Guiding (2 page)

Nosku got to his feet, and he picked up two flat packs from under a seat in the transport, handing one to Ekinar.

Teyha looked at the swirling shadows and shrugged before starting to walk. This was going to be so much fun, she could barely stand it.

The foothills rapidly gave way to narrow canyons and eerie echoes.

The shadowed figures stayed behind her, but she could hear the huffing and puffing that accompanied their efforts.

Two hours in, the light was beginning to dim. Her other senses were compensating, but she had no idea what the capabilities of the Shadow Folk were. “We are going to stop for a rest.”

Nosku said, “No, we have to continue.”

She shook her head. “I am in charge. You will do no one any good if you drop from exhaustion. Sit, drink, have something to eat, and we will continue our discussion.”

Nosku shook his head. “We have to move as quickly as we can.”

“Ekinar, please get your friend to sit and eat. We won’t make it to the temple before dark, and I have some questions to ask you.” Teyha sat and fished out a ration pack, sipping at water slowly, washing down the compressed food.

Ekinar sat and took out his own meal, leaving Nosku fidgeting, his shadows flickering and flaring.

“Well, I suppose we are free to tell you what we are actually looking for.”

Teyha looked at him as her night vision began to take hold. “Please. I can be of better use if I know what I am seeking.”

Nosku was seated away from her, and he was vibrating with tension. “My nephew and two of his friends stole a shuttle to seek out the Temple of Shadows. We tracked them here, but we lost the signal. If we reported the stolen vehicle to the Nine, they would put it on my nephew’s record, and it would damage his chances for advancement when he enters the service.”

Teyha nodded. “And if you had told the Gaians, they would have had to report it to the mother ship before authorizing you to run around the surface.”

Ekinar nodded. “Correct. Any way we look at it, the children would suffer for being children.”

Teyha groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. “Okay, that is something completely different. How is your night vision?”

Nosku sat up, and his body language changed. “We can see easily in the dark.”

“Lucky you, so can I. I can get us to the site tonight, but we can’t try anything until the morning. The area is covered with glyphs and ancient language markings, and I have only managed to translate a few. Now, tell me about your myths and legends about the Temple of Shadows.”

Nosku nodded. “Thank you. Well, the Shadow Folk have always believed that the Temple of Shadows was the centre of our ancestors’ lives here on Underhill. It is an opening in the side of a mountain and only accessible by our kind.”

Teyha frowned. “That doesn’t sound right, but we will see when we get there.”

Ekinar finally stated the question that she had been waiting for. “Gaians can’t see in the dark.”

She blinked at him, her vision finally giving her an idea of the man behind the shadows. It was too early yet, too much light getting in the way, but she could make out sharply chiselled features and a quizzical expression. “Who said I could see in the dark? I have night vision. It is a very different thing.”

She had them wait while she attended to nature and returned to rifle through her pack, bringing out her bow and bolts.

“Why are you arming yourself?” Ekinar was close to her, and she found she didn’t mind.

“There are quite a few deadly beasts here in the area. Most are nocturnal, so our journey is taking us through their hunting grounds. Better safe than stupid.”

She put her pack back on and continued to sip on her water as she began to move again. They would follow her. She was their only chance.

Her senses were fully attuned to the night around her. A slow, rhythmic thudding was horribly familiar. Teyha whispered, “Get to the canyon walls and hold tight. We don’t have time to get out of here.”

Ekinar was moving as she ordered, but he asked, “What is it?”

“Stampede of Risshin deer followed by a Caplan.” She settled her back against the wall, and when Nosku stumbled to join them, she raised her bow and waited.

It took two minutes for the stampede to become audible to the others, and a minute after that, the deer rushed past them with the Caplan right behind them.

It was silly, but the initial settlers named animals on Gaia after themselves. The large feline known as a Caplan had six legs, teeth over a hand span long and a wicked temper.

The animal paused as it scented them, shaking its head in confusion. Teyha took aim, but she didn’t want to strike the Caplan if it wasn’t necessary.

Ekinar put his hand on her arm, and she watched him extend his other arm, snapping at the Caplan with the shadow that normally covered his body.

The Caplan whipped around in confusion, and Ekinar struck it again. Within fifteen seconds, the Caplan continued to chase the deer through the canyon, leaving the hikers alone.

“Nice trick.” Teyha released the tension on her bow.

“You didn’t want to kill it, and it didn’t need to die. It just had to be reminded of its food source.”

She chuckled. “Thank you. I thought those shadows had to be useful, though you do have striking features beyond it.”

Nosku gasped. “Ekinar, you showed her?”

She looked over at his face, and based on the Earth histories she had read, his face wore the stamp of the privileged classes. “He didn’t show me anything, and get that sneer off your face. It isn’t pretty.”

Nosku looked ill.

“If you are going to puke, do it over there.” She pointed across the way.

Teyha looked into Ekinar’s surprised face. “Well, shall we continue?”

He nodded, bemused. “Of course. They are depending on us.”

She hoisted her pack once again. “Damned straight.”

He clapped Nosku on the shoulder, and they resumed their walk.

Teyha took point once again and extended her senses into the dark. A few predators took a close look at them but decided better of attacking.

The hike took on a numb, exhausted mindlessness for her, but if there were lost teens, she wasn’t going to let her body pull her down.

She kept her thoughts focussed on the children, and when they finally stumbled out of the last rock canyon, it was with no small relief that she was able to say, “We have entered the Valley of Shadows. The temple is to the left.”

The huge valley was dotted with stalagmites, which gave it the daytime appearance of having thousands of shadows throughout.

“Do you see them?” Ekinar was at her shoulder.

“No, but their shuttle is right over there. Do you want to start there?” She pointed, but Nosku was already stumbling his way across the valley floor. “I will take that as a yes.”

She followed while she widened her personal sensory net. Three heartbeats were muffled but alive. There was only one problem. They weren’t in the temple. They were in the prison.

Chapter Three

“Ekinar, what was the description of the temple again?”

They were inside the shuttle, and Nosku was looking for any traces of his nephew.

“The fissure in a cavern wall, a place only the Shadow Folk can enter. Why?” Ekinar was watching Nosku’s attempt to start the shuttle, so he could check the records.

“This ship is dead. Unless you chop it into pieces and haul it out manually, this isn’t going anywhere.” Teyha was barely able to stay upright. Using her talent for an extended time was more exhausting than hiking in the dark.

“There has to be some trace of them here.” Nosku’s voice broke.

“There is. They are exactly where you said they would be. In the fissure, in the cliff, in a place only the Shadow Folk can go.” Teyha sighed, “But based on my early translations, it isn’t the temple, it is the prison.”

Nosku froze. “The pit?”

“Not so much a pit as a crevice with a warning around the door. Your folk were not here the last time I came, so I had to guess at the meaning.”

Ekinar put his hand on Nosku’s arm to calm him. “Where is it?”

“Come with me.”

She left the shuttle and made her way carefully to the doorway in the cliff face. In the dark, the glyphs were surprisingly clear to her. They were bright and seemed to glow from within.

“Where are you looking, Teyha?”

It was the first time that Ekinar had called her by name, and she had to throttle down the pleased surge of emotion that occurred when he wrapped his lips around her syllables.

“The glyphs around the doorway. Don’t you see them?” She pointed, and when he still frowned and squinted in the direction she was pointing, she took his hand and pressed it to the stone.

Nosku grabbed her shoulder. “Where are they?”

“They are in the cave. Three heartbeats, all stable.” Teyha compared the beats to the men in front of her. “Maybe the heartbeats are a little fast.”

Nosku pushed past her and into the cave.

“No, don’t go in there.” She spoke to his back, and when he passed the threshold that lined the chasm, he was trapped. “Damn it.”

“I can’t see him. Where is he?” Ekinar was frowning. His hands were still on the wall, tracing the carvings one by one.

“He is in the Prison of Shadows if these glyphs are any indication. Can you read them?”

He jerked toward the opening. “We have to get them out.”

“We will, but we need to know what we are going into. I can’t read the glyphs properly until it is light out, so we either get you to translate by touch or you blunder into the cave and get stuck like the others.” Teyha leaned against the wall and gave into the urge to use it for support.

“You do not look well.”

“I don’t usually use my talent for stretches that are this long.”

He took her arm and helped her sit. “Relax. If you need light, we will wait for light.”

She nodded and got out some water. Sighing as she sipped and let the rehydration sooth her body. “Well, Nosku has rations and water, so the kids should be fine for a night.”

“You are right. How is it that you can see us as we are?”

Teyha chuckled. “I see a version of you. My talent is primarily a version of echolocation. I can feel heartbeats and sense shifts in topography. It does no good in the city, but thanks to my parents, I got plenty of practice out in the canyons and abandoned settlements.”

“You have been to other cities?”

She chuckled. “Until the Nine locked into position above us, a few of us were still busy learning everything we could about Gaia. Once the Tokkel attacked, we all concentrated on recovering from those first devastating days. It is amazing that so few deaths could make such a huge impact.”

Teyha knew she was rambling, but she was just so tired. She used her pack as a cushion and relaxed against it, breathing evenly until she was able to slip into a light sleep.

* * * *

Ekinar sensed her shift into sleep. He couldn’t feel any of his folk around him, and if he hadn’t known about the barrier she had mentioned, he would have followed Nosku into the chasm.

The small Gaian was a curious creature, but she was making every effort to allow him his privacy. It was something that he appreciated, but once he had touched her, he knew something she didn’t. Teyha was going to be his.

Ekinar Rossing had searched for a suitable female for ten years. In a few hours, this woman had not only seen through the mask that he and the rest of his folk wore, but she had been unmoved by it.

It was a slight prick to his ego that she had not fallen under the spell of his physical perfection, but since she was on the clock, he supposed that he could put his ego aside and simply enjoy her nearness.

There were formalities to go through. He needed to give her a piece of his shadow to sync her body to his and let him know her moods, but that would wait. He didn’t want to chance the dark energy disrupting what he had just read.

And so, when they have displeased their folk, the Shadows shall be pressed into the cavern until such time as their sentence has been accrued. Once that time has gone, they will only leave with the touch of the light and drawn through the barrier that marked their imprisonment.

It was formally worded, but Ekinar was hopeful that Teyha qualified as the light and that she could bring the children and Nosku back through.

* * * *

Teyha woke with a jolt as light started to caress her. She sat up, groaned and looked to Ekinar.

He was seated in the same position she had just been in, and he stirred when she dropped her pack and stood up.

“Nature calls. I will be right back.” Teyha moved and stretched her stiff limbs as she located a suitably hidden outcropping.

After she was suited back up, she returned to the chasm, staring at the now-visible glyphs while she washed her hands in some of her drinking water before grabbing a ration pack out of her bag.