Nil on Fire (18 page)

Ahead, the south cliffs loomed. Each step away from the mountain and the meadow brought a fraction of relief, as though distance meant safety, even though I knew safety on Nil was a relative term, and always changing. Still, the farther from the meadow we walked, the better I felt. Beside me, Rives still looked intense; he constantly glanced around, observing, calculating. Thad's face was blank, like he'd passed angry and just settled into shock. Zane and Paulo walked slightly ahead, their faces hidden.

The wafting breeze from the south carried a hint of salt. Soon the hiss of steam vanished altogether, and the air cooled.

An alarming sense of familiarity washed over me with the breeze. We were tracing the path my uncle Scott had walked on his first days, I realized; the weird coincidence didn't sit well. I felt manipulated. I had the strange sense that the island had driven us here, that the island had driven
me
here, to walk the path of my uncle, again. Only he hadn't encountered any lions, if his journal was accurate.

Technically you didn't encounter lions either
, my mind clarified. They hadn't followed us, at least not yet. And my Nil sense told me they wouldn't.

A gift from Nil, or a warning?
I wondered.

“Warning,” Rives said, breaking the prolonged silence. “Something tells me Nil no longer gives gifts.”

“Holy crap,” Zane said, wiping sweat from his forehead as he dropped back to walk beside Rives. “Can we talk about that now? That was in
sane
. Nothing like a little mad cat welcome party to kick things off.” His stride faltered as he stared ahead. “No way. That is not what I think it is.” He whipped his eyes to Rives, then back ahead. “Do you see that, Chief? Is anyone
seeing
that?”

Thad shielded his eyes with one hand. “Is that—a
penguin
? Damn thing's
huge
.”

“An emperor,” Rives said. “The king of the penguin world.”

“Unreal,” Zane said. The penguin stood at the edge of the cliff like a giant bird statue.

“They
are
warm-blooded. And better than a polar bear,” I added.

Zane pointed a finger at me. “Skye, we are not discussing bears. Of any kind.”

“There is a brown bear here,” Paulo offered. “Or at least, there was.”

Zane's eyes went wide as he stared at Paulo. “So besides penguins and brown bears, what other fun creatures are camping out on Nil these days?”

“The question is, what isn't?” Paulo eyed Zane without fear. I studied Paulo, impressed. This Paulo was so different from the one I remembered. This Paulo was so calm, so assured, so much stronger mentally as well as physically. The panicked, defeated boy covered in monkey dung was gone. Even his limp had vanished.

“I've seen pumas, a jaguar, hippos, and rhinos, plus elephants and an ape,” Paulo continued. “And the less deadly, like squirrels and rabbits, sheep and boar. I've even seen a camel, and a kangaroo. And of course, the lions and the penguin.” He pointed ahead; the massive bird hadn't moved. I wondered if it was already dead but just hadn't fallen over yet.

“For months, I saw no people, just animals,” Paulo said, his voice thoughtful. “One day it would be a goat, the next, a bear. One day something to feed me, the next, something to eat me. No rhyme or reason.” He shrugged. “Then finally, people. But most of the animals that fall from wild gates now are predators. That I know. Nil is not a peaceful place to be.”

“Nil never was peaceful.” Rives's voice was quiet. “Not for us.” He exhaled heavily, sweeping his eyes across our group. “We need a general plan. I'm thinking we head for the City and let you fill in the blanks as we go.” He looked at Paulo. “Is that cool with you?”

Paulo nodded. He seemed content to let Rives take the lead.

“So, besides all of us, and Lana, who else is here?” Rives asked. He'd slid back into his Leader role like he'd never left; I wondered if he'd realized it himself.

“I can only answer what I know,” Paulo replied. “In the City, there are six of us. I believe there are other people here too; I've seen signs. Hidden people.” He smiled to himself. “But…” He paused, his expression troubled. “Like the animals, the feel of the island seems to have changed.” He lapsed into silence.

“You can't leave us hanging like that, dude,” Zane said. “What do you mean, the feel of the island has changed?”

Paulo shook his head. “I'll let you decide.”

He glanced back toward the mountain.

“Are you worried about Lana?” I asked.

“Yes, and no,” he said. “More no than yes.” He smiled. “She
is
Maaka's cousin.”

I wasn't sure whether that familial tie made her tougher than normal or just more stubborn—or neither. Regardless, Lana was nowhere in sight. For someone new to the island, she'd certainly disappeared quickly. I sensed she'd be as difficult to convince to leave as Maaka had been, perhaps more so. At least his time had been up. Lana's, on the other hand, was just beginning.

She hadn't even balked at the thought of Nil on fire.

“How bad was the fire?” I asked Paulo quietly. “When we left, everything was burning.”

“Not everything,” Paulo said. “The fire was contained to the meadow and the groves. But the fruit trees were decimated. A few mangoes survived, but not many. The deadleaf bushes have taken over.”

“Nice.” Thad shook his head.

“I salvaged what I could,” Paulo said. “Let me know if you get hungry. I've got some dried fruit.”

“Did you hear that?” Rives had stopped walking.

“What?” I craned around, listening. Thad and Zane had stopped too. Black rock sprawled in the distance, full of dips and holes and rises.

“Someone's yelling,” Rives said. “Listen.”

I cupped my ears to amplify whatever sound Rives had heard, straining to block out the crash of the waves.

A boy with dark spiky hair popped into sight, careening over a black rock rise as if he'd been shot from a cannon into the bright-blue Nil sky. He sprinted toward us. A light-brown strap crossed his chest, running from his hip to shoulder. He wielded a long wooden sword in one hand, brandishing it wildly; his other hand alternated between pumping and pointing at us. His lips moved, his mouth open wide, but the open air stole his shout.

“What's he saying?” Zane squinted against the bright light, a hand shielding his eyes.

“Not sure but if I had to guess—” Rives broke off as Paulo yelled, “Run!”

Three wolves burst over the rise behind the boy, stalking as a pack. Still a football field back from him, they were closing fast.

“Aw, no,” Zane groaned as he took off at a sprint. Agony ripped across Rives's face for an instant before he glanced at me with fierce resolution. We were already running too.

“This way!” Paulo yelled, gesturing ahead. He pointed down the cliff line, straight toward the penguin. The boy raced over the rocks, catching up to us with remarkable speed.

The pack of wolves closed in too, snarling and growling and nasty-looking, the trio now thirty yards back at best. There was nowhere to go: We were trapped, again. The cliff's edge held us tight on one side, the frothing wolves on the other. We'd gone from lions to wolves in less than thirty minutes and we knocked on Nil's death door as if we'd never left.

We kept running.

The penguin startled, waddling away from the cliff with a jerk. His movement bought us precious time. The wolves' pace slacked a crucial bit; they seemed torn between us and the massive black-and-white animal—or thrown off guard. Perhaps they didn't know what to expect from a giant penguin either.
Are penguins aggressive? Do they attack?
Most animals do when afraid or hungry, and for all I knew, this penguin was both. Dad had never given me any literature on Antarctic animals, an unexpected gap in my survival education.

“Behind him!” Paulo yelled, pointing at the giant bird.

The six of us swerved behind the giant bird. He made a strange sound but didn't move.

Paulo dropped back. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Do we have a choice?” Thad muttered.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“When I say jump, we jump!” Paulo pulled away again. “Don't stop running!” he yelled as he veered toward the edge.

“Off the cliff?” Zane asked, horrified.

The boy brandishing the sword had caught up to Paulo. His grave expression didn't waver, his eyes fixed ahead.

“Five meters!” Paulo shouted, sprinting ahead. And then he ran straight off the cliff and dropped out of sight. Without hesitation, the boy thrust his sword in the air, and with a cry, he leaped off the cliff after Paulo. He too disappeared into thin air.

“He didn't say jump,” Zane hollered.

“Jump!” I yelled.

And with Rives beside me, I did.

 

CHAPTER

29

RIVES

94 DAYS UNTIL THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, AFTERNOON

Skye leaped into open air.

Of course I followed.

I threw myself off the cliff. No windmilling, no hesitation at all. Just a jump into the unknown—into the effing
air
—because the land route involved wolves.

Wolves.

We blasted through Nil sky, no gliders on our backs. Below me, frothing water churned, waiting like an answered prayer or watery grave, a fresh twist on the Nil crapshoot. The drop wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. I tried to breathe deep, to stretch my lungs, to stay chill, but my mind kept flashing back to the trio of wolves.
Wolves.

Three more marks in the evil column of Nil.

My body twisted toward the cliff at my back, instinctively looking for fur, checking to see if the mutts followed. I caught the flash of a face—human, and surprised—and then I hit water, feet-first. The ocean closed over my head with a resounding roar.

Instantly, everything calmed. The light dimmed, all sound muffled; water enveloped me in a slick cocoon. Bubbles surrounded me, blocking my view, but I felt Skye nearby. She was close—and safe.

Damn if Paulo hadn't saved us all.

I kicked to the surface, thinking of Skye. Her face at the meadow had killed me. I knew she'd been thinking of Dex. She'd done so much for everyone, then Nil had reeled her back, trading her body for her sanity. I knew Skye had felt drawn to the Death Twin. Deep down, I'd feared all along that Nil would pull her back.

And still, the knowledge didn't help. Didn't matter. Didn't make a damn bit of difference. I'd been powerless to stop it, and now, here we were. Fully stuck at Nil's mercy, and the island never let us forget it.

Rivesssss …
The hiss rode the waves, carried by the wind.

“Wolves,” Thad said. I jerked toward his voice, surprised to find him treading water by my side. Trapped in my abyss of Nil hate, I hadn't noticed.

Not good.

“Nil has one hell of a twisted sense of humor.” He spat out water. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I swam beside him, pushing Nil out of my head.

Look around, pay attention.

Skye was already climbing up onto the rocks. Paulo reached down, gripped her wrist, and hoisted her up. The black-haired boy with the badass sword and kamikaze attitude stood beside Paulo, his homemade katana peeking out over his shoulder, tucked in the strap secured across his chest. Zane stroked toward the group already out of the water, a few meters to my left.

Choosing my footing with care, I hauled myself out of the water and went straight to Skye. She was squeezing water out of her hair with one hand. My eyes met hers, finding enough steel for both of us. “Skye?” One word, a million questions.

She nodded. “Totally fine. You?” Her eyes searched mine.

“Yeah.” My pat answer.

She nodded again, but her eyes were knowing, like she was privately calling bullshit on my answer but knew I needed to pretend it was all okay because maybe then it somehow would be. Like I hadn't almost had to watch her get mauled by a wolf pack.

Skye squeezed my hand.

Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in my ear, “Think first, panic later.” Then she grinned. “I'll let you know when it's time to panic.”

“Deal.” I slowly returned her smile. She was a force of nature, a force of Nil. A brave, clever girl, she'd nearly taken down an entire island in three months' time, and here she was set to do it again. She completely underestimated herself. Underestimated how tough and strong and badass she really was.

But I didn't.

Watch out, Nil
, I thought.
You brought us back, and you may have bit off a hell of a lot more than you can chew.

I took pleasure in the fact that Nil had no answer.

With Skye's hand in mine, I surveyed the cliff. No one was there. No movement, no face. But I'd swear someone had been up there, as surprised to see me as I'd been to see him.

Or her.

“What is it?” Skye covered her eyes with her free hand, lifting her chin to look up.

“Nothing. I thought—I thought I saw someone as I fell, but maybe not.”

“It may have been Lana.” Paulo's gaze followed mine. “There's a cave here. Actually back there.” He pointed. “The mouth blends in with the cliff, but if you know what to look for, you'll find it. It's always where we come when we arrive.” He shrugged. “An island thing.”

“An island thing, eh?” Thad's expression bordered on suspicious. “How many other
island things
are there? Ones you haven't shared?”

Paulo didn't flinch. “You know all I do. Maybe more, since you're with Skye.” He smiled. “But you can ask me anything. If I know the answer, I'll tell you.”

Thad nodded, obviously appeased.