flight. She had never run so fast and it had never felt so good.
She ran for half the night and only stopped running when she fell exhausted in her tracks. Flick found her before dawn. She was still panting.
He wanted to take her back to ‘Esmeraldarine’, but she could only screech and lash out at him with her fists when he tried to make her do that. She couldn’t go back. It was far too painful. ‘This way!’ she yelled, pointing to the east. ‘I’m going this way and you won’t stop me. I have to.’
Flick crouched before her, his hands hanging between his knees. ‘Why?’ he asked.
Lileem gripped her head, squeezed it. ‘It’s a call,’ she said, trying to think clearly. ‘So strong. I have to obey it. There is no choice.’
Flick stared at her and she stared back, breathing heavily. She couldn’t slow down her breath. After a long minute or so, Flick said, ‘All right.’
‘All right what?’ she cried. The singing in her ears was so loud now she had to shout to hear her own voice, never mind Flick’s.
‘We’ll go east,’ he said. ‘I’ll come with you, if you have to go.’
Lileem threw herself against him. ‘Thank you.’ She realised she had never wanted to go alone.
He held onto her tightly, for just a moment, then held her shoulders at arm’s length, gazing into her eyes steadily. ‘I’ll go back to Ezzie, tell the others, see what they want to do. OK? Will you wait for me here for a just a while?’
She nodded vigorously. ‘Yes.’
He stood up. ‘If you really have to go, leave signs. I’ll be as quick as I can.’
Lileem watched him lope away from her and when he had vanished from her sight, began to weep. He hadn’t questioned her desire. He accepted it, and he would be with her. Her breast ached as if something inside it was about to burst. She had never felt so happy, yet at the same time, so sad.
It was difficult not to give in to the desire to leap up and keep running, but Lileem managed to control herself. She knew she should feel hungry, because she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before, but she had no hunger within her. She was simply itching to move and had to keep pacing around. While she did so, she prayed to Lunil, her gentle dehar. What is happening to me? Help me. But it was daytime and Lunil’s influence was weak. She shrank from calling upon Aruhani, because of his arunic associations and Miyacala did not feel appropriate. Her own particular invention, Agave, could give her strength perhaps. For some minutes, she spoke to him, and maybe it was her imagination at work, but her body did begin to feel less agitated. It was fortunate she’d not strayed as far from the river as she thought she’d done, because Flick returned to her just past noon.
‘Ulaume had an idea,’ he said. ‘It might take strength for you to go through with it. There is an eastern tributary to the Serpent a few miles north. You should come back to Ezzie and we’ll head that way. It’ll be quicker than travelling on foot.’
Lileem considered this. ‘It’s a good idea, but I don’t think I can.’
‘You could try.’
‘But it hurts so much. You don’t understand.’
‘We don’t know who or what is calling to you,’ Flick said. ‘It would be better if we could all stick together. Try speaking to these voices in your head. Tell them your intention is to go east, but that you need to go back west first for quicker transport.’
‘OK, I’ll try.’ She took a few tentative steps towards Flick and it was as if a giant fist closed about her mind. She uttered a cry, clasped her head, stepped back. ‘I can’t!’
‘Lileem, you are strong,’ Flick said. ‘Fight back!’
Lileem screwed up her eyes and cried, ‘Agave, be with me! Give me your strength, your fire.’
‘That’s it!’ Flick urged. ‘Take my hand. Come to me.’
Lileem reached out and his fingers curled around her own.
‘I will feed you strength,’ he said. He pulled her towards him.
It was like being hauled through a thicket of blades, perhaps the blades of Agave’s sacred plant itself. But then, a warm wave of energy coursed through Lileem’s body: Flick’s strength and love. For a moment, her head was completely clear. ‘Run!’ she cried.
As they ran towards the west, Lileem imagined the immensely tall figure of Agave on the