The Echolone Mine (24 page)

Quilla paled.
“How bad?”

“Need to see
more. Lowen, come … Valaris …” The two women vanished.

Tristan swore
and started pacing.

Allith’s head
moved with a will of its own as she looked at Tristan and then
Quilla, eyes wide and questioning.

Beyond the
Door

There was no
light anywhere, no sound, no movement.

It was more a
void than the Void had been.

Torrullin was
heard cursing.

“What’s
wrong?” Saska whispered.

“Everybody
stay put,” Torrullin said, “until I figure this out. Don’t fucking
move.”

Elianas gave a
snort of laughter and then a bellow of it, which was soon slightly
hysterical. “Fantastic! Just great.”

Torrullin
swore again. “It’s not funny.”

“Be wary of
what you wish for,” Elianas laughed, with the same thread of
desperation in his tone.

“Ha.”
Torrullin sounded peeved. Caballa said they needed time without
magic to become real again. Ha.

Declan snapped
his fingers and then a profound sigh erupted. “Ah, I see. We have
no magic.”

Saska clicked
for light - and nothing. “Lovely.”

Torrullin
asked, “You did not pack flint or matches, by any chance?”

“No, why would
I?”

“Then we are
buggered,” Torrullin muttered. “Can’t see to move, can’t move to
see.”

“I’ll check,”
Saska murmured, and rummaged. Long minutes passed.

“It’s all
right,” Torrullin muttered.

“Now wait,”
Declan said. “Let us think. We are sitting on a rock, right? Find a
loose stone, something we can use to strike a spark. Saska, a piece
of cloth of some kind …”

“Do not move
from position,” Elianas warned.

More minutes
followed alive with scratching sounds.

“Got
something,” Saska said, and then she gasped. “Gods, I think it’s
flint!”

“Pass it here
… with the cloth,” Torrullin said. Somehow in the dark their hands
connected and potential flint and cloth passed over.

“Straw,”
Elianas murmured. “Must be straw …” He was heard gathering
something dry.

“More flint,”
Declan said. “It seems Avior knew these things would be needed. Or
this space knew. Talk, Torrullin, so we can get the stuff to
you.”

“Here,”
Torrullin said and tapped with the piece of flint on the rock.
Elianas passed what could be straw and Declan handed over the
second piece of flint. Torrullin was then heard muttering as he
arranged straw over cloth in what he hoped was a configuration that
would catch alight, and then flint struck flint.

“Strike the
rock,” Elianas said.

Torrullin
struck rock. Nothing happened. He struck flint. Nothing
happened.

“Gods, let me
do it,” Elianas said and sidled closer to where Torrullin’s noises
came from.

He took the
flint and struck the rock at an oblique angle. A mighty spark flew
out. In that brief light he found the prepared kindling, and struck
again, missing by a breath, and struck again. A spark landed in the
straw, curled there, and Torrullin leaned over and cupped his
hands, blowing gently. When Elianas struck again he was ready, and
a breath caused flame to shoot up.

“Anything that
burns,” Declan said and was on his feet, using the meagre light to
start a search.

“Well done,
Elianas,” Torrullin murmured.

“Made more
proper fires than you ever did.” He passed more straw and also
started looking for fire material.

Saska stared
at Torrullin bent over the tiny fire as he tended it. “How did this
happen?

“Opposite of
the Void is nothing, strange as that is. We should have realised it
meant no power as well.”

“And now?”

“We cope,
that’s what.”

“Well, well,
well,” Declan said. “Elianas, look at this. Giant stacks of
wood.”

“And rush
torches,” Elianas added. “Brittle, old, but they will burn. Clearly
someone from Avior needed us to succeed.”

“Avior stacked
wood and the like on the other side of the door before it took on
permanency,” Torrullin murmured.

“They knew it
would be dark,” Elianas muttered. “I wonder what else they
knew?”

There were
gathering sounds and then the two men were back. Elianas held a
torch over the small blaze, watched it smoke up and catch alight
with a whooshing sound.

“That stinks,”
Torrullin said.

Elianas held
the bright flame high.

The giant
stack of wood flickered nearby, as well as a pile of torches. And a
small pile of bones. He did not point them out. Other than that,
there was nothing in the space.

Declan knelt
and started loading the fire.

Elianas took
another torch and set off into the dark. “I won’t go further than
the sight of fire.”

Torrullin
pulled a face and helped the Siric build a decent blaze.

Declan looked
at him. “He is brave.”

“Gets him into
trouble often.”

“We are in
trouble here, Torrullin. No power means no food and water.”

Saska
unpacked. “A knife, a mirror, fruit, cheese, pot, cup, spoon,
fork,” she listed. “Herbs, bandage, underwear …” She grinned when
both Declan and Torrullin glanced at her, and went on, “… comb,
soap, and hand towel. Spare clothes - that was my dishcloth, by the
way, what you’re burning over there - sugar, coffee, bowl … er,
personal stuff, and a sleeping roll. That’s it. Elianas didn’t give
me much time.” She looked up. “And I was counting on you to do the
food-finger-snapping-thing.”

“Likewise. At
least you have coffee and sugar.”

“Two cups
each, at a stretch.”

“May I see the
knife?” Torrullin asked.

She passed it
to him. It was sharp and strong. He handed it back. “Keep it on
you.”

Declan,
meanwhile, pulled a dagger from his boot. “I have this, but that is
all I brought.”

“Sword,”
Torrullin said, and checked his pockets. “Ah, string …” He smiled.
“A bag of sweets one of the village kids gave me, bless his little
heart.” He handed it to Saska. “Put that with our stocks.” He gave
her the string also.

Elianas’ torch
bobbed closer and he was soon back. “It’s a cave. I could hear
external noises and somewhere the sound of water.”

“Excellent.”
Declan sounded relieved.

“Sit, and let
us figure safety measures before we go on.” Torrullin threw another
log onto the fire. The wood burned fast, too fast. Very old, very
dry. “One, we take a bundle of wood with us and, two, this flint is
now gold.” He handed a piece to Elianas as he sat. “Three, we never
leave each other’s sight. Four, priority is food, water and
anything useful we find. All else can come after.”

“Agreed,”
Saska said. “How about a sweet?”

Torrullin
laughed. “Pass them around.”

Not long after
they set off.

Elianas tied
the string around a fair bundle of wood and hefted it onto his
shoulder. Torrullin took Saska’s pack and Declan lit four torches,
and hefted four more.

They left the
fire burning as point of reference.

The external
sound grew louder soon after they lost sight of the fire.

Water dripped
nearby, out of sight, out of reach.

“The air is
cooler,” Saska remarked.

“If it’s air,”
Declan muttered. “Something here isn’t quite normal.”

“Metallic
taste,” Elianas murmured. “Possibly a product of sealing.”

“Or it isn’t
air as we know it,” Declan rebutted.

“Have to be
positive,” Saska said.

They walked
on. Underfoot the rock was smooth, as if eroded by ages of water
flow, and overhead the ceiling was rounded. The rock was a
outlandish green colour.

Elianas, in
the lead, glanced over his shoulder. “Bug’s gullet.”

Torrullin
grinned in the rear. “Shut up, will you?”

“Bug’s
gullet?” Saska repeated.

Elianas
laughed. “Torrullin and I once had ourselves eaten by a giant bug.
This is what it looked like inside, only messier.”

“You’re
kidding.”

“Serious. It
was beyond the outer rim in the primordial oceans of Akhavar. There
were some unlikely creatures in those waters then.”

“Quiet; you
are scaring even me right now,” Torrullin muttered.

“Tell him,”
Declan said.

Saska
giggled.

They went on.
The air, if it was air, cooled further and grew ever colder.

Elianas’ torch
snuffed out. “Wind!”

“Keep it
down,” Declan admonished. His torch snuffed out as well.

Torrullin
shielded his with his body and paced forward to join Elianas.
Together they peered ahead.

“I think there
might be light there.” Elianas pointed. “Hard to say with this
flickering.”

“Saska, stay
back and keep your torch alive,” Torrullin said and lifted his. It
went out. “Could be, yes. Declan, stay here.”

He and Elianas
crept forward, making little noise, both men holding their dead
torches like clubs.

It was
definitely a breeze. Little gusts blew against their faces, lifting
hair.

They walked
into a wall of rock.

Torrullin
swore and then Elianas dragged him to the right. The cave curved,
and light came from that direction, causing a faint glow on the
opposite face. They followed the curve, and Saska’s flame vanished
from view.

Then there was
light. Bright, brilliant light. Light that did not mix with dark,
light that glowed on opposite rock merely to point the way.

“It is like a
portal,” Torrullin murmured, standing with Elianas before a
man-sized oval of light. They could not see beyond it; in fact, it
acted as a mirror, reflecting faint renditions of the two men in
the brightness.

“I do not like
it,” Elianas murmured.

“What choice
do we have?”

“I will get
the others.” Elianas stumbled away.

A few minutes
later all four stood before the oval. There was no discussion; they
had to go on. Torrullin shifted Saska’s pack on his shoulder,
glanced wryly at Elianas and stepped into the light. It swallowed
him.

“Go, Saska,”
Elianas prompted.

She went,
clutching her dead torch.

Declan
followed with the five torches he carried and then Elianas was
through, hand bloodless as it gripped a bundle of wood.

The four
swayed precariously on an outcrop of rock, a circular pillar no
more than six feet in diameter in the centre of a gigantic
ocean.

All suggestion
of hill or mountain vanished, as had any suggestion of a portal.
Speechless, they stared in every direction over a changeless sea,
where sea was unmoving, appearing painted in greens and blues, and
where nothing lay on the horizon.

Saska swore
under her breath.

Declan flapped
his wings, and found the air too dense to allow lift.

Torrullin
shifted the pack off, and knelt. Leaning over, he put a hand to the
‘sea’. It was like to treacle; dense liquid that moved slowly,
displacing to touch. It was warm. He withdrew his hand and licked
experimentally.

“Tastes like
sugared water.”

Frowning,
Elianas said, “I think we can walk on this.”

“Walking on
water, a legend I never thought to act out. To where?”

Elianas sank
to his haunches. “It does not matter. Remember how in the Void
everything was, but we were helpless despite power? Well, if this
is opposite, then this is nothing and we have no power, but we are
not helpless. In the Void we simply fell; here we have control over
our movements.”

“There is
possibility wherever we go.”

Elianas gave a
lopsided smile. “I am taking a walk.”

“Only as far
as the touch of my hand,” Torrullin said. “We test first.”

“So cautious,
brother? Where is your impulsive nature now?”

“Your
devil-may-care attitude scares me,” Torrullin snapped. “Now take my
hand and lower carefully.”

Elianas
grinned, gripped and went over. Holding tight, he managed to
straighten and then stand.

It was a
wobbly position and his boots sank into the liquid, but he stood
and the sea supported him. “Told you.” He took a step, still
holding on. The liquid sucked at his boots, then released. Another
step. “It will be hard work, but it is doable.” He tore his hand
away.

“Damn it,
Elianas!”

The dark man
laughed. He took another step, then another, and danced a jig -
comically strange - and attempted an experimental jog. The sea
supported. “Toss the wood and my torch!”

Torrullin did
so, and hefted the pack. He lowered over, felt the slight sinking
and then the feeling of wobbling support, and held his hand out to
Saska.

“Is it safe?”
she asked, gripping her torch and passing Torrullin his.

“Probably
not.” He smiled and shrugged.

She took his
hand and climbed down. She stumbled upon the strangeness and found
footing.

Declan,
scowling, followed.

It was hard
work, without doubt. Within minutes muscles protested the constant
pull and arms flailed often to retain balance, but they went on,
slowly.

Above the sky,
if it was sky, was a misty haze, and sun, if there was sun, lit all
in hues of grey.

Chapter 20

Shadow and
shade, relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by
an opaque body

Titania
Dictionary

Beyond the
Door

N
othing changed for untold
hours.

Not the light,
not the landscape, not the temperature. They could not sit, for
they displaced too much surface and sank in, and they could not
stand for long before sinking began. They needed to keep moving. It
numbed the mind along with everything else.