“The gnome we saw yesterday,” her Coach whispered. “Is he . . . ?”
“He’s in quarantine with the others,” Sophie told her. “Still waiting for someone to discover the cure. So if you’ve seen anything in the Neutral Territories that might be helpful . . .”
“I haven’t,” the Coach said. She started to walk away, then slowed her pace long enough to add, “But I will keep my eyes open.”
“Thank you,” Sophie said.
They’d reached the tent by then, and her Coach ordered everyone to grab their mats and drag them into the sweltering sun. The rest of the day was very long and hot and sweaty as they practiced body temperature regulation. Around the third blistering hour, Sophie learned to shift her concentration to her cells and turned her skin hyperaware to any traces of coolness. Then the tiniest breeze felt like a blast of arctic wind and the slightest trickle of sweat felt like a bucket of ice water.
When the sun sank low enough to stretch the shadows into angled smudges, the Shade’s whispered voice filled her mind.
“How were you not arrested yesterday?” he asked.
I still have a few friends in the Lost Cities. She debated a second before adding, I hope I have a couple here, too.
“You already have the four you came with,” he reminded her. “Do you really have room for more?”
Can you have too many friends? she asked.
He was silent for a long time. Then he whispered, “I wouldn’t know.”
The next day Exillium brought them to the side of a rocky mountain, where a gaping hole granted entrance into a dark cavern. The Coaches led them inside, and they walked farther and farther until the damp, black air blotted out the light.
“Today you’ll be improving your night vision,” the Coaches said in unison, their voices echoing off the cavern walls. “Let your eyes adjust and your mind will do the rest.”
It sounded far simpler than it turned out to be.
Sophie tried everything she could think of, but all she ever saw was inky darkness. And the longer it surrounded her, the heavier it felt, until she had to remind herself that she could still breathe and the air wasn’t running out.
“Are you afraid of the dark?” the Shade whispered in her head.
I’m afraid of things that use darkness to hide, she told him.
“Creepy crawly things?” he asked.
Those aren’t my favorite, she admitted.
“But clearly not what’s making you shiver,” he said. “Monsters, then?”
His whispered voice was teasing, but Sophie couldn’t smile.
She’d been kidnapped from a cave—which probably wasn’t the best memory to relive at the moment.
Monsters come in all shapes and sizes.
“Like the ones behind the plague?”
What do you mean? she asked. Did you see something?
“I’ve seen a lot of things.”
Like what?
Her eyes were finally adjusting—or maybe her mind was—because blurry forms were taking shape around her. The closest silhouette was the Shade.
Like what? she transmitted again, leaning closer.
He backed a step away. “Not now.”
When? she pressed.
“When I know whether or not I can trust you.”
He vanished into the shadows, taking his whispers with him.
By the time they’d reached the end of the week, Sophie had never been so tired, between the long Exillium days and the late nights of Cognate training. But she was more tired of the lack of progress. Her friends had been trying to learn about the Psionipath, but their Coaches were too guarded to answer their questions. And the campus had moved to yet another location without the slightest trace of plague.
They’d leaped to a glassy lake at the base of a snowcapped mountain to practice holding their breath, and two small tents had been added so they could change into wetsuits. Swim caps covered their hair and enormous goggles covered their faces, and they waded into the chilly water to float facedown and try to stay there.
It was the most brutal skill yet, and Sophie’s lungs were constantly screaming, BREATHE NOW OR YOU WILL DIE! Even the Hydrokinetic struggled with the assignment—in fact, she seemed to have it harder than anyone. As soon as she’d put her face in the water she’d thrash and flail, and when the Shade tried to calm her she kept mumbling, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”
By the second hour, the girl was in tears, and Sophie realized she might be able to help.
I can keep you calm, she transmitted to the girl. But I wanted to ask before I tried it. If you don’t want me to, make a sound so I know.
The girl stayed silent.
Okay, here goes.