Read Online Beyond the Prophecy by Meredith Mansfield - Free Book Online Page B

the entrance to the bay.”
    Vatar nodded. He’d heard the landslide.
    Father continued ,  “ The
shipping channel is blocked. It’ll take a lot of work to shift those rocks—and
there’ll be no goods coming in until we do.”
    “Maybe we can help with that,” Thekila joined in. “I can use
my Power to lift heavy rocks. I’ve done it before.”
    Vatar bit his lip. Rocks big enough to block the shipping
channel might be too heavy even for Thekila. Well, they wouldn’t know that
until they looked. And this time he had no qualms about the rightness of the
action. “It won’t hurt to at least go look. Is there a way to get out onto one
of the peninsulas?”
    “Yes,” Father answered. “Both of them, I think. But
certainly the northern arm can be reached from the Temple grounds.” He turned
to point. “Take the northern path away from the docks.”
    Vatar nodded. “We’ll do that, then. And let you know.” He
turned to Thekila. “There’s enough light left. I don’t know that we can do much
tonight, but we could go have a look, if you like.”
    “Why couldn’t we do much tonight?” Thekila asked.
    “Well, there won’t be any light out on the peninsula, once
the sun goes down. Not like the city. Moonrise won’t be for hours, and it’s
only a quarter moon anyway. You said once that you need to see what you use
your Power on.”
    Thekila grimaced. “Well, that’s true. I didn’t think of that.”
She sighed. “Let’s at least have a look. Then we can form a plan tonight.”
    “Where are we going? What kind of plan?” Theklan asked.
    Vatar turned to the boy. “The earthquake caused a landslide
at the mouth of the bay, which is what caused the wave. The rocks that fell
into the bay are blocking the shipping channel. Thekila and I are going to see
if it’s possible to use her Power to move the rocks.”
    “I can help, too.”
    Thekila put her hands on her hips. “You’ll be more use
staying to help here. You’ve barely been paying attention to your lessons. I’m
not sure you could lift a rock of any size. And even if you could, your control
is terrible. If you’d been studying as you should—”
    Vatar put a hand on her arm. “Let him try. Sometimes, an
hour of doing something real is worth ten of practicing to no purpose.” Even
if he can’t help, it may give him a reason to study harder, he added
through their bond .
    Thekila drew in a breath. You may be right. I didn’t
really learn to lift anything heavy until Quetza and I started learning to fly.
Then I had to learn—and fast. She nodded to Theklan. “You can come with us.
We’ll see what you can do.”
    Vatar glanced at the sky, judging the height of the sun
above the horizon. “We have no idea how long it will take to get out to the
peninsula. We’d better ride.”
    The path leading northward from the docks was meant to be a
foot path, so they had to go single file. Unfortunately, the trail also hugged
the low bluffs just above the coast. After the first glance at the detritus
washed far up the beach, Vatar kept his eyes firmly directed between his
horse’s ears. Now that the urgency that had kept him by the shore earlier was
gone, the idea of that much water crashing against the solid earth made his
throat tight and his stomach feel like he’d swallowed a live bird. A very
agitated live bird.
    “You know, if you’re going to help with this, you’re going
to have to look at the water. Right?” Thekila’s voice sounded sympathetic, but
Vatar caught an undercurrent of amusement through their bond.
    Yes, and the true ocean beyond, he thought . In
all his years in Caere, Vatar had avoided looking at even the bay as much as he
could. How much vaster and more turbulent would the ocean beyond be? Vatar
swallowed against bile rising in his throat. “Yes. But I think it’s better to
save that until I must. Otherwise, I might turn my horse around right now.”
    Thekila did laugh at that. “All right. If that’s what