Dawnsinger (31 page)

“
Oh Kai!
I crawled behind a waterfall and didn’t see or hear anything. I thought—I thought…”

He tilted her face upward. “You thought me dead and mourned, did you? So much so that tears fill your eyes even now.”

“Kai—“

His kiss, featherlight, stopped her words. “I love you, Shae.”

She jerked away. “Can’t you see that it’s easier for you, Kai? You’ve known all along what I’ve only just discovered—that we bear no blood in common.”

“I wish I’d never deceived you.” His gaze pierced her. “And what of you, Shae—do you lock away secrets of your own?”

“I can’t deny…” But her voice caught as a tide of sorrow flooded her.

He waited in silence.

She stepped back and willed herself to speak. “I do love you, but it’s hopeless.”

“Don’t say that!” He pulled her into his arms and pressed her lips with his.

She returned his kiss, tasting the salt of her own tears. And then, lost in a labyrinth of emotion, she forgot tears. A sweet yearning seized her, and she wound her arms around his neck.

He responded with quick passion, and she followed him into realms of desire. In the flame that consumed them, every argument she’d raised to separate them blazed and died. Had she really thought to deny the love that drove them together?

He pulled away, his breath ragged, and gave a shaky laugh. “Such words belong in a garden, not in this forsaken place. I promise to speak them again when we are quit of here.”

Bereft with his warmth gone, she wrapped her arms around herself. “At least we’ve spoken them now.” A sudden thought struck her. “You’ve not mentioned Dorann, and to my shame I forgot to ask about him. How came you here alone?”

“The current carried Dorann farther down the cataracts. I’m not sure he lives. I called to him, but he didn’t answer, and his cloak lay undisturbed in the chasm. Time presses or I could have searched for him. I thought you dead, especially when I found your boot. But when I returned for my cloak and saw yours gone, I chose duty and followed you first. We can search for Dorann upon our return.”

“Let us hope for his safety. I hope he turns back. I only wish you hadn’t come after me.”

Kai’s hands closed over hers in a warm embrace. “I could never leave you.” He took the lanthorn she still held.

“It’s empty.”

He examined it and set it aside. “Never mind, Whyst guides the lost. It has already led me to you. We can trust its light.” As he turned, the light from Whyst
flared to show them a narrow side passage. “This must be the way.”

They entered the narrow way that broadened into a small chamber where the walls glistened with moisture. A burbling rill cut a channel through the smooth floor. Another, invisible current flowed here. From somewhere hidden, fresh air entered the cave.

Kai stopped her beside the rill. “Wait! You limp, and I have your other boot. Here, sit down and hold Whyst.”

Shae found a ledge to perch upon and angled the blade to cast light over Kai. He stripped off his pack and crouched at her feet. With gentle fingers, he unbound the strips of cloth from her foot. “Your foot’s so cold. Here, let me warm it.”

He rubbed her foot between his hands, and she cried out as sensation returned. Pulling her boot from his pack, he eased it over her foot, and steadied her when she stood. She could walk much better now, although she still limped.

Kai shouldered his pack and they followed the rill across the narrow chamber. It led through a small opening glowing with natural light. Kai straddled the rill and ducked to go through the opening, then turned back to offer Shae his hand.

A thin edge of rock crumbled into the rill beneath her. Kai caught her in time to keep her from going into the water, but the splash of stone echoed through the Caerric in endless cadence.

She blinked in sudden light, which spilled through a natural “window”— a hole in the rock wall. Her vision adjusted, and she stood on tiptoe to look out at Laesh Ebain, stretching away, windswept and desolate.

Turning from the hole in the wall, she fought to keep her eyes open. Her head swam, for she’d gone too long without sleep. Her foot stung as it warmed, but at least the pain from her injured leg had lessened. Still, each step came at a cost.

An opening at the back of the small chamber gave unto hewn steps. She followed Kai up the stairway, but missed her footing and slipped. As she slid, the hard stone of the stair treads smote her over and over. She lay still.

Kai reached her and helped her sit up. Scratches welted her arms, and her cheek throbbed as if bruised. He pulled her into his arms. “We should rest before we climb. A little time remains before the dawn.”

Shae recognized the truth. She had reached the end of her strength. This small chamber offered something of security, and its fresh air and light comforted her.

Kai found a dark corner and propped himself against the smooth cave wall, and Shae settled herself in the warmth of his arms. It occurred to her, before she fell headlong into sleep, that she had always sought Kai’s arms. Nothing and yet everything had changed between them.

A breeze lifted the hair from Shae’s brow. She stirred. Arms came around her. She fought until Kai’s voice cut through her confusion.

“Wake, Shae! We’ve lingered overlong.”

She struggled, lost in the fog of sleep.

Rage coupled with lust pounded her as Freaer’s “touch” smote her mind. He would crush her soul. She tried to cry out but no sound came. She could not find the place where she ended and he began. Curling into a ball, she retreated inward.

The stranglehold loosened its tentacles and slid away. Almost, she would call it back, for her soul shredded. The sensation faded, and she breathed in the dusky scent of water on stone.

“Shae! Are you well?” Kai lifted her into his arms.

“Freaer’s touch strengthens.” She struggled to her feet to peer through the hole in the wall and take in the fresh draughts of air that bathed her face. Outside, storm clouds filled the sky, boiling purple. Lightning jagged and thunder boomed. A shimmer of rain obscured the ebain, slicking the clay soil.

Kai came up behind her, and she turned. “He draws near.”

“Shae, you are safe.”

She shook her head. “He won’t spare himself to stop me. I know it. We must hurry.”

Kai lifted Whyst. The spirit sword cast its light over the ancient stair. A rock wall rose on one side, and the other fell away to dark places unknown. Shae fretted at Kai’s slow pace but he acted in wisdom. They would gain nothing if they tired themselves early in this long climb.

She watched her footing and, when they slowed for safety’s sake, curbed her impatience. It would be all too easy to stumble over broken fragments of stone or trip on fissures.

Freaer’s soul collided with hers again. Caught by surprise, she forgot to shield herself. This time the sight left her eyes, and she put out a hand in darkness. Her mind whimpered. She barely felt arms come around her. “Shae,
fight
!”

Kai’s call sliced through her paralysis. With an effort, she curled into the Allerstaed
within. Freaer’s grasp of her slipped away. She was safe. He might rage without, but Freaer could not reach her here.

A sweet vapor drifted across her mind, pushing away Freaer’s “touch.”
Lof Yuel!

Kai’s face swam into view. She put a hand to his cheek. “Thank you.”

He gave a shaky laugh and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“It grows more difficult each time Freaer attacks. He’s very near.”

They climbed now with less caution and more speed. Water dripped all around them, and slid in channels down the walls. Small cave creatures splashed into pools at their approach, and the black waters rippled with silver. The ceiling soared out of sight far above, and a flurry of wings told Shae that creatures roosted there. As they climbed fresh currents blew over her. They passed more breaches in the side of the mountain. She breathed fresh air in these places but did not pause to look out. Would they come across openings where welkes roosted? She pushed away the thought. They faced enough perils without her imagining more.

She puffed as she climbed. As each flight of stairs broadened into a landing, always they found another that curved upwards. Her limp deepened as they climbed, and her legs trembled. The cave swung around her, and she put a hand to the wall until it righted itself.

Kai cried out and lurched backward. Stones clattered down the stairs. He dove toward the edge, fighting to hold his sword. She caught him, and they swayed together as Whyst
spun into the black void.

26

Well of Light

Kai dragged Shae back from the edge, and they fetched against the cave wall. Darkness, more profound than any she had ever known, pressed against her eyes. She hid her face in Kai’s cloak. Terror babbled in her mind like a lost soul. How could they go on without light? But how could they go back?

Kai moaned. “I lost my footing and dropped Whyst. There’s no time to search, even if we could do so in safety.”

“At least
you
did not fall. We will find a way to go on.”

“
But how?
We can’t see. Groping upward in darkness requires a slow pace, and the night wears on toward morning. We would risk falling to certain death for a bare chance of reaching Lohen Keil in time.”

“What choice do we have? We can’t stand here forever. A bare chance is still a chance.” Silence followed her outburst, punctuated by the faint rustle of wings.

He drew a ragged breath. “You’re right. We have to try.”

Look to the light…

The whisper came with such clarity Shae thought Kai might have heard it too. Memory stirred. “
Wait.
I think…I know something.
”

Retreating inward to the place only Lof Yuel could touch, she saw in her mind’s eye the light that had flared within her at Elcon’s Coronation. With the ease of thought, the white flame blossomed before her. “I can see.”

Kai’s hands tightened on her arms.
“How?”

How indeed?
“Lof Yuel’s
‘touch’ lights the way.” She edged past him and skirted past the broken step. “Take my hand.”

Her fingers curled around his. She tugged his hand and started upward, but Kai stepped short of the riser and staggered toward the edge with arms flailing.

“
Careful, Kai!
” She caught him by the waist and helped him balance. “You almost followed Whyst.”

She tried again to guide him, but he stumbled and fell to hands and knees as rocks scattered away from the edge.

She helped him rise. “I’ll walk beside you this time.”

“There’s not room or time enough for that, Shae. It pains me to say it, but you must go on alone.”

“No.” She touched the rough perse of his cloak as she looked up into his face, soft in the glow of Lof Yuel’s light. “I can’t leave you in the dark.”

His hand enclosed hers in warmth. “Shae, I’m loathe to let you go on alone, but we have no choice. You must reach Lohen Keil by daybreak and release the DawnKing…if it may yet be done.”

She bit her lip, recognizing the truth of his words. “I love you, Kai.”

He cupped her face and kissed her in a sweet but far too brief goodbye. She clung to him. “I love you more than I can say, Shae. As long as my heart beats, I’ll find a way to follow you. May Lof Yuel keep you safe and lend you speed.” He caught her hand, pressed his lips into its palm, and stepped out of the circle of light that shone before her.

Closing her hand over the tingle that remained, she tasted the salt of tears. How she longed to linger, to comfort them both, but time stood against her.

She left Kai behind with hesitant steps that steadied as she climbed, the white light ever before her.

The thought of Kai, sightless and abandoned, halted her at the next landing. She hesitated, and then turned back in sudden decision.

The white light extinguished. Utter darkness closed over her.

She flung out a hand and steadied herself against the damp stone of the cave’s wall. How could she go on without a light? Perhaps if she called to Kai, he would hear and feel his way to her, and they could find their way together. Even as the thought came, she knew they’d never make it before dawn broke, before Freaer found her in person.

Look to the light…

She turned her thoughts inward and found the white flame still burning. It flared before her once more, and she could have wept.

Shae did not allow her thoughts to stray again, but kept them on the climb before her. She longed to wake, for it seemed she’d stepped into one of the nightmares that haunted her at Torindan.

Laughter floated at the edge of hearing. Faint at first, it grew until it filled the Caerric. Eyes watched her out of the shadows crowding at the edge of light. Unseen “things” brushed past her, whispering. Winged rodents screeched and tangled in her hair. Screaming, she batted them away but teetered on the edge of falling.

The light dimmed and flickered.

Sudden terror made her pant, and she only just stopped herself from bolting. She jumped at every sound.

Footsteps padded behind her.

She turned.
“Kai?”

Silence answered her as darkness fell.

She found the inner flame and let it fill her mind until it bloomed before her, brighter this time. She wouldn’t look back again, no matter what. Taking step after step, she climbed until her chest ached with each ragged breath, but she dared not stop.

The footsteps behind her faded from hearing.

Freaer’s “touch” crawled over her and passed on, but returned, searching. She gritted her teeth and shielded herself as she looked to the light, and it slid away.

Weariness made her careless. She stepped too close to the edge, and it crumbled beneath her feet. Pitching forward, she landed hard on her knees as stones crashed far below. Pain jarred through her and, as darkness descended, despair came with it.

She curled her hands into fists.
Lof Yuel! I never asked for any of this. Do you want to make me suffer? Is that it? Well, I’ve carried the burden you gave me this far. But I can’t go on! You ask too much.