He started to object, but she silenced him by lifting her hand to his face. “I spoke privately with Mirai on that first day after I decided to leave her behind. I gave her one of two coins. If I require help, I need only break my coin in half; her coin will shatter, as well, and she will know to fly the Walker Boh to me. The coin will show her the way. She knows she can get word to me in the same way, by breaking her coin in half, should help be needed. As soon as we return from exploring the waterfall, I will summon Mirai and have Railing flown out along with Farshaun and the Speakman. He will be safe then. But the rest of us might not be if you don’t agree to stay here with us.”
She could tell he was unhappy with this, but again she had no choice. She couldn’t risk losing both of them when she was so close to her goal. He must be made to understand this.
Apparently, he did. He nodded reluctantly. “I’ll come. I just want to be sure Railing is safe.”
“You have my word,” she told him.
But she could tell from the look on his face he wasn’t convinced.
Thirty minutes later the diminished expedition set out for the waterfall with Skint leading the way. Redden glanced back once at his brother, who was still unconscious. He hadn’t tried to wake him, thinking it better not to. Perhaps he would be back before Railing woke. Farshaun had agreed to make sure his brother was kept safe. Knowing Railing was with Farshaun made all the difference. Redden didn’t think he could have left his brother otherwise.
Even so, he felt uneasy about separating from him. First it was Mirai, now Railing. They had come on this journey as a team, friends and more, promising to watch out for one another. It was one thing to become separated from Mirai, but Railing? He found himself contemplating what it meant not to have his twin with him. Redden might be the one who was most likely to take the lead, but they were always together. He was going to have to work hard to remind himself that his brother wasn’t there.
He wasn’t sure how he would handle that.
I won’t be gone that long, Redden promised himself. This won’t take more than an hour or two.
The company reached the beginning of the woods and followed Skint into the trees. Now Redden had a clearer view of the cliffs and could see how the peaks were jammed together in a series of jagged spikes very likely formed by a cataclysmic upheaval in the distant past. The cliffs appeared to form an impassable wall, an impression that became more of a certainty as they exited the woods and found themselves at their base.
Skint pointed. “Over there. I wouldn’t have seen it at all if I hadn’t been searching for wood to make the boy’s splints and caught a glimpse of its reflection.”
Redden looked, but didn’t see anything.
But Skint was already moving away with Khyber Elessedil right on his heels, leading the company around a cluster of boulders to where a narrow split opened into the rugged face of one of the larger cliffs, a shadowed opening that caught just enough of the misty light filtering down from the heavily overcast sky to illuminate a shimmering ribbon wedged within the rock. Redden squinted, trying to decide what he was looking at. The ribbon had the look of a waterfall, and yet it didn’t seem as if that was what it was. Everyone studied it for a few minutes, but no one was able to decide.
Redden moved a few steps closer, up to where the Ard Rhys was standing with Skint and Garroneck.
“I still can’t make out what that is,” the Gnome was saying.
“Nor I,” she answered him.
“I don’t like this, Mistress,” the big Troll rumbled. “It doesn’t feel right.”
Redden didn’t like it, either. He glanced around at the others, and on most faces found a mix of uneasiness and uncertainty.
“Let’s have a closer look,” the Ard Rhys announced.
The members of the company moved forward with Pleysia and Oriantha bringing up the rear, watching over their shoulders for anything that might be coming up on them from behind. The advance was stealthy and cautious, and no one spoke as they neared the shimmer. Shadows closed about them, cast by the high walls of the split. A peculiar positioning of the shimmer within the wedge allowed sunlight to play over it even when it seemed to reach no other place within the gloom. Redden tried to fathom how this was possible but failed to find an answer.
Khyber walked right up to the glittering light with Skint and Garroneck close behind. It was clear by then, even to Redden who was near the back of those assembled, that the shimmer was not water but light that gave the appearance of water. The Ard Rhys motioned for everyone to stay back as she studied the light, then probed it with magic conjured through a series of intricate hand movements.
When she had finished her examination and was apparently satisfied with what she had discovered, she looked back at her followers and said, “Magic made this, but I can’t identify its source. It doesn’t appear to be harmful, but I will have to test it to be certain. Everyone will wait here while I do.”
When Garroneck muttered what must have been an objection, she added. “Yes, that includes you.”
Without hesitating, she stepped into the shimmer and disappeared.
The wait for her return went on for long minutes. Twice, Garroneck started for the light, and twice Carrick caught his arm and shook his head firmly. No one knew what the light would do to anyone entering. It might not even take those entering to the same place. Redden tried to see what lay on the other side, but he could only make out rock walls and clustered shadows.
The reappearance of the Ard Rhys was both sudden and startling. She emerged from the shimmer all at once, her black cloak wrapped close.
The members of the company immediately crowded close to hear what she had to say.
“The light opens into a tunnel,” she told them. “The tunnel winds through rock walls I could not see, but could feel when I stretched out my arms. The tunnel ends at a second shimmer—like this one but much darker and more resistant when I passed through it. On the other side is country similar to what we have here—bleak and empty and gray. I took time to look around and see if anything dangerous waited, but nothing showed itself. Nothing threatened me while I was in the tunnel, either. I think we should go through now and have a look around and then decide if we want to make camp there rather than here. I’ve tagged the opening so that we can find our way back.”
This time there was heated discussion. A handful of those in the company, chief among them Garroneck, thought it would be better to stay where they were until morning and then send a small party back through the tunnel for a closer look around. Most of the others wanted to continue now rather than wait.
Redden kept silent, even though he believed they should rethink the whole business. He didn’t like what he was feeling, and his instincts were seldom wrong when it came to making choices like this one. He wondered if anyone else was feeling this way besides the handful who had already spoken. He glanced from face to face.
To his surprise, he found Oriantha watching him. She gave him a brief nod. She knew what he was looking for.
Before he could decide whether to approach her, Khyber Elessedil announced that they were going into the tunnel, all of them save for Skint, who would take Khyber’s coin and return to let the others know what was happening. If they weren’t back by nightfall, Seersha was to use the coin to summon Mirai and the Walker Boh. Railing, Farshaun, and the Speakman would be flown back out immediately, and Seersha and Skint would wait for the company’s return. Skint objected heatedly to being chosen, pointing out that he was the one best equipped to act as guide for the company. But his arguments did not change Khyber’s mind, so off he went, trudging back down the defile.