Edge of Worlds (The Books of the Raksura) (45 page)

Moon wriggled silently back from the edge to where Jade and Stone waited. They retreated farther down the passage, out of earshot of the air shaft’s occupants, and Moon said softly, “At least we know there’s no neverending hallway trap at the bottom of that shaft. They have to be eating something.”

Stone said, “They’re probably from the ocean. Eyeless waterlings don’t live in seas this shallow.”

Moon nodded. “They must have washed up here in storms, and got in through the passages that are letting the water in. They probably only go out at night.”

Jade hissed impatiently. “I really don’t care how they got in, or what they do when they aren’t blocking our way out. How do we get down past them?”

“We don’t,” Stone told her. “We go up. If there’s one air shaft, there’s more. Before they sealed off the top of the city, that’s how they kept the air moving through here.”

“We have to go while it’s still daylight,” Moon added. “They probably start moving around at dark. There’s a chance they might clear out and go to some other part of the city, or go outside, but we just can’t risk it.”

“That makes sense.” Jade dropped her spines in chagrin. “I should have thought of that.”

“That’s why you have us,” Moon said, and thought,
we really need to get out of here
. They were all getting too exhausted to think straight. Jade had told the others to eat and rest while they were waiting, but that wasn’t going to be enough. And it was never good to stay too long in enclosed spaces with no fresh air. If this place had been originally designed to be ventilated from the outside, then having all those openings closed off wasn’t helping.

Jade squeezed his wrist. “Right. I’ll go up and see if I can find an opening to another level.”

“Let me do it,” Moon said, keeping his voice casual. The image of Jade slipping and falling because she was too tired to climb made his chest constrict. “This is why you brought me.”

Jade said, wryly, “I brought you for sex.”

“Ha.” It was good she could still joke but he hoped it didn’t mean she was getting loopy. “Sex and climbing walls.”

Stone said, “Jade, he’s right. The warriors are exhausted, and if the connecting passages are this size, I can’t fit into them. We can’t risk losing the queen.”

Jade growled under her breath. “I don’t care if he’s right, I’m going. You two get ready because if I wake the waterlings it’s not going to matter.”

Moon drew breath to argue and Stone punched him in the chest. Jade, already turning to creep back to the edge of the shaft, didn’t see. Rubbing the injured spot, Moon waited until she was out of earshot to whisper, “You said I was right!”

“She doesn’t need an argument right now. Neither do I,” Stone said pointedly.

“Fine.” One reason to send someone ahead was that they needed to know if moving into the shaft would rouse the waterlings. If it did, it would be very, very bad. “Why don’t you go back to the others and get ready to die horribly when the waterlings swarm us?”

“Why don’t I,” Stone said, and turned back down the passage.

Moving quietly, Moon went to the edge of the shaft. Jade had slipped out to cling to the side and cautiously moved upward. The rock was heavily pitted and made for easy climbing. It was just the sleeping waterlings that were the problem.

Moon gripped the edge and leaned out, trying to see if there was an opening to another passage. The light from above was faint, but it was just enough to throw shadows. And there, about fifty paces up and on the far side of the shaft, was a door-sized square shadow.

Jade had seen it too and climbed toward it slowly, obviously being careful not to make any noise louder than the gusty exhalations of the sleeping waterlings. Like sealings, they probably weren’t scent hunters, and hopefully their senses weren’t as acute out of the water as in it.

Jade reached the door and swung inside, and Moon retreated back down the passage. He let his breath out in relief and scrubbed his face with the heels of his hands. Time passed excruciatingly slowly, then Jade climbed back inside the passage so suddenly and silently Moon flinched. She drew him further back, and said quietly, “That’s it. It leads to an open hall with several stairwells heading down. There were other openings farther up, but the less time we spend in that shaft the better.”

It was good news, until Jade stumbled and caught Moon’s arm to steady herself. When she pulled away he caught her wrist and said, “On the boat, did you sleep? Don’t lie.”

She bared her teeth and he bared his back. Then she hissed, frustrated. “The sunsailer’s crew was starting to panic and Callumkal needed help. They had to see we weren’t afraid, they had to see—I slept for a little while.”

Moon hesitated. He was trying to think how long that meant Jade had been awake. They had all napped in the boat on the way back from searching for the Fell nest, but that hadn’t exactly been undisturbed rest. She said, “It was a mistake, I should have slept more. There’s nothing I can do about it now,” and pulled away from him.

They followed the passage back to where the others waited. Moon’s mind was racing for a solution, anything to make it easier for Jade. They just couldn’t afford to stop here longer, not so close to the waterlings.
I should have made sure she had a chance to rest
, he thought, furious at himself. The terrible thought of returning to the colony and his clutch without Jade stopped his breath for a moment. He couldn’t let that happen.

Stone had already told the others about the air shaft and what was in it. While Jade described the climb and the potential way out, Moon crouched down beside Bramble. “Do you still have some food? Jade hasn’t eaten.”

Bramble, far more expert than Moon at reading spines and expressions, went still for a moment, then pulled her pack around to dig through it. “There’s some of that dried seaweed, and Acama on the sunsailer said this bread stuff with the red flakes is supposed to be a stimulant but I don’t think it works on us.”

Jade was saying, “It’s not a long climb, but we’ll need to move fast.”

Rorra leaned forward. “You all can’t fly in that shaft, but I can. I can take you up one by one. It will perhaps be quieter.”

Jade tilted her head in acknowledgment. “We can start climbing, and you can come back for each of us in turn. That should cut down on the time, and the faster we get away from those waterlings, the better.”

Delin frowned in concern. “Will your pack last? The substance within will need to be renewed at some point.”

Rorra shifted around. “Check the levels for me. We weren’t long getting to the junction, so it should still be at least half full. It’s a good thing I didn’t try to use it in the endless corridor, or it would be empty.”

As Delin tugged at various things or peered into parts of the pack, Moon told Jade, “Eat something. Everyone else did.”

Jade grimaced but didn’t argue. She bit into the piece of dried seaweed Moon handed her and said to the others, “Just be quiet, and everything will be fine.”

While Jade was chewing, Bramble turned to the others and said, “Rorra, you’re going to have to take Stone.”

Stone growled in annoyance but didn’t protest. With the passages too small to accommodate his shifted form, it was the best solution. Rorra just nodded. Bramble added, “And I think Jade should go first.”

Thankfully, Jade let Bramble sort out the order everyone should go in. Moon figured as an Arbora she was the one in the group most likely to still be able to think straight. Arbora were stronger than groundlings or sealings and didn’t need nearly as much sleep as the Aeriat. At least, he hoped this was the case. It would be nice to have someone in the group who could still think straight.

Everyone put their lights away in their packs, and they moved quietly up the passage toward the opening. When Jade slipped out into the shaft, Moon felt every nerve in his body tense. Rorra tugged on her pack’s strap, lifted off the floor of the passage a little, and turned to Stone. His voice low, he said, “I’d rather you go out first and then I’ll jump to you.”

Rorra whispered, “Hah, no thank you.” They managed a very awkward embrace and Rorra ducked out into the shaft.

Chime pulled Moon back a little, and whispered, “Is something wrong with Jade?”

“Just tired,” Moon said, with a grim
I’ll tell you later
look.

Chime winced, said, “Oh,” and didn’t ask anything further.

Bramble, crouched at the opening, motioned for Root to go next, then for Chime to follow him. Moon let out the breath he had been holding when she signaled that Jade had reached the doorway successfully. Rorra came back for Delin, and Song and Briar moved forward for their turn. Below the waterlings murmured in their sleep, and Bramble turned around to Moon and mouthed the words, “This is terrifying.”

Moon nodded. His nerves were so tight he thought his spines were going to snap. Song went next. Rorra returned, and Moon pointed for her to take Bramble. Bramble glared, because her plan had included Moon going with Rorra, but Moon wasn’t going to leave an Arbora in this passage alone, even for a few moments.

Once Rorra and Bramble were moving upward through the shaft, Briar climbed out. Moon waited for her to get far enough away, then started his climb. The air in the shaft was heavy with the acrid scent of the waterlings, far more so than the passage. Moon realized it was their breath, rising in the cool unmoving air, and his spines twitched involuntarily. He concentrated on not letting his claws slip on the pitted rock.

Rorra and Bramble floated up to the opening and Stone reached out to take Bramble, then to pull Rorra inside. Then Song reached the doorway and climbed in. With some way still to go, Briar climbed silently, her pack slung back over her shoulder so it wouldn’t bump the wall. They made it around the curve of the shaft and Briar was almost within reach of the doorway. Moon was about ten paces behind her. Then from below, something groaned.

Moon flinched and froze. It was a low wail that rose in pitch as it rose in volume. It ended in a gasp, and Moon looked up at Briar. There was just enough light to see her wide-eyed expression.
Our luck just ran out
, Moon thought. He flicked his spines and tail, telling her to keep moving, and Briar resumed her climb, moving with less caution and more speed.

Below, bodies slid over each other as the waterlings stirred. Another groan split the air and it was answered by a chorus of breathy exhalations.

Moon climbed, glancing down. Light glinted on the scaled forms as they stretched and uncurled, their claws clicked on the rock. Above, Briar swung into the opening and then Rorra suddenly dove out. She maneuvered down level with Moon, and he flattened his spines so she could put an arm around his waist. Forcing himself to let go of the wall to grab onto her shoulders took an extra moment of effort he knew they couldn’t afford. His weight made her sink down for a breathless heartbeat, then her pack lifted them both up.

Something seized Moon’s lower leg, a weight dragged them down. Snarling, he looked down to see a waterling clung to the wall just below them. Rorra must be looking down too because the distance-light on her shoulder shone down on the creature. Its upper half was vaguely groundling-shaped, with a blue-scaled torso and an oval eyeless head. The two largest claws, one of which had closed around Moon’s leg, were where a groundling’s arms would be, but more limbs sprouted below them, and the lower body was much wider, extending out to accommodate six clawed segmented limbs. Moon raked the claws of his other foot across the creature’s claw, but they glanced off the hard surface. He growled, “Rorra, let go.”

Rorra, struggling to support his weight, gasped, “No.”

There was no time to argue. Moon grabbed her shoulders and shoved out of her grip. The waterling yanked him down straight toward its mouth, its distended jaw opening wide, fangs gleaming. Moon flung his weight sideways and grabbed the clawed limb at the joint, then twisted it down. He fell and hung upside down, supported only by the creature’s abused joint. The waterling screamed as its joint popped out and Moon slammed into the wall, dangerously close to the creature’s lower limbs. He jerked free of the slack claw and scrabbled away along the wall.

More waterlings scrambled up the wall toward him and he climbed rapidly up past the screaming injured one. It flailed at him with its remaining claw then abruptly fell backward and down the shaft. Moon looked up and saw Jade on the wall just above where the creature had been, snarling in fury.

“Go, I’m coming,” Moon yelled and climbed faster. Then Rorra dropped down and this time Moon let her grab him. As they lifted up, Jade turned and climbed toward the opening.

Jade reached the edge and pulled herself inside. Rorra lifted up even with it, and Jade caught Moon’s arm and dragged him in. As Rorra caught the edge to pull herself after him, a waterling rose up behind her and claws snatched at her waist.

Moon and Jade were off-balance, in the wrong position, and even as Moon tried to lunge for Rorra, he knew neither of them would be able to reach her. Then Stone stepped on him, flattened him to the floor, and leaned out the opening. He reached past Rorra, seized the creature’s head, and twisted sharply. The audible snap echoed off the walls and the creature dropped, lifeless. Stone snatched Rorra out of its grip, Jade grabbed Stone around the waist, and they all tumbled forward into the passage on top of Moon.

Smushed on the bottom, Moon couldn’t do anything but hold his breath as the weight was lifted. When Jade climbed off him, he gasped to fill his empty lungs and staggered to his feet. Chime grabbed his arm and pulled him down the passage. Jade was hissing, “Go, go, move, hurry!”

Moon followed the others down the dark passage. Beside him, Rorra muttered, “I didn’t know Stone could do that. Not as he is, I mean. Not large.”

“That’s why we try not to argue with him,” Chime told her, breathless with nerves.

Behind them, Stone snorted derisively.

Moon said to Rorra, “He’s got really good hearing, too.”

Light bloomed ahead as Song and Briar dug their lights out of their packs again. They were in a passage larger than the one below, and the others made way for Jade as she moved forward to lead them. Root glanced back, whispering, “That wasn’t fair! We did everything right, nobody made any noise, and they know we’re here anyway.”