Storms (Sharani Series Book 2) (10 page)

“Not now,” Beryl gasped. “Not until I’m done. Think of Elyana.”

Pieces of rock broke loose from the ceiling and toppled down in to the lake with a cascade of water and sludge. The rocks croaked and groaned under the pressure pushing upward from beneath. The lake sloshed against the confining shore.

“Elyana,” Beryl breathed.

Slowly, the voice released control, allowing the heat to seep back down to its reservoir beneath the desert. The trembling slowed, then stopped altogether. Beryl, panting, picked up the table and the scrolls, reaching out with his other powers to right the lanterns. He had to finish this soon.

Gavin stumbled and nearly fell as the ground
lurched
, knocking him around. Screams cut through the air above the rumble of rock. On the other side of the circle, Evrouin was knocked to the ground. Gavin staggered forward, using his sword to keep his feet. He grabbed Evrouin by the forearm and hauled him to his feet.

“Go!” Gavin shouted. “See to your people. Get them out of here.”

Evrouin gave him a searching look, as if he couldn’t believe Gavin was helping him.

“Go!” Gavin shouted. His teeth clamped down on his tongue as the earth jostled and bounced him. He tasted blood.

Evrouin stumbled away into the dust. A rumble sounded from above and part of a lower tier broke free and crashed down onto the tier below, breaking it free as well. People screamed and tried to run, though they were knocked from their feet as often as not. A rock crashed to the ground near Gavin, spraying him with bits of rock and sand.

Gavin cursed and jumped backward against the wall.

Almost as quickly as it had begun, the shaking stopped. Gavin stood without moving for a long moment, coughing against the cloud of dust which blanketed the air. Then the screams and whimpers of pain hit him like the initial wave of a sandstorm.

Gavin pushed through the dust, suppressing coughs at every turn. He couldn’t see, the dust was too thick, but he pushed through it by sound. His greatsword lay forgotten behind him. Gavin reached someone in the gloom, a shadowy figure in the darkness. The shadow figure clutched at his hand and held it with an iron grip. Gavin heaved and pulled them to their feet. Even only a few inches from the shadow figure, Gavin couldn’t see who it was. They stumbled off and vanished into the gloom.

A voice rang out over the cries and moans.

“Someone help me! There’s people trapped behind these rocks!” Evrouin’s voice.

Without hesitation, Gavin pushed through the dust toward that voice. A massive jumble of rocks lay where a section of the tiered walkway had fallen down. Another shadow figure loomed out of the gloom, but this time Gavin knew it was Evrouin from the voice.

“What do you need?” Gavin called.

“Get some men. We need to shift this rock out of the way.” Evrouin grabbed a chunk of stone and tossed it aside. The dust was clearing enough that the man was almost visible.

Gavin didn’t have to go far to find people. Many were already on their way, following the sound of Evrouin’s voice. Even amidst the chaos, amidst the tragedy and disaster, Gavin marveled at the sudden change. People who were enemies, ready to kill one another only moments before, were now rallied to assist others. There
was
common ground between them. Gavin just had to figure out how to use it. But that would wait for another time.

Between them, Gavin and Evrouin formed the helpers into a line and began pulling stones out of the way. The rocks had buried the lower room, which was hidden beneath an overhang created by the walkway surrounding the next level up. The assembled clansmen pulled away the stones one at a time, sometimes using chisels or hammers retrieved by others to break away larger chunks for well over an hour.

In the background, Gavin vaguely noticed Khari assisting the wounded. The woman, along with Farah, moved those unable to help out of the greatroom. For a moment, they were all one united people, the Rahuli, working together for a single cause.

“I think there’s someone here,” Evrouin said suddenly. The man had taken up the point position, moving almost every stone by himself, including those which had to be broken apart. Gavin, who worked alongside him, had found himself developing a grudging respect for the man.

The dust was mostly gone now, only a single large stone blocking the way to the people trapped behind. Stepping close, only inches from Evrouin, Gavin finally heard the soft cries. Evrouin grabbed one side of the stone and heaved. It didn’t budge. Gavin reached out and grabbed the other side. Evrouin nodded and they both heaved together.

The rock toppled back. Gavin just had time to step back out of the way, pulling Evrouin along with him. The rock hit the sands with a crash. As the dust cleared, Evrouin nodded at Gavin and the two moved forward as one toward the cavern-like room which had been created by the falling rock. Someone coughed within.

A small child was closest to the opening, dust coating her hair and skin and making her look middle-aged. A small cut on her head bled down through the dust. She blinked against the light. Evrouin reached out, picked up the child, and pulled her free. She struggled for a moment, twisting to look back into the cave.

“Woman’s in there,” the child cried, coughing between each word. “Pregnant woman.”

Gavin felt a cold dread clutch at his heart and move up his throat. He ducked down and looked into the shallow cavern. A woman lay there pressed up against the wall, arms clutched protectively over her swollen belly. She was unconscious. It was Shallee.

Lhaurel sensed the group approaching before she even came fully awake. The door to the healing chambers swung open as Lhaurel’s eyes did as well. Two men carried a woman between them. Their steps were short and shallow, moving as if she were a great weight. They placed her on a bed near Lhaurel’s. Khari hurried in after them, expression grim.

“Out of the way,” Khari snapped, making shooing gestures.

The two men backed away, though both stayed close. Lhaurel vaguely recognized one of them, though it took her longer than it should have to find his name. Gavin, the outcast.

Khari knelt alongside the woman, checking her pulse. Lhaurel knew it was weak. She could feel it coursing through her veins and escaping through several small cuts along her body. What was more, she could feel the child within the woman. Its own heart beat like the flurry of an insect’s wings. Was it supposed to do that?

“Gavin,” Khari said, looking up. “Run and get me some clean cloths and this woman’s husband.”

“She hasn’t any.” Gavin said, but hurried out the door.

“Evrouin,” Khari said, turning to the other man. “Do you have any children?”

The man nodded. His expression was thoughtful, yet with a sorrowful cast to the set of his mouth. He glanced at the door through which Gavin had exited.

Lhaurel, unnoticed to the side, struggled to rise. Didn’t they feel that something was wrong? Couldn’t they sense the faint heartbeat of the child within the woman? No, of course they couldn’t.

“Yes,” the man said. “I have three daughters. This woman, she isn’t going to make it, is she?”

Khari looked up at him sharply, expression harsh. “Don’t give up on her so easily. She survived the Oasis, she can survive this too.”

“And the baby?”

Khari looked away and shook her head.

Lhaurel felt the build of power within Khari before she noticed the mist forming around the woman. It was a mostly bluish, with only a faint hint of red, which Lhaurel found odd for some reason. Khari seemed to glow with a strange penumbra. Lhaurel felt the woman’s heartbeat strengthen, felt it quicken and surge. But the baby—

“The baby,” Lhaurel croaked, making Evrouin jump. “Its heart just stopped beating.”

Evrouin whirled to face her as Khari opened her eyes to regard her, profound sadness in them.

“And the woman?” Khari asked.

Lhaurel wasn’t listening. She forced herself to sit up and staggered over to the spring that gurgled in the corner of the room. Crawled was more like it. Stumbling was much too dignified a word to describe what she did. Ignoring the questions, the words, the other people, Lhaurel put her face in the water and drank deeply, following her instincts. She felt a surge of strength, albeit slight, as she swallowed the cool, slightly-salty water.

Then Lhaurel reached within herself and drew on her powers. It came easily now that she knew what it was she was doing as far as drawing on her powers was concerned. It was not simply the petal on the surface of the water that Khari had described. No, it was a forceful shifting of her very blood, an outward expulsion followed by an inward return. She gathered her power, vision slightly clouded by the red mist which formed around her.

Blood. Without it the body died. But with it—

Lhaurel stumbled over to where the woman lay on the cot, chest rising and falling with the barest of movements. Evrouin protested, but Khari held him back, though she herself looked more than a little concerned. Lhaurel placed a hand on the woman’s swollen belly.

Lhaurel reached out to the infant with her power, pushing blood through its veins. She willed the blood to pump faster, pushed at the unborn child’s heart, matching it to her own beating pulse. There was damage there, inside the child. Lhaurel could feel it within her. She pushed more blood through the veins.

Beat. The heart pulsed once on its own. Lhaurel forced her powers into the damage, pulled half-formed veins and lungs to grow faster. Beat. The heart pulsed on its own. Lhaurel withdrew her power, feeling so weak she slid backward onto the sands. Sounds returned.

“Evrouin, quick, grab her hand.” For a moment Lhaurel thought Khari was talking about her. “She’s going into labor. Lhaurel, the baby?”

“It’s safe. Beating. Healed.” Lhaurel couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

Lhaurel couldn’t tell if Khari understood or not, but Lhaurel wasn’t sure it really mattered. The baby was safe. She had done something good. Maybe she wasn’t only a monster.

Gavin sat with his back up against the wall, knees bent up under his chin. Shallee was going to be alright, the baby as well. A boy. He smiled and massaged his temples with shaking fingers.

He heard a door open and then close. Evrouin appeared before him.

“She’ll be fine,” Evrouin said.

Gavin nodded.

“Thank you, Evrouin,” Gavin said in a weary voice. “For your help saving them.”

“No one deserves that kind of death. Not even an outcast woman.” Evrouin took a seat on the ground next to Gavin and smiled softly, undercutting the barb.