Silver Eve by Sandra Waugh

Author:Sandra Waugh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2015-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

I LANDED BELLY down in the backwash, slid backward toward the torrent, then thrashed my way forward until there was no drag left to fight against. Choking, coughing, I worked my way to my knees and held there. My head hurt. Every muscle hurt. Slowly, gingerly, I felt along my limbs. Bruised, but not broken. I sucked in deep breaths, waiting to steady. Then I struggled up, hip-deep in tepid water, and looked around.

Low ceiling, dank air, murky light…and a strange sort of quiet. The waterfall’s roar was muted, absorbed by the rock rather than echoing off it. There, against the left wall, bobbed the muck and bones of a body long stranded—one who’d preferred starvation to other unfortunate endings over the cliff. Only one body, for which I was grateful. I lurched to the opposite side, felt for the wall, for support, and waded into the darkness. One. Two. Three…

Three hundred paces. Laurent would be counting—slowly, I hoped. It suddenly didn’t seem like much time. How deep the cave, where the shell might be…things I’d wondered, unable to plan for. ’Twas a blind venture into a foreign realm. Already there was the urge to retreat: the Healer needing to orient toward survival.

I fought instinct and sloshed on. Thirty. Thirty-one. The water was much colder away from the entrance. My hand slipped a little on the wall. Algae—what I’d seen in my vision. I pulled away, squinted at my palm. The stone, the slime—something was not quite right. I wiped my hand over it again. ’Twas not blood-colored as in my vision, though imagination could have distorted truth. Honestly, what did I know for certain? I peered into the dark. Ahead to the right I thought the wall dimpled, forming a natural shelf just above the water. I struggled toward it, remembering the ledge—

A dagger stabbed deep into my chest. I sank to my neck, yelping, clutching, grabbing for the blade. But there was no weapon, only the cold—thin and sharp. It pierced straight through, began to throb. I gasped, lunging for the wall, the shelf, and dragged myself up to sit, to huddle, to chafe my legs and arms back to warmth. A moment later, though, I forced myself back into the water. No time to waste; I had to embrace the cold—however far I had to go. I touched the sodden rope at my waist. Laurent was counting.

I shuffled forward, hugging the side, the chill intensifying with every inch in bitter, agonizing stabs, until I could hardly bear it. I hunched over, willing myself to accept the pain. I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and let the cold burn through….

And then the burning became heat, and the blade a line—a thread of energy, giving the gentlest tug. I straightened up, gasping, remembering.

’Twas a signal, not temperature. The thread gathered me, pulled me from the shelf, the wall, and drew me through the water. I waded toward the opposite side of the cave, following that lifeline of heat, feeling the water warm with each step.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.