The Hunt for the Hollower, page 12
“Wait until we tell her how many things we broke!” he answered.
“Septimum Genus, you must not be distracted if you are to succeed.”
Merlynda frowned at Lady Phelia. “Neci’s not a distraction. She’s my best friend.”
The Oceanid inclined her head. “As you say. We will continue training tomorrow. Rest well, Merlynda. It will take all your focus if you are to face the Hollower.”
Iggy bared his tiny teeth. “It’s the Hollower who ought to be ready to face us!”
Batu and Neci were already at the table, sitting as far apart as possible. Merlynda and Iggy sat down next to the new Oceasha trainee.
“We broke things,” Iggy said.
“I had a sweet pie,” Neci answered. She unwrapped a napkin and offered them each one. Even though they were still on a quest, and faced a terrible foe, and Merlynda was desperate to find Percy—even though they were somewhere in the depths of the ocean, and Batu bolted his food down and then left in a hurry—things weren’t as dark as they could’ve been because Merlynda and Iggy and Neci had one another.
8 In which Merlynda discovers a betrayal
After several days in the underwater city, Batu decided that he may as well leave his room for something other than food. He’d spent his waking moments mourning the loss of his lute and panpipes—especially the lute. He wished Merlynda hadn’t smashed it. He knew he deserved it, but oh, how he missed his music.
Batu avoided the girls. If he was going to be a solo wandering minstrel, he may as well start practicing now. Besides, his previous efforts at making friends had failed, and he was sure he’d make things worse by trying again (even though at least a tiny part of him wanted to). And this Hollower business sounded serious. He didn’t want to get in the way of their training. But listening to Neci chatter during meals made him realize how big Oceanus was, so he figured that if Neci and Merlynda could find things that interested them, perhaps he could too. Or maybe one of those bubble things they’d seen when they first arrived could take him back to land, and he could get started with his wandering.
He let his hand trail along the damp hallway wall as he walked. Veins of pale moss stretched and spiraled along it, offering light that splashed across his tawny skin. Despite being underwater, the city never felt cold or clammy or drippy. It was warm and inviting and wholly foreign to Batu.
He wandered down hallways, through chambers, and around parks, past groups of blue-skinned Oceanids going about their business. Batu walked until he was lost, and then he walked more. He hadn’t been able to go where he pleased since the Nordvings had captured him. He could only do it now because the girls had rescued him.
Plinking and plucking sounded in a nearby chamber—music! He didn’t need to tell his feet where to go.
A single Oceanid sat at a harp. Xanthe, Batu realized, the Oceanid who was originally supposed to teach him… something. He’d stormed off before learning what. She appeared younger than many of the others, except her eyes looked ancient, or like they knew of ancient things.
Xanthe caught Batu listening and smiled at him. She played a deceptively simple melody on a whalebone harp, moving in rhythm with the music as if she were floating on the waves. When she finished, he realized he’d been holding his breath, afraid to miss a single note. “That was beautiful,” he breathed.
“Thank you. Do you play?”
Somehow Batu thought she already knew the answer. “Lute, mostly. And a few other things.”
Xanthe offered him the stool, and Batu swept down so quickly, it was hard to tell whether he’d sat on it or collapsed. He’d never seen anything as lovely as the harp, with its beautiful carvings that spoke of water and freedom, with all those strings waiting for him.
He poised his hands the way he’d seen Xanthe position hers, hesitant.
“Would you like me to show you?” Xanthe asked.
Batu examined the strings. Was he a musician, or wasn’t he?
He plucked a few strings, testing to find strings Xanthe had used. As he gained confidence, he layered in notes and chords until he was playing something that was close to her melody, but not quite.
When he’d finished, Batu stood and smirked. He was starting to feel like his old self again (he didn’t understand that this was not a good thing). “Not too bad for a first try, is it?”
Xanthe stared at him, appraising. She swept onto the stool, pulled the harp toward her, and closed her eyes.
A storm of sound thundered inside the chamber, tearing across the strings and piercing Batu’s heart with its pain, its joy, its laughter, its sorrow. Whatever confidence Batu felt evaporated. Compared to this, his copycat melody was insignificant. Less than insignificant. His technical expertise and skills were nothing.
He was enraptured. The music flooded his ears, his heart, his soul, and he realized he’d never truly played music before. Not like this. Not with such honesty.
“My music has moved many, Batu of the Lake, but I believe your story is greater than that. Why do your tears flow?”
He wiped at his face. Where to start? Before running away, his uncle never allowed him to cry even when he had good reason to. Then he’d always had to act tough around the Nordvings, which had grown into shoving down his hurt as a matter of practice. But now it felt like everything at last could be free.
“I’ve been horrible,” he finally managed. “Neci and Merlynda rescued me when they didn’t have to—without even knowing me!” This was a shallow description, but Batu wasn’t sure what would happen if he went deeper. “I couldn’t escape on my own. It made me feel small somehow. But that’s stupid—of course I’m glad to be rescued. And then I tried to talk to them, but it always came out wrong, and… and then I crashed our ship. Because I liked the sirens’ song.”
Xanthe understood. “The sirens have lured many good men to their deaths.”
“But I’m not a good man. I’m selfish.” He wiped another angry tear, but he was only angry at himself. “What an excellent way to say thank you, by being a jerk and nearly killing us.”
The sound storm continued to wash over him. Batu couldn’t get it out of his heart. “Would you teach me?” he asked, earnest. “Music. Real music. I know theory and technique, but what you played…”
Xanthe stood and gestured to the stool. Batu sat.
* * *
Day after day Neci and Arjia went back to the park to sit and meditate and try to be still like water. Neci was a little better at sitting quietly now. Not much, but she didn’t fidget as often.
She also couldn’t take it anymore.
“Arjia,” she said, “I know water is calm, but—it can also be torrential and devastating.”
Arjia raised an eyebrow for Neci to continue.
“Could we maybe try a bit of the devastating part?” Neci pleaded.
The Oceanid considered. “All right. Stand.”
Neci jumped to her feet. Finally!
“We’ll begin with Wave Form. Do as I do.” Arjia closed her eyes and slowly moved her hands back and forth in front of her body. “Feel the mighty rhythm of the ocean, in all her depth and power. She doesn’t hurry. She arrives exactly when she means to.”
Neci suppressed a groan.
She wandered into dinner still frustrated. She’d waved her arms back and forth all afternoon but didn’t feel the ocean any more than when she’d been back home weeding the carrot patch in the garden.
Neci found Merlynda half asleep in her soup. Iggy wasn’t much better.
“Want to go back to my room after this and check on our quest progress?” Neci asked her. “Arjia said they found my satchel.”
Merlynda jerked awake. Soup dribbled down her chin, and she wiped it off. “I can’t. Lady Phelia wants to have an extra session today.”
The door opened, and Lady Phelia glided in. “Are you ready, Merlynda? Ignus?”
Iggy let out a massive yawn, then curled up with his head tucked beneath his tail. Merlynda poked him. “Come on.” She turned to the Oceanid. “Have you found anything about the circle of stones on the parchment Percy sent me? Or heard from my parents?” They still had some time, but considerably less than when they’d arrived in Oceanus.
“We continue to search, Septimum Genus. And I’m afraid there’s still been no word. Come, let us continue your lessons.” Lady Phelia gave Neci a cold smile before following them out.
Neci frowned after her. She’d barely seen Merlynda since training had started, and the wizardess was always exhausted. Even so, she seemed to be having a more exciting time than Neci, which the knight in training tried very hard not to envy.
Batu walked in and shuffled over to his customary seat as far away as possible. He glanced at her, then busied himself with his soup.
Neci grabbed a hunk of bread and stormed out.
True to their word, the Oceanids had found their shipwreck and sent Neci’s belongings to her room. They were set up on a little table—her satchel, her books, even her sling. The Oceanids had magicked the water out somehow, and she’d been reassured that her satchel was now waterproof. Everything was a shade or two darker than it was supposed to be, but the deep green leather on her copy of The Official Quest Requirements for Knighthood was still beautiful, even if some of the silver lettering had flaked off. She opened it. The pages were only a little wrinkled.
Something fluttered out from the book, and she bent to pick it up.
It was her birthday present from Merlynda, the ultrarare trading parchment that hadn’t been released yet. Or maybe it had now. Time felt slippery ever since arriving in Oceanus. How long had it been? How long did they have until the Shadow Sun? Without sunrises and sunsets, it was hard to tell.
Neci propped the parchment up on the table and studied it. It was all in one piece, but the paint was smudged, and you couldn’t make out any of the stats. Dame Joi’s and Merlyn’s faces were warped. Merlyn was leaning off to the side, as if he had somewhere better to be. Dame Joi reached for him, like she was afraid of being left behind.
She picked up the parchment, then made a fist and crushed it. She felt like Dame Joi.
* * *
The next morning Merlynda asked to have the day off. She was exhausted and wanted to catch up with Neci. There also wasn’t anything else she could possibly break in all of Oceanus, which worried her because that meant she’d break Oceanus.
The only good thing that had come from Lady Phelia’s teachings, as far as Merlynda could tell, was that now she and Iggy were definitely bonded. It was difficult for Merlynda to imagine ever not having Iggy around. And somehow, even if they had a hard time believing in themselves, they managed to believe in each other.
Lady Phelia wasn’t pleased with the request. “Has the Septimum Genus forgotten the incredible threat the Hollower poses?”
Iggy gave Lady Phelia a slight scowl. She sure was pushy.
Merlynda didn’t appreciate the Oceanid’s response either. “It’s all I think about,” she said. That, and the immense ache she felt from somehow creating the portal Percy vanished through, sending him straight into the cold embrace of the Hollower.
“You must not become distracted, Merlynda.”
“I’m not. But we’re not getting any better, and I’m exhausted. Just one day, to rest.”
Lady Phelia’s deep ocean eyes turned cold, but she dipped her willowy head in concession. “If the Septimum Genus wills it. We will continue tomorrow.”
Merlynda rushed back to the dining room. Batu wasn’t anywhere in sight, but Neci was finishing up breakfast. “Want to go exploring?”
Neci hesitated a moment. She missed spending time with Merlynda, but Oceasha training was supposed to get exciting today. Besides, why should Neci give up her studies for Merlynda when the wizardess never had for her?
To avoid making eye contact she checked that Faithful was strapped to her waist, but of course it was. “I can’t. Arjia is finally going to show me some weapons basics.”
“Oh.” Merlynda said in a small voice. “Iggy and I have the day off.”
“Sorry.”
The girls stood for a moment.
“See you at dinner?” Merlynda asked hopefully.
Neci shrugged.
“Okay.” Merlynda sat down to her porridge with Iggy. The day was going to feel extra empty without Neci. “Okay.”
* * *
“You are a quick learner, Batu of the Lake.” Xanthe stood up from where she’d been listening to him play and moved to a coral cabinet.
“You are an excellent teacher, Lady Xanthe.” Batu set the harp down to rest and bowed his head. “Thank you. Not just for the music, for—” He hesitated, not sure how to express what he was feeling. “For change,” he said simply.
“What changed?” The Oceanid removed a small chest from the cabinet and sat next to him.
Batu rested his head against the harp to think. “Me. I hated that Neci and Merlynda rescued me from the Nordvings when I couldn’t do it myself. I still thought I was better than them. But I’m not. Just different.”
“And are they better than you, or just different?”
He met her gaze. “Both, I think.”
Xanthe turned the chest around so that it faced him. “No two people are exactly alike, and each is gifted in their own way. Our differences make us stronger. Do you believe this?”
“Yes.” How could he not?
“Then accept this gift. I believe your friend would call it a ‘token.’ ”
She opened the chest, and his breath caught. Inside was an ocarina, painted in swirls and spirals that whooshed across it and moved as much as the ocean. Twelve delicate holes dotted the surface to allow air to pass through. Twelve meant it would be difficult to learn, even more difficult to master, but it also meant the possibilities were greater. It was filled with what could be.
“Oh. Oh, I can’t.” He wanted it, desperately, but he wasn’t worthy.
Xanthe picked it up. “This ocarina is made from Atlantean coral, a plant so strong, only magic-infused tools can craft and shape it. Coral is a living thing, Batu. It grows and breathes and is filled with the Aether. It will not fail you in this lifetime, nor in many lifetimes to come.”
She placed it in his hands. He sat, almost trembling, but already his mind was racing to translate what he knew of his panpipes to how the air would play and dance across each of the openings.
“Thank you,” he whispered. He didn’t know what else to say.
So he played.
* * *
Because Merlynda felt sad about Neci, and discouraged that her questing could mostly be chalked up under “failure,” she went back to something she was good at. She went to the library.
The Oceanus library was at the top of the city, with the ocean stretched overhead like the darkest of skies. Countless water lamps floated in the room, illuminating the books and winding pathways and artifacts on display. It was a treasure trove of history, magical and otherwise, of things barely explored or mostly unknown by land dwellers.
Iggy sniffed the air. “It smells old in here.”
Merlynda wandered through the shelves and displays with archaic findings and inscriptions. It wasn’t cozy the way the library in Merlyn Manor was, but it was still comfortable. Bookish people tend to find bookish places comforting, no matter where they are.
Iggy craned his neck around. There were an awful lot of books. And that wasn’t counting the manuscripts. And that wasn’t counting the scrolls. And that—
“I know,” Merlynda said. But researching was the best plan she had.
She ignored the thought in the back of her mind that this was hopeless. Percy’s parchment hadn’t been recovered along with Neci’s things, but Merlynda had described it in great detail to their hosts. Weeks ago Lady Phelia had assigned her Oceanids to research the circle of stones from Percy’s parchment, but they’d had no news.
Merlynda’s brow furrowed while she thought. Had it already been weeks since they’d gotten to Oceanus? Whenever she thought about how long they’d been in the city, the days turned fuzzy, so she couldn’t get an accurate count. There’d also been no messages from her parents, even though she’d asked Lady Phelia to send a few more.
They wound through the shelves and stacks, looking for anything that might help them. There was The Compendium of Poisonous Herbs and Their Uses, a book called Alchemists and the Errors of Arrogance, and a particularly large tome entitled A Truncated History of Life Underwater. There were displays of coral and shipwrecks and an entire wall full of bones from animals Merlynda couldn’t identify.
“Let’s look on the other side,” Iggy whispered. One of the displays had a skeleton laid out that seemed a little too much like a wyvern.
Merlynda hurried past the bones, turned a corner, and bumped into a desk. A stack of parchments wobbled, then spilled all over.
“What have you done?” a scratchy voice accused. It crashed through the silence of the library like an earthquake.
“I’m sorry!” Merlynda bent down and scrambled to gather the parchments. “I didn’t see—”
She glanced up and froze. A face full of sharp teeth was inches away.
The teeth lined a narrow, scaly beaklike jaw attached to a snakish head, with yellow eyes on either side. The head was big—big enough to chomp Merlynda in half with one bite. It was part of a long body that disappeared behind the desk. Several brown tentacles snaked out from behind the desk and used their suction cups to gather the parchments Merlynda had scattered.
“Are you helping or not?” The thing moved irritably out from behind the desk and twisted his head to get a better look at her. The head and snakelike body were attached to the tentacles, which acted like legs and arms all in one.
“Staring is rude,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Merlynda said.
The octopus-eel cocked his head to examine them up and down. “You’re that Septimum Genus girl. And her familiar.”
“Merlynda. And this is Iggy.”
Iggy almost mentioned that only his friends were allowed to call him that, but he got another good look at the mouth full of teeth and decided that the octopus-eel should be a friend.
