Call of Sunteri (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 2) (10 page)

“Out the window.”

Yes, out the window. I push it open and shiver as a gust of wind nearly blows me back inside. Back where my bed is still warm.

“Climb.”

Yes, climb. My teeth chatter. I straddle the sill. Pull on my gloves. Wish I had my cloak. Doesn’t matter. I climb down the side of the manse. I know the footing well. It’s familiar now. Second nature. The snow on the street below is thick. Up to my knees. It finally stopped falling, though. Now there’s just the frigid wind.

I creep close to the walls of houses and shops as I make my way into the heart of the city. I don’t know where I’m going, but I know the way. Not sure why, but I know I have to. Something in my mind nudges me. Pushes me along. Northward. Westward. I vaguely remember the promise of an adventure. I wonder if this is it. No, Saesa was supposed to come with me. This must be something smaller. Never been this deep into the city. It feels different here. More serious. I stop in an alley and crouch in the shadows. Peer across the street at a low building. There’s no moon tonight, but my eyes have adjusted to the darkness.

“Get inside.”

Yes, get inside. Five men mill around outside the small stone building. Not guards, thugs. It’s one story. A shed, or a shack. Not even as big as our house back home. I have to get in. I creep toward it in the shadows and hide against the side wall. Watch. Listen. No windows on this side to climb through. No chimney on top. There’s only one door, and they’re all in front of it. Smoking herbs. I creep closer. Slide along the wall to the back, then around to the other side. No windows at all. It’s all stone. I come around toward the front again. Peek around the corner.

The men are supposed to be watching, but they’re not. They’re distracted. Talking.

“Who cares what it is? Doesn’t matter, long as we get paid,” the biggest one says. He’s got a hood on. A broadsword. Chain mail. Wolf’s head cloak. Its empty eye sockets stare at me. I creep closer. Press myself against the wall. Wait in shadows. Move slowly. Toward the door. Toward the men. I’m not afraid, just determined.

“If it’s worth more than they’re payin’ us, we could sell it ourselves. Split it four ways,” another man says. He’s got a club. Fists the size of a horse’s head. I try to make myself smaller. Hide in the dark. Hold my breath.

“Five ways,” another says. Dressed in dark leather. Decked all over with knives and daggers. He throws a knife into the hitching post nearby. It’s already peppered with blades. He throws another.

“Yeah, five ways.” The horse-fisted one says, after counting all of them again and remembering himself this time. I glance at the door. It’s ajar. There’s a big enough space. I’m small enough. I could slip between the broad sword man and the knife-throwing man. I’m right here. They haven’t noticed me yet.

“Brilliant plan, Muster. Would be, if our client wasn’t so terrifying.” I didn’t realize one was a woman until she speaks. She’s too covered up in her cloak.

“You scared of him, Stone?” The knife one says.

“You didn’t meet him,” the woman replies. “You’d be, too. Leave it alone. It’s an easy job. Just wait here until he comes to pick it up. Then he pays us money. A lot of money. Trust me.”

“Do it now.”

Yes, now. Now, before I can think too much. Before I lose my courage. I slip behind the big one. Past the one with the knives. Push the door open slowly, carefully. It squeaks. I freeze.

“You’re getting soft—” the one nearest me stands straighter. Turns his head toward me. Reaches for one of his many knives. Around me, the air shimmers. He looks right at me. I hold my breath, brace for the knife. He doesn’t do anything. He can’t see me. I slip inside, where it’s even darker.

“Dub?”

“Thought I heard something,” says the knife one. They keep talking but I don’t stay to listen. I slide along the wall, feeling my way deeper into the darkness. The stone is cold. Wet. The floor is wood, half-rotted. Creaky. Dub comes in, too. The one with the knives. He creeps around looking for me, but I evade him easily.

“Find the hatch.”

Yes, find the hatch. Quickly. I sink to my knees. Search the floor with my hands. Find a raised board, a metal ring. It clanks loudly. A knife whizzes past my ear. I don’t think. I roll to the side. The blade thuds into the floor beside me. The door slams shut. Outside, the thugs pound on it. Shouting. Rattling it.

“
Roll left!
”

Roll left. My body acts without thinking. Another knife misses me by a hair, striking the floor where I just was. I grab my own knife from my belt. A flash of golden light blinds me. I see a glimpse of a figure, tiny and golden beside my ear. It darts away from me in a streak. Charges the knife man. Throws a golden spear right into his eye. He doubles over, screaming. Outside, they slam against the door. It splinters.

“Into the hatch!”

Yes, into the hatch. I grasp the ring with both hands. Yank it open. Lower myself inside. Down the rungs of a ladder. Deeper into darkness. Away from the chaos above. The golden figure is gone. The hatch slams shut.

Down, down, until my arms and feet ache. Down until I feel the pressure in my ears and have to open my mouth wide to relieve it. I think about the trees. The roots. The darkness. This shaft is small. Suffocating. I start to panic. Wrap my arms around the rungs. Pant. Shake. Cling.

“Keep going.”

Yes, keep going. No, I can’t. I can’t. My feet won’t let me. My eyes strain in the darkness. I can’t see. I’m blind. I’m trapped.

“I can’t,” I whisper.

“You can. You will.”

Yes, I will. I forget my fear. Don’t remember it now. Keep going down. Like up above, my body moves without me thinking. My boots find the bottom. Packed dirt. It smells here, like mold and decay. A golden light builds slowly above me, glowing just bright enough to show me the small space without hurting my eyes.

“There. The box.”

Yes, the box. I see it in the center of the room. A metal chest encrusted with jewels. Sapphire and emerald and ruby. I pick it up. Turn it in the light. Watch the gems flash and glow.

“Open it.”

I turn it over and over. It’s molded shut. I can’t find the lid. I press on the gems. Nothing happens.

“It can’t open,” I say.

“Be quiet.”

Yes, be quiet.

The golden figure appears again. Lands on the box. Places his hands on it. Makes it glow. The top of it slides open. The figure moves away. Its golden wings flutter as I stare at it. It looks up at me, into my eyes.

“Mevyn.” I whisper.

“
Quiet,
” Mevyn says again. He looks into the box. So do I. Inside is a filthy pile of rags and yarn. A button eye. A frayed, stitched-on smile. A doll, a ruined doll. Beside it, pale and sickly, is another tiny figure. Another fairy, like Mevyn. His clothes are rumpled and frayed, his skin smudged with dirt. His wings are sticks of wood that poke out of his back. He turns his head slowly toward us.

“The princess,” he says. I blink. Fight through the fog in my head. Remember Margy and her grief over the lost doll. Her secret in my room.

“Twig?” I whisper.

“Tell her,” he says weakly, “I’m safe. Tell her.”

“Yes,” says Mevyn.

“Burn the tether. I’ll send a new one. Find me in Kythshire.”

“Wait,” Mevyn says, but he’s too late. Twig fades away. Disappears. Mevyn growls. Kicks the box. “Take the tether,” he says to me. “Take it and leave the box. Let’s go.”

Tib

I do as I’m told. Scoop the tattered doll from the box. Stuff it into my trouser pocket. Turn to Mevyn. Behind him, the shadows seep together. Swirl. Form into a dark figure. Terror grips me. Worse than my fear of the roots. Worse than my fear of anything else. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.

“This is your champion?” The shadow laughs cruelly. “This boy? This pile of crumpled fear?”

My knees quake. I collapse to the floor, trembling. Whimpering. This shadow will destroy me. This shadow will overcome everything.

“Get up.”

Yes, get up. I push myself to my feet. My legs wobble like jelly. The shadow moves closer.

“Stand your ground.”

Yes, stand my ground. I square my shoulders. Take a deep breath. Try to be brave. My instincts tell me otherwise. They tell me to run. Run far away. Up the ladder. Back to Nessa’s. Back to where I’ll be safe. Never come here again.

“Mevyn, Mevyn…” the shadow laughs. “I thought you were smarter. More resourceful. Is this really all it took to lure you in? All it took to trap you? I’m disappointed.”

Mevyn doesn’t say anything. He puts himself between me and the shadow. Raises his spear. I honestly don’t think the weapon will do anything against it. It makes me feel better, though. Protected.

“Don’t listen to him. Stand with me. He can’t harm us.”

“Ha! But I can.”

“You know that you can’t touch him, or me. We’re leaving. We did what we came to do.” Mevyn flies to the ladder. Lights the way into the shaft.

“Climb.”

Yes, climb. I start to follow, wary of the swirling darkness that watches me with no eyes.

“He cannot. His legs are bound.”

I look down. My ankles snap together. I try to walk but I stumble forward.

“Bound with what? Look closer, Tib.” Mevyn says. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Tib, is it?” The shadow asks as I realize Mevyn is right. There are no bindings. I’m free to move. I rush to the ladder. Start to climb. “Tib, wait a moment. Listen to me.” Every time he says my name, I feel a stronger connection to him. Like he’s my friend. Like he has power over me. His voice is soothing. It lures me. Makes me want to stay, to hear what he has to say to me. “Listen.” I pause with my hand on the wrung.

“Climb,”
says Mevyn both aloud and in my head.
His voice is booming. Earsplitting. It courses through my body, commanding. Pleading.

“Wait.”
The shadow demands.

Yes, wait. No, climb. Somehow I’m compelled to do both. My head starts to pound. My body fights itself. Hands cling, feet climb. Arms shake.

“What do you know of Mevyn?” the shadow asks. “What do you really know? Only what he has revealed to you. Only what he wants you to know, hm? And even that, he takes away until he needs you to know it again. Over and over. What do you think that does to a young boy’s mind?”

I look up at Mevyn. I do know him. We’re friends. We help each other. But the shadow is right. My memories have holes. Not holes, chasms. Dark places that are difficult to get to. I think of Zhilee. Try to remember, but I can’t. The shadow is right. What else has Mevyn taken from me? What harm has he done to my mind?

“I’ve given you things, Tib. Knowledge. Gold. Safety. Freedom. We need each other. Close him out. Don’t listen.”
I remember how I somehow knew to tie the sails, to impress Cap. I remember the gold coins I tucked under Saesa’s pillow, the excitement on her face when Feat was finally hers.
“Friends, I’ve given you friends. Nessa, Saesa, Raefe, Lilen, Ruben, Emme. Margary. Climb. Climb back to them.”

I will my hands to move. I’m a fair climber. I’m a third of the way up when the shadow closes in around me. I can’t see a thing. Not Mevyn, not even my hands in front of me.

“Keep climbing.”

I quicken my pace, scrambling to get to the top, but the darkness follows. Halfway up, images swim through my thoughts. Dreams. Red blooms and laughter. Chasing Zhilee in the sunshine. The pages of a book fluttering in the breeze. Nan, not stooped and aching but tall and strong, standing in the doorway, smiling at us. Viala reading aloud from a storybook. No work to do. No picking or hauling. No whips or deadlines. Just happiness. Playing. Love. It’s so real, so real I can smell the flowers. So wonderful that the laughter bubbles in my throat. I feel Zhilee’s hand in mine. I’m not here, in the shaft. I’m there. There, in the field with my family. This is how it should have been. My childhood. What would I have become, if it had been like this? Red petals float in the air around us, drifting in the warm breeze. Zhilee wants me to catch them. I reach out. My hands leave the rung. I turn to chase the petals. I’m falling, falling.

“Tib!”

Pain. Pain as my head cracks hard against the floor. Pain splinters from my ankle to my knee. My chest aches. I gasp for the breath that was knocked out of me. I blink into Mevyn’s dim light. My vision is closing up, blurring and blackening.

Someone is laughing. Laughing hard. Mocking. Not Mevyn. The shadow. The darkness.

“Can’t hurt him. That’s what you said, isn’t it?” The laughing echoes. “Don’t underestimate me, Mevyn. You will fail. You and your pathetic champion. I’ll leave you now, to watch him die.”

Something in the air shifts, and even through my pain I can feel it. Heaviness lifted. Darkness brighter. The shadow has gone. I try to look to make sure, but my range is too narrow, like I’m looking through a tunnel. My head won’t turn. My neck aches. My leg. I close my eyes. I want to die. Death would be better than this pain.

“Tib. Stay awake. Talk to me.”
Mevyn says silently. Like one of his commands. My head feels like it will split open. I try to obey.

“What?” my whisper rattles. It hurts to breathe.

“Talk to me,” Mevyn orders. “Don’t fall asleep.”

“Talk?”

“Yes,” he says desperately. “Ask me a question. Any question.”

“Who was that?”

“Dreamwalker,” he seethes.

“Who is—?” I cough painfully. Taste something on my lips. Something sticky. Lick it away. It tastes like metal. Like blood. My lungs are burning. Filling up.

“That’s not his name, it’s what he is. A Dreamwalker. We are old rivals. It’s a long story,” Mevyn says. He starts to tell me. I try hard to follow but I can’t focus. His voice is too far away. The pain is too much. My leg is broken, I know it. I can’t move my neck. My chest is rattling.

“Stay with me."

Nobody knows I’m here. Nobody except the thugs. They’ll find me. I’ll die here. I’ll die, like the shadow said. Nobody will know. Nobody will care.

“Stay with me!”

Stay. I can’t. I’m fading away. Falling away. I can’t help it. I drift off.

When I wake up, I don’t know where I am. Don’t remember how I got here. I can’t move except to open my eyes. Everything else is too painful. There’s a shaft above me with rungs going up. Someone was with me, but now they’re gone. Something twinkles beside me. Something small and jeweled. A box, I think. Otherwise, I’m alone. Utterly. In the dark. In the dirt. My breath comes in short gasps. My mouth is dry. My tongue is crusted. Stuck to my teeth. I need water. It’s like the roots all over again. What roots, I wonder, and then I remember. I try to calm myself, but the panic takes me over. My head feels light. The room spins. My eyes close. I black out.

The sound of wood scraping on wood wakes me. Creaking. A beam of light splashes down the shaft. I squint into it. My heart races. Someone from up there will hurt me if they find me. Could they really? I’m already in more pain than anyone should be. Maybe they’ll kill me. Relieve me. I hear a pair of feet on rungs. Another. Whispers.

“How can you be sure?” a male voice asks. It sounds familiar.

“Trust me, okay? I just have a feeling.” A girl. My heart thumps. Saesa.

“We shouldn’t be in here, it’s private property!” Another girl.

“Then wait outside, Lilen, for crying out loud.” The boy again. I know him. Raefe.

“By myself? No way. Look. Look at this.” The other girl. Lilen.

“Saesa, wait for us. Whoa, is that blood? Look at all of it.” Raefe.

“I’m not going down there. You shouldn’t, either. We should get the guard.” Lilen.

“No, he’s down here, I know it. He’s alive.” Saesa’s voice is nearing. I hear her feet on the rugs, coming closer. I remember being up there. Remember something else. The shadow. I try to shout up to her to warn her, but my voice is too weak. It comes out as a croak. My throat is too dry. My chest aches. My tongue is hard and dry, like a desert stone.

“How do you know? What if this is his blood? What if he’s—?”

“Shut up, Lilen,” Raefe interrupts, annoyed. “Just wait here.” I hear his feet on the rungs. They don’t talk on their way down. They just climb.

“They’re coming. Don’t move. You’re safe now.”

Yes, they’ll be here soon. I’m safe now. I’m safe. I close my eyes. My head hurts too much to keep them open. They finally make it to the bottom. Saesa cries out. Drops to her knees beside me. I’m too afraid to open my eyes. Too afraid that something got her.

“Oh, Tib,” she whispers. Liquid is poured into my mouth, cool and soothing. Cleansing. I feel it go all the way down. It takes the edge off of my pain.

“Water,” I whisper, and Saesa cries out with relief.

“Water, Raefe, can he have it with this potion?”

“Yeah, it’s just a pain draught. The other one’s the healing one. He can drink all he wants. But look at him, Saesa. Potions aren’t going to do much. He’s going to need a real healer. He’s a mess. Tib, can you hear me?”

I open my eyes. Try to nod. My neck is stiff but the pain is going away. I feel like I’m floating. “Ugh,” I manage.

“I’ll stay here with him,” Saesa says. “Go get someone. We can’t move him, he’s too hurt.”

I want to warn them. Tell her no, that the shadow could come back, that she could be in danger if she stays, but I can’t. The draught has made my eyelids heavy. My mouth won’t form the words. But the pain, the pain is gone. Gone. The two have a discussion, and they’re all the way down the tunnel again. Echoes of voices all run together. Feet on rungs again, going up. Saesa’s hand gingerly on my shoulder.

“What was he doing down here, Mevyn? How did he fall?” she asks after the hatch closes above us and we’re alone. Mevyn. I remember him.

“Dark magic,” Mevyn replies. “Deception. Now that you have found him, I will ask, for my protection and yours, that you allow me to make you forget. You will not remember me. You will not see me again. You will go with Tib, if he asks you to. Do you understand why, Saesa?”

“Of course,” Saesa says. Her voice is distant. Strange. I wonder if mine sounds like that when Mevyn asks me to agree to forget. I open my eyes and watch. Mevyn has his hands on her face. He looks deep into her eyes. Streams of golden light curl from them like smoke from a campfire into his. Like he’s collecting memories. I close my eyes before he sees me watching. I drift back to sleep.

When I wake up, I’m tucked comfortably into my bed at the Ganvent Manse. I scoot up a little stiffly against my pillows. Take a drink from the water cup on my bedside table. Saesa’s curled in the chair beside me, sound asleep. I look outside. Midday. Snowing again. I sit cross-legged. Think back. Remember. Surprisingly, I remember all of it. Even Mevyn. I shrug my shoulders. Bend my knees. Wriggle my toes inside my boots. I slept in my boots. I always do. Everything is sore, but nothing’s broken. I’m hurting, but not like before. Was it a dream, all of it? Was it real?

“It was real.”

Yes, it was real. I pat my pockets. Search for the doll. Margy’s baby. Twig’s tether. I made a promise.

“
I burned it already,
” Mevyn says.

In the chair beside me, Saesa stirs. Opens her eyes. Flashes of green. Jungle green. Jewel green. They warm me.

“You’re awake,” she says with relief. “How are you feeling?”

I tell her I’m okay, and she tells me Lilen spelled me with levitate to get me out. Raefe brought a healer to weave my insides back together. They bound me to Raefe’s back to carry me home. I slept for a whole day. Nessa thinks I fell out of an icy tree. Princess Margy sent us an invitation. By the time she’s finished, I’m exhausted again. I sleep through the afternoon, until I’m roused by a gentle touch on my cheek. A soft hand. It smoothes my hair back. Rests gently on my chest.

“Tib,” the voice is pretty. Soft. Concerned. I know this voice. Nessa. I open my eyes. Look at her.

“You’re crying,” I say. She nods. Smiles through her tears. I wonder what’s made her cry. She’s usually so strong. I think of ships. Her husband. Something must have happened to him. “The Admiral?” At first she looks puzzled, then she laughs softly.

“No word on him, Tib, but I was certainly worried for you. What in seven stars were you thinking, out in the middle of the night, climbing trees?”

I shrug. Wince a little. Still sore. She watches me.

“Boys.” She rolls her eyes. Shakes her head. “Come here.” She holds her arms open like I’ve seen her do with the others. I sit up. Let her hug me. It feels nice. Warm. I let her hug me for a while. Hug her back a little. She sniffles. “Promise me no more climbing in the middle of the night. Okay?”