“Will they act on it straight away?” said Holm. “Or wait until morning?”
“I don’t know. I can’t think.”
“It must take an hour or two to get ready, surely? Four hours, say, before the Pale start to die. Can we do it in time?”
Tali ran through her mental map. “If we can get in, and we’re not discovered, and everything goes well, we can reach the Pale in an hour and a half. But to get them out, first I’ve got to convince them to rebel.”
“Surely they’ll want to escape,” said Tobry, speaking for the first time.
“They’re not like me. In Cython, any slaves who cause trouble, or show initiative, are sent to the heatstone mines to die. For a thousand years the fate of the brave and the bold has been an unpleasant death, and every Pale knows that the only way to survive is to be docile and obedient. Getting them to rebel won’t be easy.”
“But when you tell them about the death order — ” said Holm.
“What if they refuse to listen?”
“We’d better get moving,” said Tobry. He took hold of the ropes and went over the edge.
Because of the underground heat, even a cold winter was mild in the Seethings, and once they were fifty feet down the air shaft Tali was sweating as profusely as Tobry. He was twitchy, looking behind him all the time now. Holm seemed unnaturally calm but it was all an act. She knew he was terrified.
He was a far better actor than she was.
Though Holm had spliced loops into the rope every two feet, climbing down it was tricky and dangerous. Once they passed below the level of the hill, the hard volcanic rock gave way to layers of welded ash, some crumbling. The wall of the shaft was covered in slimy growths and the air had a dead reek.
“Smells like something fell in here long ago and is quietly rotting at the bottom,” said Tali, who had her feet in one loop and was hanging onto another.
“I imagine many animals have fallen in and drowned since the air shaft was last used,” said Holm. “And perhaps one or two unwary people.”
And soon, us?
They settled into the black water. A shudder rose up Tali’s back.
“At least it’s warm,” said Tobry, holding up his elbrot to provide an eerie emerald light. “Hope you’ve remembered your swimming lessons, Tali.”
He forced a smile but Tali could not reciprocate. I — can’t — do — it.
Holm counted the loops. “We’re a hundred and eighty feet below the level of the Seethings. That means the water could be a hundred feet deep…”
“That’s a hell of a dive,” said Tobry, gnawing on a thumb. “I’m not sure the spell is up to it.”
“Then fix the damn thing,” snapped Holm, his voice cracking.
Tobry made a few adjustments, using his elbrot. “All right.” He tapped Tali on the head with it, then Holm and lastly himself.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, then Tali’s lungs spasmed and she began to choke. “Can’t breathe,” she gasped.
“Get-under-water,” said Tobry.
Holm, his eyes protruding, slid beneath the surface. Tobry dropped off the rope. Tali didn’t move. She was too afraid of the black water. She clung to the loop, wanting to scream but lacking the breath to do so. It was getting worse. Her head was spinning, her fingers slipping -
Someone clamped onto her left ankle and yanked. She hit the water with a stinging splash and sank, thrashing wildly. There came a cold pain in her chest, a sharp ache that spread through her along a thousand little branches, and she could breathe again. She could breathe — underwater!
Her terror faded as a light appeared below her, Tobry’s elbrot, now glowing orange. He pulled her down to his level. Holm was a few feet below them, his eyes bulging more than before and his jaw clenched. He jerked a finger at the side of the shaft, where a rock layer had crumbled away. The rock above and below looked none too secure either.
Don’t show me anything else, she thought. If that’s how we’re going to die, I don’t want to know.
Down they went. Down, down. She could not tell how deep; the shaft felt as though it was running all the way to the centre of the world. Down, down, down. The water grew warmer, and murkier. She lost sight of Tobry and Holm. Tali thrashed a couple of times, overcome by a momentary panic, then calmed herself by an effort of will. They had to be close by; there was nowhere else they could be. She settled on crumbling, silt-covered stone and they appeared on either side.
Tobry forced more orange light from his elbrot but it did not help. They had stirred up the silt and the water was cloudy, visibility only a foot. He began to feel along the rock, looking for a way through. Tali and Holm did the same. It did not take them long. Crumbling rock covered the bottom of the shaft to an unknown depth. There was no way through.
Tali perched on the pile, head in hands. What now? Even with the loops in the rope, it would be a struggle to climb all the way back up. Tobry was creeping around the oval wall of the shaft. Every so often she caught a glimpse of him through the increasingly murky water.
He caught her arm from behind. He was pointing to the wall. She pulled herself across. A smaller air shaft led off horizontally, its entrance only partly blocked. Tali was helping to heave the rubble aside when another pain passed through her chest and for a second she felt breathless, stifled. Was Tobry’s spell wearing off too soon?
She caught his arm, urgently pointing to her chest. He nodded. He’d felt it too. What do I do? she mimed.
He raised his hands, palms up. He didn’t know either.
She gestured to the elbrot. Re-do the spell.
I can’t.
Had the overdose of potion affected his ability to work magery? His chest heaved and he whipped around, staring behind him again. His eyes were wild, his mouth gaping. Was the shifter madness coming?
Holm hurled the last rock aside. Tobry wriggled into the horizontal shaft, his broad shoulders touching the sides, and held the elbrot out to light the way. The water was clearer here; she could see for yards. She followed, expecting the shaft to turn upwards, but it kept going, and going.
And going.
The breathless feeling was growing by the minute, draining the energy from her. She could not last much longer. Neither could Holm, who still wore that stricken look. Tobry, help! Do something.
She could not reach him. He was too far ahead and going faster than she could.
Then his light disappeared.
Behind her, Holm let out a frenzied cry that was throttled by the water. Tali reached back, caught his hand and gave it a jerk. Her head struck rock. She groped all around, discovered that the shaft took an upwards bend, and kicked upwards. The orange light of the elbrot was dwindling above them as Tobry raced for the surface. Tali struggled after him, lungs heaving, breath gone. She had nothing left.
She ran out of steam twenty feet from the surface. Her muscles stopped working, as though her last air had been diverted to her brain. For what? She wasn’t capable of thought, much less of some magery that could save them…
CHAPTER 88
Holm was drifting up past her, unmoving, when Tobry came spearing down. He caught her hand with his, and the back of Holm’s belt with the other hand, and with mighty kicks drove them to the surface.
Tali turned onto her back and floated there, staring up at the dark roof and gasping as she dragged the unfamiliar air into her lungs. It hurt. It hurt dreadfully. She was drifting in a circle when she realised that her fear of the water was gone. She rolled over, pushed her arms forward and out, the way Tobry had tried so hard to teach her — and it worked. She was breathing and swimming at the same time!
The elbrot’s light reflected off distant stone walls, and along to a heavy iron grating that ran from stone ceiling to stone floor. They had emerged in the pondages, and they were locked.