Page 52 of The Surviving Sky
Yet all of them seemed unhurt.
And there was no trace of the other citizens.
No, Iravan thought, his heart sinking.No, no, no.
The ground moved again. More cries rang through the broken clearing as architects jumped back. The dozen small holes undulated like waves toward the center, snaking past the architects, who watched stunned. The holes turned into a bowl of depressed earth. Water splashed into the crater, filling it, as though the ashram was trying to fix this error before it was noticed.
Cries of wonder and shock echoed through the crowd. Several children wept, shivering as they watched.
“Gather yourselves,” Iravan commanded sharply. “You are architects of Nakshar.”
His words rang loud, cutting through the clamor.
The students quieted, staring at him with wide eyes.
Iravan searched the crowd, and his eyes settled on Naila as she pushed her way to him. “You’ll have to direct them,” he said curtly. “We have to pull up theearth—”
“The Academy,” she gasped at the same time. “It must all be inshambles—”
“Rage the Academy,” Iravan said. He pointed at the bowl. “There are citizens trapped there.”
“But sir! The architects in the Academy are our priority!”
“Your priority is what I fucking tell you, Junior Architect,” Iravan snarled, his hands balling into fists.
She recoiled in shock. The others exchanged nervous glances. They had never seen him this furious; he had always been patient with the children. His eyes ran over them, his heart pounding; he had no time to explain, but all of them had been taught how architects preserved the ashram, how architect lives mattered more. Iravan’s wrath coiled in him, for what he had been forced to teach them, for the fact that Naila made more sense to them now than he did.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “I don’t care if the Academy is under,” he said loudly. “The Academy isempty. But every citizen trapped in there embodies the potential of the ashram.”
The children shifted on their feet. Exchanged nervous glances.
“Even if the Academy isn’t empty,” he went on, meeting as many gazes as he could, “all architects are protected by the permissions of the rudra tree. It’s why none of you were sucked in.” It was why his healbranch chair had retracted on its own, sensing the danger.
“But the citizens there are in peril. They can’t traject. So,youneed to do your duty.”
The children murmured. Some of the older ones stood up straighter.
Naila’s face grew considering. “What do we do, sir?”
“Follow my instruction,” he said, gazing at them, this army of children, the youngest perhaps eight and the oldest barely a decade more. “Naila, arrange them in order of skill. Quickly, now; we don’t have much time.”
Naila moved away, calling out names. Grim but confident children strode forward, rolling the sleeves of their dusty robes back, readying for battle.
Iravan gripped his chair to keep from shaking.
The sungineered waterfall was filling the bowl quickly. The water was likely trickling down through crevices. Why weren’t the Maze Architects responding to this? They ought to have seen the accident in the Moment. He tapped one of his bracelets, fighting dizziness, but the message didn’t connect to Ahilya.
Sweat broke out over him.This is normal, Iravan told himself.It’s normal. Rudra beads weren’t directly connected to the Moment; they were a combination of sungineering technology and trajection, the first casualty if active trajection failed. And no architect had fallen inside the crater to sustain trajection. It was to be expected.
His fingers shaking, Iravan connected a message to the temple administrators, and to all the councilors. Why hadn’t they reacted yet? Maze Architects ought to have been swarming theAcademy—
“We’re ready,” Naila said, returning to his side.
“Enter the Moment,” Iravan commanded. “Find the stars of the Academy.”
All around him, the skins of nearly fifty children lit up. The Resonance flickered atIravan—fora terrible second, he thought he had obeyed his own command, his visionssplit—thenthe feeling subsided, and Iravan panted, winded.
“What do you see, Naila?” he asked, gritting his teeth.
