Heart of the Ocean Page 19

  Connor shrugged and fell into step beside her. Dio followed. They walked through the trees for a while. As they moved further inland from the beach, the air became heavier; the gentle breeze off the coast did not penetrate far into the forest, and the air was stuffy. They did not have any trail to follow, instead working their way along the path of least resistance among the trees. Connor periodically pulled out a long knife and cut his way through branches, but they could usually find their way through. Laila kept her eyes toward the treetops, looking for the same structure she had seen the day before. She was not sure exactly where it might be, but she hoped that it was large enough that if they moved closer to it she might be able to see it.

  "I don't think there's much else here," Dio said.

  Connor nodded his agreement.

  "We haven't gone that far, though," Laila responded.

  "We've been walking for two hours, Laila. There's nothing here. Not even more fruit trees," said Dio.

  Laila scrunched her nose. She did not want to head back yet, even though she knew the longer they stayed out the harder it would be to make it back to the ship. But she felt a need to find the structure again.

  "What exactly did you see?" asked Connor, seeing the resistance flicker across Laila's face.

  Laila sighed. "Some kind of building. I didn’t think that much of it yesterday, but when I woke up this morning I felt this strange urge to see it up close. I was hoping if we went further inland that we'd find it. But I haven't seen it yet..."

  "Oh," Connor responded.

  "It's strange, I know. I just couldn't shake the feeling," Laila explained.

  "What if you climbed a tree?" Dio asked.

  The other two turned toward him. He smiled, pointing at one of the thick-limbed trees around them. "You've been looking at the treetops all day. Maybe if you climbed toward the top you'd see it again."

  Laila laughed. She had not thought of that. It was a simple solution and easier than continuing their trek through the trackless forest. They quickly found a tree that looked like it had branches that would support Laila's weight and also stood just a little taller than the other trees around it. Leaning her staff against the trunk of the tree, Laila let Connor and Dio boost her by her feet up to the low-hanging branches. Getting her balance, she began working her way up the tree. Pulling her robes up slightly and letting her legs free, she climbed upwards. Connor and Dio watched her carefully. Her foot slipped at one point and she saw both of them grimace and shift beneath her. But she caught herself easily and regained her balance. It was only a few minutes before she began to feel bursts of sun across her face. She was penetrating the top layer of trees.

  Pulling herself as high as she thought safe, she leaned against the trunk and braced her feet on two thick branches, facing out and looking over the island. A sea of trees stretched out from her, only ending where the actual sea cut off the land. Her eyes scanned along the treetops, finally falling on what she sought: a large black structure sticking up above the canopy. The top of the structure came to a sharp point, with four corners stretching out beneath the point and widening as the structure entered the top of the trees. There were no other markings on the black surface. Laila sat against the tree for a moment. Something about the structure gave her a sense of familiarity, but she could not remember ever hearing or reading anything about a similar building. She had not even known this island was here. As much as the Confederacy liked to believe itself an advanced society, they were woefully ignorant of much of the world outside their own continent.

  "Do you see anything?" Dio yelled up to her.

  "I do. It's some kind of pyramid. All black."

  "A pyramid? On a deserted island?" Dio asked.

  "I don't know why it's here," Laila said.

  Dio said something else, but Laila could not make out what it was. Her eyes were drawn back to the black pyramid. She tried to gauge how far it was from them. It looked to be a few miles at least. Turning to the coastline, she saw that they could not have come more than a mile in the hours they had been exploring. Walking to the pyramid would take all day at that pace. With a disappointed sigh, Laila began to lower herself back to the forest floor. If the repairs were not finished, maybe they would be able to try for it tomorrow. It was unlikely, but Laila could not shake the feeling of familiarity, especially now that she had gotten a good look.

  She glanced back for one more look at the structure before it was out of sight and lost her footing on a slick branch. She flailed her arms out and just caught herself from falling further, wrapping both her arms around a thick branch.

  "Careful!" Connor and Dio both shouted.

  She held herself against the branch, swinging her legs beneath her. "I'm fine."

  Her feet finally found another branch. She lowered herself slowly and continued, but much more slowly. Finally she came to the lowest branches. Her legs still hung almost ten feet off the ground, but she sat down on the branch and let herself slide off. She landed heavily on the ground, taking a couple of steps forward to maintain her balance.

  "Nice jump," Dio laughed.

  "Thanks."

  "So what was it?" asked Connor.

  "Like I said, it was some sort of black pyramid. I have no idea what it could be. I've never seen anything like it before."

  "Can we get to it?" Dio asked.

  "Not today. It's too far. It'd take us all day to get there through the trees."

  A look of disappointment crossed Dio's face.

  "Probably for the best," Connor said. "We should get back to the ship anyways."

  Laila slumped her shoulders, but she knew he was right. "All right. Let's see if we can find any more melagranos on the way back, that way it'll—"

  Laila cut off. She had been walking toward her staff as she spoke. When she’d reached out to grab it, a jolt ran up her arm. It was not pain, but it immediately drew her attention. She stared at the stone staff, unsure. She pulled the staff off the tree, placing both hands on it slowly. Another burst of sensation ran through the staff and her arms.

  "What...?" Dio asked.

  Laila waved him to silence. She reached into the staff, calling on her power. Pulling from the ground beneath her she searched for the cause of the strange sensation. She closed her eyes and focused her attention. Another jolt came and she tried to follow it with her mind. She was surprised when she was able to. A line of power ran from the staff and reached out into the ground. She followed it, unsure of what she was doing. Her mind raced along the sensation, passing through the forest faster than she could have run. A mile away—she instinctively knew how far she had gone—the source of the jolt became apparent. The jolt was accompanied by fear as Laila recognized what she was feeling.

  "We have to go...now!" she snapped, opening her eyes and looking at her friends.

  "What? Why?" Connor asked.

  "Manders!" Laila said.

  She saw the fear and recognition cross Connor's face instantly. A curse slipped from him as he turned and took off in the direction they had come. Laila and Dio followed closely.

  "Manders? What's a Mander?" Dio asked as they rushed along the forest floor.

  "Fire-wolves!" Laila said.

  "What in the world is a fire-wolf?"

  "Just go!" Laila shouted. She could still feel the jolts through the staff, now that she knew what they were.

  Connor pushed his way through the trees, cutting wildly at the plant growth in their way, trying to go as fast as he could.

  Why are there Manders here? Does Nuriel know I'm here? Thoughts tore through Laila's mind as they stumbled through the woods. Her anxiousness grew as her sense of the Mander told her the elementals were drawing closer.

  The three of them hacked and pushed their way through the dense trees. In their fear and rush, Laila felt as though the trees had suddenly become thicker. She swung her staff at low-hanging branches wildly, trying to bat them out of the way. Dio had his own knife out, cutting the foliage when he could. Connor led
the way, cutting, swiping, and pushing. They soon broke free of the denser trees and could see the line of the beach. Laila could still feel the Manders. They were getting closer, but she thought they might be able to make it to the beach before the creatures were on them.

  Dashing between the thinning trees, the three fled toward the beach. Laila thought she heard the snapping of jaws behind her but did not yet want to risk glancing behind them. Crashing out of the trees, they finally reached sand.

  "Damn!" Connor cursed again. The longboat was nowhere to be seen. The three companions looked either direction down the beach. To the east, the beach curved northwards, hiding what was around the bend.

  "It's that way!" shouted Dio.

  "You sure?" Connor asked.

  "I think I recognize the shape of those trees. We can see that corner of the cover from the ship. Come on!"

  He rushed off down the beach, with Laila and Connor following. They trudged through the thick sand as it pulled at their feet. Laila could feel the Manders approaching. She could not tell exactly where they were, but they neared the beach. The bend in the coast was a few hundred yards away. She pushed her legs harder, stumbling as she went. Connor tripped on something next to her and fell forward into the sand. She stopped, reaching out to him. Dio continued running.

  "Dio!" she shouted.

  He glanced back over his shoulder, unaware that Connor had fallen. His eyes turned from his friends to something in the forest.

  Laila watched as four Manders burst from the trees, leaving a black trail behind them. They stood between Laila and Dio. Laila pulled Connor to his feet quickly as the black and red creatures slowed their mad rush from the forest and began stalking toward her and Connor.

  "Laila what—" Dio was cut off by a hand motion from Laila, but it was too late. One of the Manders turned at the sound of Dio's voice. A low growl reverberated from the creature and it slowly began moving toward Dio.

  Laila felt the familiar glow of blue light spring to life in Connor's hands as he called on the Sword. She felt a sudden rush of sensation as he did so, similar to what had happened when she had been trying to free the winds. A sense of power emanated from Connor, and it was stronger now that he had manifested the Sword.

  The odd sensation was broken quickly as the Manders approached. She reached for her own power, calling on the Earth beneath her. She grabbed the Mander moving toward Dio first, stopping the creature in the sand. The red spines on the Mander's back rose up as it hissed and growled, first at Dio and then at the sand that had coalesced around its paws.

  "Go Dio! Get to the ship!" Laila said, her voice echoing with her power.

  Dio hesitated. His grip tightened on the knife in his hand. Laila could see him debating what to do. She willed him not to make the stupid choice.

  "Go!" she shouted again. Please! she added silently.

  One of the Manders launched itself at Connor, drawing Laila's attention back to the immediate threat. Connor sidestepped smoothly, and as he did, the Sword struck out in one fluid motion, cutting a blue line across the ribs of the fire-wolf. The creature howled in pain.

  Laila spun as the other two moved to either side of her. She felt the Earth rise up and slither across her skin; this time it felt almost effortless compared to her ordeal on the ship. As her attention turned to the two in front of her, however, her hold on the fourth released. She glanced in Dio's direction, fearing the worst. The Mander, now free of its bonds, bounded down the beach, following Dio, who now had a hundred yards or so on the creature. Laila felt a brief moment of relief; he should be able to get to the cove before the Mander caught him.

  A growl and a blurred motion brought Laila's attention back to her own predicament. She leaned back, trying to avoid the creature's claws. She brought her staff up and swung in a wide arc, forcing the creature back. The second Mander snapped its jaws near her arm. Spinning wildly, she tried to catch that one with her staff as well. The fire-wolf jumped aside and then quickly approached again, seeing Laila off balance.

  A burst of flame erupted on the beach behind her. She risked a glance over her shoulder to see Connor just dancing backwards from the now-burning body of the first Mander. As she did, a heavy weight knocked into her, pushing her into the beach. She desperately moved her head back and forth, pushing her staff up into the Mander’s maw, trying to keep its crimson teeth from her neck.

  Summoning her strength through the staff, she pushed, throwing the creature off her. The Mander stumbled backwards, its hind legs just entering the waves crashing onto the beach. A howl of pain ripped from the creature as steam rose up from the water. Limping forward, it tried to escape the waves.

  "Toward the water!" Laila shouted at Connor, hoping he understood.

  Taking advantage, she moved forward, brandishing her staff like a sword, keeping the Mander between her and the ocean. The creature snapped at her, trying to find a way around her, but she kept swinging the heavy staff, backing it toward the water. As the creature's hind legs touched the water again, steam rose up and another howl of pain escaped its jaws. Pressing forward, Laila forced the creature deeper into the waves, the water splashing across her own feet, soaking through her robes.

  In a final act of desperation, the Mander threw itself out of the water, snapping at Laila. Her strength and magic flowing through, she swung her staff in a wide arc, knocking the Mander further backwards. A crashing wave swept over the fire-wolf, and a burst of steam exploded as the wave nearly knocked Laila off her feet. Laila planted her feet against the outward pull of the wave. There was nothing left of the Mander except a lingering haze of steam hanging over the place where she had knocked it into the water.

  Another burst of steam turned her to the side, and she saw Connor backing the other Mander toward the ocean. The creature disappeared underneath the waves as hers had. The Sword disappeared from Connor's hands, and he leaned against his knees. Laila could see a slash across his ribs. It did not bleed, but it was slightly black around the edges, the Mander's claws cauterizing the wound instantly.

  "You're hurt," Laila said, pulling herself free of the wet sand and rushing to her friend's side.

  "I'll be all right. Did Dio get away?"

  "I think so..." Her eyes were drawn toward the place where the forest ended on the beach.

  Connor saw the shift in her attention. "What is it?" he asked without turning, still gripping his knees and catching his breath.

  Laila did not speak; she simply stared at the forest and pointed. Connor finally followed her gaze. At least ten more sets of ember eyes burned from the shadows beneath the trees. They approached slowly, hesitant after witnessing the defeat of three of their number. Laila was struck by the sense that they were not as mindless as Icarus had implied.

  A shout from down the beach drew her and Connor's attention. The longboat was making its way around the bend, moving along the coast toward them. Dio sat in the rear, his arms flailing wildly as he tried to row as fast as possible.

  "The water! Get in the water!" Dio's voice finally drifted down to them.

  Laila looked at Connor. "I'm all right. Go!"

  Turning, Laila dove into the waves. She was not accustomed to swimming in ocean currents, but she had spent time as a child swimming along the coast of Lake Artus, giving her a degree of confidence. She felt Connor dive into the water next to her. He was not as fluid as she was, but fear and desperation gave him a measure of speed. They pushed past the break line of waves as the Manders approached from the tree line. The ten sets of eyes were soon followed by another ten, and twenty creatures stalked out of the forest onto the beach, growling angrily as their prey floated in the ocean water, just beyond their reach.

  Laila sputtered, moving further out to meet Dio as he pulled the longboat to them. She looked behind her to see how close Connor was. She could not see his head. She swung her eyes across the surface of the water but could still not see him. The longboat slid through the water near her.

  "Where's Connor?" s
he shouted at Dio, salty water slurring her words.

  "I don't know. He was right behind you..."

  A sudden splash a few feet from Laila brought Connor's head to the surface. He struggled to pull himself up. Laila lifted the weight of her staff up onto the longboat and then took two quick strokes toward Connor. Wrapping her arms beneath his shoulders, she used her legs to keep them both afloat. Connor sputtered and clutched at his side. Dio moved the boat closer, struggling in the motion of the waves. Laila reached one arm out, making sure to keep the other underneath Connor's arm. Grabbing the side of the longboat, she pulled Connor to it. He reached out and grasped the side with his own hand, sputtering salt water. Dio leaned over and pulled the southerner into the boat, careful not to lose balance. Connor rolled over the edge and lay on his back.

  "That's twice I've pulled you back into a boat," Dio said as he reached out to help Laila over the edge.

  Connor tried to say something back, but grasped at his side in pain. After a deep breath, however, he let out a shallow laugh and nodded.

  Laila rolled into the longboat, dripping with seawater. She turned and looked at the beach. At least twenty Manders stood just outside of the reach of the waves, growling and snapping their jaws.

  “What happened to you?” Laila asked of Dio.

  “I got to the cove and in the boat. Once I was away from the shore, that thing didn’t come near me. I guess they don’t like water that much,” he said, glancing at the tendrils of steam that still hung over the shore.

  "Let's go. We need to talk to Icarus," Laila said, nodding.

  Dio nodded, staring wide-eyed at the creatures on the beach while absently picking up the oars, gliding them along the coast back toward the Via.

  Seventeen

  Tales

  The sun was moving toward the western horizon as the longboat slid next to the Via and a couple of the crew swung down to pull it up. Laila shivered in the cool air, her robes dripping from her mad dash into the water. Her hair hung in front of her face, a disheveled mess. She lit her staff with earthlight, drawing warmth from her power and trying to use the earthlight to help Connor. He still held his side where the Mander's claws had caught him. His face was pale, but he was aware and able to speak. The pulleys attached to the front and back of the longboat went taught and the boat lifted out of the water as the crew pulled on the lines attached to the pulleys.