Читать книгу Rise to the Rahz - Erik van Mechelen - Страница 7

Seated, back resting against the stone wall below the slit in his lookout, Kaydin waited until the scraping receded. He felt his heart beating, like the drums that marked time in between the tolls, but in reverse. When the beat normalized, he felt for the turma within him. It was gone.

Kaydin reached into his satchel, finding his last large vial of turma solution, five doses in total. He uncapped and downed it. He moved three parts of turma into his head. He used one to light Heighten, which had worn off. The other two he coaxed to the back of his head, just above the region where he lit Retain. Using two doses he lit Reflect. He proceeded to review the details of the meeting he had Retained with the Growing Room One worker.

He saw nothing important he hadn’t remembered: the concern of the worker for Kaydin’s life; his care for the turma plants; the discovery of the sixth bulb. With practice, Kaydin had improved his working memory so as to save turma for other uses. Even still, it was better to Retain situations that might hold key moments to be shared with others.

I better get back to Haven. Ry would be keen to have the earthlights in hand.

He crawled along the carved tunnel which Kaydin knew took him under Growing Room One toward the chasm. As the tunnel started to bend, Kaydin took one of the earthlights out for light. The tunnel was just wide and tall enough for one person to pass. Even still, it must have taken his grandfather years to make the secret route. At its end, he found holds and slid the stone door open. Then, using yet more hidden holds he slid the door shut behind him.

Kaydin stood on a ledge no longer than an arm’s length jutting from the cliff face. One step too far and the Abyss would swallow him. It was a black, bottomless, mysterious ocean of emptiness. This was the chasm.

With turma flowing and lights shining dimly from earthlights along the bridge, Kaydin could the vast inverted bowl of the cavern, how it curved high above the chasm bridge to his right and over the Spire.

In the near-still air Kaydin smelled a hint of sentinel. He should travel briskly. He sidestepped along the ledge toward the bridge. When he reached the ledge’s end, he stepped out onto a the sheer wall, his fingers and toes navigating cracks to support his weight. He scaled it smoothly, but took no careless chances. Three holds at any time. Two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand. Sometimes that meant his big toe supported his lower body while his other foot felt for the next hold.

Kaydin didn’t stop climbing until he reached the underside of the chasm bridge where a hidden shelf was carved. As he took his break, Kaydin fingered the stump of his missing left pinky. It would be easier to climb if he still had it, but the loss had made him a smarter climber. Kaydin let his legs do some of the work these days.

His next challenge required technique and strength. He needed to climb across the underside of the chasm bridge.

Before continuing, Kaydin checked his senses. The only sound was his own breathing. The smell of sentinel touched his nostrils, but only faintly. Focused back on the bridge directly above him, he reviewed his route. Kaydin closed his eyes and lit Reflect. He sent the turma to the back of his head.

Kaydin saw himself clinging to the underside of the chasm bridge. His movements were deliberate. Controlled. He moved one leg, then a hand, then a leg, then a hand. An obsidian anchor marked the halfway point where the bridge slanted slightly down in the other direction. Now the hard part. He cupped the anchor with his five-fingered right hand, then pushed with his legs, swinging them like a pendulum above the Abyss as he twisted, catching three holds at the same time with his left hand and both feet. Then he descended the opposite side of the bridge. He engaged his legs even more, despite the tendency in his leaned-back position to over-focus on his arms. Soon he reached the shelf on the western side of the chasm.

Kaydin opened his eyes to end the Reflect. He was glad to have Retained the route; because of the way his body angled, the holds were blind. If he didn’t know exactly where to reach, trial and error might sap his strength too quickly.

Here goes nothing. For a moment he saw Bel’s calmly smiling face, her brown hair, felt her fingertips on his stubbled beard. He hadn’t given her much attention lately, but he wanted to get back and see her again.

Before the halfway point, Kaydin looked over his head at the bridge which slanted downward. It seemed to rise, of course, given that he was viewing it upside down, but he noted the first few holds remained congruent with the Reflection.

He closed his eyes again, visualizing the memory. Visualizing was quite different from actually Reflecting, since Reflecting pulled one out of the moment to view a Retained memory. But, usefully, visualizing required no turma.

He pushed off, twisting as his body swung round. He purchased the three holds he needed and his grip was true. He breathed out heavily.

The most difficult part was behind him. He’d be back to Haven soon. He rested on the ledge and took in his surroundings. Now the Spire rose to his left, while the growing room entrances were square black holes across the chasm on the eastern side. Kaydin smelled sentinel again, and soon discovered why.

Yellow eyes poked out of the square black hole of Growing Room One. If Kaydin hadn’t used Heighten, he probably wouldn’t have noticed them all the way across the chasm and up the stairs. A shiver went through him. He didn’t know how good the sentinel’s vision was. Or if he had been seen.

Kaydin didn't mind the novelty of near misses with sentinels--life in this city was mostly a monotonous grind--but he could only smile at the memory if he survived. Not knowing for sure if he'd been seen, Kaydin nevertheless took the wall leading down the chasm’s western face more aggressively. He found the ledge he sought, propped the stone door with the secret levers, and slipped through the crack into the innards of the wall.