The white lightning it was shooting at the sky craft stopped abruptly.
Suddenly, a horde of people ran out from the camp, and the air became a hail of shadow ore.
She caught hold of it with a spike of joy that almost overwhelmed her, and rained it down on both sky raiders in the front.
The second sky raider had turned when Eli ran out, and had gotten a single shot off, but shadow ore deflected some of it, so it only brought down three people before his suit was struck by multiple pieces of rock and he stopped moving.
Taya flew across the ground and threw herself at Eli. He was standing next to the sky raider he'd downed, tears tracking through the mine dust on his cheeks, arms wide open.
“We didn't know,” he said, voice cracking as he swung her around. “We didn't know it was you until I saw you dive out the way of the sky raider at the back. I told everyone, no matter what, this is our only chance to attack.” He heaved in a breath, his whole body shuddering. “We've been stealing shadow ore since we started work again, keeping a pile of it hidden, waiting for our chance.”
“You knew we would come,” she said as he set her down.
“I hoped. Noor and I hoped. But we didn't know when. We didn't even know if you were still alive.” He straightened, his face working as he got back control.
The ramp had finished lowering while they spoke, and Garek ran down toward them.
Eli caught him in a tight hug and then stepped back, grinning. “You got Taya back, and then you came to get us. You'll never live this down, now.”
Garek hooked an arm around her, and she felt it quiver along her back, as if he was a spring released from pressure.
He pulled her close, bent down, and kissed the top of her head. “I didn't do any of it alone.” He squeezed her tight.
She ran her hand up and down his back, stroking him, and his breathing evened out.
Eli watched them, eyes bright. “You didn't do it alone, but my guess is, you'd prefer to.”
Then he turned, his face changing from one moment to the next as he looked down at the sky raider lying on the ground. “He'll still be alive in there.”
“For a bit,” Garek agreed.
Taya sighed. She didn't like this part.
She hadn't liked watching it happen outside Luf, when she'd sat on the roof of the sky craft and waited for the sky raiders to choke and die.
She hadn't liked it before, when they'd killed their guards at the camp when they'd escaped Shadow, and she didn't like it now.
“Where's Noor?” Pilar ran up to Eli, eyes wild with panic.
“Down the shafts,” Eli told him, hand going to Pilar's shoulder to hold him back when he tried to spin in the direction of the mine entrance. “She's safe, Pilar. She's okay.”
He shuddered in a breath.
“Why don't you take Dom, go in the mine and get everyone like we planned,” Garek told him, and with a nod, Pilar raced off.
Jerilia passed him, moving out of his way. She gave Eli a cheeky grin hello. “Should I get the boxes out the back and load them with ore?” she asked Garek and he nodded.
“Get the guards and Lynal to help.”
“I'll help them choose which ore,” Taya said, and then flicked her gaze to the fallen sky raider. She wanted to be far away from them while they died.
“You're allowed to feel sorry for them.”
She looked up and saw Garek was watching her. He brushed a finger down her cheek.
“I don't know why you do,” Eli said, nodding in agreement. “But you're entitled to your own feelings. Leave them to us. I don't think either Garek or I have any problem making sure they're dead.”
She looked between them. They were both being honest.
With a nod of relief she turned toward the pile of shadow ore near the mine entrance.
It was much smaller than it had been.
She turned and walked backward so she could speak to Eli. “They took some of it away?” She didn't think that could be good.
Eli lifted his shoulders. “They must have. The pile looked like that when we got here.”
It made sense they would have taken it. After all, it was their reason for being here, but she didn't like the idea that they'd gotten what they came for.
She wanted them thwarted in every way, because otherwise, they had reason to return.
As she headed for the stockpile, she noticed Vent had moved to the mine entrance, following behind Pilar and Dom as they disappeared inside. He turned to look at her.
“This is where you worked?” he asked.
She nodded. “Every day for four months.”
“What's in there?”
“Tunnels, some of them close to collapse, and some with broken down digging machines in them. They learned the hard way the shadow ore broke their machines.”
He paused before he stepped into the mine. “A word of warning. I don't like being made a fool of. I don't like being kept in the dark about your abilities. You and Garek are very friendly with Aidan, and I can see he thinks a lot of you, too, but you can't count on him forever. If you're looking for an easy ride to the top, understand I'll oppose it all the way, and I'm still the guard master of Juli.”
Taya was aware her mouth was agape. Had he not seen Garek fight?
And then it occurred to her, no, he probably hadn't.
He'd arrived after they'd tried to stop the sky raiders taking the Kardanx, and maybe he'd only heard stories about everything else.
Even the way Garek had called his Change to knock the first sky raider over just now was difficult to understand if you didn't know how the sky craft worked. She barely knew herself, but she'd seen the way he'd gone slightly blurred at the edges as the craft had slid sideways, and she understood the power it had taken.
“You seem surprised.” He was looking at her strangely.
“I didn't realize how ill-informed you were. There is no one better than Garek. There is no such thing as an easy ride to the top for him. He is the top. I was just trying to work out if you had never seen him fight.”
“I saw him take down the guard master in Gara. I was impressed, but Utrel was clearly promoted above his competence level by the town master because they were conspiring together.”
Taya met his gaze with her own, and shrugged. “You're wrong, but you'll find that out in time.”
“We'll see. I notice you didn't contradict my impression of you.”
Taya crouched beside a big rock, thick with shadow ore, and reached out a hand to touch it. She sucked in a breath, and then looked up at him. “I'm completely untrained, as you'd expect from someone who only found their calling in adulthood. Why would I deny the obvious? Almost any guard has better training than me.”
He grunted, surprised, and then turned and walked into the mine.
She stared after him for a beat and then went back to the rock under her hand.
As Jerilia and Lynal came up, straining under the load of the water-filled box, she turned to them with a smile and held up her find.
“Let's get loading.”
THIRTY-SIX
Garek left Eli and some of the other prisoners the job of smashing into the sky raiders suits and making sure they were dead. Instead, he walked toward Taya, watching her interaction with Vent with a frown.
“You all right?” he asked her when he got to the stock pile, and she looked up and nodded, then went happily back to choosing the most ore-rich rocks to take.
Garek stepped into the mine.
He'd never been in here before.
There had been no time when he'd arrived with Aidan to rescue everyone, and while they had no time now to indulge his curiosity, he decided to see what Vent was up to.
He was impressed with the smooth tunnels, and the lights attached to the walls, but the tunnels seemed to meander with no purpose, and there were numerous offshoots.
From down the main tunnel, he heard a whoop of joy, and then shouting, and guessed that Pilar and Dom had reached the or
e face.
The sound of a boot scuffing against rock came from one of the side tunnels.
It was dark and rather than go down it, Garek waited, arms folded, in the light.
Vent reemerged a minute later.
“Find anything interesting?”
The guard master started, and then pursed sour lips.
“Couldn't see much, but there was a broken down machine, just like Taya said. Imagine what we could do with a few of them?”
“Whatever we did, we'd have to do it fast. They wouldn't last long in the air of Barit.”
Vent went still, and then frowned. “The one I saw down there was pretty rusted, too. This happens to all their things?”
Garek nodded. “The sky craft won't be an advantage for West Lathor for long. If we're going to use it, we may have to force Harven, Fabre and Kadmine's hand.”
Vent rubbed a hand over his head. “I had forgotten that.”
Garek could hear the sound of feet and loud talking moving toward them. “While we're still alone, where is Aidan? And don't tell me he's held up with his father.”
Vent hesitated. “I didn't think you'd accept that excuse.” He looked down the tunnel, in the direction of the noise. “He disappeared.”
Garek couldn't find a response for a moment. “What do you mean, he disappeared?”
“He was on his way back to Juli from Gara. I sent one of the guards with him, and when they were a day away from home, they set up camp. When morning came, Aidan was gone. His pack, his pallet, everything was still in the camp, but no Aidan.”
“The guard didn't hear anything?”
Vent shook his head. “I've questioned him over and over. He's well-trained. If Aidan was taken against his will, they did it without making a sound.”
“So why are you telling everyone Aidan's with his father?”
“Because no one sees Valtor anymore. Dartan and I are hoping everyone assumes the two of them are finally negotiating the hand-over of power away from prying eyes. We can't let it get out that Aidan's missing. It means West Lathor is effectively leaderless.”
If anything would propel an invasion, learning West Lathor had no liege would do it.
Before he could reply, the miners came sweeping around the corner.
Those in front came to a hard, stumbling halt at the sight of him, which created a logjam.
“Garek.” The Kardanx in the front group stepped forward, face relaxing. “You rescue us again.”
“Jona.” Garek remembered the Kardanx as the man who'd stepped up as leader of the Kardanx camp when they were making plans for the first escape.
“Everyone, please get in the sky craft as fast as you can. We need to go as soon as possible.”
Jona nodded, and as the mixed group of Kardanx and Illy streamed past, he was touched, kissed or had his shoulder slapped in gratitude.
Noor slid her arms around him for a quick hug.
“Taya?” she asked.
“Outside, loading more shadow ore.”
He started moving toward the entrance with Pilar and Noor, and then paused and looked back to find Vent trailing behind him.
He waited, and as Vent passed him, he shot out an arm, caught Vent's forearm in a tight grip. “I saw you exchange words with Taya before you came in here. You don't have to like her, but you'll treat her with the respect she deserves, or I'll leave you here.”
Vent's eyes widened, and Garek spun away, and jogged up the tunnel.
It was time to go.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Kardai was lush.
It lay on the other side of the Valley of Tears, the deep, terraced chasm that undulated with waterfall after waterfall from the high ground of the Illy to the lower, warmer climes of Kardai and the countries of the south east.
It was strange for Taya to see houses and buildings that looked like they could be found in an Illian village or town, surrounded by dark green ferns and thick bushes with bright flowers.
Jona stood beside her, looking out as Garek followed the river down toward Pinaru, the centralized city for the whole of Kardai.
“We can't expect the same reception here we got in Illy,” she said to him. “Where will it be safe for Garek to land?”
Jona stared out, his gaze fixed at a point in the far distance.
He turned toward Garek. “I think a point needs to be made.” His gaze flickered to Vent and then away. “Kardai has been happy to insult the Illy, but also happy to let West Lathor be our buffer against the other, more aggressive Illian states.” He looked back out the window. “I think it's time we chose which side we're on.”
“What does that mean?” Vent leaned back against the wall. He'd been quiet since he'd come out of the mine with Garek, neither engaging with her, or even looking directly at her.
“It means the more flamboyant our arrival, the more my story will be believed. And the more support I'll get for a promise of support from Kardai to West Lathor.”
“You think you can get something like that?” Garek raised a brow in a grim face.
He'd rested a little, and Dom had taken over for him, but as soon as they came into the air around Barit, Dom had ceded the pilot's chair to him, and he looked tired.
She wanted to help, but she couldn't, and so she did the most useful thing she could instead--watched out the window for any sign of sky raiders.
“I'll try.” Jona raised his shoulders. “My father is a haidai's son. I'm known to some in the Chamber.”
There was silence as they all thought about it.
“What do you suggest?” Garek lifted the sky craft a little higher as they approached a town nestled on a bend in the river.
“There's a tower that rises out of the central palace in Pinaru. It has a small garden at the top, a place of contemplation. The stairs up to it take at least half an hour to climb. If you land up there we can get out and you can fly away, before any guards could reach us.” Jona suddenly grinned, as if imagining the chaos such an arrival would cause. “The tower also has the benefit of being visible from every point in the city. Everyone will see us land. There will be no way to deny it.”
“Will you be safe?” Dom asked. He was sitting on the floor, head leaning back against the wall. “They won't arrest you for conspiring with the sky raiders, or something like that?”
“We have Fayda with us,” Jona said, his gaze flicking to the door to the back of the craft. “He's an elder. His word is his bond. They'll have to take what he says seriously, and with the rest of us all telling the same story, I don't think they'd have the guts to silence us that way. Especially not if we make such an entrance.”
Taya wondered if one of the reasons he was suggesting this option was fear that if they were dropped off somewhere obscure, they actually would be in danger of being arrested for saying they'd been returned in a sky craft from Shadow.
“I'll also be talking about how we were saved by Illians who call the Change. How we had to be rescued twice.”
Taya remembered that some of the Kardanx from the camp, especially the younger ones, had been chafing against the law against anyone who could call a Change in Kardai. They looked at the Illy, and saw the strength they could have had if they'd nurtured those with a calling, rather than wiped them out.
Dom snorted out a laugh. “Maybe they'll listen now, but I doubt it.”
“Again, all I can do is try.” Jona's voice carried an edge. “At least I'm going to try. You're staying in Juli.”
“As the Kardanx liason.” Dom looked up, and Jona's mouth fell open.
“Kardanx liason?”
“Aidan has given me an official role.” Dom held Jona's gaze. “So you can tell those in the Chamber that any communications with West Lathor will now have to come through me.”
Jona blew out a breath. “That will be an interesting discussion.” He suddenly laughed. “A very interesting discussion.”
The look he and Dom shared next was friendlier.
“I think Pinaru is coming
up,” Taya said, seeing the towers in the distance.
Garek lifted the sky craft even higher and Jona went into the back to let everyone know what was happening.
When they spiraled down toward the center of the city, Taya saw what Jona had meant.
The tower rose like a stem from amongst the tall buildings and smaller towers of the palace, the bulbous top shaped like the petals of a flower open to the sun.
The garden at the top was a circular lawn with benches and chairs and filled with the exotic plants she'd seen on their journey over the landscape.
“I hope the plants survive our landing.” She glanced over at Dom as he joined her at the window.
“Better they don't. More evidence we were here.” He shrugged, cynicism in every line of him.
Garek set them down, and when the doors opened, Taya could hear bells ringing far below.
The warning had been sounded.
The Kardanx scrambled out, and Taya walked through to the back to take a peek at the garden.
There was a heavy mixture of scents in the air from the flowers and leaves crushed by the sky craft, and flanking the ornate door to the stairs of the tower were two sculptures, both abstracts of trees.
Something about the color and sheen of them rang bells in her head, and she risked stepping out and running over to them, past the Kardanx gathered in a group to peer over the side of the tower.
She noticed Vent, Lena and Fen had taken the chance to have a quick look over the side, too. Most likely they’d call it reconnaissance.
She touched one sculpture and then the other, and felt the zing of shadow ore--it wasn't pure--but there was enough for her to be able to wield it.
“Taya?” Garek looked out at her from the open pilot's door. The what in the Star? was unspoken but clear.
She called her Change and lifted one of the tree sculptures up a little off the ground to make him understand why she'd left the craft.
There was a gasp to her left as she did it, and she saw two old men, in the robes worn by the elders of the Kardanx Mother religion, crouched in hiding behind a massive flower pot.
Calling the Change (Sky Raiders Book 2) Page 25
