The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (78 page)

“I don’t think I need that kind of help.”

“Well, you know, that’s interesting,” he said, “because it happens that if you’re in the market for an ancient artefact, I might just know of something that could help you.”

Keris felt that he was testing her patience. “What are you talking about?”

“I discovered something here. It’s a…library, hall of records, information archive–something like that.”

“You mean a place with books?”

Patris grimaced. “Not exactly. To be frank, it would be easier to show you than to try and explain it.”

Keris felt her practised scepticism reasserting itself. “I’m warning you, Patris. I’m not in the mood for your fabrications.”

“Oh, I assure you, dear lady, the information is quite genuine,” he insisted. “I would never attempt to deal in information unless I could personally guarantee its veracity. Honesty is a core principle of the Thief Guild. We have a reputation to maintain.” Keris snorted, but he ignored her. “The library exists. I cannot guarantee that it will provide you with what you are seeking but I can show you where it is…for the right price.”

“Are you out of your mind?” she cried.

Patris shrugged. “If you prefer, you can scour the ruins yourself. I would be happy to accompany you and share your fine company. I imagine it would take a number of days for you to make the same discovery. However, if I understood you correctly, then time is of the essence.” Keris was beginning to fear that allowing the thief to accompany her might turn out to be the worst mistake of her life. “I ask for little enough in return,” he continued. “Protection from the misguided law enforcement agencies of this world, passage home when the time comes, plus…a modest amount to reimburse me for my time, expenses, that sort of thing.”

Keris lay down, turned her face away from him and pulled the blanket over her savagely. “We’ll discuss it in the morning.”

Behind her, across the dwindling fire, she sensed him grinning expansively. “Outstanding,” he said.

<><><><><>

Chapter 20

Shann yawned and stretched, then pushed herself up from the cold stone floor. Early sunlight filtered in through the gap at the top of the rough barricade and splashed over her. Next to her, Rael was still sleeping. They had worked together late into the evening and had managed to cobble together four lodestone grenades from the canisters Rael had found. He had wanted to test one to make sure they worked, but she had vetoed the suggestion. Wasting one would cut down their chances of a successful escape, she argued. However, the truth was that even if none of them worked, a quick end would be preferable to the lingering death they would endure at the tower. She refrained from sharing that possibility with him, however. Better to keep hope alive until the last possible moment.

By the time they had finished their nocturnal labours, they had both run out of energy and words. The heat from the furnace had dissipated rapidly, and by the time they returned downstairs and bedded down, Shann could feel the cold night air enveloping her. So when Rael had drawn closer, sharing body heat, she had not objected.

She looked back at Rael’s sleeping form. Boxx was lying motionless in the far corner, although she wasn’t sure whether it was asleep. They would make the attempt to reach the avionic this morning, weather permitting. Already, she could feel herself growing weak from lack of food. Any delay would leave them weaker still and reduce their chances of survival even further. It was now or never.

She bent down and touched his shoulder. The boy stirred. “Hey, time to go,” she said in a tired voice.

Rael sat up and ran a hand through his tousled hair. “Is it morning already?”

Shann ignored the question. “Come on. You’ll need to gather your stuff and give me a hand with these.” She indicated the cabinets that formed the heart of their hastily constructed barricade.

Rael got to his feet. “Are you sure about this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, maybe we should wait a little longer,” he suggested. “There must be people out looking for us.”

“How many of those avionics of yours have you heard passing overhead?” she challenged. Rael shook his head. “This place has lain undiscovered for what…three thousand turns or more?” she continued. “What do you think the chances are that two different sets of people would accidentally run across it, two days in succession?”

“You mean mathematically?” he asked.

“Whatever way you want.”

Rael paused. “Not very likely. Well nigh impossible, in fact. It’s just that…” The gangly youth was looking down at his feet again.

Shann knew enough about him to know that that was not a good sign. “What? What is it?” she demanded.

“Shann, you have to understand that we put these grenades together crudely, using antique equipment and untested ancient materials. They may not produce enough of a blast to deter the murghal. Or they may blow up in our faces. They may not even work at all.”

What would Lyall and Alondo do in this situation? Rally the troops with a little humour, no doubt.
“Well if we don’t make it out of here alive, I’ll never speak to you again.” She turned to the far corner. “Boxx.”

The creature raised its head. “We Go Now?”

“Yes, that’s right,” she said. “When we leave here, stay close to us. Don’t get lost.”

“Do Not Get Lost,” it trilled. Shann couldn’t tell if it was agreeing or giving her the same advice. However, she had no desire to get into a pointless discussion with it. She carefully gathered up the canisters and handed them to Rael.

“You’re giving me these?”

“Sure.” She smiled at him encouragingly. “You designed them. You know how they work.”

“Of course, but–”

“And you can throw, I take it?”

“I…I’m not very good.”

“Well if these things work as they’re supposed to, then you won’t need to be very accurate,” She began tying on her pack. “Just don’t throw one at me, all right?”

Rael was looking at the floor again. “I…I’m not sure I can do this, Shann.”

“Nonsense,” she said briskly. “I and my staff will be the first line of defence. Anything that wants to reach you and Boxx will have to get through me. However, if you can use our grenades to blind–stun them–whatever, then it will make my job a whole lot easier. If I should go down…then throw a grenade, run for the avionic and don’t look back.”

“Shann–”

She shut her eyes.
“Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Rael looked as if he was going to be sick.

“Then let’s go.” She went to the barricade and motioned for him to assist her.

Rael walked over slowly, as if he were having a battle within himself. “At least Boxx will be all right. It can always roll up into a ball.”

That’s no guarantee it’ll be immune from attack by the murghal. Still, he doesn’t need to hear that right now.
“Sure, it’ll be fine.”

In a few moments, they had shifted enough items to squeeze through. Shann poked her head outside. There was no sign of murghal. The sky was overcast; a light snow was falling. Farther up the mountain, darker clouds were gathering. The weather was closing in. They could be looking at a blizzard by late morning, and from discussions with Rael, she had learned that this high up, snowstorms could last for days. There was no chance they would be able to find their way to the avionic in such conditions. They had to go now. “Follow me and stay close,” she instructed.

They hurried through the whirling white flakes of snow and squeezed through the fissure in the rocks where they had first stumbled upon the tower. Shann helped the others through the gap, then her heart froze.
A distant growling.
She glanced back and saw the terror in Rael’s eyes. “Come on. Quickly,” she urged. It was like trying to run in a dream state. Her boots sank into the covering of fresh snow, impeding her every step. Behind her, Rael trudged and Boxx scrabbled through the gathering snowstorm. Shann cut an oblique trail across the mountainside in the direction where she knew the avionic lay. Maybe it was buried in snow by now. Or maybe it wouldn’t start up. Too many things that could go wrong with this plan. She tried not to dwell on them.

The brutish growls gathered in intensity. Once again, they seemed to be coming from every direction. Shann dug her staff into the deepening drifts of snow and ploughed on. A hibernal wind whipped around her, depositing flakes of snow in her hair and on the shoulders of her cloak, as if claiming her as its own. There was a gentle pressure on her shoulder. She glanced around to see Rael pointing off to their right. Several of the creatures were shuffling rapidly toward them, jostling with one another in their urgency to absorb…heat.
Time to give them what they wanted.

“Use a grenade,” she urged.

Rael grabbed a pair of the canisters from his pack, flicked open the connecting valve and tossed it toward the approaching murghal. The grenade landed on the snow directly in front of the shambling beasts and began to hum. The hum rose in pitch to a whine, then almost immediately died away. A small plume of useless smoke wafted from the device. Shann cursed and waded forward, flaring her cloak in search of lodestone.

“Shann.”
Rael’s cry sounded behind her.

“Don’t stop. Keep going,” she called over her shoulder. She pushed off a small deposit to her left and leaped to her right in an effort to outflank the murghal, and at the same time draw them away from the others.
Hold the beasts back as long as possible.
Every moment she bought increased Rael and Boxx’s chances of survival. Shann landed on a black stone outcrop that jutted from the snow, slipping on its rime covered surface before regaining her balance. The murghal were ambling toward her through the snow flurries. She swung her staff in a wide arc. The blade connected with what she took to be the head of one of the things and almost bounced off.
A bludgeon would be more effective
. Their guttural sounds filled her ears. She made a direct thrust at the middle of the nearest creature, then leaped backwards, twisting in the air as she did so. Her boots made contact with the snow once more and she began backing away slowly, staff held out before her. The murghal resumed their relentless advance.

All of a sudden, her foot gave way. The covering of snow behind her disappeared and she felt herself sliding, then falling backwards. Her back struck something hard and she jerked to a halt. She was wedged between the sides of a narrow crevasse. Walls of ice stretched above, framing a narrow strip of sky. She tried to shift position, but appeared to be stuck fast. She could still hear the murghal snarling with frustration, deprived of their prey. Right now, they were the least of her worries. She would never know whether Rael and Boxx had made it to the avionic, but at least she could die in the knowledge that she had done everything she could. Shann closed her eyes and waited for the remorseless cold to claim her.

~

Sleep. The body divesting itself of the burden of pain and slipping into the solace of unconsciousness. But there was something that would not let her sleep. A noise. A high-pitched warbling that drilled into her brain and re-intensified the agony in her back and her ankle. She forced her eyes to open. A round head peeked over the top of the crevasse. In the middle of the head, a wide mouth rippled.

“Boxx, what are you doing?” Her tongue was thick in her mouth. A second head joined the first–thinner and topped with a brush of dark hair. “Rael…go. Get out of here.”

“No.”
The boy’s head disappeared.

Shann sagged.
Why? Why won’t you just go?

The Chandara suddenly ceased its ululation. “Shann. You Must Come. It Is The Key.”

A loud bang.
A flash of light overhead.
Then she heard Rael’s voice from somewhere above. “It…it worked. Th-the murghal. They’re not moving…it actually worked.” His head reappeared. “Shann…Shann.” One of his long arms reached down. “Give me the other end of your staff.”

She pushed the staff weapon up the side of the crevasse as far as it would go. Rael stretched farther down. He touched the diamond blade and reached for the darkwood shaft. His fingers closed around the wood, and he began to pull. Shann felt as if her arm was being wrenched out of its socket, but her body was still held fast by the ice. “Leave me,” she pleaded. “Those murghal could revive at any moment. You must get out of here, now.”