Unraveled

by Lindsay Buroker

  The ships were close, but not that close. She shouldn’t have made it—no human should have. But she sailed twenty feet and landed lightly beside someone standing in the shadows between two lights on a walkway. Bhodian?

  Grekka paused and looked back, straight at Rysha.

  Rysha thought of hurling Dorfindral at the woman—she was sure the chapaharii blade contributed to that thought—but she lowered the weapon. Throwing it would be a good way to lose it. She envisioned Dorfindral clanging off the railing and disappearing into the water. Or maybe Grekka would risk the pain to catch it and turn it in for a reward.

  Rysha reached for the pistol holstered on her belt, but hesitated. She was the intruder here, and she didn’t have any evidence to prove that Bhodian had ordered the stasis chamber stolen. She couldn’t justify starting a firefight with the owners of these barges.

  A warning buzz ricocheted through Rysha’s mind, and she leaped back around the corner. A blast of air—or some kind of energy—swept through the space she had occupied. Dorfindral probably would have protected her, but she didn’t mind evading the attack altogether.

  She waited a second, then peeked around the corner again. Grekka and the man were gone.

  As Rysha turned back toward the front door of the warehouse, intending to reluctantly admit to Trip that she hadn’t caught them in time, he burst out, almost sprinting. The door slammed shut behind him, seemingly of its own accord.

  She started to ask what had happened—surely, those two bodyguards hadn’t been a match for him and the soulblades—but something crashed into the door. Whatever it was, it struck so hard the hinges rattled and the metal shook.

  Trip whirled to face the door.

  “What is it?” Rysha asked as something thudded against the door again.

  A roar came from somewhere deep within the warehouse. An answering roar came from right on the other side of the door.

  “Never mind,” Rysha said, getting the gist.

  “I stopped the two bodyguards, so I don’t know who let the animals out, but a bunch of them are free now. A bunch of the larger ones.”

  “I think I can guess who was responsible.” Rysha glanced toward the palace, but Grekka was nowhere to be seen.

  Maybe she and Bhodian had climbed to one of those towers and were looking down at Rysha and Trip, sipping wine and waiting to see if either of them would be eaten.

  “We’re going to have to leave,” Trip said, but his feet didn’t move. He scowled at the door, as if he meant to do anything but leave.

  Rysha understood. They hadn’t found the stasis chamber, and they hadn’t found anything to explain Dreyak’s death or why someone would want him dead. Trip had to be frustrated that they had wasted their time.

  He looked toward the floating palace. The deck remained empty of life, but it was drifting away from the warehouse quickly. Fifty feet away now.

  He could still jump over there, as Grekka had. Was he considering it? Rysha had seen him levitate through the air across a hundred meters of rubble before. He’d also levitated her short distances when she’d been willing to throw the sword ahead of her.

  The barge was too far away for her to throw Dorfindral to it, but Rysha nodded at Trip and said, “If you go, I’ll find a way over there to help you.”

  As he opened his mouth to answer, the first animal raced into view, not from the door but from the walkway on the side of the barge, the same one that led to their rowboat. It was a great scaled panther like Rysha had shot out in the desert. A small blue gem embedded under its throat glowed softly.

  Rysha fired at the gem, certain it controlled the creature. Her aim was true, but the bullet bounced off. Powerful muscles bunched and rippled under the silvery moonlight as the panther bounded toward them.

  Azarwrath flared in Trip’s hand, and red lightning streaked toward the creature’s head. The panther sprang straight up in the air, its speed so great that it blurred. The lightning bent, curving upward and around to strike it in the butt.

  The panther screeched, twisting and slashing at the air behind it as if it could bat away the lightning. Gravity caught up to the creature and brought it back toward the deck. Rysha moved a few feet, realizing it would land right in front of them, and switched her pistol to her left hand so she could yank out Dorfindral.

  The lightning must have hurt the panther, but it screeched and launched wild slashes as it landed. Jaxi hurled a fireball that struck it in the chest.

  Rysha tried to find a way in close, to target the gem, this time with the magic-hating Dorfindral instead of her pistol. But the panther moved so quickly, its focus on Trip instead of her, that she couldn’t find the right angle.

  A thunderous smash came from the warehouse. The door flew outward, the hinges snapping off as if they were made of paper, not metal.

  A roar preceded the appearance of another attacker, the great winged lion. Other shapes moved in the warehouse behind it. A lot of shapes. Had the sorceress opened every cage?

  Rysha fired at the lion as it sprang into the air, its tawny, furred wings unfurling from its body. Her bullet struck it in the shoulder, but it didn’t seem to notice. Its spread wings blocked out the moon as it flew toward her head, its legs curled underneath it. She fired again, unable to believe the lion didn’t cry out when the bullets sank in. It didn’t even alter its path. Its limbs and claws extended, slashing toward her face.

  Rysha knocked the attack away with Dorfindral, the blade glowing a hungry green, then ducked and rolled to the side. As she tumbled away, she glimpsed Trip’s glowing soulblades in the dark as he battled a second scaled panther. Where had that one come from? The first, charred and hardly recognizable, lay in a heap at his feet.

  Up! Dorfindral seemed to cry into her mind, and Rysha found her feet more quickly than should have been possible.

  She was just in time to meet a giant lizard scuttling toward her, its massive tail whipping from side to side on the deck as it ran. Its body was too low and its maw too long for her to see the gem embedded in its throat.

  She slashed at the top of its head, expecting the blade to sink in deeply, but the creature’s scales were like steel armor. The magical sword gouged in to some extent, more than a normal weapon would have cut, but not enough to crush bone and sink into the creature’s brain.

  Rysha had to leap to the side and almost bumped into Trip as he felled the second panther.

  Let’s work our way to the rowboat, he said into her mind as he faced a second massive lizard scuttling out of the warehouse. She can keep opening those gates. We’re not going to get the answers we seek tonight.

  Even though they were both busy fighting, Rysha sensed the defeat that laced his words. He was chagrined that he’d handled this poorly and that they would go away empty-handed.

  “You can still go to the palace if you want,” Rysha panted, slashing again at her lizard, hoping to damage it as she parried the alligator-like maw snapping toward her. “Get her and confront her. I’ll be all right here.”

  “I’m not leaving you to fight the zoo alone. Come.”

  As Rysha blocked more attacks and did her best to find an eye or other vulnerable spot on the lizard, she followed Trip along the railing, heading in the direction of their rowboat. More animals waited on that walkway, including an ape beating its chest and yowling. The lizard chased after them.

  Trip glanced past her. “Duck!”

  The huge winged form of the lion streaked out of the night sky, claws outstretched. It came in right above the lizard snapping at Rysha’s heels, and it might have gotten her, but its yellow eyes were fixed on Trip.

  She flung herself against the wall, but also slashed the lion as it flew past. This time, she could see the gem blazing at its throat. Dorfindral slammed into it with a crack, and its glow went out.

  Unfortunately, the lion continued to fight. It flew up so it could dive down again, determined to get to Trip.

  He stepped past Rysha, Azarwrath and Jaxi sweeping in fron
t of him to keep the lizard back as he met the lion’s gaze. A great gust of wind slammed into the furred creature an instant before its claws reached him.

  The invisible attack hit it like a locomotive. Crying in pain for the first time, the lion tumbled through the air, wings and legs tangling. It flew hundreds of meters to where the palace now floated, near the mouth of the harbor, and it slammed into a wall and crumpled to the deck.

  A twinge of guilt ran through Rysha as she brought Dorfindral up in time to deflect another attack from the lizard. These animals might have dragon blood and might be stronger than typical, but they were still just animals. It seemed cruel to hurt them.

  Yes, but they’re deadly animals, Trip spoke into her mind. We need to be careful. Here, stand behind me.

  Behind? Rysha roared and lunged at the lizard, not willing to be some damsel in need of protection. She could help him, damn it.

  With Dorfindral’s assistance, Rysha moved with impossible speed. Her blade plunged into one of the hungry reptilian eyes staring at her. Finally, the sword sank in more than an inch. The lizard screeched, an alien cry that reminded her of those awful half-dragon bats from the mountain as it hammered her eardrums.

  I simply meant so you would be behind my barrier, Trip thought. I can’t make a bubble around you, but I can make a barrier that will cover our retreat, like a shield across the walkway.

  Rysha realized he was no longer attacking the animals. Half a dozen of them were trying to get at him from the other end of the walkway, but they struck an invisible barrier he’d erected and bounced back, snarling and howling in frustration.

  There is nothing to be gained by killing more of them, Trip added.

  Oh. Rysha scrambled closer to him.

  He spread the soulblades, as if to mark the edges of the twin shields he’d erected on either side of the walkway. He and Rysha were sandwiched in the middle, but he moved the barriers as they moved, making their way to the rowboat.

  More of the animals flung themselves at them, but they couldn’t get through.

  Be ready. I’m going to have to shift my barrier around to protect us as we get in. Some may slip past me.

  I’m ready.

  Dorfindral, still hungry for battle, echoed the thought in her mind.

  That one may also be a problem, he added, his tone dry.

  They had reached the rowboat, but an ape waited inside it, roaring and jumping up and down, threatening to knock the craft free of the barge.

  As Trip shifted his attention to it, another ape on the walkway jumped onto the roof of the warehouse, ran two steps, then jumped down toward the walkway again, bypassing the invisible shield.

  “Look out,” Rysha ordered, planting her feet and raising her sword instead of leaping away—she didn’t want to ram into Trip’s back.

  The ape tried to snatch her sword out of her hand as it dropped toward her. Gritting her teeth, she held the blade firmly and thrust upward.

  The point jabbed into the ape’s shoulder, but its weight and momentum were too great for her. She couldn’t maintain her stance, and she stumbled backward into Trip.

  He cursed, but she couldn’t look to see if she’d interrupted some magic he was hurling.

  Pinned between him and the ape, Rysha didn’t have much room to pull her sword free. Hairy arms pummeled her. She twisted the sword, hoping to hurt the beast so it would pull back and run away. Its eyes were wild with fear and pain, but it kept attacking. Its gem pulsed and glowed, as it had on the lizard.

  A paw clubbed Rysha in the side of the head, knocking her against the warehouse. She yanked her pistol free and fired at the ape’s chest.

  A ferocious roar came from behind her. It wasn’t an animal; it was Trip. Before Rysha knew what was happening, all the animals on the walkway were hurled over the railing and into the water.

  She almost lost her sword as an invisible force flung the ape away. But Dorfindral flared in defiance, and the strength to keep hold of the hilt flowed into her.

  Trip whirled toward the rowboat as the ape still inside it leaped at him.

  Fire appeared in the air all around the creature, reminding Rysha of the time Trip had battled flying automatons on the pirate airship. She thought it came from Trip rather than from Jaxi.

  When it disappeared, nothing but ash trickled down from where the ape had been.

  Trip sprang into the rowboat, the small craft rocking as he landed. He turned, his eyes gleaming with power as he faced Rysha.

  “Get in.” He pointed at the seat in front of him.

  Even with Dorfindral protecting her from magic, Rysha felt the compulsion in that order and the power radiating from Trip.

  She might have resisted him with the chapaharii sword’s help, but she didn’t want to. She jumped down, legs spread for balance as she landed on the slick metal bottom. Trip steadied her with a hand as the chain he’d made unfastened itself. He stirred up a gust of wind, and it pushed the rowboat away from the barge.

  “Thanks,” Rysha said.

  Before he could answer, a gunshot came from the direction of the docks. A bullet struck Trip’s shoulder, startling a shout of pain from him.

  Rysha whirled toward the docks as he dropped the soulblades and sank to one knee. She pointed her pistol, but hesitated. There had to be fifty people lined up there, and she had no idea which one had fired. She couldn’t indiscriminately shoot into the crowd. They must have been drawn by the commotion, gawking at the battle on the barge and at the animals still roaring and yowling from the water.

  Sorry, Trip, Jaxi spoke to both of them. I tried to raise a barrier around you two, but didn’t adjust for Dorfindral and the fact that you were touching Rysha.

  I can obliterate those who seek to harm us, Azarwrath added.

  “Just get our boat out of here.” Trip gripped his shoulder, his eyes squinting in pain. “Please.”

  Toward the docks? Jaxi asked. That’s going to be problematic.

  “Take us out to sea,” Trip said. “We’ll find a place to land and circle around to walk into the city from the other side.”

  More shots fired from the docks. Rysha dropped low to make herself a smaller target. The rowboat had drifted far enough from the barge that it offered no cover, and they were vulnerable.

  But the bullets bounced off a barrier this time, one that must have been stretched out to protect the rowboat instead of Trip and Rysha specifically. Rysha lowered her pistol, knowing she couldn’t fire through the soulblades’ shield. Even without the barrier present, she would have hesitated to fire into the crowd. She’d seen one of the men who’d fired this time, but the cowardly bastard was hiding behind someone else, someone who couldn’t get away from him with so many bodies pressing in from the sides.

  The rowboat sailed out of the harbor and toward the choppier water of the ocean, maneuvering inexplicably, at least to Rysha’s eye. She was glad her presence aboard it wasn’t keeping the soulblades from finding a way to steer it. She sighed down at Dorfindral, feeling she had been more hindrance than help tonight. If Trip hadn’t been worried about protecting her, he could have simply wrapped himself in his bubble barrier and strode off the barge, levitated across the water, and escaped into the city.

  He hissed in pain as the rowboat steered into rougher water. Rysha sheathed Dorfindral and knelt beside him, wrapping an arm around his back, careful to avoid the wounded shoulder he gripped.

  He rested his head against her, his body tight with pain. Who healed the healer?

  “I’m sorry,” Rysha whispered, again feeling useless since she couldn’t do more than offer her shoulder.

  She glared at the floating palace before it disappeared from view and thought she saw Grekka out on the deck, glaring back at her. Rysha hoped one of her animals lost its gem in the water and ate her.

  6

  It’s really not a problem, Jaxi spoke into Trip’s mind. I can handle it easily.

  That is not an approved healing technique, Azarwrath responded.


  He’s in pain. It makes sense to obliterate the source of the pain, and I can do so instantly.

  Unless you miss and incinerate some of his organs.

  The bullet is in his shoulder. How could I possibly hit an organ?

  I have no idea what kind of aim you have.

  Didn’t you see me smack that ape in the face with a fireball? I aimed to shoot it right up his nostrils.

  And you took off its entire head.

  Via its nostrils.

  Trip groaned.

  Rysha’s arm tightened around his back. She knelt beside him in the bottom of the rowboat, letting him lean against her as the soulblades navigated them down the coast and toward a beach at the southernmost end of the city. The arguing was driving him mad, but at least Jaxi and Azarwrath had lifted the little craft above the waves, so it was no longer being pummeled. It floated parallel to the coastline and toward that beach.

  “Are you in much pain?” Rysha asked over the roar of the ocean.

  “No,” Trip lied. “I’m being tormented by arguing soulblades.”

  “They stopped including me in their conversation.”

  “Consider yourself lucky.”

  Trip leaned back, staring up at the stars as the boat floated closer to land. He thought he could remove the bullet on his own, but he wanted solid ground underneath him before he tried. He also wanted to make sure that no more would-be enemies would spring out and attack them while he was distracted. The people on the docks couldn’t have had any idea who he and Rysha were—he highly doubted they’d been part of the Silver Shark’s security team. More likely, they had seen the glowing swords and, having heard of the reward for chapaharii weapons, had hoped to claim one somehow. Or maybe they simply hated magic and had shot at him because it had been obvious he was using it.

  Tears formed in his eyes. He told himself it was from the pain in his shoulder, but part of it might have been frustration. He hadn’t wanted to hurt or kill simple animals, especially when he’d realized they were being compelled by those embedded gems to attack. Instead, he’d spent time trying to figure out how to remove the devices, time when he should have been focused on fighting. That had almost been his and Rysha’s undoing. Finally, he had grown too frustrated by everything, and had simply hurled all his power at them to knock them into the water. He should have done that in the beginning. Or he should have run for the rowboat as soon as he’d realized what was happening. But it had been a struggle to shield Rysha when she held that sword.