An hour later the creature collapsed and began to twitch. The twitching became an epileptic thrashing that grew more violent every second.
‘What is it?’ Tiaan whispered. The sight was unnerving.
‘Something has gone wrong with its brain,’ Ryll replied. ‘I’m not sure I can fix it.’ He seemed more uncertain than usual, not a reassuring sign. ‘I don’t understand what the problem is.’
‘Then let it die!’ She prayed that it would, swiftly.
His face and throat went black, then green, then white. Was it anguish, resignation or resolve? Even after all this time she could seldom read his skin-speech.
‘It’s so close,’ he whispered. ‘Seventy years we’ve worked on this project. I know I can do it! Surely one more day will be enough.’ His forehead blushed red and he seemed to make up his mind. ‘Make the aura again. I have an idea.’
They went back to work, Ryll flesh-shaping the creature’s brain, working in ways she could never understand, while she poured power into the aura around the cage.
He began to look haggard and baggy again. ‘I need more, Tiaan,’ he said in a cracked whisper.
‘I can’t safely give you more.’
‘Then do it unsafely! I’m nearly there. I can’t stop now.’ There was a reckless gleam in his eyes.
Her head was burning, a bad sign. ‘I’m afraid.’
‘I’ll protect you. Do it!’
How could anyone protect her from what she was afraid of? There was no protection. Setting the helm more tightly on her head, Tiaan tuned the amplimet to the looping fields surrounding the spire.
There was a barrier beyond which she dared not cross. Tiaan could feel the energy there, unlimited amounts of it, a great, worldwide field intersecting with smaller fields surrounding the spire. How to draw from it without taking too much?
As she considered what to do, Ryll let out a chicken-like squawk and crashed to the floor, where he began to twitch. This turned into a violent, uncoordinated thrashing. Had he driven himself over the edge, or had the creature taken over his mind? Should she stop, or keep going? What if she was just feeding power to the animal? Surely Ryll could stand more than it could. But could she?
Sensing out a minor loop of the field, she tapped it and a flood of power surged into her. Too much. Her head felt boiling hot; she grew faint and had to hold herself up with her arms.
Then, ever so slowly, a block began to dissolve, like a rock-salt door in the path of a flood. It softened, pinholed in the middle, and the current tore through it.
‘Yes!’ Ryll roared, kicked both legs in the air and lay still.
The creature screamed, the sound reminding Tiaan of a woman who had gone insane in the breeding factory. The little beast convulsed and tried to tear the spikes off its tail. Colours chased themselves across it.
Tiaan pulled off the helm. The flow of power ceased. She wobbled across to Ryll, thinking him dead. Strangely, that bothered her. They had been together for over three months, and in spite of everything, she liked him.
His lips had coloured an oily green, the rest of his skin fading to grey. He was breathing. She sat by him, wondering if she should run for help. He did not look unconscious; more like asleep. The creature lay on its back, legs spread like a dead cat, though it was also breathing.
Was this her chance? She staggered to the door. It was locked and her fingers weren’t strong enough to work the fingerlock. She pounded on the door but it made little sound on the solid metal.
Tiaan went back to the bench. Ryll and the creature lay as before. There was nothing she could do. Taking up the globe, she saw that it was bent out of shape. Tiaan got out her toolkit and began to reconstruct it. The time passed quickly. It was good to be working with her hands again. She had not realised how much she’d missed that. When the job was done she lay on the floor and dozed.
It was early morning when she woke and went to check on Ryll. He opened his eyes, giving her a warped smile. ‘You saved my life!’ His voice was a cracked rasp.
‘A life for a life,’ she replied more boldly than she felt. ‘I hope you remember that.’
‘I will.’
He looked across at the cage. Lyrinx smiles were always disturbing but this one showed more tooth than most. ‘I believe we’ve done it, Tiaan.’
She did not respond.
‘The snizlet and rrhyzzik have melded into one.’
The backs of her hands prickled. ‘I only did it to save you; and myself,’ she muttered.
‘Look at the little beast. I don’t know what you did, but it’s worked. It may even grow to full size.’
She prayed that it would not. He trudged to the cage, but had to prop himself up on the bench. The creature was up on its back legs, gripping the bars. Its snout was cocked to one side as if listening. It was bigger than before, and leaner.
‘I’m going to call it nylatl,’ said Ryll. Reaching for the meat bowl he dug a hole in a piece of meat with one claw, pressed in a pellet the size of a grain of wheat and tossed the meat through the bars.
The nylatl stared at the food, turned it over and over on the floor and sniffed it carefully. Only then did it bolt the morsel in a single gulp.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Tiaan, keeping well back.
He held up his hand, watching the nylatl intently. After taking two steps the legs on its left side collapsed. It fell down; its eyes closed. Ryll prodded it with a piece of metal. It did not move.
He whipped off the cage, punched six tiny circles of flesh from the back of the creature and popped them in a jar of fluid. Ryll dug ointment from a jar with his fingers but, reaching over to put it on the wounds, he stopped, looking shaky. Resting both forearms on the bench, he said, ‘Ah, I ache all over.’
A sharp pain cleaved through Tiaan’s head. She lost vision for a second and in that darkness smelled the nylatl, a hot odour like slightly-off meat.
Hurt!
As her vision came back, the nylatl kicked one leg, flipped upside down and sank its claws into Ryll’s arm.
Hate!
Before he could grab the creature it shot into the air and landed on his head. The back claws dug into his neck, seeking the joins between his skin plates. The claws of its front legs carved furrows across Ryll’s long brow, going for the eye-sockets.
Ryll flung an arm across his eyes. The other hand flashed back, trying to rip the nylatl off his head. One of its poisoned spines penetrated his palm. Roaring in agony, Ryll snatched his hand away. Clear venom dripped from the spine. He tried again but the fearsome mouth took a piece out of his hand at the base of the thumb.
Hungry!
She watched, open-mouthed. Ryll tried to prise the creature off with an iron bar. It dug its front claws into his brow ridges and the rear ones into his neck, pulling its segmented body down over his skull like a cap. Venom began to seep from the down-pointing spines. Already Ryll looked disoriented. Soon those spines would plunge into his skull and inject their poison. Ryll would be dead and it would start on her.
Brains! Ahhhh!
Perhaps it was a paralysing venom and the creature would tear Ryll’s head open and eat the contents while he was still alive. She watched helplessly as the nylatl tightened its grip.
FORTY-F IVE
Tiaan ran to the locked door, screaming ‘Help!’ so hard that it hurt her throat. She pounded on the metal. There came no response. No sound could penetrate the thickness of iron. What could she do? It was whispering in her mind, the same thing over and over.
Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!
Ryll had managed, by reaching behind his head, to catch hold of the back of the creature where he could avoid the spines, though his arm was at such an awkward angle that he could not tear the nylatl off. He dared not use his other arm lest the beast gouge his eyes out.