The Canticle of Whispers (22 page)

They had been abandoned. The Librans had left them here. A mad experiment, without a watcher.

She was still shouting and screaming, without words. There was a terrible grinding, cracking sound.

They were nothing; she was nothing. There was no meaning to any of it. Just suffering, and pain, and fear, and …

She was running. She tasted something hot and metallic in her mouth. Someone else was screaming now.

They were nothing, and …

Still running. Still shouting.

Nothing at all, and …

Her mind was fuzzy, so quiet.

Nothing, and, and …

Just keep running. Keep running.

And then …

And then …

 

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

Cracks

L
AUD OPENED
his eyes.

He was lying on the ground. He raised his head and shook it, trying to clear the fuzz. He must have blacked out for a moment. There was a ringing, rumbling sound in his ears.

“Don't be an idiot, Mark! Wait for the shaking to stop!”

“But I have to go after her…”

Laud's vision came into focus. The stone walkway beneath him was rolling like water.

He staggered to his feet. The two voices he had heard resolved themselves into Mark and Ben. His sister had a firm grip on Mark's arm, but just as Laud tried to speak, there was another tremor, another burst of echoing noise, and the two of them fell to the ground once again. Behind them, Laud saw the Oracle, sitting back on her throne, her eyes and mouth tight shut, a roar of sound all around her.

Where was Lily?

In a flash, Laud's brain cleared. He remembered Lily's scream, still echoing. He remembered how she had run from the throne room, fighting off all who would stop her with manic strength.

And he remembered her eyes. He really wished that he didn't. What the Oracle had told them was dreadful, horrific. He had barely taken it in himself. But it had affected Lily a hundred times worse. She hadn't looked like the girl he had known. Her eyes had been as dead as those of the Oracle.

He glanced at Ben. The tremors seemed to be dying down, and Mark was with her. She was safe, for now. Without another thought, he ran, following Lily.

The tremors didn't stop as he pushed past the curtain and out into the tunnels. Alarming cracks ran up the walls, and some of the glowing crystals lay on the floor. As he vaulted up the stone steps, he saw something glinting on the ground. It was the tiny brass set of scales that had been in Lily's apron pocket. She had shown them to him less than an hour ago. She had definitely come this way.

At the top of the steps, the Conductor was waiting, nervous sweat pouring down his face.

“Sir? What happened?” he stammered. “I was coming to pay my respects, and the earth shifted with pain. And then Miss Lily appeared and—”

“Where is she?” Laud demanded, grasping the Conductor's sleeve. “Where did she go?”

The Conductor blanched, pulling back from Laud's touch as though it burned him.

“The Rail Nexus,” he gasped. “But don't follow, sir. When the rock shakes like this, the Oracle is in distress—the smaller tunnels aren't safe…”

But Laud was already running.

*   *   *

A few minutes later, a cart holding three people flew along the rails, sparking with every turn. At the front, two Naruvians stood, operating the cart, their long white hair blowing behind them. The man had given his name as Tertius, and seemed nervous. But the young woman, Septima, was laughing as though the whole thing was a wonderful game. Behind them, Laud crouched, his pack of supplies thumping against his back with each jarring turn.

For the fiftieth time, Laud cursed that he hadn't been a little faster. He had actually seen Lily's cart disappearing down the rails, away from the Hub chamber. But by the time Laud had managed to get any of the Naruvians to help, Lily had long since vanished into the echoing depths. He hoped that Mark and Ben were following behind, but he couldn't worry about that. At the speed these carts traveled, Lily could be miles away by now.

“We're nearly at the Rail Nexus!” Tertius shouted back. The cart swerved, Septima whooped, and the tunnel opened wide. They screeched into a vast cavern, filled with a mass of clicking, whirring machinery. Laud leaped from the cart before it had stopped moving, stumbling across the rocky floor, and grabbed a terrified Naruvian engineer by the front of his robe.

“Have you seen a girl come through here?” he asked. “Dark, scared, possibly screaming?” The engineer nodded, recoiling from Laud's grasp, and pointed to one of the side tunnels, where another set of rails disappeared into darkness.

“She … she took a cart … please … let me go…”

Laud dropped the terrified engineer. As he did so, Tertius scurried past him, to prepare another cart for their onward journey.

“What
fun
!” Septima said, adjusting a couple of dials on the central machine. “We're off hunting!” Laud scowled at her, but she was already finished, and climbing into the cart behind Tertius. As Laud hurried to join her, the ground gave another lurch, dropping him to his knees. In the distance, he heard a deep, grinding rumble. And something else—something that sounded like an echo of the Oracle's voice.

You will not leave me … you will not leave, my daughter …

“Lily…” Laud said, scrabbling back to his feet. He had to keep moving. These tunnels weren't safe. If he could just bring her back to the Hub, he'd be able to calm her down. She'd listen to him, to her friends. She just needed to stop running.

He piled into the cart, and Tertius threw the brake handle. They powered forward, the clockwork monstrosity setting them flying down the rails toward the new tunnel.

The Oracle's voice was louder now; there was an edge of pain to it.

Stay … stay … stay forever …

With each word, the tremors increased, and the grinding noise overhead grew worse. Laud looked up. Cracks were running all through the cavern roof. The rock bulged.

“Faster!” he yelled. Septima reached forward and pulled another lever.

The cart streaked forward.

The tunnel swallowed them up.

And the world fell down around them.

*   *   *

Laud pulled himself from the wreckage of the cart and stood on shaking legs. He was bruised all over, but nothing seemed to be broken. He coughed, wiping dust from his eyes. In the dim crystal light, he could see that the tunnel had collapsed both ahead and behind them, sealing them in. Tertius had been thrown free, and was already clawing at the mass of rubble that blocked their way back to the Rail Nexus. He looked shaken, and his robes were torn, but he was unharmed. Septima hadn't been so lucky. She sat against the wreckage of the cart, a long, deep cut down her leg, glistening with blood. But she was still smiling, though her eyes were damp.

“You … you certainly know how to take us for a ride!” she said, brightly, through the pain.

Hastily, Laud bent to examine her leg, but she drew it back.

“It's all right,” Laud said, quickly. “I've worked with a doctor.”

Septima stared back at him.

“No touching,” she said, fiercely. “What are you, a monster?”

Laud sighed with frustration. Was everyone down here insane?

He untucked his shirt. It wasn't exactly clean, but it was better than his other clothes, covered in dust from the cave-in. It was an old shirt, and already a little ragged. He tore off a strip from the tail, and dangled it in front of her.

“At least keep it covered,” he said. Septima looked at the rag suspiciously, and then grabbed its trailing end.

As she dabbed at the wound, Laud stared down at the cart. Its mechanism had been crushed. If any of them had been standing a few feet farther back … His morbid thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another ominous rumble. He spun around. Tertius was pulling small stones out of the rubble. As Laud watched, a larger rock began to tremble and slide out, just above the young Naruvian's head.

“Get away from that!” Laud shouted. “You'll bring the whole thing down.”

Tertius pulled back, just as the rock crashed to the ground. For a second, the whole tunnel shook again, and Laud flung himself to the ground …

Then, nothing. The ceiling stayed up. Laud straightened, his heart pounding. There was now a little gap in the rubble, where the rock had moved. Light was shining through it. Moving carefully, ready to throw himself under the remains of the cart in an instant, Laud crept up to the gap, and peered through it, back into the Rail Nexus.

He wished he hadn't. The cavern was a mass of mangled clockwork. Part of the ceiling had collapsed onto the central mechanism, and gears, chains, and rails lay buckled and broken everywhere. Every tunnel was blocked, every exit sealed. Here and there, Laud could see a few shapes lying amid the wreckage. Shapes he didn't want to inspect too closely. Near them were tatters of multicolored cloth.

He rested his forehead against the stone, his head swimming. These tunnels had looked so solid. But when Lily had argued with the Oracle, something had happened. It was as though the tremors in the air had drawn strength from their distress. He remembered those echoes, which sounded like the Oracle, crying out for her daughter. But that couldn't be it. The Oracle wouldn't have let her own people die, just to stop Lily escaping. Would she?

He looked again into the Nexus, his thoughts seeming to whisper back at him from the echoing rocks. What if Mark and Ben had been following him? What if they'd been caught in the cave-in? What if Lily hadn't gotten far enough ahead? What if he, and these two, were the only ones left…?

He straightened up with a grunt, the whispers fading. There was no point in thinking like that. Not now. Ben and Mark were resourceful—if they were alive, they'd find a way out of this.

He turned his attention to the other end of the corridor. It was pointless trying to get back into the Nexus; it could take days to clear the path back to the Hub. But the rubble at this end didn't look too bad. The cavern roof appeared stable, and if he just moved a few of the rocks, maybe he could make a gap large enough to squeeze through.

“Can you help me move this?” he asked, looking over at Tertius. But the young man didn't seem to hear him. He was sitting on the ground, his whole body curled up, and his head resting against the wall. His long hair covered his face, and he seemed to be moaning.

“I know this is difficult,” Laud said, gruffly. “But if we work at this, we'll be out of here in no time. Then we can get help.” He gestured to Septima. “Your friend is hurt. Doesn't that mean anything to you?”

Tertius didn't move. Laud frowned, but didn't waste any more breath on the man. He took off his jacket and began to tease the rocks out of position, his fingers scraping on the rough stone.

“You're still trying to follow her?” Septima said, suddenly.

Laud kept working.

“I'm trying to get us out of here,” he said, grunting with the effort. “We need someone to bind your wounds properly. You must have someone you'll allow near it.”

“We have the Guardians for that,” Septima said, her voice breaking with pain. “They deal with … touching … urgh…” she make a revolted noise. “Maybe this isn't so bad … I've never been in pain before. It's … kind of … exciting…”

Laud glanced over his shoulder. She was prodding at the cut, shuddering with each touch.

“Don't do that,” he muttered. “Just … keep it clean. I'll bring back help, when I get out of here.”

“There's no help that way,” Septima said, softly. “There's just
her
. Lily. Our wonder.” She yawned, seemingly forgetting about the pain in her leg. “Everyone's wonder, especially yours. We nearly died and you're still chasing after her.”

Laud clenched his teeth, but continued to work at clearing the rubble.

“She's my friend,” he said, defensively. “I'd go anywhere to get her back.”

Septima laughed.

“Why? She's interesting, I suppose, but you already know everything about her. She'll just get boring, like everyone else.”

Laud bit back a sarcastic response. There was no point; he doubted whether she would understand. He turned to face Septima.

“It isn't about what I already know. It's about
her.
Her mind, her spirit…”

“Oh
that
,” Septima laughed. “That's easy. I'll be Lily for you. I'll sound just like her.” She folded her arms, frowning. “I must discover the truth,” she said, dramatically. “Nothing will stop me! I'll save the world…”

“Stop that!” Laud shouted.

His voice echoed around the tunnel. Laud realized that his fist was raised, and tightly clenched. He had nearly struck her. Septima looked surprised, but not half as shocked as Laud was himself.

“She's shattered,” Septima said, suddenly serious, her laughter vanishing as quickly as it had come. “Broken. She heard too much of the truth. She won't want to be found, now. Knowing too much will do that to you.” She met Laud's gaze, and held it. “Why do you think we don't take anything seriously?”

Laud turned back to his work, deeply shaken. He hadn't expected to react like that, but to hear that girl imitating Lily, mocking everything that made her special …

“She'll come back,” he said, shifting the rubble once more, the slow work calming his nerves. “She has to. Not just for me, or Mark, or any of her friends. For Agora. We need her. The city is collapsing, rallying to the cry of a maniac who uses her words. We tried to keep her vision alive, but it's been corrupted by a hundred thousand desperate souls. There's going to be blood, and we can't stop it without her. Her heart, her strength, her purpose.” Laud dropped his head. “She can't break. Not Lily.”