Elements (Tear of God Book 1) (6 page)

“Mink,” Nyam whispered, face contorted into a scowl. “Don’t ever say things like that! Machines are evil!”

“All right, all right. Sorry,” Mink said. “Just bored with all this waiting.”

“Well, get over it. You can borrow my music crystal.”

“No thanks, Mom.”

“It’s your own fault for forgetting yours.”

Mink didn’t exactly forget his. He opted not to bring it to avoid one of his parents picking it up and lecturing him about his musical tastes. It’d been so hard for him to fit in with young adults his age, listening to music his parents approved of would only make things worse. He had to admit some of their music was pretty good though. Mink sat in silence, passing time by replaying his favorite songs in his head.

The scout finally swung out of the cave onto the vertical rock face of the cliff. As he shimmied along a ledge over to his vehicle, Juré set his eyes and said, “Scout.”

Mink held his breath as he watched the scout open the machine’s shiny door and climb in. Whenever Juré had entered Mink’s consciousness, he always felt it. Or had he? The Machinist didn’t seem to notice any change, let alone the people staring at him from the top of the cliff. The vehicle roared to life, released the anchors from beside it’s wheels, and rolled down the steep incline in what looked to Mink like controlled falling.

“I’m in,” Juré confirmed. “All his recent memories and thoughts are coming to me now. They’re very scattered. Just like a lazy Machinist. No concentration. They had used some kind of imagery equipment from space to locate a potential mine here. He was just supposed to confirm the find.”

“And did he?”

“Yes. He’s very pleased with himself and thinking of ways to spend his bonus.”

“What about the large crystal?” Mink asked. “Did he find that?”

Juré’s shoulders slumped. “Yes. He found and tested it. The magnitude of the energy readings were off the charts. He’s only trying to think of a name for it before reporting it. There is a very good chance it is a Tear of God.”

Mink laughed aloud at the mention of the ancient Georran myth. The Book of Origin mentioned God shedding a tear for each of her eight children. One was allegedly discovered and used to unite the Elementalists 16,000 years ago under the flag of Octernal, but no trace of its existence had ever been found. There was no way such a thing could be real, and Mink thought the suggestion that it would hold any divinity was preposterous.

“Juré,” Nyam said in a grave tone. “Slow him down.”

He nodded and began the Spirit user’s Area of Effect chant,

“Deep sleep spreads like a contagion.

All those nearby drop instantly.

Their minds have no idea they sleep.

Nearly comatose in dreamland.

Those sleeping cannot be woken.

Hewl’s essence be the fuel I need.

The wrath of Eternsa take form.

Dream when I say, ‘Hibernation.’”

“Hibernation,” Juré said.

Mink thought Hibernation was a good choice since it could also effect any Machinists who were hidden from his dad. All three of them watched the vehicle speed down to the base of the cliff wall where it sloped toward the flattened riverbank, not slowing at all. Had the vehicle perhaps blocked the scout from Juré’s view at the moment of implementation? The serious nature of his parents creeped Mink out. Finally, the vehicle reached a copse along the river and halted. Nyam and Juré stared at it in silence, long enough to be sure the scout had finally fallen asleep.

“Okay. Now what do you want to do?” Juré asked Nyam.

“We have to confirm the find ourselves. If he’s wrong, let him waste their time. On the other hand… we have to act fast.”

“Then your work is done,” Mink interjected dismissively. “There are no Tears of God, so let’s move on.”

“Could what you saw fit in the Cradle of the Citadel?” Nyam prodded.

“Yeah, I guess so. I haven’t been there since I was eight.”

“Then we can’t take the risk. We have to evaluate it ourselves.” Juré turned to Nyam. “I’d go with you, but I have to babysit the scout. No telling how long he’ll sleep.”

“But I need you with me to relay his memories of its location. I can’t run around blind in there.”

Mink rolled onto his back and stared at the few wispy clouds sneaking by in the outer layers of the atmosphere. This had already been a strange day and he suspected there would be a few surprises yet. At least his parents had busied themselves with something other than him for a change. He envied the clouds. So much better to be a distant passing observer of this world than its de facto whipping boy.

“Take Mink then. He saw it.”

“Uh-uhn. No way,” Mink protested from his prostrate position. “This is your guys’ show. You wanna go look like idiots chasing a tale of the ancients, please, leave me out of it.”

“Then tell me what you saw.” Nyam stood up and started stretching out. “Is it a straight shot to the cavern, or are there a bunch of forks and dead ends?”

“I dunno. It wasn’t exactly like seeing, y’know? There were other caverns and stuff. Could be a straight shot. How should I know? I didn’t have enough time to trace a line through the maze. Dad’s going to be much more useful than me here.”

“Your dad has to stay here. I need a guide, someone who has seen inside there. Otherwise, I could be searching for days in the dark.”

“I tell you what,” Juré broke in. “If you agree to let me Silent Signal Fire you and help your mom, you can hold the glow crystal.”

Mink chuckled at the childish bribe. “Oooh. The hard bargaining begins, I see.”

“And I’ll throw in that I won’t tell anyone that we asked you to look for a Tear of God,” Nyam offered.

Mink felt that his parents weren’t going to leave him alone on the matter, but also that he was in the enviable position of making demands. “If you promise me that you’ll leave the Element thing alone for the rest of the vacation, I’ll go.”

Juré reached into his right thigh pocket and handed over his glow crystal. Mink accepted it with both hands and mocked the excitement he used to show as a four-year old.

“Do you want to be harnessed? Or just hold on?” Nyam asked Mink regarding the way in which he preferred to be carried.

Mink looked down the cliff to the opening the scout came from. “Harness. Please.”

Nyam sprinted back to the campsite at an incredible pace. Puffs of dust rose from her footsteps, which touched down at least seventy-five yards apart. It took her longer to untangle the harness from their cart than to run to camp and back. Mink marveled at how she could run so fast and yet still breathe normally. Then again, he was used to seeing her come home with labored breath after a full day of using Quick Legs to run her taxi business.

He helped her tighten the harness. It had been years since his mother had carried him this way. She rotated a hand behind her for him to use as a step. Mink was quite a bit larger than his mother, yet he looked like a big baby held by her formidable Body user strength. He climbed into the seat on her back and secured his arms and legs by tightening the straps. Mink paused long enough to second guess his role in all this before clipping the back guard in place.

“All set,” Mink announced.

M
INK AND
Juré had communicated through Silent Signal Fire often over time. On occasion, Mink would catch himself trying to talk to his dad telepathically when it wasn’t active. The main advantage of this effect, over the Astral Id effect Juré had used on Mink the previous day, was that Juré could stay in his own Body, thus using a lot less energy. As long as he didn’t Dispel the effect, it would remain active even over great distances and out of sight.

“Mind your step. No need to be reckless.” Juré gave his wife a modest kiss and squeezed Mink on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about us,” Nyam said. “Just sit tight and try not to doze off.”

Mink hoped that someday he and Gyov might know each other as well as Juré and Nyam. He was impressed by how smoothly they worked together. He figured all he needed to do was discover his Element, preferably Air in this case so that he would oppose Gyov’s Soil affinity. That, and remind her he existed. It was hard to say which was more likely at this point.

Without warning, Nyam jumped over the edge and turned to face the cliff. She and Mink free-fell much too long for Mink’s liking. She waited until they were a few yards above the opening to the scout’s cave before slamming a fist into the rock, bringing their drop to an abrupt end that didn’t agree with Mink’s gonads. The discomfort was aggravated each time his mom drove a fist or foot into the cliff face for a makeshift hold.

“Dad says to take it easy before you shake him off the cliff,” he lied.

Nyam did make smoother progress, but by then they were only a few feet above the cave opening. She swung into the tunnel. Mink held the glow crystal aloft and the light filled an impressive amount of the tunnel’s length. His mom rushed to the edge of the light and stopped so fast that Mink struggled to keep his grasp on the crystal.

“Try to keep the light out of my eyes, please,” Nyam said. “I need to see.”

“Give me little warning on the stop-and-go and I’ll still have arms to hold it.”

“See any other tunnels yet? Still a straight shot?”

Mink lifted the crystal high over his head. “I think it’s straight. I didn’t exactly—“ Mink got cut off by Nyam zipping to the edge of the light once more. He looked back to the pinhole-sized opening of the cave. It resembled a lone star in a sea of night. Holding the crystal directly above, he searched for any paths they might have missed.

“Much better. Keep it just like that,” Nyam said. “I can see a bit further. That, or my eyes are adjusting, finally.”

Before Mink could respond, they sprinted twice the distance they had already gone. There was a time when he loved his mom’s sprinting, but unfamiliar territory and dim light were such killjoys. She veered a few times and then slowed to a gradual stop.

“Better stop? More comfortable?”

“Yes. Thanks.” Mink looked forward with raised crystal. “I think I see a few tunnels ahead.”

“Me, too. That’s why I stopped. Any idea which way?”

“Hold on.” Mink checked in with his dad. “Hey, Dad? Can you hear me?”

“Yes. Go ahead.” Juré’s voice sounded so clear that Mink looked over his shoulder.

“We’re at the first junction, I think. Any memory?”

“He explored three tunnels there. The one on the right should lead to the stone.”

The right tunnel felt like the way. “We agree to go right.”

No sooner had Mink spoke than Nyam shot down the right tunnel. The floor sloped downward at a sharp angle and, judging by the jostling Mink felt, Nyam hadn’t expected that. Once the floor leveled out again, she slowed to a stop.

“That was close, wasn’t it?” she said, catching her breath.

“Mom. Just don’t tell me these things.”

“Fair enough. Sorry. So, looks like this is just an open cavern. See a way out?”

Mink scanned the walls for a crack, shadow, or any indication of a continued path. No obvious tunnels in sight, Mink worried that the way forward would be narrow and he would wind up scraped over several yards of sandstone.