The Children of Nihon (BOOK TWO)

Chapter 14 - A Dangerous Crossing

Daylight broke as suddenly as if the sun had exploded all over the sky. Sofia, Orì and Ami rose with a jolt, their eyes and minds heavy and confused with sleep.

"Master Zbgi," Orì exclaimed.

Ami looked around in fright.

"Where?"

"No, not here. But this is his doing. He is looking for us."

"He, or them?"

"I don't know. And it doesn't matter. All we have to do is get to the other side of the mountains, then go into Illyah."

"Will we be safe there?"

"Safer, anyway."

Sofia peered up towards the crowns of the mountain chain that was hidden in a thick blanket of clouds.

"Were the mountains this high, yesterday?"

Ami and Orì followed her gaze. The day before, they remembered, the mountains had stretched high into the sky as well, yet not that deeply into the clouds.

"Maybe the clouds are lower, today," Ami said.

"Maybe," Orì agreed, unconvinced. "We have to get going right away."

They quickly gathered their few belongings, all the while peering nervously downhill, as if Master Zbgi were to appear on the horizon at any moment. Far off, they could still make out a vague rectangular shape. It was the inn, where they had all been together the day before.

"I thought we came further," Sofia said. "How will we ever get away from them?"

"Now you start worrying?" Orì tugged on Sofia's backpack. "Give this to me, I'm stronger than you are."

"No, you're not." Sofia shouldered the backpack, feeling its distinct weight. "Well, maybe we can switch later."

Ami was chewing on the piece of bread Orì had distributed amongst them.

"Do we have water?" he asked.

Orì looked at him indulgently, then she rapped her knuckles on the large rock in whose shadow they had spent the night. A fountain of fresh water sprang from it.

"As much as you want," she said lightly.

Happily, Ami formed his hands into a hollow and drank from it. Sofia looked on suspiciously, but when she opened her mouth, Orì said,

"If you ask me if the water is real, I am going to carry you back to Master Zbgi myself."

Sofia made a face at her and held her tongue. Carefully, she tasted the water. It was fresh and clear and cold. After she had quenched her thirst, Orì did the same. The source dried up as quickly as it had appeared, only a little puddle on the ground proving that it had been there at all.

They set off towards the mountain pass, quiet and nervous. At first, the menacing melody about Cyrus Twist was still coursing through Sofia's mind, but it was quickly replaced with more urgent thoughts and worries.

"He'll spot us," she said after a while.

"We could make ourselves invisible again," Orì suggested.

Ami was firmly against it.

"I'll faint. Honestly, I don't think I can take it. We have to keep that as a last resort."

The girls thought about it, then reluctantly agreed. It had taken him a long time to recover the previous evening. Anyway, invisibility was tough to keep up, and it took a lot out of them to extend it to Ami.