by Drew Wagar
‘The Mobilis is only one vessel,’ Coran answered. ‘There are no others, least none that we know of. We have arms that might prevail against a handful, but the Mobilis cannot resist a fleet.’
‘Our catapults then,’ Henoch said. ‘A wooden vessel will not survive a blow from a rock!’
‘True enough,’ Fitch said. ‘But the priestesses will know that. Meru, describe what you saw at Viresia.’
Meru stepped up. ‘The priestesses have trained flying creatures, their wingspans as wide as our ships are long. The creatures are called dachs. I saw Viresia, a proud and well defended city in Scallia, subdued in minutes by an aerial attack. The priestesses flew in, dropping burning brands of some substance that spread fire wherever it landed. Viresia had archers and other defences, they were defeated swiftly.’
‘Then what can we do?’ Janaid asked. ‘We have no way to defend against a foe from the air. Our fate seems sealed.’
‘We have two chances,’ Coran said. ‘Fitch has mastered the art of some of our ancestor’s weapons, devices that fly through the air and explode, causing great harm to anything nearby. Others can shoot at great range. We have tried this on the priestesses once before and found them effective enough to deter them. But, again, there aren’t enough to fend off an invasion.’
‘Your second chance?’ Henoch asked.
‘During our travels in Scallia,’ Coran said. ‘We encountered an … an intelligence. Once again it was built by our ancestors long ago to serve their purposes. Alongside it were other machines, some of which could fly.’
‘I learnt to fly one,’ Meru interjected. ‘It was easily the equal of the priestesses’ dachs.’
‘But if these devices you speak of are in Scallia …’ Janaid began.
‘Yes,’ Coran said. ‘We need to go and get them.’
‘How long will that take?’ Henoch asked.
‘It took us five stretches from the Scattered Isles,’ Meru said. ‘Perhaps one more than that to get there from here, and the same to return.’
‘Say twelve stretches,’ Janaid mused. ‘And how soon before these priestesses reach us?’
‘It’s a thousand marks,’ Meru said. ‘Even if they set out now it would take them four times as long even with a favourable wind.’
‘Our own vessels can travel perhaps fifty marks a stretch,’ Henoch said. ‘Perhaps more. Say twenty stretches from the point at which they set out.’
‘Of course,’ Coran said. ‘There’s no way to know when that will be.’
‘Yes, there is.’
Everyone in the hall turned to look. Zoella had been silent up to this point, but now she had something to say.
‘I can hear one of them,’ Zoella said. ‘Sometimes I can see what she sees. I will know when they leave. I have seen nothing yet. We have time.’
‘Time enough to get to Scallia and return with reinforcements,’ Coran said. ‘But we must depart as soon as possible.’
‘Agreed,’ Janaid said, nodding. ‘We will see to it that your ship is given all the provisions it needs. Prepare as fast as you can and sail upon the earliest stretch!’
The senate was as good as their word. The Mobilis was repaired, provisioned and readied for another voyage. The crew worked for two stretches to ensure everything was ready. The first chime of the following stretch they were prepped, ready to sail once more.
Hannah saw Meru standing on the far side of the Amaris piazza, looking out from the high vantage point across the bay of Amar.
Above, the warm smooth orb of Lacaille dominated a quarter of the clear blue sky, unmarred by even the faintest whiff of cloud. The rest of the sky was flecked with the swirling green patterns of the Aura, twisting and coiling above them, a delicate and beautiful river of light flowing from Lacaille over their heads and then fading away towards the shadeward.
She strolled across the piazza, avoiding the train of wagons and visitors still jamming the boulevards in and out of the city. Meru turned and smiled at her.
Once clear of the immediate hustle they were able to enjoy the wide expanse of the wall that served as the upper boundary of the city of Amaris. Hannah looked over the edge before stepping back with an expression of distaste.
‘I will never get used to that view.’
‘It’s a long way down,’ Meru replied.
She remembered when Meru was much younger, how he’d always tease her by running close to the edge.
The cove far below provided a smooth area of calm water, deep blue in the middle, rising a shade to aquamarine by the time it reached the coast. Beyond that lay the Straithian Sea and, so the stories said, other lands.
Stories that my son has confirmed!
Hannah could see the strange ship that Meru had returned upon. It was three times as long as any other ship in the harbour, and glinted in the light of Lacaille, its metal nature obvious even from here.
‘So you’re going with them again.’
It wasn’t a question.
Meru looked at his mother.
‘I have to,’ he replied. ‘They need me. I navigate the ship. Without me …’
Hannah smiled.
‘I wasn’t going to stop you. I just wanted to wish you a safe voyage, or whatever it is the sailors say.’
‘Calm seas is the usual farewell.’
‘Calm seas then.’
Meru smiled. ‘Thanks Mother. I’m sorry about …’
‘It’s done and past now,’ Hannah said. ‘You’ve found your calling, you’re doing what you should be doing. These people, they seem good folk …’
‘They are,’ Meru said.
Hannah nodded.
‘And the girl you’re travelling with, Zoella. She thinks a lot of you. She seems like a good friend.’
Meru looked away and didn’t answer.
‘Your dealings with this other girl … this priestess …’
Meru turned, with an angry look upon his face.
‘Her name is Kiri,’ he snapped. ‘And she’s not evil like everyone says she is!’
Hannah held up her hands. ‘I don’t mean to pry.’
‘Then don’t.’
Meru stepped away and then turned back.
‘I’m sorry, it’s just that everyone is judging me, telling me what I should think, no one listens …’
Hannah thought that for a moment.
‘So what is she like, this Kiri?’
Meru sighed.
‘She’s … she’s strong, tough. A warrior of her people. She fears no one. She has such skill with weapons. So determined, so … alive.’
‘Pretty too I guess?’ Hannah asked, with a wry grin.
Meru’s expression grew distant.
‘She has these eyes, these … deep blue eyes. Her hair is dark and she’s …’
Hannah watched her son’s expression. She didn’t need to ask any more.
‘Just … be careful,’ she whispered. ‘Will you do that for me? I only want the best for you. Zoella does too. Our worries only come from concern for you.’
‘I will, Mother.’
Footsteps thumped alongside them. They turned to see Henoch striding up to them.
‘Wife,’ he said and then looked at Meru. ‘Son.’
Hannah bowed as was custom. Meru nodded in acknowledgement and looked into his father’s eyes, a frown creasing his forehead.
‘You’ll be travelling once again I assume,’ Henoch said.
‘I will,’ Meru replied.
‘I suppose that nothing I say will have any bearing on your decision to leave?’ Henoch asked.
‘I won’t stay here, if that’s what you mean,’ Meru answered. ‘We have to go.’
Henoch nodded, and looked out across the bay.
‘These … friends of yours,’ Henoch said, rubbing his chin. ‘Pirates and vagabonds.’
‘They’re not …’ Meru began, stepping forward, incensed.
‘I was wrong,’ Henoch said.
Meru gasped and stopped. Even Hannah looked surp
rised.
‘Yes,’ Henoch continued. ‘I was wrong. About a great many things. These people … your friends are good people. They saved this city and many lives. My counsel was poor and my judgement awry.’
‘Father …’
‘Hannah tells me I contributed to you running away,’ Henoch said, still looking out across the bay. ‘Quite what is so bad about a life of honourable service in the senate I fail to understand, but it has been my life and it was wrong of me to try to impose it upon you.’
Meru swallowed.
‘Then …?’
‘Go,’ Henoch said, turning to look at Meru. ‘Go on this …’ He waved his hands, ‘quest, adventure, whatever you call it. Go with my blessing. It seems Amar needs adventurers more than it needs senators at this time.’
Hannah stifled a sob and then pulled them both in a close embrace. After a moment, father and son put an arm around each other.
‘I will do this,’ Meru said. ‘And I will come back! I will come back, and willingly.’
Hannah kissed his forehead and Henoch hugged him close.
‘May Lacaille favour you.’
Zoella was sitting at the end of the quay gazing out to sea when Meru sat down next to her. She looked across at him with a smile.
‘Just said goodbye to my parents,’ he said. ‘Got permission to go this time.’
‘I’m glad you were able to speak to them again,’ she replied, with a light laugh. ‘Your mother loves you very much. Your father too, in his way.’
Meru nodded.
‘That’s a precious thing,’ Zoella added. ‘I never knew my parents, not even their names.’
Meru swallowed, paused and then summoned up the courage to speak.
‘I’m glad to be able to talk to you again,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to push you away the way I did.’
‘I shouldn’t have said what I said,’ she answered, looking back out to sea. ‘Sorry for hitting you too.’
‘I probably deserved it,’ he said. There was a pause, and then, ‘Can we be friends again?’
Zoella took in a deep shuddering breath. ‘Do you still …? Is what you said about …?’
‘Kiri?’ Meru asked. ‘Let’s not talk about …’
Zoella turned and glared at him.
‘We have to,’ she said. ‘Otherwise you and I … Well, there won’t be a you and I, will there? I want to be your friend, but we have to trust each other.’
Meru rubbed his forehead. ‘I won’t lie to you again Zoella. I won’t. I know what I felt from her; she isn’t all evil, not just a killer like you think she is …’
Zoella pursed her lips, trying to stop her body from trembling.
‘I know what I saw …’
‘And I know what I felt.’
Zoella took a deep breath.
‘All right,’ she managed to say. ‘For the sake of our friendship … I’ll accept what you say. She has some feelings in her anyway … I know she wants you. That’s very clear.’
Meru looked at her. ‘How do you …?’
‘I sensed her,’ Zoella said. ‘Just before the flare, she was trying to find out where we were. I’m sure she knows where Amar is now. I think that’s what she was after all along, either from you, or from me. The priestesses will come.’
‘They were coming anyway,’ Meru said. ‘Kiri or no Kiri. It was just a matter of time once they discovered I came from Amar, way back in Viresia.’
‘Perhaps,’ Zoella said.
‘She had doubts,’ Meru said. ‘She thought all Amarans were evil, me included. When I saved her life she was shocked to discover I wasn’t. It changed her, Zoella. It really did.’
‘If you say so.’
‘Maybe … maybe I’ll be able to convince her to stop the attack, or at least negotiate terms between Drayden and Amar …’
Their conversation lapsed into silence broken only by the water lapping at their feet.
‘What you said before,’ Meru said. ‘If you meet her …’
Zoella chewed at a fingernail. ‘For your sake I won’t try to kill her,’ she said after a moment. ‘But if she attacks me I will defend myself.’
‘I can’t ask for more than that,’ Meru answered, his voice a whisper. ‘And know this,’ Zoella said. ‘If you’re wrong … If she kills again and you choose to seek her out, if you go to her despite all that … I won’t stop you.’
‘If she kills again, you’ll be proved right,’ he said. ‘And if that turns out to be the truth, there’s no way I would go with her. Why would I?’
She looked at him. ‘If you do, our friendship will end upon that stretch, never to be reconciled. Do you understand?’
She saw him swallow, saw his gaze study her face.
Yes. I really mean it, Meru.
As the ship rounded the harbour and turned out to sea, Coran pushed the throttles up and the Mobilis surged forward, her mighty engines churning a frothing wake at her keel.
Coran grinned, happy that he was master of his vessel once again, with nothing but the horizon ahead.
Crew all aboard. Mel, Fitch, Daf and Creg, Meru, even Zoella and little Ren. Things always seem more straightforward when away from land!
He knew it was an illusion, trouble lay ahead and time was short. Defending Amar was one thing, but there were still Zoella’s troubled dreams of the Obelisk to consider too. They would have to see if they could wrestle any other information from Caesar.
Fitch vaulted up into the bridge beside him.
‘All stowed and ready for sea,’ he said. ‘Mel reports all’s well with her damnable engines.’
‘She said that?’
‘No,’ Fitch replied. ‘What she actually said isn’t repeatable for the most part, but the general gist was about cobbling things together in a rush.’
‘Best we can hope for,’ Coran replied with a chuckle.
Fitch rubbed his chin. ‘Didn’t want to mention this when you were convincing the senate and all,’ he said. ‘But there’s a big flaw in this plan.’
Coran turned to look at him. ‘Oh yes? What’s that then?’
Fitch was looking ahead as spray splashed up from the Mobilis’ rapid progress.
‘You’ve assumed that infernal contraption on the mainland is going to give you what you want.’
‘Caesar?’ Coran replied. ‘Why wouldn’t it … he … it?’
‘Call me sceptical,’ Fitch said. ‘But it’s got a mind of its own. You want to use its flying machines, and anything else useful that might be lying about, to fight a war against these witches. What if it don’t like that idea? What if it says no?’
‘Then we take them anyway,’ Coran said. ‘What is it going to do? It’s a talking table.’
Fitch looked at him. ‘Don’t underestimate it, is my advice,’ he said. ‘All this while and we’re still dabbling with things we scarce understand.’
Fitch left the bridge, leaving Coran musing over his words.
The Mobilis surged onwards, ploughing its way across the Straithian Sea towards Scallia.
CHAPTER NINE
Airea, Capital of Taloon
Round 2307, Fourth pass
Kiri circled her dach above the high parapets of Airea. It was an impressive city. Nestled in a natural sandy bay and flanked by the sea on one side and the harsh desert on the other, it was positioned in a narrow belt of green. From the air the reason was obvious, the city was built on a river delta that now flowed within its streets.
Kiri took in the sight and signalled for the three dachs to close up their formation. Together they began to descend.
The city had a central thoroughfare that ran almost its entire length, splitting it in two. It was flat and paved, crossed here and there by lofty bridges. Unlike the redstone of Drayden, here the building material was a startling white, forcing Kiri to squint into the brightness as they approached. The end of the thoroughfare ran straight for perhaps a mark, ending in a vast palace constructed out of the same material. Its spires were the gr
andest in the city. The entire city was ringed by a defensive wall, it appeared as a majestic circle of white from the air.
From above, Kiri could see that the spires were wrought out of coloured glass that flashed and sparkled in the light of Lacaille. The craftsmanship was obvious. Even beyond the palace there were minarets and towers as far as she could see, there was no evidence of the slums that disfigured the outskirts of Daine.
A rich city indeed.
Between the buildings she could spy the water courses, see people both walking on the streets and moving about in boats. In some places large lakes had been created, perhaps for the wealthiest residents to gaze out upon. There were well tended gardens and flowers everywhere. She could make out markets and stalls, there was a large oval area too, an amphitheatre with a sandy floor. The city was a riot of colour.
But no fields, no crops. Where does the food come from? And where are the workers?
To the sunright at the opposite end of the thoroughfare lay the harbour. At a glance Kiri could see dozens upon dozens of vessels moored, with many out at sea about their business. Some of the ships were of decent size, with multiple masts and expansive decks. People were milling about below her as she descended. She signalled again, ensuring the dachs stayed together. Some began to point upwards as the priestesses from Drayden were spotted.
From her perspective she could see all of them were dark-skinned. A pang of sorrow clutched at her.
Like Tasha. Was Taloon her home before she came to Daine? Was she tithed from here? I’ll never know. I should have asked …
Kiri made for the wide expanse before the palace itself. It seemed the obvious place to be received by the King of Taloon, and Vandare had said he resided in the palace.
Clouds of fine sand were swept into the air as the three dachs landed in unison, their wings back-flapping as they came to rest. A crowd of people, having seen their flight descend and wondering from where they had come, was growing about them, yet keeping a respectful distance. Kiri looked at them. She had never seen so many people with dark-skins and short cut dark hair. It reminded her how far from home she was.
Her dach bowed its head and Kiri slid down, walking forward towards the palace a few paces.
