The smelling salts pulled me out of my stupor.
But I desperately clung to where I was. I didn’t want to be back in reality.
I wanted to be numb.
I wanted to be back in the black river.
I wanted to be back with my father in the sky.
Leroi practically shoved the salts up my nostril until I finally gave them a sign that I was awake, jerking away from the pungent odour.
Shilah came up to me first, bending over so I could smell her hair. I was sitting in Leroi’s chair, the Coldmaker on the desk in front of me.
‘Abb,’ I said, the word stinging my tongue.
‘Spout,’ Shilah put a hand gently on my cheek. It was strange to see such a consoling look on her face. ‘You can grieve all you want later. I’ll grieve with you. But right now you have to get up. We need to go.’
I looked from side to side, noticing all the supplies and inventions around the study. Three sets of Rope Shoes. Bags of Cold. Waterskins. A whole sack of figs. Clothes. A portable Sinai.
Cam was there too, standing, his head bowed as though it was too heavy for his body.
‘Cam,’ I said. ‘You came back.’
Cam swallowed hard. ‘I’m sorry. I only wanted to punish my father. I thought that giving the Frost away …’
Leroi flicked him on the neck. ‘And look where it got us. Why, why didn’t you think, Camlish?’
Cam’s hand flew to the Coldmaker. ‘But, Leroi, look. I was right. That Frost got us a miracle.’
‘A miracle that will have us all killed. Then what good will the machine be when they toss it to the bottom of the Singe?’ Leroi stuffed the salt block in his pocket. ‘Spout. We need you up and moving. We have to go.’
I looked to the study door. ‘Lord Tavor …’
‘Will be back,’ Leroi said in a solemn voice. ‘I know my cousin. He doesn’t trust me. He’ll be back with all the taskmasters he can and search the tinkershop top to bottom. He knows that we have the Frost. We need to go.’
‘To Langria,’ Shilah said, her voice soft. ‘Can you believe it? We’re actually going, Spout. Freedom.’
Leroi gave a barely audible snort and scooped up a small black velvety bag which rattled with objects as he slinged it over his shoulder. ‘Some inventions, just in case,’ Leroi said, answering the question that played on my face. He looked to the side of his study where the door had been painted the same colour as the walls. It stood open and ready, and through the threshold I noticed a set of stairs leading down into the pitch blackness.
I tried to get up from the chair, but my legs were too weak. I thought I’d felt grief after my dream where Abb had died, but now that it was real, that my father, the best Jadan I’d ever known had been killed because of me, those feelings seemed laughable in comparison.
Leroi pulled a flask out of his desk drawer and offered it to me, but I waved it away. He gave a satisfied nod, tossing it into a corner of the study.
‘Then I won’t either,’ Leroi said, looking to Shilah and Cam with a different nod.
Both of them came to my sides, lifting me out of the chair, moving my arms around each of their shoulders so my weight was suspended.
‘You can do this,’ Cam said. ‘You’re a natural.’
I thought about where I had ended up. Where Abb had pushed me to be. Because of him, my friends and I had been led to the most important finding since the Great Drought began. Perhaps ever.
My father would want me to be strong.
‘The Cold doesn’t matter,’ I whispered to Cam. ‘You’re one of us. Family.’
‘Thanks, Spout.’ Cam gave my side a squeeze where his hand was, keeping me up. ‘I’m glad you think that.’
‘I need you all to be quick,’ Leroi said. ‘We don’t stop until we’re far, far out of Paphos. Then we can break for water, not before. There are Tavors up in the Glasslands. They don’t particularly care for this side of the family, so I think we’ll be safe to stop there and resupply.’
‘I can do this,’ I said. I stepped away from my friends’ support and took the bag which sat beside the Coldmaker on the desk, nestling the machine inside it. Someone had thought to put in some boilweed for cushioning, and I buttoned it closed, slinging it over my shoulder. ‘I want to carry this.’
Leroi nodded understandingly. ‘Course you do. We wouldn’t have it any other way.’
Everyone loaded themselves with as much as they could hold, our bodies practically caravans, and we followed our gaunt leader into the secret tunnel. The passage was narrow and the stairs steep, but miniature Sinais had been set on each of the landings, and there was enough light to travel by. We moved silently, anxiously. It felt awful to be leaving my new home so soon, but now that I had the Coldmaker I knew the Crier needed me out in His world.
I’d make more Coldmakers with my blood and tears and Frosts.
I’d figure out how to reach into the sky itself.
Perhaps I’d even discover how to rid the world of Desert.
My legs found strength, and for just a moment I thought I could feel Abb’s touch on my arm, his telltale chuckle over my shoulder.
Soon enough a door appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Leroi stopped just before the exit, turning to us with an odd look on his face. ‘I just want you all to know—’
‘What are you doing?’ Cam asked. ‘I thought we have to keep moving.’
Leroi set down his Rope Shoes so he could hold up a hand. ‘Just give me a moment. I want to thank you all. I never thought I’d know hope again. It’s good to know that it’s been there all along, even though I couldn’t feel it.’
Then he turned and kicked open the door, the Sunlight striking us as we all spilled out into a garden.
Everything afterwards happened in a flash.
Before us stood the Vicaress, with an army of taskmasters at her back. ‘Get the slaves!’ she yelled. Lord Tavor was standing by her side, a huge smile plastered on his face. ‘The Crier says they have the Frost!’
I stumbled back in shock, but Leroi was prepared for this. Moving fast, he reached into his purse and pulled out a round device, whose glass centre was filled with something dark and menacing.
‘Run!’ Leroi said, hurling the little device. ‘To the gate! Go!’
The sphere landed in front of the taskmasters, and the ground exploded, sending grass, plants and fruit flying in every direction. Vicious fire burst from the heart of the explosion, and began to spread. The taskmasters were tossed backwards by a violent wind, nearly colliding with the Vicaress.
The Vicaress snarled. ‘Forward!’
A dozen more taskmasters hopped through the wreckage, but Leroi was ready. He hurled another explosive, which landed closer to the oncomers this time. Bodies flew into the air, the Vicaress and Lord Tavor both stumbled backwards.
Leroi turned and pushed me in the direction of the gate. ‘Go! I’ll keep them off. Leave! Now!’
Numb with shock, I did as Leroi commanded. Cam and Shilah ran by my sides, our bags colliding in messy thuds, slowing us down. Panicked, I dropped everything except the Coldmaker, which I pressed tightly against my chest.
There were more bangs, a flurry of shouting but I couldn’t bear to look back. The thump of bodies hitting the dirt seemed to be coming from every direction, and I could feel each explosion in my chest.
The Vicaress’s screams pierced the air.
Cam looked petrified, but only fierce determination shone in Shilah’s eyes as she led us through the garden. She pushed open the gate, and we raced behind her.
I looked back with horror. Leroi was the only barrier keeping all the taskmasters at bay. He hurled sphere after sphere, the land itself opening under his wrath. Fire was now consuming the garden, moving through the green as easily as wind moving across the dunes, and the flames were growing higher and higher. The big tree in the centre of the garden had fallen, the Vicaress and Lord Tavor nowhere to be seen, but more taskmasters were spilling out from other parts of the Manor every second, charging through the garden towards Leroi.
‘Shivers and Frosts, Spout! Come on,’ Cam yelled over the blasts. ‘We need to go.’
‘Spout,’ Shilah said, a hand finding my shoulder. ‘There’s too many of them. We have to run. We need to keep the Coldmaker safe!’
She was right. There was only one way to free the Jadan people, and that meant staying alive.
I squeezed the bars of the gate, taking one last look at the brave Inventor.
I silently thanked him.
Then the three of us ran into the sands.