Songreaver (36 page)

"I..." Garrett said, and then his thoughts
swirled into a gray haze, "What?"

Marla looked away, as if ashamed. "How did
you find the Word of Breaking?" she asked again.

There was something he was trying to
remember. What was it? A name...

"You found the Word of Breaking, to set
Lampwicke free, Garrett. Do you remember?" she said.

"The Word... yeah," he mused, "Yeah... I...
know how to do it now... but how?"

"Just go to her!" Marla shouted, "Go help
Lampwicke!" She looked sick.

Garrett ran back to her. "Marla! All you all
right?" He touched her shoulder, and she turned her face away from
him.

"It's just the sunlight," she whispered,
"I'll be all right in a moment. Just go help Lampwicke. I'll wait
here for you."

Garrett nodded, reluctant to leave her like
this.

"Go, Garrett," she said, forcing a smile,
"I'll see you when you get back."

Garrett hurried to Annalien's house. He ached
with the warmth of the sunlight on his body as he stepped through
her door.

"Annalien!" he shouted, "I did it!"

The ghost of Annalien looked up from where
she knelt beside Lampwicke's cage. The smile drained from her face,
and her lambent eyes went suddenly wide with horror. The stumps of
her wrists went to her lips and she stared at him, shaking her head
slowly.

"Garrett, what have you done?" she
sobbed.

An icy chill ran through Garrett's body as
Annalien's horrified expression filled him with fear.

"I found the Word of Breaking," he said.

"No!" Annalien gasped, shaking her head as
she got to her feet and staggered away from him, "You
are
the Word of Breaking! You are the
Songreaver!
"

"Annalien, it's all right," he said, "It's
me, Garrett!"

"No," she said backing away to put the
sun-bright crystal shard between him and herself, "No...
you
used to be Garrett!
Now you are something... monstrous! Get
out!"

"Annalien!" Garrett cried.

"Get out of my house!" she screamed, "Get out
and never come back!"

Garrett felt like he had been kicked in the
chest. A cold sense of dread washed through him, and he said no
more.

"Garrett!" Lampwicke wept as he snatched her
cage up from the floor, "Garrett, what is happening?"

Garrett said no more, but he ran. He fled
Annalien's house without looking back, Lampwicke's cage clutched
tightly to his chest. Cold tears ran down his cheeks as he left
behind the only sunny place in all of Wythr.

Garrett opened the door to the balcony atop
Uncle Tinjin's house and carried Lampwicke's cage out into the cool
air of twilight. Marla followed close behind him, saying
nothing.

Whatever had happened in the pit beneath the
city, it had cost him the friendship of Annalien the ghost. Garrett
knew in his heart, somehow, that it had cost him much more than he
could even realize. Marla, it seemed, sensed this as well, for she
remained quiet and troubled, confessing to knowing only a little
more than he did about what transpired in that black pit. In the
end, it didn't matter. Garrett had found what he went seeking. He
had found the Word.

He smiled as he set Lampwicke's cage on the
wide stone railing overlooking the street and houses below.

"Garrett," Lampwicke said, "It's cold."

"We can go inside in a minute... if you
want," he said, feeling a little knot of sadness in his throat,
"but I wanted to show you something first."

He looked at Marla, and she twitched a little
smile. She looked down at Lampwicke and then knelt to put herself
at eye level with the little fairy.

"Lampwicke," she said, "I'm sorry that we put
you in that cage. I really wish that we hadn't... that
I
hadn't done that now."

Lampwicke glared back at Marla, her color
flushing from gold to an angry red, but she held her tongue out of
respect for Garrett.

Marla stood up again and stepped away,
looking across the city toward the shadow of the mountain.

"Lampwicke," Garrett said, "I'm going to do
something now, and I don't want you to be afraid. All right?"

Lampwicke's eyes narrowed. "Garrett,
sena
wa?
" she asked.

Garrett smiled and stepped back, lifting his
hand over Lampwicke's cage. In his mind he heard a voice, singing.
It was Marla's voice, but mingled with an older voice, something
vast and powerful, a great and shining gem of which Marla's voice
was but a single facet. This was somehow different from the song of
the Guardian. Marla's song spell was woven together of a golden
thread too strong to ever break, but Garrett knew he could unravel
it.

Garrett spoke a single word, and his voice
droned with a power that felt as though it might vibrate his teeth
loose from his jaw. He afterwards did not know what exactly he had
said, but the meaning was clear...
Open
.

There was a sharp
pop
like green wood
in a fire, and Lampwicke's cage suddenly twisted in the grip of an
unseen force. The little door of silver wire suddenly sprang open
and swung, crookedly on its hinge, and Lampwicke stared at it in
shock.

Garrett looked down at the cage and felt its
song fading into memory, its purpose served and needed no longer.
"Come out, Lampwicke," he said.

Lampwicke's eyes went from the broken door to
Garrett's face and she looked suddenly afraid. Her wings buzzed
once and then stopped again. She started to take a step toward the
door and froze.

"I cannot, Garrett!" she cried, "I am
afraid."

Marla stared down at the cage, her eyes full
of wonder. "It worked!" she gasped, "You did it, Garrett! It
worked!"

Lampwicke shut her eyes and flew at full
speed toward the door. She shot through it without hindrance,
hitting Garrett in the stomach just above his navel. He caught her
before she could fall, stunned to the floor.

"Sorry," she said, looking up at him and
blinking as she regained her senses.

Garrett laughed and then laughed again. His
mouth tasted like cold steel, and his shoulders ached with the
night's chill, but he couldn't stop laughing. Lampwicke laughed too
as she flew up out of his hands and darted around the balcony like
a drunken honeybee.

Marla smiled benevolently, until Lampwicke
swooped in and yanked out a tiny handful of Marla's long black
hair.

"Ow!" Marla yelped.

Garrett started to scold the fairy, but
Lampwicke shot toward him and seized hold of Garrett's lower lip
planting a tiny, fierce kiss on it.

Garrett chuckled and blushed as she darted
away again, chattering in Fae as she flew circles around Uncle's
rooftop, lighting up the night with streaks of golden light.

At last, she landed, breathlessly, on the
railing beside the twisted cage. Panting, she grabbed hold of the
silver bars, and, with all of her strength, she shoved the cage
over the edge of the railing to watch it tumble down into the
street below. "
De'Saggaraht, te veortne saba!
" she shouted,
and then cackled maniacally before dancing a little jig of
victory.

Garrett knelt in front of her, feeling the
sadness swelling in his throat again. He smiled as she turned to
face him, her little blue eyes still wild with exultation.

"Oh, Garrett!" she cried. She flew forward to
put her arms as far as they would go around the side of his neck,
"Thank you!"

Garrett laughed at the tickling flutter of
Lampwicke's wings against his face and ear.

She flew back to the railing, blazing like a
hot coal and grinning at him. "Thank you!"

"You're free now," Garrett said, "You can go
anywhere you want... or stay, if you'd like."

Lampwicke looked across the city toward the
south, and drew in a long breath, her little chest still heaving
with excitement. She looked at him again, and her eyes sparkled
with glittering tears. "Oh, Garrett... oh, Garrett," she cried. She
put her tiny hands over her lips.

Garrett smiled. "I understand," he said, "Go
home, Lampwicke. Go back to your forest."

She burst into tears then, but smiled through
them as she took wing once more. She darted, back and forth, as
though hesitant to leave or just remembering how to fly. Then she
swooped in and kissed Garrett once more on the cheek.

"I will never forget you," she said.

"I'll never forget you either," he
choked.

Then she was gone, streaking away toward the
south like a shooting star, and Garrett watched her go.

Distant thunder rumbled, and Garrett saw the
flickering light of a faraway storm play beyond the brooding shadow
of Mount Padras. A gentle rain began to patter against the stones
and shingles of Uncle's house. Garrett bowed his head, feeling the
cold hurt inside his chest.

Marla moved closer, putting her arm around
him. She felt warm and solid beside him.

"Garrett, you're cold!" she said.

He looked at her and smiled. "I'll be all
right," he said. He liked the way she smiled back at him.

She reached up and stroked his chin with her
thumb. "You shaved, didn't you?" she said.

Garrett grinned and then hesitated a moment
before he leaned in.

Marla pressed her lips to his, and they said
nothing more as the night rains fell on the twilight city.

Garrett’s adventures will continue in Book
Four.

####

Discover other titles by Andrew Hunter at
Smashwords.com