Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,66

died, otherwise they wouldn't be very practical. But maybe spells like this were different. She hoped so, because if the Nomads hadn't hurt any of their prisoners, maybe they wouldn't hurt Rani.

Emilie wiped her face on her sleeve, looped the compass' cord over her head, and took quick stock of her resources. The matches and the knife Rani had given her were still in her pockets, though the matches would have to dry out before she could use them. Other than that, she had nothing. Just herself. You can do this, she thought, still sniffling. Whatever you have to do, you can do it. You aren't Emilie, runaway girl from the country. You're Emilie, the adventuress. Now get on your feet and find Dr. Marlende. She stood up and followed the compass through the shadowy forest.

Emilie made her way through the trees and brush for perhaps two hours, though it was hard to judge the time. Water wasn't a problem - she had crossed three shallow clear streams cutting through the mossy floor - but she knew she was going to be pretty hungry by the time of the next eclipse. The texture of the moss kept her bare feet from getting too sore, but she was collecting an impressive array of bruises and scratches. She stopped at one point to climb a tree, finding handholds and footholds in the hard ridges that circled the trunk. It was a dauntingly tall tree, but she climbed just high enough to catch a glimpse of the airship's balloon through the heavy screen of palm leaves.

Her first indication that she was nearing her destination was when she stubbed her toes on a rock. Hopping and muttering curses she had heard the Sovereign's sailors use, she realized it was a line of paving stones, half-buried in the moss. I bet I'm close, she thought, stepping over the paving and moving more carefully. There must be an old Sealands city or fort or something down here, which the Nomads had taken over.

After a short time, the ground started to slope up, and she could see the trees and ferns thinned out ahead. She ducked down to creep close to the ground, and pressed on. As she got closer to the edge of the forest, she saw the ground dropped away into a bowl-shaped depression, and above it rose the silver-gray curve of the airship's balloon. Near it was a collection of conical white stone roofs. Emilie flattened herself down in the moss in the shadows under the last clump of ferns, and crept as close as she dared.

Now she had a better view. Down in the shallow valley was a small city, much bigger than it had looked from the top of the waterfall cliffs when it had been concealed by the trees and mist. There were round towers, each a few stories tall, and between them short squat single-story buildings of smooth white stone. Unlike those in the Queen's city, they were round with bulbous curving sides. The floor of the little valley was dotted with large pools, all perfectly circular. She could see the airship where it was anchored near this end of the valley, the cabin hanging level with the roof of the nearest round bulgy tower.

She could also see merpeople. Several moved purposefully out of one tower and toward another. There were three standing in front of the doorway of the tower nearest the airship, clearly on guard. All were armed with the short fishing spears. As she watched, another two merpeople surfaced in one of the pools, walking up the steps and out onto the mossy ground. The pools must be connected, to each other and maybe to the buildings. And maybe to the channel that circles the canyon? Emilie wasn't sure that would help her, if it was true. But there had to be a hidden harbor somewhere, where the Nomads kept their boats, and it would make sense if it was reached via underwater tunnels. She thought this place must be used as a fortress, rather than a permanent settlement; she didn't see any children, just adults.

She looked harder at the airship, trying to see if anyone was aboard it. Like Lord Ivers' ship, the cabin was tucked up below the oblong balloon, and ran more than half the length of it. Unlike his, the cabin looked like it was made of some light coppery metal, and had a narrow walkway with a single railing running all the