Cloudbreak by Andrew Craven

Author:Andrew Craven [Craven, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2019-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

They had to put Gavi’s arm in a sling—Mimi’s sling, the one Trum had given Halia. The sling kept his arm bent at the elbow and his forearm flat across his body. They shortened the strap by tying off the excess in a knot behind his neck, and there was so much that it hung halfway down his back like an Elamon braid. No sooner had the knot been tied than Gavi was rushing about the cave, good arm outstretched.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

He’d learned a new game, and an injured arm wouldn’t scare him off. Name one Elamon braver than Gavi.

Ardea, however, was not so resilient. Though Gavi’s injury was an accident, she’d gone cold again, quiet and grave, the way she’d been when Halia first met her. She would probably never forgive Halia for her carelessness, and Halia wouldn’t blame her. Halia wasn’t going to forgive herself either. She was so ashamed. She wanted to run, to fly, to flee.

So when Pelago, who dismissed Gavi’s injury as one of childhood’s inevitable accidents, invited Halia to gather lichen with him on the High Pass, she accepted immediately. Putting distance between herself and Ardea and Gavi was probably best for everyone.

The higher the better, she thought.

The High Pass began at the far left of the outcropping and ascended the mountain’s southwestern face via a series of long, steady switchbacks. Unlike the Low Pass, which was a rough, winding, wild path, the switchbacks were even and relatively smooth, separated by escarpments of sheer rock walls. The High Pass was deliberately made, carved into the mountain like the Elamon caves. The pass itself was notably wide, wide enough for eight or ten Elamon to walk abreast. Pelago, who was glad to have someone to chat with, was explaining that width presently.

“…they would lug great machines up here to help them hunt Leviathans.”

“Machines?” Halia said, distantly.

“Machines, uh, contraptions,” Pelago said. “Big, complicated tools.”

Halia’s mind drifted near the concept, but could only imagine big bowls and big slings, and she didn’t know how they could be used to hunt Leviathans. A big spear made more sense, but not much; how much bigger could a spear get before it was too big to be thrown?

Pelago sensed she wasn’t completely following him. “I don’t understand it entirely, either. Much of the Breakers knowledge is lost, and good riddance to it.”

In truth, Halia was only half-listening. She was more focused on the ascent itself. The steady incline worked her calf muscles like never before. Her lungs burned, starved for air, and she felt on the verge of another gasping fit. She and Pelago hadn’t made it a quarter way up the mountain before she began to doubt she would make it to the top—or however high up Pelago planned to lead them.

Yet, to the top she wanted to go. Far above, clouds swallowed the peak, eddying past in a constant stream. Halia wanted to reach them, to feel them, to taste them if she could. They wouldn’t ease the burning in her lungs, but they might ease the burning in her heart.

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