Edge of Worlds

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As predicted, it was mid-morning when the wind changed, and the clouds began to dissolve into shreds. Moon and the others went down to the beach for a better view.

They had spent the remainder of the morning setting up their camp. The tent the Kish had given them was at the edge of the main camp, and looked like it had just been pitched. Bramble and Merit had immediately taken it down, dug trenches to give it better drainage, and put it back up again in a different configuration. The warriors’ attempts to assist them with this process were not appreciated. Chime dodged a swipe from Bramble for trying to help her hold a pole, and retreated over to Moon. He called back to her, exasperated, “Fine, you do it! I’ll never help you with anything again!”

“Is that a promise?” Bramble called back.

Moon had just stood there, arms folded. To the Kishan watching from a distance, it would just sound like growls and hisses. If it was Moon’s decision, he would have been a great deal more circumspect around strange groundlings. But it wasn’t his decision.

Stone had flown out from the island, but hadn’t been able to detect any Fell stench. If the Fell were nearby, they had retreated to whatever island they were using as a nest, and weren’t in the air. Kalam had said that while the Kishan here had waited for Callumkal to return, they had spent the time searching this island, and all the others surrounding it, for signs of the foundation builders. They had found a few fragments of stone platforms and support pillars, but that was all.

Now, as the clouds dissipated, Moon saw the top of the escarpment. It was a flat plateau that curved up into a sharp pointed peak at the western end. The peak formed a graceful curve, like a horn. The edge of the city was visible as a partial line of conical towers along the top of the cliff. Still obscured by shreds of cloud, they were hard to make out even with Raksuran eyes, but the shapes of the pointed rooftops were distinctive. They didn’t line the entire escarpment, just the portion of it directly above the docking structure.

“It’s not centered,” Chime said. “That’s kind of odd.”

“It ruins the effect,” Bramble agreed, tilting her head as she stared at the escarpment. “That peak doesn’t look natural, either.”

Now that they had pointed out the tilted effect, Moon noticed it too. The escarpment itself was roughly square, like the sea-mounts, and faced the island. But while the ruined docks at the foot and the towers along the top were aligned with each other, both were set closer to the western end of the escarpment than the eastern, clearly off-center and leaning toward the peak. He had seen some natural rock formations that were almost as odd as the peak, though he had to admit that the elegant curve of it above the plateau did look artificial.

Jade turned to them. “I’ll go up, with Moon and Stone. I want the warriors to stay behind for now.”

Chime and Balm exchanged frustrated expressions. River looked insulted, and the others disappointed. Bramble sighed and kicked at a lump in the sand. Moon knew they were all considering the angle of Jade’s spines, and deciding not to voice any objections.

“Do we take Merit?” Moon asked Jade. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not. It would be good to have a mentor’s opinion of whatever they found up there, but the flying was going to be dangerous already.

“Stone can carry me,” Merit said, bouncing anxiously. “If he has to let go to climb, I’ll hold onto him.”

Jade’s brow furrowed. Moon had the feeling she was contemplating Merit losing his hold and falling some untold number of paces to his death. Depending on how bad the wind was, they might not hear a scream for help.

Balm suggested, “What if the warriors follow you, but stop about halfway up. That way if something happens, we can help.” She clearly meant, catch Merit if he falls.

Jade nodded a reluctant agreement, but said, “That won’t do much good once we’re over the city.”

“Getting over the edge of the escarpment should be the hard part,” Balm countered. “It’ll be less tricky once you get past it.”

We hope, Moon thought.

Jade eyed all the warriors again. “All right, we’ll take Merit. Root and Chime will stay here with Bramble. The others will follow Balm, and stop at the halfway point.”

Merit slung his bag over his shoulder and shifted to his scaled form. Bramble gave him a nudge to the shoulder. “Careful.”

Callumkal and Delin slogged through the sand toward them from the camp. Callumkal called, “Are you going to try for the city?”

Delin called, “You will take me?”

“Not this time,” Jade said. She nodded to Stone, and he stepped back and shifted to his winged form. Callumkal slid to a halt, startled. Apparently seeing Stone do it in midair a couple of times didn’t prepare you for a sudden close-up view. Delin continued to trudge through the sand and stopped beside Bramble.

Stone extended an arm and Merit scrambled up to tuck himself in under Stone’s collarbone. Stone curled a protective hand around him, then leapt into the air. Moon, Jade, and the others followed.

The farther up they went, the worse the wind got, and riding it up the cliff without smashing into the side became increasingly difficult. Soon Moon was breathing hard and concentrating so intently on playing the wind on his wings that he had no time to look at their surroundings.

A little after the halfway point, Jade signaled the three warriors to stop and they all dropped back. Moon kept flying, though his wing joins hurt, his head was pounding from the constant wind pressure, and his lungs ached. An interminable time later, Moon realized they had reached the edge of the escarpment, that weather-stained white towers were dropping away below them. With Jade and Stone, he let the wind carry him forward.

Reflected light blinded him. The next instant he thought the city was gone, or had never been here. The top of the escarpment was empty, just a huge open space.

He didn’t realize what he was looking at until Jade landed on it and furled her wings, and he saw her reflection. Moon lit on the crystal surface beside her, staggering with the sudden cessation of wind. The peak and the towers were acting as a windbreak. Behind him Stone slipped sideways out of the wind current and dropped down to land.

A heavy crystal roof covered the city, much of it cloudy and stained from uncounted turns of weather. Moon crouched and ran his hand over it. His scales weren’t as sensitive as his groundling skin, but he could feel the smooth crystal, and the tiny pits where the material was damaged. It was warm from the sun and condensation formed just beneath the surface. He leaned close, trying to see down into it, and glimpsed a long shadow that might be a column, and the narrow canyon of a street or walkway.

He looked up at Jade. Her tail lashed, and she said, tiredly, “Well, this is typical.”

Merit scrambled down from Stone’s shoulder and stared around, frowning. He waved his arms, a gesture of pure frustration. Moon stood as Stone paced away to investigate more of the crystal surface. He shielded his eyes, the fitful wind buffeting his spines and furled wings, trying to gauge the size of the transparent slab. It didn’t stretch over the whole top of the escarpment, but covered an area that he judged as roughly the size of the colony-tree’s circumference. Parts of the crystal shield were covered with patches of what looked like rock. Moon went to the nearest and poked at it with his claws. It was actually windblown sand, packed and crusted until it was nearly as hard as sandstone.

He turned to look toward the towers. They were huge, rounded, each one swelling out into a bulbous shape, then tapering up to a sharp point. They were made of a light-colored stone, now heavily weathered by wind and rain. There were no openings from this side, at least not that he could see. “That has to be the way in, those towers,” he said, but he felt a sinking sensation. It was possible they had been built as a windbreak and nothing else. “It can’t be completely sealed off.”

“Can’t it,” Jade said, her voice flat. She squinted to look up at the peak. The light surface of the stone was smooth, except for pitting from the weather. From this angle, it was clearly made of the same material as the towers.

Jade and Merit continued to examine the crystal, Merit bounding and Jade making short flights, looking for any break in it, or anything like a door, or just a spot where they could get a clear view down into the city. While Moon went for a closer look at the towers, Stone flew toward the far end of the escarpment to examine the other side.

Moon found each tower had been carved from solid rock, all in a piece, and there was no way in that he could see. He examined the bases from the inner side, then climbed out to get slammed by the wind and investigate the outer. He was frustrated, cold, and mad by the time he gave up and climbed back over.

He went to join Jade and Merit in their fruitless search. They were at the far edge of the crystal barrier, where it flowed smoothly into the shaped rock of the escarpment. “Any luck?” Merit asked hopefully.

Moon explained what he had found, which was pretty much nothing. “I didn’t even see any carving,” he told them, shaking ice crystals out of his frills.

Jade scuffed her disemboweling claw against the crystal surface. “If the towers and the horn were built to be a windbreak, then this must have been open at one point.”

Merit scraped at some sand on top of the crystal. “Keep looking?”

Jade’s tail lashed in tired irritation. “Keep looking.”

As the sun moved into late afternoon, Stone returned from his investigation, an annoyed growl rumbling in his chest. He shifted down to his groundling form to say, “I went all along the far edge. Past the crystal, it’s just solid rock. There’s no way in.”

Merit sat on his heels, his spines drooping tiredly. “They had to have an entrance lower down. There’s that dock, for one thing.”

Stone rubbed his forehead. “I’m wondering if the Kish fire weapons could break this.”

“Maybe. I’d hate to carry a groundling up here through that wind,” Jade said.

Moon agreed. The Janderan and the Janderi had tough skin, but not as tough as scales. He wasn’t sure they could take the cold.

And then we have to decide if we really want to find the way in, Moon thought. Because this city was sealed off, impenetrable, like the one under the island. And it might be for the same reason.

So they had come back down, uneasily riding the punishing wind, to report failure. The warriors had been watching for them and came up to meet them partway down, and Moon was so exhausted he was glad for the escort.

About thirty strange Kish-Jandera were waiting on the beach with Callumkal, Vendoin, and Kellimdar. A short distance away, Delin sat on the sand with Chime, Root, and Bramble. The warriors, and Stone with Merit, landed further away down the beach, but Jade spiraled down to land close to the Kishan, and Moon landed with her.

The crowd parted as Delin and the others slogged through the wet sand toward them. Moon was tired, damp, the skin under his scales chilled from the wind at the top of the escarpment. He hated standing there under what felt like an array of hostile stares. He knew it was his imagination, that the groundlings were just anxious for word of what the Raksura had seen, but knowing that never helped.

“We couldn’t get in,” Jade said, as Callumkal was drawing breath to speak. She described the crystal shield and the towers, to growing expressions of dismay from Callumkal and Kellimdar, agitation from Vendoin, and grim worry from Delin.

Moon shifted to his groundling form. It was a miscalculation; the aching muscles and exhaustion could be borne with his winged form. In groundling form it made him stagger. The warriors shifted too, and Song and Briar both sat down in the sand. River wavered, as if he wanted to but meant to use sheer willpower to stay on his feet.

Jade caught Moon’s arm to steady him and said, “We need to rest. Follow me to our tent, and I’ll answer all your questions.”

The discussion moved to the Raksuran camp, where Bramble had made a hearth and started heating some tea. Moon had a cup and then retreated into the tent to sleep. Chime curled up with him, with Song and Root settling nearby.

Moon slept deeply for a short time, then woke and found the tent empty. He stretched to ease the lingering ache in his back muscles. He had heard a little of the discussion with Callumkal and Delin and the others, as they had talked about the crystal shield, and what weapon might penetrate it, and how best to get it to the top of the escarpment. Callumkal and Vendoin were both against breaking the crystal unless it was absolutely necessary. Kellimdar was more impatient, but Delin also wanted to wait, saying that there must be an entrance lower down. Moon knew Delin was playing for time, hoping they would find some definitive sign that the city had been built by the foundation builders and not forerunners. Chime had said Delin had been going over all the notes and drawings Kellimdar and the others had made while waiting for Callumkal to return, but had so far gleaned no more from it than the Kishan scholars had.

Now Moon rolled to his feet and stepped outside. It was nearly dark, and the wind had eased somewhat. Jade was down at the beach, watching the warriors and the Arbora, who were either playing in the waves or looking for shellfish and lizards in the tidal pools. Chime and Delin sat in the sparse grass only a little distance from the tent. Delin had his writing materials spread out, the paper pinned down to keep it from blowing away in the wind.

Moon couldn’t see Stone for a moment, then finally spotted him. He was in his groundling form, half-buried in the warm sand above the waterline. Groundlings are right; Raksura are strange, Moon thought, not for the first time.

He looked toward the Kishan camp and saw it was quiet. Only a few people were out, cleaning up after the remains of a meal at the center of the camp. Several more headed down to the small boats on the beach, probably about to return to the larger sunsailer.

And Callumkal, Kellimdar, and Rorra were just stepping into one of the larger tents near the back of the camp, at the edge of the trees.

On impulse, Moon turned and walked into the jungle. He shifted to his winged form as soon as he was past the cover of some flowering brush, and leapt up to climb the nearest tree.

There were only a few large branches, but the broad leaves offered just enough concealment. He climbed from tree to tree, until he reached one just behind the Kishan tent. He could hear voices. He wrapped his tail around a heavy branch and hung upside down to listen.

Kellimdar was saying, “That’s what they said they found. How do you know you can trust them?”

“Delin trusts them.” Callumkal sounded as if he was uninterested in arguing the point. Or at least that he didn’t want to discuss it with Kellimdar.

“Delin? Who doesn’t believe we should be trying to enter this city at all?” Kellimdar was skeptical. “Hasn’t he hampered us more than he’s helped?”

“He’s helped a great deal.” Callumkal’s voice took on more heat. “His work—”

“From what you’ve said, Delin offered to take you to the Raksura, then got you lost in a dangerous wilderness and refused to show you the way to their settlement.”

There was a pause. Rorra’s voice said, “That’s not a fair description. We were uninvited, we had no permission to approach the Raksuran settlement, and Delin didn’t think we should. We weren’t lost, and he knew they would find us quickly.”

Kellimdar persisted, “But they don’t want us to enter the city. They’re the reason why Delin believes as he does.”

He was right, and if Moon had been part of the conversation, he couldn’t have argued that point. But it was disturbing that Kellimdar thought they were lying to the Kishan. And Callumkal probably did too, he just wasn’t willing to say so to Kellimdar and undermine his own authority. Rorra sounded like she had an open mind, but Moon wasn’t sure how much the others listened to her.

It all meant that if they did find something that showed it was dangerous to open the city, the Kishan weren’t going to believe it.

Callumkal said, “We’ve barely been here one day. I understand your concern, but can we please have some time to evaluate the situation, and actually see what everyone says and does before becoming angry about it?”

Kellimdar was silent a moment, then said, “Very well. I’m sorry if I’ve overreacted—”

Callumkal said, “No, I understand your frustration. We worked very hard to get here. And if this is a forerunner city, and there is something inside, still a danger after all this time . . . I can’t think leaving it there as a danger to future explorers who may have no warning of its existence is much better than taking the chance of accidentally releasing it.”

Well, he’s right about that, Moon thought, his own frustration growing. It wouldn’t be much of a victory to save the Reaches from some powerful Fell attack now, only to have it happen a generation or so later because a less wary or less intelligent set of groundlings stumbled on a way to open the city.

Practical as ever, Rorra said, “So we don’t know what to do.”

“Correct.” Callumkal sounded resigned.

Moon hung there a while, thinking, even after they left the tent. He didn’t know what to do, either.

By the time Moon returned to the Raksuran tent, the sun had set, turning the blue of the sky to deep indigo, and the wind dropped to a light steady breeze. Bramble had made more tea, and the warriors had brought in some fish and swimming lizards for dinner. All the Raksura were sprawled around in the sand in relative comfort, except for Briar and River, who were on watch. Moon took Jade aside and told her about the conversation he had overheard, and she buried her face in her hands and groaned. He felt the same way.

The Kishan camp had also quieted as the few remaining inhabitants retreated to the sunsailer or went back to the flying boat as the night settled in. Then Callumkal walked over with Rorra, Kellimdar, and Kalam to invite them to sleep on the sunsailer, but Jade said they would stay here. She told Callumkal, “If the Fell are watching you, and waiting for you to open the city, they might come closer in during the night to spy on you. We’ll be better able to detect them out here.”

This sparked a little argument about the Fell, with Kellimdar going over all the reasons the Kishan who had remained here thought the Fell were gone, and Jade countering with all the reasons the Raksura thought they must be here, and Callumkal acting as arbitrator.

Kellimdar said, “I believe they came here only to hunt the inhabited, unprotected islands to the west, and then left.”

Jade managed to hold on to her patience. “We told you the signs we encountered on the way here. It can’t be a coincidence that the Fell are out this far.”

“But you don’t know that those signs were caused by the Fell,” Kellimdar protested. He claimed to understand their concerns but he kept circling back around to the idea that there was nothing to worry about. In some ways Moon understood; the Kishan had been chasing the idea of this city for a long time, and all the speculation about it had been proved right so far. Turning your back on all that and just leaving would be terribly hard.

And what Callumkal had said earlier was right; leaving wouldn’t solve the problem either. Not until they knew if the Fell knew a way inside, or were waiting for the groundlings to find one. Or knew what was in there. If anything was. Moon rubbed his face in frustration and held back a growl.

Jade said, with an edge to her voice, “Perhaps we’ve had enough speculation for tonight.”

Callumkal said wearily, “I agree.”

Rorra, who had accepted a cup of tea from Bramble while Kellimdar was arguing, pushed decisively to her feet, took Kalam’s arm, and hauled him up after her. She said, “Callumkal, if you want to stay on the sunsailer tonight, it will be tricky to bring the tender alongside in this current.”

That got Callumkal and Kellimdar moving. Chime asked Delin, “Aren’t you going with them?” He added in Raksuran, “You know, you could listen to what they say.”

Delin shook his head wearily. “I’ve heard it all already.”

When the Kishan had all trekked down the beach, and the sound of the efforts to get the small boat into the water had faded, Delin took a seat beside the hearth and said, “So. The underwater stairs that Stone found. I know it has occurred to all of us that they may be underwater for a reason.”

Moon had an instant of intense memory, of the moment of realization that the creature in the forerunner city had followed them up through the doorway. He felt a ripple of nerves run down his shoulders, where his absent spines wanted to twitch. The creature trapped under the island had been killed by saltwater, one of the reasons they thought the prison had been chosen for it. Chime said, “But like you said, it could also be that the steps were built when the sea wasn’t here, and the dock built on top of them later.”

“It’s a possibility,” Delin said, “but we must ascertain the age of the stairs, and the docking structure above it, to be sure.” He threaded his fingers through his beard. “I am not sure how to do this, but I think the Kishan perhaps know methods.”

Stone stretched and lay back in the sand. “I’m having a lot of trouble with the idea of leaving this place without knowing if there’s something dangerous inside it or not.”

“Yes. Callumkal said that too.” Jade’s spines drooped in resignation. “I’m not happy about the idea of living the rest of our lives in the Reaches waiting for the Fell to show up, and knowing we could have avoided it if we had tried harder.”

Root said, “So either we can’t find a way into the city and have to leave, and not know if the Fell are going to get something from it and use it to come after the Reaches. Or we get into the city and maybe that sets loose the thing that the Fell get and use to come after the Reaches. Or we leave, and somebody else gets into the city later and the Fell—”

Song shoved him in the shoulder. Root fell over into the sand and protested, “I’m not wrong.”

“We know you aren’t,” Chime said, “That’s the problem.” There was a moment of glum contemplation.

Then Song said, “Why can’t we use the thing the Fell are going to get against the Fell?”

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. Moon was struck by a deep gut-and-bone-level instinct for how bad an idea that was, but he didn’t know how to put it into words. Then Jade said, “You didn’t see it.”

Moon expected Song to drop the subject. She hadn’t seen it because she and Root had been almost killed while trying to fight off the Fell. Song still had the scars on her throat. But instead she said, “There were only a few of you there. Stone wasn’t even there. If there were more, we could control it. Or kill it.”

The warriors all looked at Jade, except Balm, who stared at Song, her expression suggesting that someone was about to get a slap to the head. Song hadn’t exactly made a direct challenge to Jade, but the tension of the moment made the comment more pointed than Song had perhaps intended. Her voice tight, Jade said, “As I said, you didn’t see it.”

Song leaned forward. “But it could be our chance to fight the Fell, really fight them, maybe kill a lot of them at once. If this thing is going to be powerful enough for them to use it to attack and overwhelm the Reaches, then it’s powerful enough for us to use it to attack them.”

Jade tilted her head.

Sitting up on his elbows, Stone muttered, “Uh oh,” under his breath. Chime glanced at Moon worriedly, and Delin sat very still. Balm had unconsciously bared her teeth at Song. Root had frozen in place. Moon sat up a little, trying to think of something to say to disarm the situation.

Then Bramble snorted. “Song, did you get hit on the head?”

Bramble and Merit had been so quiet, Moon had forgotten they were there.

Merit was going through his simple bag, and without looking up, said dryly, “You know, I may be young and not the most powerful mentor the court has ever had, but if I had scryed something like that, I’d mention it.”

“There were only a ‘few of you’ there. Let’s see.” Bramble ticked the list off on her fingers. “Jade, our sister queen. Moon, our consort who fights Fell. Malachite, a reigning queen who killed a whole Fell flight. A half-fell consort. A half-fell mentor. And Chime, our mentor who turned into a warrior who has strange abilities that no one understands yet. Even without Stone there, that’s as strong and powerful a group as most courts could put together.” Bramble leaned toward Song. “Exactly how do you expect to control this thing? Have a bunch of warriors there for it to kill as a distraction?”

Merit added, “If we gave it a hundred warriors to kill, maybe it would get tired—”

Song curled her arms around her legs, physically withdrawing from the battle. “All right, all right! You don’t have to rip my face off.”

Bramble grinned. “If someone needs to rip your face off, I’ll do it.”

“Bramble, Merit, enough. You made your point, you don’t have to enjoy it,” Jade said, but her voice wasn’t tight anymore. She rippled her spines to release tension and stood. “We’ll take this up tomorrow. We need some rest.”

Bramble and Merit put on contrite expressions and didn’t argue, having gotten exactly the reactions that they had been aiming for. Stone flicked a fish bone at Bramble’s head.

As Jade started toward the tent, Bramble turned to clean up around the hearth and the warriors all got to their feet. Moon scrambled up to follow Jade.

Everyone got settled, with Delin bedding down on one side with the Arbora and Chime, Moon and Jade on the other. Stone stayed outside in the sand.

Root and Song were supposed to be changing guard places with Briar and River. Through the tent wall, Moon heard Balm stop Root and say, “Go back into the tent. I’m taking your place.” Then a moment later River whispered, “What’s going on?” and Root hissed at him to be quiet.

Jade bunched up the blanket and gave it a punch, muttering, “Idiots.”

Moon rescued the blanket from her and spread it out over the cool sand. Briar and River slipped inside the tent and settled down to at least pretend to sleep. Moon hoped Balm had talking more in mind than fighting, and knowing her she probably did. He was irritated with Song on several points, but mainly the fact that she had interrupted the ongoing discussion of whether they should try to get inside the city or not right at the moment when they might have come to a decision. He thought they were probably going to have to try, just because Jade and Callumkal and everyone else who had brought it up was right: it would be impossible to leave this place knowing it might at some point be used against them by the Fell. Of course, the others were right about the possible consequences, too.

He curled up next to Jade on the blanket, and she tucked an arm around his waist. In the morning, he told himself. Worry about it in the morning.

Moon woke with Stone leaning over him. Stone whispered, “Get up. There’s Fell stench in the wind.”

Jade whipped to her feet. Moon rolled to a crouch, shifting in mid-motion, and tasted the air. He couldn’t detect anything yet, but Stone’s senses were far more acute at long distances.

Around the tent, the others scrambled to their feet. Jade said, “Which way?”

“The southeast, from across the island,” Stone answered, and stepped back outside.

“Where do we go?” Delin whispered, helping Bramble stuff blankets into her pack.

Not the right question, Moon thought. Carrying the Arbora and Delin, they could fly downwind and outrun the Fell, if the wind didn’t drive them into the side of the escarpment or out over the ocean. But it would leave all the other groundlings to die, leave the city and its secrets to the Fell. He said, “Fight or run?”

Jade snarled. “Fight.” She jerked her head at the Arbora. “Dig in and hide. Take Delin with you.”

“They’ll never find us,” Bramble said it with absolute conviction.

Merit said, “Are you sure you don’t want me with you?” His voice shook a little. He had to be thinking of the time he had been captured by the Fell, at the old eastern colony.

Jade said, “No, stay with Bramble. Wait until we’re in the air, then go.” She flung herself out of the tent and Moon darted after her.

Stone stood on the beach, looking up at the night sky. Balm and Song flanked him, their spines flared in agitation. The other warriors shot out of the tent and formed a tight group around Jade. Chime bumped into Moon’s shoulder, radiating nervous fear.

They had left no mentors’ lights or fires lit outside, and the untenanted Kishan camp was also dark. The obvious target was Callumkal’s flying boat tethered sixty paces or so down the beach, with the soft lights along its ridge and on its stern and bow. The other, smaller flying boat was dark, lost among the treetops, but the Fell might have marked its location during daylight. The sunsailer lay at anchor several hundred paces from the shore, deceptively vulnerable, lights shining out of cabin windows. Jade said, “River, warn the Kishan on the flying boat. Don’t fly; run to it and go up the ladder. Then come back to me.”

River bounded off, his movements soundless on the sand.

Moon said, “We can warn the ship without the Fell knowing. Someone can swim out to it.”

All Jade’s attention was on the sky. “Chime, do it. Stay there.”

She had chosen the warrior least likely to be an effective fighter. Both situations were dangerous, as the ship would surely be a prime target, but Chime would be close to the water, able to stay under far longer than a groundling, and it was unlikely the Fell would detect him. Moon nudged Chime. “Swim out to the ship and climb the hull. Find Callumkal.”

Chime hesitated. “But—You should—”

Moon gave him a push toward the shore. “Swim fast, stay under as long as you can.”

Chime flicked his spines in assent and bolted down the slope of the beach. Moon caught a faint reflection on his scales as he dove into the waves and disappeared.

Jade said, “Stone, from above or below?” She sounded tense and it worried Moon a little that she was asking for advice.

As calm as if they were planning a grasseater hunt, Stone said, “Doesn’t matter, they’ll expect us from either.”

Balm snapped, “Kethel!” and pointed.

The big dark shape moved across the faint starlight. The groundlings in the east called kethel harbingers, because they were so often the first sign that a Fell flight was nearby. Their armor-like scales were matte black and they had a halo of horns protecting their heads. They were the least intelligent of the Fell, and totally under the control of the rulers. Kethel never traveled alone, and this one’s presence meant the rest of the flight wasn’t far behind.

Between the distance and the darkness it was hard to tell the size. Moon thought it might be three times Stone’s wingspan. Good, not a big one, he thought. Jade said, “Wait, wait.”

“Another kethel,” Briar said from behind Moon.

Moon said, “They’ll hold the third back.” A flight wouldn’t normally send more than three kethel until it was time to feed. The rulers would want to keep some with their progenitor. It was especially likely with a flight in this position, traveling from island to island over water, with probably only one secure place to retreat to. The progenitor might not even be anywhere nearby, but be waiting with the rest of the flight on the mainland, which meant there would be fewer reinforcements.

Jade said, “Stone, you take that one. Moon, with me. The rest of you keep the dakti off us.”

Stone’s shape flowed into darkness, already lifting off of the beach as if insubstantial. A heartbeat later his great wings beat once and Moon staggered from the displaced air. The shape gained weight and substance as it shot upward toward the closest kethel.

Jade leapt after Stone, and Moon followed her. He felt the warriors in the air behind him as Jade crossed under Stone’s path and headed for the second kethel.

Moon flapped his wings hard, angling to get a boost from the wind, focused on Jade and the dark shape of the kethel above them. They had to get to it while it was distracted, before the dakti that were in the air somewhere could swarm them. From behind and further up a noise broke the silence, like a strangled growl. It echoed off the face of the escarpment, distorted by the wind. Moon thought it was Stone seizing a startled kethel by the throat and hoped it confused the rulers and dakti.

He sensed movement swoop toward them and Balm flashed by and slammed into a shape about her own size. That was a ruler, Moon thought. It took everything he had to keep flying after Jade, to not drop back to engage it. Root broke off and twisted after Balm, following her and the ruler down.

He heard River snarl, “Briar, on your right!” and the rest of the warriors broke off. Moon risked a glance back and saw distance-lights glowing from the flying boat, crossing back and forth in the sky.

The kethel above them reacted, but slowly, turning away from its course and back toward where Stone had attacked the first one.

Then Jade struck it in the throat. Moon struck it further down on the chest and gripped with his claws to hold on. It probably couldn’t feel him through its coat of heavy plate scales, but it could feel Jade. Kethel usually wore an armored collar, decorated with the bones of groundling victims. The kethel jerked its head and roared as Jade dug her claws in. Knowing he only had a few moments before a dakti swarm came to its aid, Moon scrambled up its body, around its shoulder, and onto its armored head. Then he stabbed his claws into its right eye.

It shrieked in agony and slammed its clawed hand up to swat him. Moon ripped its eyelid off to give it something else to worry about and jumped away.

He was facing toward the island and saw the moment when something big and dark flashed through the searching lights and struck the flying boat’s deck. Moon thought, We found the third kethel.

The roar of fire weapons sounded and a kethel bellowed in pain. Then something cracked inside the flying boat’s body and it suddenly bent double, with a terrible ripping sound and several loud metallic bangs. Moon tried to think who had said they would be staying on the flying boat, if Rorra might have gone back to it. Big wings flapped above the shape of the ridge, fire from the bow weapon ripped across the dark scales. The flying boat was going down but the kethel was going with it. That kethel had to know ... It killed itself to wreck the boat ...

Then he sensed something diving toward him and twisted away. A ruler missed him by so little it brushed his spines. Moon flapped to recover his balance and a dakti struck him in the side. He ripped it in two and twisted again to meet the ruler rushing toward him. It grabbed for his throat and he caught its arms. Before it could pull him close, he brought both feet up and used his disemboweling claws for what they were meant for. The ruler made a strangled keening noise and Moon felt hot blood and guts wash over his feet. He jerked his claws free and dropped the ruler.

Moon turned and flew right into a swarm of dakti. They screamed in alarm as he tore through them, then they scattered, too disorganized to attack effectively. He couldn’t see Jade, couldn’t see the kethel he had partially blinded, couldn’t see the warriors. Then he realized one reason for the complete darkness was that the lights on the sunsailer had gone out. Chime got there, he thought in relief.

Then fire blossomed on the vessel’s deck. It illuminated a dozen groundling shapes standing near it. As they dodged away, the light shot upward, trailing sparks. High in the air it burst into pieces, erupting into a fountain of fire. It lit the sky, the ship, the beach and the water around them. Like one of the signal devices that the Golden Islanders used on their wind-ships, except far more powerful.

Dakti scattered away from the light, and Moon banked, trying to see the other kethel. Only one was visible, the smaller one that Moon and Jade had attacked. It curved around to dive at the sunsailer, just as another bundle of fire burst up off the deck.

This fire was smaller and faster and arrow-thin, and it arced up to hit the kethel right in the chest. It jerked and floundered in the air, its roar baffled and pain-filled.

Then a heavy body hit Moon from behind. He flared his spines and told himself this is what you get for not paying attention. He struck back with his feet and grabbed the arms that wrapped around him. Teeth scraped across his shoulder, his collar flanges preventing them from sinking in. Moon twisted and rolled, trying to dislodge the ruler, and on the second roll got a glimpse of a shape streaking toward him, the light from the first fire-blossom glinting off blue scales. He rolled again so his back and the ruler’s back were toward it.

The impact jolted his breath, and an instant later the ruler was snatched away. Moon twisted, flapped to get some height, and saw Jade in the process of tearing the ruler’s head off. Another ruler dove on her and Moon shot upward and ripped at his wing.

The ruler turned on him with a snarl. They struck at each other, grappled, broke apart, and struck again. This ruler was considerably older and smarter than the one Moon had ripped open. He was careful not to let Moon get too close, trying to wear him down. It was a good strategy; Moon was dangerously close to being worn down.

They were also both dropping rapidly toward the waves just off the beach. The last time Moon had fallen into water with a ruler it hadn’t gone well. He ducked a swipe to the head, twisted in and grabbed the ruler. Claws tore at his side but he managed one flap to push them further out and into the right position. Then he rolled to get on top and pulled his wings in.

They fell faster, the ruler unable to catch the wind from this angle. It released its grip on Moon, frantic to get away, and Moon held on harder. Just as they started to roll, Moon let go and shot his wings out, curving them to slow his fall. The ruler slammed into the deck of the sunsailer. Moon landed on top of him a moment later and used the instant of dazed distraction to rip the ruler’s throat out.