Corvan studied the arc of metal deck plates on the bridge overhead. On the far side of the Cor River, the twin supports of the suspension chains pointed at the fading light of the largest lumien like a pair of shadowed daggers. Night had fallen and he had slept too long without waking Atiya. S he wouldn’t be happy with him.
Sitting up, he checked where she had been sleeping, but Atiya was gone.
The chains above him rattled and two shadowed figures walked onto the bridge, speaking in hushed tones. Crawling to the front of the alcove Corvan tried to see if one of them might be Atiya but the noise from the river drowned out most of their conversation. As he strained to catch their words, a bit of lumien energy seeped into his ears and brought the voices into focus. It was Madam Toreg and Garek, the leader of her gray men. They were scouring the city, looking for Atiya.
Leaving the alcove, Corvan crept up the steps leading to the roadway. A stone wall protecting travelers from falling into the water had been built far enough onto the roadway to allow him to crawl undetected along the outer edge. He moved closer to the bridge to find out what might have become of Atiya.
He was halfway along the ledge when another person came running along the road, turned down the stairs and passed immediately below him. It was one of Garek’s men and he was heading for the alcove where he and Atiya had slept. Corvan flattened himself onto the ledge as the man came sprinting back up the stairs, then ran on to join the others on the bridge.
Corvan sent more lumien energy to his ears and leaned towards the bridge.
"Madam, there is no one below and no sign of the blood,” the new man said. “We have lost them."
Garek's deep voice growled out a command. "Take the others and search again around the streets where the lumien fell. Bring us word as soon as you see the Broken moving in. It won't be long now. The darkness is almost upon us."
The bridge deck flexed as the man ran off. Madam Toreg and Garek left the bridge to stand on the road, just beyond the low wall near Corvan. Corvan crouched low and a small piece of the ledge broke off beneath his foot, bouncing off the steps into the rushing water below.
"Madam, we shall find Atiya, I promise you," Garek said.
"Not if the Broken find her first,” Madam Toreg said, her voice choking with emotion. “They will be mad with the scent of that smashed lumien. Nothing will stand in their way. They have long been denied what they crave, and now they will hunt down whoever consumed it."
"Surely you don’t think Atiya ate the lumien's heart."
Madam Toreg's voice faltered. "I don't believe she is that foolish, but the one who was with her did. You know the signs as well as I do, Garek. The drops of blood we followed here reeked of lumien power. Perhaps he's already gone insane and has..." A sigh escaped her lips.
"Do not give up hope, Madam. Atiya is a strong fighter."
Madam Toreg cleared her throat. "Yes, you trained her well. Thank you for that comfort." Her voice drew nearer, and the back of her hood appeared above the wall. “I am so weary, Garek. Everything has fallen to pieces since that boy came into the library. Now I wonder if I missed something. Perhaps he was not the one we were looking for.”
Garek joined her at the wall and looked out over the river. Corvan tried to duck even lower but his foot slipped off the ledge and he began to fall. Lumien energy rushed to other leg, propelling him through the air toward the bridge. Twisting around in mid-air, his hands locked onto the chains. He dangled there only for a moment before powerful hands yanked him onto the metal decking.
"Are you all right sister? What are you doing out here all alone?" Garek turned Corvan over and his eyes flashed with anger. "Why are you wearing these clothes?” he demanded. “Who are you?" Garek's hands tightened on his neck and Corvan struggled to pull in a breath. Garek was about to strangle him! Energy leapt from Corvan's heart, and he thrust to his feet, throwing Garek high in the air. The man fell hard on the bridge panels, but sprang immediately back to his feet, hands wide and ready to attack. "Stay back, Madam. This is the one who devoured the lumien. I can smell it on his breath."
Corvan whirled to face Madam Toreg. "No, it's me, Corvan! Atiya gave me these . . ." The words had just left his lips when Garek crashed into him and threw him to the ground, driving the air from his lungs. A sword flashed over Corvan's head.
"Stay your hand, Garek. Did you not hear him? Look." Madam Toreg pulled back Corvan's hood. "He looks different, but Corvan has returned to us, and he knows where Atiya is."
Garek backed away and Corvan drew a shallow breath. He tried to get up but fell back onto the bridge deck. Madam Toreg came forward and helped him sit against one of the support pillars. "Take your time, Corvan. Get your breath back."
Garek limped to the pillar across from them, staring down at Corvan through narrowed eyes. "No one could have thrown me like that without the power of a lumien inside them. He has done the unforgivable and consumed our life." Garek sheathed his sword. "You should have let me kill him. It would have been a mercy compared to what will happen to him now."
Madam Toreg raised a hand. "Quiet, Garek. We may yet be able to save him. Think of your brother."
"We only bought him a short time,” Garek said, shaking his head. He could not give up using the lumien power.”
"So you would rather we had killed him right away and not even tried?" Madam Toreg asked.
There was a pause. "No, Madam."
She turned back to Corvan. "Are you all right?"
Corvan nodded, working to slow his heart rate and keep the lumien energy locked inside.
"Do you know what happened to Atiya?" she asked.
He nodded over the edge of the bridge. "She was with me down there before I fell asleep. I woke up just before you arrived, but she was already gone."
"Was she with you in the street when the lumien fell?" Madam Toreg asked.
"Yes, and then those soldiers jumped us,” Corvan replied. “One of them died but the other got away."
Garek spoke. "Perhaps Atiya went back to Gavyn's tree to get away from him." He pointed sharply at Corvan. "She learned from my brother not to trust anyone who has eaten a lumien seed."
Madam Toreg did not take her eyes from Corvan. "Did you eat the lumien heart?"
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
She looked at him with such compassion that Corvan's eyes welled up with tears. "Only one bite, just a small taste. Atiya saved me by destroying the rest of it."
"That would explain the heavy scent in the air," Garek said. "As soon as it reaches the hiding places of the Broken, all of them will come out looking for it. There is no telling what the Broken might do tonight. We must warn the palace. They will need more soldiers at the central gate."
Garek tensed, then peered around the stone pillar. He straightened as the three remaining gray men ran in from the road.
One pointed over his shoulder, "Madam, they are coming." His voice was shaking. "All of them are coming, more than we even knew were left."
"And they come quietly," another of the gray men whispered. "We have never seen such a thing. The Broken are creeping through the shadows without a sound.” He looked to Garek. “Can they track us?"
"No," Garek said, pointing directly at Corvan. "But they can certainly track him."
Corvan's throat went dry. "How?"
"They will sense the power trapped in your body and taste it on the air with every breath you breathe,” Garek said. “They will find the traces of lumien power that seeped from your pores onto the stones and walls you have touched. Some will die choking on rocks that have your lumien infused blood on them. They want it desperately and will do anything to get more.” He raised his eyebrows. “Something you no doubt understand very well yourself.”
"Can we take Corvan back to Gavyn’s tree?" Madam Toreg asked.
"No Madam. He has so much power trapped inside him, that there is nowhere in Kadir the Broken will not follow. They will tear the city apart to find his body and when they do, they will tear him to pieces to consume every bit of what he holds inside. After that they will turn on each other. I have seen it before."
Silence settled over them, but it was shattered by wailing voices, like a pack of hungry coyotes on the trail of a wounded rabbit.
One of the grey men spoke up, and for the first time, Corvan heard fear in the man's voice. "They come, Madam. Perhaps this is one time when a death by water would be permitted?"
"No," Madam Toreg shot back, then paused. "But we can send some of them into the abyss if we cross to the other side and release the bridge panels when they try to cross. We prepared the bridge for this type of emergency. It will buy Corvan some time."
Pulling something from under her hood, she looped it over Corvan's head and pushed it under the tunic Atiya had given him. "This is something I should have done when Tyreth first became Kadir's ruler. Now it is up to you. While we hold the bridge, you must run along the far side of the river and back into Kadir at the upper crossing. Run as hard as you can. Run until there is not a bit of lumien energy left inside you. Go directly to the palace and find Tyreth. Tell her to wear it at all times and wait to be called to the chamber. The future of Kadir and the Cor is now in her hands."
A fresh chorus of howls sounded from up the road and the three gray men rushed Madam Toreg to the far end of the bridge. Garek watched as Corvan struggled to his feet, then followed the others to the other side.
Upon reaching the crown of the bridge, Corvan stopped and grabbed one of the support chains. Garek was right, he had made a mess of everything. It was his fault that Atiya, Madam Toreg and the gray men were in danger. If he ran away and left them, even if he could get to Tyreth in time, Madam Toreg, Atiya, Garek and the others would all die.
Grabbing the adjacent support chain, he leaned out from the bridge deck and over the river. There was only one way to save them and the city of Kadir. If the Broken wanted him that badly, and would follow him anywhere, he would lead them away from Kadir, forever.
Soft blue light from above shimmered on the dark surface below. Did the Broken know how to swim? It was unlikely given how much everyone in the Cor feared the water, but it really didn't matter. If there was nowhere in Kadir they would not follow, he would lure them into the water and let the river in the deep channel sweep them into the abyss.
"Corvan!" Madam Toreg shouted. "They are coming!"
Corvan glanced over his shoulder. On the Kadir side of the river road, a tattered swarm was racing toward the bridge. Ragged breaths and grunts echoed off the rock walls of the ruined buildings, interspersed with screams as bodies tumbled and were trampled underfoot.
Madam Toreg continued calling urgently to him, but Corvan looked directly at Garek and pointed down at the bridge deck. Garek nodded, a look of respect in his eyes.
Turning to face the water Corvan sent a burst of lumien power to his lungs. His head spun as he tipped his face back and exhaled into the air, like a silent howl at the lumien moon overhead. Almost immediately, a cry of crazed desire rose from the horde. The bridge sagged with the weight of their eager bodies as they ran at him. They were just steps away when Corvan let go of the chains, diving cleanly into the water below.
Surfacing he looked back to find the bridge thick with writhing forms, like flies on an open jam jar. The Broken began pushing each other off in tangled clumps and then, without warning, the center of the bridge collapsed into the river along with a mangled pile of the Broken. Garek had released the bridge panels at the perfect time.
The river foamed as the Broken thrashed in the water below the ruined bridge, bodies on bodies, the ones on top using the drowning ones to stay afloat as they lunged madly toward him. A smaller group ran along the far shore, catching up to him and then leaping out to splash heavily around him. Desperate fingers clutched him in their final moments and dragged him under the water with their dead weight.
Twisting himself free he swam back to the surface. The river was choked with torn clothing and drowned bodies that began slowly sinking away as the current rushed him along between the steep walls of the channel. Lifting his head he looked downstream. The only place he could possibly pull himself out of the water was around the bend where the dam used to feed the irrigation channels.
Another body spun past him as the current bumped him into the far side of the curving bank. Eager shouts erupted across the water, and he looked ahead to where a line of the Broken were jumping about; they were waiting for him on top lip of the dam.
Corvan swam hard against the current, dodging dead bodies being swept downstream, but it was no use; the current was too strong. He drifted momentarily and then it came to him. If he could not swim against the river then he could use its speed to his advantage. Turning back towards the dam, Corvan pushed lumien energy into his legs and arms and swam for all he was worth, flying along with the flow of the river.
The dam loomed ahead, crowded with the silhouetted figures jostling for position. Corvan measured the remaining distance, ducked under the surface, kicked hard and then propelled himself out of the water in an attempt to fly over the broken.
He was too low and slammed into a wall of flesh. For a brief moment the Broken held him fast, their hands scratching and grasping, then together they toppled over the far side of the dam, bouncing down the spillway and splashing into the deep water below. Corvan released more lumien energy to flow around his lungs as he sank along with the Broken to the bottom, until one by one their hands grew limp and let go.
Pushing off the river bottom, he rose slowly back to the surface. The roar of the falls was just ahead. A few dark silhouettes still ran along the river on the far bank before they disappeared into a heavy mist, and then he was falling, twisting and dropping with the foaming water.
He plunged deep into a pool at the bottom of the falls, his knees thumping painfully off the rocks at the bottom. He tried to reach the surface, but the churning current jammed him up against a rope net along with the drowned bodies of the Broken.
Looking up through the rising bubbles he could barely make out the outline of the net. He climbed and more bodies slammed into him, pining him against the thick rope mesh. He needed to breath but there was no lumien energy left around his lungs to assist him.
Another body pushed him in hard against the ropes. The wide eyes of the contorted dead face were staring at him, then a white tentacle appeared around the drowned man's neck. The corpse was whipped away into the darkness at the base of the falls. Even more tentacles began shooting out and snatching bodies from the net, as the bulbous white shadow of an even larger Volisk emerged from behind a curtain of bubbles.
Grabbing the thick ropes of the net, Corvan hauled himself upward as fast as the last bits of lumien power in his arms could propel him. His face broke the surface near a stone ledge, and he heaved himself out of the water and rolled on his back.
He had escaped.
Struggling to his feet, he took step away from the water. A thin tentacle shot out, wrapped around his ankle, dropped him to the rocks and dragged him back toward the water.
Grasping a knob of rock near the water’s edge, Corvan let all the remaining lumien power out of his heart and into his arms. With a desperate cry of agony, he yanked himself forward, got to his feet and stumbled along, trailing the torn limb of the water creature, still attached to his leg.
He collapsed flat and face down.
His strength was completely gone; he couldn't even lift his head.