Unraveled

by Lindsay Buroker

  “You all right?” Kaika asked as Rysha walked back into the chamber, drumming her fingers on her thigh.

  Maybe she appeared agitated. At the least, she likely appeared oddly determined for a woman walking away from a kiss.

  That was because she was determined. She wouldn’t follow Trip out to the barges, but she decided she would go down to the harbor that night. That way, if something happened and he needed help, she would be close enough to give it.

  “I’m fine, ma’am. I was giving him a good-luck kiss.”

  Kaika narrowed her eyes. “Was it not enjoyable?”

  Kaika was either better at reading people than she was given credit for, or she’d come to know Rysha well enough to read her. Rysha did her best to wipe her determined expression off her face.

  “It was lovely, ma’am, but two swords jabbed me in the stomach.”

  “A man with two swords is somewhat alarming.”

  “I’m getting used to it.”

  “Clearly, you’re a remarkable woman.”

  Rysha grabbed her pack and sat on one of the stone dragon feet at the base of the statue, a bench of sorts. Aware of Kaika watching her, she removed the two journals and the rubbings she had taken at the outpost, hoping to make it look like she intended to spend the evening studying assiduously. No need for Kaika to stay awake all night to keep an eye on her young lieutenant….

  A part of Rysha wanted to be straightforward and ask for permission to follow Trip to the harbor, but she was skeptical that she would get that permission. Better to slip out after dark after Kaika went to sleep. If she could. Kaika was as alert as any soldier.

  “I admit to feeling bad about not offering to help him,” Kaika said, surprising Rysha.

  “You do?”

  “I am the reason one of the boxes got stolen in the first place. I should have stayed in the room and fought with my back to them so nobody could get by.”

  “They got by both of us.”

  “Yes, but you’re young and inexperienced. I should know better. I’m worldly and wise.”

  “I thought you were going to say old and experienced.”

  “No woman is going to call herself old.”

  “Mature?”

  Kaika glared at her. “Worldly.”

  “One of us could follow Trip down to the harbor tonight,” Rysha found herself saying. Maybe she should get permission, after all. “Just to keep an eye on him from afar.”

  “On him or his two swords?”

  “Ma’am.”

  “Sometimes eccentricities like that get young women overly excited.”

  “I’m not excited. I’m practical. He’s going to face at least one sorceress. He could use someone with a chapaharii blade nearby. And it wouldn’t take more than the night. I won’t miss making the steamer’s departure time. I’ll be there.”

  “Promise?” Kaika asked.

  Rysha hesitated, realizing she hadn’t agreed to that yet. When Kaika had brought it up earlier, Rysha had hedged, wanting to wait to see what happened with recovering the stasis chamber.

  Was this what she had to do to gain permission to watch Trip tonight? Give her word on this?

  Kaika watched her intently. Waiting.

  Rysha was glad that Kaika cared and didn’t want Rysha’s career to be damaged or for her to lose any opportunities, but she couldn’t help but feel she’d let herself be maneuvered into this situation, into having to give her word over something that was uncertain.

  As she met Kaika’s gaze and said, “Yes, ma’am,” she knew she was committed now, that she did indeed have to be on that steamer.

  She would just have to make sure that Trip retrieved the baby girl before then.

  8

  The roar of a lion drifted through Lagresh’s streets.

  Trip frowned. Had the animals he’d knocked into the water the night before been allowed to roam free in the city? He would have expected the magical gems to act as leashes that Grekka could mentally tug on to bring the animals home. Maybe the lion was on some independent hunt that had nothing to do with the previous night.

  Trip stood across the street from the docks, watching the barges as twilight deepened, and hoping Bhodian would leave so he could waylay him outside of his stronghold. At the moment, a smaller ship was delivering cargo to the floating warehouse. The palace was well lit once again, and Bhodian walked out occasionally with a drink in hand and looked toward the other barge. Was he waiting for Grekka to come over for a date? Unfortunately, he didn’t look like he intended to head into the city any time soon.

  The roar came again, followed by a distant scream. Trip closed his eyes and sent his senses up the hill and into the city. Normally, it would have been difficult to find a single person or animal when so many other people occupied the area, but since the lion had dragon blood and a magical gem, it was easier to locate.

  The lion was unwounded and lacked wings, so Trip didn’t think it was one of the ones he’d battled the night before, but it was huge and powerful. It ran through an alley, roaring up at a woman stuck on the rooftop of a one-story building. Clad in mismatched rags, she looked like an older version of the young girl Trip had given a coin to. Definitely someone who lived on the streets and had a rough life. What could such a person have done to earn the Silver Shark’s ire? Or was this simply some sport? Had Grekka rented out the lion by the hour to entertain someone who watched?

  Loathing that possibility, Trip groped for a way to help from a mile away. Could he use his power over such distance?

  The lion sprang into the air, almost reaching the roof of the woman’s building with its bound. She raced to the other side as she glanced toward higher rooftops nearby, maybe believing the predator couldn’t reach her if she climbed high enough. It seemed inevitable that it would find a way up to her current perch, especially since there were stairs on one side. The lion must not have spotted them yet.

  The woman crouched at the edge of the roof, overlooking an alley. Trip sensed her intent, to jump down, sprint across, and climb up the next building, a taller building. Maybe she could do it before the lion reached her.

  But even as she crouched to lower herself, the great predator raced around the corner. It leaped, and she rolled back on the rooftop. Its claws nicked the gutter before it dropped back down.

  “Have to do something,” Trip whispered, knowing the lion would find a way up there soon. It was determined to get its target.

  He closed his eyes, formed a current of compressed air, and willed it to soar through the streets toward the woman. Debris flew into the air as it passed, doors banged open and closed, and dogs howled. Trip directed it through alleys and toward the woman’s perch. He was aware of the lion rounding a corner, spotting those stairs, and racing toward them. From there, it would have no trouble reaching the rooftop.

  Keeping his concentration, Trip willed even more wind to gather into his stream. As the lion sprang up the stairs and to the rooftop, he swept his channel of air under the woman.

  She cried out in fear, arms and legs flailing as it lifted her. The wind sailed her across the street, upward to the higher rooftop, and halfway across that building before Trip let it dissipate.

  The woman gripped the roof tiles on her hands and knees, panting in terror. Trip wished he’d warned her first, but he hadn’t been certain he could lift her. At least she was safe now, assuming the lion would get tired of stalking her when it realized it couldn’t reach her. He watched with satisfaction as the creature tried to emulate the route he’d sent the woman on. But the alley was too wide. The lion’s leap only carried it part way up the higher building before it struck the wall and dropped to the ground.

  Do you think it’s wise to go out of your way to irritate the Cofah businesswoman? Jaxi asked, popping the balloon of his satisfaction. It felt good to have used his power to help a stranger.

  If she killed Dreyak, she deserves to be irked. Trip still held on to the possibly delusional hope that he could somehow find h
is little sibling and get to the bottom of Dreyak’s murder. Maybe if he could corner Bhodian and Grekka and get them to talk….

  She likely deserves to be irked no matter what she did with Dreyak, but it might not be smart for you to be the one doing the irking.

  Who else is going to?

  Just be aware that you have comrades to worry about.

  They can take care of themselves, but I am noting your objection.

  Good. I do enjoy being noted.

  Azarwrath cleared his throat in Trip’s mind. Few are watching the barges. The loading had finished, the smaller ship returning to dock. Perhaps it would be a good time to travel out there and confront these people.

  Both of them? Have you seen evidence that Grekka is out there?

  Trip hadn’t sensed her in the warehouse, but she could be able to hide herself from him with her magic. She might not have his raw power, but she likely had decades more experience in using what she had.

  I do not know, but the man she was with last night is in the palace. She may be his female.

  Or he may be her male, Trip thought dryly, imagining Rysha objecting to Azarwrath’s wording. Jaxi would object too. Grekka seemed to be the one in charge last night.

  I didn’t see it that way, Azarwrath said. Regardless, I still can’t sense the inside of the palace. I do sense that there are fewer animals in their cages in the warehouse this evening.

  Trip grimaced. How many had been rented out to hunt people tonight? He knew the handful of deaths he and Rysha had been responsible for couldn’t have emptied many cages. And he assumed the ones he’d knocked into the water had been recovered.

  Trip let more time pass, his shoulder against a post supporting the main dock structure. He didn’t truly want to go into the palace, and he kept hoping Bhodian would leave or he would catch Grekka returning home. But as the night grew later, that seemed less and less likely.

  I think I’m going to have to go out there and knock on the door. Trip gathered wind again, this time to carry himself across the water. Wryly, he admitted he’d enjoyed the challenge of bringing the wrecked rowboat up from the bottom of the harbor and repairing it. But that had taken a lot of time, and without Rysha—and Dorfindral—he could move more quickly.

  I do love it when you take us to dangerous places where our magic doesn’t work, Jaxi said.

  The wind ruffled Trip’s clothing as it lifted him into the air. He needed most of his concentration to levitate—and make sure nobody nearby noticed him doing so—but he managed to ask, You think your magic won’t work in there? Just because you can’t sense the interior?

  We won’t know until you open the door and take us inside, but it reminds me uncomfortably of the magic dead zone. I hadn’t planned to take another nap so soon.

  How could Bhodian have created a magic dead zone just around his barge?

  Perhaps by bringing some of the ore from the quarry and placing it within, Azarwrath said.

  Trip should have considered that. It seemed an obvious explanation. Still, he hoped it was wrong. Perhaps Bhodian had some magical artifact that protected his home from prying mages, a camouflage similar to what Trip had created for the stasis chambers. Maybe Grekka had even made it for him.

  Trip floated over the harbor, skimming above the gently lapping waves, without anyone noticing and sounding an alarm. Maybe that signaled that his luck would be good tonight.

  His boots touched down on the deck of the palace in front of the double doors of the main entrance. From here, it seemed more like he was on a patio in someone’s yard rather than the deck of a ship. He eyed the windows visible on the front of the structure, both at ground level and in the spires and towers above. Curtains were drawn, but light shone through from some of the rooms. He listened for voices or perhaps a phonograph playing music, but heard only the lapping of the waves.

  Shall I try sneaking inside or just knock on the door and confront them? Trip asked, a dull ache starting up behind his eyes. It made him want to get this over with as quickly as possible. It also reminded him uncomfortably of the quarry.

  Maybe Azarwrath was right. Maybe the palace’s framework was made from that tainted iron ore. If so, was it enough to keep Trip from using his magic at all? Or would it be like it had been at the spring, with his senses going in and out?

  Maybe he should try to sneak in through a window, find the stasis chamber, and get out? But without his senses, that could take hours. And he already knew Bhodian was inside. Trip would have to avoid him and however many other men and women worked on the barge.

  Perhaps you should knock and invite the occupants outside rather than going in, Azarwrath suggested.

  Trip was relieved he could still talk to the soulblades. How will I do that? Point out the moon is lovely tonight and that they might want to look at it?

  The sorceress did go in here last night, Azarwrath pointed out. If the place was extremely awful for someone with dragon blood and she couldn’t use her magic at all, she probably wouldn’t ever visit.

  True.

  Trip drew a bracing breath, walked forward, and knocked.

  A doorbell inside played a short eerie refrain. Or maybe that was an alarm. It wasn’t as if he’d rung a bell.

  The double doors opened inward on silent, well-oiled hinges. Trip crossed his arms to rest his hands on the soulblades’ hilts.

  But there was nobody at the door. Or anywhere in sight.

  A grand foyer opened up, lit by a swan-shaped chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. A marble floor stretched back, offering space enough to host a ball. The barge itself wasn’t that huge, and Trip estimated the foyer took up one-third to one-half of the interior space, at least above decks. There was a hallway and closed doors at the back of the room, and a staircase along that wall led up to a balcony and more closed doors. Bedrooms?

  Interestingly, two large roll-up doors occupied the side walls. They looked more like something that would lead to carriage storage rooms than living areas. But why would people on a barge need anything except boats for transportation?

  Trip tried to sense what was behind those doors, but his headache only intensified, and he couldn’t see anything with his mind. He looked back toward the docks, reassured when he was able to sense things out there. He decided to stay where he was rather than walking in. If the front doors held some of the tainted iron, it might end his ability to sense anything at all if he allowed them to close behind him.

  “Hello?” he called into the interior. “My name is Captain Trip. I’m from Iskandia, and I have a business proposition.”

  You do? Jaxi’s voice sounded soft and far away.

  No, but I thought the promise of business might intrigue them.

  Unfortunately, nobody appeared. Trip tapped the soulblade hilts thoughtfully. He was reluctant to explore or even leave the threshold. Right now, if the doors started to swing closed, he could scramble out to avoid being trapped inside.

  “I know where more chapaharii swords are located,” he called.

  It seemed as good a thing to offer to pique their interest as any.

  A clank came from outside, not from the barge but from somewhere to its side. Trip leaned out and sensed the warehouse barge had drifted much closer. And was that a ramp that it had extended? A walkway for—

  “Shit,” he groaned, sensing animals rushing across the ramp before he heard the clacks of claws on metal.

  Act quickly this time, Azarwrath warned. Fling them into the water before they can attack.

  Yes, we’ll help. Jaxi’s hilt warmed as she summoned energy. No hesitation.

  Trip hurled a blast of wind at the animals as two of the winged lions raced around the corner, the gems in their throats glowing.

  Unfortunately, they flapped their wings instead of splashing into the water. Azarwrath hurled lightning around the corner at two more animals coming—panthers? Jaxi flung power at the ramp where the animals raced across. There were at least a dozen of them, scaled panthers, giant
lizards, and apes, many of the creatures he’d battled the night before.

  Cracks and clanks sounded as Jaxi tore the ramp from its hinges and hurled it out into the harbor. One of the lions flew up to avoid it. The other lion angled toward Trip and flapped its wings hard, aiming to ram into him.

  Trip hurled another wave of power, attempting to both knock the lion away and throw more animals into the water before they reached him. He also braced himself, determined not to let them push him back into the foyer. Right away, he sensed that they wanted to do that, to drive him inside where he would have less access to his magic.

  Just create a barrier in front of the door, Jaxi said. We’ll handle the rest. You should watch your back in case—

  Something wrapped around Trip’s ankle from behind, and he didn’t hear the rest.

  He yelled in surprise as he was yanked off his feet before he could jerk away. As he flew backward, he drew the swords. He twisted in the air so he could hack at whatever gripped him. He expected a rope or a whip, but as he tumbled to the hard marble floor, he saw the truth. A massive snake was pulling him into the building. Though he couldn’t get much leverage with it dragging him across the floor, he slashed at it anyway.

  The soulblades glowed more softly than usual, but their blades sank into snake flesh. The creature pulled him a few more feet, but let go after the fourth strike. It reared back, coiling into itself. A flat head and yellow eyes stared at Trip as its forked tongue darted in and out. It hissed at him, seeming to challenge him.

  Trip jumped to his feet, having no interest in accepting that challenge. He spun back toward the door, but lions and apes sprang across the threshold, blocking the way. Then the doors clanged shut, leaving Trip trapped inside with ten powerful predators.

  “Should’ve known,” he grumbled, whipping the soulblades up to defend himself as two scaled panthers sprang at him. Azarwrath had warned him that fewer animals were in their cages, but he hadn’t considered that someone had been preparing the others to send over here, someone who must have anticipated his visit.