World Warden, page 49
“Doran, do not do this,” Samantha pleaded. “You do not want to attack us. I know you.”
Doran hesitated, one of his forelegs lifted in the air.
I said kill them! Dresde screamed, and Doran’s entire body shook. His eyes appeared to dim, and he snarled.
He leaped forward with liquid grace and swiped at Nadja, who was closest. The air whistled. Nadja parried the blow, but Doran’s glowing claws sliced clean through the spear, breaking it in two and sending her tumbling backward into Ute.
“Oma!” Samantha screamed.
Doran crouched as if preparing to attack again.
There is no escape! Dresde gloated. Doran is the strongest, and the last! He will tear you limb from limb. He will—
Both she and Doran froze. In unison, their heads lifted and turned toward the volcano.
You tricked me, Dresde hissed. You tricked me!
Oscar glanced at Samantha, who looked as confused as he was.
At that instant Oscar’s link buzzed. In disbelief, Oscar realized he was getting a short-range call.
“Oscar?” Elias’s voice asked, barely distinguishable through the static. Oscar listened in utter shock. “O… car? Are y… there? Os…?”
Dresde unfurled her wings, buffeting them with a gust of wind that sent blinding dust everywhere. You distracted me to give those males a chance! You will regret this. Now I will not kill you, any of you! You will curse the day you were born, treacherous little aliens!
She appeared to gather strength for an instant and then launched herself into the air like an arrow fired from a bow, splintering the ground where she kicked off. She flew faster than Oscar had ever thought possible, and it was only a faint echo of her mind-voice that reached them.
Doran! Bring Samantha and the male to the eyrie.
Alive.
Chapter 29. Climb
THE BLACK beach was majestic and desolate at once.
Elias and Tristan stood hand in hand in the shallows and watched the Behemoth as it retreated to deeper water. It remained there like a sentry, waiting.
“Can’t it help us?” Tristan asked.
Elias shook his head. “I don’t think it can leave the water.”
“Yeah, I kind of guessed,” Tristan said. “So. We’re here. Raasay.”
Elias analyzed his surroundings with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Water swirled around his ankles, and the sound of the sea was the only thing that could be heard. It sounded forlorn to him somehow. Jagged gray rocks rose halfway above the water all around, and some of them had been shaped into spectacular forms by erosion over untold decades or centuries. Waves crashed regularly against the tallest formations and exploded into foam that infused the air with the salty fragrance of the ocean.
Elias turned away and glanced toward land. Tristan and he walked forward, out of the water, followed by the three hulking Spine wurl. The sand underfoot was soft and toasty with the warmth of the afternoon sun, but a shiver ran up Elias’s spine as he left the ocean behind. It was more than the sudden loss of his mental perception now that he was finally on solid ground.
“What’s the matter?” Tristan asked, evidently having noticed Elias’s discomfort.
“Something’s wrong with this place,” Elias answered. “It feels empty.”
He had already experienced how it felt to be cut off from the spirit-lines that linked him to the world when he had first entered Lyrana’s domain, and he knew that it would happen again now that he was on the continent where only Dresde ruled. However, the void he perceived whenever his toes sank into the black sand underneath was entirely different from his past experience. He could feel something that was almost an echo of a wail, an ancient moan of something having been irrevocably lost. The desolation around him added to that impression, and each step farther inland reinforced the idea that something horrible had happened in the distant past.
He came to the first crystal cluster after six steps. He had avoided the ones in the water, but this one was directly in front of him, and he approached it unwillingly.
“Neat,” Tristan commented. “What are these, do you think? Giant diamonds?”
“No,” Elias replied with absolute certainty. He felt nothing but revulsion as he studied the multifaceted gems that protruded from the ground. The biggest one was as tall as he, a nearly perfect three-dimensional rhomboid that filtered the fading light from the sun like a prism. The black sand behind it was colored by vibrant light in all the wavelengths of the rainbow, but instead of looking beautiful, the display seemed to Elias like a warped mockery of light itself.
There were many such crystal formations of different sizes scattered throughout the beach, piercing the ground like parasitic arthropods that fed on the life of the world and grew fat with their stolen sustenance. Although they evidently did not move, Elias found himself keeping an eye on the glassy protrusions. He was unsettled by the way they spread out and reached all the way to the towering cliffs that made an abrupt end to the beach.
The cliffs were huge walls that rose a few meters ahead, forbidding and somehow threatening. Elias craned his neck up and could barely see where they ended. To the left and to the right, the rock stretched, seemingly without end, a natural barrier that only those who could fly might easily overcome.
“That’s going to be a problem,” Tristan observed, pointing straight ahead. “We don’t have climbing gear at all.”
“There has to be a way. The volcano is very close. We’re almost there.”
Although hidden at the moment because the cliffs were in the way, Elias had watched the volcano grow larger and larger on the horizon throughout their two-week trip on the Island Behemoth. He had watched its odd western slope with interest, wondering why it looked as though titanic forces had sliced it to expose a cross-section of the mountain to the elements.
Vanor walked up to Tristan with heavy footsteps, but the wurl gave the nearest crystals as wide a berth as possible. He nosed Lyrana’s scale with interest instead.
“I think he likes it,” Tristan commented, raising the beautiful golden object.
“It’s a precious gift,” Elias replied.
“Yeah, although it’s really awkward to carry,” Tristan continued. “I have to use both hands or hold it under one arm, and I can’t use it and my shock spear at the same time. Maybe I could drill a couple of holes into it or use some adhesive to attach a strap. Then it could be a shield. I’ll do it first thing when we return.”
Elias looked at Tristan in silence for a moment. “When we return,” he repeated.
“Yes,” Tristan said vehemently. “We’ll go back, Eli. All of us.”
He brought the scale down hard, presumably to sink it into the sand and emphasize his point, but Tristan hit a half-buried rock instead.
Clang.
Elias relaxed the instant he heard the musical note. Just like when Lyrana had made it, the sound coming from the scale made him feel peaceful and at ease. The tension he had been holding left his shoulders, and he was caressed by relief.
Tristan relaxed visibly too, and he was not the only one.
“Tristan, look,” Elias said, pointing at the wurl.
“Oh wow.”
Narev, Vanor, and Siv had all lain down on the sand. They looked almost paralyzed, and they only moved again when Tristan picked up the scale and stopped its vibration.
“That was amazing,” Elias said.
“Yeah. And maybe it can come in handy.”
Elias looked up at the sky, and his apprehension came back. “We should be ready. Dresde could send Flyers to attack us at any second.”
“Maybe. Although we haven’t seen any since the atoll.”
“That’s true,” Elias conceded. “I wonder if maybe there aren’t any more left.”
Beep, beep.
Elias and Tristan glanced down at their links at the same time. Their notification indicator was blinking.
“A message,” Tristan said. “Maybe it’s from our parents.”
“Yeah,” Elias said, opening the file.
His eyes widened in shock. He looked at Tristan, who looked dumbstruck.
“Eli,” Tristan whispered. “This is from Oscar!”
Heart hammering in his chest, Elias looked at his link again and read.
Dear Eli and Tristan,
I hope you’re okay. I’m sending this message with the help of the Archaeus, a shuttle from the generation ship that Samantha and I are trying to get to fly again. If this works, we’ll pick up Samantha’s family and then look for you guys before heading to Portree. Dresde is probably going to chase us, so we don’t have much time. Please set your links to broadcast your position starting now, even if it drains the battery. Look for a shuttle in the sky.
Oscar.
“He’s alive,” Elias said under his breath. Then he raised his voice. “He’s alive!”
He could scarcely believe it. Tears of happiness welled up in his eyes.
“I knew it!” Tristan added, smiling. He hugged Elias and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Your brother is tough.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Elias whispered, touching his forehead reverently. “I had been so worried, Tristan. I was scared that he… that he….”
“I know. He’s okay, though! That’s the important part. And what’s this about a shuttle?”
“Not sure. I wonder why the message was so short.”
“In any case, let’s activate the position broadcast.”
“Right,” Elias replied, tapping his link while barely able to contain his excitement.
“This is amazing. And this person, Samantha? Is that the girl from the day of the storm?”
“I think so, yeah,” Elias said, remembering that Dresde had called the girl by that name. “Looks like she’s with Oscar now.”
“We need to get up there, over those cliffs. If Oscar’s nearby we might even be able to call him without the interference from the rocks. He can’t be far. We’ll find him, Eli! We need to get to him as soon as we can.”
Elias grinned and took a happy step forward, but a moment later he stopped. His shoulders slumped.
“No.” His voice was ashen.
Tristan blinked. “What?”
Elias walked up to Narev. The wurl crouched down obediently and allowed him to mount. Vanor and Siv grunted, sensing his inner turmoil. Narev himself projected concern.
“We can’t go to him, Tristan.”
“Why the hell not?” he asked, looking flabbergasted.
Elias closed his eyes briefly. “This is a chance.”
“A chance for what, exactly?”
“Oscar sent this message just now. He said that Dresde was likely going to pursue him, and that means she’s going to be distracted. She won’t be guarding her Flower. She’ll fly out to intercept Oscar and Samantha, wherever they may be.”
“Oh. So we can use this time to climb the volcano.”
“Yes. If we get to the Flower of the Sky and tear it out, she’ll be incapacitated. We’ll be able to find Sizzra’s egg, which is almost certainly going to be in the vicinity. Then we can go get Oscar. Once we have everyone together, you’ll return the Flower to its rightful place and we’ll move out.”
“But Oscar is going to be in danger,” Tristan protested. “What if Dresde reaches him before we get to the Flower?”
Elias’s lower lip quivered, but he set his features in iron determination. “This is our best chance. It’s the best strategy. You’re a soldier—I’m sure you agree.”
Tristan scowled. After a couple of seconds, though, he sighed and gave a reluctant nod. “Without Sizzra we don’t stand a chance against Dresde, not even with the help of Vanor, Narev, and Siv. She’s too powerful.”
“Exactly,” Elias confirmed.
“Are you sure about this plan?”
“Yes. Oscar’s giving us this chance, and we can’t waste it. Remember, even if we save Oscar and Sizzra’s daughter, we’ll never make it back to Portree without Dresde catching us first. We need to incapacitate her, and then….” He trailed off, unwilling to say what he knew had to be done to eliminate the threat of the wurl queen permanently.
“We’ll think about that when the time comes, okay?” Tristan told him, placing his hand on Elias’s leg. He picked up his scale from the sand and walked up to Vanor. A moment later he vaulted over the wurl’s spiked back. “Like I said at the beginning of this, Eli, I’m with you. If this is what you want to do, I’ll support you.”
Elias smiled. “Thank you, Tristan. Really.”
“Now we need to figure out how in the world we’re going to get up there.”
“I think I know how. Give me a moment. Guys, come here.”
As he spoke, he projected the request, and the three wurl walked closer together until they were standing in a rough triangle, snouts touching.
We’re here, Elias thought, projecting his ideas with as much clarity as he could. He could sense Narev’s consciousness most clearly, but Vanor and Siv were also listening. We’ve traveled far to get here, to save Sizzra’s daughter. Help me find her.
He focused on his memory of the brief brush of awareness he had experienced the day of the storm, when Dresde had taken the egg. He tried to recall every detail of the beautiful white luster of the shell that encased the future Spine queen. As he did so, he quested out with his mind across the distance. Although he could get no real sense of the life around him because it belonged to another’s domain, he was still connected to Sizzra’s daughter, and he looked for her life-spark in the darkness.
The wurl helped. They understood what Elias was trying to do and added their strength to his. Narev and Siv were focused out of the devotion they’d held for Sizzra, but Vanor’s impetus to find the egg was far stronger and more urgent. This was his daughter. His mind burned with a desire to find her and save her.
A flicker of light. Elias sensed it as if from a great distance, but it was difficult to know where it was in the swirling shadows of the mind space. A moment later the light was gone; he had lost it, as if the emptiness itself had swallowed it.
Help me, guys.
Elias tried again, pouring more strength into the attempt. At first he sensed only shadows, and he grew scared, thinking he had lost the contact for good, but a sudden twinkle at the edge of his perception drew his attention, and he focused on it with everything he had. His mind reached out and was rewarded by recognition. He sensed a mind that still slumbered, a consciousness that resembled Sizzra and yet was different from her.
From the contact, Elias expanded his perception so distance and position would be clearer. He sensed great height and a specific direction.
There.
His eyes snapped open. “I found her.”
Tristan grinned. “Great! Let’s go!”
Vanor, Narev, and Siv roared at the same time, and their eyes flashed with the intensity of their emotions. They needed no encouragement. Under Elias’s direction they turned to the northeast and bounded forward, knocking a crystal out of the way in the wake of their stampede. They ran straight at the cliff wall and showed no intention of stopping.
“Eli?” Tristan said, sounding anxious. “What’s happening?”
“They know what to do. Hold on!”
He leaned forward and grabbed two of Narev’s spines not a moment too soon. With but a few meters left before he would have collided with the rocks, Narev launched himself at the sheer vertical surface with a mighty leap that sent him and Elias flying through the air. A moment later Elias’s teeth rattled with the impact against the rocks, and he braced himself for a fall that never came.
Cautiously, Elias opened his eyes.
“We’re on the wall,” Tristan exclaimed to Elias’s left. “We’re on the wall!”
Elias gripped the sides of Narev’s back with his legs and held tight to the spines.
Let’s go up.
Narev’s sharp metallic-sheened claws had sunk into the rock as if it had been nothing but paper. Under Elias’s direction he lifted his front right foot, reached above him, and pierced the rock again as he secured a new hold. He did the same with his left, and then his other four feet. The cliff wall gave way as though it posed no challenge at all.
Then Narev climbed.
Elias had never considered whether Spine wurl could scale vertical surfaces, but now he had his answer. Despite their heft, all three male wurl clawed their way up the cliff with ponderous but unhesitating proficiency. The more they rose, the smoother their climb became, almost as if they were finding it easier by the second. Elias concentrated on not moving, and he kept his gaze resolutely fixed on the back of Narev’s head, but after nearly half an hour had gone by, he could no longer resist the urge to look down, and he peeked for a moment.
He wished he hadn’t. They were already dizzyingly high up, and if he let go of the spines, there would be nothing stopping him from a fatal fall where his body would break against the black sand and the horrible crystals that looked like grains of rice from his vantage point. The wind had picked up, and it tousled his hair, bringing with it the musty scent of rotting algae and also something else, a vague hint that suggested something burning.
Claw followed claw, and Narev, tireless, scaled with precise strikes into the rock. Elias’s arms began to tremble, but he did not risk looking straight up to see how much farther they had to go out of fear of destabilizing both Narev and himself and making them fall.
It was therefore an abrupt surprise when Narev crested the cliff and heaved his body over the lip with a loud grunt.
“You did it,” Elias praised him, letting go of the spines. “Good boy.”
He patted Narev’s silver scales and dismounted to give him a chance to breathe.
“Took you long enough,” Tristan said playfully. He and Vanor were already there. Tristan was panting, but Vanor radiated energy and purpose.
Siv reached them a few seconds later. Once they were all together, Elias gazed around him in wonder.
“This place is beautiful,” he said, and he meant it.
The rolling slopes on which he stood were covered by greenery, an emerald carpet that spread out far into the distance. The sky overhead was a cloudless blue that reminded Elias of the water in the atoll, and the air was warm but had a faint crispness that suggested the first stirrings of autumn. He could see the thin outline of a river to the southeast, and there were strange trees dotting the landscape farther south.
