by Brandon Mull
His intensity left Cole surprised. He knew Mira was Durny’s apprentice, but he hadn’t realized the old guy felt so strongly about her. “Are you related?”
“Not by blood,” Durny said. “I have no right to tell you more. My life ends here, tonight. Promise me you’ll watch over her.”
Cole wasn’t sure he could watch out for himself in a place like Skyport. But he liked Mira, and Durny needed assurance. “I’ll do my best. I promise.”
Durny looked relieved. He nodded slowly. “You’re a good lad. Thank you for coming back for her. Protect her with that same courage, and she will be in good hands.” He raised his voice. “We’re done. Cole, why don’t you go claim some weapons or treasure? I would have private words with Mira.”
CHAPTER
14
STORM BLOWN
Following instructions from Durny, Lyrus turned the coffin on its side near him. Then the soldier led Cole away.
“Durny is meeting his end bravely,” Lyrus said.
“He’d be fine if it wasn’t for you,” Cole replied.
“Did I bring him here? Did I bring you? This is a proving ground for heroes.”
“Just doing your job, right? You picked a bad time to be so good at it.”
“I gave you what help I could.”
“I’m surprised you beat that snake. It looked like it had you.”
“It did have me,” Lyrus said. “In the end I took its head, but not before it did fatal damage. Had Durny not restored me, I would be dead. In truth, my contest with Nimbia ended as a draw. What surprised me was you besting Gromar.”
Cole had cleaned his sword, but the sleeve of his buckskin jacket remained crusted with dried blood. “It surprised me too.”
“You proved yourself,” Lyrus said. “You deserve to be rewarded. What manner of prizes would you prefer?”
“Do you have any special weapons?” Cole asked. “You know, that are shaped to do useful things? Or treasures with secret abilities, like my cloak?”
“You’re wise to ask. There are three such items: a painting that foretells the next day’s weather, a jewel that will always return to the first person who kisses it, and a bow that requires no arrows. They were prepared to reward discerning eyes, but you asked, and I wear your shawl, so I would be glad to give them to you.”
Using the catacombs to avoid the rain, they visited three different treasure rooms, all lit by candles and torches. Lyrus carefully wrapped the painting in cloth. Cole kissed the jewel as soon as he claimed it. After receiving the bow, he tested it by pulling the string. Once the string was back far enough, an arrow appeared.
Lyrus took custody of the painting and the bow, freeing Cole to collect other treasures. He tried to choose items that might make the Sky Raiders happy, including a small heavy chest loaded with jewels and gold coins. He put rings on every finger and wore several pendants. Lyrus also recommended a pair of hooded cloaks to help against the rain. It was hard for Cole to tear himself away from investigating the treasure hoards, but Lyrus finally informed him that they had less than half an hour before Parona would reach the cloudwall.
Upon returning to where they had left Durny and Mira, Cole found Durny facedown on the floor. Mira knelt at his side. By the torchlight in the room, Cole could see the shiny tracks of tears on her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy and red. “He’s gone.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said.
“Did he finish the skycraft?” Lyrus asked.
“He died as he finished it,” Mira said. “He warned me that he might. We can’t steer it, but that shouldn’t be necessary. The coffin will fly itself to the salvage yard. It was the safest destination he could give us. The cliffside entrances will be sealed at night.”
“You should depart,” Lyrus said. “Time runs short.”
“Do you want to come with us?” Cole asked.
“I would not survive the journey,” Lyrus said. “Better that I remain here where I belong.”
“Durny told me we should launch the boat from the edge of Parona,” Mira said.
“He was right,” Lyrus agreed. “Once you’re airborne, the catapults will target you. The storm should wreak havoc with their aim, but why take needless risks?”
“Seriously?” Cole snapped. “That’s your advice? You just fought monsters on purpose!”
Lyrus shrugged. “She’s a maiden. And you can’t fight a ball of flame. Cole, I should return your shawl.”
“Let’s wait until we take off,” Cole said. “Just to be safe.”
“Very well.”
They situated the items they were taking into the coffin. Cole and Mira put on their cloaks. Lyrus picked up one side of the coffin and dragged it out into the rain. Cole followed, the rain pattering against his hood. The wind gusted hard enough to make the walk laborious.
“Not the night I’d choose to go flying in a minotaur’s coffin,” Cole said to Mira, speaking loudly to be heard over the storm.
“I’ve had some bad days with the Sky Raiders,” Mira said. “But this one takes the prize.”
They followed Lyrus until he left the coffin at the edge of a patio and stepped back. Beyond where the patio ended, the night was impenetrably dark.
“What now?” Cole asked.
Mira stepped inside the coffin. “We get in and I tell it to go.”
Cole got in as well. The coffin was fairly deep, which offered some security, but the only things to really hold on to were the sides. It was like sitting in a primitive canoe.
“Would you like the shawl now?” Lyrus asked.
“Yes, please,” Cole replied.
The soldier removed the shawl, handed it over, and stepped back. “Luck be with you.”
“Die bravely,” Mira said.
“Die bravely,” Cole repeated.
Lyrus straightened to full attention. “Count on it. Live well.”
“Skyport!” Mira yelled.
The coffin lurched forward. Cole gripped the sides tightly. The improvised skycraft flew swiftly, rocking, bucking, and fishtailing as it was buffeted by the swirling wind.
The catapults started firing. Comets of flame illuminated the darkness, though no shot came close to them. Three more volleys were launched, each more hopeless than the last. Soon all light from the fires of Parona were lost behind them.
Only the dark tempest remained.
Between their speed and the gusting wind, rain whipped Cole violently. Tucking his head down, he braced himself against the sides of the coffin. He felt like a paper airplane in a tornado. Sometimes the coffin lurched forward, sometimes it stalled, sometimes it dove, sometimes it climbed, and sometimes it spun. Often it tipped almost sideways, though never upside down. There was no predicting how it would move, so Cole hung on with all his strength.
Cole measured time by each second that he didn’t go flying freely into the storm, plummeting toward forever, surrounded by raindrops. There was no lightning or thunder, but the wind raged, and the rain seemed determined to drown him.
He had no chance to exchange words with Mira. She sat close enough that he occasionally bumped against her, which served as his only clue that he was not alone in the coffin.
As their wild flight stretched on and on, Cole began to doubt whether they would ever reach their destination. There was no way to gauge if the skycraft was moving in the right direction. They could be blown farther off course with every gust. All he could do was hold tight as the coffin reared, plunged, turned, twisted, pitched, heaved, shook, wobbled, jerked, slowed, accelerated, and curveted.
His hands grew numb from the cold. In spite of his cloak, his clothes were drenched. His muscles ached from the strain of holding on. His body throbbed from the constant jarring. He shifted a bit, trying to find new ways to brace himself.
The storm refused to relent. There was no shelter. The merciless fury was all around them. Time lost all meaning. Cole stopped hoping that it would ever end. He just held on.
He didn’t know they had reached their
destination until the coffin thumped down in the salvage yard. Looking around, he could see the lit windows of Skyport perhaps fifty yards away. The rain still bucketed down, and the wind continued to howl.
Mira kept her head down.
“We’re here!” Cole called.
She looked up, then shakily climbed out of the coffin. “We have to get indoors.”
Cole took the time to collect his shawl and the bow. He had made sure to sit on them.
He checked the coffin for the other items he had brought. It was too dark to be sure, but it looked like everything else was gone, including the chest of coins and the enchanted painting.
Cole followed Mira through the gloomy, wet salvage yard, shoes squelching in muddy puddles as he navigated around sheds and other shadowy obstacles. When they reached the porch, he tossed the bow and the shawl underneath it while Mira climbed the steps. He had worked hard for them and was in no hurry to give them away.
He caught up to Mira as she pounded on the door. “It’s locked,” she told him as he approached.
At least on the porch they were out of the rain, though the wind clawed at them. Cole was about to tell her nobody would be able to hear them over the storm when the locks started to disengage. Eli opened the door.
“We’d all lost hope!” he exclaimed with a grin, stepping aside so they could enter. “Durny?”
Mira shook her head. “Just us.”
His face fell a little. Then he swatted Cole with the back of his hand. “Did you have a nice landing on that cyclops?”
“Nicer for me than for it,” Cole said.
Eli shook his head. “You’re absolutely mad. But here you are. The Maker protects fools and children. Adam will want to see you. He had some of us waiting up, in case you showed.”
Eli led them to the common area where Adam sat on his jade throne. The warm air made Cole more conscious of how wet and cold he was.
“Oh ho!” Adam bellowed. “The castaways return! I had a feeling you might resurface. Is the shaper with you?”
“He didn’t make it,” Eli reported.
Adam scowled. “What? The man built a skycraft, then forgot to board?”
“He died making it,” Mira said. “He was crushed by a huge spider. It took all he had to last as long as he did.”
Adam banged a fist on the arm of his throne. “This is why you don’t send your best shaper to collect floatstones. We have three less capable men who could have handled that errand. But given a full year and a death threat, not one of them could produce a Jumping Sword. Shame on me for letting Durny talk me into it. Anything can happen out there. You two look like drowned kittens. You’re otherwise unwounded?”
“We’re all right,” Cole said.
“Must have been a white-knuckle ride.” Adam chuckled. “I can hardly imagine. How’d you navigate back here?”
“Durny rigged the coffin to find the salvage yard,” Mira said.
Adam shook his head. “That man has forgotten more about shaping than most will ever know. A corpse box, you say? Not the friendliest omen.”
“It’s out in the yard,” Cole said.
“You bring back any goods?” Adam wondered.
Cole tried not to dwell on the bow and shawl he had chucked under the porch. “We tried. I think most of it fell out. It’s dark out there.”
“You have some jewelry,” Adam noted.
Cole grinned sheepishly. “That’s right.” He had forgotten the pendants and the rings. He started taking them off.
“Princely adornments. The two lifeboats that survived also off-loaded some nice finds. We’ll fly the Vulture while we make repairs to the Domingo. If nothing else, your boneholder should have some floatstones we can salvage. Cole, I understand you went back to help Durny and Mira after boarding a lifeboat.”
“He saved us,” Mira said. “The spider left us stunned, and a cyclops would have finished us. Cole killed it.”
“Not a bright move,” Adam said. “Most days, that would lead to three corpses instead of two. But it’s the kind of stupidity I can admire.”
“Thanks,” Cole said. “I think.”
Adam winked. “You two had a tough night. Take the day off tomorrow, and I mean completely—no chores, no responsibilities. Go dry off and get some sleep.”
CHAPTER
15
MIRA
Cole could sense the sunlight through his eyelids. The sleep felt so good that he didn’t want to wake, but he peeked with one eye, then the other.
Daylight poured through the window. The room was empty. The other bunks were made.
Jace’s bunk had been empty when Cole came to bed the night before. The two other boys had been asleep. After putting on dry clothes and curling up under his covers, Cole had slept undisturbed.
He kicked his legs over the side of his bunk and dropped to the floor. Cole hadn’t had a true day off since arriving at Skyport. When he wasn’t out on a scouting mission, there had been chores to learn and perform. He hardly knew what he would do with a whole day to relax, but breakfast seemed like a sensible start.
In the kitchen, he scraped the bottom of a vat and ladled sticky porridge into a bowl. He grabbed some fruit as well—an apple and some sort of purple citrus. Fruit had been abundant lately.
Cole took his time eating. The common area was deserted. Outside, the sun glared across a blue sky as if the storm had never happened. The Borrower and the Vulture were probably out raiding.
The purple citrus fruit turned out to be the best part of the meal. Cole went and grabbed a second one. As he walked back to his room, Mira caught up to him from behind.
“Good morning,” she said. “You slept late.”
“Maybe I’ve been up for hours,” Cole said.
“Nope. I looked in at you a few times. We need to talk.”
She sounded serious. Cole tried to think what he might have done wrong. Did she know about the bow and shawl under the porch? He hadn’t taken the time to hide them well. “What’s up?”
Mira stepped closer and lowered her voice. “We mustn’t be overheard. Come with me.”
She led the way down multiple stairways, beyond the basement and into the caves. Although the floors, ceilings, and walls were natural stone, the addition of wooden walkways and steps made travel more convenient. Some areas of the caves had so many rugs, tapestries, and furnishings that Cole could almost forget he was underground.
A narrow offshoot branched from one of the main walkways. At the end they came to a door. Mira paused. “This is my room.”
“Not many doors down here,” Cole observed.
“True. Durny got this room for me. It’s isolated. I don’t bring anyone inside.” She took out a key, unlocked the door, and entered. “Come on.”
Cole followed her in and then stopped in his tracks.
The room was amazing.
A huge canopied bed with silky covers and mounds of pillows stood out the most. Other furniture included an ornate desk, two fancy sofas, a pair of stately armchairs, and a wooden table with matching benches. Beautiful paintings hung on the walls, some wider than his outstretched arms. Fine rugs softened the floor. Statues of animals prowled on shelves and crouched in corners. Crystal lamps made everything bright.
“How’d you get all this great stuff?”
“I made it,” Mira said.
“What?”
“I wove the rugs, painted the pictures, sculpted the animals, and built the furniture.”
Cole took a closer look at a painting. It showed a flying tiger swooping over a pond near a fanciful castle, its reflection somewhat blurred in the rippling water. The image looked beyond professional. “No way. You’re messing with me.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Mira said. “Please don’t mention the crafts I have in here. Durny tried to hide my talents, or Adam would have had me slaving every day as an artisan.”
“You’re serious? You built that bed?”
“Sheets, pillows, everythin
g. Durny lent me some help. I used a little shaping.”
Cole chewed on his bottom lip. “If there was shaping involved, I might start to believe you.”
She sighed despairingly. “If you find that hard to believe, just wait.”
“I almost forgot,” Cole said. “There’s more. What do you want to tell me?”
“Have a seat,” Mira invited, sitting down on one of the sofas. Mira was normally so confident, but right now she seemed a little fidgety.
The two sofas were at right angles to each other. Cole sat on the near side of the other one.
“I have . . . some secrets.”
“Okay,” Cole said patiently. “The first step to telling secrets is admitting that you have them.”
Mira looked down. “My secrets could be dangerous, Cole. They could get you into trouble.”
“This place is nothing but trouble. What’s a little more? We’ve been through some harsh stuff already.”
She looked at him intently. “I know. It’s why I know I can trust you. I have to be careful about who I trust. At Parona, you didn’t have to risk your life for me, but you did. I don’t think anything less would let me confide in you. Without Durny, I need somebody on my side. Before he died, he told me it should be you. I think he was right.”
“He asked me to look out for you,” Cole said. “When we talked in private.”
“Should I tell you?”
“You have to now. I’m too curious.”
“It’s not just gossip,” she warned. “These secrets matter. People have died because of them.”
Cole thought about that. His life was already nightmarishly hard. Did he really want more danger? Mira obviously needed him. How bad could it be? “Go ahead.”
She gave a nervous giggle. “I’ve never talked about this with anyone who didn’t already know most of the story. You’re so new here. I hardly know where to begin.”
“Just go for it.”
“Do you know about Junction? The High Shaper?”
