Down a Lost Road (28 page)

He lifted his hands, threatening.

“
All right! What if I don’t
know?”

“
Shall I find out if you
do?”

“
No, you don’t have to do
that.” I pushed myself to my feet, staring up at him with all the
strength I could summon. “But I need something more from you than
you not killing them.”

Azik hissed. “I don’t negotiate with
prisoners.”

“
I’m not your prisoner. You
won’t kill me, because then you won’t find out where Pyelthan is.
They
don’t know where it is,” I said, nodding at
Damian.

Yatol’s hands emerged from behind the
pillar, slick with blood.

“
So I would lose nothing by
killing them!” Azik cried, flicking his wrists to make the flames
spin.

I balled my hands into fists and took two
steps closer to Azik, just as Yatol stepped up behind him.

“
Tell me where I can find
Davhur!” I shouted.

Laughter rattled inside him. “Somewhere the
living will not find him.”

I staggered. Azik curled his hand toward
Damian, the flames twisting into a sort of rope. His voice clashed
in the silence:

“
Tell me what I wish to
know!”

“
It’s
right…here…”

I reached to my belt, suddenly snatching
Yatol’s knife and flinging it with all my might at Azik, praying
that he actually had a body and I wouldn’t hit Yatol accidentally
instead. The knife struck straight in the middle of Azik’s torso,
but didn’t hit anything or pass through him either. It just fell
with a heavy thud right through him, landing on the ground. Right
at Yatol’s feet.

“
Foolish! You don’t have
the strength to wield that blade against me.”

My mouth twitched in a smile. “No, but he
does.”

Azik spun around, coming face to face with
Yatol. He shuddered, staggered half a step back. I could see the
tip of the blade glimmering through the back of his robe. His hands
shot out, rigid, the green flames dripping down like a thin trickle
of water. All around his feet the circle of fire swirled, the sick
green mixing with deepest shadow. The pillars hummed with
vibration, a low cacophony.

Yatol pulled the blade free and stumbled
backwards. Azik stretched his hands toward him, fingers straining,
clawing vainly at the air. The sound rose to a pulsing drone.
Stones cracked from the pillars and the ground shook. The whirlpool
of fire and shadow inched up around Azik, wrapping smoky arms
around him and dragging him down. All at once the air ruptured in a
torrent of noise. The four central pillars imploded and a grey wind
rose all around us. I wrapped my arms around my head, watching as a
great black pit opened beneath Azik, sucking all the wind and stone
and flame into its vortex. Azik’s wails rose above the noise.

Then came silence, and deep still
shadows.

Yatol gave a half-choked cry of anguish and
dropped to his knees, blood streaming down his forearms from some
wound I hadn’t seen. The blade clattered to the ground. I snatched
it and ran to slice through Damian’s bonds, then rushed back to
Yatol. I caught him just as he slumped forward unconscious.

“
Merelin! What were you
thinking?” Damian cried, stumbling over to me. “He could have
killed you!”

“
He was going to kill
you
,” I choked. “He would have killed you both. I had to
come. Don’t you see?”

He wrapped his arms around me, dropping his
head against my shoulder. It was my injured arm, but I didn’t tell
him that. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as the rest of me did right
then.

“
Thank you,” he murmured.
He gripped me harder. “I thought I would never see you again. You
saved my life. You saved our lives.”

I couldn’t answer. I just bowed my head and
cried.

After a moment I felt Yatol draw a shallow
breath. His head twitched a little, then his hand reached up to
touch a tear that had fallen on his cheek.

“
Don’t cry, Merelin,” he
whispered.

Damian released me and helped Yatol sit
upright, both of us holding his arms until he seemed stable. It was
only then that I noticed that they both had strange marks like grey
cobwebbing on their necks and forearms. Even I had a trace of it on
my wrists. It ached, too, like a remnant of that horrible tugging
sensation in my veins. I laid my hand on Damian’s arm.

“
How long were you down
here?”

“
Not long,” Damian said.
“He hadn’t started with me before they brought Yatol
down.”

He stopped abruptly. In the spectral light
his face went sickly pale, then he launched himself to his feet and
staggered into the shadows, retching.

For a moment Yatol and I sat alone in
silence, unmoving. Yatol stared down at his injured hands. Then he
lifted one of them, hesitant, and touched my cheek gently. He
didn’t say a word. He just held my gaze with those deep dark eyes,
while my heart fluttered recklessly. The feel of his fingers
against my cheek set my spine shivering.

I could have sworn his head started to bend
toward mine, but at exactly that moment the dungeon door squealed
open. All of us were instantly on our feet, Damian scrambling back
to us, Yatol standing protectively in front of me. For a moment
only darkness met our anxious gazes. Then a pale blue light flashed
through the open doorway.

Yatol drew up in alarm, but I would know
that kind of light anywhere.

“
Kurtis!” I
cried.

The light flicked over toward us, making the
shadows around us all the darker.

“
You found
them!”

Four figures crept into the dungeon. Kurtis
came first with his makeshift flashlight, while Aniira and Tyhlaur
followed behind with Mr. Dansy supported between them. Mr. Dansy
took his arms off of their shoulders, sending them forward with a
little shove. They came running toward us.

Tyhlaur seized Yatol in a bear hug, clinging
to him as if his life depended on it. I’d never seen him so
overwrought. Aniira put her hand gently on my shoulder.

“
Azik?” she asked
quietly.

“
Gone.”

“
Yatol?”

I nodded. She glanced at Damian then, and
took half a step back. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but I
thought a quick blush rose to her cheeks. I had to smile.

“
My brother, Damian,” I
said. “Aniira.”

He was staring at her, too, looking more
awkward than I’d ever seen him. I jabbed him gently with my elbow
and he made a curious little bow. She smiled and returned the
gesture, casting him a shy glance over her shoulder as she turned
away. I elbowed Damian again, leaning toward him and whispering in
English,

“
I don’t know, Damian. I
thought you went in more for the geeky brunettes. But the
red-headed ninja spy chick fits.”

He pulled me into a hug, leaning his head
against mine. “Shut up, you brat!”

“
We need to get out of
here,” Mr. Dansy said suddenly, limping a few steps toward us. “The
Ungulion will be back soon to see what’s happening
here.”

We all stared at each other blankly. I’d
managed to forget we were still sitting in the den of Ungulion. Mr.
Dansy was right. My
uncle
was right. I still couldn’t quite
wrap my head around that one.

“
The tower is unstable now,
too.” Yatol pointed to the empty space around us. “The central
supports are gone.”

“
We took out the Ungulion
on the stairwell,” Aniira said, running up to the dungeon door. “We
just need to avoid the patrols in the hall.”

Tyhlaur and Kurtis sprinted back to join
her, leaving the four of us who were injured to come more slowly
behind. Damian went to help Mr. Dansy, and Yatol turned toward me.
He seemed even more haggard than he had a moment before, and I
reached out instinctively to touch his arm.

“
Azik,” he gasped. “It
really got me this time. Can you help me?”

I nodded and wrapped my arm around his
waist.

“
You can lean on me,” I
said, taking a tentative step forward.

He stumbled and sank against me, and I
staggered under his weight.

“
Not…too much…”

“
Your shoulder,” he
mumbled. “I’m not hurting it?”

“
You’re fine. Let’s
go.”

It seemed like just a few hours had passed
since he had helped me walk. Only I didn’t think I could carry him
if he fell. I just prayed he could make it back to camp.

Chapter 20 – Healing

Even with four injured party members,
leaving the tower seemed infinitely easier than entering it had
been. We managed to sneak out through the conduit without
encountering a guard – maybe they had all gone to find out what had
happened to my uncle and the other patrol. Through the rest of the
night and the next day we tracked as fast as we could across the
desert. Damian’s strength started failing at about the same time
mine did. Yatol had long been stumbling half-conscious beside me. I
kept wishing that Akhmar would rescue us, but no matter how many
times I scanned the horizon, I never saw him coming.

Finally I glimpsed the dark line of the
forest rising to meet us, purple-grey in the early evening
twilight. Somehow we kept moving. I don’t know how we did it.
Tyhlaur had come back and had Mr. Dansy and me both leaning on him
for help, while Kurtis supported Yatol and Damian on my other side.
Aniira ran in front and sometimes skirted around behind us,
scouting for any signs of trouble.

Everything began blurring together. I
watched my feet squishing into the sand with broken rhythm. Trees
swirling around us, clinging gossamer. Someone talking. The smell
of cooking food. An acrid taste in my mouth. Softness. Sleep.

* * *

“…
doesn’t surprise me,
really. You just couldn’t leave the bandage on, could
you?”

Someone was talking to me. He seemed to have
been talking for a long time, maybe not even caring if I was
conscious to listen. I struggled to pry open my eyelids, but they
hung heavy over my eyes like they were chained down. After a minute
I managed a grunt of reply, and my eyes opened a sliver. Shan
crouched beside me, holding a spicy-scented compress near my
head.

“
Bandage?” I mumbled,
tongue thick.

“
You and Yatol, both the
same. Not surprised. Think it will be…”

…
My eyes snapped open.
Shan was gone. My thoughts tumbled uselessly. Wet clothes in a
dryer. Numb…

“
How is everyone
doing?”

Kurtis. I tried again to look around, found
Yatol sitting on a chest by my bedside, Shan cross-armed beside
him. Kurtis stood in the tent opening, holding back the flap.

“
Damian still sleeps.
Merelin seems to be awake,” Shan commented. “At least for the
moment.”

Yatol’s eyes flashed to my face, and a faint
smile touched his mouth. His skin still seemed grey and drawn. I
blinked drowsily. Couldn’t stay awake.

“
I’m aw…”

Couldn’t…

Woke to the bitter taste again. Found Yatol
holding me upright, tipping a shallow dish to my lips.

“
Come on, Merelin,” he
murmured, as if he didn’t know I was conscious. “Fight it off.
Please.”

I coughed and twisted my head away from the
dish. Yatol set it aside and wrapped both arms around me, holding
me close. His shoulders shook. Was he weeping? Was I dying?

Don’t go back to sleep. Wake up, wake
up.

I forced my hand to move, dragging up like a
dead weight to rest on Yatol’s arm.

“
I’m awake.”

He didn’t say anything, just held me tighter
and lifted one hand to cover his face.

I let myself rest in his arms, exhausted
still but at least conscious. I’d never experienced anything like
that lethargy, and never wanted to again. The idea that I couldn’t
make myself stay awake was terrifying.

A stream of light flooded the tent as
someone pushed back the flap. Whoever it was hesitated, then rushed
over to Yatol and me. Shan again.

“
Yatol! Is she—”

“
I’m fine,” I croaked.
“Where’s Damian?”

Yatol loosened his grip, helping me sit
upright. On a pile of furs near mine lay Damian, asleep or
unconscious, pallid. Deep purple shadows circled his eyes, and
every few seconds he shivered. I pulled away from Yatol and crawled
weakly over to him.

“
Is he going to be all
right?” I asked Shan over my shoulder, laying a hand on Damian’s
forehead.