The Sorrow of the Waters (Kalika Magic Book 3)

by Karen Hughes

  For a moment the boy looked frightened; then he laughed. Nima caught a glimpse of the monkey face, dancing in the darkness around him.

  ‘You don’t scare me,’ he said.

  There was a crunch as the boat scraped the rocks at the edge of the island. Nima looked up. The lighthouse towered above them. Willem manoeuvred the boat around the rocks and into a hidden grotto. It was completely black. He gave a long, low whistle. There was the flare of a torch. The boy pulled the boat into a kind of dock, hewn out of the rock. He threw the rope and it was caught by a figure in a dark cloak.

  ‘Baba,’ whispered Nima. She scrambled from the boat, rocking it so that Willem lost his balance and almost fell into the water.

  The figure in the cloak stood silent, waiting. In the flickering light of the torch, Nima caught a glimpse of the strong, proud face of her father, but he didn’t smile or make any move to hug her. Instead, he grabbed her arm and held it in a powerful grip.

  He nodded to Willem, who quickly pulled the rope back to the boat and pushed off from the shore.

  The air was cold and damp. She could feel a dark magic all around her. ‘Baba,’ she said, ‘How did you get here? How did you escape from Sofia?’

  Her father looked away. He said nothing. He began to walk across the slippery rocks, dragging her with him.

  ‘Wait!’ cried Nima. She struggled to be free of his grip, but his fingers tightened around her arm. ‘You’re hurting me!’

  At the back of the grotto there was a zigzag staircase carved into the rock wall. Her father pulled her towards it.

  Nima looked at him with desperate eyes. ‘I’m not coming with you unless you talk to me. How did you get here? What happened to you?’

  The shaman’s eyes narrowed and his face grew hard. He pulled Nima to the base of the stairs.

  Nima grabbed the crystal in her pocket, feeling it burn into her palm. Why was it hot? It wasn’t hot before.

  ‘Stop!’ There were voices behind her, footsteps in the dark. ‘Nima!’

  Her father yanked her up the steps, pulling her to her feet when she slipped and fell.

  Awake now from your secret sleep ... It was Kai’s voice. He was saying the transformation spell.

  The shaman seemed to flicker and fade. His green cloak turned to grey, and then shimmered back to green again. His face started to ooze and drip, as if the skin were falling from his bones.

  Nima tried to tear her arm away, but he was holding on too tight.

  ‘Nima!’ Indie burst out of the shadows.

  Jabar was right behind her. He pulled his knife from his belt. ‘Nima!’ They were both running to the steps, screaming her name.

  She wanted to tell them that it was okay, she had found her father, he wasn’t hurt any more ... but she knew this wasn’t true. Something was very wrong.

  The staircase was steep. She could hear the others behind her, climbing. The shaman had a head start, but he was dragging her behind him and it was slowing him down. She could hear them getting closer. Kai was still saying the spell, each word causing the shaman to flinch and shudder.

  There was a flurry of wings around her head, the faint screech of a forest owl. Kai was calling on his power animal.

  ‘Usha,’ she whispered.

  She heard a low, angry growl. The snow leopard stood at the foot of the stairs.

  ‘Usha. I don’t understand …’

  The snow leopard growled again. Nima could see a dark shadow behind it, keeping its distance. It was a large cat. A panther.

  With her free hand, she pulled the crystal from her pocket and looked down to see an angry red glow against her palm.

  Sofia.

  She turned the stone over in her hand. Kaosha’s words came, unbidden, into her head …

  Carry the stone of your father,

  Blood red and painted with fear,

  Go to the City of Emperors

  And rest in the Temple of Tears.

  Seek out the boy with the monkey,

  The shadow runs deep in his heart,

  Cast the stone into the water,

  And wait for the magic to start.

  Below her, the black waters boiled and churned. The shaman was pulling her higher, his fingers digging into her arm.

  She had found the monkey boy, he had led her to this dark place, and now she held the stone ... blood red and painted with fear.

  For a moment she hesitated. What if she threw the stone and it made everything worse?

  There were voices in the air around her.

  Cast the stone into the water …

  Summoning her courage, she leaned out as far as she could and hurled the stone into the darkness, listening as it bounced on the steps and rolled across the rocks. She felt a tremendous heave as the shaman pulled her back to him. His face twitched, she could see the whites of his eyes, but still he did not speak.

  There was no splash. Her heart sank. The stone was lost in the black of the grotto.

  The shaman had almost reached the top of the stairs. She could see a hole in the rock and feel the hum of magic. She knew once she stepped into the hole, there would be no escape.

  She turned and screamed. ‘Kai! The stone! Find the stone!’

  Kai’s voice drifted back to her. ‘I know! I’m looking. I can’t see it.’

  And then ‘Sisika!’

  And then ‘I have it. It’s burning my hand. I can’t hold it!’

  ‘Throw it into the water!’ she screamed.

  There was a splash and a hiss of steam. The shaman released her arm. He turned towards her, his face an ugly mask of anger. As she watched, the face shifted and changed. The eyebrows grew thin, the cheekbones sharp and feminine. The hair became long and glossy, pulled back in a tight knot.

  ‘Where is my father?’ cried Nima. ‘What have you done with him?’

  The woman who stood before her pushed back her cloak and laughed. She didn’t look like the sad broken creature Nima had seen on the Dead Islands. She was young and pretty, and there was a look of fierce intelligence in her eyes.

  ‘He is waiting for you,’ Sofia said, holding out her hand.

  Below them, the water seethed and bubbled. Figures rose out of the sea, creatures with lank green hair and sad eyes. Slowly they rose up the steps with their arms out, keening in an awful wail that forced Nima to cringe back against the wall with her hands over her ears.

  Sofia looked down. She frowned and muttered something that sounded like a spell. The black panther appeared by her side, hackles up, growling. But it wasn’t growling at Nima. It was looking past her, watching the water spirits. There were more of them now, a continuous stream of creatures rising out of the water.

  Sofia reached for Nima’s hand. ‘Come with me,’ she said. Her voice was low and urgent.

  ‘No!’ It was Indie’s voice. ‘Nima, come down! The water spirits are coming. They’re angry! If you stay up there, Ama can’t protect you.’

  The water spirits were getting closer. Their high-pitched wailing hurt Nima’s ears. She could feel their anger, their boundless fury. She knew they would not listen to her this time – they were beyond listening.

  Sofia knew it, too. ‘They will kill us,’ she hissed, grabbing Nima’s hand.

  Nima couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. The fury and the anguish of the water spirits were drowning out everything else. She took a step up. She saw Sofia’s eyes change; hunger and greed were replaced by triumph.

  But only for a moment.

  ‘No!’ The cry broke her thoughts. She felt arms flung around her, pulling her backwards; and then she was slipping and stumbling, falling down the steps, staggering through the keening spirits, feeling their grief and moving through it, and landing in a heap at the bottom with Indie wrapped around her.

  ‘No,’ said Indie again, her voice fierce, her arms covered in bruises.

  The water spirits flowed up the steps, surrounding Sofia. The keening grew louder. Sofia’s face was dark with rage. She seemed a small
helpless figure, no match for this wild primitive sorrow. But the panther was beside her, and Nima saw her throw both arms around the creature’s neck. There was a roar, and a scuffle, and a long piercing scream.

  Nima closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding. She could feel the water spirits drifting back past her and into the sea.

  When she looked again, Sofia and the panther were gone.

  *

  ‘Of course the king is searching for you,’ said Ama. ‘What did you expect?’

  They were standing in front of the water temple, looking out at the green pools. Indie, who had been pacing up and down, stopped and put her hands on her hips.

  ‘Does he know Sofia is alive? Does he know Nima brought her back from the Dead Islands?’

  Nima sat hunched against the temple steps. She looked small and pale, and her hands were shaking. Kai frowned and jumped to his feet, ‘This isn’t Nima’s fault,’ he said. ‘She did everything she could to stop Sofia.’

  Nima looked up. Her cheeks were stained with tears. ‘I never thanked you,’ she said, looking at Ama. ‘For bringing everyone to the lighthouse.’

  Ama smiled and touched Nima’s face. ‘You are the apiki flower,’ she said. ‘Don’t you understand? Kaosha sent you to me. At the very beginning, when he told you to Rest in the Temple of Tears.’ She looked into Nima’s eyes. ‘I was supposed to look after you. It didn’t quite happen that way, but I found you eventually.’

  Indie resumed her pacing. ‘Sofia won’t stop until she has destroyed us,’ she said. ‘She wants to rule this land without anyone getting in her way – the Kalika, the Dasa, the gypsies – ’

  ‘I know,’ said Nima, her voice barely a whisper. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Jabar put his arm around her. ‘No one is blaming you,’ he said, glaring at Indie. ‘The Dasa will help. We can go back to Ballyndor and get an army together. The gypsies will fight with us too, I know they will.’

  ‘You’ll need more than an army,’ said Ama. ‘Sofia has the shaman, and she is drawing on his power. She also has Old Man Kita. With that kind of magic, no army will be able to stop her.’

  They were all silent. It was impossible. Sofia had already won.

  ‘There is hope,’ said Ama, at last. ‘You found each other, the five who will save Gort. The sorcerer, the emerald child, the apiki flower, the warrior – ’

  Jabar looked up in surprise. ‘The warrior?’

  Ama smiled at him. He stared back at her, his eyes wide.

  ‘Even if Jabar is the warrior,’ said Kai, giving him a dismissive look, ‘there are still only four of us.’

  ‘You have read the prophecy. You know the fifth child.’

  ‘It can’t be,’ said Kai. ‘He has lost his power animal. He walks with a shadow monkey. He won’t help us.’

  ‘He must,’ said Ama. She gazed out at the green pools as if she were looking into the future. ‘You will need him for the journey ahead.’

  Indie stopped pacing. ‘What journey? Where are we going?’

  ‘To find the Veladin.’

  ‘The Veladin! They don’t even exist any more.’

  ‘Yes, they do,’ said Nima.

  They all stared at her.

  ‘My father told me. The Veladin live deep inside the earth, beyond the silver veil. They know everything about earth magic.’

  The beginning of a smile played across Indie’s lips. ‘So … we take the monkey boy – kicking and screaming – and we cross the silver veil. That’ll be fun. How do we get there? Will Ama take us?’

  ‘No,’ said Ama. ‘I must stay here at the temple. The water spirits are angry. The time for sorrow is past.’ She looked at their worried faces. ‘No, this is a good thing! It means the children on the island are awake, and they are no longer in danger. By leading the water spirits to Sofia, you have woken the spirits from their sadness. Now they will help me send the children home to Taka and we will close the portal to the island.’

  ‘Sami is awake? But that’s wonderful!’ cried Indie.

  ‘It is,’ said Jabar. ‘But we still haven’t stopped Sofia.’

  ‘No,’ said Ama. ‘It will take all five of you to do that.’

  She looked out over the temple grounds and sighed. ‘There’s so much to lose,’ she said. ‘The trees and the flowers, the rivers and streams … You’ve found the boy with the monkey. He was the last piece of the puzzle. Now you must get him to help you.’

  ‘We have to find my father,’ said Nima. ‘He’s the only one who can show Willem how to connect with his power animal.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ama. ‘And to find your father, you have to find the Veladin.’

  ‘But where?’ asked Indie. ‘Where do you look for someone who doesn’t exist?’

  Ama smiled. ‘You can start with your friend, Fintan.’

  ‘Fintan! He’s just a gambler. Sami said we shouldn't trust him. He said Fintan is not even one of the Veladin.’

  Ama laughed her soft, tinkling laugh. ‘Maybe Sami was wrong.’

  OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

  #1 Emerald Child

  #2 The Shaman’s Secret

  kalikamagic.com