Part 60 (1/2)

She put the striker into a sack and looped it over her shoulder, then pulled the white gauntlets on and fastened them. They were too big for her, but would have to do. Then she withdrew one of the gleaming teeth from the case. The etching flashed in the light.

”Can you feel its power?” he asked.

”It's alive,” she said. ”Thinking. I can feel it through my hand.”

”What does silver think?”

”This isn't just silver, remember? It's a weave.”

”Indeed,” he said. A weave, just like him.

”Well,” she said. ”I suppose it's time.”

”The quicker, the better.”

They stepped around the cold stream and entered the cave with Sugar in the lead. Talen walked behind, holding the torch out to the side to minimize the shadows he cast before her.

The breeze fanned the flames on the torch. ”It's going to make them burn fast,” said Talen.

”Then we'll have to walk quickly,” said Sugar.

She pa.s.sed the spot where she'd crouched earlier. The torchlight revealed walls wet with water and slime. She tried her best to keep from stepping barefoot in the water; the cave was cool and the last thing she needed was to chill herself to the point where she could barely move.

Sidestepping the stream worked for a while, but the dry earth soon ended, and they came to a spot that was black, icy water from wall to wall.

Talen held the torch out. There was no way around it.

So be it. Sugar stepped into it. At first it only came to her ankles, but then it deepened and she found herself wading in spots up to her thighs, hoping with each step that the ground didn't completely drop out from under her. Her feet quickly began to ache from the cold. She had calluses built up from walking barefoot all summer, but they were not proof against the water and sharp points of the rocks.

She stumbled, caught herself, then stumbled again. She did not want to lose her grip on the tooth, and so let her knees take the brunt of the fall. This time she struck the sharp rocks below with her knees and cursed at the pain.

”Lords,” said Talen.

”I'm fine,” she said.

”No,” he said, ”not that. Look.” He held the torch higher.

She pushed herself up and looked ahead. The pathway ended in a wall.

”Are you sure this is the right cave?” he asked.

”I'm sure,” she said. But then her courage faltered: maybe the thing climbed the walls. Furthermore, in many places the torchlight did not reveal this wall's total height. Maybe the creature's lair was up, not forward, and they'd already walked past it.

She took the torch from Talen and splashed forward. When she got to the wall, she held the torch up. The jagged wall stood perhaps twelve or fifteen feet high. Water dripped down from the ceiling. She could hear water splas.h.i.+ng from above like a brook cascading over rocks. She reached out and felt the slippery rock of the wall. There was no way they could scale it.

”There,” said Talen and motioned to the right. ”We can get up that way.”

On her right the rock face was broken and free of slime. From below it looked like a narrow ledge joined up with the area above the wall.

”How are you going to get up that?” she asked.

”You go first then pull me up with the rope.”

She looked at him. ”I don't know if your lame carca.s.s is worth it.”

”Oh, it's worth it,” said Talen.

She looked back up into the blackness. ”It's going to be up there waiting for me.”

”Maybe,” said Talen.

”And I can't climb that with one hand.”

”No, you can't. But I'll hold the light for you.”

”You're a big help.”

He shrugged.

”I'll carry the torch in my teeth,” she said finally and put the hag's tooth back into its case and slipped that into the bag at her side. She didn't take off the gauntlets. If something was up there she wouldn't have time to retrieve the case and put them on. When she finished tying the case to her, she put the stem of the torch between her teeth and began to climb.

If the creature caught them now, they were lost.

There were plenty of foot and hand holds, but they were not as dry as they seemed. And her dripping clothes only added to the problem, but even if it had been dry, her feet and legs were still stiff and hurting from the icy water. Nevertheless, she rose. It was slick and slow going and she expected the monster to appear at any moment.

But then she reached the ledge. It was perhaps two feet wide and more than enough for her to sit on. She clambered over the edge, and then took the torch from her mouth and held it to see farther down the pa.s.sage.

The ceiling seeped. Long stalact.i.tes and stalagmites had formed, looking like huge caramel teeth. Further down, water poured out of a rent in the side of the corridor then tumbled over the wall. Beyond that was blackness.

This ledge did indeed join that pa.s.sage.

She untied the case, placed it on the ledge beside her, then threw down one end of the rope.

Talen tied the remaining torches into a bundle, and she hauled them up. When the torches were resting next to her, she held the light out for Talen.

”I can do it without a rope,” he said.

”It's slicker than it appears,” she said.

”I can feel that,” he said. ”Especially where you dripped.”

Then he began to climb, gingerly at first, careful of his shoulder, then more quickly. Soon he was almost to the top ”Ha,” he said. ”Lame indeed.” But at that moment his footing slipped and he lurched to the side, then backward. He tried to catch himself with his bad arm and winced. Sugar reached out for him, but instead of grabbing her hand, he reached out wildly and grabbed a thick handful of her hair.

His grasp caught her off guard and she was yanked toward him. They were both going to pitch over the ledge.

Talen shouted his dismay, his eyes wide.

Then Sugar caught a seam in the rock on the ledge with both hands and pushed back. It was like a man trying to tug a donkey, except in this instance Talen was the man, holding onto a fistful of her hair, and she was the donkey.