They were with her in an amazingly short time, combing the wreckage-strewn waters to find what she sought. One of them was soon beside her, his immense bulk dwarfing her as she swam. She recognized his thought patterns as those of the father of the whale-cfeikl she had saved. His deep, kindly voice echoed in her mind. “I have the man. My mate seeks the other. Can you climb onto my back, Little One? The man needs help.”
Aurian thanked him and headed for the surface, where the whale rested with his broad back just out of the water. The Mage scrambled up with some difficulty, hoping that she wouldn’t hurt him. She only had time for an instant’s surprise at the warmth of his sleek skin beneath her hands, before she found herself gasping and choking, unable to breathe. She was drowning—drowning in air!
This time Aurian did not lose consciousness, though the panic-filled moments while her lungs adjusted seemed to last a lifetime. She tried to stay aware of what was happening, knowing that someday the knowledge might stand her in good stead. “Have you considered the implications of this thing?” The words she had once said to Finbarr came back with startling clarity as she choked and wheezed.
Aurian looked around dazedly. She felt cold and exhausted, but was relieved to be breathing normally once more. She lay on the whale’s broad, barnacle-encrusted back, rocking gently with a sea that was already growing calm. And there was Anvar, lying limp and motionless a few feet away. Balancing carefully, she crawled over to his side. He felt cold—very cold—and he was not breathing. A chill passed through Aurian. Was she too late?
The Mage tried to reach out with her HeaVer’s senses—and found, to her horror, that she could not. Cold and exhaustion had taken their toll, arid she had thrown every shred of her power into her attack on Miathan. The effort of contacting the Leviathan had completed the drain. Aurian cursed, hammering a fist into her thigh in frustration. Now, at the time of her greatest need, her body had betrayed her! Until food and rest had restored her, she would be unable to summon the intense energies used in Healing.
Fighting panic, Aurian racked her brains. Surely there wa an alternative? Remembering Meiriel’s instructions for such an emergency, she turned Anvar over and pressed hard and repeatedly on his back. Water trickled from his mouth, but he did not breathe. Aurian pushed harder, the exertion warming her despite the icy wind. “Breathe, blast you!” She was tiring quickly; cold sweat trickled down her face.
At last, as Aurian was on the verge of despair, Anvar’s chest heaved once, then again. He coughed and retched, spitting out seawater and taking great, gasping breaths. His eyes stared wide at the calming sea and the vast, curving back of the whale. He struggled in the Mage’s arms and tried to speak, but could only splutter and choke.
“Steady, Anvar—you’ll be better soon.” With sympathy, Aurian remembered her own terrifying struggle on the whale’s back, before her lungs had adapted back to breathing air. “Rest for a minute, and get your breath back while I tell you what happened. The whales, Anvar—they aren’t just beasts, they’re intelligent. I can talk to them, in my mind, and this one saved your life . . .” As she was explaining her part in his rescue, Anvar interrupted her.
“Sara?” he asked, in a faint, hoarse voice.
Aurian shook her head. “I don’t know, Anvar. Wait, and I’ll—”
“Why didn’t they save her?” Harsh and accusing, his voice cut across her own. “Did you ask them to try?”
Aurian recoiled in indignant rage. Why, the miserable, ungrateful— He had no thought of how close she had come to losing her own life, or thanks for saving his! For an instant her mind went back to that dreadful night on the river, when she had lashed out at him in her grief over Forral. Maybe Anvar was doing the same thing—but no. He had called her a murderess, and the memory still burned. Goaded beyond bearing by this new proof of his lack of trust in her^he could only react with anger. That does it, she thought. When we get to land, I’m finished with him!
“Anger, Little One?” The whale’s warm tones echoed chid-ingly through her mind.
“The other member of our party has been lost, Mighty One,” Aurian explained. “The man blames me.”
“He blames you?” Wry humor bubbled beneath the thoughts of the giant. “He must think a great deal of you, to believe you capable of shouldering such awesome responsibilities!”
Aurian, once she was over her surprise at the notion, was quick to deny it. “I fear not, Mighty One. Where I am concerned, his mind seems filled with doubt.”
The Leviathan laughed. “Little One, when we doubt our own selves greatly, we often find it more comfortable to transfer that doubt to another. The man will learn, in time. As for his lost friend, you may tell him to put aside his fears. My sister has her safe, and she will reach land before we will. For this, he has you to thank.”
As Aurian had expected, Anvar’s face lit up at the tidings. But when he reached out in an excess of joy to hug her, she moved angrily away from him. “Stay away from me!” she snapped. “You’ve already made it clear what you really think of me. Once we reach land, you and that selfish little featherhead are on your own—and I wish you joy of her, Anvar, for one day she’ll betray you as she’s already betrayed poor Vannor!”
Anvar’s face darkened. “How dare you talk about Sara like that!” he shouted. “You’ve been unfair to her from the start. You have no idea what she’s suffered—”
“No, and I couldn’t care less! I can see what she’s become, and that’s enough for me. She’ll use you, you fool, and drop you as soon as it’s expedient—but at least I won’t be around to see it this time. I’m finished with both of you, and I hope I never see you again!”
Furious as she was, the expression on Anvar’s face gave Aurian pause. She had never seen him look so angry. “That suits me!” he retorted hotly. “I noticed that you had no objections to using me over the last year or so. Well, let me tell you this, Lady—I’m done with slaving for the bloody Magefolk. After today, Sara and I will make our own way in the world— without your interference”
At this point the whale intervened, saying that the anger emanating from their minds was causing him great distress. Aurian, instantly contrite, apologized to the massive creature. She moved as far away from Anvar as the Leviathan’s broad back would permit, and for the first time in days, settled herself for a good sleep. Surprisingly, it was long in coming. She had lost Forral’s thick cloak in the shipwreck, and her wet clothes clunj; to her like a sheath of ice. The Mage gave in to a passing wish that she could curl up with Anvar, so that at least they could share what paltry heat remained to them. A surreptitious glance showed him huddled tight in his own lonely place, visibh shivering, but refusing to make a move toward her. Well, I’m not going to ask him! Aurian thought. If he wants to get warm, have to come over here. So she stayed where she was, with nothing to sustain her but empty, stubborn Magefolk pride, until finally her exhaustion claimed her.
Dawn found them approaching land. The sky had cleared to the palest blue. The sea was flat calm, and the air surprisingly warm. Aurian awakened, bleary-eyed and unrested, to see a beach of fine silvery sand broken by clumps of jagged rock. A lush, dense strip of unfamiliar forest lay behind it, and beyond that towered cliffs of convoluted gray stone that soared to a staggering height. The silky, perfumed air was alive with the shrill calls of unknown creatures beneath the forest canopy. Shock ran through Aurian. This was no northern shore! The violent storm had blown them right to the fabled Southern Lands!