Darkness & Light (4 page)

Verses about bringing all people together,
and smoothing the way aside, Betreec had always thought it one of
the sillier superstitions. Now, faced with a cold beyond anything
she'd imagined, she wasn't so sure but that she'd pick the finding
of the great tunnel over the fulfillment of any of the half dozen
or so of what had previously been her fondest bedtime stories.

I'rone pulled a thin gurra wool scarf from
the pack and handed it back to her. "It's not cold enough yet to
make this stream freeze solid yet, but if you find the air becomes
cold enough to make your lungs burn, wrap this around your
face."

"You mean it gets colder than this? Cold
enough for water to stop moving?"

"Of course it does. Where else would the snow
come from?"

"I don't know. I thought it just fell from
the sky."

I'rone pulled a similar scarf out for
himself, wrapped it twice about his neck and then shrugged at
her.

"It does fall from the sky, but it's made of
water. Sometimes we had to melt it in order to have something to
drink."

Betreec suddenly wondered if she should
already know what I'rone was telling her. It boggled the mind to
believe she could have missed such amazing, non-boring facts, but
she did tend to space off during class more than she should.

I'rone seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry,
most of that stuff is covered in an outside survival class they put
Guadel pairs through before sending them out on their first
circuit."

It was like the Goddess had finally heard
Betreec's prayers and offered her the perfect opportunity, the
ideal opening for steering the conversation to where she'd been
hoping it would go.

"I'm not that far from finishing up my
courses. Another four months probably and I'll be in my last
series. Once that happens, I can be courted, can even accept
proposals if they were to be tendered."

I'rone's posture seemed to have stiffened
just the slightest bit. Betreec took it as a positive sign. If the
thought of her marrying someone caused him distress, then he must
feel strongly towards her after all.

"I know boys aren't allowed to tender
proposals, or even court until after they are approved as Guadel by
the Council, but that's ok. I can delay things while you finish
your training. Fail a class or two, even start implying that I
might become a healer instead of a Guadel. It happens all the time,
but I need to know you're planning on courting me once you're
able."

I'rone stopped and held a hand up. "This
isn't something we should be talking about. It's prohibited."

For a second it felt like I'rone was speaking
another language. "Everyone does it. Nobody wants to settle for a
marriage of duty when they could have one of actual love. How else
can we make sure we have a chance to be together?"

Betreec chased after I'rone as he turned
away. The taste of rejection was all the worse for being so novel.
"Was I wrong? Do you not like me even a little bit?"

I'rone shook his head, "What you or I might
feel, or think we feel, is irrelevant. Your duty is to do your
absolute best in all studies, so you can advance as quickly as
possible. Delaying that deprives The People of much needed
help."

"But they'll court me as soon as I graduate.
It's virtually guaranteed. With so many more Daughters than
candidates graduating every year, the Guadel couples almost have to
court new wives. If they don't there's always a chance that the
head of their bloodline will simply assign them a wife."

I'rone didn't slow, even when she grabbed his
arm and tried to stop him. Betreec felt tears gather at the corners
of her eyes. "It's cruel of you to make me wait like this, I'rone.
To leave me unsure while I pass up other opportunities in the hopes
you'll pick me once you're a full Guadel."

Their hurried footsteps and the slow drip of
water were the only sound for several moments. When I'rone finally
stopped, Betreec's heart jumped up to the top of her throat in
anticipation, but he failed to turn and face her.

His voice came out deeper even than normal.
"If you wait for me you'll be waiting in vain. I won't choose
you."

Betreec couldn't stop the cold tears that
seemed determined to accompany them the rest of the way down their
solitary tunnel, but she refused to break into actual crying, for
all she felt like a complete fool.

She was pretty enough to have any of the
other boys if she'd wanted to be cold and calculating about it.
Instead she'd followed the tugging in her heart pulling her towards
I'rone. She'd even deluded herself into thinking his slow looks,
his gorgeous, dark eyes had rested on her longer than any of the
other girls. She'd often imagined he'd contrived excuses to linger
in her presence. It had certainly seemed his silent form had
strayed near her more often than simple chance could explain.

She silently castigated herself as they
logged additional cycles of cold travel, pausing in her efforts
only just long enough to send her thoughts out searching for the
girl. She might be the most pathetic individual ever created by the
Goddess, but she wasn't about to let her emotionless companion hold
up her supposed incompetence, as yet another reason why she wasn't
worthy of him.

Betreec's legs were aching with exhaustion by
the time their increasingly-narrow corridor opened back up into a
large chamber with more than a dozen tunnels leading off of it.
I'rone stopped next to a large rock fragment that seemed to have
fallen from the ceiling at some point, and pulled out a narrow
strip of gurra leather.

It wasn't until Betreec finally caught up to
him that she realized it was a cave map. The long list of sigils
and lines gave the reader an idea of which caves were linked to
each other, and by which tunnels, but weren't able to convey any
real idea of how the rocky warren was really shaped.

Even with an accurate cave map to guide them,
novices occasionally still lost their way after realizing they
really had no idea where they were. A cavern the map represented as
being next to another might actually be above, or even below, and
sometimes the mind struggled at accepting that there was no real
way to know where one was in relation to anything else.

Powerful female Guadel, or healers,
occasionally were able to get some feel to a system of tunnels or
even unworked rock, but the valuable skill had been rare a century
ago and was even more infrequent now. Betreec had realized partway
through her class's discussion of magic theory that her instructor
was worried about the lack.

Without a rock shaper to guide them, the
miners had to rely on nothing more than their questionable guesses
regarding where to drill next. A wrong guess could result in a
cave-in, or even someone mistakenly breaking into one of the hot
springs. That had happened once in the days after the Goddess had
left them. The previously-undiscovered hot spring had flooded a
significant section of the Capital before finally finding a way
down into the drainage areas.

The histories, both oral and written, were
clear that it had been one of the greater tragedies to have struck
the People since the Exodus. Even someone as young as Betreec
couldn't help but shiver when she thought about all those people
dying, drowning as they were trapped in the rooms and caves that'd
previously represented their surest security.

For once I'rone didn't seem to be able to
guess her thoughts. He double-checked the cave map against the
nearest sigil, looked back to make sure she was behind him, and set
off into the first tunnel.

It never got cold enough to cause the
deepening streams of water to freeze motionless like I'rone had
said they could, but Betreec felt her toes go numb as they
investigated one cavern after another.

Their landscape changed with alarming
frequency for someone who'd spent her entire life in the
nearly-uniform man-made areas of the Capital. Ceilings rose and
fell with complete unpredictability, sometimes forcing them to bend
over almost double and other times leaving them to wander in the
center of an empty space so big their light stone couldn't trace
out anything more than the one wall they were hugging.

Walking hunched over was extremely
unpleasant, but not nearly as much so as the sense of near-panic
Betreec felt settle over her at being in such a big void. She'd
never felt so small before. It made her heart race at the thought
of what might be lurking just out of sight beyond the edge of their
tiny pool of light.

I'rone soldiered onwards with an ease as
reassuring as it was frustrating. He faced collapsed tunnels,
calf-deep streams of water, and even a sudden drop off with an
equanimity Betreec found hard to believe. Surely nobody could be
that calm after realizing the floor disappeared less than a foot
from where they'd stopped. Once she got her breathing back under
control, Betreec did her best to stay closer to I'rone so as to
provide him with the best light possible.

More often than not, their journey down a
particular corridor ended with the appearance of a new body of
water that was too deep for them to wade across. At one of their
rest stops I'rone pulled out a cloak of gurra wool and handed it to
Betreec, who hadn't realized she was shivering.

"We're through a quarter of the cave
map."

It was an attempt to be reassuring, I'rone's
first since telling her he wasn't going to propose to her.

"Right, which really doesn't mean much of
anything. We could be more than halfway done with our search, or
still facing a dozen cycles worth of walking."

Her response came out more venomous than
she'd intended. With a sigh Betreec accepted the cloak, and wrapped
it around herself as she cast her mind out once again in the vain
hope they'd find the little girl whose loss had sent them down to
this frozen hell.

Betreec was already starting to release the
tendrils of power she'd used to perform her search, when she
realized she'd sensed more than just the two of them out in the
featureless expanse of stone and water. She quickly tapped back
into the burning flow, smiling as she found what she was looking
for.

It was there, smoky and dim due to the
distance between them, but the unmistakable glow of another person
was flickering away at the extreme edge of what Betreec could
sense. Excitement bubbled through her as she spun back around to
I'rone.

"I can feel her."

I'rone's head came up immediately, the cave
map momentarily forgotten.

"She's ok?"

"I can't tell that. She's alive or I wouldn't
be able to sense her at all, but I can't tell more. Not from this
far away, not with so much rock in the way."

I'rone nodded abruptly and then took a quick
circuit around the cavern. Once he'd verified they really had found
a dead end, he swept Betreec along back in the direction they'd
just come.

The next cycle and a half was incredibly
frustrating. Once they'd backtracked far enough to find a new,
unexplored tunnel, Betreec sent her mind out with increasing
frequency until she finally sensed the tiny flame of consciousness
again.

I'rone silently listened to the frequent
updates, often pausing just long enough to review the cave map and
nod before continuing on. They finally got close enough for Betreec
to sense more, and she felt her breath catch as she realized the
dim nature of the glow hadn't been due solely to distance.

"She's hurt. I think maybe cold too. She's
running out of time. We need help or we're not going to find her in
time."

I'rone restrained Betreec as she tried to
break into a run. "It will take cycles to get help and then get
back here with more people. Does she have enough time for
that?"

Betreec felt her throat tighten up at the
question. "No, but we've still got half the map to go through. What
if we can't find her fast enough?"

"Going for help would just ensure her
death."

The sudden sense of responsibility was the
most crushing thing Betreec had ever experienced. When I'rone
resumed walking, she followed, but not without a growing certainty
they were going to fail. The mission was suddenly much more than
just a welcome holiday, she wanted to cry at the looming thought of
failure.

They worked their way down the list of sigils
on the map, and if I'rone seemed to remain inhumanly calm, Betreec
felt anything but emotionless. She alternated between depression at
how much time had passed, and near euphoria over the fact that the
girl was still alive.

There were several times that the girl's glow
became incredibly strong, but each time they found their way
blocked by something insurmountable. A collapsed cavern, a stream
of water nearly to their waist, or even just a blank wall as the
way came to an end.

Each time I'rone listened to her description
of how close they were, and then nodded before turning and heading
back the way they'd just come. Each failure hurt, but at least
Betreec had a growing certainty that eventually they'd explore
enough of the caverns to find her.

Their last failure felt like something had
been dropped on her chest. They were staring at the blank stone
wall of the last cave on I'rone's map, and if anything the girl was
further away than she'd been at their last stop.

"She's not here, I'rone. How can she not be
here?"

Betreec wanted to lash out. The way I'rone
was ignoring her to study the now-useless cave map almost made her
mad enough to hit him.

"Did you hear me? She's not here, and I can
feel her getting weaker. There isn't much time left."

I'rone looked up and nodded. "I understand
that we're running out of time and options, but panic doesn't aid
anyone."

Pointing at the cave map, I'rone indicated a
pair of sigils that looked vaguely familiar. "These two caverns
were where you said we were the closest to her, correct?"