Lost Empires - Faces Of Deception Part 22

Atreus glanced around at the deepening gloom. Already the light had grown so dim thatthe trees along sh.o.r.e were mere silhouettes. With no moon to brighten the sky, nightwould bring darkness as black as a cave. "How are we going to see?""With our ears," Seema answered. "But now you must tend your wounds and rest.Whatever tomorrow brings, you will need all the strength you can gather."

Atreus washed his mangled flank, pitching the gems from his wounds into the water, but rest proved difficult. As quiet as the river was, it produced an alarming array of gurgles and bubbles. He spent the entire night staring into the inky darkness, expecting to be overturned at any moment by some unseen log orsandbar. Once they actually struck the sh.o.r.e, but the broad-beamed boat was a.s.steady as a barge and simply spun off, then hung idle in an eddy until Seema could collect her bearings. The few rocks they encountered came almost as a relief, as thestones caused such a loud rus.h.i.+ng that it was easy to steer around them.

After many hours of tense darkness, the river seemed to grow slow and quiet Atreusbegan to feel a soft, almost imperceptible thunder in the pit of his stomach, and Seemastarted to row. When he offered to take her place, she only laughed and said she would rather trust her life to her own ears.

The subtle rumbling built to an audible roar, and soon the roar started to reverberateinside Atreus's chest. A series of rhythmic booms echoed up the river, the sound ofhuge waves hurling themselves one after another against the granite walls of theRoaring Gorge. He could almost feel the river gathering itself beneath him, filling him with the water's mad energy. He imagined being drawn down the canyon and suckedinto the cras.h.i.+ng cataracts in utter darkness, being hurled against an unseen cliff andsplas.h.i.+ng into the black water amidst the splinters of their boat, being swept to awatery grave in the unexplored vastness beyond.

Oblivious to Atreus's growing concern, Seema merely continued to row. When the current finally began to draw them onward again, she abruptly changed directionsand worked madly to maneuver upstream into the still shelter of a sh.o.r.e eddy.

"Now we wait," she said. "Sleep, and I will watch for the dawn."

"Sleep may be difficult," Atreus said, settling down in the bow of the boat. "This isn'tthe quietest place in Langdarma, and I've got a lot on my mind."

But the pulsing crash of the Roaring Way proved surprisingly soothing. Atreus soon fell into a deep, rejuvenating sleep, and it seemed only moments later when Seema began to shake him, one hand covering his mouth to keep him from crying out.

"Wake up," she whispered. "Ris.h.i.+ is coming."

Atreus opened his eyes and found himself staring up into a huge willow tree, its drooping boughs silhouetted against the dim gray sky. Beyond the stern of the boat,less than a thousand yards downriver, loomed the soaring black throat of the Roaring Way. It was a narrow cras.h.i.+ng slot of froth and foam, cut straight down the face of thetowering granite cliff that s.h.i.+elded Langdarma from the unknown wilderness.

Seema was looking in the opposite direction, her gaze fixed on something wellupriver. Atreus sat up and turned, then hissed in anguish as he tore open a dozenscabs. His flank was instantly coated in ooze, and his whole body felt achy and hot.Daggers of pain lanced outward from his swollen hip, shooting down his leg into hisfoot and up under his ribs as high as his shoulder.

Seema frowned and said, "Atreus, you are not up to this."

"I'll be fine," he groaned. "I'm a lot bigger than he is."

Seema looked doubtful, and said, "Getting killed for the Seven Gifts would be as badas doing the killing."

"That's not going to happen." Atreus reached into his cloak for the vial of s.h.i.+ning waters, which was still swaddled in its protective rags and said, "As I recall, this can be almost as good as a healing spell."

"What of your quest?" Seema asked. "I doubt an empty vial will please your G.o.ddess."

"Don't let it trouble you," Atreus replied, then looked across the gray waters to thecenter of the river, where a lone boatman, completely oblivious to his hidden audience,was gazing into the throat of the Roaring Way. "I know where to get a refill."

Atreus pulled the vial from its protective swaddling, and his heart sank. Thewater within looked no different from that in the river, save perhaps that it was alittle clearer.

Seema touched his arm. "Atreus, I am so sorry."

Atreus shrugged, forcing himself to swallow his disappointment. "It looks likeRis.h.i.+ was right after all." He uncorked the vial and dumped the water into the river,then looked toward the Mar's boat and said, "I guess I'll have to do this the hard way."

Seema studied him warily, making no move to take the oars. "Do what?" she asked. Atreus winced inwardly, but tried not to show his disappointment. She had everyreason to be suspicious.

"Well, I won't be needing this for it." Atreus tossed the vial into the river, motioned at the oars, and said, "Now, will you start rowing or do I have to do everything myself?"

Seema smiled, took up the oars, and rowed out of their hiding place. Ris.h.i.+ wa.s.so intent on the Roaring Way that he did not notice them until their boat left thesh.o.r.e eddy, and even then he was so astonished that he wasted many valuableseconds standing frozen at his oars. Seema nosed into the main flow and began to row across the current, moving them into a perfect position to cut the Mar offdownstream. Ris.h.i.+ began to row madly, aiming his prow at their midsection.

"He's going to ram us!" Atreus said."He is going to try," Seema sneered. "Stay in front and be ready. Do not worryabout me or the boat."

Atreus crouched on his haunches, bracing himself to jump. Though Ris.h.i.+ was rowing like a galley slave, it seemed to take the Mar's boat forever to close the distance. Atreus glanced downstream. The Roaring Way was less thanseven hundred paces distant, its dark throat growing wider and more ferocious-looking every moment. Whether there would be enough time to recover thefountain was anyone's guess. The nearer they drew to the canyon, the faster the current seemed to flow.

Atreus looked back to find the Mar's boat almost upon them, its sharp prow aimedjust behind Seema's oarlocks. He stood, gathering himself for a long leap.

"Wait," Seema said.

She reversed her downstream oar and began to row in two different directions at once. The craft pivoted on its center, executing a graceful pirouette that brought italongside Ris.h.i.+'s boat so close that Atreus simply stepped across into the bow.

The Mar's eyes grew wide. He dropped his oars and reached for somethingbehind him. Atreus sprang toward the middle of the boat and cursed when his sore hip buckled and left him lurching into the oars. Ris.h.i.+ came up with a hatchet inone hand and the Fountain of Infinite Grace in the other.

"Put the hatchet down!" Atreus demanded, sinking into a defensive stance, ready tododge or block. "The cup, too. I won't hurt you."Ris.h.i.+ looked doubtful. "Indeed," the Mar said. "You will only deprive me of all I have worked so hard for."

The Mar raised the hatchet as though to attack, then turned and leaped into thestern of Seema's boat as it pa.s.sed by. Atreus scrambled after him, but by the timehe had clambered past the rowing thwart, Seema's craft was several pacesupstream. He grabbed the oars and struggled to maneuver after her but could notreverse the boat's momentum quickly enough to prevent the distance from opening even farther. Seema spun her boat around to meet him, but Ris.h.i.+ was on her in aninstant, his hatchet poised to strike if she closed the distance.

Atreus's boat began to tremble with the crash of the Roaring Way. He looked back to find the gorge less than four hundred paces away, its craggy mouth looming dark and wide. The current was picking up speed even fasterthan he had feared.

"You are as stubborn as a water buffalo!" Ris.h.i.+ called. He hefted the platinumcup in his hand. "But there is no reason we cannot strike a bargain. I will give youthe fountain, and you will give me everything else."

"What about Seema?" Atreus asked. He glanced down into the back of his boat and saw the other six Sacred Gifts lying among the Mar's stolen supplies."She must not come to any harm."

"Do not worry about me," she called.

"You said there could be no killing over the Sacred Gifts," Atreus replied. Hepicked up the jade vase and displayed it, praying that Seema would understand he was trying to show her where the other gifts were. "I suppose that applies to you as well."

Seema arched her brow. "I suppose it does," she said.

Ris.h.i.+ smiled in relief and said, "Good."

The Mar nodded to Seema and as she maneuvered their boat toward Atreus's, Ris.h.i.+ called, "I cannot say how pleased I am to discover that you are areasonable man who does not hold grudges for what could not be helped."

"If you're talking about Yago, thank Seema."

The effort of rowing against the current made Atreus weak and feverish, buthe did not slacken his pace. He could feel the power of the Roaring Way coursing through the boat, a constant reminder that every second was carryingthem all that much closer to the canyon of no return.

"She made me promise not to kill you," Atreus added.

Ris.h.i.+'s smug smile vanished. "How unfortunate, then," he said, "that we will not be traveling together."

Seema drew her boat up alongside, and Atreus said, "Just leave the cup with Seema and come over. Everything's here."

"I am begging your pardon, good sir, but I fear that would be most foolish of me." Ris.h.i.+backed toward the stern of his boat. "I will stay in my boat while you come over here,and then when I am safe*"

"Now!"

As Atreus spoke, he raised his oar out of the water and swung it into Ris.h.i.+'s arm. The hatchet fell free and clattered into the bottom of the boat, and Seema hurled herself from between the oarlocks, lunging for the fountain in Ris.h.i.+'s hand.

The Mar pivoted away, at once drawing the cup out of reach and cuffing her behindthe ear. Seema did not even have a chance to cry out; she simply flew over the side and splashed into the water.

Atreus dropped his oars and kneeled, grabbing a handful of long hair and pulling herover to his boat.

"Do not worry about me," Seema sputtered, grabbing hold of the boat. Shethrust a hand behind her, where Ris.h.i.+'s boat was beginning to drift away. The Marhimself was stooping down in the bottom of the craft, no doubt retrieving his dropped hatchet. "The cup... we are almost too late...."

Atreus glanced downstream and saw the gorge rus.h.i.+ng up fast. He could not even guess at the remaining distance. There was nothing ahead but a short stretch ofsh.o.r.e eddy and the dark abyss of the granite canyon. Leaving Seema to pull herselfaboard, he gathered his feet beneath him and hurled himself across the growingdistance between the two boats.

He was still in the air when Ris.h.i.+ came up with the hatchet.

Atreus raised both arms, blocking with one and reaching for the Fountain of Infinite Grace with the other. His hand closed around the cup, but he was sore and feverishand too slow to stop the hatchet. The blade arced over his arm and bit into his back.He bellowed and lashed out, catching Ris.h.i.+ in the chest and sending him tumbling;only then did Atreus realize that he had crashed down on the side of the boat. He was hanging half in the river and half out, huffing like an exhausted carp and clutchingthe fountain in one b.l.o.o.d.y hand.

Ris.h.i.+ appeared in the stern, sitting up and trying to shake his head clear. Atreusheaved himself aboard, nearly capsizing the boat, and turned to Seema. She wa.s.standing at the oars, nosing her craft out of the current into the last little section ofsh.o.r.e eddy. He could feel the thunder of the Roaring Way reverberating behind him, filling his body with the mad energy of wild water and the unknown beyond.

Seema yelled something he lost in the thunder and waved for him to jump, butRis.h.i.+ hurled himself out of the back of the boat. Atreus brought his arm aroundunderhand and sent the platinum chalice arcing toward Seema's boat.

Ris.h.i.+ screamed madly and raised his hatchet. Atreus spun on his aching sore leg and glimpsed the fountain trailing silver water as it dropped into Seema's boat, then brought a foot up for a stomp kick. Ris.h.i.+ flung himself into the air, stretching forAtreus's head. Atreus thrust out his leg and planted his heel square in the Mar's chest. The hatchet flew one way, Ris.h.i.+ the other, and they both disappeared into theriver.

Atreus felt the first gentle cataracts rocking the boat. He dropped into the bottom,leaned over the side, and saw Ris.h.i.+ flailing about in the water. He caught the Mar bythe shoulder and hauled him aboard, then glanced down the canyon. There wasnothing ahead now but walls of white thundering water and the dark, looming gorge.

Atreus shoved Ris.h.i.+ toward the oars and glanced upstream. Seema was standing in her own boat, safe in the calm waters of the sh.o.r.e eddy, looking toward himholding the Fountain of Infinite Grace. She extended her arm and inverted the cup,pouring its silver waters into the river. Atreus's boat pa.s.sed into the mouth of thegorge and the canyon wall loomed up beside him. It was a dark, craggy thing soaringup to the ice-blue sky itself, and Seema vanished from sight. There was no time to wave.

The end