Monday, October 31, 2005

   Chapter 15: Sky Song (part 1)
They did not stop until late into the night, when the suns had already set and their way was illuminated only by the blue moon. Traveling against the current was already beginning to show its ugly face in the Caravan; their pace had slowed significantly, and some kids had even fallen asleep sitting up from exhaustion. Stomachs growled from the day without food, breaking the weary silence that hung over them. They all sighed in relief when they saw a gap in the cliffs ahead, where the valley of two mountains met the river.
“Our first resting place is right up ahead,” Panda announced, flying low above them on Keion. “As soon as you’ve made landfall, we will give you your dinners.”
One by one, the groups reached the riverbank and pulled their boats out of the water. They ravenously ate their sandwiches, too hungry and too tired for conversation, before they settled down to sleep.
Pen stayed up long. He had paddled the entire day, but he did not share the Caravan’s weariness. There was a lot of darkness around, both in the night and in the minds of the children; some cried out for their parents as the cold of the mountain decended on them. The black eyed boy sat by the side of Lucifer—wrapped up in his black cloak and wings—and looked over his resting friends.
There were eyes in the night, and some were not as friendly as others.

Two days passed. The river grew narrow, and the current stronger. The kids were slowed as they fought the river. With Pen and his indelible strength, his four friends were spared from some of the weariness that the other groups faced.
But there were few that could match the utter exhaustion of the girls.
When the Havoc graduates awoke them at the dawn of the third day, they found Aurora pale, shivering, and cold beside the boat. She got to her feet weakly, her robes clinging to her quickly thinning body—clearly, she had not been eating the last few days.
The boys, beginning to push their own boat into the river, stopped to watch as she tried to help Tory, Lynley, and Tari do the same. Yet, as soon as it started to slide toward the water, she released her grip and stumbled away, holding her head with her hands.
“Aurora!” Lucifer cried, running to her side.
“I’m… okay…” she said, trying to steady herself.
“No you’re not!” he exclaimed. “Look, you just forget about paddling for today, alright? Get some rest. I’ll take your place at the paddles.”
“… No… really…”
“That’s okay with you guys, right?” he called to Yatii, Ed, Raine, and Pen. They all nodded.
“Of course,” Raine said. “We’ve got Pen. Don’t worry about us.”
He exchanged a grateful glance with all of them, then turned back to the girls, helping Aurora into the boat and kicking them off into the river.
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