The Dark Light (16 page)

“It’s not the same,” said Sol. “Did Malone see them or not?”

I nodded.

“Then it won’t take much for him to put the pieces together,” said Delane. He placed his hands on his head. “People in sneakers? Mia, he knows where they got them. He sold them! He’s going to be suspicious of anything from your world that didn’t come through him.”

I stood in that street in that stupid dress with Sol, Delane, and Crowley looking at me like I
was
stupid. One little excursion and I’d already caused trouble. And here I was thinking I could rescue Jay. If only Willie were here, she’d back me up on this—she’d tell them that you can’t walk around in shoes that barely fit! But Willie wasn’t here. I had no one.

The bell we’d heard last night began to ring. People stopped. Murmurs rose from the crowds. Sol paced the width of the street, muttering beneath his breath in a language I was certain I didn’t know.
“Banda nutidi . . .”
or something like that. I didn’t need a translator to work out what he said: We were in trouble.

“He’s summoned the sentinels,” said Crowley, the only one of us who still seemed to have kept his wits. “They’ll tear this town apart looking for her.”

I checked left and right, convinced that
everyone
was looking at me. They weren’t. Some looked to the air, some at the ground. Most simply made an about-face and hurried away.

Sol pulled himself back together. He took my arm. “Can you ride?” he asked, as we ran for Rip’s.

“Like a bike?”

“Like a horse.”

“I can drive,” I offered.

“That’s a little more conspicuous than we want.”

Delane sprinted to our side. “It’s not boring with you around, Mia,” he said, grinning like he was having the time of his life. “Guess the decision’s made. You’ll have to come with us to Orion.”

I
tossed what clothes I had into the bag Rip gave me. I was grateful for the task; it gave me something to do with my hands. I could hear the others moving around downstairs. We didn’t have long until we left.

I rummaged through the bag for my jeans, and pulled my phone from the pocket. If I could get power, just the faintest signal, I could text Pete: “Iv crssd barrier + J’s hr. Help!”

My phone was still dead. “Crap.”

But at least one thing had turned in my favor. We were headed for Jay.

A door downstairs banged. I shoved my phone back into the pack and went to the stairs. Rip had returned. The second we’d
told him what had happened, he’d darted into town for the latest news.

“The town’s swarming with sentinels,” he said, “and they’re heading this way. I got horses from the Dobbs twins. You’ll find them at their mother’s place.”

I scurried to Sol’s side, hoisting my pack onto my shoulders, praying for the strength to see this through. It was what I wanted—to be searching for Jay. Yet still I felt like I was about to plunge off the edge of a cliff.

Rip continued to pace. “One of Malone’s cronies has already left, riding full pelt on the Orion road. He must have gone to warn the gang that you’re onto them. You’ll never catch them now.”

“Then we’ll have to cross Welkin’s Valley,” said Sol. “Cut them off before Orion’s gates.”

Rip stopped dead. “The valley? You’re not serious.”

“I’m serious,” said Sol.

Dentally challenged as Rip was, the guy had clearly been around the block. That he wasn’t happy with Sol’s plan did not inspire my confidence. He repeatedly shook his head.

“Solandun, there’s naught in the valley but demons. The place is cursed.”

“It’s the fastest way,” said Sol.

“Nobody willingly enters the valley unless—”

Sol placed his hands on Rip’s shoulders, squeezing them gently. He looked Rip square in the eyes. “We can do it,” he said, quietly and confidently. “We
will
do it.”

I’d never seen anything like it—a younger guy holding an older man’s gaze with a self-assurance beyond his nineteen years.

Crowley, red in the face from sprinting back from Malone’s, came to Sol’s side. “Then you’ll need more weapons,” he said to Sol, almost proudly. He turned to Rip. “That means repeller orbs and decimators, Rip. As many as you’ve got.”

The tension between Sol and Rip broke as everyone set into a second flurry of activity. This was it. The start of our journey.

I looked at Old Man Crowley. “You’re coming, right?”

Warmth filled Crowley’s eyes. “Not me, Mia,” he said. “I’d just slow you down. Besides, someone’s got to stay with Rip and cover your tracks.”

Of course. I’d never considered the mess we were leaving behind in Bordertown. Malone knew two people had crossed the Barrier last night. He knew Sol wanted the Solenetta. He’d seen me, a stranger in sneakers from the Other Side. He would have to be an idiot not to put it together. Clearly, he wasn’t.

“Can’t you slip back to Crownsville and tell Pete what’s happened?” I asked, unable to believe why I hadn’t thought to ask earlier.

“Got no grains,” Crowley replied.

“Of course,” I said. “I keep forgetting.”

I pictured the cafeteria at Crownsville High and all the times I’d sat there talking with Willie and Kieran and Seth. We were a team, we shared everything. A new team was forming around me, one I knew nothing about.

“I don’t get it,” I said to Crowley. “Malone’s already got the Solenetta. Why does he care about me?”

Crowley,
Tiamet
, reached for my hand. “Don’t worry about the details, Mia, or you’ll drive yourself insane. Just keep yourself safe. Trust Solandun. Trust Delane. They know what they’re doing.”

And so it seemed. Sol thrust a sword into my hand.

“I have to fight?”

“Just try to stay alive,” said Sol.

I lifted the sword. It was lighter than the one in Sol’s trunk and shorter than the one Sol had taken when he’d gone back to look for Solenetta last night. Nevertheless, it was heavy and wobbled in my grip. “I can’t use this.”

“Mia, you may have to,” said Sol.

I tried to imagine what it would be like to actually use it. I was always the peacekeeper at school, getting between Kieran and Willie when they were at each other’s throats. There was no way I could go after someone with a sword. But I thought of
Jay hacking and slashing his way through his video games. He wouldn’t show fear. But Jay didn’t have a sword to protect himself, and I did. I owed it to him to use it.

As the others finished packing, Delane hurried over with a belted scabbard. “Left or right?” he asked, and then when it was obvious that I had no clue what he was talking about: “Do you use your left hand or your right hand?”

“Oh,” I said. “Right.”

He laughed as he strapped the belt across my hips. “Don’t panic. You probably won’t have to use it.”

He tightened the belt almost down to the last loop, then stepped back to take a look at his work. “Perfect fit.” He winked. “Well, almost. It’s lucky you’re quite tall. Try it.”

I’d never predicted that one day I’d be sliding a sword into a scabbard. But my reach was long and the sword fit, almost as if it was meant to be.

“Now draw,” said Delane. He mimed drawing the sword.

I mimicked him, my sword slipping swiftly from its sheath.

“Great technique,” said Delane, as I slid it back inside. “We’ll make a warrior of you yet.”

That I highly doubted.

The packing complete, Sol joined us at the door. He peered outside.

“Keep to the back streets,” said Crowley, as he handed Delane
his pack. “They’re bound to come here. We’ll stall them for as long as we can.”

As we left the house, I took a final look at Crowley and Rip, standing there like friends I’d known my whole life.

“Remember, Mia,” said Crowley. “Trust them.”

With that, the door closed and I was alone with Sol and Delane.

Chased by the bell, we sprinted through Bordertown’s deserted alleys. My pack bashed against my back. The skirt wrapped around the scabbard with every step. Several minutes later, the gap between the houses widened, diminishing the number of places to hide. Soon we crossed open land, peppered with the kind of shacks I’d first seen on entering town. Gnarled trees sprouted between the huts then thickened into a grove. Vines with scarlet leaves smothered the trunks like blood-filled ivy sucking the life from the boughs. Overgrown, they trailed from branch to branch, a vast red web that shimmied in the breeze and cast deep shadows onto the ground.

At a run, we ducked beneath the trailing leaves and headed into the grove.

“Still no sign,” said Delane. “They’ll be cutting off the roads leading out of town. There’s no way they’ll think us crazy enough to take on the valley.”

“What is this valley?” I asked beneath my breath.

“It’s been deserted for years,” replied Delane, with his usual cheery tone. “Best to just leave it at that.”

Sol slowed, peering between the low-hanging vines. “I see the horses.”

“Sentinels?” asked Delane.

“None,” he said. “It doesn’t feel right.”

I peeked through the scarlet foliage into the clearing ahead. On it stood a circular house, about ten feet in height and constructed from pale blue stone. Two horses in full tack were tethered to a post in the yard, nibbling at the sun-scorched grass. No one else was in sight.

“Only two?” I whispered.

“You can ride with me,” said Delane. He leaned in to my ear. “Don’t willingly get on a horse with Solandun. He rides like a maniac.”

I laughed. Just a little. No matter how bad things became, nothing seemed to get to Delane. I wondered what other information I could get from him about Sol.

Simply grateful our escape didn’t depend on me riding alone, I stepped into the clearing, following Sol to the horses while Delane kept watch at the rear.

“Untie him,” said Sol, gesturing to one of the two.

It was a huge animal, brown to the point of black. A single strip of white ran down its face. It stamped when I approached.

“He knows you’re scared,” said Sol, with a smile.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Not if you want him to listen you.”

I inched closer and tried to woo the beast with charm. “Hey there, boy.” I patted his side. It didn’t work any better than it did to coax Rusty. The horse sniffed my forehead as I went for its reins. Something cold and wet came away on my skin.

Sol had already mounted. He held my reins as Delane joined us, mounting our ride as easily as Sol had his. Delane offered me his hand.

“Just hold tight.”

“That’s the plan.”

I hoisted my ridiculous skirt above my knees, and then scrambled up with Delane’s help. Almost six feet off the ground, I grabbed his waist. “Okay,” I said, feeling secure. Well, kind of.

I peeked out from behind Delane’s back and caught the glimmer of Sol’s sword as he raised the blade. Just like the night before on the Ridge, he leaned forward and sniffed the air. “They’re here,” he murmured. “Back up.”

The horse moved beneath us, but my gaze remained on the trees. I held Delane tighter, anticipating visage demons creeping into the clearing and again confronting me with Jay’s face. I instinctively lowered my hand to my sword, though I
knew I couldn’t use it. I couldn’t strike at anything that bore Jay’s face.

“What’s out there?” I whispered.

“Sentinels,” said Sol. Still leaning forward, he turned an ear toward the grove. The sun shone in the clearing, casting golden brown light through his hair. His eyes narrowed. “They’re trying to surround us.”

“I don’t see anything.”

A ripple carried through the vines like a whisper traveling leaf to leaf. The first sentinel appeared. It was tall, at least seven feet, and as bald as a visage demon except for a tail of coarse black hair that sprouted from the top of its head. Its empty, glassy eyes were round and widely spaced like a shark’s. A black, sleeveless tunic covered its gargantuan chest. Muscles bulged in its arms, and thick blue veins, as wide as my finger, pulsated beneath its skin. Below the tunic, bare legs displayed massively oversized quads and gigantic feet, both hugely out of proportion to the rest of its already impressive frame.

They appeared one after the other, each identical to the first, encircling us, moving as a unit to cut off our escape. Twenty. Thirty. I lost count. They watched us. Waiting for what, I didn’t know. Anticipation rose. Were more on the way? We were already hideously outnumbered, but we had horses.

“Time to go,” said Delane. “Solandun?”

I caught Sol’s nod, clutched Delane tighter, and prayed the poor guy could still breathe through my grip. Him turning blue was the only thing that would make me let go.

The front sentinel raised a gnarled arm. Its mouth opened: “Ni’ah.”

That one word, whatever it was, shattered the moment.

Sol, then Delane, rounded the horses, and charged for the woods behind us. I ducked to snatch a breath against the rushing wind.

I knew within seconds why the sentinels hadn’t come with horses. They didn’t need them. They sprinted after us, their humongous steps powered by their massive thighs. Thunder sounded at their charge. Screams, like warrior’s cries, echoed. I’d never seen anything on two legs run so fast. Within seconds, they’d flanked us. They bounded over shrubs, bowled through saplings like a giant herd escaping a predator.

Only, they were the predators and we were the prey.

I clung to Delane, certain I felt a sentinel’s breath on the back of my neck, but too terrified to look. Delane sat low across the horse’s neck, riding in stride with Sol at our side. Neither checked back.

We weren’t going to make it. Several of the sentinels on our flank drew closer. Those in the lead veered toward our path. Sol pressed on, ahead by several strides. He caught the turn in the
sentinels’ direction as six or seven bounded ahead to our left. Seconds more and they’d cut off our escape.

Sol steered his horse to the right. Delane followed.

The woodland thickened. Low-hanging branches threatened to topple us. But there must have been a route through the undergrowth; never did Sol’s speed waver. A dark tunnel of trees appeared ahead and Delane’s cry, carried by the wind, rushed by my ears.