Atlas Never Shrugged

Atlas Never Shrugged

  And

  You Held the World in Your Arms

  Episodes 4 and 5 of Staring Into the Abyss

  A Story of the Second Realm

  By R.J. Davnall

  Copyright 2012 R. J. Davnall

  This ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration, and the reader is not charged to access it.

  The Second Realm

  Van Raighan's Last Stand:

  Episode 1: I Can See Clearly Now

  Episode 2: You Can't Go Home Again

  Episode 3: A Hole In Her Mind

  Episode 4: Touching the Void

  Falling With Style:

  Episode 1: Wild Hawk Down

  Episode 2: She Stoops to Conquer

  Episode 3: Falling Off the Face of the Earth

  Staring At the Abyss:

  Episode 1: A Knot Better Tied

  Episode 2: Mind Over Matter

  Episode 3: The Weight of the World on Her Shoulders

  https://itsthefuturestupid.blogspot.com/

  Contents

  Atlas Never Shrugged

  You Held the World in Your Arms

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Staring Into the Abyss

  4. Atlas Never Shrugged

  It was a lovely morning. Of course, it had rained right through the previous afternoon, and Rel had felt pretty good about that, too. The eyrie Pevan had found for them up in one of Old Vessit's towers had a fine view across the bay, which sparkled under the still-rising sun. The sand of the beach was almost painful to look at, a white-hot crescent stretching away toward the horizon. Gulls flocked out over the water, the chill-edged wind bringing him their calls.

  After a fortnight in a cave, with less than a dozen feet to move about in, it would take more than just a cold breeze to spoil the sky for Rel. His clothes were still damp from the previous day's enthusiastic running around in the rain. He sniffled, rubbed a hand across the bottom of his nose. Perhaps he'd been a little careless. Pevan had immediately started trying to mother him, though, and after two weeks of Dora and Taslin talking down to him, he wasn't going to put up with that.

  "Morning." Van Raighan's accent made the word twice as long as it needed to be. The southerner's way of speaking still got on Rel's nerves. How did they deal with crises at that pace? They had fewer crises to deal with, probably. Life was easier in the South. Rel looked over his shoulder. The thief - it was still hard to think of him as an ally - stood a pace behind and off to one side, a sandwich in each hand. He offered one to Rel.

  "Thanks." Rel took it and peered inside. The people of Vessit had some funny ideas on what a cheese should taste like, and Pevan had just got back from a supply run into town. "Were there any problems?"

  "Nah. Nice and easy." Van Raighan gave a feral smile, his dark eyes turning beady. Behind him, the stripped-bare concrete of the walls and floor drained the colour out of both sunlight and the light of the fire they'd somehow kept going overnight. "You don't mind that we stole the food?"

  Rel sniffed at the sandwich, but his nose was too thick to smell anything. Probably safe, then. "I don't see how else we were going to eat. We can make amends when we've dealt with Keshnu."

  "Pevan was sure you'd throw a hissy fit." The thief stepped up to Rel's shoulder, looking out across the water. He took a bite of his sandwich and glanced at Rel out of the corner of his eye.

  "A hissy fit?"

  "Her exact words." Van Raighan grinned.

  Rel rolled his eyes. "That's younger siblings for you."

  "I'm a younger sibling." The thief raised his eyebrow, pointedly, but his smile didn't waver. He took another bite, wiped a smear of chutney from his lip.

  "True." Hard to remember the scrawny little man was Rissad's brother. The elder Van Raighan had seemed so straight-backed and dignified as he hobbled away into the unknown of the Sherim beneath Vessit. Chag, by contrast, was half-rat, half-terrier. He gave Rel the impression he never used a door when sneaking through a window would do.

  Still, as his gaze went distant, his eyes wandering northward, the thief seemed to age. When he spoke, his voice barely rose above the wind. "You think Rissad will be alright?"

  "I wish I knew." Rel managed to suppress the automatic shrug. "He was pretty badly injured when he left, and there's no telling where he ended up. I hope he makes it back, and soon."

  Van Raighan didn't reply. Rel grimaced and bit into his sandwich. The cheese was terrible, but the chutney helped. So did the gurgle his stomach gave as the food hit it. The meal the previous evening had been small and rushed.

  "Chag?" Pevan called from somewhere behind them. Rel turned to look, Van Raighan mirroring his motion. Pevan crouched by the fire, tidying things into one of their packs. "Are we ready to go?"

  "Go? Go where?" Rel turned to face his sister more squarely. With having to evade Keshnu's pursuit, they'd had little time the previous day to talk about what they'd do next. Pevan and Van Raighan presumably had dues to pay to their Wildren allies, but Keshnu was still at large to continue whatever he was planning with the Abyss.

  "Back to the Separatists," Van Raighan drawled. "You owe them a thank-you, don't you? They're keen to meet you."

  Rel glanced out at the bay. "They'll have to wait. I can't predict when Keshnu will make his move."

  Pevan stood, shouldering her pack. "What do you mean?"

  "The Realmquake yesterday morning. It was Keshnu's doing."

  "You're kidding." Van Raighan folded his arms, slouching lopsidedly, one sceptical eyebrow raised. "Even a Gift-Giver couldn't do something like that."

  "Didn't you see the Abyss?" Rel took a few steps away from the hole in the wall, wondering what a Realmquake would do to them up here. "The Realm is close to cracking right through here anyway, just snapping in half. Keshnu's been down there every day, according to Dora. He was down there when the quake hit, and he's barely left since."

  Pevan's face fixed in a sceptical frown. "I'm not sure. The Gift-Givers... would they really do something like that?"

  Rel clenched his jaw to keep from snapping at her. She could be so naive sometimes. "Who are we to speculate on their motives? Why else would he have insisted on me not having any contact with the locals? All my Clearviewings point to another big quake still to come."

  "Whether or not he caused the quake, what would you do about it?" Van Raighan walked around to stand by Pevan. A little too close for Rel's liking, too. Whenever the two of them stood close together, something about the thief's body language set Rel's teeth on edge. He found himself expecting Van Raighan to put his arm around Pevan or take her hand. As it was, the little man just stood there, leaning slightly towards her, his arms loose at his sides. "You can't expect to stop that kind of power, can you?"

  Pevan seemed to sense Van Raighan's too-close presence. She picked her hands up, wringing them together in front of her waist. The delicacy of her fingers made a strange contrast with her straight-sided form and ungainly trousers. Had she even brought a skirt or dress with her to Vessit?

  Rel put his sister's clothing out of his mind. "We have to. No-one else is going to. No-one else knows."

  "But how do you plan on stopping him?" Van Raighan folded his arms. "The Separatists may be able to help. Come with us, you can still be back here tomorrow, with Pevan's help."

  "I don't know, Chag." Pevan looked down, away from the conversation. "That Gift-Giver who was with Dora yesterday... Teslin?"

  "Taslin." Rel spoke automatically, but Pevan shot him a look as if he'd just thrown a bucket of slops over her.

  "Yeah. Her." She jammed her hands into her pockets and turned her attention back to Van Raighan. "She sa
id the Separatists... well, she said they didn't give a damn about us. That whatever it is they're planning to do would be as bad as another Realmcrash."

  "Of course she'd say that." Rel lifted his hands, palms up, in front of him. "She's Keshnu's dogsbody. She's not going to let on to his scheme, is she?"

  "Maybe so, but Ashtenzim and the others won't even leave the Second Realm." Pevan shrugged, the gesture awkward on her boyish frame. "I just think we're being a bit optimistic if we rely on them to help."

  Rel nodded. "Good. We're staying, then."

  "No, I agree with Chag." Pevan glanced at the thief, took a step towards Rel. "There's nothing you can do about Keshnu either way. We need to take you to the Separatists."

  "For what it's worth, there's reason to think there won't be more quakes if you come North with us." Van Raighan hadn't moved, but he seemed smaller with Pevan stood in front of him.

  "How does that work?" Why was the thief so keen to get him away from Keshnu? Rel wondered if he'd misjudged. But his Clearviewings had been pretty consistent - there was a quake coming, and Keshnu was involved. "Who'll stop the Gift-Givers if we don't?"

  Van Raighan shrugged. "Delaventrin's Clearseeing was... well, clear, if you'll excuse the pun."

  "So was mine. And you've only got this Delaventrin's word for it."

  "It's more complicated than that, Rel." Pevan sounded like she was about to start lecturing him. "We've had good reason to trust it. But it's beside the point. If you go back to the Abyss now, they'll find some reason to lock you up again."

  "What?" Van Raighan