the stranger. They didn’t have time to think. It was all they could do, even with the refined senses of the Homunculus, to follow the sound to its source. Echoes of their own footsteps and the increased agitation of the lake behind them made the task doubly difficult.
By the time they caught sight of their quarry, he was well outside the village and making good progress up the crater’s sloping edge, to where a series of dark cave mouths gaped at the base of the curving cliff wall.
‘Wait!’ Seth shouted. ‘Where are you going?’
‘To hide, of course!’ the boy bellowed over his shoulder. Despite his many layers, he was making impressive time. ‘Warn the others. They don’t have long to get out of sight!’ He waved vaguely at the downed balloon and the cluster of figures surrounding it, then he put his head down and sprinted for the caves.
The twins vacillated for a moment over whether to follow or turn back. They chose the latter. Marmion and the others were just leaving the village behind them. The surface of the lake was becoming choppier by the second, as though a storm was blowing in.
The twins passed on the message from their unknown benefactor, and added their own interpretation.
‘It’s Yod,’ said Hadrian, feeling a rising panic of his own. ‘I don’t know how, but I can guess why. It spotted us and it’s coming for lunch. We have to get the others under cover. This isn’t the time to stand and fight.’
‘We can watch, though,’ Seth added. ‘We need all the intelligence we can get.’
Marmion nodded. ‘I’ll call Banner. She’ll get everyone moving. Now, keep going. It won’t do anyone any good if we all die.’
Hadrian agreed wholeheartedly. As one, the four of them began toiling up the slope. Marmion’s eyes half-closed in concentration. Rosevear stayed at his side, one hand ready to catch the older warden should he stumble. Skender pumped his skinny arms in an uncoordinated sprint. His expression was pale and frightened.
As he ran, he cast one desperate glance over his shoulder, and Hadrian understood.
Chu was down there with the others, and they hadn’t even started running yet.
Skender mouthed something under his breath and found an unexpected turn of speed. As the caves came nearer, he first drew level with the twins then took the lead. Hadrian was willing to hang back in case Marmion and Rosevear got into trouble. He had seen enough death for one day.
* * * *
Come on, come on , Skender urged himself in time with his ragged breathing. One foot in front of the other. Don’t think about what’s coming up behind, just run like the crabbier queen herself is on your tail. Run like you’ve never run before, and then some !
He didn’t hear the keening noise he was making until the nearest of the caves finally came within range. As he ran into its stony embrace, the echo of his wail came back to him, startlingly loud. He choked it off and let himself pant. The shadow of the cave was dark and cold. The light coming from entrance revealed a narrow but long empty chamber that stretched deep into the bedrock. The others weren’t far behind. Letting his lungs suck down air like every breath could be his last, he knelt on one knee, took off his right glove and pressed his hand flat against the stone. The Change rippled through it and across his naked palm, distracting him from the cold. Through the stone he felt the distant footsteps of the rest of the expedition. They had started moving at last, warned by Marmion’s call. Skender could also feel the shadow of something dark and unfathomable rising from the depths of the lake. It slithered along the bottom like a tangle of snakes, writhing and squirming, and making furious time. It would reach the shore long before Chu and her companions reached shelter.
Some souvenir , he thought.
Marmion and the others arrived and gathered around him.
‘Tell Kelloman —’ Skender could barely get the words past the
By the time they caught sight of their quarry, he was well outside the village and making good progress up the crater’s sloping edge, to where a series of dark cave mouths gaped at the base of the curving cliff wall.
‘Wait!’ Seth shouted. ‘Where are you going?’
‘To hide, of course!’ the boy bellowed over his shoulder. Despite his many layers, he was making impressive time. ‘Warn the others. They don’t have long to get out of sight!’ He waved vaguely at the downed balloon and the cluster of figures surrounding it, then he put his head down and sprinted for the caves.
The twins vacillated for a moment over whether to follow or turn back. They chose the latter. Marmion and the others were just leaving the village behind them. The surface of the lake was becoming choppier by the second, as though a storm was blowing in.
The twins passed on the message from their unknown benefactor, and added their own interpretation.
‘It’s Yod,’ said Hadrian, feeling a rising panic of his own. ‘I don’t know how, but I can guess why. It spotted us and it’s coming for lunch. We have to get the others under cover. This isn’t the time to stand and fight.’
‘We can watch, though,’ Seth added. ‘We need all the intelligence we can get.’
Marmion nodded. ‘I’ll call Banner. She’ll get everyone moving. Now, keep going. It won’t do anyone any good if we all die.’
Hadrian agreed wholeheartedly. As one, the four of them began toiling up the slope. Marmion’s eyes half-closed in concentration. Rosevear stayed at his side, one hand ready to catch the older warden should he stumble. Skender pumped his skinny arms in an uncoordinated sprint. His expression was pale and frightened.
As he ran, he cast one desperate glance over his shoulder, and Hadrian understood.
Chu was down there with the others, and they hadn’t even started running yet.
Skender mouthed something under his breath and found an unexpected turn of speed. As the caves came nearer, he first drew level with the twins then took the lead. Hadrian was willing to hang back in case Marmion and Rosevear got into trouble. He had seen enough death for one day.
* * * *
Come on, come on , Skender urged himself in time with his ragged breathing. One foot in front of the other. Don’t think about what’s coming up behind, just run like the crabbier queen herself is on your tail. Run like you’ve never run before, and then some !
He didn’t hear the keening noise he was making until the nearest of the caves finally came within range. As he ran into its stony embrace, the echo of his wail came back to him, startlingly loud. He choked it off and let himself pant. The shadow of the cave was dark and cold. The light coming from entrance revealed a narrow but long empty chamber that stretched deep into the bedrock. The others weren’t far behind. Letting his lungs suck down air like every breath could be his last, he knelt on one knee, took off his right glove and pressed his hand flat against the stone. The Change rippled through it and across his naked palm, distracting him from the cold. Through the stone he felt the distant footsteps of the rest of the expedition. They had started moving at last, warned by Marmion’s call. Skender could also feel the shadow of something dark and unfathomable rising from the depths of the lake. It slithered along the bottom like a tangle of snakes, writhing and squirming, and making furious time. It would reach the shore long before Chu and her companions reached shelter.
Some souvenir , he thought.
Marmion and the others arrived and gathered around him.
‘Tell Kelloman —’ Skender could barely get the words past the
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