Thorn Fall (13 page)

“I know.”

“Delia?” came Temi’s call from up the trail, an uncertain tone in her voice that made my stomach sink.

“Yes?” I switched to a jog again to catch up with her.

She was gazing toward the north, toward a ridge of dark bumpy rock silhouetted against the stars. “The sword is pulling me that way.”

Were those the Cow Pies? I had never been up this trail before, and I couldn’t tell in the dark. Maybe they were under the ridge. Actual cow pies were flat, right? And pie-like. Not that the sword necessarily wanted to visit a rock formation. Maybe there were more pictographs out here somewhere, and it wanted to lead us toward them. Or maybe it wanted to lead us to the flying thorn flinger for an epic showdown.

I flicked my flashlight toward Simon as he caught up. He had brought his laptop satchel, and it had been clanking all the way up the trail.

“Got any grenades or flamethrowers in there for me?” I asked, figuring he had his arsenal. I wanted more than my whip if we had to fight a
jibtab
.

“I’d have more if we hadn’t been in such a hurry to run up the trail.” Nonetheless, Simon opened his satchel and held out two canisters for me. “Greek fire for the Greek lady. The ignition system is primitive, since I’ve practically been limited to stone knives and bearskins for tools, but pull that tab and throw. If that doesn’t work, I have matches too.”

Temi watched our discussion with her eyebrows elevated. “You think the sword is pulling us into a fight?”

“I’m hoping for cave paintings and a chance to gather thorns, but I want to be prepared.” I wished I knew how far up the trail the tourists’ bodies had been found. Without that information, finding samples to replace the ones we had lost would be difficult at best. I decided not to hope that the creature showed up to fling fresh ones at us, even if logically I knew that might be the best way to get venom that Autumn could examine and send to her buddy for the creation of an antivenom.

Alek walked into the sphere of light cast by the sword. He had been farther up the path, and he pointed over his shoulder. “Trail,” he said in Greek. That word must not have come up in the barnyard section of the program. He moved his finger until it pointed off to the north, toward the ridge.

“He must mean that the trail branches,” Simon said. “I saw that when I looked it up. You have to go off a bit to reach the Pies.”

“So the sword
does
want to go there,” I said.

Temi shrugged. “Apparently.”

We let Alek lead us to the spot where the trail turned off. I carried Simon’s napalm bombs—Greek fire, indeed—dutifully, but found myself hoping for more pictographs. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if the sword was leading us to the answers of its own origins? Origins that some Sinagua shaman had painted for posterity centuries ago? Unlike the sword and the monsters, the pictographs were something I could share with the archaeological community. Maybe a significant enough find would even make a difference in… I hated to think, clearing my name, as if I were some criminal, but other words didn’t come to mind.

“Is it just me or is the sword glowing more brightly?” Simon asked.

“It does seem brighter.” Granted, we were closer to Temi now, but I had turned off my flashlight when I accepted the grenades, and hadn’t noticed the lack.

“If I get a call from whatever agency monitors the light pollution here, I’m making you explain it to them.”

The brush thinned, and sloping rock walls came into view. The sword’s glow wasn’t enough to make out the entire formation, but I had a feeling we had reached our Cow Pies.

Temi halted and looked back at me. “It’s trembling.”

“What is? The sword?”

“Yes.”

“That’s alarming,” Simon said. “I wouldn’t have expected a sword to tremble in fear.”

“Vibrating might be a better word.” Temi flipped the blade so the hilt extended toward me. “Here, feel.”

I approached warily but accepted the sword. As soon as Temi let go, and before I could feel anything, the glow vanished, leaving us in darkness.

“You forgot. I’m not worthy,” I said, trying not to feel inadequate by the sword’s judgment, or its disinterest in me as a wielder, anyway.

“Sorry.” Temi laid her palm on the side of the blade.

The glow returned. A moment later, the faint vibrations pulsed against my hand. It reminded me of the hum of energy one felt when walking under big electrical lines.

“Did it do anything like this when we were looking at those paintings today?” I asked.

“No.”

So much for the hope that it was leading us to another undiscovered Sinagua cave. “This is the first time?”

“Yes.”

I returned the sword to her and looked around for Alek, figuring he was the only one here who might have knowledge of the elven technology. He had disappeared into the brush again.

Simon came over and laid a finger on the side of the sword. “Too bad the granny wanted to call the police instead of hanging out with us. She would be sure we’ve found a vortex. Would have made her whole vacation.”

“Huh.” I propped a hand on my waist, studying the sword anew. “I was thinking of it as a divining rod earlier. What if it really is?”

“Really is what?” Simon asked. “For… vortexes?”

“How can you be skeptical about their existence in light of all of the weirdness that’s happened to us lately?”

“Are you saying you believe in them?”

“Not necessarily, but I’m approaching this with an open mind.” I waved to Temi. “And a vibrating sword.”

“What did the girl say?” Temi asked. “That people who are aligned a certain way can feel vibrations when they’re standing in an energy spot?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you two feel anything?”

“I felt the sword vibrating,” Simon said.

Temi shook her head. “I mean when you’re not touching it.”

“No,” Simon and I said at the same time.

“Why?” I added. “Do
you
?”

“I… Maybe it’s my imagination, but when I let go of the sword, I still feel like I’m… I don’t know.
Humming
.”

“Like being under an electrical line?”

“Exactly like that.”

We all looked up at the sky, as if we expected to see the cables from high-powered electrical poles running overhead. The Milky Way stretched across the sky but nothing else.

“So Temi is vibrating, but Delia and I aren’t,” Simon said thoughtfully.

“Maybe I’m crazy,” Temi said.

“Maybe not.” I had a guess as to what Simon was thinking, because I was thinking it too. “Alek? Are you close?”

No more than a few seconds passed before he stepped onto the trail beside me. I searched his face, trying to tell if he too might feel what Temi felt. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that easy to read, other than that constant cloak of melancholy that was a permanent part of his panoply. But he seemed more intrigued than morose now. Finding the night exhilarating? Or uniquely interesting? I hadn’t grabbed the tablet, so I had to grope for the words to communicate the question to him. Ancient Greeks hadn’t spoken about electrical towers in many of their epic poems.

I pointed at his chest. “Do you feel… power? Lightning?” They weren’t the right words, but they were words I knew. If he felt something, he ought to catch on.

He nodded slowly. “You?”

“Not me, not Simon, but Temi, yes.”

Alek considered Temi; actually, he was considering the sword.

“Another perk of elven blood?” Simon asked. “Vibrating in the presence of… vortexes?” He couldn’t manage to say the word without a skeptical eyebrow twitch.

“That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “Feeling the presence of
something
,
anyway.”

“Does that mean all the nuts who come here and think they feel vortexes aren’t nuts, after all? They just have elven ancestors?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll let you run that by Naomi’s grandmother.”

“Do we continue on?” Temi asked.

“Does the sword want you to?”

“I think so.”

“Then by all means.” I waved toward the trail. I didn’t think it went much farther, but maybe we could climb up onto the Cow Pies themselves. The sloping walls appeared friendlier to ascend than those of the canyon from the morning. “I should have looked at one of the vortex maps online,” I said. “If memory serves, there are supposed to be specific spots on or near the formations.”

Simon dug out his phone. “Enh, we’ve wandered into a dead zone. Maybe we can get service from up top.”

“Does your memory say what’s supposed to happen when you’re standing in a vortex?” Temi asked.

“I think you feel peaceful and Zen. Although at least one site talks about portals, remember.” I thought of the pictographs. What rock formation had that been in the drawing? Not the Cow Pies. I would have to look at the supposed vortex spots later and see if I could find a match.

“Portal to where?” Temi asked, turning to follow the trail along the base of the rock.

“I have no idea.”

“The elf world?” Simon asked. “For the record, I don’t believe that a portal is going to open, but it would be the coolest thing ever if I was wrong.”

“Would it?” Temi asked softly.

I looked at her sharply.

“I was thinking of the painting,” she explained. “Didn’t it seem like that guy on the rock was trying to close the portal or fight whatever was coming out of it?”

“Hm, maybe? You think the sword would lead us to something dangerous? You’re its wielder. Isn’t it supposed to keep you safe?”

“Jakatra didn’t mention that it would feel any fondness for me,” Temi said dryly. “I also don’t think it’s a spirit or a being or whatever you’re thinking. More like a tool with some… features.” She turned to face the rock. “It looks like we can climb up over there.”

“Are we sure we
want
to?” I asked.

We had come out to look for venom samples, not find vortexes or portals. Also, Temi’s lack of confidence in the notion that the sword had good intentions made me pause, reminding me we still knew nothing about it.

Alek knelt near the base of the rock, touching wheel tracks in the dust. Had he seen a bicycle yet? I didn’t know.

“The people the police found today weren’t on bikes, were they?” Simon asked. “They rented an ATV, so we might actually be more likely to find them up on the road. Maybe it wasn’t closed yet at that point.”

No, I had a feeling the police had ordered the road closed after finding the bodies.

“Morning.” Alek pointed at the tracks.

I groped for a way to explain that we wanted to find the attack site of the people who had been riding in a vehicle, rather than on a bicycle. Before I found the words, Alek made a couple of gestures, then walked into the brush again.

“Forget Drizzt,” I grumbled, “we’re traveling in the Outback with Crocodile Dundee.”

“Those movies were great,” Simon said, his grin returning for the first time since his brother had called.

“They were cheesy.”

“I liked them.”

“You like everything from the ’80s.” I had never quite gotten his obsession, since we hadn’t even been born yet then.

“Not… everything. The Care Bears should never have been spawned.”

“But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were fine?”

“Even
better
than Crocodile Dundee.”

Temi always wore a serene look when she watched us talk about geeky things, but I was fairly sure that was covering up bemusement.

Brush shuddered, and twigs snapped. I whirled, my hand dropping to my knife. Yes, Alek had gone in that direction, but making such noise was so unlike him that I was certain a javelina was charging us. Until he pushed a bicycle into sight with twigs and leaves sticking out of the spokes.

“It appears that Alektryon doesn’t think we should have to go back to the parking lot on foot,” Simon said.

“No, it
appears
that someone else was attacked out here and didn’t make it back to the trailhead.” I gazed up the sloped wall. “Are
jibtab
drawn by vortexes too?”

Alek pointed at the bike, then toward the top of the formation, frowning slightly. I had a feeling we weren’t drawing the conclusion he wanted us to draw.

“I’m going up.” Temi had been carrying the scabbard and sword, but she strapped it to her back now.

I started to fish in my pocket for my flashlight, but the glow from the sword seeped out through the opening in the scabbard, still providing enough light to see by.

Alek leaned the bike against the rock and started up as well.

“Come on, Care Bear boy,” I told Simon. “We’re next.”

He grumbled something under his breath, but started climbing. Even in the dim lighting, we made it up the slope without too much trouble. The formation was rounded near the top. Like a cow pie, I supposed. As soon as I climbed to my feet, a flash made me jump.

“Who’s taking pictures?” I glowered at Simon, only to realize he hadn’t reached the top yet.

“Not me,” he said.

“It wasn’t a camera,” Temi said, a grim note in her voice.

Another flash lit the night, and I was looking straight at it this time. It came from the center of the formation, some fifty meters away.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I thought you were the one with the answers,” Temi said, looking at me, then at Simon.

Simon pulled himself over the top and stood up. “I only have answers about the ’80s.”

Without warning, Alek jogged away. He didn’t run in the direction of the flashes, but followed the rim of the mesa instead. I wasn’t sure whether to go after him or to check out those flashes.

“Did you hear that?” Temi asked.

No, and why did everybody in this outfit have better hearing than I did?

Temi trotted after Alek, making my decision for me. I chased after them. She pulled out her sword, flooding the mesa with light. Alek had stopped near a crevice. He crouched down, touching something at the same time as he frowned back at us.

“What is it?” I asked, but I could make out something in the crevice now. Clothing. And someone wearing the clothing.

I swallowed, realizing what Alek had been trying to tell us below. Not that he had found a bike, but that he believed its owner nearby. An owner who had been attacked and had already succumbed to the venom? Or one who was still alive?