Spirit Animals: The Evertree Part 3

Conor bent down to pick up a glittering tile fragment that had once belonged on the side of a building. He admired it sadly, holding it in the sunlight. "The Conquerors move fast," he muttered. He put the fragment carefully in his pocket, as if a reminder of what their mission was for.

Maya turned back to look at them. Her fire salamander stayed hidden behind her loose hair. "I just overheard a pa.s.serby. In the past two weeks, Balanhara suffered two sieges. The Conquerors finally pa.s.sed through, but they left behind a trail of destruction. They've destroyed huge areas of the region." She paused to look sadly at the beggars. "A lot of victims."

As they pa.s.sed more homes, Abeke saw that makes.h.i.+ft talismans hung on many of the doorways. The talismans were made out of barnacles, bits of broken clay, and beads. They were crafted in rough imitation of real talismans, the Coral Octopus and the Slate Elephant, the Marble Swan and the Silver Wolf, each dangling like a silent wish for help from the Great Beasts. Abeke's heart twisted.

"We have to do something," she said. But she didn't know what. Maybe all of this was because Kovo had already been freed from his prison that they were too late. The thought made her shudder.

Rollan paused as they entered a small marketplace with food carts. The s.p.a.ce looked like it usually held many more stands, but now only a few stood here and there. Most sold small, sallow potatoes and other roots that had survived the raids. Other stands sold rotten meat swarming with flies. Abeke guessed that the meat must have been salvaged from cattle killed during the siege. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, sickened by the reality that the people would be forced to eat such things.

The only cart selling something that looked good was situated at the far corner of the market. Abeke's stomach rumbled; they had all skipped breakfast in order to help out with gathering provisions, and now the sun hung high overhead. She joined Rollan's side to stare longingly at the golden-brown meat buns the vendor was frying over a flat iron disc.

"Let's pick some up for the others on the s.h.i.+p too," Conor said as Rollan pulled out a pouch of coins.

"Don't worry," Rollan replied, handing the money over. "I promise I won't eat all of them."

The vendor gave them bags of meat buns, and then they continued on their way. Abeke bit enthusiastically into hers. The food was delicious the fatty juices spilled down her chin, the spices making her tongue tingle. She wiped her mouth with the edge of her sleeve. Conor was popping his last bite into his mouth, while Rollan had already finished one and was digging for another.

As they walked and ate, Abeke thought she could see a seagull following them from broken roof to broken roof, but it flew off every time she tried to look at it. She didn't dwell too much on it, though. They were in a port city, after all, and close to the water. The seagulls must be just as hungry as she was.

They turned into a filthy alley. What they saw made all of them pause in their steps.

Beggar children huddled here, their gray rags barely able to hide their skinny arms and legs. At first, they startled at the strangers. Then their eyes darted to the bags of food in their arms.

Abeke stared back at them, her appet.i.te suddenly fading. These children were younger than they were some much, much younger. Maya swallowed hard, her cheeks reddening. "Orphans," she whispered.

The children didn't dare make a move. Rollan was the first to break the stillness by bending down to a little girl. She shrank away from him. "It's okay," he murmured. "I remember living this life." Then he reached into his bag and pulled out a meat bun. He held it out to her. "Bet you're hungry."

The girl stared at him with wide eyes. She blinked at the food right in front of her face, still steaming hot. Then she reached out and hesitantly took it from Rollan's hand. They all looked on as she devoured the bun, as if she hadn't had real food in days.

The other children in the alley began to gather near them. Conor glanced at Abeke. "Give them our bags," he said in a quiet voice. "We'll buy more for ourselves." He stooped down beside Rollan and started handing the food out. Rollan gave him a grateful look. Abeke followed suit, as did Maya.

At the sight, the hesitant children suddenly surged forward, their outstretched hands everywhere. Their silence turned into laughter, smiles, and shouts. Abeke couldn't understand what they were saying, but their desperation was obvious enough. She handed out meat buns as quickly as she could, filling the empty hands. Still, more came. She realized that others begging outside the alley had gotten a whiff of what was happening. More crowded in, cutting them off.

"No more," Conor said as he held up an empty bag. But the people didn't see him, or perhaps they were too tired or hungry to notice.

One little boy pointed at the tattoo on Abeke's arm. He glanced back up at her. His eyes grew wide. "Uraza," he whispered.

Abeke shook her head quickly, trying not to draw more attention to them, but the boy had already turned back to the street. "The Four Fallen are here!" he yelled, pointing frantically at Abeke.

The words rippled through the crowd.

"We should get out of here," Conor said.

They started pus.h.i.+ng their way through the alley. The sight of so many hungry faces tugged at Abeke's heart. If they failed in their mission, would the entire world become this? What would happen if the Conquerors won? The thought plagued her as their group finally made it out of the alley and started heading back toward the harbor. Behind them, a steady stream of beggars trailed along, some chanting and cheering.

The Four Fallen are here to save us!

"We've attracted too much attention," Maya said through gritted teeth. They surged on, trying to leave their followers behind. Still, Abeke thought she didn't look like she regretted anything.

The farther they traveled through the streets, the more people flocked in their direction. Abeke didn't think most of them could even tell whom they were cheering for only that there was a commotion, and excitement, and a welcome distraction from the city's misery.

She winced as someone b.u.mped her shoulder hard. They were surrounded by a blur of faces, over which she could see a sliver of the harbor beyond. Too many people. Abeke's heart began to beat faster, and she forced her rising panic down.

Something flashed past her line of sight.

An arrow hit the man closest to Abeke, right in the shoulder, and he screamed. The force of the hit sent him tumbling backward.

Instantly, the crowd broke into chaos.

Abeke dropped her barrel of water. The precious contents sloshed out and spilled all over the ground. Maya dropped down into a crouch.

"Forget the water!" Conor hissed. He grabbed Abeke's wrist and pulled Rollan close, abandoning their remaining barrels.

All around them, people fled in panic, a blur of motion and colors. Abeke could hardly see in the midst of all the flying dust.

Someone had just tried to kill her.

The seagull that had followed them came rus.h.i.+ng back to her thoughts. What if that was a Conqueror's spirit animal? The Conquerors had pa.s.sed through not long ago.

Another arrow came whizzing from nowhere. It hit a nearby woman in the leg.

"Go!" Conor urged, pointing through the ma.s.s of panicking townspeople. He ducked into the thick of the crowd and pulled Abeke after him. The others followed. Screams filled their ears.

"Someone's firing from the roofs!" Rollan called out over his shoulder. He ducked lower. Abeke did the same, so that from the air they were all but invisible in the chaos. Abeke fought the urge to call for Uraza this was no time to have their spirit animals out, drawing even more attention. She gritted her teeth and continued weaving through the people. She thought she saw a glimpse of blood on someone, but the image flashed past her too quickly to get a good look.

All they wanted was a bite of food. How did this get so out of hand?

By the time the four made it back to the port, their a.s.sailants had vanished. They were all panting. Maya rushed ahead to let everyone know that they had arrived. Rollan stopped to lean on his knees.

"Well," he muttered to Conor, "it's nice to know that good deeds are rewarded."

"The Conquerors must be hunting for us," Abeke replied as she leaned against a wooden post, struggling to catch her breath. "I saw a seagull following us. We need to get out of here before they catch up to us again. We don't have much time."

Conor and Rollan nodded silently. They hurried onto the deck of the Tellun's Pride, where Finn and Kalani waited impatiently for them. Kalani rushed over as soon as they were on board. "Are you all okay?" she asked. "We saw the commotion in the streets."

"We're okay," Conor replied, even though his expression didn't look like it.

Finn ushered them belowdecks immediately. Abeke nearly tripped on the ladder's steps in her haste.

Dorian was waiting for them in the hold. As they arrived, he straightened and frowned at them from behind his maps. In the sudden dark, Abeke had nearly mistaken him for Tarik, summoning a fresh pang of grief.

"What happened out there?" he asked. His owl was perched beside him on the table, watching the team with its own sharp gaze.

"The Conquerors attacked us when we ... accidentally drew a crowd," Conor replied. Sweat beaded on his brow. He looked suddenly guilty. The floor beneath their feet was already s.h.i.+fting the Tellun's Pride had just pulled away from the harbor.

"And what were you all doing, to attract such a crowd?"

Rollan's jaw tightened. "We pa.s.sed through a narrow alley with children orphaned from the storms. I stopped to give a girl a meat bun."

Finn shook his head sympathetically. Beside him, Dorian gave them all a stern look.

"Good intentions," Dorian said. "But now's not the time for it."

Rollan rolled his eyes. Already, he looked like he was bristling at Dorian's presence. "Oh, come on. We're all safe and well, aren't we?"

Dorian pressed his lips into a line. "We must lie low, and you're drawing too many eyes." His voice lowered. He looked at Conor, who hung his head. "Remember, the fate of Erdas lies in our hands. We cannot afford to be distracted from our primary mission by small acts of kindness."

Rollan couldn't seem to hold in his irritation anymore. He scowled. "It was my idea, not Conor's," he snapped. "So don't blame him,"

"Very well, then. I'll hold you responsible for putting your companions' and, indeed, all of our lives at stake."

"If we can't even bother to be kind to people in need, then what's the point of saving Erdas?"

Dorian frowned back. "Your actions drew the Conquerors' attention. Is that what you want?"

Rollan's voice grew louder. "Tarik would have been proud of us, if he was still here! But he's not. We just have you, trying to fill his shoes."

Dorian winced visibly at that. It lasted only for an instant before it was replaced with his stern look, but even Rollan seemed to recognize he'd hit a sore spot. He crossed his arms and dropped his gaze.

An awkward silence hung heavily in the air. Abeke searched Dorian's face for that vulnerability she'd seen before, but his eyes were every bit as fierce as his spirit animal's.

Truly, she felt a bit sorry for him. How must it feel to have to step into Tarik's shoes, to be the newest person in a group that had already bonded together over so much? She remembered that feeling well enough.

"Balanhara was our last dock," Dorian said, his voice cold. Clearly their prior conversation was over. "We won't stop again."

He turned his back and headed up the ladder with Finn. But before he left them, he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Tarik and I joined the Greencloaks at the same time," he said. "We trained together. So don't tell me things I already know."

Abeke watched him go. They remained silent for a long moment afterward.

Rollan let out a slow breath. His shoulders hunched. "I know, I know. I shouldn't have said that," he muttered.

Abeke walked over to Rollan and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm glad we helped those children," she said. "Even though it caused a lot of trouble. At least they have full stomachs now."

Maya and Conor nodded their agreement. Rollan still looked unhappy, but his posture relaxed a bit, and he gave his friends a faint smile.

As they headed up to the deck to watch Balanhara fade away on the horizon, Abeke's thoughts wandered back to the seagull that had watched them before the attack.

Perhaps it was a coincidence.

WHEN ROLLAN WENT UP TO THE DECK OF THE TELLUN'S Pride the next morning, the ocean had turned choppy and black. Black.

Not a normal color for the ocean, he thought to himself. He winced at the wind and huddled under his cloak. Everyone else was still asleep belowdecks, except for the few crew members manning the sails. He took a deep breath.

His anger and guilt over what happened yesterday had faded away into a sullen understanding. Dorian was right, of course. Rollan just didn't want to admit it. When he next saw Dorian, he would apologize for what he said.

Essix glided somewhere overhead. Rollan turned his face skyward, searching for her, but all he saw were churning clouds. It seemed like the entire world had been stripped of color. Even the whales pulling the Tellun's Pride forward seemed uneasy, blowing enormous plumes of mist into the air. Rollan grimaced at the ominous water, then squinted out toward the horizon.

It took him a moment to realize that another Greencloak was up on the deck besides himself. Kalani. She saw Rollan approaching and looked away quickly, toward the s.h.i.+p's bow.

"Good morning," Rollan said as he joined her. He glanced at the sky again. "Or not. What are you doing up so early?"

Kalani leaned over the railing, the edges of her mouth turned down.

Rollan sighed. "Look, I know that I'm officially poisonous to your people now, but if we can't even talk to each other on this mission, it's going to get us into trouble."

Kalani's eyes remained focused on the sea's surface, and Rollan realized she was searching for her dolphin in the waters. Maybe she was still weighing whether or not to acknowledge him. When she stayed quiet, he shook his head.

"Fine," he said. "I get it. But, Kalani ... this may be the last journey we ever make together. I don't even know if we'll all come back." His voice lowered. "And if we don't make it back ... do you really want our last days together to be spent like this?"

At that, Kalani's stare finally s.h.i.+fted from the ocean to Rollan. She studied his face. He could see the conflict in her eyes. For a moment, he thought she might keep pus.h.i.+ng back.

But then her shoulders relaxed, and she let out a long breath. Her eyes went back to the sea. "The whales aren't doing well," she said. And despite the severity of her words, Rollan couldn't help exhaling in relief. They were talking again. "I couldn't sleep because I could sense the distress of their underwater calls. So I came up here. Look." She pointed to the quivering ropes latched to the whales. "Their pace has slowed. They're sick. I sent Katoa to check on them."

So the whales were behaving oddly. Rollan didn't like the sound of that at all. If their whales were sick, they wouldn't be able to make it to Stetriol in time. They'd have to dock again somewhere. But they were so close! No other ports lay between here and Stetriol nothing but open ocean. Where would they go?

"We've got to be getting close by now," Rollan muttered. Then he raised his voice. "Hey, Essix!"

A piercing cry answered him, m.u.f.fled by wind and distance. Now he saw her she hovered in a wide circle several hundred yards away from the s.h.i.+p. Her relaxed glide calmed him somewhat.

Between the surprise attack at Balanhara, his argument with Dorian, and now the whales' condition, Rollan could use a moment of calm.

When he looked back at Kalani, he could see tears welling in her eyes. Down in the water, her dolphin surfaced, whistling and clicking for her. She held out her arms and called it back into the dormant state before looking at Rollan.

"The whales," she murmured. "They're ... dying. The waters here are slowly poisoning them."

"Dying?" Rollan said. He hadn't thought it would be as bad as that. The word seemed so final the thought of their faithful rockback whales sacrificing themselves because of this journey hit him hard in the heart.

Kalani nodded. Her voice sounded flat and dead. "We need to cut them loose, if we want to save them. They need to get away from Stetriol to cleaner waters."

Rollan pulled out his long dagger. "Well, if you need a hand in cutting them loose ... I'm in."

Kalani looked at the dagger with a pensive expression. Then she smiled weakly. "Thanks, Rollan. And ... I'm sorry. I know you broke our customs for the good of Erdas, and that seeking Mulop cost you much. As a queen, I suppose I should be willing to do anything to save my people. Even become tapu myself." She sighed. "Let's go tell the captain."

The last word had barely left Kalani's lips when Essix sent up a shrill shriek. The sound penetrated the air like a knife, making Rollan jump.

"Okay," he said, "that didn't sound good." He searched the sky to see what made her give a warning cry. But the surface of the sea was covered with a layer of mist, hiding whatever else might be beyond.

"Hey."

Rollan turned to see Conor emerge from the lower decks. The other boy stopped beside Kalani and squinted first at the ocean, then up to the Greencloak observing the sea from the crow's nest. "What's Essix calling about?"

Rollan shrugged. In the mist, he could hardly make out Essix at all. "No idea."

"Think you can see through Essix's eyes for us?" Kalani asked.

Rollan looked back out at the ocean and concentrated. He felt the familiar experience of the world rus.h.i.+ng at him, and the curious sensation of being airborne, of soaring over the dark water and through the mist. The air smelled sharply of salt and fog, and tiny droplets of water dotted his face.