The Sorrow of the Waters (Kalika Magic Book 3)

by Karen Hughes

  There was movement behind them, a clamouring from the young children in the corner of the hut. One of the little girls was crying.

  ‘We told him not to go,’ she wailed, twisting her hair between her fingers.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ said Kai. ‘Told who not to go?’

  ‘Sami,’ she said, between sobs.

  Mari had climbed to her feet and was moving painfully towards the doorway.

  ‘Sami,’ she whispered, her voice hoarse and filled with fear. ‘Sami. No …’

  Kai and Indie were already out the door, with Jabar and Nima close behind. They ran through the trees, stumbling on the rough ground, racing to get to the shadow figures they could see beside the stream. As they drew closer, they could see that one of the figures was a large woman with a yellow scarf and gold hoop earrings. She had her arms around Sami, and the boy had a look of such pain, such horror on his face, that the others stopped and stared.

  Except for Nima. She ran forward, waving her arms. ‘No, Sami!’ she cried. ‘Not like this.’

  But it was too late. Sami’s eyes closed, his breathing grew slow and deep, and he slipped to the ground. The shadow creatures with their silver insect cloaks disappeared back into the stream.

  By the time Nima reached him, Sami had sunk into a troubled sleep. Expressions of terror and sadness flitted across his face. His eyelids twitched and he moved his head and moaned; but no matter what they tried, they couldn’t wake him.

  Mari screamed when she saw her brother. Her eyes filled with tears. For a long time she sat beside him, her arms wrapped around her chest, her body shaking with sobs. Then she turned to the others.

  ‘I have to show you something,’ she whispered.

  Jabar gathered Sami in his arms, and they all followed Mari away from the stream to a rocky place where the hill rose up from the grasslands. In the midst of a pile of boulders there was an opening. It led into a cave. Inside the cave it was warm and dry, and when Indie's eyes adjusted to the dim light she could see three small children lying on the sand, fast asleep.

  ‘How long have they been here?’ she whispered.

  ‘Nearly a week,’ said Mari. ‘It happened the first night we were on the island. We’ve tried everything, but we can’t wake them.’ She was flinching as she spoke, rubbing at the blisters on her arms.

  ‘Why did you bring them here?’ asked Kai. ‘Why didn’t you keep them at the hut?’

  Mari took a deep breath, as though it hurt her to speak. ‘We had to,’ she whispered. ‘They toss and turn, and moan and cry in their sleep. Anyone who touches them gets blisters.’ She held out her arms. The blisters were raised and surrounded by angry red marks.

  ‘I’m going back to the water,’ said Nima.

  She watched as Jabar laid Sami down beside the other children. He bit his lip and cursed with pain as he put the little boy down. When he straightened up, Indie could see the purple marks on his arms where he had touched the boy.

  Nima saw them too. ‘I need to go back now,’ she said. ‘I need to make this stop.’

  Nima didn’t tell them what she really wanted. She didn’t understand it herself. She had seen the creature that looked like her mother, and something had stirred inside her. It wasn’t too late. Her mother looked so much like Queen Tala. Maybe her mother could love her like Tala loved Kai and Indie. Maybe all the things her mother had done were simply because of the magic.

  Her father, the shaman, had told her that people never think they are bad. Not really. They always have a reason for the things they do, even if others don’t like that reason or don’t understand it.

  Sofia was jealous of Queen Tala and angry at the king when she used the berries to poison baby Kai. She was convinced she was doing the right thing for Gort when she attacked the Kalika people and burned the forest. And she must have been furious with her general, Tenzel, when she turned him into a worm and crushed him beneath the heel of her shoe. All of these things seemed terrible to Nima, but Sofia was still her mother.

  She must love me, Nima thought. That’s what mothers do.

  So, it wasn’t a choice for her. She had to find her way off the island. She had to put things right so that there would be some hope for her mother. She had to stop this before it was too late.

  Kai and Jabar said nothing that night as Nima walked through the doorway and out to the stream. They didn’t look happy, but they stepped aside and let her pass. Indie followed at a distance, her stomach clenched in a knot. She couldn't believe they were just going to let this happen. Nima would be left in a deep tormented sleep, like Sami and the others, and no one would ever get off the island.

  As they approached the stream, the figures rose out of the water. But tonight it was different. They did not wear their cloaks of buzzing silver. Instead they appeared almost translucent: women with long hair in shifting shades of green, as fragile as drops of morning dew settling on a spider’s web.

  Indie held her breath in wonder. They were so beautiful, and so terribly sad.

  Nima sat cross-legged beside the water and waited. Indie sat on the fallen log, watching. The spirits drifted over to Nima and formed a circle around her on the grass.

  ‘What are they saying?’ Jabar sat on the log beside Indie and strained to hear. But there were no voices. Only the soft gurgle and splash of the stream, the tumble of water over the rocks.

  For a little while, everything was calm. The spirits swayed and sang in their bubbling voices, and Nima listened, a deep frown of concentration on her face.

  ‘I don’t like it,’ Indie whispered to Jabar.

  ‘Shh.’ The boy put his finger to his lips. His face was white.

  Indie saw that he was looking back at the water, where another figure had appeared, a tall woman with dark hair and gypsy clothes. She was gliding across the ground towards them, her arms out, beckoning to Jabar.

  ‘Mama,’ he said in a strangled voice.

  Indie put her hand on his arm. ‘It’s not her,’ she said. ‘You know it’s not.’

  Other figures appeared. Indie could see her own mother again, in a white silk dress with flowers in her beautiful hair. They were so real, these women, so warm and loving. As they came out of the water, her mind filled with a gentle fog and the world blurred around her.

  Jabar shrugged off her arm. He stood and walked towards the stream.

  The water spirits were pressing in on Nima, whirling around her in a dance that grew ever faster and more frenzied. The bubbling of their voices rose to a scream, sharp and shrill.

  The buzzing of the silvers stopped. There was no breeze. The only sound in the still night air was the scream.

  Kai, who was standing behind the log, closed his eyes and spoke the words of Chief Wicasa:

  Awake now from your secret sleep,

  Follow my voice from your prison deep,

  Let your heart and mind be free,

  Awake now, and come back to me.

  The scream grew louder. Jabar and Indie walked towards the water in a trance. The water spirits around Nima threw back their heads and howled.

  ‘No, Kai! Don’t say the spell!’ It was Nima’s voice. The spirits parted, and Kai could see her standing among them, holding out her arms to them.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he cried.

  ‘I have to go with them. Please, don’t try to stop me.’

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. She held out her hands to the women. The two who had come for Jabar and Indie turned and moved towards her. Silver clouds of insects rose around them, so that their disguises fell away and they were spirits again like their sisters. Jabar and Indie stopped, shook their heads, rubbed their eyes, watched as the water spirits linked arms around Nima and danced her to the edge of the stream.

  ‘No!’ Kai was running now. ‘Nima!’

  But it was too late. In a splash and a whirl of mist, the spirits sank into the water and vanished, taking Nima with them.

  Kai threw himself into the stream after her. The
silvers rose around his head in a buzzing mass. He flailed in the water, splashing and crying out, trying to bat them away. Indie could see the welts rising on his face and arms.

  ‘Kai!’ she screamed. ‘Get out of the water!’

  Sobbing, he waded to the bank, rubbing at his arms, swiping at the silver cloud around his head.

  Jabar and Indie grabbed him and pulled him to the grass. They felt the sting and bite of the silvers.

  ‘We need to get to the hut,’ said Indie.

  ‘No.’ Kai pushed them away and staggered back to the stream. He collapsed at the edge, his eyes closed, his breathing fast. There was a blur of red feathers around him, the flutter of wings. Gradually, his breathing slowed. ‘Sisika,’ he whispered.

  Indie moved towards him. Jabar put his hand out to stop her.

  ‘Wait,’ he said. Kai's eyes flickered. His body stiffened. His breath became long and low. ‘He is talking to the spirits,’ said Jabar.

  Kai was climbing a tall paperbark tree in the middle of the Kalika Forest. He knew that it wasn’t possible, that he was lying by a cursed stream, thousands of miles away from his home and family, but the bark was soft against his feet and he could smell the sweet white flowers.

  Sisika waited for him on the highest branch. The clouds moved around her, soft and white in the clear blue sky. ‘Whoo,’ she called. ‘Whoo, whoo.’

  As he drew closer, Kai could see an old woman sitting beside the owl, stroking the owl’s bright feathers. The woman was sitting comfortably on the wide branch, her legs dangling over the edge. When she saw Kai, her eyes sparkled and her face broke into a warm smile. She reached out to him, her slim arm jangling with gold bracelets.

  ‘Grandma Helki!’ he cried. ‘You came!’

  ‘Of course I came,’ said his great grandmother. ‘I’m always here if you need me. You have only to ask.’

  ‘It’s Nima,’ said Kai, sitting on the branch beside her. The colour of the sky shifted and changed. The light grew brighter, dazzling him.

  Grandma Helki pushed a strand of white hair behind her ear. ‘You look a bit thin,’ she said.

  ‘I’ve been trapped on an island with only berries to eat.’

  ‘And what are those terrible blisters on your arms?’

  ‘That’s what I need to talk to you about,’ said Kai. He told her all about the island, the children, the water spirits, and the buzzing silvers. ‘So you see,’ he finished, ‘they’ve taken Nima into the water. We have to find her. She could be dead! And we have to get off the island, and find Sofia, and stop her before it’s too late.’ He was quiet for a moment. ‘I don't know what to do,’ he said.

  Grandma Helki looked out at the forest. She stroked Sisika’s feathers and crooned softly. The owl twisted her head and blinked at Kai.

  At last Grandma Helki spoke. ‘The answer is in the water.’

  ‘I can’t get near the water,’ said Kai. ‘I tried, but the silvers attacked me.’

  ‘You need to stop and listen,’ said Grandma Helki. ‘Sisika will show you what to do.’

  There was a rushing sound and the clouds welled up around them. The colours became so bright that Kai could no longer see the tree or the owl or Grandma Helki. He lost his balance and found himself tumbling down down down, through the leaves and branches, all the way to the ground. When he opened his eyes, he was back on the island, lying by the stream, with Indie and Jabar leaning over him.

  Kai was very quiet in the hut that night. Indie couldn’t sit still. She paced up and down – sitting on the floor, standing at the window, peering out through the doorway. At last Mari came up beside her, linked her arm through Indie's, and said, ‘Nima is going to be okay, you know. I can feel it.’

  ‘She’s right,’ said Jabar, standing on Indie's other side so she was hemmed in and forced to stop pacing. ‘Gypsies have a sixth sense. They know these things.’

  ‘She was dragged under the water,’ said Indie. ‘How can she be okay?’

  ‘She’s not in the stream now,’ said Jabar. ‘Kai looked. It’s shallow enough to see the bottom, and she wasn’t there.’

  ‘But he was being eaten alive by the silvers. How could he look properly? And the water is all murky and filled with weeds. Maybe she’s trapped down there.’

  Jabar and Mari looked at each other. Indie knew what they were thinking. If Nima was trapped under the murky water, she’d be dead by now. Even if she was the apiki flower and she could talk to nature spirits and heal the land, she couldn’t breathe underwater.

  Kai stood at the doorway and looked out. There was no movement at the stream, only the gentle flow of the water moving over the rocks. He took a step outside, shivering as the cool breeze whispered against his skin. ‘Listen,’ it seemed to say.

  He moved as if in a dream. Indie tried to follow him, but Mari held her arm.

  ‘Let him go,’ said the girl.

  ‘He’s my brother,’ said Indie, turning on her with angry eyes. ‘I’m not losing him as well.’

  But it was too late. By the time she reached him, Kai had stepped into the water, his eyes closed, his arms outstretched as if he were in a trance. He sank down into the water without a ripple, disappearing beneath the surface.

  ‘Kai!’ Indie screamed. She ran to the edge of the water, but already the silvers were gathering, circling, buzzing, forcing her back to the hut.

  She fought against them, sobbing, as the red welts rose on her arms and face. And then Jabar was dragging her inside, holding her, soothing her, brushing the tears from her cheeks; and she was clinging to him, crying.

  She was supposed to be the Emerald Child, the one who would wield the Sword of Veladin and save the Kingdom of Gort, but that was rubbish. It was all rubbish. She had waved the sword and fulfilled the prophecy and banished Sofia to the Dead Islands. She had done everything she was supposed to do and now Sofia was back.

  Kai was a sorcerer. He had his spirit owl and his magic, and he could journey to other realms and talk to Grandma Helki. Nima was the apiki flower. She could talk to the nature spirits and heal people and travel through hidden portals.

  Indie buried her face in Jabar’s shoulder. She had nothing. Even if she was the Emerald Child and the legendary sword was hers, what use would it be now?

  She had lost Kai and Nima.

  She would be stuck on this island forever.

  Chapter 18

  The Dungeons of Nagara

  When Kai opened his eyes, he was lying beside the mosaic pool in Old Man Kita’s room, far beneath the forgotten city of Taka.

  On the floor beside him was a flat rock laid with large shells, which were pearly white and curved like an ocean wave. He leaned across to get a closer look. On the shells, there were fronds of something green and stringy that might have once been seaweed, scattered with mussels and shellfish and long red crab claws.

  ‘Are you hungry?’ asked a voice. He turned to see Nima standing behind him, her face pale.

  She was alive! But something was wrong. There were silver bands around her wrists and ankles, cutting into her skin, causing her to wince as she stepped towards him. He felt a sharp pain in his hands and feet and saw the same bands circling his wrists, biting into his ankles.

  ‘We’re prisoners,’ said Nima, softly.

  Kai sat up. ‘Is it the water spirits?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Who, then?’

  Nima looked around with frightened eyes. ‘Old Man Kita,’ she whispered.

  ‘What?!’ Kai leapt to his feet. He looked around the room.

  ‘The water spirits agreed to show me the way to Nagara,’ Nima continued. ‘I told them it was the only way to stop my mother. But then we came out here and Old Man Kita was waiting. He was acting so strangely. He was all twitchy, and he kept saying “She’s back. The apiki flower,” but he wasn’t talking about me.

  ‘Then he held up his hands and chanted some kind of spell, and the water spirits screamed and disappeared.’ She pointed to the pool. ‘I tried to foll
ow them, but the water turned thick and cloudy, and it only came up to my knees.’

  She rubbed at the silver bands. ‘Then he started chanting again,’ she said. ‘It was so loud, and everything felt so hopeless. Next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, curled in a ball with my hands over my ears. When I stood up, I had these bands, the food was sitting on the rock, and Old Man Kita was gone.’

  Kai looked at the shells. ‘I don’t think we should eat it,’ he said. ‘Brek says you should never eat food in a magical place or you might never leave.’

  Nima bit her lip. ‘I already ate some. I was so hungry …’ Her voice trailed away and she wrapped her arms around her chest. ‘I can’t stay here,’ she whispered. ‘I have to go to Nagara.’

  ‘It’s probably just a story,’ said Kai, but secretly he resolved not to touch the food, no matter how hungry he was.

  There was a low rumbling noise all around them. It seemed to be coming from inside the walls. Kai could see light rippling along the surface of the rocks. Gradually it grew and changed until it formed the shape of a woman. She looked like a reflection in a mirror, real but insubstantial, an illusion.

  Kai looked at her in horror. ‘Sofia!’ he gasped.

  The woman smiled her cruel smile. ‘Ah,’ she said. ‘Prince Kai. I have finally found you.’

  Her eyes moved to Nima, who flinched and looked away.

  ‘You can’t hide from me, my darling girl. I am waiting for you.’

  The light shifted and the reflection faded. The image was gone.

  Nima let out a stifled sob.

  ‘Hush.’ Old Man Kita stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the room. He was gazing at the wall where Sofia had appeared. ‘You’ve seen her now,’ he said. ‘You understand. My teacher. The apiki flower. She has come back for me.’

  Kai stared at him. The old man was talking about Sofia. He thought Sofia was the young woman who had loved Chief Wicasa, the young woman who had fled with the gypsies to Taka when Old Man Kita was a little boy. But that was impossible – Sofia hadn't even been born then.