The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy (39 page)

Zink makes a circumspect noise through his teeth while he inserts the first tube of ink into his stamp. He walks over to me and kneels down so his eyes are level with my waist.

“
We start with shields,
”
he says, pressing the stamp to my left thigh with a click.
“
Speaking of shields,
”
he says. The ink creeps around the circumference of my leg, forming small battle shields in different colors as it goes.
“
Mine
’
s a line of hands,
”
he says, watching intently.

He changes the ink tube out for the next and stamps my left ankle and my right thigh.

“
That
’
s a good start for now,
”
he says, passing his fingers over the newly-formed image of the dapple gray horse I rode on the scavenge. He wears a look of complacence when he stands.

“
What?
”
I ask him.

“
It
’
s like you think of me when you think of speed.
”

“
I think of the horse.
”

“
You think of what I did to the horse.
”

I roll my eyes.
“
Can you just teach me how to use these now?
”

He holds out his hand in a
“
ladies first
”
gesture, bowing slightly. I stomp past him to the training area at the back of his den.

“
The shields aren
’
t going to do much for you with the single application of ink, but you will be able to throw something that can cover an area of maybe ten square feet. More if you end up being adept with the defensive magus. You
’
ll have to keep reinforcing it until you start layering the ink. Remember, though. Once you set up a shield, nothing on the outside can reach what
’
s inside and anything from the inside that gets
out
will weaken it. Whatever or whoever is left inside won
’
t be as protected as they were. So
you won
’
t be able to throw magus through the shield once it
’
s set up. Try it, I
’
ll chuck some stuff at you. See if I can break it.
”

I flick my fingers over the ring of shields and pull a bright golden dome over me. Zink lobs a wooden ball off of it, which shatters the dome on the second bounce. I pull another shield up, this time reinforcing it after every bounce of the ball. Zink switches to throwing a spinning star magus until he finally cracks through the golden light with a combination of his own shield tattoo and a blocking force with one sweep of his right hand.

“
Loshee will be able to crack that with a toss of her braids. Hope you
’
re ready,
”
he says with a grin.
“
I
’
ll let her beat you down. I
’
m no real threat. Give that horse a try, I
’
ll throw the ball and you make it speed up.
”
He tosses the wooden ball lightly in the air, I whisk a gush of wind towards it and it spins rapidly in the air before shooting forward. It smashes into a glass sculpture of a woman on Zink
’
s desk.

“
Oh! Zink, I
’
m so sorry!
”
I cry jumping forward to pick up the pieces of glass.
“
I should have aimed it, all I thought about was making it go faster.
”
I place the delicate arm of the woman on the desk with a miserable gesture.

“
Try healing it,
”
he says quietly.
“
Use the stag and doe on your ankle and try.
”

I want to be very careful not to break it beyond even Zink
’
s abilities, so I gently trace the ink with my thumb and hold my hand out over the glass pieces. Slowly, as if the sculpture is melting, it rejoins into its original form. The places that shattered show in ugly lesions of rough, raised glass. Pressure builds behind my eyes as I try again and again to smooth them out, but the scars remain. Zink rests his hand on mine to stay my inept attempts. He pulls from his own healing tattoo and the cracks dissolve seamlessly.

“
You can
’
t get so frantic. It causes mistakes. When you are healing or protecting, a calm mind and confidence is crucial,
”
he says quietly,
“
Think of the healing magus like a bird. Soft, light and brittle. The slightest noise or movement will send it flying. A healing magus is easily fractured by any other thoughts in your mind. Like fear and doubt.
”

“
I
’
ll never be able to heal then. I
’
ll just have to count on y-
”
I stop short on the word. I can
’
t count on Zink. He won
’
t be by my side forever. Zink fumbles with the papers on his desk and suggests we skip the simulator today and spend the afternoon in the Magus Library studying the theories behind restorative magusi.

* * *

Abbot never materializes for that afternoon
’
s promised meeting, and the hours pass quietly. Zink and I lose ourselves in books until the lights blink and we mark our places, stacking the volumes neatly. We ride up the elevator together, wiping our minds simultaneously. We race down the street together until we reach the fork in the road, meeting Frehn who greets us with a whistle.

“
Good day?
”
Frehn asks Zink.

“
Won
’
t complain,
”
Zink answers with a grin.

Zink cuffs me on the ear and bolts towards the canteen. Frehn and I follow him slowly.

“
Interesting development in the mines today,
”
Frehn tells me, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“
What
’
s that?
”

He shakes his head,
“
It
’
ll have to wait for tonight. Wex will wanna hear this. Speaking of Wex...
”

“
What about him?
”
The strange hungry feeling aches inside me when I hear his name.

“
You two were out kinda late last night. Anything you want to tell me?
”

“
Not a thing,
”
I smile at him.

Frehn returns my grin and loops his arm around my neck, pulling me into a headlock, laughing at my attempts to break free.

PG3456 eats as calmly as possible and we meander back to our block, squelching our desire to make a mad dash to the relative safety of the common room. Once there, I check the painted hand, sound the all clear, and we dump our packs on the low table. The six of us take out our notebooks, by now filled with life saving information, and put our heads together waiting for Frehn
’
s announcement.

“
I
’
ve found the tunnel that leads out of the mines. I saw the light through it and everything. Explosives are on the same track, it won
’
t take more than a drop to break through to the outside. And not much more to close it back up. I
’
ve already got a plan to move enough to the back wall.
”

Merit lets out a low whistle.
“
This is really happening.
”
Harc opens the map she
’
s been drawing of the city and places it over the one Merit and Wex have been collaborating on of things they have seen through the outer wall
’
s bars.

“
I
’
ve submerged two of the plastic crop preserve bags in the river by the concealed door in the outer wall,
”
Wex says pointing at the place on map,
“
Merit and I will start moving the stash from the barn roof to those crop bags under the water. It will take a week or two to get it done without raising curiosity, but when we finish, Merit will send the twenty-four hour signal to Revvim. Then he, Revvim, will alert PG3453 to put their side of the plan into action. Poy and Sotter will disable the bullet train while Som, Flast and Drim set off the feint. When the diversion starts, we move. Poy, Revvim, and Sotter will meet with Keres, Doe, Frehn and me at the mouth of the mine. We will travel the mine in Frehn
’
s cart to the place in the rock where the light shines through. We set the explosion to break out of the tunnel and set another one to close it off.
”

Merit takes over the plan now, pointing to places on the north side of the pastures.
“
At the same time, Harc and I meet the other half of PG3453- Flast, Drim and Som- here. I
’
ve only been able to train eight horses to run to the river at my signal but I may be able to get another one before it
’
s time. Some of them are large so they can take two riders and still keep up with the smaller ones. Harc and I will retrieve the stash and we take the horses through the wall.
”

“
And we meet two hours later here,
”
Wex
’
s finger taps a mountainside to the north of Chelon.
“
There
’
s fresh water. The river that runs through the city comes from up there.
”

“
What happens if one of us gets caught?
”
Doe asks quietly.

“
We keep moving,
”
Wex tells her solemnly.
“
No matter what happens, the rest of us have to keep moving.
”

No one makes a move, thinking about what this means. If we are separated, if one of us sprains an ankle running, if one of us falls off our horse, or the horse goes lame we leave them behind. With nothing to hold on to but the hope they will catch up. We know it
’
s the only way that any of us will make it past The Mothers, who will chase us. It means absolute, excruciating, and prolonged death for whoever lags behind.