Threading the Needle (34 page)

“What happened? What did you do?”

Mareane answered. “She tried to follow the ley line to wherever it led, but she extended herself out too far. She could have lost herself.” She met Hernande's gaze. “None of us are as strong as Kara, or even Artras. Raven has a hard time accepting that. That's why she's always so bitter.”

Hernande didn't respond, watching as Raven's shoulders straightened. Hernande thought her eyes looked hollower than before, her skin sallow and haggard. But that could have been from the quake and Cory's rescue, not just tracing the ley line.

“I couldn't follow it to its end. The next node is too distant.”

“I didn't expect you to. We may be able to find out where the line is coming from and where it's going using the sands.” Hernande glanced at the ley. “The real question is, is it safe? Or do we need to abandon this cavern?”

“It's safe. Whoever built this node made certain they were protected. The stellae act as a shield, keeping the ley inside the circles here in the chamber.”

“And can we use it? Kara said before there was only enough ley in the area to create a minimal network, enough for heating stones and some light to help us survive the winter.”

“We can do more than that now. This isn't as powerful as the Nexus, nowhere near as strong, but it's ten times more than what we managed before. The entire ley structure in this area has shifted.”

“Because of the quake.”

“We don't know that.”

Hernande tugged on his beard. “It does raise a curious question, though, doesn't it? Are the quakes causing the ley lines to shift, or are the shifting ley lines causing the quakes?”

“Or neither.”

“Consider the fact that we have not had a quake in this area of any significance since we arrived. Now, we've had one worse than any of those we experienced in Erenthrall since the Shattering, and this node—one that was dead before this—has now been awakened. I think it's too strong a coincidence. The quakes and the shifting ley lines must be connected.”

“Then how do we make it stop?”

“We have to stabilize the ley,” Mareane cut in. “Which is what Kara has been saying since the beginning. But the only way to do that is by healing the distortion.”

“So we're back where we started.”

“No, we're not.” Hernande motioned to the node. “Now we have ley to work with.”

“Hernande!” All of them turned to where Paul stood at the top of the scree. “We're needed back at the Hollow. Bryce and Sophia want to talk.”

Raven stepped closer to Hernande. “They're going to want to halt the move to the caverns. They're going to say they aren't safe because of the quake. And they're right.”

“We can't abandon the caves. Not without getting slaughtered by the raiders. I'll make certain they realize that. You make certain you stabilize this node. We don't want to have another quake like the last one. And we don't want to lose our access to the ley now that we have it.”

He began climbing up the scree, Paul waiting patiently at the top. The elder councilor grabbed Hernande's hand and helped him up the last, steepest section. “We need to get some stairs built here, either with stone or using lumber. We can't all be crawling over the fallen stone, especially once we're ready to shift the rest of the Hollow here.”

Hernande dusted himself off. “You still intend to move the Hollow here?”

“The quake doesn't change the arguments for why we need to move here. Unless there's more going on.” He eyed the ley roiling inside the circle of stellae.

“There is, but I don't think it changes anything.” Hernande moved past him, down the corridor. Paul hesitated, then followed. “I'll explain what we think happened—the ley and the quake—once we meet up with Bryce and Sophia.”

Paul paused to pass on additional instructions and to put a group onto building stairs in the node cavern, then they hoofed it back to the Hollow, following the ruts created by the wagons. Hernande pointed to the worn ground and mentioned having the students from the University hide the tracks using the same technique they would use to cloak the entrances to the caverns. Paul agreed.

They entered the Hollow from the west, passing the meadows where the shepherds were grazing the sheep, then the fields where the corn, tomatoes, and other vegetables from the earliest spring planting were beginning to flower. It would be weeks before most of it started in earnest—months for some of it—but the plants looked healthy. A few of the Hollowers were working the fields. Behind the produce fields, stretches of hay, wheat, and barley, already knee-high, bowed gently before the gusting breeze.

The Hollow was bustling with activity, two wagons loaded down with supplies heading back up the path to the caverns, another three being filled, ready to follow them. Janis was in the garden outside the cottage with Morrell, Allan's daughter sitting on a small stool picking basil. The girl looked exhausted and distracted, not even glancing up as Hernande and Paul walked past, but Janis waved and motioned that Morrell would be fine at Hernande's questioning look.

They paused long enough at Logan's to look in on Cory. His student hadn't woken yet, but Logan appeared unconcerned.

“He's recovering. I don't know anything about this healing power of Morrell's, but I'd guess that it takes its toll on the patient as well as the healer. I've cleaned up his leg, but Morrell didn't leave me much to do. He needs time, that's all. Like her. I'll keep a watch over him.”

“Find me when he wakes up.”

Logan shooed them out of his cottage with assurances he would.

They walked across the center of the Hollow to the meeting hall. As soon as they entered and Hernande's eyes had adjusted to the shadow after the bright sunlight outside, he noted Sophia and Bryce at the far end of the hall in deep discussion with Claye, Braddon, and a tracker named Quinn.

“Now what?” Paul muttered.

“Let's find out.”

Bryce broke off as he saw them approaching, the rest turning as they came to a halt.

“What happened at the caverns? We heard there were some collapses. And we saw what happened to Cory.”

“Three deaths. Everyone else is shaken up, but we've already got groups cleaning up and others working on shoring up the corridors and ceiling in case there are any more quakes.”

Sophia's eyes widened slightly in surprise. “You aren't advocating that we abandon the caves?”

“I don't think we can afford to. Where else would we go? You've convinced me that we can't stay here, not with any expectation of safety.”

“And we may not need to concern ourselves with more quakes.” Hernande settled in a chair. “We believe that the quake was caused by a shift in the ley system. The node we found earlier, which was inactive, has now been awakened. There is ley running through it, strong enough that it's visible. Raven and the other Wielders are attempting to stabilize it. If they can do that, and keep it stable, then we shouldn't have any more quakes of that magnitude here.”

“So the quakes are the result of the ley system reorganizing itself?”

“We believe so, yes.”

“Are we still able to use the cavern as a refuge?”

“Raven assures me that the ley is contained. I can also use the Tapestry to make certain of that, as long as it's not too strong. It's one of the ways the mentors at the University aided the Prime Wielders in Erenthrall before the Shattering.”

“I won't be comfortable with the ley that close.”

“Then you can sleep in the deeper cavern!” When Paul bristled, Sophia raised a hand to forestall him. “Don't. You won't have any choice in the matter. Bryce?”

“She's right. Tell them what you saw on the plains, Quinn.”

Quinn—a foot taller than Hernande, with a rugged, pocked complexion—stopped fiddling with his bow. “There's a force of about two hundred men headed our way. I spotted them during one of our sweeps of the plains. They were camped two days' ride from the edge of the hills yesterday.”

Bryce took over. “This isn't a ragtag group of bandits. There's a core group of fighting men, with a few bands like the one that attacked us attached to them. They're organized, with a base camp that they're moving steadily in our direction. They have horses, swords, bows, and
enough men to overwhelm this village within an hour, even if they act as stupidly as they did before. Based on what I've been told, they aren't going to behave that way. This group has a leader, and he's disciplined.” His gaze fell on Hernande. “We may need your students and their knots sooner than expected.”

“If they are needed, they'll be ready.”

“Let's hope so.”

“How long before this group gets here?”

“Our best estimate is a week. It depends on how fast they move. We've seen two groups join them since we started watching—one coming from the northwest, another from the east. Every time a group joins them, they slow down.”

“A week.” Paul looked at Sophia. “We'll have to speed up the move to the caverns.”

“We'll manage. Keep a watch on this group. Let us know a day or so before they might arrive. We'll need to harvest whatever we can, even if we have to reap the hay early and let some of the vegetables ripen in the caves. I don't expect that they'll leave the fields untouched if they attack.”

“No, they won't.”

Sophia and Paul left, already discussing what work needed to be accelerated. Hernande waited until they'd exited the hall, even their shadows gone, before turning to Bryce.

“There may be something else we can do now to defend the Hollow.”

“I thought we'd considered everything.”

“We did. But we didn't have access to the ley before.”

Allan crawled up to the edge of the low ridge, parting the grass before him so that he could see across the sunlit plains that stretched out toward the horizon to the west. Mountains rose in the distance, purple beneath the blue sky and above the yellow-green of the prairie. The road that the White Cloaks were following cut through the lightly rumpled land in a straight line heading slightly south of west. It had once been a caravan route, heavily traveled, until Baron Arent and Prime Augustus had created the Nexus and trade had switched from wagons and drivers to barges and pilots plying the ley lines between all
of the major cities on the continent. Allan knew a little about the lands to the west of Erenthrall—the village of Canter, his home, lay in the foothills of the mountains—but not what lay to the south. The main ley line that connected Erenthrall to Tumbor ran along the river. He knew another ley line branched off from that toward the Demesnes and the Western Peninsula. But the ley lines were too dangerous to be used for transportation since the Shattering.

He tried to recall everything he knew about the old roads and exactly where they ran. The roads around Canter were as familiar as the wells and springs, creeks and streams that dotted and snaked through the grassland and the hills, at least close to his old village, but Allan couldn't remember anything of significance about the routes here.

A sudden barked command echoed up from the plains. His gaze snapped back to the White Cloaks and their small entourage of wagons and guardsmen. They'd reached a section of the road a good distance away, far enough that Allan had to squint to see one of the stone wayposts jutting up out of the ground there, old enough to be tilted to one side. The road must branch. It was difficult to tell from Allan's vantage.

The wagons slowed. He couldn't pick out individuals, but he knew based on the last few days of watching that Kara and the others would be at the center, surrounded by guards, a single wagon in front of them, two behind. Dylan would be in the front wagon. At dusk, the group would halt and make camp, Dylan forced to stand and walk or hobble around the wagons, the others tied up near one of the fires built by the White Cloaks. Watchers were placed around the circled wagons, close enough they could see each other, attentive enough that Allan knew he couldn't risk sneaking past them. Everyone would be fed then, and the captured group given pallets to rest on. They slept in the darkness, beneath the stars.

But it was far too early for a halt today. The sky was clear, although storm clouds roiled to the south, lit occasionally from within by lightning. Much farther west, hints of an auroral front glittered, although it could have just been heat waves. Almost directly south, the white light of the distortion over Tumbor burned, still threatening to quicken like the one in Erenthrall.

Allan fidgeted as the group continued to hesitate at the waypost. If they continued on a mostly western track, he'd be able to follow them
for another day or two without losing track of Artras, Glenn, and the others. But if they turned farther south—

He spat a curse as the group below began angling southwest, then watched in frustration as they faded into the distance. They were moving almost directly away from Artras and the wagon headed toward the Hollow.