The Blood Debt Part 12

*Look. There's something.'

He craned past her, sending the wing wobbling from side to side. *Where?'

*There.' She pointed again. *See it?'

Their flight levelled out. He peered into the darkness, squinting but unable at first to make out any detail.

Then, at the very limit of his vision, he saw a light.

*Yes, got it now,' he said. *Any idea what it's coming from?'

*None at all. Want to check it out?'

*Uh -' The night was impenetrable in that direction, the Divide gaped wide, and the cold had seeped into his bones. Only the front of him, where Chu's body gave him protection, retained any heat at all.

He thought of his mother and what it must be like to be in the Divide at night, alone.

*Okay,' he said, *but we're not stopping unless we absolutely have to.'

*G.o.ddess, no. I may be reckless, but I'm not an idiot.'

He searched the sky for an appropriate stream. *Bring us up a bit, then across that way.' He indicated a heading slightly to the right of the light. *There's a nice strong current running through there.'

She glided them along the correct trajectory. He felt the stream grab them and pull them forward. Skender had never been swimming, but he had read about it in books. When writers talked about being swept up in powerful currents, he imagined it would feel something like this, with the pit of his stomach suddenly hollowing and all control wrested from him.

Chu sniffed. *I know this wind. It's called the Dark Bellows; it flows along the Divide from the mountains. Can you smell the trees?'

He took a lungful but could smell nothing but her. *It's good,' he said.

She sniffed again, tilting her head back until it b.u.mped his. *There's something else on the wind. A new stink. Man'kin, I think,' she mused. *They're out late.'

*I can't smell them. Could they be behind the light?'

*No. Look at our heading. The light isn't in the Divide, it's on the far side.'

He peered over his shoulder to get a fix on the city glow - now a less-than-brilliant haze far behind them. Looking forward again, he could see that she was absolutely right. The Divide floor was obviously a very long way beneath them. The light she had spotted was only just below their height.

*Where's the Aad?' he asked, worried they might be heading to Laure's ill-favoured, haunted half.

*To our left, a kilometre or two away.'

*You're sure?'

*Absolutely. The only thing out there,' she said, pointing directly ahead of them, *is dirt and scrub.'

*Not any more.' The light was faint but not an illusion; more yellow than a star and too fine to be a fire. As they flew closer, it resolved into two lights, not just one. They were s.p.a.ced evenly apart and seemed to be moving, rocking from side to side.

*What is that?' she asked. *Some sort of vehicle?'

*That's what it looks like.' Skender pictured a-buggy or truck bouncing across uneven ground with headlights on.

*Could it be your mother?'

He shook his head. *She travelled by camel. And even if she hadn't, how would she get up here?'

*There's an old road cut into the side of the Divide not far from here. It's steep but not impa.s.sable.'

He watched the lights moving nearer, curious about their origin. They probably belonged to an isolated traveller whose presence had nothing to do with him and his mission, but they still piqued his interest. Why would someone be driving so close to the Divide in the middle of the night? Where man'kin, dust devils and ghostlights walked, worse creatures no doubt followed.

They flew directly over the vehicle, too high up to make out any details but close enough to see that it was a buggy large enough for four people. An additional two sets of lights glimmered to the south: more vehicles out on a midnight journey.

Then the wing caught a rising gust from the edge of the Divide and they banked sharply around, losing forward momentum. Skender mentally kicked himself for neglecting his duties as wind-watcher. He reminded himself that staying aloft was much more important than the ident.i.ty of the people in the vehicle below.

*Take us left and down,' he said. *We can pick up speed and head back, if you want.'

*Getting tired?' she asked.

He didn't bother lying. *You better believe it. It's been a long day.'

*And we've got a longer one tomorrow.' She reached over her shoulder to pat his face. *All right. I'll take pity on you. Back we go for a nightcap, then some shut-eye.'

*A quick nightcap,' he said.

*Sure. That seems to be all you can handle.'

She chortled to herself as they glided silently over the buggy, far below.

The Father.

*Humanity is a fearful species. For every fear we know, it is said, there are a dozen monsters who prey on it - and all of them, at some point or other, have called the Divide home.'

THE BOOK OF TOWERS, EXEGESIS 17:7.

S.

hilly stirred in her sleep, dimly aware of the buggy bouncing over rough ground, its engine growling and rhythmic through the seat's thin cushioning. The dream had her in its grip and wouldn't let her go.

She was standing in a wide expanse of yellow sand, a vast basin that seemed perfectly flat at first, but was in fact rising up around her. She felt like a grain of wheat in a vast, empty silo. The sand began moving, shifting and tumbling as though blown by a breeze. The breeze grew steadily stronger, sweeping in circles like the currents of a w.i.l.l.y-w.i.l.l.y. Sand danced higher and higher, then rose in a funnel, getting in her eyes and nose. She felt the ground being sucked out from under her feet, giving her the impression that she was sinking. Blinking and coughing, she crouched down and put her arms over her head.

Then a clear s.p.a.ce opened around her. Thinking the maelstrom of sand had eased, she opened her eyes and peered out between her fingers. She huddled in the calm centre of the whirlwind, surrounded by rushing sand. The funnel extended upwards in a sinuous cylinder, flexing and writhing as it vanished into darkness far above her head. She stood slowly, incrementally, ready to bunch up again if the vortex collapsed.

It didn't. The sand-laden wind hissed at her like a thousand snakes and kept its distance.

When she reached her full height, she realised that she wasn't standing on sand any more. Under her feet was stone as black as the summit of the storm. It felt rough and warm against her soles, fresh from the heart of a volcano. There were three lines carved on it, deep gouges she could have stuck her thumb into, had she a mind to. The lines formed a triangle as wide across as her outstretched arms. She stood in the exact centre.

The eye of the storm widened and the sand retreated with it. More lines appeared, forming interlocking symbols of fiendish complexity. The wind picked up in volume and lightning flashed overhead. Thunder boomed so loudly it hurt. She swung her head from side to side, trying to memorise the pattern hidden under the sand. To her left was a series of spirals that interwove and overlapped to form an eye-bending illusion full of sharp angles and multiple intersections; to her right an infinite variety of rectangles somehow combined to form circles and sweeping curves. She despaired, knowing she couldn't possibly hold all of that in her mind at once. She wasn't Skender. She needed more time!

Time is running out, said a woman's voice. Her own voice, but withered and dry as if from the throat of an ancient crone. Do it now, or not at all.

It's too much.

You have to!

But I can't!

Shilly fully woke with a jerk. The sound of the storm became the sound of the buggy's engine. For a long moment she was disoriented. Rough ground sent her rocking from side to side. The stars were brilliant, barely dimmed by the moon. She stared up at them as she tried to gather herself, the cool air in her eyes evaporating the last shreds of sleep.

Something black and crescent-shaped slid in front of the moon.

She gasped and sat upright, pointing. *What the G.o.ddess is that?'

Sal, behind the wheel of the buggy, slammed on the brakes. *What? Where?'

Shilly stabbed at the sky, following the black shape with difficulty across the starscape. *Up there! Something flying!'

*Where?' Warden Banner climbed onto her knees on the front pa.s.senger seat. Her eyes swept the sky. *I can't see it.'

*There!'

Tom, slumped over on the buggy's rear seat, made a clumsy attempt to sit up. *What?'

The blackness of the sky confounded her. For a moment, she saw it again, silhouetted perfectly against the starscape. Then it disappeared and she couldn't find it.

*A bird?' asked Sal. *An owl, perhaps, or a bat?'

*No,' she said, *its shape was all wrong. Bigger.'

*Are you certain of that?' Banner was looking at her. *Where is it now?'

*I - I don't know,' she said, turning her head in increasing arcs. *It really was there. I swear it.'

But even as she said the words, she realised how they sounded. She slumped back into her seat.

*You were asleep,' the warden said, touching her arm rea.s.suringly. *You were dreaming.'

*I was dreaming, yes, but that was about sand and a voice, or something. But then I woke up and I saw - that.' She gesticulated helplessly. If they hadn't seen it themselves, she would never be able to convince them. In their shoes, she would have thought the same. *h.e.l.l, maybe I did dream it.'

*No,' said Sal. *There is something there.' His eyes were closed; she could feel him searching the sky with senses other than sight. The engine chugged patiently in neutral. *Something ...' He opened his eyes and looked at Shilly, then Banner. *It's going away. I don't know what it was, but I think we should wait here for the others to catch up. Just in case.'

Banner didn't argue. *Whatever you say. How close are we to the Divide now?'

*Very,' said Sal. *We would have had to stop soon anyway.'

*Is it the Homunculus?' Shilly asked, feeling nervous in the empty, cold night.

*I don't know.' He reached diagonally across the buggy to grip her arm. *But I think we're safe. Are you sure you're feeling all right?'

His warm hand and the concern in his voice soothed her somewhat. *I'll be better when this is over and done with. Can you feel Highson nearby?'

Sal shook his head. *Not even faintly.'

*That's either a good sign,' she said, standing up to stretch her legs, *or it's not.' She stuck out her tongue to take the sting off the sarcasm. *If we're stopping, I'm going to find a bush.'

*Don't wander too far,' warned Banner.

*I won't,' she said, thinking with a frisson of fear how awful it would be to take one step in the wrong direction and topple into the Divide. Sal returned her stick with a worried look. Parched pebbles crunched crisply underfoot as she stepped out of the buggy and hurried into the darkness, keeping one eye on the sky as she went.

The headlights of the search party glowed over the southern hills. While they waited for the others to catch up, Tom checked the engine and cha.s.sis to make sure the buggy had weathered the rough journey intact. Sal, feeling restless, unfastened the second headlight and swept its beam across the barren landscape. The light was firm and steady, sending back tiny, gleaming reflections. Chips of quartz, Sal a.s.sumed, or the eyes of desert-dwelling wolf spiders. He walked a short distance away from the buggy, and stopped to take his bearings.

The road they had been following had kinked northeast two kilometres earlier. Rather than head in that direction, they had aimed west for the Divide across country, in accordance with Marmion's instructions. How far they were from reaching the edge of the Divide, Sal didn't know, and he was curious to find out.

No one protested at his leaving the buggy, so he turned and kept walking. Whatever it was Shilly had seen, the last vestiges of it were long gone. He felt completely safe in the darkness with the light to guide him. He kept the beam moving, covering every direction ahead of him. The landscape was blasted and flat. If the Homunculus had somehow gotten in front of them and was lying in wait for him, it was either invisible or coloured exactly like dirt.

He walked in a straight line until the ground ahead of him fell away sharply. He slowed and checked his footing more thoroughly. How steep the drop-off was, he couldn't tell. There was no point taking unnecessary risks. Still, he approached as close as he dared to the edge of the Divide and played the beam of light out into the darkness, imagining that he could see the distant oval it cast on the ground far below. It probably wasn't a good idea, advertising their presence like that, but he was keen to see their destination. As it was, the only thing visible was the faint glowing smudge of Laure, far away, like dawn on a dead land, almost directly north. He thought of blood and the yadachi. Banner's statement that they weren't vampires held little currency in the blackness of night.

*It doesn't seem to worry you,' said the warden from behind him.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, then laughed at the fright she had given him. He had been conscious of what lay ahead and to either side but he hadn't been paying attention to what was behind him.

*G.o.ddess, you startled me.'

*I guess that sets me straight,' she said with a small laugh. *It worries me, too. When I was a girl, my mother used to tell me that the desert mice near the Divide never died. They'd live on and on, jealously guarding their territory, until they were so withered they looked like tumbleweeds. They haunted their territory for eternity, scratching and biting anyone who trespa.s.sed. She said that people couldn't live near the Divide for the sound of the mice clicking their teeth at night and scratching at the door to get in.' She looked around her and shuddered. *I know it's probably nonsense but part of me will always be the little girl she told that story to. It kept me awake in bed every time a branch tapped at the window.'

*And now here we are.'

*Yes. Here I am.'

Sal turned back to the apparently endless gulf before them. The night was silent and still, but somehow he could bear the emptiness of the Divide. There was no echo at all.

*I travelled a lot with my father,' he said, *when we were on the run from the Syndic. We spent most of our time in the borderlands, going from town to town, although we never came this far east. The Divide was always close. Dad told me that it's like a brown snake: if you leave it alone, it won't harm you.'

Banner looked puzzled. *You did this with Highson? I had no idea.'

*Not Highson. The man who raised me as a father.' The man who loved me and taught me, he thought, and who died for me in Fundelry. Remember him?

*Ah, yes, of course.' She nodded. *Dafis Hrvati. I never knew him.'

Sal forced down his acrimony. She didn't deserve it- *Let's go back,' she said as a horn honked behind them.

Sal looked over his shoulder and saw the two Sky Warden buses pull up to the buggy. Their headlights cast long, insectile beams through the dusty air. Sal raised the glowstone in his hand and flashed it at them. He could just make out Shilly in the buggy, waving back.

Marmion was pacing between the two buses when they returned, issuing orders and overseeing the unloading of their materiel from the covered rear trays. Kail stood to one side with his arms folded and eyes closed, as immobile as a statue. Tasting the night, Sal thought.