Lily didn’t grasp what her sister was saying. “Our parents didn’t have siblings,” she said, struggling to find some reasoning that would explain Forest’s bizarre declaration.
“Not from before. From after,” Forest said. “Mother didn’t die when she left us. She lived, and she met Jarom’s brother, who took her in.”
“That’s not possible,” Lily replied, stunned. “Mother’s alive?” she asked, hopeful and terrified.
Forest hated to crush her hope. “Not any longer – I’m sorry.”
“You saw her?”
“No. Jarom told me about her.”
“Then I don’t believe it,” Lily concluded. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said, getting up uncertainly. “I need a moment.” She struggled with her warring emotions.
“Now?” Nara asked Jarom, peeking over his shoulder.
He sighed. “Okay.”
She exploded forward and enveloped Forest in a hug, jumping up and down. “Cousin!” she exclaimed. “I missed you.”
Forest hugged her back, a little reluctantly in front of her sister. “I missed you, too.” Nara eyed Lily, but Forest cautioned her. “Too soon,” she said.
“Okay,” replied Nara, disappointed. “I have so much to tell you. Thorvyn’s here.”
“Thorvyn – your crush?” Forest asked.
“Yes,” she replied, positively vibrating.
Lily interjected, “Pardon me, but I need to get back.”
“Of course,” Forest replied, detaching herself from Nara. “We’ll catch up later,” she promised Nara.
Nara looked disappointed, but let her go.
Forest and Lily walked back to their campsite in silence.
Cera looked up at their return and instantly read Lily’s agitation. She shot to her feet. “Are you okay?”
Lily ignored her and turned to Forest. “You knew. You knew, and you didn’t tell me,” she said accusingly, staring down her sister.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Cera said, stepping back to give them space. She looked around. “I’ll go for a walk,” she said to herself and wandered off.
“I couldn’t find the words,” Forest replied to Lily’s accusation.
“How about – ‘Hey Lily, mum’s not dead?’” Lily asked, furious.
“Can’t you hear how harsh that sounds?”
“You can stop shielding me. I’m your older sister for the gods’ sakes!” She held up a hand, stopping Forest from responding. “Don’t. I need to be alone.”
“Fine,” Forest replied. “I’ll go find Cera.”
Cera was wandering through the camp, consumed with worry for Lily. She’d never seen her so agitated since her mother’s death and then Claudius’s. She didn’t notice the attention she was attracting from a pack of rough-looking men that had begun following her.
“Where are you going, beautiful?” one of them asked her.
Cera looked up. “None of your business – now if you’ll excuse me.”
“Don’t be so mean. We’ll treat you right,” he said, and the men edged closer.
Forest stumbled upon them. “There you are,” she declared.
“Piss off, little girl – we’re busy here,” the leader of the pack said.
“Go to hell,” Forest said and gripped the hilt of the knife at her belt.
This caught the attention of a woman lounging nearby.
The men slowly surrounded Cera and Forest.
“Get out of here, Forest,” Cera pleaded. “I’ll handle this.”
“I’m not leaving,” Forest declared and stepped in front of Cera, brandishing her knife. She wasn’t a fighter, but she would be damned if she would leave Cera to these animals.
The men laughed and edged closer.
“Brave girl,” the approaching woman concluded. “Leave them alone,” she ordered the men.
“Make us,” the leader said belligerently.
“I was so hoping you’d say that. Girls,” she called over her shoulder and was joined by two companions.
The man looked over her shoulder at the two approaching women and was leveled by a bone-crushing punch to his jaw.
The woman’s companions surged forward, and the three of them made short work of the men.
Forest just stood there surveying the carnage, wondering whether some of the men would ever rise again.
“That was fun,” the woman said and turned to introduce herself to Forest and Cera. “I’m Dhara, and I run this camp.”
Kala
Kala and Skye’s airship drifted down toward the volcanic island. An ash cloud drifting up lazily from the crater and merged with the clouds hanging in the sky. The island’s surface was covered in fine black sand that glinted in the light of the magma that the volcano belched into the air. Waves eroded the island’s shores, which were replenished in a game of tug-of-war by sheets of lava that met the sea in a wall of billowing steam. It was as foreign and unwelcoming as any hellscape Kala could imagine, and they were heading straight for it. Kala reached for Skye’s hand and held it firmly as they gazed out the window.
Their airship drifted perilously close to the volcano’s crater, and they felt waves of heat through the walls of the ship. The ship pitched in the updraft and Kala and Skye were jostled about. The ship cleared the volcano and recommenced its descent. Through the drifting fog created by the lava’s war with the sea, Kala saw row upon row of airships stretching across the plain in the lee of the volcano. Their airship made its way toward a gap in a nearby row and slowly touched down equidistant from the ships that surrounded it. They heard a low metallic thud as their ship somehow anchored itself in place.
Skye walked to the door and opened it. A warm wind blew past the door, swirling the fine black sand into eddies.
“Is it safe to go outside?” Kala asked.
“We gain nothing by hanging out in here,” Skye replied, and she had to agree. At least color was seeping back into his cheeks after days spent in the frigid airship crossing the ocean at high altitude. The air felt thick and syrupy this close to the ground. It was cloying. Skye took a tentative step on the ground and found that the sand covered hard stone in a thin cover. The blowing sand quickly worked its way into the folds of their clothing and grated on them almost immediately.
Kala joined Skye outside the airship. She pushed hard against the ship, but it didn’t budge. “How do we get this thing back in the air? And how do we tell it where to go?” she asked Skye, even though she knew he had no more notion than she did.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he replied, “But I’m not sure if I’d survive another stint like that over the ocean. I almost froze to death. Besides, we’ve run out of food and water, and I didn’t see any likely sources of either from the air.
Kala kicked up a cloud of sand. “I guess we might as well explore this place, but let’s stick together.”
Skye looked at the rows of identical airships. “Might as well bring our things. I don’t think I could remember which one of these things is ours.
“I’m not overly attached to it, anyway,” Kala replied and went inside to fetch her belongings. She strapped on her pack and weapons, even though the island seemed devoid of life, let alone any that could pose a threat.
Skye joined her outside a moment later. “Which way?” he mused.
“Toward the volcano,” Kala replied.
Skye looked at her like she had three heads.
She sighed. “If there’s anything here, it’ll be central, and there has to be a reason why a sea of airships is on this gods-forsaken island.”
“Good point,” he replied and began walking.
Kala placed a hand on his shoulder and angled him ninety degrees. “That way,” she pointed.
“I knew that,” he said, and she suppressed an eye roll. They walked out of the airfield after passing perhaps a hundred airships. Kala noted that there were subtle differences between them. They were generally the same shape, but some were larger than others, and others were small
er. If there was a reason for it, she couldn’t fathom it. In places where the sand had been blown clear of the stone, she saw markings in a strange alphabet on the ground by each airship, but she couldn’t decipher a pattern and went back to ignoring them.
The volcanic mountain towered in front of them, the only feature on the desolate island. At least getting lost is impossible, Kala thought. “We can’t circumnavigate the mountain because of the lava flows on the other side,” she mused out loud.
“Thank the gods,” Skye replied. “That would take forever, and it would probably be as unremarkable on the far side as it is on this side.” He scratched his head.
“I guess up it is, then,” Kala decided.
“What? No! That’s worse,” Skye pouted.
“Stop complaining. It’s a gradual slope, and we have no idea at what elevation anything would be, if there is anything here at all. Maybe we’ll spot something from higher up.”
“Just my weary corpse,” he grumbled.
“Corpses aren’t weary, they’re dead,” Kala needled.
“Well, mine will be both after this gods-damned climb,” he replied but headed in the direction she wanted them to go. They trudged upward for a while, and the slope gradually steepened. Even Kala found herself tiring.
“Shelter, water, fire, food…” she muttered. “I think we’re screwed on all fronts. This place is empty plain, save for this cursed mountain, although I guess the airships will do for shelter if we walk back. I haven’t seen any freshwater, and oceans of saltwater do nothing for us. No vegetation means no wood, and no wood means no fire, although I doubt we’ll freeze to death with all this lava flowing about, and there sure don’t seem to be any predators to keep at bay. But on the downside, no predators is probably because there is no prey, and no prey means no food for us. This is looking bleaker all the time.”
Skye fought the feeling of despair that tugged at him. “It’s not an option for us to be trapped here until we expire. My mother needs me. This can’t be the end.”
Kala placed a hand on his arm. “It’s never the end until it’s the end. We’ll climb to that ledge, at least,” motioning to an outcropping a bit higher up. “Then we’ll regroup and come up with a plan.”
Skye had no better plan, so he went along with Kala’s. They trudged upward. Cresting the ledge, Kala turned to survey the island from their vantage point. Skye investigated the ledge and spotted a faint glow coming from a steaming recess in the mountainside. “That does not look welcoming,” he declared, pointing the fissure out to Kala. “Sort of like the gates of hell.”
Kala nodded. “True, but we’ve got nothing better to investigate.”
Skye shrugged and walked over to it. He peered into the recess and reported that it looked like it led all the way to the caldera at the center of the mountain. “It’s hot as hell, but it looks passable,” he added.
“I’m going to roast dressed like this,” Kala decided and began to strip down to her undergarments. Her skin glistened with sweat. Kala piled her belongings neatly and strapped a couple of daggers to her thighs, while Skye stripped off his clothes as well. When he was finished organizing his possessions, he just stood looking at Kala.
“What are we waiting for?” she asked.
“Nothing. Just thinking that you make hell look sexy.”
She smiled. “If I didn’t know that you were as sticky and smelly as I feel, I’d say you don’t look so bad yourself.”
“Thanks. I think.”
They gingerly squeezed through the opening with Kala leading the way. She thought she caught a glimpse of movement and stopped Skye two-thirds of the way through to the caldera. She gestured wordlessly for him to stay quiet and wait where he was. He pursed his lips and shook his head at staying back. Kala rolled her eyes but gestured that he could follow if he wished. She turned and continued winding her way forward. She peeked out the far opening and saw metallic spiders roaming around the inside of the caldera. Her skin prickled and crawled. She turned to motion Skye backward and saw one of the spiders suspended from the wall behind his head. It stared at her with unblinking black eyes.
Skye looked at her quizzically and began to turn to see what kept her transfixed, but she stopped him from turning around and pulled herself in close to him. “There’s something behind you that, trust me, you don’t want to see,” she told him. “Move forward with me slowly and ready yourself.”
He did as he was told, and as they pushed out the opening, he shuddered at the sight of the spiders. A thought struck him, and he suddenly paled. “There’s one of those things behind me, isn’t there?” he asked.
Kala nodded meekly but held his hands tightly. His knees turned to jelly and Kala held him stay standing. Recovering after a moment, he whispered, “I hate spiders.”
“I’m not much of a fan either,” Kala remarked but noted that the spiders hadn’t done anything yet to bother them. She turned to see that the spiders in the caldera had ceased moving and were staring at them en masse. That was somehow much worse. She raised her hands in surrender, but the unblinking monsters gave no sign of comprehension. Suddenly, they resumed their motion, ignoring her and Skye once more. Kala glanced over Skye’s shoulder, but the spider in the fissure was nowhere to be seen. “I don’t know if it’s creepier to be noticed by devil-spiders, or ignored by them,” she quipped.
“I’ll go with any option that doesn’t have one of the things anywhere near me,” he replied, shuddering.
Kala watched the spiders’ movements for a while. “They’re coming in and out of a myriad of caves, it seems. I think we kind of have to check one out.”
“Hell no!” Skye countered.
“Our options include figuring out what they’re up to, or returning through the crevasse to waste away on the empty plain.”
“I vote for wasting away.”
“Do as you will, but I want answers,” she said and turned toward the caves.
“Gods-damn it,” he complained and followed her.
Peeking into the first cave, Kala saw spiders crawling over an expanse of the fabric that covered the balloons. Curious, she thought, but when nothing much else seemed to be going on, she moved to peer into another cave. The second cave was gigantic and filled with the frames of several airships. Spiders crawled over them, trailing bright sparks that were too bright to look at. She covered her eyes and moved backward. Skye stayed close enough to her to avoid the spiders, but not close enough to see what she’d seen. “Nothing interesting,” she reported, and moved to the next cave, which turned out to be more of a tunnel, and devoid of any spiders.
Skye peeked over her shoulder. “This one seems more my thing,” he said. She sighed but gestured for him to follow her into it. He looked over his shoulder at the spiders moving about the caldera and scooted closer to her. Together they advanced down the tunnel until it opened into a large room, dimly lit by the same fluorescent moss that Kala had seen in the catacombs below the temple. Why doesn’t it surprise me that the only thing I’ve seen growing here is the eeriest thing I’ve ever seen growing? she thought. The floor of the room was littered with glistening gems of different colors.
“Pretty,” Skye remarked, but something about it seemed familiar. He stepped into the room and noted that while the floor seemed unusually level, it wasn’t perfectly flat. He walked around, careful not to trip over the bumpy parts or the winding cracks. Suddenly, it struck him why it looked so familiar. “It’s a map,” he said, awed. “In relief.” He stared at it, wishing he’d brought his journal with him.
Just then, a spider entered from across the room. It ignored them and skittered across the map. It stopped over a red gemstone and worked it out, replacing it with a black one. Its work apparently done, it skittered back out the way it had come.
Kala wandered over to the stone the spider had replaced. “There’s a band of black stones here, and a few red ones, but the rest are mostly blue, with some green ones thrown in for good measure. Any guesses what the co
lors represent?”
Skye wasn’t listening. He was staring at one gemstone in particular. Kala walked over to him and tried to read the expression on his face.
“See the mountains that transect the band of black stones?” he asked her.
She oriented herself based on where he was staring. “Okay. Yes, I see them.”
“See the one blue stone?” he asked.
“The one surrounded by all the black ones?” she asked back.
“That’s the one.”
She waited. “And?” she prompted him.
“That’s my village. I recognize its place in the mountains.” He was silent for a moment. “Why is it surrounded by black stones?” he wondered aloud. Something about it felt ominous. “I need to go there. We need to get off this island.”
Kala oriented herself on the map and tried to figure out which gemstone represented her home. The best she could tell was that it was one of the ones in the band of red stones that bordered the band of black ones.
Skye stood in the doorway, growing increasingly agitated. Kala looked beyond him to a bank of amulets hanging on chains from pegs set in the wall. Now that’s interesting, she thought. “I need a moment,” Kala told him and pulled an amulet off its peg. It was made of two concentric rings and with a level of craftsmanship that she doubted still existed in the world. She spun the outer ring and a light on the ceiling illumined one of the gemstones on the floor. She turned the ring slowly, and the light moved sideways to illumine different stones in sequence. She spun the inner ring, and the light moved in the perpendicular direction from gemstone to gemstone as it went. She adjusted the rings until the light shone on Skye’s village. “For whatever purpose,” she said, “this is the setting for your village. I wonder if these amulets are somehow connected to the airships? Everything else seems to be.” She was struck with an inspiration. “We need our journals. I have to write down some of these settings on our maps.”
They turned to exit at the same time, and their bare arms touched. A bolt of electricity coursed through her. Was it hope, or was it Skye? she wondered.
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