Aegis Rising (16 page)

“Chayton,” Mariah answered. “But I don’t think we really need to worry about him. Plus, he’s often in and out of the village. And he’s made good friends with us.” The friends remained quiet after that, looking over their shoulders once in a while to make sure no one else was around.

It was the second night since the five agreed to leave the valley. The day after the decision was made, the friends wandered around parts of the village where they were permitted, casually strolling and deftly swiping supplies they figured they would need for their journey.

They’d managed to cajole Akol into giving back their original clothing, which had been mended by some of the women in the village. The boys happily slid their hoodies on and the girls were more than pleased to have their jackets back. As they’d changed into their clothes, the five noted that the women had also added a thin but incredibly warm layer of hide inside their clothing for insulation.

The food and the packs had been the hardest of all to obtain, but with Tegan’s craftiness and Kody’s humoristic charm, they persuaded Huyani to give the five some “extra food to munch on throughout the day and a bit more for Kody’s large appetite.” Huyani had thoughtfully put the provisions in a medium-sized pack, which Kody took while giving Tegan a discreet wink. With one bag already in their hands, Jag and Aari seized four more from shelters that hadn’t been occupied during that time. There’d been some commotion afterward, but Akol told the friends that the villagers figured some mischievous children had decided to pull a prank and would fess up in due time.

Though the five were relieved to hear no one suspected them, the thieving didn’t make them feel exactly merry. They kept a low profile for the rest of that day and the next, resting as much as they could in preparation for the escape.

Now, in the middle of the night, wearing their comfortably extra-padded clothes, the five waited for Tegan to return. Mariah turned to Jag. “I still don’t know why you insisted on going through this way,” she whispered. “There was an exit on the east side of the valley closer to where our shelters were. We could have taken that route.”

Jag cocked his head at her. “We’ve been over this. I’ve pointed this out on the map before. I’m convinced the bears we were on brought us through the Pinecone valley, which is west of Dema-Ki, so logically the wreckage would be in this direction.”

“You better not be wrong, Jag. I’d hate to find a few hours from now that we’re on the wrong track.”

He smirked. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Tegan returned and nodded reassuringly. Picking up her pack, which contained the garments the friends had been wearing for the last couple of weeks, she waited for someone to direct them on. Jag took the lead and guided them past Huyani’s
neyra
. Carefully weaving through trees and bushes, they kept a steady pace.

Having stealthily slipped past several clusters of
neyra
, they reached an incline at the western edge of the valley and mounted the grassy slope. When they reached the top, they halted and their mouths rounded with amazement as they gazed at the sight about thirty paces in front of them.

“What is that thing?” Kody murmured, pointing to the shiny spherical structure ahead. It appeared to be about two stories high. The entire surface of the sphere seemed to give off a faint glow. At its base, two cylindrical assemblies protruded for a good length before submerging into the ground.

Kody walked up to the sphere and pressed his fingers against a foot-long metallic strip attached to a grove on the structure. With a muted yelp he drew back his hand. “That thing is
hot!
” Behind him, he heard Aari laughing out loud, followed by a “Shh!” from Jag and the girls.

Kody whipped around and glared at Aari, shaking his burning fingers. “What are you laughing at?” he growled.

Aari waved at the sphere. “That . . . is probably the villagers’ hot water reservoir, you moron.”

“Well
excuse
me for not being aware because hot water tanks are normally not huge globe-like structures. And besides, how do you know? Did Akol show you?”

Aari shook his head. “Nope. We didn’t get this far during the tour. I just figured it.” He tapped his temple with a smug little grin.

“How?”

“Pipes leading into the tank from the ground. Pipes going back into the ground for distribution, and—your scalded fingers. Duh.”

Now the girls were trying to suppress their laughter. Kody hissed at them and pressed his hand to the dew-covered grass to cool it. “Not even out of the valley yet and I got my first injury,” he muttered. Looking back at the sphere, he ventured, “Why then is it so shiny?”

“It’s made of glazed clay,” Aari explained. “Huyani told me that her people use it a lot around here. The pipes are made of it as well. It’s a great way to channel water and the clay is extremely heat resistant. The strip that you touched is probably some kind of gauge the villagers use to monitor the heat inside the tank.”

“Smart people,” Tegan commented. “So I guess it’s from this reservoir that the folks get their hot water and heat piped in.”

“That’s my guess,” Aari replied.

“But wait.” Mariah paced around the sphere and tried to look underneath it. “I don’t see a fire or any source of heat that would boil the water. So how . . . ?”

Aari narrowed his eyes and walked around it as well, then snapped his fingers as he suddenly recalled something. “Huyani told me about this. They must have built it over a hot spring.”

“A hot spring?” Jag sounded surprised. “Up here, this far north?”

“Oh, dude, hot springs are everywhere on the planet regardless of climate or geography. It comes from inside the earth. I think they use the sphere to capture the steam and carry it through a series of pipes to the entire village.”

“Ingenious,” Mariah said approvingly. “And isn’t the sphere the most efficient shape for pressurized content anyhow?”

Aari nodded slowly. “Yep.”

“Guys, look over there.” Tegan was standing beside Kody a few yards off, close to the river. She was pointing over the water at something the two were staring in awe at. The others walked up to them and couldn’t muffle the stunned gasps that escaped their throats.

On the far side of the river, the land was sloped as well. It was nearly a mirror image of the side the friends were standing on. There was one dramatic difference though: An astounding five-sided structure rested on a beautifully landscaped terrace carved out of the hill. Five large columns built from logs rose to a height of about thirty feet. What appeared to be statues of human figures stood at the top of each column, holding the domed roof in place.

What was more amazing was a dazzling, multicolored flame that streamed from a cauldron at the center of the foyer of the building. Now Aari was baffled. “How does that work? How can it continue jetting fire like that?”

Since no one had an answer, they stood together and enjoyed watching the colorful flames flare against the dark of the night. Mesmerized as they were by the sight, it took them several moments to shake off their trance and continue on with their journey.

They had walked on for a good ten minutes when Jag noticed a massive shadow looming up ahead. He frowned, his dread growing as they drew closer. They stopped and stared up at what appeared to be a dead end. In reality, it was a near-vertical incline along the line that, according to the map, separated Dema-Ki from the Pinecone valley.

Kody scanned it from bottom to top, wearing an aggravated look. “No way am I climbing
that
.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Mariah said hopefully. “It can’t be more than a hundred feet . . .”

“Do you hear yourself?” Jag demanded. “You put one hand or foot in the wrong place and you’ll drop like a rock. And we’re carrying packs too.”

“The bears couldn’t have climbed over that, especially not with us on their backs,” Aari said quietly. “Jag, we’ll have to go back to the other side of the valley to get out.”

Jag’s face fell. “No, wait. Maybe there’s a way around this. We’ll comb through this area for a passage or something, and if we can’t find anything . . . then we’ll double back to the eastern end.”

“Time’s a-tickin’, guys,” Tegan said anxiously.

“Fan out,” Jag ordered, spreading his arms.

They spread out, rapidly covering the base of the incline. Aari climbed onto a ledge and turned around. The clouds had parted, allowing light from the full moon to bathe the valley. The turquoise river shimmered in the light and could be seen winding through the center of the valley. The tops of the villagers’ shelters were barely distinguishable from the vegetation. To a casual observer, the village was nonexistent.

As he looked across the valley, the realization of what they were about to do hit him. They were parting from security and launching themselves against the power of the northern forests. They were truly putting themselves at the mercy of nature.

The clouds regrouped and obscured the moon, throwing the valley into the shadows once again. Jag walked toward the ledge and looked up at Aari, giving the other teenager a half-hearted grin. “Come on, Aari. We need to keep things moving.”

Aari nodded. As he jumped down, a happy exclamation caught the boys’ attention. “Found it! Think I found a way out!” Mariah waved at them from the north end of the wall.

The four looked at each other. “I figured we’d probably be stuck here for a while trying to find it,” Kody grinned. “I guess Lady Luck loves us.”

“Well,” Tegan said as she walked up to where Mariah was standing, “let’s hope this little romance lasts.”

The boys sauntered over to the girls and gazed in the direction they were looking. A path was barely visible, tunneled into the rock wall. The five peered into the looming darkness ahead.

“Should we use that portable oil lamp we took from Huyani’s?” Kody whispered nervously.

“We’ve only got a limited supply of oil in that thing,” Tegan murmured back. “We should try to not use it unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

The four looked at Tegan, peered into the dark tunnel, and looked at Tegan again. Kody clucked his tongue. “Methinks that right now, it
is
absolutely necessary.”

Tegan gazed into the tunnel and reluctantly agreed. Opening her pack, she took out the clay torch. Flicking a slim lever with her thumb, a small flame erupted to life and blinked. A crystal globe encircled the light. “Who wants to go in first?” she asked. The five looked at each other, no one volunteering.

Finally, Aari took a tentative step forward into the tunnel and put the hood of his jacket up. Tegan passed him the torch and his friends slowly followed him in. Jag took up position at the rear of the group and looked at the ground, noting in the flickering light how well-trodden it was. It gave him some comfort that the tunnel was obviously used by the villagers.

The five trekked on in silence for a couple of minutes, then Kody piped up. “Are we there yet?”

“No, Kode-man,” Aari replied.

Silence again.

Then: “Are we there yet?”

“No, Kode-man.”

More quiet ensued.

Finally: “Are we there yet?

“
Oy!
Shut up!”

Kody remained silent the rest of the way. Jag chuckled quietly, then looked around the tunnel. There was barely a clearance over the five’s heads, and the passageway was about six feet wide.
The bears must walk through here in single file,
he mused. In the small dancing light he observed the patches of moss that clung to the sides and water droplets falling from the ceiling. No one spoke for a length of time. The sound of dripping water seemed magnified in the stillness of the tunnel.

“I think I can see the end,” Aari reported after a few minutes, his voice low. Relief swept over the group. “I’m gonna turn off the torch to conserve the oil.” Before long, the five exited the tunnel.

As they stepped into open air again, Jag looked around. “So this must be the Pinecone valley.”

Aari handed the torch back to Tegan, who carefully put it back into her pack. “Yep. It feels more open out here.”

“Definitely matches the drawing on the map,” Jag agreed. “Less vegetation here compared to Dema-Ki.”

They’d taken a few steps forward when Tegan halted abruptly, causing Kody to bump into her. “Hey,” he said. “What gives?”

She smiled at them. “Just smell the fresh mountain air. Isn’t it nice?”

Her friends breathed in deeply, and as they exhaled, felt a pleasant sensation from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes.

“Kind of reminds me of the scenic drives we used to take to the national park back home,” Aari noted.

Mariah agreed. “And it’s just as pretty here. I’d love to see this place when it snows.”

“Can we stop to grab a bite?” Kody pleaded.

“We should walk for a while more, and then we’ll put up for the rest of the night,” Jag said. “We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the village.”

The five kept trekking for two hours more until Kody muttered another complaint about his hunger. Jag, Tegan, Aari, and Mariah glanced at each other and nodded. They came across an area of soft grass nestled in a grove of tall firs. Kody, apparently satisfied with the spot, sat down and opened the pack he was carrying. “Grab whatever y’all want.”

As the five ate a quick snack and took a few gulps of water from the water pelts they’d taken, they sat back against the trees and talked quietly for a bit. The girls unpacked the group’s sleeping bags and laid them side-by-side. The friends crawled into them and listened to the sounds of the night.

Just as they started to nod off, they heard a branch snap. Bolting upright, the five instinctively held their breaths. They waited a couple of minutes, then hesitantly lowered themselves back into their sleeping bags, but not before Kody whipped up a sturdy stick for safekeeping. “My insurance,” he explained.

“It was probably just some small animal,” Tegan said as she closed her eyes. “Good night, guys.”

“Night,” the others murmured. Within moments, the group was lulled to sleep with the quiet sounds of the forest.