Threading the Needle (47 page)

“You won't get it from us that easily. We'll meet here with all of our men and travel south together. You'll call off your search for the Hollowers. If we find your men anywhere west of the village, the deal's off.”

“Agreed. But I'm not a patient man. We'll leave for the Needle within three days or I start searching for your villagers again.”

“Three days then.”

Allan turned his back on Aurek and his archers, his shoulders itching. He expected an arrow any moment, but nothing happened as he rounded the remaining walls of the meeting hall and passed from their line of sight. He increased his pace, passing a few more burned-out cottages before the trees closed in overhead, continuing northward longer than necessary to throw off anyone following. He heard nothing from behind, though, so after twenty minutes he cut west. At one point he heard the crackle of underbrush and halted, scanning for the raiders—and also for the Wolf—but saw nothing.

He'd made it halfway back to the caves when Bryce stepped out from behind a tree, Cutter appearing farther behind him.

“No one followed you. Aurek waited until you were gone, then ordered his men back to their camp. Cutter scouted around and he's called back his patrols as well.”

“How many men does he have?”

“We've counted close to two hundred. But he sent a few east after settling in at the refugee camp. We think they were messengers, possibly calling for reinforcements.”

“Or supplies. He may have decided to wait you out.”

Bryce didn't argue the point. “You realize he's going to turn on us the moment he has what he wants. He won't give up our Wielders and mages, not after what they and Cory and the others did during their attack.”

“I know. I never thought he'd keep the bargain. But he won't betray us until he knows where this Needle is. We'll have to be prepared.”

“As long as you know.” Bryce didn't seem bothered by the knowledge that Aurek would betray them as he fell in at Allan's side, but Allan
reminded himself that Bryce was a Dog. Betrayal of others had been part of the job, when it aided the Baron or had been ordered by your alpha.

When Cutter joined them, Allan asked, “Did you see anything else out there?”

“What do you mean?”

“Anything besides Aurek's men.”

Cutter looked at him oddly. “Nothing.”

Maybe it
had
simply been a wolf.

“We have three days. Gather as many of the Hollowers and refugees as you think we can spare, but don't force anyone to come, let them volunteer. We need to leave enough Hollowers behind to defend themselves. Everyone else who can go and is willing needs to be with us.”

“I
HATE TO SPARE THEM
, but you're going to need a few wagons. Which means you're going to need all of our horses, except a few of the mares and the stud, of course.”

“We can survive without them. There's no need—”

Paul cut him off. “You can't take forty or more people to battle without something to feed them.”

Allan made to protest again, but caught himself. Paul was glaring out at the activity in the supply cavern, men and women and children picking through what they'd managed to put back, already loading up the backs of two wagons. Gaven appeared to be organizing them all, his orders curt, authoritative. Not the same meek and mild-mannered man who'd left with them months ago to find supplies in Erenthrall.

Paul had changed as well while they were gone. He was fidgety and short-tempered, as always, but based on the way he refused to meet Allan's gaze, it wasn't because he wanted to be confrontational. Three months ago, he would have gleefully kicked all of the refugees out of the Hollow without a second thought, glad to be rid of them, especially the Wielders. But not anymore. He wanted to help them, and he'd realized there was little he could do.

Nearly everyone who had been training under Bryce since the attack on the wagon that had killed Terrim had volunteered to join Allan to rescue Kara and the others. Bryce had been forced to single out a good portion of them to remain behind to defend the Hollowers. He'd selected Braddon as the alpha of those staying behind, though he was intent on coming himself.

That gave Allan forty-two men and women, along with Artras,
Mareane, and Jude for the Wielders, Cory, Hernande, Jasom, and Jerrain from the University. Raven, as the eldest Wielder after Artras, would remain with the other Wielders for additional protection of the Hollow. Sovaan would stay with the remaining University students.

Fifty-one in their group. Two hundred in Aurek's. He hoped it was enough.

Allan realized he was still staring at Paul, the elder councilor twitching awkwardly where he stood. He reached out and clasped the man's forearm, shaking him lightly to force him to meet his gaze.

“You know you're needed here. You can do more good here than trying to fight on the plains.”

“I wouldn't have believed it a year ago, but your Wielders and those people from the University saved our asses out there. And they wouldn't have had the chance without Bryce and his Dogs. None of us would be alive without them. Bryce practically forced us to move to the caves, and if we hadn't done that, we'd have all been slaughtered.”

Allan let his arm drop, aware that the contact made Paul uncomfortable. “They might not have come if we weren't here.”

“They'd have come eventually, if what you saw with that wagon train is true. They aren't hunting for Wielders alone. They're brigands, pure and simple, even if they have a leader they call a Baron and a cause to follow.”

Allan didn't argue, because he believed it was true.

Paul turned to face him. “Go. Save Kara. And when you have her back—and all of the others the bastards took—come back here. The Hollow will always welcome you.” His gaze flicked over Allan's shoulder, then returned. “Someone's here to see you.”

Allan turned to find Janis standing behind him, waiting. He went to thank Paul, but the elder had already moved away, wading into the activity surrounding the wagons, chiding a young boy who'd dropped one of the crates to slow down, it wasn't a race, before helping him lift it into the back of the nearest wagon and ruffling the boy's hair.

“He's mellowed some.”

“Apparently.” Allan motioned toward the tunnel leading down to the lower caverns. “I need to find Hernande and Cory, see if they've located the Needle yet. Did you need something?”

“Only a few minutes of your time.”

“Of course. You took care of Morrell for most of her life, more a mother to her than anyone. What did you need?”

Janis didn't answer immediately, falling into step as they left the storage cavern behind, the walls of the tunnel closing in on either side. They'd almost reached the point where the tunnel merged with the one holding the livestock when she said, “It's about Morrell.”

He stopped dead. “What about her? Did something happen while I was gone? She hasn't said anything.”

“I didn't think she would. And no one else has probably thought to tell you. She healed people. First Claye, then Harper, and finally Cory.”

“She's been working with Logan for a while. I'm certain she's helped heal many people.”

“You don't understand. She didn't simply heal them, she
healed
them. She placed her hands on their wounds and within moments they were cured, or as close to cured that it still counts. Claye had an infection that Logan swore would kill him. Morrell touched him and the next day the infection was gone, washed clean out of him, and in another few days he was walking around. Unsteady and weak, but walking. Harper had a broken leg, the bone jutting out of the flesh. She touched him and within moments the bone was set. Cory's leg was trapped under a stone—one of those that fell from the cavern ceiling during the quake—but Morrell—”

“Healed him.”

“Some of the Hollowers think she's a Healer, like from the stories. A true Healer. Others mutter about her under their breath, afraid of her. Superstitious heathens.” Janis gripped Allan's shoulder. “But I'm most concerned about Morrell. She hears all of it, the good and bad. She doesn't know what to think. I spoke to her about it, but she's so hard to read sometimes. She keeps so much to herself.”

Allan didn't know what to say, didn't know how he felt. Glad that it wasn't something bad, but also worried about what it would mean for Morrell. Aurek was here because of the Wielders and the University mentors, because of what they could do. What would he think if he knew Morrell could heal? Kara and Dylan were in danger because they were different, because the White Cloaks wanted Wielders. He could easily envision any one of the groups that they'd met in Erenthrall—the Rats, the Tunnelers, even the Temerites and Gorrani—seeking out a true Healer, simply to have her, to use her.

“I'll talk to her. Later.” He began moving back down toward the ley node's chamber, where he knew he'd find Cory and Hernande.

Janis followed him.

They found them in the far corner of the node chamber, beyond the node itself, where the stone that had fallen in from the ceiling had been stacked. They'd used some of that stone to create a low rectangular wall about a foot high, sectioning off an area the size of a wagon bed that they'd filled with sand and pebbles from the scree and the pile of rock behind them. Both of them were standing over the sands, which were already in motion, shifting with a dry grinding sound.

“I'm not seeing anything of significance here.”

“There's less activity to our west than I expected, although we haven't gone that far afield yet. There must be
something
remaining in the Demesnes.”

“Someone will have survived there, yes, but who is to say how much of the ley system is still active? The Demesnes were never as densely populated as the Temerite lands to the east or even the Gorrani Flats and Archipelago to the south. Their ley system wasn't as extensive. It may simply have been cut off by the Shattering.” Hernande glanced up as Allan and Janis stepped up to their sand pit.

“What have you found?” Allan asked.

“The sand we collected is coarser than what we used back at the University—or even in the Hollow—so the maps we get aren't as refined, but I think we've found the Needle.” He looked toward Hernande, who motioned for Cory to continue.

Cory knelt down to the sands, reaching forward and sweeping his hand over them. The tracks of shifting sand and pebbles that indicated the active flows of the ley ceased moving, but not for long. The sand began to move again, tentatively, as if feeling out their new paths. “It was more difficult to do that than it should have been.”

“Do you use the ley to do it?”

“A small portion, to connect the Tapestry to the ley itself.”

“Then it was probably my presence. I've been skirting the node as much as possible, so I don't interfere with anything.”

“Interesting.” Hernande considered him through narrowed eyes. “You affect the ley, but not the Tapestry. You didn't disrupt our illusions, for example. I wonder why.”

Cory stood as the motion of the sands solidified. “We found this close to the area that Artras and Raven picked out on the makeshift map at the fire two nights ago.” He pointed to where the sand swirled
near the center of the pit, seven distinct lines of sand flowing toward the vortex. “We think that's the Needle. These two flows here are coming from Erenthrall, one from the north of the distortion, the other from the south. We think this thinner flow is coming from the old node Artras and Kara found in that town. And this one is from the node here. The others are coming from nodes to the west of the Needle.”

Allan leaned forward, but didn't approach any closer. “What are these weaker lines here?”

Hernande answered. “Those are coming from Tumbor. Before the distortion quickened, they were likely much stronger, probably more so than the ones from Erenthrall, but they've been cut off. They're trying to reestablish themselves, but their anchoring nodes are now inside the distortion. The area around Tumbor is in utter chaos, worse than Erenthrall after the Shattering. There are likely massive quakes occurring there, along with eruptions of the ley like we saw in the city.”

“Will you be able to find it once we've left the Hollow?”

“We can't take the sand pit with us, but Artras says that she can follow the ley line, now that we know it leads to the Needle.”

“And you're certain this is where the White Cloaks have gone?”

“It's the strongest concentration of ley in the area.”

Cory crouched down abruptly. “Look.”

In the sands, one of the weak lines from Tumbor died out, a new, stronger line appearing slightly north of it, stretching from the Needle out toward—

“Farrade. Its anchor in Tumbor is gone, so it's shifted to Farrade.”

“Or someone forced it to shift.”

Cory and Hernande shared a look. “If we're right in our theory that the quakes are being caused by the shifting ley lines, then—”

Before he'd finished, the earth began to tremble. It started off light, then abruptly escalated. Allan crouched down, pulling Janis with him, shielding her with his body. People in the cavern cried out. The floor heaved once, twice. The ley at the node fountained higher, splashing the top of the cavern, but remained inside its circle of stellae. A scattering of fresh stone fell from the ceiling with a cascade of dirt, and a thin veil of dust filled the space, but the tremors stopped, the earth settling again.

Sobs echoed through the chamber, interrupted by harsh coughing. People began to move again, tentatively. Others began calling out to their families, verifying they were all right.

Allan stood, dust and light debris falling from his shoulders. He helped Janis upright, then turned to Hernande and Cory, both picking themselves up from the floor, Cory pale and shaken. “Everyone all right?”

“It wasn't that bad, because the ley lines being affected were so distant. The force created must be traveling through the ley network, affecting the areas along each line and node. And that force appears to be increasing with every change in the system. If this continues—”

“What?”

“The ley system may end up ripping the entire continent apart.”

Allan stared at him, unable to comprehend what that meant. The ramifications were too immense, too incomprehensible.

So he turned away, headed toward the tented area where he now slept with Janis and Morrell. Janis followed.

“Where are you going?”

“To find my daughter!” Then, over his shoulder: “Make certain Artras can find the Needle.”

He rounded the ley node, some of the Wielders clustered around it, including Raven. Allan assumed they were checking the ley after the quake. Raven opened her eyes long enough to nod in his direction, then resumed her work. When he reached the edge of the tents, he found people injured from some of the debris, along with a few of the tents collapsed. People were picking themselves up and dusting off, most shaken but unharmed.

He sped up as he neared his own tent, still standing, and ducked down into the opening. “Morrell?”

One look told him she wasn't there. He swore and backed out, glaring out over the cavern. “Morrell!”

A woman a few tents down from them looked up. “I haven't seen her since the quake, but she may have gone to find Logan and help with the wounded.”

“Thanks.”

“Logan's set up a makeshift infirmary in the other cavern,” Janis said. “I'll show you.”

They ascended the stairs built around the scree, still sturdy even after the quake, then headed deeper into the ridge, toward the second cavern. After a few turns and a sharp incline downward, the tunnel opened up into a chamber twice as large as the one containing the node. Lit by torches and cook fires, it housed the majority of the people
from the Hollow, along with a sizable number of the refugees. Most of the smaller livestock—chickens, goats, sheep—were corralled off to the left, held in with hastily constructed rail fences. To the right, water gushed out of a crack in the wall, pooling below before running off through a crevice.

Logan had set up the infirmary near the water. At least a dozen people were waiting to be seen, one woman with blood dripping from her chin from a gash in her head, a man lying unconscious beside her. Another woman held a bawling child, rocking the girl back and forth while hushing her and inspecting a bruise on her arm.

Logan was stitching up a man's sliced thigh. “Every time you move, it hurts worse.” Logan saw Allan and Janis approaching. “Where in hells is Morrell? I can use her help here.”