Ash looked at her blankly and shook his head.
“So stop talking,” snapped Naeo. With that she turned and continued her climb.
Ash pulled a face. “This is going to be such fun,” he murmured.
They climbed for what seemed an age: clambering over tree roots and boulders; squeezing through bush and thicket, scrambling up banks thick with leaves. The forest hummed and squabbled and squawked around them, the air humid and close. This was the highest hill so far, but with ravines and steep slopes on either side, they had no choice but to carry on, no matter how hard the going. At one point they stopped and ate some lunch, but Ash again found his attempts at conversation futile. Naeo ate quickly, then gazed off into the forest, weaving the bootlace between her fingers, crafting her cat’s cradle until he was ready.
As they resumed their climb, Naeo felt a familiar ache inching upwards from her lower back, following the contours of the black scar. The pain was never far away, but it had become more persistent in the past days, and had only worsened with the effort of the climb and the constant rubbing of her pack. She adjusted it so that it hung from her front, but even then, the pat, pat, pat of her loose hair grew unbearable and she soon had to ask Ash to stop. She foraged around in the undergrowth and found two suitable twigs, then coiled her hair behind her head and slid them through it to hold it fast.
“Lovely,” said Ash, sarcastically. “Are we expecting company? Making a public appearance perhaps?” He made a show of looking around.
Naeo gave him a steady look. “Just a sore back,” she said, setting out again.
“Well, of course,” he said, shaking his head in bewilderment. “The wrong hairdo can be a devil for your back.”
It was well into the afternoon before the ground finally started to level off and they allowed themselves to believe that they were nearing the top. They noticed the forest begin to lighten and then, to their relief, they saw a break in the branches and twigs and the grey glow of the open sky. Within moments they were dragging their weary limbs into a clearing and hauling their packs gratefully from their shoulders.
They looked out on a dismal view. Gone was the winter sun and the bronzes and reds of a forest clinging to autumn. In their place they saw a brooding, melancholy scene: a blank wall of grey sky descending to a granite horizon; the rolling, featureless terrain of minor foothills sprawling out on to an empty dust-swept plain as far as the eye could see.
“Ah, the Barrens,” said Ash with a dramatic sigh. “A tonic for the soul!”
Naeo did not smile. The deathly landscape brought back distant memories that were all too real. She remembered the last, terrifying days of war; she saw the surge of armies and the heavens burning with fire; she felt the thunderclap of explosions and the raking sting of howling winds. But most of all she remembered the voices: the screams, the sobs, the last murmurings of despair.
Her eyes filled with tears and she turned away.
If Ash noticed, he did not show it. He was looking up, trying to make out the position of the sun through the cloud. Finally he shook his head. “We’re going slower than we expected,” he said. “We’ll have to get a move on if we’re to get to the Circle of Salsimaine on time.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“Well, we’ll have to pick our feet up, I suppose.”
Naeo crossed her arms and gazed out over the lowland hills, tracing the folds and undulations, valleys and dells. Ash was right, it was their first morning and already they were falling behind.
She rocked thoughtfully for some moments and then she frowned, her eyes exploring the terrain.
“I think we can do better than that,” she said.
Ash raised his eyebrows. “How? Don’t tell me you want to fly. I’m not flying again in a hurry.”
“No need,” said Naeo, walking off down the slope. “We have Essenfayle.”
“Well, yes, we do, but how does that—”
“Stop talking,” said Naeo. “You’ll put me off.”
She drew up short of the fringe of trees where a small stream was bubbling off between the trunks, laid her pack on the floor and rolled up her sleeves.
Ash approached from behind. “What are you doing? Not a Groundrush?” he exclaimed. “It’s not worth it! It’ll only get us to the bottom of the hill.”
“Not just to the bottom of this hill,” said Naeo, confidently. “It’ll get us on to the Barrens.”
Ash chuckled and crossed his arms. “And how exactly will it do that?”
“Remember what you said about Essenfayle?”
Ash shrugged.
“And remember I said you were wrong?”
He nodded slowly.
She raised her arms. “Well this is why.”
In a way, it was beautiful: a sinuous snake of silver winding along the valley floor, bordered on both sides by frosted branches and leaves, which drooped into the water as if to taste the muddy gruel. Its wide arcs cut through the very heart of the forest, carrying the three travellers through its wildest and most secret parts, where animals shrieked, insects scuttled and birds twittered, filling the canopy with a pleasant echo.
But Sylas was thoroughly ill at ease.
It wasn’t just that his back and shoulders were aching or that the canoe felt flimsy and unstable. It was also that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. After a morning of frustrating meanders from bank to bank, he had finally mastered the steering, but even after lunch he was still much slower than the others. He only occasionally saw a flash of Simia’s red hair as she disappeared around another bend and he was certain that he was irritating Triste, who had insisted on guarding the rear and so was always just over his shoulder.
“Use slow, steady strokes,” Triste had suggested. “Hold the paddle lower, around the neck. Dip the blade deeper into the water.”
That had helped, but Simia continued to forge ahead. And then he had an idea. He thought back to the attack on the Meander Mill and their flight in a flotilla of boats, when Filimaya called upon the river to form a mighty wave to carry them all to safety. Why couldn’t he do that? He closed his eyes and extended one hand behind the boat as she had, sending his thoughts down into the waters. He felt their chill creeping into his chest, their dark enclosing his mind, their swell flooding through his stomach. And then he called them up from the deep, up through the swirling currents until they surged behind his boat, rising in a small, perfectly formed wave. He felt a rush of excitement as the canoe lurched forward, borne on by the river itself. And then, even as he grinned in celebration it all went wrong. The sharp bow plunged deep into the waters. The boat came to a sudden halt while the wave continued, lifting the stern and throwing it around in a graceless pirouette. It left Sylas drenched, clinging to the sides and facing completely the wrong way. Facing a very unimpressed Scryer.
“Just use … the … paddle!” said Triste impatiently. “That’s what it’s for.”
“I just thought that Essenfayle might—”
“Your gift isn’t a replacement for a perfectly good paddle.” The Scryer fixed Sylas with an intent stare. “What you have, Sylas – your feel for Essenfayle – is a sacred thing: a thing not to be trifled with.”
“I didn’t think it would do any harm,” Sylas grunted in embarrassment.
“It would if a Scryer’s out looking for you. Don’t forget, we see connections, and those as strong as you are able to create can be seen miles away. Keep your tricks to yourself until you really need them, understand?”
Sylas nodded. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Good then,” said the Scryer, squinting downriver. “In the meantime, you’ll just have to put your back into it. At this rate your friend will be knocking at Isia’s door before dinner.”
Sylas dug his paddle in and turned himself around. Simia was so far ahead he could barely make her out and even as he watched, she disappeared around a bend.
He cupped his hands and shouted: “Simsi! Slow down!”
When Simia showed no sign of stopping they both plunged their paddles deep into the river and set off after her at a feverish pace.
“She’s mad to leave us so far behind,” grumbled Triste. “Mad!”
In truth, relations between Simia and Triste had only become more strained since they had left the valley. At lunch she had continued to talk to him as though he was more hindrance than help and now, even though he had implored her to stay close for her own safety, she seemed wilfully to be extending her lead.
“She’s like this,” said Sylas, panting as he struggled to pick up speed. “Feisty. Always doing things her own way. She has … you know –” he grinned – “sharp edges. But it’s never boring.”
