The Adventures of Benjamin Skyhammer (22 page)

"I've never seen this kind of sickness before. This inflammation worries me. I've got better instruments back in Hightown and with Adela's help we may be able to do something but we have to get there fast. Come on!" The doctor leapt into another board-less hammock, which now swung between Adela and a second Flyer.

Skyhammer glanced toward Jessup. He was gone from the driver's seat. Skyhammer glimpsed him walking beside the wagon, his arm around the shoulder of a young girl.

Jessup slapped the young girl on the back and she climbed up to the seat of his wagon and caught the pony's reins. Jessup leapt over the sideboard and onto the wagon bed as the doctor's hammock swung next to it.

"I'll go with her. Your mission for the King is too important."

"We have to leave now. Her life is in danger!" Max yelled at them.

Skyhammer stared at Jessup in surprise. "She's my best friend. I can't leave her sick with no one she knows around her."

"She knows me," Jessup said. "If you go you'll never make it to HriHriKari and back to the ceremony in time. Higgins would want you to go on, right?" He looked into Skyhammer's eyes. "There is a hell of a lot of people counting on you to find the Sorcerer and ensure the King does not die and the ceremony is a success. If you think being hunted as the Retrograph Sorcerer yourself is bad now, imagine what it will be like afterwards if the ceremony fails or the King is killed."

Jessup knew! For all his mindless babbling, he had cut straight to the heart of Skyhammer's problem. "But the doc didn't know why she was sick! She may . . . die." The words caught in his throat. Higgins couldn't die. His heart was racing. He couldn't leave Higgins. But the mission had to be completed. He had to find out what Spark was planning, what the Byndari were doing with the wall, why they were not to be trusted. His chin dropped to his chest.

"There's something terrible coming, related to the Byndari. I haven't lost that much of my Relic hunter's instinct for mystery and danger," Jessup said. "We need you to protect magic, protect the ceremony. Go! Sit with the girl. We're almost at the lift. Good luck."

Skyhammer caught his arm. "Tell her I'm sorry."

Jessup pulled away. "Whatever for? I'll tell her you're bravely battling and completing the mission for her."

Skyhammer shifted from foot to foot. Was he a bad person to be leaving her? Choosing Spark and the possibility of magic powers over the life of his best friend?

"Let's go! One of you has two seconds to get in here or I'm gone!" The doc was signalling to the Flyers to leave.

"Go before I change my mind," Skyhammer said through gritted teeth.

"I promise to take care of her for you, Skyhammer." Jessup's hand gripped his shoulder, then released it as he hopped into the hammock beside Max. "I swear by the fact that you may have saved my life once. Or twice." The Flyers rose, gaining speed, and Jessup called down, "Complete the mission you set out to do."

In silence, Skyhammer watched the Flyers disappear, carrying the body of his best friend. He should be in that hammock, going to Higgins, comforting her and being there for her as she'd been all these years. She had never gotten sick before. How could she do this to him? He needed her. Especially now. This was the most difficult thing he'd ever done...he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. This wasn't helping. He clambered back into the front seat.

"Hi," he greeted the girl. He couldn't smile.

She glanced at him but didn't answer. She was probably thinking he was an arsehole for leaving his sick friend behind. His heart dropped.

"I don't care that you don't have magic," she said as she slid away from him. "But don't touch me please. I'm not prejudiced."

Skyhammer snorted and hopped back into the wagon bed. He didn't have the energy to deal with ignorance right now. He wanted to be alone anyway, to come to grips with the contradictions in his own heart. He felt more alone than when Higgins went on vacation. At least then he was 100% sure she'd be coming back. Pulling his legs close to his body, he hugged them into his chest and rested his forehead on his knees. As the rainbow-hued leaves fluttered in the breeze above, his every thought focused on his best friend.

* * *

Skyhammer didn't look back as he galloped away from the lift that had brought him from the branches of the Flyer's home to the ground.

In the wagon, he had brooded for a while, hating himself for leaving Higgins, for being a bad friend. For not realizing until then just how much she meant to him. But he got tired of that, impatient with himself. The choice had been made. To make it up to her, he had to find Spark and discover the real purpose of the ceremony at the Kingmaker Tower.

A few hours of jolting on the back of the horse helped take his mind off Higgins. He'd purchased the animal from enterprising young Aridizans at the bottom of the lift. The terrain, a layer of rock called Bethanri's Shield, was fairly flat. Treacherous however. The constant streams of water that trickled everywhere and the algae that bloomed with the water made the rock slippery. His horse was sure-footed though and he made good time to the border of Aridizan country, speeding on through the night, trusting his steed.

The sun was rising as he reached the Aridizan desert, separated from Flyer country by a huge crack in the ground. At the bottom of the canyon, a river of green slime flowed. Folk tales had it that a huge monster slumbered under the desert and that the green slime was the snot of his runny nose flowing unchecked as he slept.

The Aridizans had built a sturdy bridge across the narrowest part of the canyon and placed border control on the side closest to Rainbowcloud. A youthful Aridizan stepped out of the border cabin to meet him, loose grey robes dancing in the breeze. After climbing a set of stairs that raised the small being to the height of the horse's head, he placed a notebook on the podium between himself and Skyhammer. His hood was down, revealing the wrinkled black skin possessed by all Aridizans. His eyes, hidden by folds of skin, peered down at his notebook.

"Name?"

Aridizans, an organized and logic-oriented race, required that each visitor to their country register with the government upon entry. Skyhammer was hoping that this registration would help him find Spark.

"Benjamin Skyhammer."

The Aridizan's head shot up. A look of revulsion crossed his face. "Welcome to HriHriKari." The words seemed to choke in his throat. "Country of origin?"

"Quasianti."

"Job? Sorry sir, must ask although I already know you are a-"

"Relic hunter." Skyhammer could see that it was painful for the Relic protector to even write the words Relic hunter. All Aridizans were indoctrinated with the Relic-protecting philosophy. Only a few Aridizans were actually out in the field doing the protecting. Those ones were very antagonistic, and Skyhammer had battled them a number of times. Although Aridizans did not approve of the human relic hunting fervour, the two species tolerated each other.

"Length of stay?"

The ceremony started in eight days. He needed four days to return to Quasianti's Kingmaker Tower from HriHriKari. "Three days?"

The Aridizan looked up from his note taking. "That's fine sir, we just need an approximation. Purpose?"

Should he say now that he was looking for someone? What if it got back to Spark? She already knew he was here. If she was still looking at his Retrographs. But she might hide even better if she found out he was asking the Aridizan government for help.

"Relic hunting assignment."

The Aridizan's eyes widened. He was young. "Here?" He swallowed.

Skyhammer wished it were true. "In the desert somewhere. I'll be staying at the university."

After clearing his throat, the border guard stated in a loud voice, "It is my official duty to remind you that you will be accompanied by an Aridizan Relic protector as soon as you leave the city. Any Relics found in Aridizan country are the property of the Aridizan Relic Protectorate. Do you understand?" He scrutinized Skyhammer's expression with narrowed eyes.

Skyhammer nodded. Anything to get through the border and get his hands on Spark.

The guard gestured for him to proceed across the bridge.

* * *

The gate to the actual city of HriHriKari was some distance from the bridge. Skyhammer cantered for another hour across the sand before he reached it.

The Aridizans had planned their city well. With stones cut from the rocky plains across the canyon and glass from the sand and heat of the desert, they had created a sturdy fortress of a city, well able to withstand the storms and blowing sand of the desert.

Inside, order reigned. Visitors and residents were regulated. Aridizans hoarded information like gold. Their most beautiful buildings were not religious but instead the universities and colleges and libraries; they worshipped knowledge.

Skyhammer had stayed at the university before. It was cheap and food in the commons room was plentiful. Best of all, it was close to the Relic hunters' office. The Aridizans tolerated a Relic hunting office only because the Academy had an agreement with the Relic protectors to leave in place any Relic found in their country, Endless Sands. In return, humans got to claim Relics and research them, but only in the field. Most Relic hunters that entered Endless Sands did not graduate from the Academy and disregarded the Academy's agreement.

He had realized after the bridge that he now was really on his own. The only system he could access was that of the Relic hunters. Any contacts of Higgins' were out of the question. Her people were unknown to him and if they were human, not likely to want contact with an Untouchable. He had two nights maximum to find Spark and head back to Quasianti in time for the ceremony. He felt a surge of energy as he realized that he could be seeing Higgins in three nights. She would be fine, he tried to reassure himself. Laughing, teasing him as usual. Then he opened his Whorl to a Retrograph of her white face and inflamed neck. Her stillness. His heart contracted in pain.

At the city gate, he sold the horse for less than half of what he paid. The Aridizans were not only mercenary but also subtly unwelcoming to Relic hunters. Cool stone streets enticed his wandering feet. Buildings overhung the streets so they were almost tunnel-like, providing a large amount of shade. HriHriKari had been designed so that the wind was funnelled through the shaded streets, cooling everything.

It was late morning so the farmers were still out selling their goods. The city had been built around a few oases and large areas were farmland, enough to support the whole population. Most roofs had gardens as well. Every square inch of space that could grow a plant, did.

The cool shade was refreshing after the long hours on the horse. It didn't take him long to walk to the university grounds. It took him even less time to check in to the dormitories.

The back wall of his room was the outer wall of the city but it still had a huge window. The glass was a handspan thick so he couldn't see out of it very well but it let in glorious light. A table and chair completed the furniture. He tossed his backpack on the floor and lay on the bed, boots hanging off the end. He checked his Retrograph Whorl.

Spark had not responded to their message or communication system but . . . he sat up. A couple of Retrographs had changed!

Chapter 22

Countdown to ceremony: 5 days

A Retrograph after the Nasuchu fight. Blood and gore splattered the grey rocks around Skyhammer. The boulder behind him had been lifted and balanced on another one.

Almost as though Spark was showing off. Or just being silly. What was she thinking? Was this her response to their message?

The earth underneath the boulder was different from the uniform greyness of the Deadlands. The ground was opaque with a tinge of green. As though he was looking through a dirty window onto a field of grass. He wondered how many Relics were under the sea of boulders in the Deadlands. Maybe that was her point?

He flicked ahead to another Retrograph. This was the one of Higgins looking at the enormous etching of the Fungal Forest on the wall in Jessup's inn in Hightown. Higgins had been moved to the side and the etching had been removed from the wall and placed near the window.

On the wall where the etching had hung was a dark patch of wood where the sunlight had not touched the wall for years.

Skyhammer punched a pillow in frustration. What did it mean? In both changed Retrographs, objects were moved and the areas beneath were exposed. He flicked between the Retrographs again, straining to see a connection between the rock, the etching and the ceremony. Or maybe it was the countries. Beneath the Deadlands and behind the Fungal Forest was what? He wished Higgins were here. She would've made a connection. Fear for her closed up his throat. What if she died? He struggled to conquer the fear and concentrate on deciding what to do next. What would Higgins advise?

After closing his Whorl, he stood up and stretched. He rubbed his eyes and paced around the room. He had no one to talk to, no one he could trust here. Jessup had been babbling about the Retrograph changes. People were more openly accusing each other of changing Retrographs or being able to see each other's Retrographs. Tension was rising. Jessup had told him the police were called out a lot in recent months to handle the increased number of violent arguments about Retrographs.

At least there were fewer humans in HriHriKari. If only he could talk to Higgins or get some idea of how she was doing! Then he could focus better. He stopped and stared out the window. Okay Skyhammer, what would Higgins do if she was here, he asked himself. What would she say about the two new changes? He let out a dark chuckle. It was simple. She'd think he was stupid for not realizing they were related to the previous changes.

He put his palm against the warm glass and leaned his forehead on his palm. What did they mean? He pushed himself away from the window. His brain hurt. He needed food. He needed Higgins. And sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a full night's sleep. He walked to the door. He couldn't have Higgins or sleep but he did know where to get food. Then, belly full, he'd go Spark hunting.