“Them,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling it back from the flask. I look for some kind of trap, but I can’t see one. It doesn’t matter. The water itself could be contaminated.
“Them? Who are they?”
“I don’t know, but they aren’t us, so let’s go.” Right before we get on our flipcarts, I hear the hum of airships. Phlix glances up at the same time I do.
I tug on her arm to pull her back toward the hole, when she says, “Wait!” She closes her eyes and concentrates. “We’re shadows, Kricket. They can’t see us,” she promises.
I wait. Two formations of hawk-like ships pass over us slowly, searching the area. One of the ships I recognize because I’ve been in it before. It’s Giffen’s ship. He’s looking for us. “That airship there”—I point to Giffen’s ship—“belongs to the guy you electrocuted in Kyon’s home.”
“Do you think he’s still angry?” she asks with a weary smile.
“He’s sort of a grudge holder.”
“That’s unfortunate. He’s a bit on the handsome side.”
“He is,” I agree.
We quit speaking when the ship in question dives toward us abruptly. My heart claws at my chest to get out. The ship hovers near us, as if it’s checking us out. I hold my breath, not that it will help, but I have no control over it. Just as abruptly as it descended, it ascends, climbing back to rejoin its formation. When it disappears from sight, Phlix sits down and wraps her arms around her knees. “I thought they saw us for a second.”
I crouch down next to her. “Me too.”
Using her gift has clearly drained her energy even more. “We should go,” she says.
We travel half the night without resting. We stop when the trees get denser and it takes more effort to weave between them. It’s actually good news, because the aircraft that we heard earlier will have a harder time finding us with this much vegetation. I leave Phlix to rest by our backpacks while I scout around for water. She’s listless and has a hard time concentrating on anything I say to her.
“Did you find anything?” she asks with her eyes closed when I walk back to her.
“No,” I reply.
“Okay,” she says and gets to her feet. “We should be there soon. I can make it.”
“We’ll make it,” I say confidently, but I may be lying.
I repack the backpacks, taking the heaviest items from Phlix and putting them in my pack. I lead the way, checking the compass and the map frequently. We come upon a small hill, and just as I crest the top of it, I spot Phlix’s flask in the middle of the path we’ve been following. My flipcart flies over it. I don’t stop. Glancing behind me, I notice that Phlix sees the flask too, but she ignores it as well and we keep going.
Stopping at a big tree, I wait for Phlix to catch up. When she does, she dismounts from her flipcart and sits down with her backpack still on. She leans it against the tree and closes her eyes. I shrug off my backpack and put it next to her. “I’ll go look for water,” I whisper.
“They’re watching us, aren’t they? Taunting us.”
“Yeah,” I reply.
“It doesn’t matter. Even this is better than Pike.”
“We’re going to make it. I promise.”
“Kricket,” Jax says from somewhere behind me. I straighten and turn to see him walking slowly toward me. In his hand, he carries Phlix’s flask of water. “I think you dropped this.” He cautiously moves forward.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Its just water. That’s all,” he replies honestly.
He stops a few feet away and stretches the bottle toward me. I look around between the trees, but I don’t see anyone else with him, not that I thought I would. The only time I’ll see them is when they want me to see them. I take the flask from Jax and back away from him. Moving to Phlix, I unstop it and hold it out to her. “It’s okay,” I say. “Its just water.”
“You’re sure?” she asks.
“Yes. He isn’t lying,” I tell her.
Phlix takes the flask from my hand and takes a sip and then another. She hands it to me. I shake my head, saying, “I’m okay. You drink it.”
“You need some too,” she urges.
“Maybe later,” I reply and straighten.
“Your friend is right, Kricket. You should drink some water,” Jax says worriedly. “You