She thumped him with a fist. His big hand went across her nose, mouth and two-thirds of her face, and then she could not have breathed if she had wanted to. She tore at his hands but he did not let go. She was suffocating; panic was overwhelming her; they were tossed upside-down and jerked in three different directions. Then, when she was blacking out, he drove them up to the surface and she felt blessed air on her face.
The hand pulled away. Tali sucked in air so full of spray that it was half water, breathed it out just for the joy of being able to, and took another gulp. The waterfall was pouring down on her head and she could not see a thing. It would have driven her under had Rix not been holding her.
Then they were moving, Rix dragging them out of the flow. The hammering on her head faded. She opened her eyes and they were in a broad, deep pool carved out by the waterfall. He kicked towards the edge, a sandy shore, and dropped her onto solid ground.
Tali concentrated on breathing, in, out, in, out. A minute passed before she realised that she was alone. Where had he gone? He was out in the middle of the pool, diving, disappearing. Tali climbed to her knees. Why wasn’t he coming up?
Her breath caught in her throat. What if he had drowned? The Cythonians would be here before long and she could not bear to go through that again. Better to cast herself into the pool, holding a rock, and sink to the bottom.
Don’t be stupid. You’re not a helpless slave now. You’re the last of the ancient line of House vi Torgrist. You have a duty to perform and you will do it, or die trying. You will never give up.
Rix bobbed to the surface, floating on his back, head towards her, arms and legs spread, prone upon the flood. Had he drowned? A few minutes ago he had exploded out of the water with her, a physical force that had overcome even the power of the river, but now he was limp as wet rags. One crooked arm held Tobry up in a headlock — or was it Tobry’s body? — but Rix’s eyes were closed.
Tali waded out as far as she could go, but from there the bottom sloped steeply and she felt sand slipping beneath her feet. She scrambled back, thrashing with her arms. How could she get them out?
A nest of tangled branches was wedged between the trees to her left, carried down by a flood. She heaved one out, snapped off the side branches to stubs and ran back. Wading in as far as she dared, Tali hooked a stub end into the belt of Rix’s kilt, and pulled gently. The kilt pulled up then slipped free.
She reached further down, caught something and jerked.
‘Aaarrgh!’ Rix roared. He convulsed and his head went under.
She panicked. Get him out, quick, before he drowns. She heaved on the branch with all her strength.
He let out a bellow that echoed off the rock walls, even louder than the waterfall. ‘What the hell are you doing? Let go.’
She kept dragging him backwards, and Tobry with him, still in the headlock, until Rix grounded on the shore. Tobry was not moving. She pulled Rix’s hooked arm away from Tobry’s neck, dug her toes into the sand and dragged him up the beach.
Rix groaned, rolled over, gasping and clutching at himself under the kilt, and only then did Tali realise where the branch had caught him.
Oh dear, she thought, flushing.
Tobry was barely breathing. She turned him onto his side and drove her knee into his diaphragm, imitating the way he had pressed the water out of her. None came out. She opened his shirt and put her ear to his chest, which was bruised and scratched where he must have hit the rocks, and red from healing cuts made days ago. She could not hear any gurgling, just his fluttering heartbeat.
She was about to drive her knee into his belly again when his eyes opened and he took a deeper, more reassuring breath. He was all right! She rolled him onto his back. His chest had a number of thin white scars across it, healed wounds, and some went perilously close to the heart.
‘Is Rix — ?’ he whispered.
‘He’s alive, but — ’ She bit her lip.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘I was hooking him out with a branch but … er, it caught on something under his kilt. I’m afraid I’ve hurt him.’
‘It caught on something under his kilt?’
‘I’m afraid so. He seems quite upset about it.’
Tobry made a muffled noise in his throat, looked at Rix, who was still writhing, and chuckled. ‘Serves the sod right.’
‘He’s in pain,’ said Tali, shocked at his callousness.
‘But hilarious pain,’ Tobry hooted.
‘What if I’ve damaged him?’ She knew men were sensitive down there.
His laughter echoed off the cliff face.
‘He just saved your life,’ snapped Tali.
‘And in ten years’ time I’ll still be getting free drinks to tell this story.’
CHAPTER 52
‘They’re only minutes away,’ called Tali from her vantage point up a tall tree.
‘Come down, Tali,’ said Rix.
‘Can’t go back in the water,’ said Tobry. ‘Another ride like that one will finish me.’
‘Besides,’ Rix added, ‘we’d end up in Lake Fumerous and the last waterfall has a thousand-foot drop. We’ll swim the pool and head overland.’
Rix towed Tali across but she saw no animal power in him now, just a bone-creaking weariness. Tobry was even slower. The hundred and fifty yards across the pool took him minutes and with every laboured stroke she was afraid he would fail and sink. She looked upstream, expecting to see grey heads beside the waterfall. Tobry reached the shore and Rix dragged him out.
‘How do we get back to Rannilt?’ said Rix. ‘You know this country better than I do.’
‘Map’s lost.’ Tobry checked the angle of the sun and pointed to the right. ‘This way. I think.’
Rix squeezed Tali’s shoulder, the way an old friend might have done. ‘You did well.’
‘Thank you,’ said Tali, disconcerted by the change in him. But then, they had been through a year’s worth of adventures today. ‘Are you sure Rannilt’s all right?’
Rix and Tobry exchanged glances. For a few seconds, Tobry’s eyes went black.
‘We’ve led the enemy away from her …’ said Rix.
‘What is it?’ said Tali.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ Rix said slowly. ‘But … Rannilt kept talking about something that comes out of the dark. Shadow and shape, shiftin’, always shiftin’, she said. But kids are afraid of the dark. It’s probably nothing.’
Frosty fingers scraped down Tali’s back. ‘She told me about it, too.’
‘Do you think it’s real?’ Tobry’s voice crackled like ice.
‘Yes, I do.’
‘And it’s hunting her?’
Tali’s chest was tight. She pushed the words out. ‘ Me! It’s using her to get to me.’
There was a long silence. ‘We’d better split up,’ said Rix. ‘Tobe, take Tali and head for Caulderon. I’ll go after Rannilt.’
‘If you think I’m running away — ’ began Tali.
‘I’m with Rix on this,’ said Tobry. ‘If you’re right, it wants you to come after Rannilt. It’s luring you in.’
‘Do you think I don’t know that?’ snapped Tali, for she was desperately afraid. ‘She saved my life and I’m going after her. I’m not debating the matter.’
‘This way,’ said Tobry, turning left.
Away from the incised channel of the river, the barren plain was unnaturally warm and dotted with sinkholes and fuming pits. The soil was a rusty orange, scattered with round black pebbles the size of marbles that rolled beneath them and hurt Tali’s feet through Mijl’s thin sandals. In the distance, the Brown Vomit fumed and roared. Red lava was trickling over the rim, though it quickly congealed.
‘Eruption’s getting worse,’ said Tobry laconically.
‘Does lava ever flow this far?’ said Tali.