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.And he feared that if he saw themthere he might not be able to go on.Water splashed up into his mouth and made him cough.His ears hadbegun to ring.The cold and the steady current sapped his fading strength even further.But he went on,one stroke after another, until he had battled his way back through the great opening in the mountainsideand into the green crystal cave.Treading water there, he looked about as if measuring something-the rocks, perhaps, or the walls, or hisown fast-disappearing courage.Then through the static in his mind, as if it were a fresh sending, came thememory of Sssasha s words: I am thy heart, Jakkin. Well, he would need the heart of a dragon to getthrough the rest of it.But for Sssasha, for all of them, for Akki and Auricle-and especially for Heart sBlood, who had sacrificed herself that they might live-he would be brave.Taking a deep breath, he diveddown and swam swiftly and surely away from the light.chapter 36THIS TIME, TIRED as he was, Jakkin had been able to judge the amount of breath he needed, and hepulled himself through the ever-darkening water with growing confidence.Just as he began his ascenttoward the green-black surface, something caught around his legs.Yanking and kicking, he brought theheavy object up to his eyes and saw, with horror, that it was one of the white robes.His heart began to pound and his ears felt ready to burst.Fearing the worst-that the robe was Akki s andshe d really drowned this time-he pushed it away and watched it rise slowly.He swam desperately forthe top, bursting up into the air, gulping mouthfuls into his exploding lungs, and then made for the shore.Rubbing the water from his eyes only seemed to make his vision worse, and he reminded himself to calmdown.But when his eyes seemed clear at last he still had trouble seeing in the cave, and that was whenhe noticed the guttered torch lying in a puddle.The cavern was lit only by the water reflecting eerily on the walls.There was no sign of Akki.The robe in the water must be his own.He cursed himself for leaving her there so long, alone and unprotected, and his curses rose in volume andoriginality until he found himself screaming her name.The waljs echoed crazily, bouncing the two syllablesback and forth, as if playing with them.But there was no answer, and his static-filled mind could find notrace of any sendings. Akki! he screamed again, starting down a tunnel.Hearing a sound behind him, he turned abruptly.Something on the far side of the lake was rising up fromthe shallows. Shut up, Jakkin, she said. Maybe we can t send, with all the static, but no one could miss yourshouting.The walls a re ringing with it! Fewmets, Akki, I thought you were gone.I thought& I thought& He found he could scarcely breathe.She waded around the lake, careful to stay where the water was only knee-deep. What about what I thought, Jakkin? she said. You were gone so long, I thought you were drowned.And I can t swim, so how could I rescue you? And then I thought that if you really had died, your bodywould float up.So I had hope that you d found another way out.But I didn t know if I could follow. She hesitated. But I always knew you d come back for me if you could. She put her hand on his arm.He shook it off angrily. What were you doing underwater? he asked. You nearly scared me to death. Practicing! she said lightly. Practicing? Practicing what? That s a joke, Jakkin. I m not in the mood for jokes. Well, you sure could use something to sweeten you. He made a wry movement with his mouth. Actually it was the only way I could think to keep them from finding me.When they began that gatheringcall again, you know, COME, COME, COME, I was so scared I wouldn t be able to resist it, Iducked down into the water.Even held my nose.And the chant stopped, just like that! Or at least Icouldn t hear it anymore because of the crackling.Then I remembered both our robes were by the lake,so I came up for air and dragged them in with me.If Makk saw those, he d figure out where we wereeasily. She smiled. Smart, wasn t I?, I He was still not mollified. You left the torch. She looked over her shoulder at the guttered torch. Oh, dragon s droppings.They d have knownanyway. Still, Jakkin said quietly, it was awfully brave. It was awfully stupid, Akki insisted. Don t patronize me, Jakkin.I ve done brave things in my life.Don t forget I joined a rebel cell to spy on them.I ve lived in the wilderness with you.It just turns outthat this wasn t exactly one of the bravest things I ve done. It was. It wasn t! It was, too. It& oh, listen to us, Jakkin.We sound like kids. I still think it was brave. Never mind.It s a silly argument anyway.Tell me what you found down there. She pointed to thecenter of the lake.Excitedly he sketched out the underwater passage, the crystal cave, the river, the grassy slopes, and thereunion with the hatchlings. Then they re all right? Akki asked, relief in her voice. What about Tri-ssskkette s wing? All healed? I& I didn t look, Jakkin admitted. Well, you were a bit busy, Akki conceded. Besides, if she could fly all that way up the mountain, shemust be doing fine.Wish we could heal as fast! You can check it out when we get there, Jakkin said. I ll do that, Akki said a bit too brightly. And now that I ve practiced my underwater swimming-or atleast my underwater nose holding-I m ready to go.As long as you take my hand, Jakkin, I ll make it. Her voice had gotten high and brittle sounding and she gave a little shiver, but she never stopped smiling.Jakkin realized she wasn t feeling quite as brave as she was trying to appear, and he thought grimly thatthey d both need Sssasha s heart for this.: Why should I need Sssasha s heart? Because& oh, never mind. Flustered, he could barely speak.She d been able to pick up his thoughts,and he d been so sure the automatic shielding worked.Perhaps it wasn t as complete as he hoped.Ormaybe it worked just with dragons.Or self-involved dragons like Sssargon.Or perhaps it didn t workwith someone who loved him, like Akki.Or& and then the further realization hit him.There was no morestatic in his mind. We ve got to get out of here, he said. I m ready. She started backing into the water. I mean back tothe egg cave. The egg cave-don t be crazy.I can make it through the water, Jakkin.I know I can. He put his hand out toward her. I know you can, too, Akki.But we can t leave Auricle.They ll kill her.Just like the brown.Another bloody ceremony and more bones for the pile.We can t let them do it. Jakkin, we really don t have a choice.We have to save ourselves. No! We re not in danger.We can leave anytime.But we ve got to save Auricle. She turned away from him, shivering, and stared into the dark ness. We are in danger, Jakkin.In dangerof becoming as brutish and dark-minded as these people.Can t you feel it? If we stay, sooner or laterwe ll be forced to join one of their bloody rituals, and then what will we be? Akki, we re that already [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.And he feared that if he saw themthere he might not be able to go on.Water splashed up into his mouth and made him cough.His ears hadbegun to ring.The cold and the steady current sapped his fading strength even further.But he went on,one stroke after another, until he had battled his way back through the great opening in the mountainsideand into the green crystal cave.Treading water there, he looked about as if measuring something-the rocks, perhaps, or the walls, or hisown fast-disappearing courage.Then through the static in his mind, as if it were a fresh sending, came thememory of Sssasha s words: I am thy heart, Jakkin. Well, he would need the heart of a dragon to getthrough the rest of it.But for Sssasha, for all of them, for Akki and Auricle-and especially for Heart sBlood, who had sacrificed herself that they might live-he would be brave.Taking a deep breath, he diveddown and swam swiftly and surely away from the light.chapter 36THIS TIME, TIRED as he was, Jakkin had been able to judge the amount of breath he needed, and hepulled himself through the ever-darkening water with growing confidence.Just as he began his ascenttoward the green-black surface, something caught around his legs.Yanking and kicking, he brought theheavy object up to his eyes and saw, with horror, that it was one of the white robes.His heart began to pound and his ears felt ready to burst.Fearing the worst-that the robe was Akki s andshe d really drowned this time-he pushed it away and watched it rise slowly.He swam desperately forthe top, bursting up into the air, gulping mouthfuls into his exploding lungs, and then made for the shore.Rubbing the water from his eyes only seemed to make his vision worse, and he reminded himself to calmdown.But when his eyes seemed clear at last he still had trouble seeing in the cave, and that was whenhe noticed the guttered torch lying in a puddle.The cavern was lit only by the water reflecting eerily on the walls.There was no sign of Akki.The robe in the water must be his own.He cursed himself for leaving her there so long, alone and unprotected, and his curses rose in volume andoriginality until he found himself screaming her name.The waljs echoed crazily, bouncing the two syllablesback and forth, as if playing with them.But there was no answer, and his static-filled mind could find notrace of any sendings. Akki! he screamed again, starting down a tunnel.Hearing a sound behind him, he turned abruptly.Something on the far side of the lake was rising up fromthe shallows. Shut up, Jakkin, she said. Maybe we can t send, with all the static, but no one could miss yourshouting.The walls a re ringing with it! Fewmets, Akki, I thought you were gone.I thought& I thought& He found he could scarcely breathe.She waded around the lake, careful to stay where the water was only knee-deep. What about what I thought, Jakkin? she said. You were gone so long, I thought you were drowned.And I can t swim, so how could I rescue you? And then I thought that if you really had died, your bodywould float up.So I had hope that you d found another way out.But I didn t know if I could follow. She hesitated. But I always knew you d come back for me if you could. She put her hand on his arm.He shook it off angrily. What were you doing underwater? he asked. You nearly scared me to death. Practicing! she said lightly. Practicing? Practicing what? That s a joke, Jakkin. I m not in the mood for jokes. Well, you sure could use something to sweeten you. He made a wry movement with his mouth. Actually it was the only way I could think to keep them from finding me.When they began that gatheringcall again, you know, COME, COME, COME, I was so scared I wouldn t be able to resist it, Iducked down into the water.Even held my nose.And the chant stopped, just like that! Or at least Icouldn t hear it anymore because of the crackling.Then I remembered both our robes were by the lake,so I came up for air and dragged them in with me.If Makk saw those, he d figure out where we wereeasily. She smiled. Smart, wasn t I?, I He was still not mollified. You left the torch. She looked over her shoulder at the guttered torch. Oh, dragon s droppings.They d have knownanyway. Still, Jakkin said quietly, it was awfully brave. It was awfully stupid, Akki insisted. Don t patronize me, Jakkin.I ve done brave things in my life.Don t forget I joined a rebel cell to spy on them.I ve lived in the wilderness with you.It just turns outthat this wasn t exactly one of the bravest things I ve done. It was. It wasn t! It was, too. It& oh, listen to us, Jakkin.We sound like kids. I still think it was brave. Never mind.It s a silly argument anyway.Tell me what you found down there. She pointed to thecenter of the lake.Excitedly he sketched out the underwater passage, the crystal cave, the river, the grassy slopes, and thereunion with the hatchlings. Then they re all right? Akki asked, relief in her voice. What about Tri-ssskkette s wing? All healed? I& I didn t look, Jakkin admitted. Well, you were a bit busy, Akki conceded. Besides, if she could fly all that way up the mountain, shemust be doing fine.Wish we could heal as fast! You can check it out when we get there, Jakkin said. I ll do that, Akki said a bit too brightly. And now that I ve practiced my underwater swimming-or atleast my underwater nose holding-I m ready to go.As long as you take my hand, Jakkin, I ll make it. Her voice had gotten high and brittle sounding and she gave a little shiver, but she never stopped smiling.Jakkin realized she wasn t feeling quite as brave as she was trying to appear, and he thought grimly thatthey d both need Sssasha s heart for this.: Why should I need Sssasha s heart? Because& oh, never mind. Flustered, he could barely speak.She d been able to pick up his thoughts,and he d been so sure the automatic shielding worked.Perhaps it wasn t as complete as he hoped.Ormaybe it worked just with dragons.Or self-involved dragons like Sssargon.Or perhaps it didn t workwith someone who loved him, like Akki.Or& and then the further realization hit him.There was no morestatic in his mind. We ve got to get out of here, he said. I m ready. She started backing into the water. I mean back tothe egg cave. The egg cave-don t be crazy.I can make it through the water, Jakkin.I know I can. He put his hand out toward her. I know you can, too, Akki.But we can t leave Auricle.They ll kill her.Just like the brown.Another bloody ceremony and more bones for the pile.We can t let them do it. Jakkin, we really don t have a choice.We have to save ourselves. No! We re not in danger.We can leave anytime.But we ve got to save Auricle. She turned away from him, shivering, and stared into the dark ness. We are in danger, Jakkin.In dangerof becoming as brutish and dark-minded as these people.Can t you feel it? If we stay, sooner or laterwe ll be forced to join one of their bloody rituals, and then what will we be? Akki, we re that already [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]