Relics and Omens by Margaret Weis Tracy Hickman

Author:Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman [Relics and Omens]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

"The water must've slowed the disease down. But I know I am dying," Dalan said, his voice almost gone. The skin on his face was dotted with sores, and his fingers were gnarled. A bubble of green foam escaped his mouth as he gasped once more, then was still.

Telyil gasped, remembered that Rulbir said they'd found a box with a small lock and opened it, vaguely recalled mention of something that looked like a pearl inside. She remembered Dalan babbling, "Grespher. No. Grespher." Green sphere.

"No!" She dived. Her limbs ached, but she kicked furiously, surging through a school of startled triggerfish. Hurry! She urged herself. Faster!

Time crawled. Her chest burned, her heart pounded wildly. Her arms felt like stone, heavy and difficult to move. I was a fool to try to save the man, she thought, to abandon the others and bring this man to the surface. And yet, she realized, if she hadn't saved the man, she would not have discovered the horrible secret of the green sphere.

Must hurry, she told herself.

When she feared she couldn't swim another stroke, a broken mast came into view. Hurry!

Three barracuda were prowling at the edge of the graveyard. Telyil angled away from them, knowing she hadn't the strength to fight them.

She passed over the cog, hoping to catch sight of Rulbir and the others, but knowing that they must have headed home hours ago.

Faster! she scolded herself, though she realized she was going slower and slower. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps now.

Then she saw the small entrance of her sea cave home. She slipped inside, looking around for the other scavengers.

"Rulbir! Phir!"

"Dead," came a harsh murmur.

She stared into the darkness and spotted Duqay, leaning against the shield he had retrieved. His bare chest was dotted with the now familiar sores, his eyes swollen shut.

"Dead," Duqay repeated.

"Get out of here!" Telyil managed to say as she pulled herself close to him. "Swim far away! Get away from the green orb and this cave."

Duqay's face contorted. "I can't swim. I can barely move."

She shook his shoulders. "You have to find the strength. Leave. Your presence will kill the others, contaminate them. All the families. Leave!" She pointed him toward the cave mouth and pushed.

Duqay struggled forward, saying something to her so softly she couldn't understand. He groped his way along the wall. Satisfied that he was leaving, she headed deeper into the cave, following a narrow tunnel that led into a series of caverns. The first chamber was empty.

"So tired," she whispered. She hesitated only a moment, allowing herself a deep gulp of seawater.

The next chamber was filled with nearly three dozen sea elves—the entire community. Several of them were tending to two women whose arms were covered with the fast-multiplying sores.

The malady had spread beyond the scavengers.

Telyil swam forward. A dozen of the elves had sores on their bodies. Getting the sick to leave was madness now. "The healthy ones, then," she whispered to herself. "Leave them!" she shouted, waving her arms.

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