Shann stared into empty space. “No, it’s mine.” Keris looked at her strangely. “Last night he told me he was going away.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
Shann withered beneath the force of the rebuke. “I... I didn’t understand. I thought he was talking about the future for all of us.” Yet that was not entirely true. All of the pieces had been there, like sections of a garment, requiring but a single thread, but something within her had refused to weave them together. A chance to redeem myself. In her heart, she had known that he was speaking of his lost sister, Aune. But when she asked him about it, he merely smiled enigmatically and placed an arm about her shoulder once more, swelling her heart and willing her to silence. Trust. Lyall was the father she never had. Betrayal? It was unthinkable.
The fire in Keris’s eyes finally flickered and went out. “Well, it’s done now. We have to move on from here.”
Shann did not feel like moving on. Her legs were feeble stalks. All she wanted to do was to flop down on the unforgiving granite and sob her heart out until the pain went away. “I won’t fight you. I will accept your leadership, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Keris shook her head. “You misunderstand. I say it is you who must lead us now.”
Shann swallowed. “Me? But... I wouldn’t know what to do. Besides, you have vastly greater ability and experience than I.”
“Perhaps. But those are not the qualities that the others need right now. They need someone who they can follow—someone who inspires trust. They need you.”
Shann’s mind felt slow. Foggy. Mired in a swamp of impossibilities. Boxx was dead. Lyall was gone, and with him the four components of Annata’s instrument. Now this. It was more than she could take in. She turned away so that the other woman would not see the tears filling her eyes. “I can’t... I’m sorry.”
Without warning Keris stepped in front of her once more, drew back her hand, and struck Shann full across the face.
Shann staggered backwards—one hand clutching her injured cheek, the other moving instinctively towards her staff. “Are you crazy? What are you doing?”
Keris advanced on her. Her eyes flashed like twin daggers. “Get a grip on yourself. This is no time to wallow in selfish indulgence. There is a man out there in possession of an instrument more powerful—more destructive than anything this world has ever seen. And he is about to hand it over to a beaten enemy who is desperate for revenge. The four of us are the only ones who have a chance of stopping him.”
The terrible truth of what she was saying washed over Shann like a tidal wave. Her legs finally gave way and she sagged to her knees. “I can’t... I can’t do what you’re asking. I can’t fight Lyall.”
Keris dropped to one knee next to her. Her voice became soft, yet with the same note of urgency. “You must. You have to beat him. It’s the only way to help him—the only way to save him.” Her head bowed. “I suspect he always knew that it would come down to this.”
Shann rubbed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
“One of Lyall’s strengths is that he has an intuitive understanding of people. When I first met him, I was convinced that his judgment was impaired. He had allied himself with an entertainer and a scullery maid. His choices seemed fatally flawed. Yet Alondo, for all his childish humour and lack of stamina, is a brilliant engineer and a constant morale booster. I think Lyall saw in you the qualities of someone who would one day succeed him. A moment ago back at the camp, when Alondo and Rael looked to you for support—for guidance—you gave it. Instinctively.”
“I was only trying to help.”
“But that’s the whole point,” Keris persisted. “It’s a part of who and what you are. The others see that. That’s why they have implicit faith in you. You mustn’t let them down.” She stood and proffered a hand. Shann took it uncertainly. Keris pulled the girl to her feet and bowed formally. “I offer my skills and counsel—my tactical training— in your support. In addition, I pledge myself as your protector. Anyone who wishes to get to you will have to come through me.”
Shann’s throat constricted. “All right. I... I think we should conduct hariath-sharana. For Boxx and for Susan Gilmer.”
Keris shook her head firmly. “That can wait. First we have to try and intercept Lyall before he can reach the Prophet. We don’t have much time. The others can wait here. You and I should leave immediately.”
“No.”
Keris blinked. “Excuse me?”
The fire in her cheek subsided, leaving behind a cold determination. “We need to cover all eventualities. I agree we should try to ensure that the four components never leave this island. But we need a backup in case that plan fails. I will go after Lyall and I will take Rael with me.”
“The boy? Why?”
“Because aside from Annata’s Reach, the only other way off the island is one of the hu-man avionics, and Rael and I are the only ones who can pilot one. Also, he knows more about the components than anyone else. I want you to take the others and sail the Reach back to Kieroth. If we should fail, then it will be up to you. Warn the people of this world. Then use their Diametric Drive to return across the Sea of Storms and organise a resistance on our side.”
Keris nodded gravely. “The tactic is sound. Nevertheless, I would prefer to be coming with you. Are you certain that you can face Lyall on your own?”
Shann smiled faintly. “I will not be on my own. I will try to talk to him first—persuade him to turn over the components.”
“And if he refuses?”
“Then I will do what I must.”
For a long moment Keris’s eyes locked with hers, as if she were testing the veracity of the girl’s statement. Finally she spoke. “Lyall chose well.”
It was Shann who turned and led the way back to camp. “I trust you to get the others back to safety and to take up the task of wresting the components from Wang, if it should come to that.”
The other woman’s voice was a steel whip. “My oath on it.”
~
Shann’s nostrils caught the heady whiff of ozone long before the sea hauled into view. The natural path they were travelling on was the most direct route to the inlet that Lafontaine called Qiberon Bay. The name rolled awkwardly around her tongue. Lafontaine explained that he had named it after a section of coastline on his native world—a place called France.
Her mind went back to that first night at the observatory, when she had viewed the stars up close through the huge copper-coloured telescope. It seemed impossible to believe that on one of those tiny points of light, there was another world with an ocean just like theirs, waves soughing in gentle rhythm against an unknown shore. How many Qiberon bays were spread across the unfathomable vastness of the sky? A dozen? A hundred? A thousand? If she lived until the end of time, could she ever visit them all?
When they had arrived back at camp, the fire had been rekindled. The two men hunched next to it rose to their feet expectantly. Shann braced herself, then noticed that she was drawing some odd glances. In a flash, she realised that the others were looking at her swollen cheek. Her fingers probed the tender spot and she winced. Keris had not pulled her punch. However, Shann did not feel resentment. It served as the wake-up call she needed, and her mind felt clearer than at any time she could remember.
She stood side by side with Keris and broke the news that the four components of Annata’s instrument were missing along with Lyall. She watched Alondo anxiously.
His sunny disposition disappeared behind a thunderhead. The two men had been together since childhood. Now his friend had chosen to strike out on a path of his own—one that could very well lead to disaster for all of them. He’s going to need a lot of support and reassurance in the days to come. Lyall, how could you do this?
Rael appeared grave. “This is bad. Very bad.”
Alondo closed his eyes. “Hang on. I thought that the components were linked to individuals: you, me, Keris, and Rael. That was the whole purpose
of our being tested at the Dais. What good would the components be without the four of us to operate them?”
“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Keris replied. “At Kynedyr, Annata said that the components had to be destroyed as soon as they had been used because they were too dangerous for any one person to control. She wouldn’t have said that unless the danger was real.”
“I agree,” Rael said. “The Dais somehow linked each of the components to the biometric data of those of us who passed the tests. But those safeguards can probably be fooled or bypassed by someone with a comparable level of technology. The good news is that it would probably take a while to make the necessary adjustments. That should buy us some time. Although maybe not much.”
Rael had expressed surprise at her choice to take him along in the search for Lyall. She explained her reasons pragmatically and he nodded his understanding, but there was a note of pure pleasure in his acceptance that she found unsettling. She did her best to ignore it.
Shann suggested that their initial goal should be the clifftop they had observed on their approach to Qiberon Bay. It would likely afford a panoramic view of the island and might give a clue as to where Wang and the other hu-mans might be. Lyall had a clear head start, but there was no reason to think that he had any more idea than they did about where the hu-mans were holed up. The clifftop and the bay lay in the same direction, so although their goals were different, their paths coincided—for a while at least.
Shann led the way with Keris at her side. The tall woman had fashioned a papoose from a section of awning and carried the Chandara’s remains on her back. No one interfered or offered to relieve her; it was as if it were a sacred observance that only she could perform.
As the morning wore on, Alondo became noticeably withdrawn. Shann tracked back and took up a position alongside him. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” He walked on in unnatural silence.
She tried again. “Tell me about Aune.”
“Lyall’s sister? Why would you want to know about her?”
“Just curious. I guess I can’t help but wonder what kind of a person she was, that Lyall would risk everything to save her.”
Alondo pressed his lips together. “You don’t have any siblings, do you?”
“No,” she confessed.
“When Lyall returned home after Persillan and Aune was missing, I thought he was going to lose his mind. We searched high and low, but there was no sign. Even after the trail went cold, he never gave up. He has never stopped searching for her in his heart.”
“What was she like?” Shann pressed.
Alondo had a faraway look. “Aune was a field of bright yellow alasia blooms. She was Ail-Kar, the white sun, peeking out from behind a cloud. She was a cool mountain lake on a burning hot summer’s day. Aune was a nimble dagan, gambolling in the dappled sunlight of a forest.”
“It sounds as if you loved her.”
“Everyone loved her.”
Shann tried to picture the young woman who literally meant more to Lyall than the entire world, yet no image she could come up with seemed to do justice to Alondo’s description. “I’ll talk to him,” she said. “Try to persuade him to come back to us.”
Alondo attempted a reassuring smile. “I know you will.” However, there was something in his voice. Something that told her that he knew that Lyall would never give up the search, no matter what the cost.
She caught the heady scent of the sea, informing her that this part of their journey was nearing its end. Soon it would be time for them to part company. She felt a twinge of sadness. At least the others will be safe.
A while later they rounded a bend in the path and the land fell away. Directly below them was the stony beach where they had made landfall several days before and, beyond, the calm waters of Qiberon Bay, sparkling in the sunlight. Something was wrong. Shann scanned the inlet from one headland to the other and then out to the unbroken horizon, where sea met sky. She fought down a rising sense of panic. It was Rael who finally gave voice to her worst fears.
“The Reach. It’s gone.”
<><><><><>
Chapter 22
“Maybe the ship was attacked by the hu-mans again.” Rael speculated. “Maybe they took refuge somewhere else.” Or maybe the ship sank. The placid waters of the inlet were deep—easily capable of swallowing up their tiny vessel, leaving no sign of its passage.
Shann thrust the image aside. “Let’s get to the clifftop. We’ll get a better view from there.”
They climbed in silence, imprisoned in their private thoughts, with only their fears for company. Dark, brooding clouds were piling up in the eastern sky—a presage of late afternoon rain. Wind whipped around in spiteful little squalls, ruffling Shann’s hair and blowing Keris’s long dark tresses across her face. What if the Reach really is gone? The human flying machines were the only other way off the island. Stealing one would be pretty risky. Stealing two... Yet if Wang escaped with the four components and they were stranded here, then there would be no one to prevent him from exacting terrible retribution on the Kelanni people.
As they crested the clifftop, Alondo collapsed in a heap, breathing hard. Shann walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, and his flushed moon-face broke into a weak smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m good for another ten hikes. Just say the word.”
It was good to see him coming out of himself a little. She cuffed him playfully on the shoulder, feeling her own mood lighten a little. “Show-off.”
Keris knelt at the cliff edge and scanned the horizon. Shann joined her, with Rael at her shoulder. “See anything?”
“No, nothing,” the other woman replied.
The sea was choppy—grey-green crests, topped off with white plumes. The only signs of life were the four-winged piebald fliers that dominated the island, flitting across the water in ragged flocks, bickering with one another and diving in and out of the surf. Shann squinted, desperately seeking a glimpse of sail or mast, but there was nothing.
“There.” Rael pointed off to the right, in a direction parallel to the cliff face. Shann leaned forward and her heart leapt. The Reach. She was close-hauled into shore, sheltered in the lee of the cliff, and appeared to be at anchor.
“What is it?” Alondo called from his place, still seated among the tufts of rough yellow grass.
“We found the ship,” Shann reported. She walked over to him and proffered a hand. “Feel like a walk along the cliffs?” He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. “And along the way, maybe you could regale us with a song or two? How about the ditty that you played at the nomad camp—the one Lyall and I danced to?”
She bit back the words as she saw that his haunted look had returned.
~
The suns were nearing their zenith, with Ail-Gan, the yellow sun, briefly tracking backwards in its path across the sky when they arrived at the point on the clifftop directly above the Reach’s position. The ship had not moved. As they watched from their elevated vantage point, they could see its deck, rolling gently in the swell and dotted with three tiny blue-coated figures. Everything looked peaceful.
“We should signal them,” Shann suggested.
“No.” All eyes turned to face Keris, but her gaze was firmly fixed on the vessel far below.
“What’s the matter?” Shann asked, patiently.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t... smell right.”
Shann frowned. She had never known Keris to be this vague about anything. “How do you mean?”
“Well, for one thing, I haven’t seen Patris.”
Shann shrugged. “The ship is lying at anchor. It’s a relatively calm sea. There’s no compelling reason for her master to be on deck.”
“It’s not just that. What are they doing out here?”
“I think Rael’s theory is the most likely explanation,” Shann replied. “The ship was attacked again and sought shelter.”
Keris shook her head firmly. “
There’s no sign of recent battle damage. The ship is slow compared to one of their flying machines. Even if they were attacked by a single craft, it’s difficult to believe the pilot was so completely inept that he missed every shot.”
“Maybe an avionic buzzed them and they got scared and ran?”
Keris was still staring down at the vessel as if she were willing it to give up its secrets. “I know Patris; he doesn’t scare easily. Besides, he is well aware that the inlet is the rendezvous point. If there were no immediate threat, he would return the ship to its station, not sit out here.
“And another thing. Look at how the ship is positioned. She’s way too close inshore. If a storm brewed or the anchor gave, she would run the risk of being dashed against the cliffs. Patris is far too experienced a skipper to make that sort of a mistake.”
Shann began to feel a cold knot in the pit of her stomach. “Are you saying that the drach have taken control of the ship?”
“Patris can handle himself in a fight,” Keris mused. “But against three drach—and if they took him unawares... I’d say it’s possible, yes.”
“What do you suggest we do?”
Keris got to her feet. A gust of wind blew a lock of hair across her face, and she brushed it back. “Time is of the essence. You and Rael should go after Lyall.”
“You can’t take the ship back on your own.” Shann’s eyes widened. “Hey, maybe we could use the flying cloaks to drop to the deck—take them by surprise?”
“You mean jump from the cliff?” Keris shook her head. “It’s far too high; we’d never make it.”
“Using the old-style cloak, maybe. But with the new red cloak—” Her gestures became animated. “We leap off, extending lower lodestone and bronze. Bronze pulls the lodestone; lodestone pushes the bronze—a double upward pressure. Then we channel the elecro... ”
“Electrostatic,” Rael corrected.
“Right. We channel the electrostatic boost through the lodestone to strengthen its effect. When we get within range of the ship, we can push against the natural lodestone that we installed in the ship’s prow to help us cross the Great Barrier of Storms.”
The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) Page 90
