The Serpent Sea

by Martha Wells

  He stood, abruptly enough that Nobent sloshed backward again. With a somewhat nervous sneer, Nobent said, “You’re leaving? Too bad.”

  “It’s getting late, and I’m hungry.” Moon cocked his head, letting the meaning sink in. He didn’t usually threaten to eat people, but he was having difficulty classifying Nobent as “people.” “I might be back.”

  He walked up the pier to rejoin Khitah and Chime. “Good?” Khitah asked.

  “Good,” Moon told him. “Thank you.”

  They started back into the green shadows and sweet scents of the Kek city, a relief after the miasma that hung over the water traveler. Chime looked back over his shoulder, frowning. “That was odd. What did it tell you?”

  “Not much.” Moon was certain Nobent had been lying, or obfuscating, for some reason. But it was some confirmation that they were in the right place, that the map hadn’t led them astray. “We’ll have to see what Stone finds.”

  

  It was dusk by the time they returned to the camp on the tree branch and found that Jade and Balm were already back. They had found ruins along the shore too, but no Kek and no evidence of recent groundling habitation. Vine reported that his afternoon had been uneventful. “Flower slept the whole time,” he said. “I think she needed the rest.”

  Flower, fidgeting around as if having trouble finding a comfortable spot on the branch, gave him an irritable glare. “No one cares what you think,” she told him.

  Vine said wryly, “I noticed that.”

  Chime handed her a pack to lean against. “Are you all right?” She hissed at him. “I’m fine.”

  No one was hungry enough to hunt again yet, so there was nothing

  to do but wait for Stone. The branch was more than wide enough for them all to sprawl on comfortably, and through the leaves they had a good view of the seashore. During the afternoon, Vine and Flower had built a little hearth: one layer of flat, water-smoothed rocks to insulate the wood, and a second smaller layer that Flower had spelled for heat, so she could warm water for tea.

  The air was fragrant in the gathering twilight, scented with the flowers of the field and the leaves of their tree. The nightbirds and treelings and insects sang and hummed, and Moon tried to listen to the others talk and not be rabidly impatient for Stone to appear.

  After darkness settled over the shore, Balm took the watch and they tried to sleep. Moon lay with his head pillowed on Jade’s stomach, wide awake. He didn’t realize he was tapping his fingers on his chest until her hand closed over his. She said softly, “It’s not a long flight for Stone.”

  “I know.” He made his hand relax. “Still.”

  Nearby, Chime said, “Pearl will know by now. I wonder… I mean, what will she do? Besides send someone after us.”

  Jade snorted, quietly. “I think we know what she’ll do.”

  Just past Chime, Vine groaned.

  Moon finally dozed off at some point, only to wake abruptly some time later, when someone said, “He’s back!”

  Moon sat up and startled Jade awake. It was still dark but he could tell from the quality of the air that it wasn’t long before dawn. Vine had taken Balm’s place at watch and Moon scrambled forward to his side.

  A darker shape hung against the starlit sky: Stone, flying back toward the shore.

  By the time Stone reached them, everyone was awake. Flower was the only one who had slept heavily. Still bleary with it, she filled their kettle from the waterskin and put it on the hearth to heat.

  Stone was just a big dark shadow as he landed on the end of the branch. The wood shivered with his weight, then went still as he shifted to his groundling form. He walked up the branch toward them, and Moon wished they had been able to camp on the ground, or anywhere else where they could have made a real fire. The heating rocks didn’t give off light and he wanted to see Stone’s expression.

  Stone stopped a few paces away, and said, flatly, “I couldn’t find it.”

  Jade stirred a little, and Moon knew she had just controlled the urge to hiss in disappointment. Chime shook his head, confused. “The seed? But—”

  “The island,” Stone corrected. He sat down, moving slowly, and Moon heard his bones creak. “There’s nothing out there. I spent most of the night flying a spiral, looking for land.” He rubbed his eyes. “What I’m afraid of is that these groundlings were on a boat that sank.”

  “Or the island moved,” Moon said. Suddenly some of the things Nobent had told him made a lot more sense.

  Even in the dark, Moon could tell that Stone was giving him a look that would have sent most of the warriors skittering for cover. But there was more life in his voice when he said, “What?”

  Moon told him, “We found a Kek settlement, and talked to a waterling trader. It said there were groundlings called ‘sea-goers’ who lived on the water and moved around.” He told the rest of it, with Chime inserting more details.

  “That might explain it,” Jade said. “If we knew how these sea-goers were moving, it would help.”

  Vine shrugged. “They could be on boats, or they could have a flying island.”

  “If they have a flying island, it must be moving fairly fast,” Chime countered. “Too fast.”

  “That’s right.” Flower sounded thoughtful. “It moved out of Stone’s range in only seven days. Flying islands drift slowly with the wind. Unless there was a big storm, and we’ve seen no sign of one, it would still be in the area. It’s more likely to be a boat.”

  “Or a fleet of boats,” Moon added.

  “Maybe.” Jade scratched her claws on the wood, thinking it over. “How does the water traveler find them?”

  “That’s… I don’t know,” Chime said slowly. “It has to be scent, doesn’t it?”

  “Something in the water.” Moon shook his head. “The sea-goers leave a trail, somehow.”

  Stone sounded weary. “We’ll figure that out when we get there. You all know how we’re getting there, right?”

  “An augury?” Vine asked, turning to Flower.

  “No, we don’t need an augury,” Moon said before she could reply. He smiled. Old Nobent was going to help them after all. “We’ll follow the water traveler.”

  Chapter Eight

  Once everyone had agreed on a plan, Moon and Chime flew immediately toward the Kek city, following the dark line of the shore. The others were to follow later, after leaving a marker for

  whoever might be coming after them from Indigo Cloud. Stone, who would be doing the biggest share of the tracking once Nobent set out, needed to sleep before he started another long flight.

  Before they left, Flower had asked, “If this creature does lead you to the sea-goers, do you have any idea what to look for?”

  “Besides the seed?” Moon had to admit she had him there. “No.”

  Flower sighed and rubbed her forehead. “You’ll need something to go on besides that. I’ll augur again.”

  Chime frowned at her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  Flower stared hard at him. “Yes.”

  After they had taken flight away from the camp, Moon asked Chime, “Why didn’t you think Flower should augur?”

  “She hasn’t been looking well,” Chime replied, slipping sideways in an unexpected air current. “I just have a bad feeling about it.”

  Moon hoped he was wrong. Flower’s augury was the only thing that had gotten them this far.

  When they drew near the Kek city, Moon tipped a wing at Chime. Chime broke off and flew into the deeper shadows under the trees. Moon turned toward the city.

  There were a few smudge pots and lights lit in the lower levels; by the smell they were using some kind of nut oil. Several lamps hung on the outer edge of the dock area Nobent occupied.

  Moon had debated approaching underwater, and decided against it. He didn’t know what kind of senses Nobent had for detecting prey in the water, and it was best not to find out the hard way. He was pretty certain he could take Nobent in a fight, but that
wouldn’t get him what he wanted.

  He circled the city, playing the cool damp wind against his wings, dropping lower and slowing until he could catch the side of a hivetower. He heard a slight stirring of movement through the woven reed wall, and a sleepy squeak, but no one gave the alarm. He climbed down the wall head first, found the heavier support for the half-roof that hung out over the dock, and eased out onto it.

  This close to the piers and the surface of the water, he could scent Nobent’s rank odor, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been before. Taking a chance, Moon crawled to the end of the roof and hung his head down over the edge.

  The dock area was lit by three hanging lamps, the wan light showing him the empty pier where Nobent had rested. Huh. Maybe he left as soon as we were out of sight. That was a little odd. If Nobent only wanted to take his next cargo of edilvine and rushes to the sea-goers, he should have waited until morning. His eyes hadn’t had the appearance of a nocturnal being’s.

  He could be rushing off to tell the sea-goers that Raksura were searching for them, but Moon didn’t think Nobent could know about the theft. Nobent hadn’t recognized Moon as a Raksura, hadn’t seemed to know about the courts inhabiting the forest. But maybe the sea-goers were interested in anyone who asked about their whereabouts. That’s a good sign we’re looking in the right place.

  Moon straightened up and pushed off the roof to catch the wind. He swept down low over the water, only ten or twelve paces above it. He cast back and forth over the sea in front of the city twice before he caught Nobent’s scent again, traces of it carried by the constant breeze blowing in off the water. It gave him a direction and a faint trail to follow.

  He swooped up again and curved over the city. Chime, watching from the forest, arched up out of the canopy to meet him. Moon twisted into a tight circle, matched Chime’s slower speed, and said, “He’s left already. I’m going to follow. Tell Stone to go northwest.”

  “Northwest,” Chime repeated. “Be careful. Don’t go too far!” Like all good advice, Moon didn’t think he was going to have much chance to follow it. He banked away and headed out to sea.

  

  Moon flew low over the water, following Nobent’s scent on the wind. He lost it twice in crosswinds while it was still dark, and had to cast back and forth only a few paces above the water to pick it up again. After that he slowed his flight, going more carefully.

  When the shore was far behind him, a dark band barely visible in the night, he realized this was the first time he had been really alone in… he had lost count of the days. Except for the day and night when he had tracked the kethel to the Dwei hive, he had been with other Raksura since Stone had found him in the Cordans’ valley. He had been alone for turns before that, for most of his life, isolated even when he was living with groundlings. It was strange how quickly he had gotten used to constant companionship.

  The sky began to streak with dawn, the light reflecting off long fingers of cloud, lightening the water to a crystalline blue. Moon was only about ten paces above the waves when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, a shape under the surface. Concentrating on the scent, he reacted by instinct before the thought even formed. He twisted away just as something lashed up at him from below. It brushed his wing, hard enough to knock him sideways.

  Badly startled, Moon flapped wildly through the spray, shooting upward as fast as he could. He looked down in time to see a white shape, an arm with a clawed hand, sinking slowly down below the waves. The palm was at least two paces across. Moon swore, gained some more height and caught the wind again. He could see a dim outline just below the crystal surface, something pale sinking out of sight.

  That was… exciting, Moon thought, his heart pounding as he corrected his wobbly flight. At least he was wide awake now.

  After that he was a lot more careful about his distance above the water.

  Clouds moved in to paint the sky with gray, but there was no smell of rain yet. He caught up with Nobent about mid-morning, and swept up high into the air so there was no chance of the water traveler spotting him. Nobent swam determinedly northwest, his branches open around him like a big ugly gray flower. Whatever he was paddling with was hidden by the tendrils of his mat.

  Nobent moved at a good pace for a water creature or a rowboat, but not for a Raksura. Moon was able to glide after him, riding the wind. He couldn’t see Nobent’s destination yet, though far ahead there were drifts of mist near the surface that might obscure a small island or fleet of large watercraft. If the sea-goers lived too far away, the warriors wouldn’t be able to make the flight.

  Moon kept looking back, hoping to see Stone. When the sun was directly overhead, casting great cloud-shadows on the crystal-blue sparkle of the water, he was rewarded with a dark shape moving rapidly toward him. Finally, he thought. At least this part of their plan had worked.

  Stone must have spotted Moon because he curved upward and vanished in the clouds. Moon shot up to meet him.

  He passed up through the cold fog of a cloud and emerged in brilliant sunlight to find Stone circling overhead. “What took you so long?” Moon called to him.

  Stone never spoke in his Raksuran form, so Moon was fairly sure he wouldn’t dignify that with an answer. Stone just rumbled and tapped his chest with one claw.

  “I’m coming.” Moon hated being carried, but he wasn’t staying back here, plodding along after Nobent. He flew up to Stone, matched his pace, then grabbed onto Stone’s outstretched arm. Shouting to be heard over the wind, he said, “There’s waterlings as big as major kethel hunting this sea. I don’t know how Nobent survives.” Possibly he smelled too bad for anything to want to eat him.

  Stone grunted thoughtfully. Moon pulled his wings in and folded them tight against his back, then climbed up Stone’s arm to hook his claws into the big scales across his chest. Stone reached up and closed a hand around him, holding Moon securely. Then they shot forward over the clouds.

  

  At Stone’s speed, following the direction that Nobent had taken, it wasn’t long before Moon saw the outline of an island. It was a series of seven rising hills in a half circle, and it was inhabited. He could see the glitter of reflected sunlight on the regular shapes of tall octagonal towers. Stone gained altitude, skirting the bottom of the clouds to lessen the chance of anyone looking up and spotting them.

  This wasn’t what I was expecting, Moon thought, as Stone tilted his wings to slow his flight. Maybe this was the sea-goers’ home port, and they had fast-moving vessels to travel in. They used something to move the seed away from the spot where the mentors saw it. They didn’t… Moon stiffened, eyes widening. What in the Three Worlds…

  They were close enough now to look down on the island, to see that it wasn’t an island.

  The seven low hills formed a half circle, and were completely covered with the stone buildings of the groundling city. But the water was so clear Moon could see what was just under the surface. From one end of the island a long curving tail stretched out, tipped with giant fins. On each coast were three massive flippers, angled down to vanish in the blue depths. And at the other end, a huge triangular head, tilted down so only the brow ridge just below the waves was visible.

  Above Moon’s head, Stone hissed incredulously. Moon echoed the sentiment. He couldn’t believe that groundlings had managed this. But there was the city, mostly composed of towers and bridges and raised plazas, as if built to stand as high above the surface of the creature as possible. He could see the sparkle of fountains, people moving on the bridges between towers. There was even a harbor, formed by the curve of one haunch, with sailing vessels docked in it. They could have the seed. A creature this size could have easily swum the distance between the point the mentors had augured and here in only a few days.

  Moon looked up, though all he could see was the scaled underside of Stone’s neck. “We need to talk to Nobent again.”

  Stone must have agreed. He banked away and headed back toward the s
hore.

  

  “While it sleeps, anyone can approach. When it wakes, it moves.” Nobent sunk down further into his mat, his knobby brow furrowed in sullen dismay. “That’s all Nobent knows.”

  “That’s not what Nobent told us earlier,” Moon pointed out. “Nobent’s memory has improved.”

  Nobent sniffed self-righteously. “You didn’t ask Nobent the right questions.”

  It was evening, the sun setting over the sea, and they stood on the forest beach, just out of sight of the Kek city. Stone had acquired Nobent by scooping him out of the sea with his free hand, and had flown back here at his best speed. They had told the others what they had found and, with difficulty, had gotten them past the initial “groundling city on a giant water monster” shock. Now they were trying to decide what to do and how to do it.

  Flower was the only one not present. The warriors had built a small blind up on one of the mountain-tree branches, and she was inside it, sleeping. Chime had said she had been exhausted again after the augury and had spent most of the day asleep.

  Jade cocked her head, watching Nobent, not hiding her skepticism. “And you say if we land on this thing, in the dark, it won’t react to us.”

  Nobent eyed her nervously. “As long as it’s sleeping.”

  “Do we seriously believe that?” Vine asked, waving a hand in frustration. “A giant water beast isn’t going to notice if we land on it?”

  Nobent grimaced. “It doesn’t notice Nobent. Fools. Groundlings come all the time in ships. How could the groundlings live on it if it ate them?”

  “How do they find it?” Chime asked pointedly. “If it moves?”

  “They have a special magic. Or they ask a water traveler.” Nobent sat up a little, sulky and contemptuous. “Ask, not snatch up off the sea.”

  “And how often do they get eaten?” Balm asked, her expression grim. “It doesn’t eat them!” Nobent snarled. “Nobent is not stupid!”