The Broken Kingdom (25 page)

Chapter 32

F
irstboy, not yet Meguk,
looked up, and immediately wondered why he bothered. It was so
dark, it wasn’t as if he could see anything. He almost preferred
the darkness now. When they came across the softly glowing cave
mould, all it did was frustrate him. That wasn’t
light
.

‘Brother, do you hear that?’ Secondgirl
asked.

‘I think so…’ he answered.

‘Sulag, do you hear it?’ Secondgirl
repeated.

Sulag, the biggest of the three siblings,
and the only one to formally take her name, nodded, ‘yes. It sounds
like humming.’

By then everyone had heard it, and the
gemengs slowly came to a halt. It was such an unusual,
cheery
sound.

Firstboy heard the adults talking up ahead,
debating what to do.

‘Everyone, stay here!’ Galis ordered. ‘I
will investigate!’

Firstboy sighed and sat down. He was tired
of walking. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep, and wake up
somewhere bright again, with his mother and father. The humming was
nice. It was happy humming.

‘I’m sorry!’ a cheerful voice suddenly
called down the tunnel. ‘Have I alarmed you?’

Firstboy sat up, his body tense.

‘Who are you?!’ Galis ordered. ‘What are you
doing down here?’

‘I’m Maelid, hello! I came to look at my
mountain! Who are you?’

‘I am Galis the Strong! These children are
mine!’

‘Are they? That’s nice. I’m so pleased
you’re enjoying the mountain, people often don’t appreciate how
nice mountains are.’

‘What… what are you talking about? We’re
trying to get out! And you haven’t told me who you are yet!’

‘I didn’t? I’m Maelid, and I’m looking at
the mountain.’

‘Yes, but… but what tribe do you serve? Who
is your Master?’

The happy creature fell silent as he tried
to process that. ‘I’m Maelid, I’m looking at the mountain.’ He said
uncertainly. ‘I have a Queen, her name is Rilodana.’

‘I know not of your Master. I am lord of
these children, and you cannot have them.’

‘I-I’m not trying to take your children. I’m
looking at the mountain-‘

‘I am a fearsome warrior, I cannot see you
but I assure you, creature, I will best you should you challenge
me.’

‘What? You can’t see? Oh dear.’

The creature fell silent, and then suddenly
started humming again.

‘What are you doing?!’ Galis demanded.

Firstboy thought Galis was being horrible.
The jubilantly humming creature didn’t bother him, he wished Galis
would just let him hum. He hadn’t heard any happy noises in so
long.

‘B-Brother…?’

Firstboy looked up and saw Secondgirl
frowning at him. ‘Yes?’

‘I can see you.’

Firstboy didn’t reply. He could see her too.
He looked around and saw Sulag standing over them, a surprised look
on her round face. He saw the walls of the cavern, the other
children all around. He glimpsed the tall shape of Galis.

Firstboy stumbled to his feet. What had
happened? The whole cavern was somehow lighter.

‘What is this?’ Galis the Strong whispered,
a quaver running through her voice.

‘Well, you couldn’t see. I made it so you
could see.’ Maelid answered.

Firstboy, standing up, was finally able to
see the humming creature. He blinked and rubbed at his eyes. It was
difficult to discern where the edge of the tunnel ended and Maelid
began. He reminded Firstboy so much of the mountain he almost
thought Maelid might be made of stone.

‘What sort of creature are you? Are you an
ehlkrid?’ Galis demanded.

‘No, I am Maelid, I am of the valkar, and
I’m looking at the mountain.’ He frowned. ‘A Sunsinger asked me to
come and look at the mountain, it was very odd. Sunsingers don’t
often care for mountains.’

‘Do you know the shining lady? The one that
spoke often to our dead Master?’

‘Adila often shines, that’s what Sunsingers
do.’

‘Yes, the shining lady. Have you… have you
come to help us? We can’t find a way out.’

‘Oh,’ he sighed. ‘You don’t like living in
the mountain?’

‘We’re trapped.’ Galis growled.

Maelid sighed again. ‘I’ll lead you out
then. I’ll show you nice things on the way, perhaps you’ll decide
to stay in the mountain?’ he asked hopefully. ‘They are very
nice.’

‘Perhaps.’ Galis agreed. ‘As long as we have
a way out, the mountain has been our home for some time now.’

Maelid smiled brightly. ‘Oh, good! Please,
follow me then, everyone.’ And he began humming again.

The group began moving off after the
surprisingly quick Maelid. Firstboy was silent, as he following the
happily humming valkar. Slowly, a smile bloomed on his face. They
were leaving! They were leaving, they were leaving, they were
leaving!

Chapter 33

T
hey waited a long time
after the first meeting between Andalla and Ralana before anything
happened. Riley was very clear with Adila whenever she showed up
that she would be chaperoning Ralana on her visits to Andalla’s
land. Adila was unhappy with the whole situation, but she had no
real reason to be upset with this. After all, Adila couldn’t
protect Ralana any better from Andalla than Riley could.

But of course, the valkar and Andalla were
all very slow about everything. And so they waited.

Days later, Riley looked up as Adila entered
their campsite again. She stood, intending to go and remind her
that she would be the chaperone.

But Adila went straight to Karesh. Riley
didn’t care and followed.

When she arrived Riley heard Karesh say
excitedly, ‘where?’

‘Near the mountains. They are still in the
Plains. Some other valkar are with them, but they won’t stay
long.’

‘Will you bring them here?’

Adila nodded. ‘Yes, but perhaps you should
start heading back towards the Plains.’

‘Why should we start heading back towards
the Plains?’ Riley finally interjected, her green eyes
narrowed.

Karesh’s face fell.

Adila, looking mildly surprised said, ‘to
meet the gemengs. When they reach you, the valkar can leave.’

‘What gemengs?’

Adila’s gaze drifted to Karesh, then back to
Riley. ‘I and the others looked for survivors. Maelid found some.
The valkar are bringing them here.’

‘I said I didn’t want you to do that.’ Riley
said stonily. Her gaze was now firmly on Karesh. ‘You organized
this?’ Her voice was rising, getting angrier.

He nodded.

‘Karesh, I got everyone killed. Do you
understand that? Why would anyone,
anyone
, want me to lead
them? Ever?’

‘But-’ he tried to interject.

‘What do you expect me to do, Karesh?
Somehow protect them all in a forest? While they’re all still
trying to kill each other? You want me to start retraining the
gemengs out here, with ehlkrid everywhere? Do you think they’ll
stay away once we have a big group?’

She glanced briefly at Adila, who nodded in
confirmation. ‘My knife will not be enough to keep the ehlkrid away
if the group is too large.’ she said softly. ‘But a shield is still
an option.’

‘I don’t want to do this!’ Riley shouted.
‘You organized this, Karesh. You lead them!’

Karesh waited for Riley to fall silent. She
did, and glared heatedly at him. ‘You won’t have to retrain them,
Master.’ he said cautiously. ‘At least not these ones.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked harshly.

Karesh glanced at Adila then back. ‘They are
yours.’

Riley stared at him.

‘I asked Maelid, a Mountainsinger, to check
the caves.’ Adila responded. ‘There were some gemengs, lost deep in
the mountain. They didn’t know how to get out, but Maelid made an
exit for them.’

‘Everyone died.’ Riley managed. ‘The
mountain collapsed. They all died, Adila. Please don’t-’

Adila shook her head. ‘Most of the mountain
is gone, and most of your people, yes. But those sections that had
been reinforced by Maelid did not collapse. Some survived, but they
couldn’t escape. Instead they wandered deeper into the mountain,
hoping to find a way out. The caves are full of mould and water,
they managed to survive.’

Riley just looked at her and Karesh. And
then she walked off without a word.

Karesh looked up as Vann walked over, hours
later.

‘Is the Master still angry?’ he asked
softly.

‘I don’t think you want to know what she’s
doing.’ He replied coolly. ‘Adila, you better be sure.’

‘I’m sure.’ she replied.

‘Fine. When will they get here?’

‘If you move-’

‘I don’t think Riley’s going anywhere.’

Adila nodded. ‘Very well. The survivors are
weak. It will take them perhaps two to four days to get here.’

Vann sighed. ‘Fine. Karesh, if you don’t
want to see your Master being upset I suggest you stay on this side
of the forest.’ and he turned and walked back to Riley.

By the next day, Riley’s tears had faded and
she was able to pull herself together.

In a way, Vann thought it would have been
kinder not to let her know until the gemengs were right in front of
her. And then she wouldn’t have had to worry that her hopes were
about to be dashed.

She half-heartedly helped look after the
camp. The other gemengs, and Karesh, kept their distance.

Kalgen waited with his new tribe. He was not
as excited as the others; he’d lost no one, had no one to lose. Out
of the corner of an eye he glimpsed his Master, and her mate.

‘I can’t.’ The Master said and began turning
away from her soft, squishy mate.

‘You can.’ The soft one said, and Kalgen
couldn’t help admiring his bravery. The Master was a dangerous,
ferocious creature (as she should be), but her mate had no qualms
about disagreeing with her. That was probably why he was her
mate.