Free Shine Light by Marianne de Pierres Page B

frowned. ‘If they’re from other worlds perhaps their arrival somehow caused the Spiral to be made?’
    ‘How?’ scoffed Markes. ‘Are you saying the Ripers can move land and water? And bring darkness?’
    Naif flushed, angered by his scorn.
    ‘They could be right, Ewan,’ said Emilia.
    The use of Markes’s Grave name jarred on Naif but it made him listen.
    ‘We were taught at school that islands formed when the sea flooded up the sides of mountains. Some of those mountains still run with hot flow from the belly of our world. What if the Ripers fell from the sky into the sea, upsetting the earth and water? It could be that the ground shifted beneath their crash and more islands formed,’ said Emilia.
    ‘That’s fou ,’ said Markes, using a word Suki had taught them.
    ‘No!’ disagreed Charlonge. ‘On Lidol-Push my parents told me stories of a God that fell from the sky. He disobeyed his father God and was cast from the heavens. They said the night sky blazed for so long from his fall that night became day. When the light finally dimmed, it left a well of dark water where the young God fell.’
    Naif’s stomach tightened in excitement. If the Golden Spiral had not always been there then whatever had occurred to cast Ixion into darkness could perhaps be undone. She would not share her hope with the others yet. Not until she learned more.
    ‘Find the books that are written at that time and see what stories you can find about Gods falling to the sea.’
    ‘What time was that then?’ asked Emilia.
    Naif jogged her friend’s elbow. ‘Char?’
    ‘My parents said it was Pama’s story and she lived six decades. She died a year before I came to Ixion.’
    ‘Then look for anything written less than a hundred years ago.’
    ‘What are you thinking, Naif ?’ asked Markes.
    ‘Knowing how the Ripers arrived means also knowing how they can leave.’
    Charlonge crawled back over to her pile of books. ‘You believe you can make them leave?’
    ‘I don’t know. Let’s find out more.’
    ‘But Eve and Clash have their own plans to defeat them. They have weapons,’ said Markes.
    ‘They won’t succeed,’ said Naif quietly. ‘They cannot. Even if every single young one on Ixion joined them. They cannot win. The Ripers and the Night Creatures are too strong.’
    ‘Your bravery deserts you now, Naif ?’ said Markes, surprised.
    Naif clenched her fists. Markes dismissed her ideas the way Clash did. ‘Bravery is not what we need. We have to be clever and far-sighted. It’s not just the Ripers that need to be stopped. What about our Elders? They are just as evil. They are the ones trading our lives.’
    Charlonge nodded but Markes remained unconvinced. ‘Once we’ve defeated the Ripers we can take our fight back to Grave.’
    ‘And do what? Slaughter our parents and cousins and friends?’
    ‘Seals have no friends,’ he said.
    Naif ignored the barb. His argument was hollow and he knew it. ‘You aren’t a Seal. You left behind friends.’
    ‘Ewan, listen to her,’ said Emilia. ‘Please.’
    It was the third time she’d supported Naif, and Markes fell silent. The four of them stared at the books.
    Markes got to his feet. ‘I need air.’
    Emilia looked at him uncertainly. ‘Ewan?’
    But his attention fell to Naif. ‘If you are right and the Ripers come from another world, don’t you think they would’ve left already if they could? Have you thought, perhaps, that they choose to be here?’
    Naif shrugged. She did not want to tell him of her nascent plan to destroy the Golden Spiral. Nor did she want Suki or Eve or Clash to know. They wanted to fight. ‘As I said, we should keep reading. It cannot hurt to learn more.’
    He made a frustrated noise. ‘You learn more. I’m going outside.’
    Emilia looked forlorn but Naif refused to be daunted. ‘Char, Emilia, keep reading. Please.’
    Charlonge nodded and began separating her books by date. Emilia sat unmoving, clearly torn.
    ‘You are clever,