Page 76 of Blightfall

Naga snuggled in the pack. Arturo had mushrooms in the pack. Naga could give a mushroom to Sadie. Then Sadie would not be sad.

Naga found mushrooms in the bag. Naga touched the mushrooms. Naga popped.

Naga passed beneath the Night of the Big Minds. Naga floated. Naga watched. The eyes of the Big Minds watched Naga back.

Hi! Naga said to the Big Minds.

Naga waved her spines at them. The Big Minds had agreed to let Naga bring friends through the Night. The Big Minds wanted to be friends. But the Big Minds did not like too many friends to come. If the Big Minds were happy, maybe they would let more friends come through the Night to be safe.

Naga let go of one mushroom.

“For you!” Naga said. “Yum!”

Naga appeared in Sadie’s bag. Some mushrooms appeared in Sadie’s bag, but one mushroom was missing. The bag did not have many eyes. The Big Minds could not see the bag. They could not tell Naga if they liked the mushroom. But maybe the Big Minds would tell Bob. Then Bob could tell Naga.

Naga was patient. Naga would wait. Sadie could have these mushrooms. Later Arturo could have scritches. Naga would bring more mushrooms to the Big Minds.

Naga would help everyone be happy.

Part Four

Twenty-Two

Sadie

I lagged behind as we left Epiphany. Nedd glanced back at me like he was worried, but I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring wave. I should have been thrilled—Arturo had chosen me for an important assignment! He trusted me enough to let me take the lead on something vital to our survival!

But if I messed up, my teammates could die. Arturo was extending his trust to me, and I desperately wanted to not let him down.

The canoe rental place was north of the city, past the watermills, at the bend where the river wrapped around the hill and then continued on into the forest. Dayan didn’t ask us to pay for our own boats—they went inside and came out with two tickets to give to the attendant standing on the dock. The woman released two canoes from their rack and set them into the water. I climbed into the back of one while Arturo took the front of another. I hoped Nedd would come with me, but instead he climbed into the middle seat behind Arturo. I didn’t think the flightleader and the assistant flightleader were supposed to be in the same craft, but maybe that only counted for starfighters.

Dayan joined me in my canoe, taking the middle seat, and Alanik took the seat in the front. Gilaf took up the rear in Arturo’s canoe. We all settled our bags between our knees, with Suki in Alanik’s bag at the front of the boat, still composing her report. All the men were in the same canoe, I realized, though Dayan probably had more upper body strength than any of us, so we were still coming out ahead.

Dayan detached the paddles from the side of our boat—each had two blades attached at either end of one long pole, so we could dip it in and out of the water on either side without having to reorient the pole. Dayan gave us some basic instructions, then used their paddle to push away from the dock. The canoe began to drift downriver with the current. Alanik stared down at the dark water like it had murdered a friend of hers.

Scud, I’d forgotten Alanik couldn’t swim, and neither could Gilaf. This must be terrifying for them.

“Do these boats tip over very often?” I asked Dayan.

“Only if you do something stupid,” Dayan said.

“Let’s try not to do anything stupid, then,” I said.

“Agreed,” Alanik said.

As Arturo shoved off from the dock, he shouted and reached for his neck. His hand came away with a tiny bit of blood.

“What happened?” Nedd asked.

“Squeeze just used mindblades to scratch up my neck!” Arturo said. “What the hell?” he said at Gilaf’s pack.

“Maybe he’s out of sorts from spending all day in a backpack,” Nedd said.

“So he decided to make me bleed?” Arturo asked.

“Scritch!” Naga said.

Arturo groaned. “I don’t understand, but I think Squeeze needs some repatriation time.”