Mark of Four (19 page)

His cheeks turned a ruddy red. “I followed you last evening.”

Alayne stared at him.

“Well,” he defended himself, “you and Marysa came rushing out of your dorm like your hair was on fire; I wanted to know what was going on. So I followed you to Sprynge’s, hid in one of the empty offices, and listened. Although next time, can you and Marysa turn up your conversation a notch? You girls whisper too much. I couldn’t hear anything except the fact that you were leaving in the morning.” He flashed a grin at her. “So I decided I was going to come with you.”

“But—why? Last I heard, you hated Jayme. You do realize, right, that we’re going to Cliffsides to rescue him?”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “What kind of person do you think I am? Yeah, I think Jayme’s a jerk, and I’m still really ticked off about what happened at Christmas, but I’m not gonna leave him and several other students in harm’s way just ‘cause I’m crazy jealous.”

Alayne blushed at Kyle’s honesty.

Kyle leaned forward as far as his harness allowed and looked her in the eye. “So how ‘bout this, Layne? You give me a little smile and a ‘thank you’ and we’ll call it even, okay? No more bringing up this past Christmas and waving it around.”

“Fine.” Alayne settled back into her seat. “Thanks. You didn’t have to, you know.”

“I know.” He laid his head back on his headrest and closed his eyes. “Wake me up when we get there.”

Alayne glanced anxiously out the window. The craft shuddered, and Alayne felt her stomach leap into her throat a few times as the shuttle hit the air pockets. The ground far below was hidden in a blanket of blackness and lashing rain.

“Can’t we go higher?” Alayne asked the pilot. “Get out of the brunt of the wind?”

“I would,” the pilot called back, “but this particular shuttle is still in the construction stage. I’ve got no navigational equipment yet, and I will have to bring it in on sight alone.”

“It was all I could get for us at a moment’s notice,” Sprynge tacked on.

Alayne nodded and settled again into her seat, sincerely hoping she wouldn’t be sick. The image of Kyle with a lap full of her vomit made her shudder with embarrassment. She desperately wanted to help the pilot; she felt the air element whirling past their shuttle, and she sensed the pilot’s constant struggle. If she could just add her strength to his—but then Kyle, Sprynge, and the pilot would all know that she was a Quadriweave. She couldn’t risk it.

She stared out the window at the dark clouds, wishing the shuttle would go faster.

“
A
lmost there
.” The low voice of the pilot woke Alayne. She jerked her body upright. Her cheek had been resting on Kyle’s shoulder for the last fifteen minutes.

She glanced up at him. His eyes were halfway open, watching her from beneath sleepy eyelids. Amusement and something else lingered in their depths. “Whew, Layne, I’m glad you sat up.” He rubbed his shoulder. “My arm is killing me.”

Alayne glared at him. She felt grungy and stiff and angry with herself for giving in to sleep.

Kyle leaned over and brushed the corner of her mouth with his thumb. “Left some drool there. Got it.”

Alayne’s cheeks flamed. Marysa had nodded off in her harness across from them. At the front, Sprynge dozed in his seat. She turned back to Kyle. “Behave yourself, Kyle, all right? Or so help me, I’ll send you back with the pilot when we get there.”

“I’d love to see you try.” Kyle raised his hands in a shrug. “Friends can wipe drool from other friends’ faces, right?” He winked.

“You said
you
couldn’t be just friends.”

Kyle leaned closer to her. “Hmm. You’re right about that.” He closed the gap between them and kissed her, his firm mouth covering her surprised gasp.

Alayne shoved him back, sputtering. “What—what did you—of all the nerve—how do you think you’ll—I can’t believe you did that!”

“Hey, can you pipe down?” Kyle grinned irrepressibly. “We’re almost there, and we need to start concentrating.”

Alayne gaped at him as he deliberately turned to the pilot. “How much farther do we have to go?”

The pilot glanced over his shoulder at them. “We’ll be landing in about five minutes.” His face showed the strain of fighting the strong air currents. “I’ll land you all at Cliffsides and take the shuttle to the nearest City Centre for some rest. Professor Sprynge will send me a media message from the outpost when you’re ready to leave.”

Kyle nodded. “Thanks.” He settled himself deeper into his seat and dropped a slow wink at Alayne.

She glared at him.

C
liffsides’s base
camp slid into view as the dark clouds slowly retreated from the horizon. The outpost stood on the edge of a steep cliff. Beyond that lay a panorama of cliffs and ocean as far as the eye could see. Surf pounded hundreds of feet below. A narrow ribbon of land only about a hundred feet wide wound along the tops of the cliffs, creating a barrier between the sea and the dark canyons that plunged into darkness on the back sides of the cliffs. A winding sandy trail followed the ribbon of land and disappeared into the distance.

The pilot landed the shuttle fifty yards outside the camp and opened the doors. Sprynge quickly paid the man, and they climbed out. The cold wind blowing over the cliffs from the sea below staggered Alayne as she set foot in the dirt. She shaded her eyes against the brightening morning light. Somewhere, in the stretch of earth beneath her feet, was Jayme.

“Come on, you guys. Let’s get moving.” Leaning into the wind, Alayne made her way toward the base camp, which consisted of two rows of buildings facing a wide graveled street.

Sprynge drew even with her. He pointed toward the ribbon of cliffs beyond the outpost. “Let’s start out there. We can come back here later.”

“But someone in the outpost might have information,” Alayne protested. “I think it makes more sense to start by asking around.”

Kyle halted next to Alayne, glancing back and forth between her and the professor. “It does make more sense, Professor.”

Sprynge’s mouth opened and closed as he stared out across the cliffs.

Marysa took the initiative. “Let’s go check the outpost first. We’ll do the caves afterward.” She passed the others and led the way.

Someone, about sixty years ago, had discovered a gold nugget in one of the cliff canyons. Of course, gold can never remain a secret, so before long, hundreds of people began arriving at Cliffsides to try their luck, hacking at the canyon walls. The traffic thickened over time, and the nearest town was so far away that the Capital eventually had a small outpost built near the cliffs for basic needs. A general store, a tiny hotel, a café, a post office, and various other buildings lined the short street. Unfortunately, Cliffsides had run dry of gold in the last decade, so the place served only as a tourist destination, and not a very popular one at that. Still, the outpost remained open most of the year.

Alayne reached the graveled street behind Marysa and glanced at the log structures that lined the way. She narrowed her eyes. Something felt strange about the outpost. There were no people. Not a soul. The doors and windows of every building were closed, and not a single movement disrupted the absolute silence of the place.

Alayne took a deep breath, dread circling in her stomach. A sign on two loose hinges dangled over one of the buildings at the far end of the street: “Cliffsides Outfitters.” The paint was peeling, and two windows had been covered in plastic. Alayne headed toward it. “Let’s start there.”

As they passed buildings along the way, Marysa glanced at them all. “Most of these places look like they need help. I heard business was getting slower at Cliffsides, but this place looks empty. I’m hungry. I wonder if there’s food?” She nodded pointedly at the only café in the camp, whose black windows and unused appearance didn’t look promising.

Alayne pulled the door of the outfitters open and walked inside, Kyle and Marysa following. Sprynge brought up the rear. The door thudded shut with a boom that echoed through the empty room.

Shelves stood in formation as though the shop had once been a commercial business, but the only thing that remained was its skeleton, layered in dust.

Alayne turned in a circle, her gaze coming to rest on Sprynge. “Professor, what’s going on? Where is everyone?”

Sprynge shook his head. “I’m not sure.” He walked to the counter where a cash register still sat. “Hello?” he called. “Is anyone here?”

Only echoing silence greeted him. A chill snaked up Alayne’s spine.

“Hello!” she shouted. She walked toward the shelves. “Someone has got to be here; where are you?” The silence was a taunt. The oppressive emptiness whispered,
You’ll never find them.

She couldn’t swallow past the lump in her throat. She searched the shelves, the floor, the windows for a sign—something—that would give any clue. Her knees weakened. She leaned her back against the front counter and slid slowly to the floor, staring hopelessly at the boards in front of her.

Sprynge sighed heavily. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you. Perhaps we should take a walk along the cliffs—see what we can see.”

“We should definitely check all the buildings, though.” Kyle extended his hand to Alayne, grasping hers and pulling her to her feet. “Just in case a clue shows up. Something that would help us know the next step.”

Sprynge didn’t answer. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his spectacles.

Kyle headed back to the door. Sprynge followed behind, replacing his spectacles on his nose. Marysa wrapped her arm around Alayne, sympathy pouring from her. She whispered, “Have you searched through the elements? Can you feel any movement in the earth?”

Alayne shook her head. “No. It’s—it’s as if someone is covering it up. I would be able to feel the disturbance in the earth element if someone wasn’t messing with the bend.”

“Someone’s messing with the bend? The earth’s bend?”

Alayne nodded. “It’s—it’s messed up. Only the earth element. It doesn’t feel right. The rest of the elements feel normal.”

“Can you tell where the bend is coming from?”

Alayne again shook her head. “No. I can’t get any sense of direction. It’s only in the earth here at the base camp.”

Sprynge glanced back at the girls, and his eyes narrowed at their whispering. “I’ll go ahead and search this side of the street, and the three of you can look over there.” He motioned across the gravel to the opposite buildings.

“I’ll come with you, Professor. Two pairs of eyes can find things better than one pair.” Marysa hurried to his side and led the way toward the first building. “Let us know if you see anything,” she called to Alayne.

Sprynge followed Marysa, and Alayne hurried across the gravel road with Kyle.

He bypassed her and tried the handle of the café’s front door. It was locked. “Watch out,” he warned Alayne. He put his shoulder against the door and slammed his weight against the glass. The glass shuddered. He tried again, and the glass broke on the second impact.

Kyle reached inside the shattered opening and unlocked the door, pushing it open.

“I guess there’s no going back now,” Alayne murmured as her boots crunched across broken glass on the floor of the café.

Kyle stepped in behind her. “Hello? Anyone here?”

The silence that greeted them was not unexpected. Alayne glanced around at the tables. Despite the layer of dust, the place looked ready to serve. Silverware sat bundled neatly into napkins in a basket on the front counter. The old-fashioned, glass-encased cooler was empty, but its light flickered weakly on the bare shelves.

Alayne made her way to the back of the room and through the open door into the kitchen. Dishes and utensils hung from various hooks. A huge grill sat next to a dishwasher. Four aprons hung in the corner. A sign across the back wall read, “Caryn’s Café.”

Alayne turned back to Kyle and shook her head. “Whoever owned it left all their stuff here. Let’s try the next place.”

They went from one building to the next. Across the street, Marysa and Sprynge didn’t seem to be having any better luck. Alayne and Kyle finished the last building on their row and glanced across the street. Sprynge and Marysa still had three more buildings. Alayne could see them through the window of the small hotel, searching behind the lobby’s counter.

“Let’s take the post office.” They hurried across the road and entered the front door.

Alayne looked in awe at some of the antique devices: a mail-sorter, an envelope sealer. “Did someone not tell these people that this stuff went out before the Great Deluge?”

Kyle pointed to the monitoring room where mail was sent via MIU. “They had some up-to-date stuff.”

They wandered through the building toward a door marked “Shipping.” This door was made of wood, and once again, it shuddered open before Kyle’s shoulder.

The pungent odor almost knocked them backward. Alayne immediately clapped her hand over her nose, her eyes watering. “What
is
that smell?”

Kyle strode across the room, shoving carts with huge mailbags hanging in the middle of them out of the way. He reached the far wall, where the last cart’s bag hung a little lower than the others. Alayne followed behind him, the queasiness in her stomach turning into a painful knot of dread.

Kyle reached into the bag and pulled back its mouth. “That’s the smell,” he said grimly.

Chairman Dorner lay stiffly inside the bag, his head tilted back, his sky-blue eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

A
layne stumbled back outside
, clutching her stomach, dry heaving over the edge of the boardwalk. Marysa and Sprynge had just exited the hotel. Alarm spread across Sprynge’s face, and he started to speak, but Marysa beat him to the punch.

“What happened? What did you find?”

Kyle appeared at Alayne’s side. “In there,” he murmured to Sprynge. “In the back room.”

Sprynge ran past them into the post office as Kyle filled in Marysa. Alayne stared numbly at her feet.

Sprynge returned, his face grave. He came to stand with the group and looked out over the cliffs. Clasping his hands behind his back, he paced in the gravel for a few minutes. Finally, he stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m afraid this is far more serious than I ever imagined.”

Kyle wordlessly held up an object. Alayne blinked as she zeroed in on it. It was a tiny badge, no bigger than her thumb nail. “LO” was stamped on it.

When Sprynge saw the badge, he asked sharply, “Where did you get that?”

“It was on Dorner,” Kyle murmured, handing it to him. “What does it mean?”

Sprynge studied the badge for a long moment before answering. “It means,” he shoved the badge into his pocket, his cheeks flushed against the sea breeze, “that Dorner was a member of the Last Order.”

“What’s that?” Marysa asked.

“A secret group dedicated to the cause of disrupting the Elemental Alliance and everything it stands for.”

“If it’s a secret group, how do you know about it?” Marysa asked. She added quickly, “With all due respect, sir.”

Sprynge raised a bushy eyebrow. “Young lady, my position as deputy Chairman gives me many connections in the Capital and the High Court. The Last Order is a secret that hides behind a lot of whispers.”

The weight of Sprynge’s words smothered them. “So it’s true,” Alayne said. “The Casters are responsible for Dorner’s death and have buried the rest of the students in a cave somewhere.”

“But why? Why leave them alive when they went so far as to kill Dorner?” Marysa asked.

Sprynge didn’t answer. He looked up and down the street. “I’m going to take a walk to clear my head. Maybe something will come to me.” He turned and wandered to the dirt path that led along the clifftops. His lonely figure cut a dark gash against the sky as he walked, head bent, hands deep in his coat pockets.

Alayne stared after him. “Well, that was stunningly helpful.”

“Be nice to the poor man,” Marysa scolded. “It’s a difficult situation.”

“What are those for?” Alayne asked, pointing at two large coils of rope that hung over Marysa’s shoulder.

Marysa hitched them higher. “In the hunting and fishing store, they still had some rope in stock. I figured if we have to go looking through any caves, we might need it, so I helped myself.”

Kyle looked around. “I’m hungry. I’m going back to the café to see if there’s anything we missed. Want to come?”

Both girls shook their heads. Kyle shrugged and ambled off down the street.

Alayne and Marysa walked to the edge of the street. The wind flowing over the cliffs whipped Alayne's braid over her shoulder. She lifted her hand to shade her eyes against the sun. “I wonder how many square miles that is,” she murmured, “and which particular square mile contains Jayme and the others.”

Marysa squeezed Alayne's shoulder. “We'll find them. We're here, aren't we? There's got to be a clue.”

But as Alayne stared out over the cliffs and the sea surging against them, hopelessness filled her. “It's just so big. Where can we even start?”

Marysa didn't answer. She stepped forward, her eyes narrowed. “What's that?”

Alayne followed her gaze. In the distance, so small it was nearly a dot, a square of red fluttered against the rock cliffs, just above the surf line.

“Is that—” Alayne couldn't breathe. “Is that a shirt?”

Excitement crept into Marysa's voice. “I think it is.” Then she shouted, “Kyle, come see this!”

Kyle appeared at their side a moment later. “What are you looking at?”

“There's someone's shirt over there, hanging from that opening in the cliff.”

The cliffs barricaded the sea for at least half a mile, and a narrow ribbon of land along the top of them widened into a broad tundra that formed the far side of the canyons. The water crashed against the cliffs, sending huge sprays of white foam flying into the air.

“It
is
an opening. Well done, Alayne,” Kyle said. Almost invisible at this distance, a black hole in the rock hid behind a crag.

Her eyes quickly measured the distance between where they stood and the cliff, and then along the cliff tops to Professor Sprynge, who was already halfway there. “Let's run.” She sprinted down the gravel path toward the sandy one.

The four of them stood on top of the cliff, staring down at the surging water below. Kyle flopped on his belly and leaned out over the cliff for a better look. “The cave is a good fifteen feet above the surf line, and the shirt is wedged into a crevice in the cliff face.”

Alayne squatted near the edge and concentrated on the water element below her. She reached out for it, but it kept slipping out of her grasp. Every time she closed her hold, the element jumped back, as if a barrier stood in her way. Alayne huffed in frustration.

“What’s wrong?” Marysa asked.

Alayne shook her head. “I—don’t know. I can’t get hold of the water.”

Marysa squatted down beside her and surveyed the splashing waves below.

“It’s not just the water,” Alayne whispered to her. “None of the elements are available. Someone’s holding them out of reach.”

“Let me try.” Sprynge looked up at the pearly white winter sky and squinted. Alayne could see him straining physically; his face turned red and beads of sweat formed along his upper lip. At last, he let out a breath. “No, I can’t either. Whoever is holding the elements is using teamwork, and a lot of it.”

Kyle stripped out of his coat and shirt. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to do it without the elements.” He dropped the clothing on the ground.

Alayne stared at him. “You’re not jumping in there.”

“I
am
jumping in there.”

“Kyle, you’ll die, and then we’ll waste a whole lot of time fishing your poor dead body out of the sea so we can drag it back to Clayborne and get in touch with your parents to tell them they don’t have a son anymore because he went cliff diving. What would we even get your body out with, anyway? We have no boat.” Alayne’s voice had risen to a shout by the last word.

“We have rope,” Marysa said helpfully, holding up one of her rope coils. “Remember?” She began unraveling it, throwing lengths to Alayne.

Alayne caught the rope, knotting it every four or five feet.

Kyle picked up one end of the rope and measured lengths with his arms. He tossed one end over the edge of the cliff, slowly feeding it out as Alayne finished knotting. He leaned over the edge to gauge how much more rope they needed. “Maybe half the other reel, Layne. I’m gonna guess that they’re going to be too weak to climb, so I’m going to put together a makeshift harness to bring them up with me, one by one.”

“Anybody got a knife?” Alayne muttered, surprised at how spoiled she was already by being able to use the elements rather than normal everyday Natural Human tools. She wished she could burn the rope in two.

Sprynge shook his head. “No, but I’ve got this little pocket tool.” He fished it out of his pocket and tossed it to Alayne. She glanced up at him as she caught it, startled to see that his face was still a deep red. His hands seemed to be trembling.

“Are you okay, sir?”

Sprynge’s eyebrows winged upward. “Me? Certainly, certainly. I’m fine.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his forehead. “It’s nothing.”

Alayne nodded uncertainly and then began the painstaking process of shredding rope fibers with the small folding blade from the tool.

Kyle knotted the other end of the rope together into a harness, and as soon as Alayne had severed the rope, he slipped it up around his legs and tightened the slip knot.

“That’s a harness?” Alayne eyed the contraption doubtfully.

“Of sorts.” Kyle shrugged. “It should at least keep the person attached to me on the climb back up.” He cinched the harness tighter around his waist. “This would be
so
much easier if we had access to the elements.”

Alayne watched him as he gave the rope one final adjustment and stepped to the edge of the cliff. “Aren’t you going to put your shirt back on?” She glanced at his muscled chest before snapping her gaze back to his face.

He threw her a saucy grin. “This is for your benefit.” A birch sapling stood near the edge of the cliff. Kyle wound the rope around it, anchoring it there. He left the remainder draped over the edge. Marysa still held the coil in her hands, and Alayne took hold of the rope on the far side of the tree.

Kyle nodded to the group and lowered himself backward over the cliff.

Alayne squatted on the edge, both hands still gripping the rope, and watched Kyle shimmy toward the cave at least a hundred feet below. She tried to keep the rope steady, but as he bounced against the stone wall time and time again, it grew difficult.

“Is he almost there?” Marysa called.

“About halfway.” Alayne kept her eyes trained on Kyle.
What if he slips? There’s nothing between him and the ocean.
The waves crashed against the cliff. Flecks of foam flew as high as Kyle and splotched his pants with moisture. She glanced up at the sun, wondering when the tide would come in.

Something changed in the air around them, an element bend, a powerful one, but unlike any Alayne had ever felt. She couldn’t put a name on it, couldn’t assign it to any one of the four.

Marysa’s voice croaked behind her. “Layne.” The timbre of her voice whipped Alayne’s head around.

Three people stood there, and Alayne recognized their faces at once. They were the three missing professors—Walters, Pepper, and Foy.

Alayne stood, trying to steady the trembling in her knees. She retraced her steps to the tree, her hand still on the rope. “Why are you here?” she asked.

Pepper gestured at the tree that anchored the rope. With a quick dip, a branch reached for the rope and twisted around it. The element gave a powerful yank, snapping the rope.

“No!” Alayne dove for the loose end, her fingertips brushing the frayed end of the rope as it slid away. Her momentum was too great.

She slipped over the cliff.

Kyle, below her, scrambled frantically as the rope bounced free. He hit the opening of the cave, and his hand caught hold. Alayne fell alongside the cliff face, past the red shirt, past Kyle as he made a wild grab for her, but missed.

Another fifteen feet of foam-flecked air passed, and Alayne struck the surface of the water. The water surged around her, tossing her like a rag doll at the rock wall.

Sheer panic spurred her reflexes. She pulled up a five-foot wall of water and held it against the rock, barely remembering to wonder why the elements were suddenly available. The current threw her into the water cushion, softening her thud against the cliff. She smoothed the water out in a ten-foot circle around her so that it lay as still as glass. She treaded water for a moment as she struggled with the powerful ocean currents just outside her ten-foot circle. “Rope,” she gasped at Kyle, who had managed to swing himself up into the cave. He held the remainder of the rope in one hand.

“Here!” He tossed it down to her, arranging himself into a sitting position and wrapping the excess rope around his shoulders.

Alayne grasped the rope and practically walked up the side of the cliff while Kyle hauled her up hand over hand. She collapsed, gasping, in the mouth of the cave.

“What happened?”

“We’ve got—company.” Alayne pushed herself up and spit out water.

“How many?”

“Three. Those three missing professors. One’s an Earth-Mover.”

“Sprynge and Marysa?”

Alayne shrugged. “I don’t know. I was too busy falling.”

“We gotta hurry.” Kyle rose to his feet and gave Alayne a hand up. The mouth of the cave narrowed into a small dark tunnel that led back into the darkness. Alayne moved ahead, Kyle following close behind her. He nicked her heels with his shoe and cursed. “Wish I had a light.”

Alayne wished she dared to make a flame, but still didn’t want to risk Kyle knowing that she could. So much could go wrong. With one hand on the wall and the other in front of her, she felt her way through the darkness. Her stomach cramped, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything since supper the night before.

At long last, a dim glow appeared ahead. Alayne dropped her hand from the wall and ran toward it. The glow grew steadily brighter, until there it was at last—the same fire she had seen in her mirror. It was mostly smoldering embers now, the wood nearly burned up.

“Jayme?” The word burst from her lips before she could stop it. The figures lying around the fire didn’t stir. “Where are you?”

She ran toward the fire. She found Jayme on the far side of it, his emaciated form collapsed against a rock. His eyes were closed, and every breath he exhaled was accompanied by a moan.

Alayne dropped to her knees beside him, reaching for his face.

Kyle’s voice stopped her. “Don’t touch him. Looks like we might have a few cases of dysentery here.” He motioned toward a dark region of the cave from which a less-than-pleasant smell emanated. “There’s blood and—human waste,” he murmured, and Alayne shuddered. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s catching.”

Alayne’s hand faltered. “But you’ll have to touch them to get them out of here.”

Kyle squatted to check the others. “You said the elements are working again, right? Between you and me, we can make some water pallets to get them up on the cliffs. Plus, if they have fevers, the water will help to cool them down.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m guessing dehydration, starvation, the aforementioned dysentery and a good case of pneumonia multiplied by,” he counted quickly, “fifteen people. That’s everyone on the trip, right?”

“Yes, so we haven’t lost anybody yet. They must have had water all this time.” Alayne glanced around at the students as they sprawled on the floor of the cave. Her shoe kicked a canteen on the cave floor. She picked it up and unscrewed the top. “Empty. They used it as long as they could.”