Mahimata by Rati Mehrotra

Author:Rati Mehrotra
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-01-24T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

An Unexpected Ally

The moon slipped into the sky and the Ferghana Hub shone silver against the shadows of the night. Kyra’s skin prickled as long, dark shapes flowed up the hill toward her. Until this moment, she had not given a thought to how it would feel to be surrounded by the beasts in their fearsome wolf shape. She had grown so used to talking with Menadin in Anant-kal, she had quite forgotten what he was like in the real world. In her world.

A gigantic wyr-wolf emerged from the shadows and ambled toward her. Kyra fought down her fear. It was only Menadin; she recognized him, with his thick gray mane and the white streak on his ridged forehead. But it was hard to remember, hard to suppress her own ingrained terror of the deadly form he inhabited.

Menadin stopped in front of her and flicked his ears. What are you waiting for? he seemed to be saying. Hurry up and open the door.

Kyra swallowed and bowed. “Thank you all for coming,” she said. “We must take two doors to reach the Temple of Valavan. We will exit the temple through a hall lined with mirrors. Please follow me out without looking at the mirrors; they can be dangerous. I will lead you to within five hundred feet of the outlaws and then stop. You must choose two or three of your strongest to attack the men with kalashiks. Give me a signal of some sort—a howl, maybe—and we will launch our own attack. We will encircle the outlaws, so they cannot escape.”

She paused. More of the wyr-wolves had slunk up while she was talking. They surrounded her and Menadin in a tight circle, eyes glowing yellow fire. Eyes you could fall into, if you were not careful. Kyra tore her gaze away from them and reached for the Hub door with shaking hands. Time to go. She had gambled everything on this. Goddess, I hope I’m doing the right thing. She inserted the tip of her katari into the slot and it swung open. Just like always.

But there was no precedence for the company that followed her in. The dozen wyr-wolves crowded into the Transport corridor, their rank smell overpowering in the confined space. When the last wyr-wolf had squeezed in, the door swung shut. She was alone with them in the dark, huge furry bodies pushing against her, radiating heat, their luminous eyes the only visible part of them.

I will not scream. I will not faint. Kyra took a deep breath and almost gagged at the animal reek.

“Stand . . . stand back, please,” she said, hating the tremor in her voice. “I need space around the Transport door.”

The eyes drew back a smidgeon—not enough for her to feel anywhere near comfortable, but enough for her to take another breath and fumble for the slot on the Transport door. She tapped in the code and the door opened onto the familiar blue-lit space of a Transport Chamber. Kyra sat on one of the seats, wondering how the wyr-wolves would take to Transport.

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