| |
THE JOURNEY BACK TO the Sanctuary had been like a royal procession. Sari’s frail state necessitated bearers, and the Fire-folk were nothing if not enthusiastic in that regard, they held Sari up both physically and spiritually. There was much talk of the great fires of the spirit of the chosen having spoken through her, Fluppit knew that was all to do with the beliefs the Fire-folk had about the stifling heat in their realm, the Fire in the Faeries name. They held healers from the Bridge-folk in extremely high regard, having been taught in different healing techniques to help the wounds that the Fire-folk seemed to acquire from living in such close proximity to the massive internally heated cube that formed the heart of their realm.
Although Fluppit had relished being dry, getting away from the oppressive heat that the Fire-folk seemed to thrive in was a blessing. She’d also never felt safer traveling through the Dark. The massive caravan of folk had guards and scouts, healers, and mapmakers, even a skald to keep people’s spirits up. For the Fire-folk whose primary language still consisted of chakking noises and hissing, the tunes their musicians made were nothing like Fluppit had ever heard. Lots of rhythm in clicking and clacking and body percussion with a hummed nasal kind of singing over the top, with one very high part and one very low part. No words, as traditionally, most of the Fire-folk were unable to speak like other folk because of the facial wounds that living so close to the heart of their realm engendered. The music was resonant, confusing, and Fluppit found it completely captivating. The song wrapped and gently held every part of her body, energising her from the inside out.
As if the whole journey wasn’t sweeping and all-encompassing enough, the healing team of Sha-cha and her tiny brother Chick-chick had accompanied them too. It seemed like Sha-cha was Chick-chick’s only parent, so if a healer was needed to keep Sari safe, then Chick-chick beetling in and out of the pilgrimage was part of the deal. Fluppit spent a good part of the journey worrying about her whereabouts as the young pup would squeak off down one corridor or another. Knowing the dangers of the Underdark now, and nearly falling foul of many of them herself, Fluppit knew what she was worrying about. She spent much of the journey alongside Sari’s bier, talking to her when she was awake, holding her hand when she wasn’t. Sha-cha said she’d make a good apprentice healer.
The procession stopped as the scouts in front reported back to the column leaders. Everyone else took time for a break. There was a beautiful trail treat of pureed nuts and cave bee honey that the Fire-folk carried with them . It tasted woody and sweet and gave a great boost of energy to tired limbs. Sha-cha elbowed her with a water-skin that she drank from deeply, then she helped Sari to a drink. She spoke a lot less now and slept more. Fluppit had a deep pit of worry that grew with every span. Sha-cha came to reclaim her waterskin when Sari had settled back on the stretcher, she placed her hand first on Sari’s, checked her pulse and then placed the same hand on Fluppit’s, “She’ll sleep for a while now.”
“I’m worried,” said Fluppit.
“We all are,” said Sha-cha.
Chatter moved down the column that they were going to take a lesser-known short cut that would take two whole spans off their journey but was extremely dangerous. To take this route at all, they needed to be herded into a side passage where the commander of the column, the Fire-folk who’d first found Fluppit, a tall male called Ash-ka. Guards were posted at the junction to the main passage and one of the bearers, brought a box for Ash-ka to stand on, the better to address the nearly one-hundred-strong gathering.
“Vy frien-ss, wve haf a tricssy choisss. The sshortesst route to the sssanctuary iss ferry dangerouss.” That was starting to sound almost pedestrian to Fluppit now. She didn’t laugh in the face of danger, but she reckoned she’d had more than a few face-to-face chats with it, in her short number of cycles. “Fee head to thh-ee gu-gu- gle.”
“You’d say “bubble”,” Chik-chik chimed in at her elbow and then was shushed by a grown-up.
“It isss a fl-ace, of-er all. Ve haf knowledge off it vrom old. None haff gone th-er re-cently. Th-er is too mu-chh rissk.”
“But we go now?” said Sha-cha.
“Now thh-ere is too mu-chh rissk not to go.”
Fluppit gulped.
“Vv-en vee reach the fl-ace, over you fforr long-long- ssstrides, you cann nnot lookk uff.”
“What’s up?” asked Chik-chik.
“No-von knowss,” said Ash-ka. “In recent cy-cles, thh-eere wass only onne othh-er who went ttthherre. Hee looked uff. Wh-en he returned to us he had losstt hiss ssanity.”
“Vyy do vee go now?” said a voice from farther down the passage.
“It iss a rissk for shhure,” said Ash-ka, “do ve haff time for a longer vay, Sha-cha?”
“I don’t think so.”
It sounded brutal when she said it like that.
“Ssoo. Ve go thh-rough the guggle. Don’t look uff.”
