Horizon (11 page)

The one thing she’d never doubted was her willingness to fight for what she believed in. But that Aluna — the
real
Aluna — felt oceans away. Lost or trapped, or maybe dead. The impostor Aluna, the one stuck in the trees, felt helpless without her. It took all her strength just to keep moving.

Day after day, through rain and sun, they dug their way through the treetops. The Silvae’s bark-like skin kept them safe from cuts and scrapes, but Aluna, Hoku, and Calli looked as if they’d been dragged across a beach made of sharp stones. Even with their thick Kampii skin, droplets of dried blood clung to their noses and cheeks like Hoku’s freckles. Aluna’s hands had blistered and bled and blistered over again. She tried wearing leather guards to protect them, but couldn’t get a strong enough grip.

“The ground,” Hoku said. “It was practically made for walking. Why don’t we give that a try?”

Hoku might as well have suggested walking on the moon. Flicker laughed, patted him on the back, and said, “Fish people are funny.”

“I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Sunbeam,” Hoku grumbled. “Even a horse’s disdain is preferable to this exercise in pain and suffering.”

“Imagine how I feel,” Calli said. “I have wings, and I can’t even use them! Sometimes I wonder if the Silvae are doing this on purpose. Like, maybe there’s a perfectly good path to the ocean somewhere, and this is their idea of a joke.”

“This is their ocean,” Aluna said. Her own voice surprised her — how long had it been since she’d used it? Two, three days? “Kampii swim
through
the water; we don’t walk on the bottom. The treetops are their open ocean, their open sky.”

“I wonder if LegendaryTek made any splinters that live in active volcanoes,” Hoku grumbled. “We should go find them next.”

Calli laughed and ruffled his hair. A breeze shifted directions and a new scent drifted through their makeshift treetop camp.

“Ocean,” Aluna said. “Do you smell it? Ocean!”

Hoku leaned toward the west and closed his eyes. “I’ve never smelled anything more glorious.”

The ocean’s scent somehow eased the pain in her hands.
Water! Waves!
Her whole body longed to submerge itself. Had the Ocean Seed done that when it had given her a tail? Had it implanted a physical desire for the sea into her blood?

No.
This urge, this calling, was something every Kampii was born with, just like dolphins knew how to migrate, or how sea turtles crawled out of the sand and found their way to the surf. The ocean had always been a part of her.

Leaves rustled and Flicker appeared out of the branches. Everything the Silvae did was abrupt and graceful, and Aluna envied her for it. “Song ends here, and so does our journey. You have given us much to think about. Harmony will hear of Strand, we promise you.”

“The Equians, Serpenti, and Aviars will welcome you,” Hoku said. “Even if your numbers are few.”

Flicker nodded. “Song’s Heart may not be ready for the wider world, but there are those among us who dream of it. They might be willing to fight for that dream.”

“Swift currents,” Aluna said, and managed a smile.

“And blue skies,” Calli added.

Flicker granted them a rare grin. “Soft landings, friends of the trees.” She and the other Silvae jumped away, leaving only the gentle rustle of branches in their wake.

Aluna watched them go, wondering if she’d ever see another Silvae again.

“I kind of wish they’d helped us get back down to the ground,” Hoku said.

Aluna laughed. Then she looked down and watched the ground blur and spin far beneath her. “I think it’s time for Calli to break out those wings again. And quickly, or I might try diving for the ocean from here.”

“Aluna first, then,” Calli said. She hopped over to Aluna’s branch and wound her arms under Aluna’s. “Keep still, please!”

Aluna released her grip on the tree just as Calli stepped back off the branch. For one quick flash, it felt as if Aluna’s stomach were going to fly out her mouth. Then Calli’s wings opened and caught air, and their plummet slowed.

The space between the trees opened as they approached the ground, and Calli flapped her wings a few times to slow them even more. By the time they reached the solid earth, Aluna’s tail sheath barely impacted at all.

“Perfect landing,” Aluna said. “You’re getting stronger.” She felt strangely shy around Calli now, embarrassed by the shadow of herself that she’d been the last few days. And ashamed that Calli had accepted her anyway.

Calli’s face dripped with sweat, but the girl glowed. “Let’s see how I do with Hoku.”

The second landing wasn’t quite as perfect, but neither of Hoku’s legs broke, so it was still a success. Hoku stood, brushed himself off, and gave Calli a quick kiss on the cheek. It was the first time Aluna had seen either of them do that in weeks. Calli blushed and turned away fast, apparently concerned with a leaf stuck in her wing.

“What was that for?” she asked quietly.

“Payment for the ride,” Hoku said. “And because we’re not in the stupid treetops anymore, where trying something like that might have made me fall to my death.”

“I would have caught you,” Calli said. “At least, I would have tried.”

Aluna dragged herself around the clearing until she found two decent branches about the same size and shape to use as walking sticks. They didn’t have straps to secure around her biceps like her old crutches, but they’d work well enough to get her to the water.

Within an hour, the massive trees of the Song had shrunk to shorter trees more used to sandy earth than rich, dark soil. Sweet sea breezes toyed with Aluna, taunting her and urging her to move faster. At the first sign of open sky, Calli was up and away, soaring high and laughing, her wings stretched wide.

When the first white-capped wave came into view, Hoku whooped and broke into a run. Aluna hopped faster until the soft sand of the beach made it impossible. She abandoned her walking sticks, dropped to the ground, and removed the leather sheath binding her tail. The sand felt hot and gritty under her wounded palms as she dragged herself toward the surf, and she loved it anyway.

Hoku hit the water first and dove. Aluna wasn’t far behind. A wave crashed in front of her and slid up the sand. The churning froth hit her forearms and chest and splashed her face. She laughed and tumbled into the surf, letting it pull her into the sea. Within two flashes, the water enveloped her. Hugged her. Spun and twisted and tossed her around like a youngling with a new toy.

She wanted to swim deeper. To feel the pressure of the water all around her and see the sun’s power dwindle into darkness. The last time she’d been in the ocean, she’d had legs. Now . . .

Her tail glistened. In the Above World, it had been like a parched desert tree, pale and fragile and aching for water. But underwater, colors emerged: lush kelp greens, vibrant blues, warm golds. She reveled in the way the pattern changed with every angle. Her tail fin unfolded and splayed open, a full meter of diaphanous, shimmering membrane, sleek and strong.

Aluna floundered, trying to force her new body to move the way the old one had. But soon she found it, the rhythm of muscle movements she needed to propel herself through the water.

Hoku splashed up ahead, his legs kicking in their erratic, undisciplined way as he swam. She zoomed past him. Crabs scuttled out of her way. Fish darted for cover. Eels retreated to their hidey-holes.

Swift as a seal, fast as a dolphin.

She dove, giddy with the power her new tail gave her. When she reached the sea bottom, she somersaulted, fast, and shot straight up toward the surface. The sun welcomed her back. She broke the surface of the water and flipped into the air. Her tail spun over her head once, twice, three times. She crashed back down with a victory yell bigger than any battle cry.

Aluna’s breathing shell throbbed at her throat. She closed her eyes and drifted. The salty water had erased every last bit of the desert from her skin.

With her tail, she could swim fast and far and never get tired. She could leave everything and everyone behind and become like the Deepfell, a creature of the ocean in mind as well as body. Digging mussels, hunting fish, catching crabs, and exploring citywrecks. She’d never wanted that life more than she wanted it right now.

“Aluna!” came Hoku’s voice in her ear. “Come quick. Calli saw something.”

“I’m here,” she said. She rolled in the water, amazed at the way it buoyed her. She was so tired of crutches and pain, of her own tedious slowness on land. “I’m coming.”

She rode the waves back toward the beach until she found them. Hoku stood waist-deep in the water, obviously reluctant to leave it. Calli hovered a few meters above him, her hands clasped nervously in front of her chest.

“What is it?” Aluna asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I scouted down the shore looking for HydroTek, and I found what’s left of it,” Calli said. Her hands wound around each other like a pair of eels. “HydroTek has been destroyed.”

D
ESTROYED?”
Hoku asked, fighting off a wave of panic. “Completely?”

“The dome is broken,” Calli said. “The buildings are smashed and there’s smoke billowing into the sky. It must have been recent. I saw two tiny things flying around. Maybe dragonfliers. I think at least some of the Upgraders are still there.”

“Did you see any Dome Meks scurrying around trying to fix everything?” Hoku asked, thinking of the crab-girl Liu. “No small, furry raccoon-shaped pieces of tech?” He already missed Zorro more than he could even admit; the idea of losing him forever was simply unbearable.

“It’s too far away to see, even with my distance sight,” Calli said. Her voice softened. “But I’m sure Zorro and the Dome Meks escaped somehow. They must have.”

Hoku shook his head. “The Meks wouldn’t have left the dome. Not even if it was crumbling around them. They were built to protect and preserve it. Remember the SkyTek dome? Those poor Meks were still there, trying to put the pieces back together.”

His throat constricted painfully. He tried not to think about that little bundle of tech and fur, and the more he tried not to, the more he did.

Aluna gasped. “Tides’ teeth! Our breathing necklaces!”

Hoku’s hand went to his throat. “They fully recharged the last time we were here, but without HydroTek continuously beaming more energy. . . .” He did some quick calculations in his head. “They’ve already started to drain, especially because we left the ocean and went to the desert for so long. We might only have weeks — or days, or just hours — before they stop working for good.”

“What about the rest of the Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides?” Aluna said.

“Their necklaces were being charged until the moment HydroTek was destroyed, so some of them might have months,” Hoku said. “But not every breathing shell is the same. Some don’t hold their energy as well as others, and some Kampii use more power than others when they breathe. I bet a lot of necklaces have already failed.”

Aluna punched the surface of the water. “After everything we did — after everything we sacrificed to defeat Fathom — our people are going to die any way! Hoku, what if Daphine . . . ? What if your parents . . . ?”

“Stop it,” Calli said. She dropped into the surf and held her wings above the water. “Both of you, stop it. This is terrible, but we can’t start guessing. It won’t help anyone. And besides, the Kampii aren’t ignorant now. You told them how their necklaces work. If their tech started to fail, your Elders would at least know why.”

“You’re right. Daphine was at the battle,” Aluna said. “She promised to tell the Elders everything. Maybe they listened.”

“It doesn’t matter if they listened, because they can’t fix anything,” Hoku said, and the invisible hand clenching his chest squeezed tighter. “Elder Peleke won’t know how to generate the energy they need — despite the fact that the sun and waves and wind are right above him — and even if he did, he wouldn’t know how to transfer it to the necklaces. I need to get down there.
Now.
”

Aluna’s tail churned the water. “HydroTek first — or at least the shore closest to the dome. If there are survivors, they might have escaped into the woods. Maybe they rescued the generator, or some tech that might help us fix the necklaces. The Dome Meks were charged with protecting the Kampii, not just HydroTek itself.”

Hoku itched to dive into the water and swim for the City of Shifting Tides, but Aluna made sense. He couldn’t let panic make him stupid. Recovering any bit of tech might help him find a solution faster. “HydroTek, then,” he said.

“You swim. I’ll fly,” Calli said, and she vaulted into the air. “The dome is south, not too far. I’ll meet you on the beach, but be careful. The Upgraders circling HydroTek might have better eyesight than I do.”

Aluna dove into the water and Hoku saw the tip of her ocean-slicked tail for the first time. She looked powerful, but in a whole new way. His best friend was finally a real Kampii.

Just like old times, he dove after her. Aluna had always been a better swimmer than he was, but the ocean was still his home. His legs remembered how to kick, his arms remembered to how to form a wedge over his head to cut down on his drag.