Page 368 of The Liveship Traders Trilogy

D AWN AND DAYLIGHT were always two different things in the Rain Wilds.

The rising of the sun meant little until it was high enough to clear the lush canopy of the Rain Wild forest. Reyn Khuprus watched the first thin trickling of light through a gap between mud and crystal.

The wizardwood log at his back, the fallen section of thick crystal dome that had sheltered them, and the mud that surrounded them now bordered his world.

He half-crouched and half-leaned against the wizardwood block.

The fallen arch of ceiling dome overhead had protected them from the falling debris, but the rising muck and water had found them.

The fallen section had acted as a partial dam.

In its shelter, the thick mud had only flowed in thigh-deep on him, with a layer of chill water on top of it.

He held Selden in his arms, sharing his scant body warmth.

Despite all, the boy was asleep. Exhaustion and despair had claimed him.

Reyn did not wake him now. The pale light was a false hope.

It came from a small crack far overhead.

Although much of the building’s constructed dome and ceiling had fallen in, the thick layer of roots woven through the soil still supported the earth above them.

Only one small, root-fringed crevice admitted the daylight.

Even if he had been able to claw clear of the muck and debris that surrounded them, they could never reach the tiny hole to escape.

As he watched the light gain strength, he knew with despair that they would try. The boy in his arms would wake. They would dig their way out and stand on top of the wizardwood log and call for help. But no one would hear them. They would die here, and it would not be swift.

He hoped Malta’s end had been faster.

Selden stirred, lifting his head from Reyn’s shoulder.

The shift in his weight awoke new pain in Reyn’s back.

Selden made a questioning sound. Then he set his head back down on Reyn’s shoulder.

Helpless, silent sobs shook the boy. Reyn patted him with a muddy hand and said the useless, inevitable words.

‘Well. I suppose we should try to get out of here.’

‘How?’ Selden asked.

‘We’ll have to dig this gap bigger and shove you out of it. Then you’ll climb up on top of the log.’ He shrugged. ‘From there, we’ll have to figure out what to do next. Call for help, I suppose.’

‘What about you? You’re stuck in pretty deep.’

Reyn tried to shift his feet. The boy was right.

The flowing muck that had flooded the chamber last night was settling.

From his thighs down, he was engulfed in a thick porridge of earth and water.

It gripped his legs heavily. ‘Once I’ve got you up there, I’ll be able to dig myself out.

Then I’ll join you on the log.’ The lie came easily.

Selden shook his head. ‘It won’t work. Not for either of us. Look. It’s melting.’

He lifted one grubby hand free from its clutch around Reyn’s neck and pointed.

The thin slice of sunlight shafted down through the dim chamber.

Motes danced in it like dust. But these motes twisted and turned in an odd updraught of steam.

There was a distinctive unpleasant scent in the air.

‘Smells like your hands after you’ve played with garter snakes,’ Selden observed. ‘But stinkier.’

‘Hold tight to me. I need both my hands free,’ Reyn replied.

It was not the hope of escape that made him dig like a dog.

He only wanted to see what was happening.

The thick crystal of the dome piece that sheltered them admitted light but was too dirty to see through.

He wanted a clear view. He had wondered too long not to take this last chance to know.

So he pulled handfuls of muck into their sheltered burrow, heedless that he buried himself deeper.

He enlarged fractionally the opening they could see through, and then stared.

Sunlight rested on the upper corner of the wizardwood log nearest to him.

It bubbled wetly and then melted down, like sea foam left on the beach by a retreating tide.

It made no sense. Sunlight had never affected the wizardwood planks they had hauled out of the city. Liveships did not melt in the sun.

‘Because liveships are dead,’ a voice whispered in his mind. ‘But I am not. I live.’

It was not a swift process. As the sun rose higher, the shaft of light travelled over the wizardwood. It left bubbling goo in its wake. When the sun was overhead and strongest, the reaction quickened. The wood simmered like steaming porridge. The stench of reptile grew stronger.

The boy grew bored with watching the phenomenon.

He was hungry, thirsty, tired and cold. So was Reyn, but somehow his own discomfort did not matter.

Malta’s death had numbed his instinct for self-preservation.

He saw little chance for their survival.

It was hard to press himself to act, but the melting of the wizardwood finally forced him.

As the immense log bubbled and collapsed in on itself, the heavy crystal section of ceiling propped against it and cupped over them began to lean lower.

As he and Selden were beneath it, they had to move or face immediate drowning.

He lifted the boy higher and Selden twisted in his arms, so that he was on his back as Reyn thrust him out of the closing gap.

Reaching up, Selden caught the broken lip of the ceiling piece.

He dragged himself out from under it. Twisting onto his belly, he wallowed through the muck and finally clambered onto the crystal section.

Now it was Reyn’s turn. He had to move fast, for the boy’s weight on top was pushing the ceiling piece deeper into the mire.

He dug with his hands and arms in the muck, like a sea turtle thrashing out a nest in the sand.

He felt his feet come out of his boots. He thrust his hands into the muck to unbuckle his belt of tools and wriggle free of it.

Flopping and wallowing, he crabbed out from under the curved edge of the crystal section.

He had to put his face in the mud to get through, but he managed it.

Once he had emerged from beneath the cupping crystal, he had to turn and flounder his way back to it.

Wallowing to stay on top of the muck, he struggled to haul himself out onto the smooth, curved surface of the crystal.

Selden helped as much as he was able, clutching at Reyn’s wrists and tugging mightily.

With a final heave, he flopped his way onto the ceiling fragment.

For a moment, he lay belly down and panting. Then the ceiling section gave a short lurch and began sinking beneath him. He hoped the bubble of air trapped beneath it would slow the process. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. Selden, wordless with wonder, clutched at him.

Beside them, the melting wizardwood log was not dribbling away into the muck.

It was liquefying and being absorbed. Revealed now was the curled and emaciated form of a dragon embedded in it.

As the wizardwood around her melted, it flowed towards her.

The shaft of sunlight illuminated a miracle.

Her skin absorbed the liquid, and her body swelled with it.

She changed from black to deep blue. The bones and withered muscle and skin plumped with life and took on flesh.

She stirred feebly in the collapsing remnants of her chrysalis.

She twisted, and Reyn got his first glimpse of her wings.

They were folded tight against her back.

They looked like sticks and wet paper. She made an effort to unfurl one wingtip.

It was insubstantial, a thin flap of transparent hide stretched over thin bone or white cartilage.

She lifted her snout, snorted, and then abruptly unfolded one whole wing.

It was immense. It slapped against the melting remains of the wizardwood and the surrounding muck.

Awkwardly she rolled from side to side, trying to get her feet under her.

She leaned on her untried wings like crutches, splatting mud with them as she struggled to right herself.

She unlimbered a long neck, lifting her head blindly towards the sunlight and opened her mouth as if she could drink the light.

Thick white lids covered her eyes. Her head swayed on her neck as she yearned toward the light.

She shifted again, to reveal a long tail bunched beneath her.

The remains of the wizardwood were vanishing rapidly.

The heavy mud was already lapping in to replace it.

Reyn watched helplessly. She would be engulfed before she had ever flown.

Then, with a sound like wet canvas unfurling, she raised her wings.

Mud smeared them. She flapped them awkwardly, and a heavy reptilian odour wafted over Reyn and the boy.

Pulsing veins were outlined briefly in the stretched membrane of her wings.

Then, like dye spilled in water, colour flowed through them.

Her wings went from transparent to translucent to a rich sparkling blue.

As she waved them slowly and unevenly, Reyn could see the strength building in them.

She unlidded her eyes suddenly; they glinted silver.

She looked at herself. ‘Blue. Not silver, as I dreamed. Blue.’

‘You’re beautiful,’ Reyn breathed.

She startled at his voice. She coiled her neck to stare intently at Reyn and Selden. Selden scuttled into the shelter of Reyn’s body. ‘It’s going to eat us!’ he wailed.