by Ben Wolf
Condor’s blue eyes narrowed. “I happened to be the Captain of the Royal Guard, and one of fewer than a hundred Wisps throughout the entirety of Kanarah. I know the Sky Fortress’s secrets. What do you know of it?”
Axel’s jaw tensed.
“Like I was saying, it’s all about control.” Condor tilted his head and smirked at Lilly. As uncomfortable as it made Calum feel, it must’ve been ten times worse for Lilly.
She turned away from him and kept walking forward.
“The Premier is greedy. He’s content to keep the poor in their caste and the wealthy in theirs,” Condor continued. “Everyone in between works to satisfy the needs of the wealthy and the royal family. There’s no room for advancement, no opportunity for anyone low-born to—”
“Then how do you account for yourself?” Lilly whirled around. “You have no right to make such accusations when you rose from nothing to the Captain of the Royal Guard as quickly as you did.”
“I am an anomaly, to be sure.” Condor showed off his white smile. “As are you.”
Lilly extended her index finger toward his face. “Axel was right. You know nothing. You’re as selfish as you claim the Premier to be.”
“Am I? I could have revealed the Wisps’ secrets to all of my men, but I didn’t. And there are other secrets I could still reveal, but I haven’t.”
“That’s because you wanted to have control over—” A realization widened Lilly’s eyes, then she glared at Condor and turned back around and walked, her pace quicker than before.
Condor smirked again, and Calum wanted to backhand the expression right off his face.
As much as he’d been horrified at the cost Axel was willing to pay to kill Condor, Calum had to admit he understood Axel’s rage. Every time he saw the bruise on Lilly’s face, now somewhat faded, or a smug expression curling Condor’s lips, he considered trying to teach the Wisp a lesson as well, but always he held back.
They continued to walk past multiple Windgales and their ramshackle homes. Some of them even looked semi-permanent.
Calum tilted his head. “Why don’t we give the capes we confiscated from the Raven’s Brood to some of these people?”
Lilly and Magnus stopped and turned back to face him.
“We have their leader,” Calum said. “What do we need the capes for?”
Magnus nodded to Lilly. “It is an act of pure kindness. It will cost us nothing to do so, except time, but we may be waiting for awhile anyway. Perhaps you can proceed ahead and try to secure a way up?”
“I can do that. The Premier does really only care about Condor.” Lilly’s sullen expression melted into a guarded grin, which she directed at Calum. “You never cease to amaze me.”
Calum returned her smile with one of his own. The compliment, especially coming from her, felt amazing. “I’m glad you, uh—you think so.”
“Stay near Magnus and Condor. I’ll fly up to the city and try to convince them to send the lift down.” Lilly floated over to Condor and yanked the black-and-red raven pendant from his neck in one sharp jerk. “I suppose I’ll need this to prove we actually have you, won’t I?”
Condor chuckled at her. “It’s a start, but I doubt you’ll need it. I’m sure you can be very persuasive when you want to be.”
Axel’s boot lashed at Condor’s shin from the side, and Condor toppled forward onto the ground. Axel followed the trip with a swift kick to Condor’s ribs that left him gasping. “Do not talk to her like that.”
“Axel—” Lilly started.
Just as Axel reeled his leg back for another blow, Calum stepped between them. “Enough, Axel. Enough.”
Condor wheezed, then grunted. Calum tried to help him up to his feet, but Condor shook him away, hovered off the ground, and landed upright. He spat on the ground at Axel’s feet.
“A day is coming when we will meet under different circumstances, Farm Boy,” Condor said between ragged coughs. “And on that most glorious day, I will kill you.”
Axel stepped forward, though not as close as he had last time. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“I said that’s enough.” Calum pulled Axel away and started untying his bonds. He nodded to Lilly, who took off into the sky. “I’m untying you because I need your help handing these capes out. You and I will distribute them, and Magnus will watch Condor and Riley. If you try anything, Magnus will put you out again. Crystal?”
Axel’s eyes narrowed at him. He didn’t answer for a long moment as he searched Calum’s gaze, then he finally replied, “Clear.”
Calum let Axel’s rope drop to the dirt, handed him the pack of capes, and tied Condor to Magnus before he untied himself. “Come on. Let’s hand these out.”
They left Magnus, Condor, and Riley behind and headed to the nearest capeless Windgale, a middle-aged man with a graying beard and brown rags for clothes.
Calum swallowed the lump in his throat and pulled a cape from the bag, which Axel held. Why did he feel embarrassed about this? He was about to do an awkward, somewhat foreign thing by giving these people a second chance at a life—at freedom.
In a lot of ways, it had been easier for Calum to agree to help Reginia, Stavian, and the people of Pike’s Garrison by ridding them of the bandits plaguing their village than it was to step up to this haggard Windgale and offer him help. But Calum did it anyway.
“Excuse me, sir?” he said.
The Windgale man’s weary eyes fixed on Calum. “Yeah?”
“I have something for you.” Calum extended the cape to him.
The Windgale man glanced between Calum and the cape, then he looked back at Calum again. He scratched his scruffy neck. “This some sorta joke?”
Calum shook his head. “No joke. This belongs to you now. It’s got Aerosilk in it.”
After a moment of hesitation, the Windgale man snatched the cape from Calum’s hand, slung it over his back, then fastened it to his ragged shirt.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since you last flew,” Calum said. “But I imagine you may need some time to reacquaint yourself to—”
“Wahoooooo!” The Windgale man rocketed into the air in a wild spiral toward the sun. He curved his trajectory into three large loops, all the while hooting and hollering as if he’d never flown before in his life, but flying like he’d never stopped.
Axel huffed. “Well, at least someone’s happy.”
The Windgales around them on the ground level pointed up at the Windgale man and began to murmur. Some even cast guarded glances at Calum and Axel.
“Come on,” Calum said to Axel. “We’re gonna get rid of these things and help some people.”
Calum knifed his way through the muttering crowd of Windgales that had formed to watch the spectacle in the sky, and he began handing capes out to anyone who made eye contact with him. Soon enough the crowd’s focus shifted to Axel and Calum, and they all began begging and reaching toward them.
Calum distributed capes freely until he got down to his final two capes. Rather than giving them away at random, he headed back the way they’d come.
“Why are we backtracking?” Axel called from behind him.
“There’s someone I need to give a cape to. Someone I saw earlier.”
Calum emerged from the edge of the crowd and saw the Windgale woman who’d stared at him when he’d walked past. Her head still hung down.
Calum approached her and touched her shoulder with his hand. “Excuse me?”
She looked up at him with those sad brown eyes. The crowd behind Calum stopped behind them and fell silent.
Calum held a cape out for her. “This is for you.”
She blinked at him, then she stared at the cape in his hands. The kids who’d been chasing each other around her tent stopped when they saw Calum. Their mouths hung open when they saw the cape in his hands.
“Go on. Take it. Fly again.” Calum smiled at her.
The woman glanced at the ground, then at the cape, then she reached out and took it. Her brown
eyes filled with tears, and she looked up at Calum again. In a voice so quiet that Calum could barely hear it at all, she said, “Thank you.”
Calum’s heart ached for her. Did all rulers treat their subjects this way? Was the Premier just the Windgale version of the King?
“You’re welcome.” He nodded to her, then he pulled the last remaining cape from the pouch in Axel’s hands and extended it to the man who stood next to her. “Here. You can have this one.”
The man shook his head and held up his hands. “I can’t use it. I’m not a Windgale, but thank you anyway.”
Calum tilted his head, and his gaze drifted between the kids and the woman, then back to the man. “Aren’t you two—together?”
The man nodded. “Robynn is my wife, but I’m not a Windgale. I’m a human, like you two.”
“And these are—your kids?” Axel asked.
The man smiled. “They are. Beautiful, aren’t they?”
“Yes, very.” Calum smiled. “So could one of them use the cape?”
“Children of Windgales and humans typically don’t have flight ability,” the man replied. “One is more than enough blessing for our family. You’ve given us our lives back. Give that last cape to another family and do the same for them. Thank you again.”
Calum nodded and turned to face the crowd of Windgales waiting behind him and Axel.
“We’ve already given out almost thirty capes. There has to be at least a hundred more Windgales here, and we’ve only got one left.” Axel tossed the bag aside and approached Calum. He lowered his voice. “You shoulda let me bring my sword. This could get ugly.”
Calum smacked Axel’s armored chest with the back of his hand. “Why do you always assume the worst about people? They’re poor and hungry, just like I was. What if you had assumed the worst about me?”
Axel scoffed and folded his arms. “I’m beginning to think I should’ve.”
Still, Axel had a point. With so great a need and only one cape left, how could Calum possibly choose just one person? He wanted to help them all.
Someday he would. Someday, after he freed Lumen, Calum would set things right. He didn’t know how, but with Lumen on his side, there had to be a way.
He placed the cape in the hands of the Windgale nearest to him, then he backed up a step. Unlike what Axel had thought, the crowd did not rush forward and attack them, but unlike what Calum expected, they did not immediately disperse, either. Instead, they stood there, every set of eyes on Calum.
“What’s your name, friend?” the man behind him asked.
Calum turned halfway back. “I’m Calum. This is Axel.”
The man nodded. “Name’s Bowman. You’ve already met Robynn, and these are our children, Rexane, Starrie, Luce, and Arquelle.”
Calum smiled at them. “Pleasure. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to—”
“Let’s hear it for Calum,” Bowman called to the crowd. “Calum the Deliverer!”
The crowd crooned a loud whoop, all in unison, that reminded Calum of a type of bird he’d heard on warm mornings back at the quarry. He’d never learned that type of bird’s name, but it had always reminded him that life wasn’t always full of only bad things. Perhaps this was his chance to serve as such a reminder for many others.
When he looked at the crowd again, every single one of them had bowed their heads, but held their hands up against their chests. Their wrists crossed, their thumbs joined in the center and pointed up at their chins, and their fingers angled up and out toward their shoulders like the wings of a bird.
“I’ve seen that motion before,” Calum said.
“Yeah.” Axel folded his arms. “Condor did it when he introduced himself.”
“It’s a salute. Windgales salute those whom they owe respect, whether they be nobility, or royalty, or simply in a higher caste.” Bowman smiled and motioned toward Calum and Axel with his hand. “Or emissaries of generosity, like yourselves. It is an act of submission.”
Calum leaned closer to him. “Am I supposed to do it back?”
Bowman nodded. “Yes, but do not bow. Only bow if you initiate the salute.”
Calum mimicked the salute with his hands on his chest but didn’t bow, just as Bowman said. Axel just stood there, his arms still folded. Calum wanted to smack him for it.
Just when Calum wasn’t sure if he should stop saluting or not, Magnus’s voice parted the crowd with an obvious tone of urgency. “Calum, Axel. Come quickly.”
“What is it?” Calum asked.
Even from far away Calum could see Magnus towering over the Windgale crowd as he worked his way toward them. He no longer carried Riley in his arms, but he pulled Condor behind him in tow.
“I fear we may be too late,” Magnus said. “Riley stopped breathing.”
Chapter Sixteen
By the time Calum and Axel made it back to Riley, Lilly still hadn’t returned. Just as Magnus had said, Riley no longer drew breath.
Calum caught his hands shaking. He still hadn’t put his gauntlets back on after pressing his hands against Riley’s bloody wound. Though he’d tried to wash them off at a stream along the way to Aeropolis, sticky bits of dried blood still clung to the creases on his knuckles, between his fingers, and under his fingernails.
“There’s no time.” Calum clasped his hands together to keep them from shaking and to calm himself enough to try to think rationally. Panicking on Riley’s behalf wouldn’t save him. “We need to get him to the lift.”
“What if Lilly can’t get it to lower?” Axel asked.
“We’ll figure something out. We have to. Riley can’t die.”
“It may already be too late for that.” Magnus’s voice rang hollow.
“We have to try. Pick him up and follow me.”
“Excuse me?” a voice behind Calum called.
Calum glanced back. It was Bowman.
“I’m sorry, Bowman. I don’t have time to talk.” Calum refocused on Magnus.
“Calum the Deliverer,” Bowman said. “Let us help you.”
Calum turned back around. “Help us how?”
Bowman pulled an older Windgale close, one to whom Calum had given a cape. “This is Kanton. He used to shepherd the royal flocks. He can help your friend.”
Axel stepped forward, towering over both Bowman and Kanton. “How?”
Kanton tilted his graying head and rolled up his ragged sleeves. “In the thirty years I served the Premier, I saved the lives of countless livestock from wounds and illnesses of all kinds.”
“Riley’s a Wolf, not livestock.” Axel folded his arms.
Calum wondered why Axel had decided to care about Riley now, all of a sudden. It grated on him, but to his credit, Axel was asking fair and helpful questions.
“Saved a few dozen of them too, if I recall. We’re all more or less the same on the inside. It’s knowing how to fix things that matters.” His blue eyes centered on Calum. “You gave me a second shot at life when you gave me this cape. Perhaps I can return the favor for your friend, here. What do you say?”
“Do it.” Calum pulled Axel aside and led Kanton over to Riley. About half the crowd of Windgales swarmed around them.
“Please step back and give me some room to work.” Kanton waved them away.
Magnus stepped close to Calum. “He seems capable.”
Calum glanced at Kanton, who hunched over Riley with his fingers in the fur on Riley’s chest. “I hope so, for Riley’s sake.”
Axel’s cold stare focused on something over Calum’s shoulder, and Calum traced his gaze back to Condor. Still bound and tethered to Magnus, he sat on the ground with his legs crossed, leaning forward.
“He’s breathing again,” Kanton said.
Calum whirled around. Sure enough, Riley drew short, faint breaths, but his eyes remained closed. “How did you do that?”
“His heart stopped,” Kanton explained. “I pumped his chest a few times to get it going again.”
“That’s what the man from Jake’s cr
ew did to Lilly and you,” Calum said to Axel.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Calum turned to Kanton again. “Can you heal him?”
Kanton shook his head. “Not without proper tools. And medicine. We don’t have much to work with here outside Aeropolis. Even then, I don’t know. He’s hurt pretty bad.”
A soft double-thump sounded next to Calum, and Lilly stepped into his line of sight.
“I couldn’t convince them to lower the lift,” she said. “They won’t do it, even though we have Condor.”
Calum’s gut seized. “Then Riley’s gonna die.”
“He doesn’t have to die,” Kanton said. “You just gave us capes. We can take him up there, and you too.”
“You’d do that?” Calum asked.
Kanton smiled and faced the crowd. “What do you say, Windgales?”
The Windgales with capes stepped forward from the crowd. They saluted Kanton as they had to Calum only a few minutes before and let out the same whoop.
“You’re really gonna carry us up there?” Axel raised an eyebrow, then eyed Magnus. “All of us?”
“If we have to, we’ll make a separate trip for the mighty Saurian, but I don’t think we’ll need to.” Kanton raised his arms and motioned toward Calum and his friends.
The Windgales with capes approached. Two of them hooked their arms under Calum’s, and a third grabbed him around his waist. They lifted him off the ground and did the same thing to Axel.
It took nine Windgales to even get Magnus off the ground plus six more of them to get him airborne, partially because he refused to release Condor from his grip. Six more Windgales, including Kanton, lifted Riley with obvious care and began their ascent toward Aeropolis.
“You’d better not drop me,” Axel grunted at the Windgales who lifted him.
The ground dropped away from Calum’s feet, and he almost left the contents of his stomach behind as well, but at least he was going up this time instead of falling with Lilly’s help—over a shark-infested lake.
When the Windgales ascended above the clouds and Calum got his first glimpse of Aeropolis, his lungs failed him.
