Meryem and two of Oswin's small boys. I even carried a baby. He wet himself, and me. For good measure he burped sour milk on my shoulder. By then the road had come down close to the river. I gave the baby back to his mother to be changed. Then I happily took off my boots and walked into the icy water. Cold doesn't bother me that much. And the smell of water and wet stone was much better than the smell of dirty baby.
I was gathering blue moonstones on the river bottom when the volcano spirits stirred in the big chamber under the mountain. It was strange. The more time I spent listening for them, the more I knew what they were doing. Now the ones who had gone out were rousing up the ones who had stayed behind. They started to whirl around, deep below the earth. The walls of the chamber began to melt, making the room bigger.
"Shake!" I yelled to the people on the road. "Shake, a big one! Shake!"
They scrambled to grab the horses and get out of the carts. I dared not move. I threw my power against the huge slope of loose, quarried rock beside the road. Even a tiny shiver would send tons of granite on top of everyone there. Next I sucked the river boulders' weight into me. I needed to be sure I wouldn't tumble when the earth began to kick. Once I was fixed in place, I spread my magic thin, covering as much loose rock as I could. Then I jammed it down, locking thousands of stone fragments in place. They shifted, trying to cut through my power.
Heat rose from the big chamber. The volcano spirits were hungry. They wanted Flare and Carnelian. I sent that hunger back to them as echoes. They felt battered by their own feelings. Confused, they backed deeper into the chamber. Knowing they were being monkeyed with, the earth spirits roared their fury. The ground under everything buckled and rolled.
Then, for the first time, I heard their voices. They wanted Flare and Carnelian.
They are near! one of them shouted. We need them to lead us!
We need them to lead us out! We need them to take us into glory and fire! another cried, one that sounded female.
They are the leaders, the guides! Where are they?'That one seemed older.
Where are the ones who will free us of the prison and the shadows? From the sound of that voice, the spirit had been waiting to get out for a very long time.
Where are the ones who will guide us to freedom? And that one was my age, or sounded that way, at least.
Find them! Find them! They all joined in that cry, shouting it over and over.
The shake and the spirits' screaming seemed to go on forever. I held down the rocks on the slope until I thought I would melt. I was so full of heat and power I wanted to rip the earth in two and bare its heart. I wanted to shake the world to pieces.
The earthquake eased and stopped. The volcano spirits traveled out of the chamber to the north, leaving the big chamber half full. They sensed that Carnelian and Flare were someplace close. And now I understood their need. Luvo and I would never be able to hide Carnelian and Flare from the other volcano spirits forever.
Those two volcano kids had it all wrong. They'd understood only part of the story.
I pulled myself back to my body. Once more I brought a lot of power with me. And I needed it, to keep the unstable rock from burying the refugees. For the second time my magical body was too big for my real one. I swore in my home language of Zhanzou and dragged myself in here, tucked myself in there. Finally I jammed myself back into my skin.
I came around to discover I was drenched. Myrrhtide stood beside me in the river. He'd put his arm around my chest so he could hold my head above water.
"Uh-oh." My voice came out as a croak. "I guess I fell down."
He raised his eyebrows. "Most of you did. Your feet and legs are as stiff as stone."
I sighed. "Thanks for keeping me from drowning." I looked at his face. Fusspot actually showed whisker stubble, when he'd shaved every day. There were black circles under his eyes. "You should create a spell so your whiskers come off in water. Think how