Silver River had said he would warn them of the danger, that he would take steps to protect them. But perhaps that hadn't been enough and not even they were to be spared.
«It might have been a lie,' she said. Her hand rested on his. «In fact, it probably is a lie. They would say anything to get to you. Even something as evil as that.»
But it wasn't a lie. He knew it instinctively. It was the truth. Somehow, the Druids had lured his parents to Paranor and locked them away. What was expected of them, he couldn't be sure. But he was afraid for them because he thought that anyone connected with him, or with his aunt, was at risk. His impulse was to abandon the quest and go to them at once, to do anything that would help them. But of course, that was exactly what the Druids were hoping for, what they intended by giving out such information. He would not be helping his parents by giving in to his impulses. He could only help by finding his aunt and bringing her home again. She was the one who could save them all.
He remained awake long after the rest of them were asleep, trying to reassemble the shattered pieces of his confidence, trying to reassure himself that he wouldn't give way to what he was feeling.
They set out again at dawn, climbing out of the valley and into the jagged peaks of the Klu Mountains. The Klu were rugged, barren pinnacles that time and a shifting of the earth's crust had compressed as if they had been grasped by a giant's hand, the rock cracked and broken by the pressure, eroded by wind and water, and reshaped into strange formations that barely resembled the mountains they had once been. Narrow defiles and deep chasms split the rock at every turn, and passes were as likely to lead through stacked rocks and weather–carved fissures as along ledges or across slides. Nothing made sense about the Klu, which seemed to comprise an amalgam of every geological configuration that nature could devise.
As the day wore on and the air cooled at the higher elevations, the mist thickened about them. It did so slowly, but noticeably, so that Pen had time to realize that they would soon be climbing blindly into the rocks. It was not a pleasant prospect, given the treacherous terrain with its difficult and uncertain footing. But Ker–madec pressed ahead, moving them along as quickly as conditions would allow, taking them off the flank of the mountains and into a series of defiles that twisted and wound through cliffs towering hundreds of feet above them.
The mist dissipated, but forward progress slowed. Loose stone littered the trail, and ice patches coated its surface. Wind howled overhead and down the gaps in the cliffs, buffeting them as they struggled to put one foot in front of the other without slipping. The path fell away to the left, the resulting cliff a sheer and unbroken drop that vanished into blackness.
Pen hugged the rock wall on his right, trying not to think of what would happen if he slipped, trying not to look down. He had managed to put his concern for his parents and his doubts about himself aside upon waking, but they nudged their way back into his thinking now, prompted by an increasing suspicion that their efforts on this day alone, their first day, were not going to be enough to get them to Stridegate. He watched Cinnaminson as she moved cautiously ahead of him, hands and feet finding the way. He would have taken her hand, done something to help her, but it was too dangerous on the narrow trail.
Then, abruptly, the mist gathered and settled down about them with such compacted heaviness that everything simply disappeared.
«Stay where you are!» Kermadec called back to them.
Pen froze on the trail, feeling the cold of the rock seep into him, listening to the wind die away to nothing, thinking that the worst had just happened. They were trapped, unable to go forward or back, exposed to the whim of the elements. It was probably close to midday. What would happen when it was night?
He reached out, groping, until he found Cinnaminson's hand and took it in his own, then edged forward until he was just behind her. «Can you see anything that we can't?» he asked.
Her face turned to his, her lips cold when they pressed against his ear. «I can see a little of what lies ahead, but I don't know which way to go. There are too many choices. It all looks the same.»
Pen thought. «Could you guide us if Kermadec told you what to look for?»
She gripped his arm. «I don't know. Maybe.» She sounded scared, but no more scared than he felt. And she was their best hope. He called to Kermadec, then eased his way forward past the others, leading Cinnaminson by the hand. He moved carefully, taking his time, one foot in front of the other, body pressed to the cliff wall. The mist was getting worse, visibility dropping to where he couldn't see more than a few yards ahead, and no wind appeared to blow it all away.
When he reached the Maturen, he explained his idea. Once Kermadec understood what the Rover girl was able to do, he agreed to let her try. He had never seen fog so bad and didn't care to wait it out. Exposed as they were, it was too dangerous to remain on the cliff trails. They needed to find shelter.
So with Cinnaminson leading them, using her special sight to see beyond the layers of mist, they began inching forward. It was slow going, — Cinnaminson stopped often to explain what she was seeing so that Kermadec could advise her on which way to go. A maze of similar paths and trails awaited his decision, most of them leading to sudden drops or blank walls and only a few leading out. Pen wondered how far they were from safe ground and an easier passage, but wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
The mist got worse, and their progress slowed even more. Pen felt Cinnaminson hesitate more often, as if even her sight could not penetrate the haze. He turned his face into the mist, and the feel of it made him shiver. There was something wrong with its dampness and color, something that sent a whisper of warning rushing through his chilled body.
«Kermadec!» he called back. «Why is it getting worse?» «Because the mist is Druid–formed,' Khyber answered, an invisible presence somewhere behind him. «Because it isn't real. We saw this before, Pen, when we crossed the Lazareen. The ones who track us now must have sent it through the peaks to trap us. They must know what we are trying to do!»
«Can you get rid of it, Elven girl?» Kermadec called back. «Can you counter their magic with your own?»
A long pause. «If I do, I will give us away. They will track my magic to where we are. I expect that is what they are hoping for.»
There was a long silence in the aftermath of this pronouncement, a silence filled with heavy breathing and a shuffling of feet.
«We can't just stand out here!» Atalan snapped angrily. «They'll find us anyway! Or the weather will. There's snow coming.»
Cinnaminson leaned over to Pen and whispered in his ear. «I can't see anymore. My sight is gone. The Druid magic must be affecting it.»
Pen leaned back against the rock, feeling the rough surface dig into his back. What could they do? If Cinnaminson couldn't find the way, they were trapped. But if Khyber used her magic to spring the trap, Traunt Rowan and his Gnome Hunters would be on them in minutes. They needed to find another way. But what way? A cave in which to hide? Even a deep crevice would be sufficient. Just something …
He turned his face into the rock, peering ahead, and felt something move against his cheek. He jerked away, looking back in surprise at a greenish gray patch on the stone.
Lichen.
But it had moved. He had felt it move. He hesitated, then placed his cheek against the patch again. Again, he felt it move. He wasn't sure if he was feeling it with his senses or his mind. It wasn't quite one or the other. He held his cheek against it and closed his eyes.
Warm.
The lichen was expressing what it felt, and his odd magic was reading its communication. He placed his cheek against it once more, feeling the faint movement of its tiny bristles, the expression of its tiny intelligence.
Warm.
He looked around quickly. Lichen grew all over these rocks in mottled greenish gray patches. He peered into the mist. Everything looked the same to him, but maybe not to the lichen. The lichen couldn't see, but it could feel. It was a plant. It sought the sun. That was what it was communicating to him.Warm. It was sensing the hidden sunlight.
Was there a way that he could use the lichen, a way that could help them get clear?
«Kermadec!» he said quickly, searching for the Maturen. The big man moved out of the haze past Cinnaminson. «What direction does the trail go, the one we need to follow?»
