Paragons of Ether

by Ryan Muree

  “He didn’t care about the king, though,” Adalai said. “Not really. Nendrik wanted to use him for his own gain.”

  “Just like everyone else on that advisor panel, I’m sure,” Emeryss said. “But that doesn’t make him Orr’s puppet.”

  Adalai went back to the maps and squatted on an upside-down bucket. “The best option would be a big enough army to go in by force. We’d have a sliver of a chance if the Stadholdens help, but now with the Ingini, too…” Adalai nibbled on the end of her finger.

  The palace was too big. The whole thing was too big. Orr was in the perfect position to hold out for long enough that the people would cave or until the Ingini came and finished them off.

  Emeryss knelt across the map from her. “I think we need to figure out how to do this for ourselves. It’s our country. It’s our problem. How would we stop this without anyone else’s help?”

  “We can’t.” Adalai looked at her. “We can’t do this alone. You don’t think they’ll help at all?”

  Clove cleared her throat. “I want to try to get the Ingini to stop.”

  They looked up at her.

  “Think about it. Whatever they do, they’re going to die, too. Orr won’t give up that easily, right?”

  Definitely true.

  “The RCA has always been bigger,” Clove continued, “but if we can get the Ingini to help us instead, it’d possibly end this for good. Coming in and completely taking over would only create more enemies. It’s not in Ingini’s best interest either. This all started because people in power were corrupt on both sides. If we can stop that, then it will end everything, won’t it?”

  Mack rolled his head on his shoulders and cracked his neck. “So, what does that mean for us?”

  Clove looked at him. “You and I go try to convince them to attack RCA and nothing else, to side with the REV.”

  He exhaled through tight lips. “Clove…”

  “It’s better than sitting here waiting to die, and we will. The Ingini will come through and destroy the whole place after what Revel did to Sufford. They won’t care who’s caught in the middle,” Clove said.

  “But how?” Emeryss asked. “How will you get to them? They’re literally mid-flight on their way here.”

  “Teleport?”

  “How?” Mack asked. “In a magic box? We have no airship—”

  “Yes,” Emeryss said. “We can get Jahree’s. And I could go with you and cast on a lift or a box or something to send you onto their ship.”

  “They’ll shoot us down before we even get close enough,” Mack said.

  “Not if I hide the airship with Glamour or Invisibility,” Adalai said. “But Emeryss can’t Teleport you in. The coordinates would be constantly changing.”

  “Then I’ll Blink them in while you keep the ship disguised,” Emeryss said. “Or I can disguise the ship and you Blink them in. Either way, we have to try.”

  Maybe. “But what about after? We’re going after Orr, remember?” Adalai rubbed her head.

  “That’s how you avoid the outer ring,” Clove said. “Jahree can drop you right in. If the RCA is distracted by our airships—”

  “And with the airship hidden,” Adalai said, “he can take us straight into the inner ring of the palace. It’d give us some room to get into the grounds. Save us time. Less risk.”

  Mack groaned. “We’re going to die, aren’t we? Are you sure you even want to trust Adalai, Clove?”

  Clove didn’t look away or even blink. Her gaze was fixed on Adalai. “This was my idea this time. Not hers.”

  They had to trust each other to pull this off, and as far as Adalai was concerned, she could either put her faith in others and hope for the best or go back to the way she’d done things before.

  And there was no going back.

  While Adalai, Clove, and Mack left to reach out to Jahree about his ship, Emeryss slipped into the tunnels and opened the storeroom door with a soft click.

  Nendrik lay tied to a massive pipe in the corner. His robes were dirty, his knees were drawn up, and his otherwise perfectly styled hair was flopping out at funny angles.

  “They already fed me,” he grumbled without making eye contact.

  “That’s nice of them,” she said. “But I’m not here to feed you.”

  His eyes found hers in the dim light. “You’re the Neerian girl.”

  “How do you know of me?”

  “Everyone knows you.”

  She waited for a better answer.

  “You’re the famous Neerian Scribe, the pearl of the Endov Sea.” He waved his hands around as much as the straps allowed. “It was Avrist’s last mistake to find you. Orr never let him live it down.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t give me that look,” he groaned. “Like you didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t know Avrist was working for Orr.”

  “All locator Casters are technically on loan to Stadhold. They belong to the RCA.” He’d said it with such arrogance, she’d understood why Adalai punched him the moment she saw him.

  “How was finding me a mistake?” she asked.

  He smiled and dusted his dirty hands on his legs.

  If he had no respect for Ingini above being his workers, she’d guess he had little respect for Neerians, too.

  “How was finding me a mistake?” she repeated. “You brought it up. You must want to tell me.”

  “Or I’m bored.”

  “I can get Adalai to fix that.” She reached for the door handle.

  “He should have let you be!” Nendrik blurted. “Orr was dictating how many Scribes to reveal to Jgenult, so he could control the others.”

  “You knew about the children?” she asked.

  His eyelids fluttered. “Not until recently. Apparently, Orr was taking too many. Avrist warned him, but Jgenult was pressuring Avrist to find a Scribe so much that he finally caved. He thought the publicity of being the first locator to find a Neerian Scribe would save his ass from Orr and Jgenult. It only made things worse.”

  “I didn’t move into the library until long after he’d found me. Orr could have had me killed in Neeria at any point—”

  “And risk outing his plan to the king and the public? He’s had this set in motion for decades. He wouldn’t risk it then.” Nendrik rolled his eyes. “You’re just one Scribe.”

  “He’s had this plan for decades, and you let him do it?”

  “You don’t let Orr do anything. He does what he wants, and it wasn’t until it was too late that I realized he was serious about it and had it planned out for years.”

  No. It wasn’t until he was out something—his slaves—when he finally cared about Orr’s plan. Adalai was right about him, but as much as Emeryss wanted to delve into the details of Avrist and his hate for her, that wasn’t why she’d come to Nendrik.

  “Tell me about Orr’s casting,” she demanded.

  His gaze darted away from her for the briefest second. “I have no idea—”

  “If you’ve lied to us, sent us into a trap just to get us killed, Adalai will make sure someone is left behind to kill you.”

  He scoffed. “The moment that knuckle-headed Ingini grabbed me I knew I was dead.”

  “What kind of Caster is he?” Emeryss snapped. She held her hand out, willing a fireball into her palm. “Is he a fire Caster?”

  He reeled back against the pipe and the wall, practically whimpering at the heat. “The rumors— You-you’re a Caster? A Neerian Caster?”

  “What kind of Caster is he?” she repeated, stepping closer.

  “Please, don’t. I hate fire. I can’t stand it.” He howled and curled away from the flame licking her fingers. A night and day reaction from the bravado just a few seconds ago.

  “Last time, I’m going to ask this—”

  “I-I-I don’t know how, but he can cast anything!” he shouted with his eyes squeezed shut.

  Orr could cast anything?

  “Explain.” She brought the fireball clo
ser, letting it singe and smoke the fancy fabric of his robes.

  “Please—H-He-He doesn’t need grimoires or sigils or anything. I don’t know how he does it, but he fakes his sigils on his wrist and claims he’s a fire Caster. I’ve seen him cast other things. His wrist never changes. He’s the first one to do it, and he knows that makes him special. That’s why he thinks he should be king!”

  Emeryss rose and eyed Nendrik cowering at her feet, snuffing the fireball out by closing her fist around it. “He’s not that special.”

  Chapter 34

  Aurelis — Revel

  Clove and Mack followed closely behind Jahree as they moved toward his parked airship.

  Cayn pulled Nendrik, gagged and tied, along with them. “Are you sure about this, Clove?”

  Yes, she was sure. Whoever was leading the Ingini United Architects against the Revelians would need to be convinced, and Nendrik, a Revelian nobleman, would help them do that.

  “Just keep him quiet,” she warned.

  Adalai and Emeryss took up the rear, watching for any RCA patrols as they moved through the city.

  “Trust me,” Cayn said, “if he even makes a peep, I’ll put an ether-pulse through his head.”

  “Did you reach Grier?” Adalai whispered to Emeryss.

  “No, but I’ll keep trying. I thought I was able to reach Issolia, but maybe I’d just imagined it all. I don’t know. When we get closer, I’ll try again.”

  “Hurry.” Jahree waved them on between a couple of alleys and into the outskirts of the city.

  The plan was to leave Aurelis in hopes of meeting the Ingini before they arrived. Jahree would get the airship close enough to them while Emeryss hid it, Adalai would Blink them in, and they’d have to convince an entire fleet of UA to help the REV take their country back.

  She exhaled sharply.

  When they’d safely reached the airship, Jahree got his ether moving through its parts. Vents and fans kicked on, and he was soon lifting them into the air.

  “As fast as possible,” Adalai told him. “Emeryss won’t be able to hide the ship forever.”

  Behind the few rows of seats in a huddle on the deck, Mack and Cayn were discussing Nendrik’s role with him, and Emeryss and Adalai planned their way into the palace for Orr.

  Clove slipped away to sit next to Jahree in the copilot’s seat. “Hey,” she whispered, careful not to attract everyone else’s attention.

  He shot a quick glance and smirked. “You ready to do something crazy again?”

  No, she wasn’t ready, but he seemed to come alive for this sort of thing. Then again, he was in the RCA. They’d probably trained him for this stuff. “Are you?”

  He shrugged. “I live for this. Well, not the war, but the—”

  “—challenge. Yeah…”

  She had to tell him. She had to find the words. Especially now, if after everything they all ended up dead. She owed it to him at least. “I’m glad you’re okay since the tournament.”

  He shook his head slightly. “It was crazy, but we managed. I’m just glad we all made it out of there, too. Adalai and Emeryss saved our skins.”

  “Yeah. Good thing.”

  If she kept the conversation going like this, they’d never get to the point. She’d regret it and be a coward.

  She thumbed the controls on the dashboard in front of her. “About your… consideration…”

  He didn’t move or turn his head. His focus was purely on the skyline ahead of him as the airship whipped through the clouds.

  “I don’t think…” she started again. Wow. Why was this so hard? “I’m having trouble telling you this because…”

  It was all coming out wrong, and he wasn’t helping her by finishing her statements or stopping her. He wanted her to say it on her own, and she knew she had to.

  “I’m having a hard time telling you this because I care about you, but I don’t think our goals are the same. I don’t think they’re even in the same realm, honestly. I think that what we had was a moment in time, where we sort of just matched up like when the ethereal realm and the surface make ether mines, you know?”

  He chewed the inside of his cheek.

  “I can’t give you what you want.” She exhaled all the pent-up air in her lungs that had made her chest feel tight and heavy. “I’m sorry.”

  He exhaled, too. “I understand, and don’t be sorry.”

  “I don’t want you to feel like I used you or weren’t appreciative or that I don’t care—”

  “I don’t think those things about you, Clove.” His dark eyes found hers. “I understand. I do.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded once. “Not gonna lie—it hurts. But I understand. Things would have been… really difficult after all this, even if we win.”

  “Yes!” Adalai cried out, cutting into their private conversation. “How many?”

  Emeryss was smiling, her cheeks dark red. “Five hundred.”

  “She reached Grier, finally!” Adalai announced. “Stadhold is helping. They’ve sent five hundred Keepers. They’ll reach the outskirts of Aurelis by this afternoon.”

  They all smiled, even Nendrik looked slightly relieved. That would help convince Ingini, too. Every little bit would help.

  Mack came up behind Clove. “I think we approach this from a money aspect.”

  He meant convincing the UA fleet.

  “I think it depends on who they are,” Cayn added. “If they’re CEO’s, that would work. But if not, if they’re just regular recruits, then they’re not willing to risk breaking orders on your word alone.”

  “That’s where Nendrik comes in,” Clove said.

  “And just to be clear, Adalai is going to Blink all of us, me included, from one moving airship to another?” Nendrik looked like he was about to be ill all over the airship floor.

  “Don’t worry, Nendrik,” Jahree said. “It’ll be like academy. Remember those days with all the drills?”

  Nendrik rolled his eyes, and Jahree laughed.

  “Everyone hated academy by the way,” Jahree said low. “Everyone hated the drills. Even the officers.”

  With Mack and Cayn just behind them, she didn’t feel comfortable continuing their conversation. Even then, what more could she say? She’d said the important bits. She’d been honest with him. What they had was fun and quick, but that was it. A distraction. A lie to make things easier.

  Mack flopped down into the seat next to her and smiled.

  The time for distractions, for placeholders to forget painful things, was over. It was time to be honest, and honest with herself most of all.

  Clove leaned forward and squinted out the front window.

  They’d been traveling for a few hours, barreling as quickly as they could to meet the oncoming fleet, and the scanners were finally focusing in on something ahead of them.

  “Get ready, Emeryss.” Jahree pointed to a scanner on the dashboard. A tiny red dot showed itself on the edge of its range. “They’ll be able to see us in a thousand units.”

  Emeryss took a heavy breath.

  “You can do this,” Adalai said to her. “Do it just like I did the Zephyr.”

  Emeryss knelt to the ground, both palms firmly against the metal floor.

  “Just remember, there’s no ocean this time to crash us into,” Jahree called back with a smile.

  Adalai smirked. “Hey! We’ll worry about our jobs, air boy. You worry about yours.”

  Jahree chuckled.

  Magenta ether wound its way through Emeryss’s fingertips and into the ship. The dust created some sort of shiny haze over everything until it started leaking outside of the ship.

  Clove stretched to see some of the fins of the ship through the window, but they were gone.

  Emeryss had done it. They were invisible.

  The front panel beeped a few times, and Jahree tapped it. Multiple red dots lit up in a line ahead of them. “Here we go,” he whispered.

  Everyone fell silent, their focuses glued to
the front window, as the sky quickly darkened into a mass of Ingini airships. Not a few, but hundreds. Too many to count.

  “Oh shit, that’s a lot of them,” Cayn whispered.

  “Point out a ship to follow,” Jahree said.

  They needed the leading ship, the fleet commander ordering where they should go. They were known for taking a migration formation. It’d be in the center.

  “Head for the middle. Can you do that?” she asked him.

  He scoffed. “Can I—Yes, I can do that. Hold on, Emeryss.”

  Adalai stepped back and held out her arms. “Okay, Cayn, Nendrik, Mack, go ahead and hold on.”

  She put her arms on her hips, and the three of them latched on, while Cayn kept hold of Nendrik’s collar.

  Clove looked back through the window.

  “A fleet commander will have at least an S-class ship,” she mumbled to herself, but there was no seeing it on the navigation panel. “Get underneath them.”

  Jahree lowered the ship and brought them under the entire fleet.

  Several UA airships whipped by over top of them.

  Emeryss was shaking. Sweat dripped from her forehead to the floor. “Hurry…”

  Clove tried again, looking through the window. An S-class airship broke through the pack. “There! There it is!”

  Jahree brought them underneath it. “All right. This is it!” He turned toward her. “Good luck.”

  She placed a hand on his arm. “Good luck, Jahree.”

  He nodded once. An acceptance of her earlier confession? An understanding that this might be the end of either of their lives or at the very least, their time together?

  She ran for Adalai, put her hand on her shoulder, and held her breath.

  The rushing air above the ship whistled in her ear and blew them back. Instinctively, she clasped onto Adalai tighter.

  She thought she heard Cayn scream into the wind, but she couldn’t make out what he’d said. Holding her breath again, she squeezed her eyes shut.

  Silence, save for the whirr of the engines. They were in the cargo hold of the fleet commander’s airship.

  They all panted and tried to suppress their coughs as they got their footing.