Venom and Song

by Wayne Thomas Batson

  “Then it should be no problem at all,” said Anna.

  “Seems we have more than enough qualified pilots,” Grimwarden said with a smile. “Make sure each cavesurfer has a flet soldier who knows the way; these underground channels change frequently. You would not want to get lost, especially near the falls.”

  “Falls?” said Kiri Lee nervously. “I can’t swim.”

  “What are yu worried about?” asked Jimmy. “Yu could just hop out of the boat and walk the rest ’a the way down.”

  “I guess I keep forgetting,” said Kiri Lee.

  “The falls are indeed perilous,” Grimwarden explained. “But not with our pilots. We’ve not had a crash in fifteen years.” He waited and watched the nods all around. Then he turned to Goldarrow and said, “Elle, recommendations for how we divide up?”

  “I’ve never been much good at steering anything in the water,” said Goldarrow. “I’m going with you.”

  Grimwarden coughed. “I meant how we divide up the lords.”

  “Oh, of course, right.” She looked away and cleared her throat. “How about Tommy, Kat, and Kiri Lee come with us. Jimmy, Jett, and Johnny go with Brynn.”

  “Three Js, baby!” Jett high-fived the other two boys.

  “Fine,” said Grimwarden. “Follow me.”

  Anna tapped Kat on the shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” she asked with a hint of a smile.

  Kat held up her hands. “Oh no, that’s okay. Thank you, Anna, but . . . I’ve seen how you drive.”

  Anna feigned offense. “Crash once into a stone wall and no one trusts you. Goodness.”

  They followed Grimwarden down a circuitous rampart of smooth stone leading to the edge of the river. Tethered to any number of iron rings along the strand sat dozens and dozens of tiny raftlike boats, each shaped like an arrowhead, pointy in front and flat in the back. They were rather shallow crafts with two small bench seats spread through the middle, one near the bow for two people, a second along the aft for three. The boat itself was formed of a wooden skeletal system with rawhide stretched around the outside. The only other notable feature was a small tiller connected to a rudder, presumably where the captain of each vessel steered the craft.

  “Oars?” Tommy asked as they boarded.

  “Yes,” Grimwarden replied. “Only for when we need to maneuver more than the remote tiller can manage. Or for the return trip. We will be riding with the current straight through.”

  “Cool!” said Jett. “How fast will we go?”

  “Fast enough,” said Brynn.

  “Everyone in!” Grimwarden commanded, untethering lines and pushing their particular cavesurfer into the water. “I know it goes without saying, but keep your torchcells lit. Your life depends on them.”

  The entire war band made ready, pushing their crafts into the same still pool protected from the main artery’s rapids by a natural jetty of sandstone. Jett stepped aboard with a steadying hand from Brynn, and sat beside Johnny and Jimmy in the aft. He watched Tommy, Kat, and Kiri Lee get seated with Goldarrow and Grimwarden in the lead surfer.

  “Sentinel Brynn?”

  “Yes, Jimmy?”

  “Sittin’ by yurself, are yu?”

  “I suppose so,” she replied. “We’d best put one of you up here to balance the—”

  “No need,” said Mr. Wallace, stepping agilely into the craft and sitting beside Brynn.

  “Excellent,” said Brynn. “Very good of you.”

  “It’s the very least I could do,” he replied.

  The cavesurfers lived up to their name, carving through the currents with ease. The watercrafts weaved between the massive columns of the main hall, circling under the chandelier and positioning the boats so that they could dart out into the central stream of the river. Grimwarden’s craft went first, followed by Brynn and the others. As the current whisked them out of the hall, each pilot lowered a torch to two different spots at the front of his or her craft. This ignited the cavesurfer’s torchcells, pockets set like eyes in the front. The fire burned in the hollows of two crystal spheres that protected the flame from spray and intensified the light cast.

  Each cavesurfer’s captain maneuvered the craft around rocks, over small plateaus, and into side passages. The forks and splits in the path were many, and Grimwarden made numerous turns, all very controlled, very confident. In fact, the first twenty minutes of the ride were quite relaxing, the teens thought. Goldarrow and Grimwarden chatted in the aft with Kat beside them; more to the point, Goldarrow chatted . . . Grimwarden just nodded . . . a lot.

  To Kat’s growing aggravation, Kiri Lee fell asleep with her head on Tommy’s shoulder.

  “Hey,” said Tommy, looking at Kat. “What’s eating you?”

  “What . . . why? Nothing.”

  “You look mad.”

  “Just tired,” she said.

  “Oh,” he replied. For a few moments, the cavesurfer grew very quiet. Then Tommy asked, “Hey, can you read someone’s mind while she’s sleeping?”

  Kat crossed her arms. “Why?”

  “I was wondering what Kiri Lee’s dreaming about.”

  There was an awkward silence before Kat answered. “You don’t want to know.” Kat’s rigid posture made it clear that she did not welcome any further questions.

  The currents picked up speed. Kat was staring straight ahead when she saw something shimmering in the distance. At first, she thought it was the torchlight dancing off yet another fork in the stream. But as the craft advanced, she realized that the hall itself was suddenly coming to an end. No hole. No little passage leading left or right. It was a solid wall. But the current kept moving.

  “Um, Grimwarden?”

  “Yes, Kat?” The Guardmaster’s hand was steady on the tiller.

  “Um . . . I think we’re in trouble.”

  “What? Why?” His voice was still oddly unconcerned.

  “Up ahead. There’s just a solid wall. And we’re heading”—she paused to look again—“straight for it!”

  He turned his head and winked. “I suggest you hold on to something.”

  “What?!”

  “Now would be a good time.”

  Kat screamed, Tommy yelled, and Kiri Lee woke up. Each one clutched the nearest edge or railing as the surfer surged forward. The wall loomed just a few feet ahead, and the sound of the rapids grew to a deafening roar. All at once the craft tilted forward and plummeted. Grimwarden saw the look of exhilaration in Goldarrow’s eyes and grinned. Tommy, Kat, and Kiri Lee held on as the craft plunged headlong down a tunnel, the ceiling not more than five feet above head level. Here the rapids turned into a water chute, the cavesurfer picking up unimaginable speed, the torchcells struggling just to stay alive.

  “Lean left!” Grimwarden shouted.

  Kat and the others clung to the sides and pitched their weight as the cavesurfer banked to port, making a wide, sweeping turn in the channel. Just ahead, the river careened up the side of the tunnel, where it had formed a glossy finish on the stone wall. Grimwarden’s cave-surfer shot high along the wall, fishtailing slightly before pitching back into the center of the chute as the turn straightened out. It was then they all heard a long cry from the cavesurfer right behind them.

  “Wooohooo! ” Jett screamed. “Oh, BABY!” This was better than any dirt bike track he had ever ridden! He was dying to grab the helm himself and try some crazy trick, but he remembered he didn’t really know the directions. That and he would have to contend with Brynn, an Elf it seemed best not to trifle with.

  After more than four hours of navigating the relentless rapids, the entire flotilla of Elves finally came upon calmer waters. The current was still there, ever-present and irresistible, but the waterscape leveled out to a smooth sheet of black. Grimwarden, Brynn, Anna, Regis, and a few other surfer pilots navigated their crafts closer together in the wide and much more peaceful area.

  “Incredible!” Jett roared. He slapped a high five across the water with Tommy.

>   “I wish Autumn had been here with us,” said Johnny.

  “She already went,” said Grimwarden gently.

  Johnny brightened at the thought. “She probably loved every minute. Whenever we went to amusement parks, Autumn was always first in line at all the rides that make people barf.”

  “Uhm, speakin’ of barf . . . ,” Jimmy said, pointing.

  “I don’t feel so well.”

  They all turned. It was Kiri Lee, and even in the orange torchlight she looked a bit green.

  “I think she’s gonna toss her—”

  Grimwarden glared at Jimmy. Then he leaned forward and handed a thin orange strip to Kiri Lee. “Nibble on this,” he said. “It’s a shoot from a hilthis mint sapling. It will calm your stomach.” He paused a moment, seeing the uncertainty in the young lord’s eyes. Then he said, “I use them myself.”

  Kiri Lee took a tentative bite. “Mmmm, that’s not bad. I like it.” She took another bite. “Wow . . . I think it’s helping.”

  “Good, good,” Grimwarden said tenderly. Then he faced the whole group. “You’ll each need to brace yourselves for this last section. Daladge Falls can be a bit . . . troublesome.”

  “I thought what we went through earlier was the falls,” said Tommy.

  “That little slide?” said Grimwarden. “Nay. Daladge Falls lay ahead.”

  “Is it dangerous?” asked Kiri Lee, looking green again.

  “It need not be,” said Grimwarden. “So long as we stay to the left when we go over, and so long as we all remain in our cavesurfers . . . we should be fine.”

  “What if we don’t?” asked Jett.

  Grimwarden worked the tiller to keep their craft moving left in the channel. He exchanged glances with Brynn and Goldarrow. “I will speak plainly to you, young lords. Your pilots are all water-savvy, and the surfers tested and true. But in the unlikely event that you should fall out of the craft, you would perish.”

  “Why stay to the left?” asked Kat.

  “There is a pocket in the water,” Grimwarden replied. “At the bottom of the falls, near the right-hand wall . . . a whirling pool that will take a craft to the bottom . . . in an instant.”

  3

  Daladge Falls

  CAVESURFERS SPREAD across the surface of the underground river like fireflies on the side of a jar. The narrow passage to Daladge Falls had been peaceful enough. But as it widened, the Elves heard the pounding of the falls. It was less a constant roar and more like the percussive crashing of monstrous waves on an island of stone; the song of the falls made the young lords nervous. But they were not alone in their concern.

  “Please tell me, Master Jimmy,” said Mr. Wallace, “tell me with your foresight that we’re going to survive this fall.”

  “I wish I could,” Jimmy replied, squinting so hard that a stack of wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. “. . . But I cannot see anythin’ right now. Not since the battlefield. Think I’m tired.”

  “You’ve done this before, haven’t you, Flet Marshall Brynn?” asked Jett.

  “Dozens of times,” she replied. All of her passengers relaxed a little. And then she added, “But each time it’s different.”

  “Great,” said Johnny.

  “Tighten the straps around your waist,” Brynn commanded. “We’re getting close now.” She leaned forward and plugged each of the torchcells with serrated pegs of crystal. “This’ll keep the torches dry for when we go under.”

  “When we go under?” Johnny’s eyes were as big as baseballs.

  “At the bottom of the falls,” Brynn explained, as if it should have been common knowledge. “Our momentum will carry us beneath the surface, but not far. These crafts are buoyant, and we will shoot up like dolphins.”

  “Okay,” said Johnny.

  “Are you sure you can’t see what will happen, Jimmy?” asked Mr. Wallace.

  “Not a thing,” Jimmy said. “And I dunno that I want to.”

  “Fifty yards,” said Goldarrow. “Hold on tight!”

  “Ow! Kiri Lee,” Tommy said, wincing. “Not that tight! I think I’m bleeding.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kiri Lee apologized, pushing strands of her straight black hair behind her ear. “The falls, they terrify me.”

  Tommy swallowed. “We’ll be fine. Grimwarden knows what he’s doing.”

  Terrified? Kat thought. You can walk on air. She briefly attempted to read Kiri Lee’s thoughts, but with no success. Kat didn’t think she needed to anyway. Of course she likes him. And of course he probably likes her. She’s perfect. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect skin. Not a mutant . . . like me. Kat looked away from Tommy. Well, he can have her . . . for all I care. She stared straight ahead . . . and wished she hadn’t.

  The walls of the cavern funneled to an opening more than fifty yards wide. There, the underground river rolled over an edge only visible due to the contrast in color between the water and the deep vault of space beyond. Grimwarden’s cavesurfer was the first to arrive, and the current drew them relentlessly to the edge. Goldarrow shifted in her seat and glanced often at Grimwarden. If the Guardmaster noticed, he did not let on. He kept his eyes forward and continuously steered toward the left side. “Lean back and HOLD ON!”

  The point of the cavesurfer went over the edge. The growl of the falls roared up. Their craft tilted down. And Tommy stared into a massive chute of turbulent water as the craft plunged into the yawning black mouth. Spray and chop pelted the craft and its passengers. Bouncing and careening against water and air currents, Tommy tried to scream, “We’re all going to die,” but the violence of the water drowned out his voice.

  But it was here that the cavesurfers showed their true qualities. Tommy, still certain his life was about to end, suddenly felt their craft skimming sideways—across the face of the falls. He stole a look at Grimwarden, whose arm and shoulder muscles were taut as he steered. The torch was only a small flickering light, but it was enough for Tommy to see the Guardmaster, who appeared to be enjoying the plunge as he expertly navigated the falls. Then Tommy saw him smile.

  Tommy tapped Kat on the shoulder. “This is insane!”

  She nodded and mouthed something Tommy couldn’t hear. He looked over at Kiri Lee, and his heart stopped for a moment. She had ducked her head and bent her torso down so low that at first he thought she was gone. It wouldn’t be that hard, Tommy thought, to fall out. He shook the image away and tried to focus on the positive. Jett’s got to be loving this. Tommy started to turn to look for Brynn’s cavesurfer, but heard Grimwarden: “HEAD DOWN! DEEP BREATH!”

  The cavesurfer stabbed into the black water at the bottom of the falls. Tommy felt as if his stomach broke free from its lodging in his head, shot down through his neck, ricocheted around his shoulders and rib cage, and jettisoned into his feet. There was silence, but a deep churning pressure pulsed in his ears. All went dark until he saw stars and struggled against the urge to gasp for air. Tommy forced himself to relax and was rewarded with the feeling of ascent. Just when he thought he couldn’t hold his breath anymore, he felt his back pop-up into open air, water filling the cavesurfer to his knees.

  “You can sit up now,” Grimwarden instructed, the rushing sound of water falling behind them.

  “You mean, we’re not dead?” Tommy asked.

  “No, Tommy. But almost.”

  “That was—”

  “HELP!” came a desperate scream half-choked with water.

  Grimwarden jammed hard on the tiller and spun the surfer around. “Where?” he demanded. Other cavesurfers continued to plunge into the falls, only to pop-up seconds later. “Where?! Does anyone see?”

  “Wait,” said Kat. “Where’s Flet Marshall Brynn’s surfer? They were right behind us.”

  “They were,” Goldarrow confirmed. “But I don’t see them.”

  “HELP!” came the voice again. A flame leaped up from the water.

  “It’s Johnny!” Kiri Lee yelled. “Look there!”

  They could all see Johnny now,
flailing, his head dipping beneath the water. Just in time, Regis’s surfer swept by him, and she grabbed his arm. Her flet soldier passengers hauled Johnny out of the water. “We have him!” she called.

  “What of Jett, Jimmy . . . and the others?” Grimwarden called back.

  Ice forming in the pit of his stomach, Tommy watched as Regis and the others scanned the water, each crying out, “Brynn! Jimmy! Jett! Can you hear me?! Mr. Wallace!”

  Regis called again, waited, and then shook her head. “No sign!” Regis called back. She wheeled the craft around and raced immediately to Grimwarden. “Johnny says their surfer capsized,” Regis explained, still looking out into the water.

  “Flet soldiers!” Grimwarden called. “Rekindle the torchcells! Spread out and search. We have four in the water! Beware of the whirlpool!” Immediately more than a dozen surfers scattered.

  “We need more light!” Goldarrow exclaimed.

  A timid voice emerged from Regis’s cavesurfer. “I think . . . I can help with that.”

  Those who heard looked over at Johnny.

  “Nay, son,” said Grimwarden. “Rest, get your strength back.”

  A gentle hand touched his shoulder. “Olin, we need the light.”

  Grimwarden frowned. He knew she was right. He looked across the water at Johnny. “Can you manage?”

  “I think so.”

  “Flet soldiers, give him room!” commanded Goldarrow. Then to Johnny, she said, “Not too much, all right?” She indicated the lightly constructed cavesurfer and its occupants.

  “Right,” he breathed, remembering how far the flames traveled the last time. “Not too much . . .” Johnny held out his hands in front of him, staring into his palms as if studying every line on his skin. He furrowed his brow and worked his jaw. But nothing happened.

  Ah, he is spent, thought Goldarrow. He’d done so much in the Veil . . . and he’d been through so much.

  “You got this!” yelled Tommy.

  “You can do it, Johnny,” Kat entreated.

  Johnny sat up a little straighter. Tension lined his brow, and he flexed his arms. He grunted and a small glow appeared in his hands. “It’s working,” he said. “I can feel it now!”