Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (39 page)

Lyall looked about him. “Which
way?”

Shann considered. Her plan, such
as it was, had been to return the way she had come. It was obvious,
however, that Lyall would not be able to make the climb out of the
shaft in his present condition. They would have to find another
route.

“How many exits do you think
these caves have?” Shann asked.

“Probably several.”

Shann recalled her descent into
the fissure. “Air from the Fire Pits rises. If we follow the flow
of air, then we should find a way out.”

Lyall grimaced. “All right, let’s
see if we can find a way to the surface. After you.”

Shann lifted the lamp and
surveyed the chamber. She located two new passages. One seemed to
have a stronger air current. “I think we should try this way.” She
waited for Lyall to hobble over. Then a thought struck her. “One
moment.” She made her way back to the nest and hefted one of the
bones, raising it over her head.

“Shann, what are you doing?”
Lyall called.

“I’m going to smash these
eggs.”

“No.”
Lyall declared firmly.

“But…why not?”

“Because the serpent is guilty of
nothing except trying to survive, just as we are. We are the ones
who invaded its domain. We should let it be.”

Shann let his words sink in,
lowering the bone harmlessly as she did so. Lyall had a unique way
of looking at things. Yet she found herself agreeing with him. This
creature, fearsome and terrible as it was, was not her enemy. It
was an astounding creature that was itself part of a unique world
that one individual was bent on destroying for his own ends. If she
were to commit such a wanton act of destruction–revenge–would she
not in fact be serving the very purpose of the person she most
despised? Fortified with this insight, and a renewed sense of
purpose, Shann, the little orphan girl from Corte, rose to her feet
once more. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

~

“I can’t believe it. You mean to
tell me that you let Shann go down there on her own?” Alondo was
sitting up now, squinting in the early morning sunlight. His
scarlet coat looked dusty and worn, but he was remarkably
recovered, thanks to Boxx. And he was demanding answers.

Keris felt as if she were being
accused of a crime she hadn’t committed. “I did not ‘let her go’.
She went before anyone could stop her. She was…upset. I tried to
reason with her that it was hopeless but she wouldn’t listen. The
next thing I knew, she had gone after Lyall on her own.”

Boxx was sitting on its hind
limbs, watching the exchange between the two Kelanni curiously.
Alondo was not letting up on the interrogation. “How do you know
she went underground? She might have just gone off
somewhere.”

“The girl took the lamp from my
pack. Besides she was… determined. You know how she is when she
gets that way; she doesn’t listen to anyone.” Keris was rapidly
losing patience. “Look, every moment we stay here is dangerous. We
have to leave. Boxx, can Alondo travel?”

The Chandara replied in its
childish tone, “Alondo Can Travel.”

“Then we must leave,
now.”

Alondo managed
to stand with effort. He met her squarely.
“I am not leaving them behind.”

Boxx’s eyes were like black
beads, almost pleading. “The Key. You Cannot. You Must Not Leave
Lyall And Shann. It Is The Key. It Is The Key.”

Keris had no idea what the
Chandara was babbling about, but she had no time for its ramblings.
She gave a massive sigh. “All right then. We will get you and Boxx
to a safe place. Then I will come back and go down there after
her.”

Alondo’s fierce determination
melted as quickly as it had arisen. “You are going
alone?”

“Yes, well, acts of rank
stupidity seem to be the norm for this group, don’t they? Besides,
you are in no condition to go.”

“At least take Boxx with you,”
Alondo urged. “They might be injured. Boxx can help.”

It made sense. Keris addressed
the little creature. “Will you come with me to look for
Shann?”

“I Will Come,” it
squeaked.

“Good. Then
it’s agreed. Let’s pack up so that we can move Alondo somewhere
safe.” Keris turned away and hurriedly began assembling her
gear.
A shout
.
Alondo’s voice. Keris reached instinctively for her staff, but even
as she did so, a part of her registered that the shout was not one
of alarm, but of something else.
Elation?
She looked to where Alondo
was pointing. Out of the clouds of wafting steam and smoke a
miracle was stumbling. It was unmistakably Lyall, his fair hair
dishevelled and his clothes torn, supported by the tiny figure of
Shann.

Keris ran towards them, then
stopped several paces off, adopting her stoic stance, staff
upright, expression drained of emotion. It was as if the arrival of
Lyall and Shann had suddenly restored balance. Equilibrium. She was
herself once more. Detached. In control. No more were people
looking to her for leadership, demanding that she solve all of
their problems. Keris stood apart from the celebrations, letting
the outflow of feelings from the others wash over her like surf
crashing against a granite coast and then ebbing to leave her
intact. Secure. Indomitable.

Alondo had already covered the
distance to Lyall and Shann, all thoughts of his lingering injuries
forgotten. He was feeling their arms and their faces in an apparent
effort to confirm that his eyes were not playing tricks. “Are you
all right? How…how did you get out?”

Shann helped Lyall to a sitting
position. Boxx was bobbing up and down. “It was all quite easy,
really.” Lyall touched his injured leg experimentally. “After Shann
found me and I regained consciousness, we followed the air
currents. Eventually we found a shaft with a fairly gentle incline
and crawled our way to the surface. We heard the serpent, but never
saw it again.” He looked down at Shann. “I owe her my life.” Shann
looked down at the ground. Alondo was beaming at them
both.

Keris continued to stand guard.
Checking the perimeter. Watching over them like a parent, keeping
children safe from their own foolishness.

Chapter
25

It was the most breathtaking
sight that Shann had ever seen. It seemed to go on forever. Shades
of crimson and azure blue, topped with myriads of whitecaps,
stretched to the very horizon. Waves reared up, breaking against
the shoreline. Flocks of birds swooped in and out of the surf,
their shrieking cries drifting upwards to Shann’s ears.

“The Aronak Sea,” Alondo
announced theatrically, with a wave of his hand. “Beautiful, isn’t
it?”

Shann’s eyes were wide as dinner
plates. “It seems to go on forever.”

“Maybe it does,” Lyall
speculated. “Over there, some way below the horizon, lies The Great
Barrier of Storms. If the sea extends beyond the Barrier, then who
knows how far it goes?”

They were strolling down a chine
which led through a meadow of yellow and purple grasses. Alondo was
on Shann’s left, with Lyall to her right. Keris and Boxx followed a
little way behind.

The party’s spirits were high.
Keris had led them to a steep but navigable cut through the eastern
wall of the canyon, so that they cleared the Pits in less than a
day. Boxx had done an amazing job of treating everyone’s injuries,
although it pronounced itself extremely tired afterwards–the act of
healing seemed to sap its energies. Lyall had even carried it for a
while. It seemed fully recovered now, as it trotted next to
Keris.

The change in the air was
palpable. Instead of oppressive heat and sulphurous steam, there
was fresh air and cool sea breezes. Shann was mesmerised by the
immensity of the sea. She pointed at a distant shape moving over
the water. “Is that…a ship?”

“It certainly is,” Lyall
declared. “Ships ply up and down the coast between Leota, Sakara
and Kalath-Kar, as well as many of the smaller settlements. They
carry everything from moba root to gold.”

“We will be at Sakara by this
time tomorrow,” Keris announced from behind.

Alondo whipped his hat off and
threw it into the air. “Whoo hoo!” He ran to retrieve his hat and
settled it back on his head.

Shann chuckled. “You’ve been
there before, I take it?”

Alondo nodded.
“Lyall and I spent some time there a few years ago. It’s probably
my favourite place in all of Kelanni.
You’re going to love it
.”

Keris snorted. Shann, Lyall and
Alondo all turned round to look at her. “It’s a lawless place,” she
retorted, “a den of thieves and cutpurses.”

“That is
not
true,” Alondo
countered, “the lawless part, I mean. They have very strict laws in
Sakara. And the Asoli are always there to keep
order.”

“Asoli?” Shann
enquired.

“Yes, they’re the city watch.
You’ll notice them right off. They have green jackets and large
plumed hats–almost as nice as mine.” Alondo grinned
expansively.

“The Asoli are the eyes and ears
of the Guilds,” Lyall explained. “The Guilds run the port city.
There is an uneasy peace between the Guild Master and the Prophet
in Chalimar. The Keltar and the Prophet’s soldiers could probably
overrun Sakara and the lightly armed Asoli would not be able to do
much about it, but holding on to the port would require a major
investment of troops and resources that are currently being used to
secure and refine the lodestone ore. So the Guilds pay a healthy
stipend to the Prophet, in return for which they are largely left
alone.”

“The Asoli are a joke,” Keris cut
in. “Ask him what would happen if they saw someone steal your
purse. Go ahead.”

“Redistribution of wealth is
legal in Sakara,” Alondo returned, without waiting for the
question.

Keris scowled.
“
Redistribution?
You mean theft.”

“Theft…commerce…it’s all the same
really.” Shann looked puzzled. “Look,” Alondo continued, “If I make
something and sell it for more than it cost me to make, then that’s
a kind of stealing.”

“That’s profit, not stealing,”
Keris corrected.

“It all amounts to the same
thing,” Alondo shot back. “If Shann does a day’s work for me and
earns a quarter astria, but I only pay her an eighth, it’s no
different than if I went to her at the end of the day and stole the
eighth from her. In Sakara the only difference is that they
recognise all dishonesty for what it is and declare it to be legal.
I have always found the fact that the Sakarans are so honest about
their dishonesty to be quite refreshing.”

Keris shook her head. “You’re not
even making any sense.”

“Indeed,” Lyall agreed. “That’s
all a part of his enduring charm.”

“Why, thank you,” Alondo removed
his hat and bowed expansively. “Actually, theft, as you call it, is
highly regulated by the Guilds, along with all forms of commerce.
Stealing from children, the elderly or any vulnerable people is
strictly forbidden, as are all forms of violence. No-one ever gets
attacked in Sakara. I doubt the good citizens of Chalimar or Corte
or Lind could say the same, especially when the Keltar pay a
visit.” He looked back at Keris pointedly.

“Keris is no longer Keltar,”
Lyall reminded him.

Alondo grinned from ear to ear.
“Then she should love it in Sakara.”

~

Shann sat by the fire with her
arms wrapped around her knees, looking out to sea. Ail-Mazzoth’s
gentle light lent a tinge of pale pink to the breakers. The red sun
sat low behind her in the western sky, dominating the
night.

Alondo’s silhouette approached
and sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a while. Finally,
the musician spoke. “Enjoying the view on your own?”

“Yes,” she returned.

“Pretend I’m not here
then.”

Shann smiled as she felt the cool
onshore breeze and smelled the freshness of the ocean. “I’d love to
sail in a ship.”

“Who are you talking
to?”

“No-one,” she replied
innocently.

“I see.” Alondo splayed his arms
out behind him and stretched his legs out in front. The dune on
which they were sitting was peppered with tufts of purple grass,
running down to the beach. Small creatures scuttled across the wet
sand, busy about their night errands. “Boxx says we are due to get
another message day after tomorrow.”

“Really?” She unclasped her arms
and turned to stare at him, all thoughts of their little charade
forgotten.

“Yes…well I’m
pretty sure at any rate. You know what having a conversation with a
Chandara is like. I ask it, ‘What is the time of the next message
from Annata?’ And it says ‘It Is The Time Of The Next Message,’ or
something like that and then we go round and round for a while and
I ask again, ‘How many days to the next message?’ And it says
‘Two,’ so I say, ‘You mean two days?’ And it says,
‘Two, Two, Two.’”
He was
doing a fair approximation of Boxx’s thin, high squeak, and Shann
was giggling uncontrollably. “Of course, it could have just been a
Chandara mating call for all I know, but I think it was trying to
tell us that we can expect the next communication
soon.”