Chapter 3
For the first time in her life, Ariane didn't know where she was.
The sky was wrong.
The night was clear and the velvet darkness of the vault arching overhead was alight with stars. But they were the wrong stars.
Not wholly wrong, just a little shifted. As if she were viewing them through wavy glass. Their configurations were recognizable, yet altered. The angles were different.
Someone who didn't watch the sky as much as she did might not notice. The stars did change, after all, depending on the time of day and the season. And one's location, of course. You could see different stars when you went far enough north or south. She had been Traveling northwest with Rin. But not so far from home that the stars would be significantly altered.
The last thing she remembered, she had been clasped against the comfortable form of her companion. Breathing, as always, through the appendage on his breast. Fleeing the darkling that had wounded him.
Then something had happened. Something dark and terrifying.
It had felt as though she'd been sucked in by a giant mouth, and dragged right out of the world. It had been jarring, disorienting and sick-making, as she and her companion were trapped in a whirlpool and swept away.
She'd been torn away from Rin while still under the sea. That should have caused her to drown, but she didn't remember the sensations of drowning. And now she was lying on her back on a strand, soaking wet and cold, but alive.
She should get up. Stand. Walk. Try to get warm. It would not do to take sick, wherever she was. She needed to find Rin. She hoped he was safe, and that the mysterious tumult that had tossed her up out of the sea and beached her here hadn't injured him.
If she had reached land, it must be Arralon. One of that country's western isles, of which there were many.
She lay for a few more moments looking upward, trying to solve the mystery of the sky. And then she saw something that made her jolt upright. Lights in the sky, high above, moving and leaving a visible trail. It was not a shooting star. The movement was steady and constant—the trajectory a distinct line moving across the sky. She wasn't completely clear about compass directions, but if that dim star was the Fixed Foot, then the moving light was traveling west.
But there was nothing to the west. Nothing except the Farthest Lands, and they were an unimaginable distance away. There was just the sea, fathomless, changeless.
She noticed something else that was strange. A dull droning sound, also coming from the sky.
Where in the name of Karth was she?
The stars were wrong and there were impossible objects in the sky.
She thought of a possible explanation, but it seemed so unlikely. Was such a thing even possible? Were the legends true?
It was said by seers and sages that there was a mystical vortex known as the Abyss somewhere out in the western sea. She had been headed roughly in the right direction, but if the lore was accurate, it was nothing more than a narrow crack in the fabric of the world. Difficult to locate and almost impossible to tumble through by accident. The Abyss was supposedly the gateway to a world known as Gaia, a wondrous place of almost incomprehensible magic.
Ariane wasn't sure she believed these legends. But she had a curious soul. From the moment she'd first heard rumors about Gaia, she had haunted the libraries in every city she visited, devouring anything she could find in the scrolls that offered any hints about the foreign world.
There wasn't much. Scholars speculated that it was a place much like her own. There were said to be people who looked and acted human. Many of the same creatures, too. It was even said that the lands, people, and languages mirrored those that she was already familiar with. Twin worlds, although not identical.
Was she in Gaia?
More importantly, where was Rin?
She tried again to feel him in her mind. Even if he was a good distance away, their strong empathic link usually held. She was so accustomed to being able to reach him mentally that it was another shock to her system when her cry to him went unanswered.
Was he dead? Had the darkling killed him?
She attempted to open a link with Rin, but despite shooting desperate threads out in every direction, there was no response, no linkage. Rin was gone.
It's my fault.
She had wanted to take Rin to Liril, instead of following the usual Traveler protocols. Now her sea dragon was suffering because she had defied her superiors. He might already be dead.
Her heart ached and her throat felt thick. She curled up in a ball and forced herself to concentrate. Let the pain go. Let the guilt go. Let fear go. Let everything go except the Bond.
The golden thread that she envisioned to link her with her companion stopped flailing around. It poised for a moment, then shot out. Rin? She felt the joining. It rocked through her, filling her mind with light.
"Rin!"
The connection wavered. Through the link, she heard a howl. It was coming from deep beneath the sea.
Rin! Rin was out there. But he didn't sound like himself. His pain thundered through her. Agony. "Oh Rin, my dear. I'm so sorry."
Ari?
She felt something she had never sensed from a sea dragon before—fear. Sea dragons had no fear. They were the largest predators of the deep. They had no rivals. They were bigger, stronger, and more intelligent than any other ocean-going creature.
Travelers weren't afraid of much either. When you could command the fiercest creatures of land, sea and sky, what was there to fear? Only humans were more dangerous than the creatures she controlled. But it was a rare human who would go up against a Traveler. Respect for her kind was almost universal. No one would venture to harm a Traveler.
She forced her brain to focus. Whatever was out there, she had to help Rin.
"Rin? Can you hear me?" She didn't call him in words. Not exactly. It was more images and feelings.
She was still having trouble reaching him. It must be because he was injured. Whatever had happened, whatever had disrupted their bond and cast her up on the shore, it must have done something to harm Rin. Magic of some sort?
Concentrate.
"Rin? I'm here. Feel me, baby. Tell me what's happening, if you can."
Bad. Something bad. Hurts. Something hurt me.
"Is it still hurting you? Still chasing you? Can you dive? Can you get away?"
It gone. Won't leave you. You asleep. You not breathe.
"I must have fallen unconscious, but I'm awake now and breathing. I am on land. Did you bring me ashore?"
I try. Take you to land. Lift you. Afraid for you. Not breathing.
"I'm breathing now. I'm fine."
The bad thing wanted hurt you. Darkling. Wanted stop me find you. But I chase it away.
"Good Rin. Thank you. Thank you so much."
He groaned. Pain flashed through him. She felt her body curl up as the agony reverberated in her. She began to tremble. She didn't understand this. What could hurt a sea dragon? They were the kings of the deep.
She felt their bond begin to fade. She was losing him. "Rin!"
Love you, Ari. Love. You.
"No! Rin, please! Stay strong. Stay strong for me."
I try.
"Rin. Listen to me. I think we fell through the Abyss. Can you find your way back? Can you go back through? You must try, Rin. Go back and continue in the direction we were headed. If you can get to Liril, she will tend to you. It's not far from where we were, baby. Liril will make you better."
Her heart was breaking as she ordered him to do this, because without Rin how would she manage? A Traveler and her animal companion should not be separated. Without Rin, how would she get home?
"Baby?"
She felt him still, but he wasn't able to form coherent thoughts. He was hurt. Was he dying? What if he couldn't make it to Liril?
"Rin?" Her cheeks felt cold, and she realized it must be because she was crying. The wind was chilling her warm tears to cold streams as they rolled incessantly down her cheeks.
Ari, I no leave you.
"You must! Go, please! Go and get better. When you're well, you can come find me again."
No, Ari. No.
"My dear, we were about to be separated anyway. You have your own life to live now. You have served me so well for so long. Now you must be with others of your kind."
You come too, Ari. We find way back.
But she sensed he was too badly injured to carry her weight as he swam. It took a sea dragon a great deal of energy to breathe for two, which was one reason why they had to be young and strong. Besides, another attempt to traverse the maelstrom of the Abyss would probably tear them apart anyway.
No. It was hard, but she had to do it. Rin would die if he did not find help quickly.
She was dominant over Rin. It was how a Traveler survived with powerful predators. She controlled his mind and his actions. Usually she did not exercise this power, because she and Rin had grown close. Usually they worked as a team. Not now, though. Now she had to make him go back, make him get better, save his life.
"Rin. I command you! Go through the Abyss, if you can. Get help for yourself and get well! Do you hear me, my sweet boy? You must obey."
She heard him cry out and she felt his unusually powerful resistance. She pressed on his mind. She forced him to bow to her will even as the tears were streaming down her cheeks.
And she felt him go. It was a horrific jolt to her mind as he slipped away and their bond shattered. For a moment, she thought she would be sucked away with him. Their minds and hearts were linked. Were their souls linked too? Wherever he was going, she would follow.
But no. She was here. Intact. Alone. Rin was gone.
She wept.