Jade reached the door and swung inside, and Moon retreated back down the passage. He let his breath out in relief and scrubbed his face with the heels of his hands. Time passed excruciatingly slowly, then Jade climbed back inside the passage so suddenly and silently Moon flinched. She drew him further back, and said quietly, “That’s it. It leads to an open hall with several stairwells heading down. There were other openings farther up, but the less time we spend in that shaft the better.”
It was good news, until Jade stumbled and caught Moon’s arm to steady herself. When she pulled away he caught her wrist and said, “On the boat, did you sleep? Don’t lie.”
She bared her teeth and he bared his back. Then she hissed, frustrated. “The sunsailer’s crew was starting to panic and Callumkal needed help. They had to see we weren’t afraid, they had to see—I slept for a little while.”
Moon hesitated. He was trying to think how long that meant Jade had been awake. They had all napped in the boat on the way back from searching for the Fell nest, but that hadn’t exactly been undisturbed rest. She said, “It was a mistake, I should have slept more. There’s nothing I can do about it now,” and pulled away from him.
They followed the passage back to where the others waited. Moon’s mind was racing for a solution, anything to make it easier for Jade. They just couldn’t afford to stop here longer, not so close to the waterlings. I should have made sure she had a chance to rest, he thought, furious at himself. The terrible thought of returning to the colony and his clutch without Jade stopped his breath for a moment. He couldn’t let that happen.
Stone had already told the others about the air shaft and what was in it. While Jade described the climb and the potential way out, Moon crouched down beside Bramble. “Do you still have some food? Jade hasn’t eaten.”
Bramble, far more expert than Moon at reading spines and expressions, went still for a moment, then pulled her pack around to dig through it. “There’s some of that dried seaweed, and Acama on the sunsailer said this bread stuff with the red flakes is supposed to be a stimulant but I don’t think it works on us.”
Jade was saying, “It’s not a long climb, but we’ll need to move fast.”
Rorra leaned forward. “You all can’t fly in that shaft, but I can. I can take you up one by one. It will perhaps be quieter.”
Jade tilted her head in acknowledgment. “We can start climbing, and you can come back for each of us in turn. That should cut down on the time, and the faster we get away from those waterlings, the better.”
Delin frowned in concern. “Will your pack last? The substance within will need to be renewed at some point.”
Rorra shifted around. “Check the levels for me. We weren’t long getting to the junction, so it should still be at least half full. It’s a good thing I didn’t try to use it in the endless corridor, or it would be empty.”
As Delin tugged at various things or peered into parts of the pack, Moon told Jade, “Eat something. Everyone else did.”
Jade grimaced but didn’t argue. She bit into the piece of dried seaweed Moon handed her and said to the others, “Just be quiet, and everything will be fine.”
While Jade was chewing, Bramble turned to the others and said, “Rorra, you’re going to have to take Stone.”
Stone growled in annoyance but didn’t protest. With the passages too small to accommodate his shifted form, it was the best solution. Rorra just nodded. Bramble added, “And I think Jade should go first.”
Thankfully, Jade let Bramble sort out the order everyone should go in. Moon figured as an Arbora she was the one in the group most likely to still be able to think straight. Arbora were stronger than groundlings or sealings and didn’t need nearly as much sleep as the Aeriat. At least, he hoped this was the case. It would be nice to have someone in the group who could still think straight.
Everyone put their lights away in their packs, and they moved quietly up the passage toward the opening. When Jade slipped out into the shaft, Moon felt every nerve in his body tense. Rorra tugged on her pack’s strap, lifted off the floor of the passage a little, and turned to Stone. His voice low, he said, “I’d rather you go out first and then I’ll jump to you.”
Rorra whispered, “Hah, no thank you.” They managed a very awkward embrace and Rorra ducked out into the shaft.
Chime pulled Moon back a little, and whispered, “Is something wrong with Jade?”
“Just tired,” Moon said, with a grim I’ll tell you later look.
Chime winced, said, “Oh,” and didn’t ask anything further.
Bramble, crouched at the opening, motioned for Root to go next, then for Chime to follow him. Moon let out the breath he had been holding when she signaled that Jade had reached the doorway successfully. Rorra came back for Delin, and Song and Briar moved forward for their turn. Below the waterlings murmured in their sleep, and Bramble turned around to Moon and mouthed the words, “This is terrifying.”
Moon nodded. His nerves were so tight he thought his spines were going to snap. Song went next. Rorra returned, and Moon pointed for her to take Bramble. Bramble glared, because her plan had included Moon going with Rorra, but Moon wasn’t going to leave an Arbora in this passage alone, even for a few moments.
Once Rorra and Bramble were moving upward through the shaft, Briar climbed out. Moon waited for her to get far enough away, then started his climb. The air in the shaft was heavy with the acrid scent of the waterlings, far more so than the passage. Moon realized it was their breath, rising in the cool unmoving air, and his spines twitched involuntarily. He concentrated on not letting his claws slip on the pitted rock.
Rorra and Bramble floated up to the opening and Stone reached out to take Bramble, then to pull Rorra inside. Then Song reached the doorway and climbed in. With some way still to go, Briar climbed silently, her pack slung back over her shoulder so it wouldn’t bump the wall. They made it around the curve of the shaft and Briar was almost within reach of the doorway. Moon was about ten paces behind her. Then from below, something groaned.
Moon flinched and froze. It was a low wail that rose in pitch as it rose in volume. It ended in a gasp, and Moon looked up at Briar. There was just enough light to see her wide-eyed expression. Our luck just ran out, Moon thought. He flicked his spines and tail, telling her to keep moving, and Briar resumed her climb, moving with less caution and more speed.
Below, bodies slid over each other as the waterlings stirred. Another groan split the air and it was answered by a chorus of breathy exhalations.
Moon climbed, glancing down. Light glinted on the scaled forms as they stretched and uncurled, their claws clicked on the rock. Above, Briar swung into the opening and then Rorra suddenly dove out. She maneuvered down level with Moon, and he flattened his spines so she could put an arm around his waist. Forcing himself to let go of the wall to grab onto her shoulders took an extra moment of effort he knew they couldn’t afford. His weight made her sink down for a breathless heartbeat, then her pack lifted them both up.
Something seized Moon’s lower leg, a weight dragged them down. Snarling, he looked down to see a waterling clung to the wall just below them. Rorra must be looking down too because the distance-light on her shoulder shone down on the creature. Its upper half was vaguely groundling-shaped, with a blue-scaled torso and an oval eyeless head. The two largest claws, one of which had closed around Moon’s leg, were where a groundling’s arms would be, but more limbs sprouted below them, and the lower body was much wider, extending out to accommodate six clawed segmented limbs. Moon raked the claws of his other foot across the creature’s claw, but they glanced off the hard surface. He growled, “Rorra, let go.”