familiar anymore. Momentary relief washed through him when he spotted it. He pointed for Sojun and then they headed up.
As they passed over the spot where they were laying hours ago, he heard voices that would mean an end to their escape.
“… thought he said there wasn’t anything out this far.”
“Maybe not. But it doesn’t hurt to look, does it?”
“It will hurt, if the Cat thinks we’re wasting time.”
He and Sojun exchanged a glance, neither one of them looking around to find the men talking. With a burst of pure adrenaline, both boys surged forward over the hill.
His foot slipped, just as those stone doors came into view. Kaie’s mouth flew open in a silent shout as he tumbled. His body curled into something resembling a ball and he rolled. Dirt and grass hit his tongue and rocks hit his body. Once again, the world was a blur, but this time there was no comfort in it. He wasn’t in control and that made all the difference.
Kaie hit hard. For a moment, a precious, expensive moment, he could do nothing but gasp for a breath that wouldn’t come and stare at glittering lights dancing behind his eyes. He felt a hand wrap itself around his wrist, and then he was sliding. He nearly cried out as the movement scraped his back and bounced his battered head against the earth.
He gathered up his senses just in time to watch Sojun, the Lemme now slung over his shoulders, drag him into the vault. Jun set her down on the ground beside him and then, clearly straining from the effort, slammed t he doors closed. A second later he was on the ground as well.
They were safe.
For a time.
Eight
His whole body was shaking. He wasn’t cold but every bit of him was shaking like it was. Didn’t matter. Time for that later. Time to be sick later. Take care of the Lemme first.
Taking more effort than it should , Kaie crawled the short distance between them. The Lemme’s eyes were closed, her face drenched in sweat and her breathing was raspy. Fearing that she wouldn’t respond at all, he gently shook her shoulders. “Are you alright?”
Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she took in her surroundings with a sluggishness that worried him. He pressed a hand to her cheek and wasn’t surprised to find she was running a fever. Kaie looked around them for s ome source of water to give her but there was nothing.
They were in the small entrance space before the vault proper began. It was his first time on this side of the doors but he saw this much of it years ago, when his mother’s father was laid to rest. He watched from their hill, unnoticed by the adults. It was one of the only times he did anything like that without Sojun, but it seemed terribly important to be on his own that day. Now he regretted it. With his friend there was always the push to go further than he would by himself. The hill would be unsatisfactory, and now he might possess some knowledge of what lay down the two tunnels branching off left and right.
The light on the wall was made by Toman, Jun’s father. He was the light giver for the village. It was his job to craft the lanterns used on the rare occasion someone was lost in the woods at night or a harvest ran late and to set up the torches in the center of the village for ceremonies. And to keep the path out of the vault lit for confused spirits clinging too long to their bodies, so that they might find their way out and to the Abyss. Sojun told him once, before his friend’s mother left the family, that this light was special. One of Toman’s own inventions, inspired by one his mother brought home from a visit to a city for a negotiation with the Empire, designed to burn for weeks untended. Kaie prayed that this one was newly lit and soundly crafted. He didn’t mean to be down here weeks, but the thought of even an hour in the darkness set a crazed panic to work clawing to escape his mind and the vault both.
“We need to find wate r for the Lemme,” he told Sojun, who was watching him with
As they passed over the spot where they were laying hours ago, he heard voices that would mean an end to their escape.
“… thought he said there wasn’t anything out this far.”
“Maybe not. But it doesn’t hurt to look, does it?”
“It will hurt, if the Cat thinks we’re wasting time.”
He and Sojun exchanged a glance, neither one of them looking around to find the men talking. With a burst of pure adrenaline, both boys surged forward over the hill.
His foot slipped, just as those stone doors came into view. Kaie’s mouth flew open in a silent shout as he tumbled. His body curled into something resembling a ball and he rolled. Dirt and grass hit his tongue and rocks hit his body. Once again, the world was a blur, but this time there was no comfort in it. He wasn’t in control and that made all the difference.
Kaie hit hard. For a moment, a precious, expensive moment, he could do nothing but gasp for a breath that wouldn’t come and stare at glittering lights dancing behind his eyes. He felt a hand wrap itself around his wrist, and then he was sliding. He nearly cried out as the movement scraped his back and bounced his battered head against the earth.
He gathered up his senses just in time to watch Sojun, the Lemme now slung over his shoulders, drag him into the vault. Jun set her down on the ground beside him and then, clearly straining from the effort, slammed t he doors closed. A second later he was on the ground as well.
They were safe.
For a time.
Eight
His whole body was shaking. He wasn’t cold but every bit of him was shaking like it was. Didn’t matter. Time for that later. Time to be sick later. Take care of the Lemme first.
Taking more effort than it should , Kaie crawled the short distance between them. The Lemme’s eyes were closed, her face drenched in sweat and her breathing was raspy. Fearing that she wouldn’t respond at all, he gently shook her shoulders. “Are you alright?”
Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she took in her surroundings with a sluggishness that worried him. He pressed a hand to her cheek and wasn’t surprised to find she was running a fever. Kaie looked around them for s ome source of water to give her but there was nothing.
They were in the small entrance space before the vault proper began. It was his first time on this side of the doors but he saw this much of it years ago, when his mother’s father was laid to rest. He watched from their hill, unnoticed by the adults. It was one of the only times he did anything like that without Sojun, but it seemed terribly important to be on his own that day. Now he regretted it. With his friend there was always the push to go further than he would by himself. The hill would be unsatisfactory, and now he might possess some knowledge of what lay down the two tunnels branching off left and right.
The light on the wall was made by Toman, Jun’s father. He was the light giver for the village. It was his job to craft the lanterns used on the rare occasion someone was lost in the woods at night or a harvest ran late and to set up the torches in the center of the village for ceremonies. And to keep the path out of the vault lit for confused spirits clinging too long to their bodies, so that they might find their way out and to the Abyss. Sojun told him once, before his friend’s mother left the family, that this light was special. One of Toman’s own inventions, inspired by one his mother brought home from a visit to a city for a negotiation with the Empire, designed to burn for weeks untended. Kaie prayed that this one was newly lit and soundly crafted. He didn’t mean to be down here weeks, but the thought of even an hour in the darkness set a crazed panic to work clawing to escape his mind and the vault both.
“We need to find wate r for the Lemme,” he told Sojun, who was watching him with
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