Guiding (3 page)

“What did you learn from the archway?” Teyha munched quietly.

Ekinar stretched, and she watched his shadows flex and twist around him. He was back to being hidden, and she couldn’t stifle a sigh. He was so pretty when her senses were on high alert.

“You may be able to bring them out. It says that the touch of the light will bring them out. You are definitely not shadow, so you might qualify.”

She grimaced. “If I can’t get out, there is a flare gun in my pack. Just after dusk tonight, fire the blue flare. Help will come and to hell with the kids’ job future, we will get them out alive.”

“I hope it does not come to that. Try and see if you can get in and out.” Ekinar’s tone was encouraging.

Teyha looked into the darkness of the prison and sighed. “Fine. Don’t forget. Blue flare, straight up.”

“Blue flare, straight up. Good luck.”

He touched her arm, and she felt part of his shadow touch her cheek. When she looked at him, it was gone, but there was no doubt that something had just happened.

Teyha breathed in deep, striding forward. For better or worse, she was walking right into the mouth of hell.

Chapter Four

The texture of the air changed, growing thick and heavy. Teyha exhaled and inhaled again sharply. The air was fine. The sensation was on her skin, clawing at her senses.

As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and she stumbled into an antechamber.

Four pale faces stared at her. Nosku seemed uncomfortable. “Why are you here?”

“The translation indicates that I may be able to take you out of here, one by one. Who is first?”

The young men frowned at her, and it was easy to see which one was Nosku’s nephew. The young woman looked exhausted, so Teyha extended her hand. “What is your name?”

“Hiska. Hiska Kandor. This is my brother, Ritgar.”

Teyha smiled at the manners that were in evidence in this young woman. “I am Teyha Wynn. Pleased to meet you.”

Nosku cleared his throat. “This is my nephew, Darku Sheval.”

Teyha nodded toward the young man. “Pleased to meet you as well. Now, someone is going to have to go first, and I would rather it be one of the folk who have been here for a while.”

Hiska stepped forward. “I will try. It was painful to attempt it the first few times, so I am really hoping this works.”

Teyha smiled. “You and me both. Boys, I will be back as soon as I can if this works and sooner if it doesn’t.”

She held out her hand, and Hiska took it. The teen was taller than Teyha already and her skin was cooler than it should be.

They walked back to the barrier, and Teyha tightened her grip as she stepped into the column of air that seemed to stop the Shadow Folk. Hiska slowed but forged forward, and in fifteen seconds, they were out in the open with Ekinar waiting for them.

“You did it!”

Teyha laughed as she bent forward, resting her hands on her knees. “I did one, now for the other three. This is not going to be fun.”

He was at her side with his hand on her shoulder.

Hiska was sobbing softly, her shadowed face tilted to the sun. Now that she was in daylight, her shadows were wrapped around her once again.

Teyha drank some water, took in a few mouthfuls of rations and turned back to the chasm. “Okay, calm controlled. I can do this.”

She forged into the prison once again and smiled brightly as she caught her breath. “Hiska is safe. Who is next?”

Ritgar took her hand and went to join his sister. He whispered as they paused before crossing the barrier. “Thank you for doing this. Thank you for finding us.”

“Thank me when we make it out to the other side.” She breathed deeply, watched him do the same and charged through the barrier without looking back.

She stumbled and fell when they made it out the other side.

Ritgar went forward and embraced Hiska. The siblings sat together, whispering their relief.

Teyha knelt and struggled for her body to calm down. Her pulse was racing, her vision was blurry and her knees were weak.

“Take a rest. You can’t do this twice more and stay conscious.” Ekinar was at her side, stroking tendrils of hair from her face.

“I will have to do it once and make it count then.” Teyha nodded. She drank more water and turned to plunge back into the barrier for the final time.

Nosku and Darku were waiting nervously.

She gasped, coughed and straightened. “I don’t have the strength to do this twice more today, so if I am going to pass out, I would rather it be in daylight with everyone safe.”

Nosku scowled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you are each going to take one of my hands and cling to my arm if you have to, but I am getting you both out of here right now.” She tried to make it look like she knew what she was doing, but she really had no clue.

She moved to the edge of the barrier and extended her arms. Darku took her left, Nosku her right and each grabbed a bicep. As one, they moved forward, and it took thirty seconds to walk ten feet, but on the other side, sweet air greeted them.

Teyha fell into Ekinar’s arms, and he lifted her, seating her next to her pack.

Spots were flickering in her vision, and they grew closer and closer together until the shadow casing Ekinar was the last thing she saw.

* * * *

“What is wrong with her?” Nosku’s strident demand grated on Ekinar’s nerves.

“She used up her energy hauling you through the barrier. Her power wrapped around you and burned off as you passed through the gateway. You owe her your life.”

Nosku frowned. “This was her duty.”

Ekinar rounded on him, lashing out at the other male with his shadows and lifting Nosku off the ground. “Her duty? She is a historian. This is her hobby, what she does for fun and personal education.”

Darku put his hand on his uncle’s arm. “We owe her our lives. You would not have found us without her. No electronics work here. We dropped out of the sky and nothing we could do would stop our descent. It was Hiska’s piloting that got us in alive.”

Ritgar stood up with his arm around his sister. “It seems that women have saved us at all critical points in this adventure. Can we be going now?”

Ekinar shook his head. “No. We can’t find our way back without her. Let her rest.”

As if his words were prophetic, Teyha heaved in a deep breath and struggled upright. His heart lurched as her bloodshot eyes focussed on him. She smiled weakly. “I am okay, but I have one question, does anyone here actually want to see the Temple of Shadows?”

The expressions on their faces were enough to lift Teyha’s spirit. “If someone can carry my pack, I can take you there now. It isn’t far.”

Ekinar helped her to her feet and slung her pack over one shoulder, surprised at its weight. “You carried this all this way?”

“Well, it was heavier when I started. There are a lot of emergency kits in there as well as the flares.” She tottered but stabilized when Ekinar offered her his arm.

Holding to his arm, she smiled at the amassed Shadow Folk, “Well, do you want to see the temple?”

Nosku cleared his throat. “If we are able to, please. We appreciate your assistance in this matter.”

Teyha blinked. “Um, my pleasure. It is always good to share knowledge when one can. Who knows, you are probably the only folk of the Nine who have been to this area since your ancestors left.”

Ritgar and Hiska took on an anticipatory posture. Hiska asked quietly. “Can we go? Please?”

Teyha laughed, “If you want to head for that third pillar, turn north, go around the rocky outcropping and then see if you can find your temple. It’s wiley.”

The teens and Nosku took off.

Teyha smiled up at Ekinar and walked slowly with him.

“You did an excellent thing getting them all out.”

“I know. I just wish I wasn’t so tired. I have a lecture in two days.” She smiled. “I will need to get some sleep before then, and I don’t know when I will fit it in.”

They walked slowly toward the outcropping that Teyha had identified, and as they reached the first turn, shouts of astonishment echoed along the rocks.

“I believe they have found it.” She chuckled as the excited chatter reached them.

Ekinar held her steady as they rounded the curves of the path, and when he saw the Temple of Shadows, he let out the same amazed sound as the others.

Chapter Five

A pyramid of buff stone with a polarized cap sat in the centre of the valley floor. It was beautiful, and Teyha smiled the same way she had when her parents had been at her side.

Ahead of them, Nosku and the teens were running toward the temple entrance. Teyha smiled at Ekinar, “If you want to run down there, I can manage on my own. I will get there eventually.”

“It has lasted thousands of years. It will manage to survive for the ten minutes it will take to walk there.”

“Very practical.” She was relieved. Her body was not up to supporting itself. “Once we get there, if you want to run around and be all Shadow Folky, I will understand. Just park me in a corner and let me flip out my bedroll, and you can cease to babysit me.”

He turned the dark flickering shadows surrounding his face. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t mind sleeping here under full sun.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. I will wake you at sundown.”

She gave him a thumbs up but wasn’t sure if it translated. “It means everything is good.”

He nodded. “I have taken the Gaian euphemism classes. They also included some colourful language that I will need help with one day.”

Teyha laughed, “Call Daphne. She is an expert on language not fit for mixed company, though she rarely uses it herself.”

“I thought I might come to one of your lectures and meet you after for tea or dinner.” His words—though casual—dropped heavily between them.

She blinked. “I don’t know what kind of company I would be. My brain tends to be locked onto the ancient sites on Gaia and the diaries of the first colonists.”

“It sounds fascinating. I was interested in the history of Underhill before I entered the service and ended up as the Council Representative for the Shadow Folk.” He continued to walk at her pace, but the ball was now in her court.

Teyha bit her lip. “Sure. Dinner would be nice, I mean, whenever you get back down here.”

She paused, not sure if she was overstepping her bounds. “I have come up with a reasonable excuse for why the teens ended up on the surface. Something close to the truth, but it does lay a bit of blame on Nosku. Nothing major, just a little bit of negligence on the part of an uncle. I will need to find out how they knew to come here though, in order to make the story more plausible.”

Ekinar was grim. “Nosku will cooperate. He will do what you ask and say what you tell him to.”

She smirked, “He doesn’t seem very cooperative to me.”

“He will be when I get through with him, but you have brought the matter up that I did not think of, how did the children learn the coordinates?”

They reached the great doors to the temple and passed through and into the past of the Shadow Folk. Teyha tugged at Ekinar to take her to the side of the huge entry hall so that she could get some sleep.

When he put the pack down, she grabbed the roll tucked under the carrying portion of the pack, flipped it flat and struck the corner to inflate it into a comfortable bed. A foil blanket would keep her body stable, and the water that she put next to her head would help her out when she woke.

All tucked in and exhausted beyond bearing, Teyha relaxed and left the Shadow Folk to their own devices.

* * * *

Ekinar was torn between watching his soon-to-be mate and exploring something his folks knew of only through myth and legend.

Nosku skidded back into the anteroom and waved his arms with urgency. Unable to resist the normally taciturn Nosku’s sudden enthusiasm, Ekinar followed the man into the other room, promising to come back and check on the lightly snoring Gaian.

Teyha’s breathing was deep and even, so he felt better about walking into the huge audience hall with its five seats.

“It is actually here.” All his life he had been told about the Temple of Shadows and its importance to his people. The councils that they now used instead were pale imitations of the five grand seats spaced evenly around the room.

“Try one. They are inactive so it won’t harm anything.” Nosku walked across the room and took one of the two unoccupied seats.

The children were in the other three.

Shrugging, Ekinar took the final empty seat and sat back, rubbing his hands along the grooves in the throne that had been worn by generations of hands over time.

He relaxed into it, breathing deeply, imagining his ancestors sitting in this very chair.

He was caught by surprise when energy coursed through the chair, locking him and the other four in place, unable to even call for help. Their shadows burned off and they stared at each other in shock as the chairs cast judgement and found them wanting.