Calling the Change (Sky Raiders Book 2)

by Michelle Diener

  “You put one more mark on her, and you'll never be able to run far enough,” Kas said to Gaffri as he backed away as well, sword out.

  Gaffri stopped. “You want to ensure that we don't, you wait until she comes walking down the path. I'll kill her if we catch sight of anyone following us.”

  As the path twisted and she lost sight of the villagers, Fek turned to face forward, speeding up as he jogged with her still in an impossibly tight grip.

  She hoped they were telling the truth.

  But logic told her it would be a long time before she walked down this path again.

  EIGHT

  He was tired.

  Exhausted, really.

  Garek rubbed at his eyes and then glanced back, saw the flash of blue light in the dark sky that told him the sky raiders were still following.

  They had the advantage, because there was most likely more than one of them piloting their craft, whereas he had no one to share the flying with.

  He'd been hunched over the controls and keeping his focus for almost a full day, and he knew he couldn't keep it up much longer.

  He'd flown around the whole of Barit, he guessed, and had probably seen more in the last day than anyone else had seen in their lifetimes.

  The sea was beneath him now. It seemed endless, but he caught the glimmer of lights from a city that sat on its shores, and because he knew he needed to find a place to hide and rest, he turned toward it, dropping lower so that the craft almost skimmed along the tops of the waves.

  The city hunkered down right where the sea met the land, but beside it, to the left, was a cliff that seemed to rise up like a monument.

  It was dark and so it was only when he was directly in front of it that he saw the waterfall coming over the cliff's pointed tip.

  Taya thought hiding in water might make the sky craft invisible. Perhaps hiding behind it would work, too.

  He looked back again, saw the sky raiders had gotten closer because he'd slowed as he'd made his pass of the city, and he accelerated away, rising over the cliff and skimming the peninsula beyond it, then turned left in a wide arc, going faster than he'd ever pushed the sky craft before, to come up behind the sky raiders, then drop until he almost touched the choppy sea. He paused in front of the pounding water of the fall and then nosed into it carefully, finding a deep cave beyond.

  The cliff had been eroded, and the area behind the waterfall was substantial, a deep bite out of the land.

  So close to a big city he expected to find some sign of habitation, but aside from a few empty huts built up against the back wall, there was nothing.

  Rocks lay on the sand, fallen from the roof above, and he guessed any dwelling had been abandoned as too dangerous.

  He landed, leaving the engine running, and kept watch, sitting ready to take off at the first sign the sky raiders had managed to find him.

  After half an hour he realized he was losing the fight to stay awake, and shut everything down.

  Then he lay on the floor, closed his eyes, and slept.

  He dreamed of Taya, standing in the middle of the road in Pan Nuk, reaching out her hand as if to pull him back as he flew away.

  He'd made a promise to himself not two days ago that he wouldn't leave her again.

  And here he was. Half a world away. And with no idea how he was going to get safely back.

  HE WOKE to the sound of something hitting the side of his craft. He stretched, started up the engine, and then walked to the window.

  As soon as he'd started the engine, the banging stopped abruptly, and he saw three men and a woman running away, a hammer in the woman's hands.

  There was a lot of light, dappled by the falling water, and Garek guessed it was at least early afternoon.

  He felt thirsty and hungry, but rested.

  He needed to find his way back to West Lathor, but he decided going back to Pan Nuk would just bring more trouble to their door.

  Aidan would be getting nervous that he hadn't returned, so Juli was the best option.

  And he didn't mind bringing trouble to Juli.

  They'd sat nice and safe behind their wall while the villagers and merchants were targeted.

  Decision made, he lifted off, slicing through the waterfall and then banking up to get above the cliff. The group who'd tried to damage the craft was standing defiantly on rocks to one side of the massive waterfall, and he couldn't help but admire their courage.

  If he'd come across a sky craft, he'd have tried to destroy it, too.

  They ducked as he passed overhead, and then stood and watched him accelerate away.

  He could see no sign of the sky raiders, but he kept low as he reached the peninsula above the waterfall and followed the path of the river, south and inland.

  He had no idea where he was, and wished he still had Zek as a guide. The merchant from Dartalia's capital, Valian, who Garek had rescued from Shadow, had seemed to know most of the places they'd flown over when they'd come back to Barit.

  When Garek was far enough away from the coastal city he rose higher, hoping if the sky raiders were still patrolling the area they would stick to where they'd last seen him.

  The altitude helped him orientate himself, because in the distance he saw what looked like the Dartalian Range and he realized he must have been flying over Nordra, and that the city he'd hidden beside during the night must have been Turn.

  He'd heard tales of its size and splendor, and had to admit what he'd seen of it last night seemed to indicate the stories were true.

  As he reached the first peaks of the range, he turned west, keeping high and flying through clouds when he could.

  He passed close to the peaks that surrounded Pan Nuk, and almost . . . almost, dipped down to quickly scoop up Taya.

  But any stop meant the danger of attracting sky raider attention, and he refused to let that happen.

  He rose up into the high layer of cloud that hovered just above the mountain peaks, and sped toward West Lathor's capital.

  It was already dark by the time he reached Juli, and he dropped out of the cloud as soon as he saw the city lights, overshooting the castle perched between its waterfalls, and then turned, coming down to land at the same spot on the wall where he'd landed three nights ago.

  He didn't shut down, he didn't trust the liege's advisor or Juli's guard master enough for that after what happened last time. And he didn't think it wise to leave the sky craft here, in open view.

  It didn't take Aidan more than five minutes to emerge from the stairs and run toward him. There was a whole entourage of guards with him, but they must have been under orders to keep back, because Aidan was the only one who came up to the sky craft.

  He let the princeling climb the ladder, open the door and climb in.

  As soon as the door was closed, he took off.

  Aidan shot him a sidelong look, but sat in the chair beside him.

  “I can only assume the delay in your return was due to sky raiders?” he said.

  “They tried to take the craft yesterday,” Garek confirmed, and Aidan stood and went to the window, to keep watch.

  “I was already in the craft, so I took off, and they chased me around the whole of Barit.”

  Aidan turned back to him, eyebrows raised. “You aren't exaggerating that, are you?”

  Garek shook his head. “I found a place to hide close to Turn, managed to get some sleep, and then came straight here, once I worked out which direction to go.”

  “Turn?” Aidan almost choked out the word. “My mother's home city. And I've never even been there.”

  “It's impressive,” Garek said. “Taya had an idea, about hiding the craft in water, because it masks the shadow ore from the sky raiders so well. We decided it was too risky to submerge it, but there's a big waterfall that falls into the sea next to Turn, and there was a deep overhang behind it where I was able to hide the sky craft. I think it made me invisible to them. So I thought, given we have a big waterfall here--” He hadn't flown away
when Aidan had gotten into the sky craft, he'd been circling the city, but now he lowered the craft in line with the Right Plait of Corinnda's Hair, one of the two massive waterfalls that fell on either side of the city. Beside it, the roofs of the houses and shops that had been built into the cliff below the palace in a series of stepped terraces glistened green with moss, wet from the constant spray.

  Aidan frowned and turned back to look out the window. “I don't think there's enough room behind it.”

  “Shall we see?” Garek moved the sky craft gently, felt the wobble as the front hit the force of the falling water, and concentrated on keeping the craft steady.

  They drifted forward, and came up against a sheer rock face. He reversed and lifted up and over, to the other side, and nosed forward again on the Left Plait.

  The water was stronger on this side, and he fought to keep the craft steady, aware that he was calling his Change as well as working the controls.

  When they finally made it all the way in, he turned carefully so they were looking at the water falling directly in front on them, and Aidan could look down and see whether there was place to land.

  “It's almost impossible to see, it's so dark, but I think there's a couple of rocks at the bottom you could put down on, but you'd be resting at an angle.”

  Garek lowered the craft, using a cushion of air as he called his Change again, so they settled on the highest of the three rocks, and then as he pulled back, the craft tilted backward and then to the side, and eventually went still, settling lightly down as Garek slowly withdrew the air cushion he'd created.

  “How did you do that?” Aidan hadn't moved since he'd begun lowering the ship, and he was still frozen at the window, his legs spread wide to keep upright as the floor sloped at a steep angle.

  “I called my Change.” Garek stood carefully, and moved across the floor with slow, controlled steps. “I'll probably need to call it again to lift off. But I don't think they'll be able to find it here.”

  “We need to talk.” Aidan scrambled out of the door as soon as Garek opened it, and then negotiated the slick rocks and waited for Garek to close things up and join him where the curtain of water met the side of the cliff.

  Talking here was useless. The sound of the water pounding down was overwhelming, and Garek edged to the left and hauled himself onto a steep bank at the bottom of the falls.

  Aidan joined him, tiny beads of moisture twinkling in his hair and on the tips of his eyelashes like gems in the ambient light from the city above them.

  Garek guessed he looked the same.

  They eased sideways, making their way down to a thin crescent of rocks lapped by the lake waters. The rocky beach was created by a kink in the almost sheer green hills that plunged directly into the lake on either side of the city.

  It wasn't a far swim to the central dock between the two Plaits, and they were halfway there when Garek heard the scream of sky craft engines. He flipped onto his back, still moving toward the dock, but more interested in watching the sky raiders above as they circled the city three times, and then shot straight up and disappeared into the white clouds.

  “They knew it was here,” Aidan said. “They wouldn't have circled three times if they didn't think it was somewhere near.”

  Garek nodded. “So we have to ask ourselves, how did they know? Were they following me because they have some way to track the sky craft without actually seeing it with their eyes? Or did they see me turn in this direction and knowing I'd been here before assume I'd have come here again?”

  “How will we ever learn the answers to that without asking them?” Aidan shook his head, staying on his back for a moment longer.

  “And why would they answer truthfully if we did?” Garek answered. It was what it was. But he'd love to find out.

  At least it appeared that Taya was right. Water did shield the sky craft from them.

  “Do you think anyone saw us hide it?” Aidan asked him.

  “What if they did?” Garek said. “Only I can fly it out, and it's not as if anyone would tell the sky raiders where to find it.”

  “Good point.” Aidan flipped back on his stomach and started swimming for the dock again, and with one last look at the falls, glittering in the diffuse light of both Shadow and Barit's moon, Lanora, Garek followed.

  NINE

  Gaffri called a halt after ten minutes of hard running from Pan Nuk. The path split three ways here, one led to Gara, the other two went north and northwest.

  Taya groaned with relief as Fek swung her down and she crouched, head between her knees, when he dumped her on the ground.

  “I'm strong, but I can't carry her the whole way,” Fek said. “She'll have to walk.”

  Taya heartily agreed with that, but she kept her opinion to herself. She was already well aware that anything she wanted, these three would make sure she got the opposite.

  “Hope you're up to it.” Janu kicked at her, mostly missing, although the edge of his boot hit her thigh and unbalanced her, so she fell to the ground.

  “Idiot.” Gaffri shoved him. Then, in a fit of temper, shoved him again. “If she's injured, she slows us down, and her brother and her highness, Nostra, queen of the guard, will be coming after us any minute now.”

  Janu opened his mouth to answer back, and then closed it with a snap.

  Gaffri hated Nostra, that was clear enough. But it seemed personal. She wondered what Nostra had done, or accomplished, that Gaffri was so jealous or angry about.

  “So what's the plan?” Fek asked. His breathing was almost back to even now, and she had to admit that he was strong and fit.

  “This,” Gaffri said, and leaned over her, grabbed some of her hair, and ripped it out.

  The pain was blinding, like the white lightning the sky raiders used to knock them all unconscious when they were stolen, and she realized her cheeks were wet with tears.

  She lifted a hand to her scalp, and her fingers came away bloody.

  “And you shoved me--” Janu was complaining, but Gaffri ignored him, bent over her again, grabbed the collar of her shirt, and ripped that too, half-choking her in the process.

  When he stepped back, holding her hair and a strip of fabric, she wiped her cheeks with the backs of her hands and breathed through the sinking of her heart.

  Because while she'd guessed it, now she knew for sure. He had no intention of letting her go.

  “Listen.” Gaffri's snarl cut through Janu's whining. “You're going to take these,” he held out her hair and torn collar, “and you're going to run like Nostra is on your heels--which she will be--to Gara.”

  “I thought we were going to Luf.” Janu took a step back in surprise, but he took the hair and the collar when Gaffri shoved them at him.

  “Fek and I are. You're going to Luf via Garamundo. You're the fastest of the three of us, and you're going to give us your pack so Garek's little intended has some food and equipment, and you're going to move your ass as fast as you can. You're going to put the hair in a bush along the way, and the collar at another point, and you're going to get to Gara, find out what the situation is, and then get yourself to Luf.”

  Janu stared at him. “I thought you said things have gone to hell in Gara. Why would I go there, put myself in danger? Not to mention the Juli guard will be right behind me, as you say.”

  “You'll do it because I'm giving you money for food and a place to sleep, and you're the fastest of us. A single guard, running without equipment, is going to beat Nostra and her crew, and you've had a head start, with no deadweight slowing you down.” He glanced at Taya.

  “I'm guessing things have gone to hell in Gara, but we don't know whose head's on the block, do we? Who we can trust, who's gone over to the liege's camp, whether that idiot town master has talked his way out of trouble or not. We need information, and you're the only one I trust to give it to me. I've got enough money for you to slip quietly into Gara, put your ear to the ground, and then get transport to Luf.” He dumped his pack on the
ground, pulled out a small leather pouch that jingled with coins, and handed it to Janu. “Now go. Nostra won't wait long.”

  Janu took the pouch, mulish and suspicious. “I don't know, Gaffri--”

  “For Star's sake, get going, or we'll all be caught.” Fek's low rumble seemed to galvanize Janu. He threw his pack down, shot a hot, furious look at Gaffri, and ran down the Gara path.

  Gaffri kicked the pack in her direction. “Let's go.”

  Her head was still so painful, it felt as if metal spikes were being jabbed into her brain with every thump of her heart.

  She got to her feet, picked up the heavy pack, and then saw Gaffri was taking the Gara path, as well.

  “I thought we were going that way,” Fek pointed to the northern path.

  “We are, but we'll make sure there's a trail for a short bit toward Gara, then we'll cut across. Carefully.”

  Gaffri tipped his head toward her. “Get ready for a long walk. And if you try to slow us down, or do something to set Nostra on us, a hunk of hair will be the least of what you'll lose.”

  TAYA DID TRY to find a way to mark their path for Kas to follow, but Gaffri and Fek watched her like the sharp-eyed hovers coasting the updrafts in the sky above, waiting for a meal to break cover.

  They forced her to take the lead, physically pushing her when she went too slowly. They were careful not to hurt her, although she had a strong feeling Gaffri would have done so if he could have done it without slowing them down.

  As it was, she was already deadweight. Much smaller than them, needing two steps to their every one, she also downplayed her fitness.

  She'd become strong on Shadow. She'd dug tunnels and then carried rocks for four months, and she had the muscles to show for it, hidden beneath her clothes.

  They assumed she was weak, and she was happy to keep giving them that impression.

  Every now and then, she'd look upward, hoping to see the glint of a sky craft. Because Garek would be back--she had to believe he'd managed to lose the sky raiders he'd lured away--and when he came, it would be in a storm of fury and violence.