“Did you take me with you?” asked Kaydin.
“Yes,” said Ry, “I didn’t leave your side in the beginning. I strapped you on my back like Mirai had, and we climbed to this lookout. Several weeks later we watched a painful one together. Mirai and Dylan both stepped into the Abyss…”
“But you are powerful, Ry. You could have stopped her.”
“It was painful, Kaydin. More than you know. Dylan and Mirai meant a lot to me…but I couldn’t stop your mother from trying to save him once we discovered he had been re-inserted into the system.”
You didn’t like Dylan. Why not talk straight about it?
“There was nothing you could do?” asked Kaydin again.
“She wouldn’t listen, Kaydin. She thought I was still jealous of Dylan. She thought I would protect her. I tried to argue that it was a choice between staying with you, or joining Dylan in death. Maybe she wanted that. She may have had her superstitions about the afterlife to comfort her.”
“Dylan wouldn’t have wanted her to save him if it meant she would die and leave me by myself.”
“You weren’t alone, though,” said Ry. “You had me.”
Kaydin opened his eyes. Sweat beaded on his brow, yet he shivered. I’ve got to get my mind off of that.
No matter how much he Subdued the memory, it still gripped him emotionally whenever he chose or happened to recall it. Subdue had worked to dull other memories, at least in emotional strength. And yet he didn’t want to lose the memory altogether. Maybe this one needs a few more doses. Even this memory though wasn’t the most painful of all; it was a mere thread upon which he Reflected often, searching Ry’s answers for any whiff of doubt, either about Dylan or about Mirai. He frowned, staring idly at Dag’s open journal. Finally, he closed it.
I may as well do some digging.
He stepped into the hallway past Mav’s lab and into the next room on the right. Light shone weakly from glowworm colonies in crevices. Kaydin found an earthlight on the wall and breathed a pinch of turma across its surface; the blue stone sent its light over the room. The truth about these light-giving stones was that they lit up when they interacted with turma; some, like Mav, added playful phrases, sweet-talking them, but all that mattered was that turma was spread over them. It turned out turma was central to what Haven did. To what the Rahz were doing too, if their theories about what went on inside the Spire were true.
From the rectangular portal, the room curved into a shallow oval, stretching out under a low-hanging ceiling. Gara loved adjusting his room in his spare time. When low on turma, there wasn't much else to do. Probably better than burying yourself in memories.
Kaydin found the tool he was looking for in a cubby. A stone pickaxe. All in one piece, a sharp edge connected to a handle. He noticed Gara had taken some time to sharpen it. Good man, that Gara…and a master shaper.
Chapter 13
Abyl felt a hand on his cheek as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but soon adjusted to the dim room and the gray ceiling he decided he was staring at. “Had to move you since Mav was making turma solution,” said Maryn. “You’re in my workshop now.”
Abyl grunted, shifted onto his left side to avoid even the dim light of an earthlight shard peeking from the corner of the room.
“Can you see alright out of it?” It was Mav.
“Yes, but not well,” mumbled Abyl.
“It might get worse before it gets better,” said Mav. “The blood will come to heal the wounds and additional pricks I had to make to tie everything together.”
“If nothing else, I have learned what pain is.”
Mav laughed. “It went quite well,” said Mav. “Have a look.” Still lying on his back, Abyl accepted the mirror and nearly dropped it—a dark circle lay where his eye should have been.
“Don’t worry,” said Mav, “the swelling will go down soon.”
“Your eye will open back up,” said Maryn.
“Maybe even by tonight if you’re lucky,” chirped Mav.
“There’s no rush, though,” said Maryn, putting a hand behind Abyl’s head and taking the mirror. “But it is almost time for middle meal.”
“I think I can sit up,” said Abyl.
Mav and Maryn helped him to a seated position. Abyl nodded to them in thanks, then gathered his surroundings. Another small room, this one littered with cuts of leaf and…some other material he couldn’t quite identify.
“Skins,” said Maryn. “From rodents and reptiles we capture. They make for decent clothing.”
Abyl was amazed he hadn’t realized the quilted texture of their clothing was a result of the salvaged materials.
“So, what are we eating?” he asked.
“You’re going to love it,” said Mav.
Moments later, Abyl was back among the group and Maryn was smiling as she set a bowl of green soup in front him. He should have known. Mav and Maryn shared a laugh at his expense.
“How do you guys know to join for the meal?” asked Abyl. “There’s no toll.”
“Just a gut feel, after awhile,” said Gara.
“Gut?”
“Right here,” said Maryn, pointing at her stomach, trying to be helpful. “When you’re hungry, you come.”
“Thanks Maryn,” smiled Gara. “Of course you have the morning toll to wake us and the end-of-shift tolls to tell us it’s time for supper.”
“Three meals in one shift?” asked Abyl. “As a worker I only got two…and the servings were half the size!”
“You will have to relieve yourself more often,” said Gara.
“But you’ll also have more energy,” said Mav.
“I have to correct you, Gara,” said Ry, coming up from the second hallway. “Around here, we refer to the later pair as the evening tolls.”
Maryn fetched a bowl for Ry, reaching a hand through the stone gap into their kitchen, which fed out of Mav’s lab.
“Looks like Mav and Maryn took good care of you, Abyl,” said Ry.
“I think so,” Abyl replied. It still felt strange to be called this new name, when not long ago he only knew himself as a worker in Growing Room One.
“You’ll have a scar like Kaydin in no time,” said Ry.
“And you, I heard,” said Abyl. Ry’s eyes darkened at the comment.
Maryn returned, setting a bowl in front of Ry.
“Three scars,” said Mav, changing the subject. “Maybe Kaydin will be jealous.”
Ry nodded. “Where is Kaydin, anyway?”
“Haven’t seen him,” said Gara, “but I did notice my pickaxe went missing. I’m guessing it didn’t simply stand up and walk away.”
“So he’s off digging,” said Ry, taking a bite from his soup. “So long as he takes care of his jobs….”
There was a lull in the conversation as the group took a moment to slurp their soup. Then Ry cleared his throat noisily, as if clearing an obstruction. “Abyl, now that you’re feeling better, you’ll need to learn what we do around here.”
“He means you’ll need to earn your keep,” said Maryn. When