Melting Stones

Arguments

W hen Oswin and I returned to the courtyard at the inn, we found a mess. People clustered around a soaking wet Myrrhtide, shouting at him. Others were carrying their things back into their houses. Azaze came out of the inn, thrusting men and women aside. Oswin shoved in to stand beside her as they cleared a space around Myrrhtide.

Azaze held a poker. She looked like she was ready to use it on someone. "Dubyine, how dare you speak to a guest this way?"

A big woman armed with a ladle faced Azaze. "How dare I, Azaze? How dare you and these outsiders take us for green kids? There's gonna be no volcano! First they say, it's coming any time now! Then they say, a couple more days. I'm not fool enough to be taken by such a trick! They're going to loot the town when we go. They already got rid of the richer folk, but they're not getting what little we have!"

"Trick?!" Myrrhtide's face was garnet-colored, he was so furious. "I am a Dedicate Initiate of Winding Circle temple, and you call me a common thief?"

He'd better calm down, I thought, or he'll have a heart attack. From the look of his neck and temples, a whole lot of Myrrhtide's veins were about to explode.

"Dedicate Initiate, do not trouble yourself with this rabble." Azaze put her free hand on Myrrhtide's arm. "They aren't worth your time. I assure you, though, I will make them worth mine"

"You and who else, Azaze?" Dubyine smirked at her. "You and Oswin here? I don't think that's enough."

"I'm just wondering, Dubyine. Did you notice the earthquake we just had? What do you think that was? A whisper from the goddess?" Oswin sounded as friendly as if she offered him cake, not a bashing with a ladle.

"We've had a hundred earthquakes this year. Maybe you and Azaze are fools, but I know a thing or two. These false dedicates won't help themselves to my little bits of things." Dubyine gave Myrrhtide a small, mean smile. "Though I'll turn a blind eye for half of the proceeds."

"You dare?" Myrrhtide's eyes bulged from his head. "To say such a thing to me—me—" His mouth opened and closed.

Yep, I told myself. Heart attack for sure.

"I have spent this entire day immersed in that lake." Myrrhtide's voice shook. "I have sent calls to every quarter of the compass, requesting ships to save the people of this island. This is how you thank me? Threats? Bribes? The council of Winding Circle will hear of this! They will remember, and you can whistle for it when you need our help again!"

"We don't believe you're from Winding Circle, mate." Several men closed in behind Dubyine. The one who spoke gave me goose bumps. When I saw him I started to send heat into the rocks around the courtyard. I called them, wriggling them from the ground. I might need them for weapons. If ever someone's looks screamed "pirate," it was this man's. There were tattoos on his arms—he didn't have sleeves—and a big scar on his face. "And now you've rid us of our richer folk and their fighting servants," he said to Azaze, "we see no reason why we should let you take any of the profit."

"Karove, you've always been a greedy fool." Azaze nodded to someone behind the man Karove and his friends.

The master miner and some other people walked out of the shadows. They looked just as hard as Dubyine, Karove, and the others. In their hands they carried staffs or clubs. What they might have done next I don't know. They didn't get the chance to do it. The ground under Dubyine and Karove sprouted vines. Rosethorn was nearby. From the thorns on the vines, I guessed she wasn't in a good mood. Little springs of water spurted from the ground under the feet of the pirate-looking men. In a blink of an eye they were up to their ankles in mud. That was Myrrhtide's work. The men sloshed and slipped, falling. The miner and his friends stepped in to take their weapons away.

I drew the heat from my stones and let them settle into the ground again. I didn't wait to hear Azaze and Oswin apologize to Myrrhtide. I went inside. When I found the maids, I asked them to fix some hot food and tea for Myrrhtide and Rosethorn. Then I climbed upstairs. The maids wouldn't go near Myrrhtide's bags. I took out a clean robe and some underclothes, and spread them on his cot. I fetched clean towels for him, too. Then I went to my room.

I heard a boy's voice as I approached: Treak's. "So have you seen these volcano kids Oswin was talking about?"

"I have seen them as small pieces only. I cannot see them as whole beings, any more than I can visit the chamber where they and their kindred live." Poor Luvo. After visiting the lake he must have gone to my room for some more quiet. "They are part of the force that gave birth to me. Their power is the same as mine. If I draw too close to them, my existence will end. I will melt."

I walked in. Not only was Treak there with Luvo, so was Meryem. Worse, they had my chunks of granite out, the ones I kept for an emergency supply of strength.

"What are you doing with those?" I demanded. "They're magic. Luvo, why did you let them meddle with my magic things?"

"To keep them from meddling with things which might do them harm, Evumeimei," said Luvo. "They cannot release the power from these, as you know quite well."

"We're not deaf," said Treak, "we can answer for ourselves. We're hiding from Nory. She wants to make a drag sled from blankets and branches. I told her wait till Oswin comes back. He'll pull together some way to cart the rest of our things."

"She says that's lazy." Meryem was putting my granite cubes in their wooden box. I was impressed that she remembered the right spot for each cube. "She says that if more people did for themselves Oswin wouldn't work so hard."

"Well, Oswin's the only one of us who can get the grown-ups to help." Treak was trying to juggle two of my crystal spheres.

I snatched them from the air before he dropped them. "Leave my things alone!"

"You're as touchy as Nory," Treak said. "Who cares about stupid old rocks anyway?"

I almost said, Who cares about stupid old humans, but I didn't. Instead I ground my teeth and gave Luvo a very obvious look.

"Master Luvo's different." Treak waved a hand at Luvo. "He's a god or a spirit or something. The rules are different for them. But regular old rocks just sit there. They don't have a brain. They can't speak. They can't hear."

"You show your ignorance, young meat creature." Luvo was sitting on a wooden chair. He settled a little, and the seat bowed with his weight. I kept an eye on the seat. If Luvo forgot and settled again, the chair might break. "Rocks and crystals have memories far longer than yours. It was their memory, called forth by Tahar and Jayat, that told us of the first volcano here. Rosethorn can tell you of the prints of ancient animals and plants carried within stones. They can tell you of the changes in the earth and of the sea. You dwell here for a speck of time, but stones have the memory of thousands, millions of humans."

"Stones can tell you about light and heat and water," I broke in. "Look here." I took the cloth roll of my alphabet from my back. Carefully I untied it, opening it up on the bed. I drew out my favorite stone. "See this? It's an opal. The colors work because the crystals are arranged at different angles in the stone. Crystals bend light. Crystals know more about light than you could ever dream of." Meryem bent over the opal, her mouth open. I hesitated, then let her hold it. "Some stones will keep heat for a long time. Others you can heat and heat and heat and nothing happens. Some will tell you all about the weight you need to press stone together so its layers blend. Some will say how long they took to move from the bottom of the sea to the top of the mountain. How is any of that boring?"

Treak shrugged. "If you have to ask me that, then you can't understand my answer. Meryem, it's just a rock."

"It's a beautiful rock. It's the most beautifullest rock I ever saw." Meryem gave the opal back to me. "I have a beautiful rock of my very own. There's green and blue in it."

"It sounds pretty." I looked at Treak. "Just because you don't understand, don't pick on Meryem." I took out the stone that looks like shards of blue ice crystals trapped in white ice. I showed it to Meryem. "No, I'll hold it. It's really fragile. It's called kyanite."

"Lemme see." Treak grabbed for it. He broke off the long spar that stuck out of one end. He looked at the slender length of kyanite, then at me, shocked. "I didn't mean—"

He was wearing a red shirt. The imperial soldiers wore red tunics. For a moment Treak looked a little like one of them. They had smashed their way into my room to capture me, and broken the stones I was keeping there. "No wonder the thing you're best at is breaking furniture! Get out!" I yanked the stone from his hand. I didn't even care that it cut him.

"You mages think you're so great! You think even your dung is magic!" Treak reached for the basin. I think he meant to throw it at me.

Meryem seized his arm. "Stop it, Treak!" She looked at me. "He doesn't mean it, Evvy! I can fix your rock, honest! Oswin makes this special glue. I can put your rock together!"

I couldn't stand that look in Meryem's eyes. She looked like a kitten climbing out of a stream. "The rock's fine—it just lost a piece. Take Meryem to Nory, Treak. Before you really make me mad."

He towed Meryem to my door. Then he looked back at me. "I hope your volcano spirits eat you. I hope you get lost under Mount Grace!"

I answered before I thought. "It would be better than being around people like you!"

Treak towed Meryem out of the room.

"It is but one piece of kyanite, Evumeimei."

"I'm just being a meat creature, Luvo. Give me a time."

Now I could cry as I sat on the bed. He had handled this piece of my new life—the life with no hunger, beatings, or cold—as if it was a cheap toy. I tried to fit the kyanite pieces together. It was useless. Once the inner bonds that held it were broken, no magic could fix this delicate chunk of crystals.

Cloth rustled behind me. Rosethorn walked in. "I think Meryem feels you meant her."

"I'll set it right later." I had handled too much power that day. I'd bent my magic around too many new ideas. My mage self was up to it, because I was still alive, but my body was still meat. It was weary meat at that. "I'm so tired, Rosethorn."

"Sleep, then. Don't wait too long to set things right with her. Unless you really would rather live with the volcano spirits." Rosethorn looked me over and sighed. "I'll bring your supper up later."

If I lived in lava, I wouldn't need supper, I thought. I lay down on my cot. I didn't even realize that I was still holding my kyanite as I went to sleep.

Luvo woke me when he stuck his nose in my eye. His crystals were glowing with a soft purple light that filled our room.

"What is it?" I whispered because I could see Rosethorn's sleeping body in the next cot.

Luvo said quietly, "I am disturbed by the movement of the earth that approaches now. It is—"

"Ten miles out." It was a big shaker, coming at us in a giant wave. "Rosethorn!" I called.

She sat up instantly. "Wha? 'S better be good."

"Quake coming," I said. "We have to be outside for this one." At least I was still wearing clothes.

We grabbed our mage kits. I stuffed my alphabet into mine. Then I settled my sling and put Luvo in it.

Rosethorn was scrambling into her robe. "I'll wake Myrrhtide, you wake the kitchen staff. They're the only people who sleep here. Send one of them to rouse Azaze and her husbands. Have the others wake everyone in the courtyard."

I did as I was told. All of us fled the inn. Most of the villagers who meant to go in the morning were camped just outside. By the time we came out, they were awake. They hung on to their animals or their children, waiting nervously. Many of them prayed. Rosethorn and Myrrhtide prayed with them. I guess they were supposed to, under the circumstances.

The earth surged from down deep, miles of stones groaning and rocking. Roof slates fell from the inn. Inside wood and mortar crashed. The horses protested; dogs howled. People screamed. A crack opened under the stable; half of the building collapsed into it with a roar.

At last everything was quiet again. People got up and went to see what damage there was in the rest of the village.

Azaze went to look at the stable. "Splendid. Just splendid. I had this wreck rebuilt four months ago, and now look! It's ruined! I can't afford an entirely new stable!"

"Evumeimei," Luvo whispered, "we must talk."

I chewed my lower lip. I knew a trick that only worked with stones that were of the same kind. It would prove really useful just now. "All right, but I need to do something first." I picked up my kit. "Let's find some privacy."

The half-moon gave me enough light to find the inn's kitchen garden. It was messed up from the earthquake. Mostly that meant the night was filled with the scents of crushed basil, oregano, and fennel. I put Luvo on an upended bucket so we could talk face-to-face when it got to be time. Then I took a chunk of quartz from my kit. It was no bigger than my palm. The important thing was that it was a collection of crystals, kin in spirit to the ones where I had left Carnelian and Flare. I let myself fall into its cracks and splits. In it I drifted, keeping a seed of thought in my head: the picture of Carnelian and Flare in the crystal trap.

And there it was, as if I stood only a few yards away. Waves of heat rose around me, rippling through the earth. Something weird had happened to the bed of quartz. It had been raised, twisted, and fused together into a great loop, just as Luvo had said. Inside its thousands of pieces I saw bits of carnelian and blue color, a spot of each to a crystal, all spinning. They moved so fast, each bit in its own little prison, that they looked as if they flowed through the quartz, instead of being stuck in one place. And the bed itself quivered in the earth, making the dirt and stones around it shake.

How long before their volcano friends found them? What if they felt that quivering and came to see what made it? And what would happen once they freed their guides?

My imagination showed me a scary picture. In it, the whole island of Starns shot into the sky, riding a huge column of molten lava.

"Heibei, this is a bad time to frown at me," I whispered. I pulled my mind from my crystals and put the clump away. Then I looked at Luvo. "We made a mistake. I thought if we could get Flare and Carnelian out of the way, the danger would be over. But it's not."

"The earthquakes that have come since we trapped them are not normal earthquakes." Luvo kept his voice down. "They feel more like the waves of the ocean, but far below the earth's stone shell."

"It's the others," I told Luvo. "The ones Flare and Carnelian said never had the nerve to do anything. I think they were wrong. The others want Flare and Carnelian to lead them out. Now they're hunting for them. They won't stop till they find them and everyone gets to break out into the open."

Luvo began to pace. I leaned back and waited, closing my eyes. My head ached ferociously.

Luvo halted. "I will build shields between the lower depths and the trap we have made for Carnelian and Flare. Obsidian drawn from the riverbed, I think. The obsidian will show the other spirits their own faces, nothing else. It will reflect, not reveal."

"Granite to back it, though," I suggested. "If the volcano spirits get close enough, they'll melt the obsidian. Granite will slow them down. What do you want me to do?"

"Guard me as you ride to the ships," Luvo ordered. "Azaze and Tahar will wait no longer. Dawn is just a short time away. Pick me up."

When we came out from behind the inn, I saw that Luvo was right. Everyone was up and moving. No one had gone back to sleep. Tahar was bundled up in a hooded robe. She sat on the seat of her little cart, screeching orders. Jayat stood at the head of the pony that drew the cart. It looked like he was going to walk.

Oswin waited with Nory, Treak, and his other foster-kids. He carried a huge pack on his shoulders as if it weighed nothing, and a pair of kittens in a basket on one hip. If he was worried, he didn't look it. His head was cocked. He stared into the distance, his lips moving silently. Nory was fastening small cloth packs onto the backs of the little children. They rode the tired-looking ponies who had been harnessed to the cart before it collapsed. When Nory saw me, she gave me a glare that would have peeled paint. Treak and the older kids did the same. I went to saddle Spark.

Once I'd taken care of that, I placed Luvo in his sling and hung it from the saddle horn. He was as still as dead rock. The best part of his mind and power had gone into the earth. I strapped my saddlebags into place. Rosethorn had cared for her own horse. She was talking quietly with Azaze and Myrrhtide.

"I don't care if we have more days, perhaps!" Tahar's old voice was crystal clear above all of the others. She was talking to one of the village women. "Perhapses never got fields plowed or wood chopped, you brainless nit! Will you wait for earthquakes to pull your house down, or the volcano to burn it? We're leaving! The rock may be great among his kind, but he himself admits there's a chance the spirits will escape the trap. Jayat, stop ogling Norya. Move this collection of splinters!"

Oswin turned to look at the old mage. "What about Dubyine, Karove, and their people? They went back to Snake Hollow. Should we send word that we're leaving?"

Azaze snorted. "Let them stay and loot until the volcano cooks them."

Tahar leaned to the cart's side and spat on the ground. "That for Dubyine and her stinking crew. May they eat ash cakes and drink molten stone."

For all that everyone said that Tahar wasn't much of a mage, I saw lots of people grab amulets and press them to their lips. Either they didn't want to take a chance, or they feared Tahar's ill-speaking. As far as I was concerned, Dubyine and Karove had called Rosethorn a thief. That settled it for me. I hoped Tahar's curse took.