At any other time, streaking unclothed along a riverbank with my family jewels swinging free may have been liberating. But running from the Collector wasn't. Burn, like a naked gazelle, ran a few strides ahead.
"I told you to fill the stove with water, just in case," I puffed.
"You did not tell me anything of the kind," Burn yelled back.
"I did."
"Did not."
"I did."
"Too drunk." He vaulted an exposed tree root.
I did the same. "Was not."
"Wanted sex."
"Oh, I did not."
"Did, too."
"Shut up."
Burn glanced back. "Nice view."
"Not funny. Can you see it?"
"Yes. It moves slowly for an important weapon in the Bloom's armoury."
I looked over my shoulder. The Collector was ten paces behind and shape shifting. It settled on humanoid, planted its feet on the ground, and ran.
"Holy shit." I zoomed past Burn. "It's not moving slow now. It's turned into Usain Bolt."
"Who?"
I grabbed his hand and yanked him to my side. "Faster. You need to run faster."
"This is my highest speed," Burn panted.
The grassy riverbank turned into a thicket of leg-scratching bushes and Burn yelped as I heaved him through. Twisting back, I saw the Collector pumping its smoky arms and legs like the Terminator and, just like the mechanical man, it would keep going until we dropped. My knees twanged against something hard – pipe reeds. That was it. I snapped two at the base as we ran past, threw one to Burn, and leapt into the Copper River. Burn sensed my plan and dropped in behind me. Using the reeds as breathing tubes, we submerged ourselves in the cold water. The surface darkened as the Collector hovered above us. I held a finger up to show we wait.
Then, I stopped breathing.
A taste of ash filled my mouth and black dots crowded my vision as I clawed at my throat. I tried to suck air through the pipe but there was none to take. I realised with bile in my throat that I was sucking in the Collector. No. No. No. I do not die inhaling a fog monster. Smoke replaced oxygen as my eyes bulged and I clawed for the surface. My mind screamed as my body slowed and stopped thrashing. There was no choice. I gave myself to the inevitable and sank. As the pipe drifted from my mouth and peace washed over me, I saw my father and mother holding hands and smiling.
I opened my eyes a fraction and paused. Filling my vision was a pure white light and silence. Was I dead? Was this heaven?
Then Burn's face appeared in the narrow view and smiled. Was he dead as well? Was I doomed to spend eternity with his grinning face? I opened my eyes fully to see a cloudy sky, and with an enormous effort I shifted up on to my elbows and groaned. "What happened?"
"You owe me one, again."
"Eh?"
"I sucked it out of you."
"What?"
"I hauled you out of the water, clamped my mouth over yours, and sucked out the Collector."
"Just like that?"
"Yes."
"So why aren't you dead or something?"
"I blew it away."
"You blew it away?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"There." Burn pointed towards an upturned round boat that resembled half a giant walnut floating near the shore. "It is under the quffa."
"So let me get this straight. You sucked the Collector out of me and blew it under the boat?"
"Yes."
"And it can't escape because of the water."
"For now."
"Are you Superman?"
"I do not think so."
"But you are marvellous."
He grinned.
"But why aren't you dead?"
"I do not know." He shifted his position in the dirt.
"Sore throat or anything?"
"No."
I looked down at my body as a cold breeze goose-bumped my bare skin. "So how long have you been sat staring at me?"
"Edward, how could you say such a thing?"
"How long?"
Burn blushed. "Since I knew you were okay."
"You're warped."
"I am not misshapen."
I sensed we were not alone. "Who's there?" I whispered.
"Local fishermen."
"We're naked."
"Yes."
I daren't look round. "What are they doing?"
"Staring."
I swallowed and sat up. Three men and a young boy stood in a line, leaning on sticks with their brown faces blank.
I turned back to Burn. "Now what?"
"Now, we smile." Burn pulled me up. "And walk away."
We didn't walk, we ran.
The Queen groaned as she ambled her way down river. She was worse for wear: the tent's canvas roof hung in tatters and now offered little protection, and the logs on her left side parted company regularly. The deck spent an annoying amount of time under the river's surface and most of our belongings were waterlogged.
"I'm not sure she'll make it."
"She has not let us down so far."
"No, but there's still time." The blanket I had slung around my waist slipped down, I hauled it back up and fingered the wet clothes hung from a rope strung across the deck. "These are never gonna dry."
"Be patient, Edward."
"I will carve that on your gravestone."
"What?" Burn blew the dust away from a piece of wood he was whittling like a 1950s Boy Scout.
I shook my head. "What day is it?"
"I do not know."
"How long have we been travelling?"
"Since we set off."
"You are so annoying."
"Still?"
"Yes." I watched him turn and shape the wood. I couldn't figure out what he was carving. It appeared to be a duck but, as he twisted it in his fingers, it resembled a teapot. What I wouldn't give for a decent cup of tea right now. The foul brew that Burn concocted tasted like rusty nails.
"What are you making?"
"It is an offering."
"To who?"
"The god of safe passage."
"You and your bloody gods."
"You may be grateful for one of my gods." He pointed towards a vast empty horizon filled by the haze of the noon sun and nothing else. I shielded my eyes. It appeared as if we were about to float off the edge of the world.
"Burn, this planet is round, so please tell me what that is."
"It is an optical phenomenon. Where the light bends through the cold air above into the warm air below, it produces a displaced image of the sky or the earth. The temperature gradient has to be precise – "
"Okay, okay, I get it. So do we sail through?"
"Maybe. But the Ruined Falls are somewhere in this area. They may be just past the false horizon."
"Ruined Falls, they sound – fun."
Burn stood. "We will moor the Queen and take a look."
With the raft secured, we trudged through boggy ground towards the haze. The unmistakable roar of furious water struck us as we passed through the shimmer. The serene river had morphed into a violent torrent, tearing a bite out of a lip of the land. Exposed jagged rock protruded into the misty emptiness. The sound was overwhelming.
"I guess this is Ruined Falls?" I yelled as we edged closer and peered into the frothy depths. An angry river charged out of the churning uproar. "Don't tell me, we'll have to carry the Queen around."
"No." Burn traced the line of a faint path with his finger. "The route down is short but steep and the raft is too heavy."
My body tensed. "Why is this river the quickest way off this damn planet?" I lifted the blanket and slumped on to the red earth.
Burn sat next to me. "Because the Abaytorian people don't need to be quick."
"Why did you agree to take me home, Burn?" I muttered.
"I have hungered to see beyond the Glade ever since my parents died. Naylor believed I had a desire to flee my grief." He shrugged. "Taking you to the Landing Plains was my opportunity to see other horizons. And spend time with the boy from another world."
I stared at him – dirt smudged his narrow face and his hair was doing a serious impression of a troll doll I had as a kid. "I bet you regret that now?"
He bounced up and dusted his trousers down, not that the action had any effect. "Come on." He reached out a long hand and I took it willingly.
"So run that by me again. We hold on and pray?"
"Yes."
"How about you hold on and I'll walk round."
"Edward, your weight will keep the raft balanced."
"You're going to kill me when we're only a few days from reaching my ship. You realise that'll be the whole Kemp family gone." I flashed a quick smile to cover my pain.
Burn scrubbed a hand across his face and didn't return the smile. "You will not die, Edward."
The shimmering horizon was now close, and black clouds ganged up and threatened to add to our misery. The raft increased her pace as if she were on invisible elastic, drawing us towards the unknown.
"Remember to keep your weight towards the back to keep her from nose diving as we go over the edge."
I shuffled up, sat within the opening of the tent, and forced my fingers into the cracks between the logs. I glanced around; we wouldn't win a Good Housekeeping award. Empty crates and discarded junk littered the Queen's deck, and the line of clothing hung limp like wet dishcloths above my head.
"Burn, I've got a funny feeling about this."
"What kind of feeling?"
"It's like I've dreamt this moment."
"All will be well; we have been through much worse."
Famous last words? The raft jolted and reared. "Fucking hell, we're gonna die." The screeching Queen rushed toward the frothy lip of land. I hunkered down and held on. As she launched into the air, the crack my fingers were in became a chasm as the two logs separated. For a long moment, there was nothing – time, earth, up or down, just that sensation in your stomach when a car takes a hump-back bridge too fast. Then, the Copper Queen smacked the water's surface and I tumbled off, went under, and swirled around in the angry waters like a sock in a washing machine. Sunlight was in view one second and lost the next. I kicked out, pointed my hands towards the surface, and pirouetted like a ballerina in the violent torrent. A long object floated within a body's length, I aimed for it before blackness consumed me.
I came to with my naked skin frozen. Where was I? Where was Burn? The log I was lying on was rough and jutted into my stomach. Was this all that's left of the Queen? The black clouds now hung low and growling and torrential rain blurred my vision. The wind-whipped river bucked beneath me. I dug my fingernails in and hung on as the log sailed the high water and with a bone-jarring smack, hit the dips. I lifted my head and adjusted my position, which was a mistake. The log spun and I rolled off into the biting water. Flinging my arms back over it, I hauled myself up. I now lay diagonally, with my arse sticking up.
"Edward!"
Burn. Thank God. I twisted my head, and found him behind me, clinging on to a smaller log, bare-chested, and grinning.
"Nice view. Again."
"Everything is a fucking joke to you, isn't it?" I kicked my legs to steer the log towards an overhanging branch. "I think we've lost the Queen."
"We have lost the Queen." Burn stroked the log he was riding. "This is the third log from the right."
Grasping the branch, I slid off the log and, hand over hand, pulled myself along until I reached the bank. I was cold, wet, naked, and now homeless. What the hell? Burn copied my monkey moves and dragged himself on to the bank.
"What now?" I asked as a honey barrel floated past.
"We save everything we can." Burn's face was wet. I couldn't tell if it was tears or rain.
I rolled my neck. "I'm sorry. She meant a lot to you."
"More than you know."
She meant a lot to me, too. Like Burn, the ramshackle collection of logs had wiggled into my affections. I hugged him. He was all bony and slippery with rain. Burn froze and his eyes widened. With a sudden awareness of my nudity, I pulled away and patted his back instead.
"Thank you, Edward."
"This is one hell of a trip."
The remains of the canvas tangled in the overhanging branch. Burn stepped into the shallows and pulled it on to the bank. Shielding my eyes against the driving rain, I glanced down river. The broken up Queen had snagged behind a group of boulders forming a log dam. Belongings and equipment bobbed in front of it like horses at the start of a race.
"There." I pointed. "Come on." We ran down river lugging the tent behind us and then stood staring at the wrecked raft. Burn slung the canvas over our heads. "I should say a few words."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Can you make it quick? I'm freezing my nuts off."
"I can help with that."
"Burn!"
He dropped his head to his chest. "You have served me well and will be missed. You were my first raft and I will never forget you, or the times you gave me." He glanced at me. "Your turn."
"My turn?"
"Yes."
I sighed. What do I say? The logs jostled for freedom as the honey barrels bumped against the crates. I took a deep breath. "You did well. Okay?"
Burn threw me a withering look. "One of us has to go in to salvage what we can."
"Not me."
"I did not think so." He waded into the river and sucked in a long breath as the water reached the top of his thighs. "What should I get? We can't carry everything," he said with his voice higher than usual.
"Clothes, skins, food, medicines, and a knife."
"How precise."
My rucksack floated past. "Grab that," I yelled. Burn hurled it on to the bank and I peered at the soggy contents. Music player – no good, I tossed it. Phone – useless, I discarded it. Tablet – ruined, I ran my fingers across the screen and then threw it. Now there was room for food, medicines and clothes.
Burn gathered all we could carry and chucked me a sopping pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I'd forgotten I was naked, again.
"Now what?"
"We can trek the rest of the way in two days."
"How do you know?"
"If you think about it, you know too."
I closed my eyes and concentrated. A map swam across my vision with the Ruined Falls and the Landing Plains clearly marked next to each other. It seemed I had gained built-in Sat Nav.
"We need to find shelter tonight and build a fire. With warm clothes and food in our stomachs, the world will be a happier place." Burn slung the stove bucket across his back, readjusted his bow, and gave his beloved Queen one last glance before striding off. My empty stomach felt heavy as I watched the remains of the raft part company with the boulders and zoom off down the river. There was too much loss on Abaytor. I would be glad to get home to my stocked fridge and comfortable bed.
As I followed Burn, I couldn't remember the last time I was dry, warm and still. "My feet are wrinkled, I'm sure my toes are rotting off," I moaned.
"They are not, Edward."
Increasing my pace, I fell in by his side. "My fingers, then." I held out my hand.
Burn took it and studied each finger. "They are fine."
"Your god offering didn't work."
"It seems not."
We walked in silence for a while. "I have to pee."
"Okay." Burn sauntered off.
"Wait for me."
"Wait?"
"Yes."
He sighed. "I will."
I nipped behind a tree. There was something primal and deeply satisfying about peeing outside. I trudged back to Burn's side. "How far till we stop?"
"We can stop whenever you like."
"Now. I want to stop now."
"Edward, are you tired?"
"You sound like my mother."
"Am I right?"
"Yes." I resisted the urge to stick out my bottom lip.
Our first night's camp was under the overhanging bough of an old Dragon Tree. Burn slung the canvas over the lower branches and made a decent tent. He built a fire, steamed our clothes dry, and cooked rice and hard beans called motts.
"So, how long?"
"How long for what, Edward?"
"Till the Collector discovers us again."
Burn glanced skyward. "Not long."
"We have to do something about it."
"You do not have to do anything, you will be home soon."
"I somehow feel responsible."
"Why?"
"The Bloom wanted the aliens, not the natives. If we hadn't come here, you wouldn't have known about them."
"The Bad Thing was still on the loose. I believe the Bloom were also collecting natives."
"You're saying that to make me feel better." I rested my head next to his and enjoyed the heat of the fire and a full tummy. It was the simple pleasures. "I'm sorry about the Queen."
"I am sorry about your father. There is no contest, Edward."
"We never got on."
"That does not lessen your loss."
Abaytor's sky was a deep violet and sprayed with stars. I swept my arm across it. "When I was a child I would gaze at the night sky and ask my mother to find my father. Every time I asked her, she would point in a different direction. It didn't matter; to me he was a true star man."
"Did you ever tell him that?"
"No."
"That is a shame."
"Anyway, two more days on this bloody planet, then it's clean clothes and a proper cup of tea."
"Yes," Burn whispered.
"Come with me." The words formed and were out of my mouth before my brain engaged.
"Really?"
I faced him. "Yes." Wow. "I mean it. Come with me."
"I am flattered that you have asked but I cannot."
"Why not?"
Burn hesitated before saying, "I would not fit in on your planet."
"I will help you."
He shook his head.
"I thought you'd jump at the chance to explore new horizons and all that."
"Yes, normally I would have loved to but – I cannot."
"Why?"
"You will know soon and I am sorry."
"You're talking in riddles." I scowled at him.
"Edward, run."
"What?"
"Run."
I leapt up and pelted away from camp and into the night. As I ran, I glanced around. Nothing. Being a black cloud in the darkness is good for the Collector but not for me. Water. I need water.
Sploshing sounds filled the silence. Burn.
"Edward, where are you?"
"Here."
"Where?"
"How the hell do I know? I'm running past a tree with a hole in the trunk."
"I can see you. Oh, no, Edward, run!" The panic in Burn's voice pumped my legs harder but a familiar chill prickled my skin. As smoky arms embraced me, my heart lurched and the air stole from my lungs. Good God, this thing was really fucking me off now. Should I fight it or give in and hope Burn arrived with water in time? The Collector decided for me as it began to suck out my life force. I collapsed to the ground. The monster squeezed my body, forcing me to gasp for air like a stranded fish.
"Get off him, you Son of a Horeweevil!" Burn yelled as water struck me.
The Collector didn't pull away. Was it becoming used to the water? Shouts filled the air as another deluge struck my crunched up body. It relaxed its grip. "Again, Burn," I cried as another bucketful hit.
The beast released me, morphed into wispy tendrils, and snaked off through the shadowy trees.
Burn hauled me to my feet. "Thought I'd lost you that time."
"I'm bored with this game and the Collector must be getting pretty fed up." I screwed the water out of my T-shirt. "We need a box."
"Box?"
"Like Kai from the Benuim said, we capture it in a metal-lined box so it will blow itself out in fury."
"And how do you intend to do that?"
"I don't. You do."
"Me?"
"Yes. You're the blower."
"My reputation precedes me." He winked.
I scowled at him. "We'll repeat what happened with the pipes and the walnut boat. Except this time it will be the metal box."
"Just like that."
"Yes."
"So where do we get a metal-lined box?"
"Make one or get someone to make one for us. Is there a village near here? Don't answer that." I shut my eyes and searched the mental map. Opening them again, I said, "Yes, it's past the woody thing. There may be a blacksmith, or shoe shodder, or whatever you call them. Maybe they can do something. Why are you looking at me like that?" Burn was staring at me slack-jawed.
"There is something so stimulating when you take control."
"Stimulating?"
"Yes."
"You're weird."
"Good weird?"
I shrugged.
"Ha!" He flung his arms up.
"Don't get too cocky."
"Cocky? Is that good or bad?"
I laughed. "Depends."
"On what?"
"Let's go."
"Now?"
"Yes. We can't stay here now it knows where we are." I took his arm. "Thanks – again."
"Well," he sighed, "I am getting tired of saving your life."