”
Annin laughed.
“What’s so funny?” They passed under an open-air walkway. Stone replaced the wood, and worn carvings covered a section of half walls. Nat ran her fingers over a frieze of flowers. She recognized the flower with the small petals. They were the same ones in the meadow near Benedict’s house and the field where she’d hit her head days before.
“Soris!” Annin beckoned him as he and Ethet emerged from behind a stone pillar. Soris and Ethet joined them. “Nat’s worried you might not be able to keep pace with us.”
“I’ll do my best not to slow you down, Sister,” he said as he adjusted the strap of a satchel over his shoulder. Nat mouthed a sarcastic “thanks” to Annin.
“All of you must travel swiftly.” Ethet gave each of them a stern look. “Once you emerge from the safety of the meadow, you’ll be in Nala territory. You have the map in your head, Soris, correct?”
“Head Sister Ethes gave it to me this morning,” Soris answered.
“Good.” Ethet nodded. “Traveling through the Meldon Plain is the most secure route. The Nala won’t venture anywhere near the flowers. You must rest before you leave the plain and enter into the southern tip of the forest for the coast.” She looked at each of them in turn, letting the admonition settle in. “You’ll have no safe place to stop once you enter the forest. If the Nala are bringing duozi into the woods like Natalie said, they will have sentinels looking for escapees. You’ll travel north once you reach the coast. I know the route adds more time to the journey, but I believe you’ll sense the Nala better in the open area near the sea.”
“Sense them, Sister?” Nat asked.
“Soris and Annin can tell if Nala are near,” Ethet explained. “Stay close to them, Natalie. Once you arrive at the cliff opening, it will be you who must lead them. Based on what Annin told me, you controlled your dream space and the Nala despite the remnant in you. Soris, like so many other duozi infused with remnant, would never be able to control a Nala without assistance if it entered his dream space.” Nat looked past Ethet toward Soris. His jaw tightened. “Your success in your dream space suggests that you will be able to maintain control of your thoughts when you do encounter the Nala.”
“I won’t let the Nala control me, either, Sister.” Soris interrupted Ethet before she could continue.
She folded her hands together and shook her head. “With more time, training, and treatment, possibly, Soris. But right now, I can’t be certain you will be able to maintain yourself once in the cavern. Rely on Sister Natalie and Annin if you feel yourself fading.” Ethet handed Annin three vials of yellow liquid. “Pure meldon-flower extract. Drink it before entering the cavern. It offers some, though not complete, protection against the effects of the Nala venom.” Without comment, Annin tucked them into a pocket in her tunic and buttoned the pocket closed.
Ethet placed a sheathed sword in Nat’s hands. “Natalie, this sword is very old, designed by the first Warrior Sisters. They used it for the efficient beheading of the Nala. It was among a collection of items Ethes saved from one of the Warrior Houses.” Nat removed the sword from its sheath. Sunlight glinted off the sharp blade. A delicate vine-and-spear pattern was engraved above the fine edge. “If the Nala see it, their response will be . . . aggressive.”
“They’re always aggressive, Sister.” Nat gently touched her thumb to the blade. A drop of blood welled into her fingernail.
Ethet watched Nat sheath the sword. She gestured toward two Sisters guarding a stone stairway extending up the exterior wall of the House. The Sisters stepped away from the stairs, and Soris flew up the steps before Nat had her foot on the first step. His Nala eye glimmered in the sunlight when he looked down at her.
“What are you waiting for, Sister?” he called from above, a smirk on his face.
“That was fast,” she admitted. What else has changed about him? she wondered and proceeded up the steps. She glanced down. Annin tucked an orange vial into her cloak and nodded at Sister Ethet as if in agreement. She then pulled the hood of her cloak over her thick hair and ran up the stairs.
“Annin!” Ethet called from below. “Did you reach Estos?”
“No, the trip to Nat’s dream space took too much time. I’ll try before we enter the forest.”
“Don’t. It’s too dangerous from this distance. You may end up in someone else’s dream space.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem, Sister. He’s an easy mark for me,” Annin said confidently.
They reached the narrow ledge of the stone wall and made their way down a series of steps and walkways that spanned the exterior of the House. At the base of the steps, a single Sister guarded a wooden door that rose high above her head. She unlatched a series of locks and opened the door onto a blazing yellow meadow, and Annin, Soris, and Nat left the safety of the Healing House behind them.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
After running at a slow jog for several minutes, Nat glanced over her shoulder and took in the sprawling Healing House. From a distance, it looked like an old Western fort. She wondered why the Nala left the House alone, and why Mudug’s men hadn’t yet learned of its location.
She stooped to pick one of the tiny yellow meldon flowers that made up the pale carpet covering the undulating meadow. The bowl shape of the small flower consisted of five delicate petals. Multiple stamens made up a fuzzy, circular interior. The flower looked familiar to Nat, as if she’d seen it in her world.
“Nat!” Annin waved to her. She and Soris were already well in front, standing on a low rise. Nat pocketed the flower and hurried to catch up. Despite the bump to her head, gash on her leg, and shoulder wound, she felt good. Ethet’s rancid te
as and poultices had served their purpose.
“She’s slower than a turtle,” Annin said when Nat reached the pair and matched their pace.
“No, she’s slower than that. Plenty of time to turn back and go home, Sister. Annin and I don’t need you,” Soris said with his face turned aside. He continued to jog. She glanced at his profile, then skipped ahead and got a glimpse of his face. His green eye flashed and his Nala eye looked foreign and cold.
Her heart ached. She missed the open way he used to speak to her, the smile that never seemed far from his lips, his optimism even during the darkest moments when he’d been in excruciating pain from the porc needles Benedict had stabbed into his hand. Now, the negative emotions rolling off him left her feeling like she’d never known him.
“You never complained about me being slow before,” she said quietly, thinking about all the times she’d purposely slowed her pace to let Soris catch up.
He stopped. “I don’t make a habit of criticizing Sisters, so I didn’t want to make you feel bad.” His eyes flickered over her as if she weren’t worth more than a glance.
“Really?” She tossed her satchel on the ground. “Let’s race and see who feels bad.” If she had to prove to him that she was up to the task, so be it.
“You’re injured. I’m not racing you,” he said dismissively, but the arrogant look on his face that reminded her of his brother Andris disappeared.
“I’m just fine. To that ring of boulders.” She gestured to a curve of rock in the distance and took off through the field. She hit her stride and glanced back. Seeing his pinched lips and narrowed eyes a few paces behind, she picked up the pace. Her fear and uncertainty served as fuel, and she sprinted ahead.
“Stop, Natalie! Your leg’s bleeding.” He raced up from behind. His voice rang with impatience, as if he were speaking to a misbehaving child.
She ignored him and pressed on toward the boulders. A warm, wet sensation spread down her calf. Within arm’s reach of the boulder, she caught her foot on a ragged stone and sprawled to the side, barely missing cracking her head against the rock.
