CHAPTER 42

Kana took leaping strides down the path, each one longer than the next, until it seemed as if his feet were barely touching the ground. He’d left his boots back down the trail, having taken them off while Marin and Line struggled noisily up a tree.

As he ran, Kana marveled at how much his reflexes had developed in mere hours. He knew where to step without even looking, as if he’d been sprinting through these dark woods all his life. The newly amplified sounds that poured into his ears—the sway of the branches, the rustle of pine needles, the chirping of bats—all fleshed out his sense of the forest. And above the din of the waking forest, he heard the creature just ahead. It was racing, moving quickly, and Kana was in pursuit.

Whatever he was chasing was the same thing, or woman, who had spoken to Marin back at the citadel. He was fairly confident about this. In fact, he suspected that it had been following him for a long time. Perhaps for weeks—long before the furrier boats had arrived. It had been there, lurking in the shadows, in his room, even. It had been waiting for him. It had been in his dreams, which, of course, weren’t dreams or warnings that he was going mad. In fact, it had probably known what Kana really was long before Kana, himself, had.

At the moment, Kana was focused singularly on catching this thing. It wasn’t a plan, per se. This was pure, hard-driving instinct. And he didn’t fight it. He was giving in, and as he did, he could feel his former life as a weak, blind boy swirling away like water at the bottom of a drain.

Eventually, he came upon an opening in the forest. It looked as if a fire had killed a great stand of trees here and then quickly fizzled out. The remains of charred tree trunks were interspersed amid a sprawling field of waist-high grass. He could hear bats screeching from high in the surrounding forest. One thing above all was suddenly apparent to him: the creature had vanished. There was a chance that it had reacted to Kana’s running by circling back and heading for Marin and Line. That was a possibility, but it seemed remote. The thing wasn’t after Marin and Line. It was after him.

He took several deep breaths. The air seemed to alternate between warm and cold currents, reminding Kana of swimming in the ocean near shore. Even though he was deep in the woods, he knew he wasn’t far from the sea, either. The Coil might be closer than expected. It might be very close.

When the trail entered the great clearing, it forked immediately. The main trail went back into the woods, climbing up steeply. The other fork, which was much fainter and clearly a side trail, headed across the clearing and down a gentle slope toward what seemed to be another meadow. For a moment, Kana was tempted to take the side trail and see where it led, but then he recalled what the voice had told Marin. To find the boat, they had to stick to the main trail.

The thought of the boat tugged at his consciousness, pulling him back to his old self—Kana, the boy with a family and a twin sister, the boy who was trying to escape the island. He had to find the boat. He had to find it for Marin and Line. For them. Because he would not be leaving this island.

He breathed in deeply, feeling the truth of this thought curl into his lungs. It felt good—and pure. For a long time, he had refused to acknowledge it. During all these long months of the town’s preparation to leave, Kana had felt more torn than ever. To him, the forest was coming alive, and while everyone else complained about the growing dark, Kana felt more in his element than ever. He thought back to the moment on the Dwarf Oak Islands when he had finally surrendered to what he was becoming. This is who I am. This is where I belong.

Kana ran along the main trail, back into the woods, and up the steep slope. As he began to climb, the raucous squawk of far-off ravens broke the silence. Their shrill cries grew louder until it sounded as if they were right above him.

He arrived at the top of the hill and found himself at the edge of a bluff that dropped steeply into the forest below. There was water beyond those trees. He could smell it. He forced himself to picture Marin’s face. My sister is waiting for me, he told himself. How long ago did I leave them in the tree? He didn’t know. He’d lost track of time. I have to go back. He turned to go, but as he did, a loud crack came from the nearby trees. Startled, he looked up and heard a low-pitched growl. Kana reflexively stepped back several feet and fell into a mix of rocks and bushes, and in the next instant, he was tumbling down the bluff behind him. At first he tried to stop, but then he realized this was the fastest way to put distance between himself and whatever was up on that hill. He focused on controlling his slide and avoiding the trees that dotted the lower slope.

When he finally came to a rest, Kana was covered in mud. He looked back up the slope nervously—heart pounding. He saw no signs of movement. What had growled? Is it still there? Then he heard running water. It was close—very close. Kana jumped to his feet and soon came upon a fast-flowing but shallow stream. He splashed down the stream for several hundred yards, then knelt and drank his fill of the cold, refreshing water. He resumed walking, and eventually trees opened up and the stream merged with a wide, flowing river. It was the Coil—no question.

As he stood there, he remembered Marin in the gully, repeating the woman’s words: You will find the river—and a cave. Inside is a sea vessel. “I found the river,” he whispered, in a strange, hoarse voice that he hardly recognized as his own.

Just up ahead, another stream merged with the river. Here the water flowed over a series of flat rocks, which were streaked with red and black minerals, and gathered briefly in a deep pool. Kana walked over to the pool and surveyed the area. A clump of old, withered apple trees stood nearby. Bark peeled off the trees in ribbons.

A cold breeze flowed steadily through the trees. It smelled rich and musty, like handfuls of fertile soil thrown into the air. He saw a clump of tall zebra grass. Kana leaned in close. From this angle, he saw that the grass hid a wide, dark opening.

There it was—the cave.