The Cumerian Unraveling Trilogy (Scars of Ambition, Vendetta Clause, Cycles of Power)

by Jason Letts

  Tris stopped to catch her breath behind a thick bush once she’d spotted a dock near a rocky alcove. A handful of people, including one other woman who was collecting driftwood on the beach, had a rowboat and some fishing nets near the dock. A schooner with three sails traversed the open ocean halfway to another island in the distance.

  “Help! Help!” she cried, emerging and staggering toward the dock. She’d seen enough to know they weren’t the ones who had entered her plane and killed everyone inside. Waving her empty hands, she tried to assuage their startled looks.

  They had tan and dark skin; the bare-chested men had on little more than shorts that frayed at the knees, and they spoke to each other in a language she couldn’t understand.

  “Do you speak Cumerian?” she gasped as one of the men approached her. He had a large spider tattooed on his cheek, its arms curling around his eye and nose. It was more than she could bear in her frightened state, and she backed away.

  “Speaking Cumerian. I am Lux,” the man said with a thick accent. For all she knew, no one within a thousand miles could understand her better. She had to make him understand.

  “My plane. Someone killed everyone. I don’t know what to do. You’ve got to help me.” She pointed back toward the airport to little effect. But when she dragged a finger across her throat, they all understood exactly what was going on.

  Suddenly every one of them had a weapon in hand. The man on the dock removed a scimitar from the rowboat. The woman pulled a knife from under her long sleeves. But Lux produced a much more intriguing weapon from the back of his pants: a gun with the hammer positioned to come down on a pale green stone, which was lodged against a small three-pronged rack feeding little metal pebbles into the back of the tube.

  Gun makers quickly became targets for thieves and those seeking a quick route to power in Cumeria, so none ever managed to stay in business for long enough to widely produce their goods. Most guns were made by home tinkerers and no two were the same, but this one was so curious that Tris found herself unafraid. Lux held it close to his chest as he scanned the forest, giving her a good look at it. Tris’s eyes widened when she saw the stone.

  “Oh my, that’s Florjium. You can only find it in Didjubus and it’s acidic,” she said. The man glanced at her, not comprehending. “When you hit that stone to shoot the metal bullets, the toxins from the stone also hurt you!”

  Taking a look at the hand he held the weapon with, Tris saw it had burns as black as charcoal on it. As long as he didn’t pull the trigger the exposure would be low, but she would be affected if he did, and she was within several feet. She tried to point out the burns, but he brushed her off.

  “My gun,” Lux said, and Tris rolled her eyes. She was not in a position to do anything about it, and it would take long-term exposure before anything happened to her.

  A couple of the other men came over, the one with the scimitar and another with a short sword, and together they scanned the forest floor, where everything seemed to be still.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “We go,” Lux said, and Tris received a nudge in the back. Uneasy, she reentered the forest with her three new liaisons, hoping they’d fare better than the last had. Though she stepped on every noisy twig and snapped every straw branch, these men were silent and would not be caught off guard.

  They exchanged whispers only a few times during the entire walk and gave Tris no idea of what they were thinking. She felt dirty, sweaty, and too tall to be hunching over as low as they were.

  Nothing had changed since Tris had fled from the landing strip a short while ago. The sight of the plane, its stairs leading into carnage, still set off warning bells in her head. The men nodded to each other. Lux took Tris by the wrist and pulled her into the clearing around the airport. One of the others followed from behind while one hid in the brush.

  It dawned on Tris that they meant to enter the plane, which was the exact last place she wanted to go. For all she knew, the killer was in there waiting for them. Lux held out his gun, but it was little comfort to Tris. Unhealthy effects aside, she questioned how powerfully and accurately it could fire.

  If one thing had changed about the grisly scene, it was that the smell had grown worse. She covered her nose as they climbed the stairs, huddling close behind Lux. The chances of being attacked were greatest while entering, but that didn’t stop them from filing into the cabin and getting a full view of the bodies.

  Tris avoided looking at Tenny, Jeano, or Emry, instead looking at Lux’s companion who immediately started filling his pockets with items from the plane’s stock. At least Lux properly attended to the murders. The concern on his face struck her.

  “Three peoples. Three different kills,” he whispered. Tris opened her mouth to respond, but he stopped her. Lux was right that the marks were all different. Did that mean there had been three killers, or one with a number of weapons? Neither option seemed appealing.

  “Hey!” Tris scolded the other man, who had pulled her suitcases out from behind her seat. He stopped and said something to Lux in what must’ve been the Copian language.

  “We go,” Lux said, moving back to the stairs.

  Tris ground her teeth. She needed to find a way out of this mess quick, and the airport seemed to offer the best way out, but it was dangerous and she had no idea when the next plane would come.

  “Can you help me with my bags?” she asked. If Lux understood, he pretended not to. Her three suitcases were in the middle of the aisle. Even if she took two, one third of everything she had would be left behind. The money was still in her sealed pouch, but she couldn’t remember what items were in which suitcase.

  The two men exited the plane, and Tris quickly grabbed two of the suitcases and pulled them to the stairs. When they crashed down the steps, the harsh glances she got from her new companions were terrifying.

  A loud crack ushered from the forest off to the left. The man hiding in the forest raised his head and looked over. Lux shook his head.

  “Trick,” he said, and immediately moved toward the sound. Tris’s stomach was in knots. It was possible that Lux was leading them straight to the killers, or at least forcing them to take a more roundabout way back to the dock.

  The hidden man rejoined them and together they snuck through the dense growth. There were no signs of anyone, making Tris wonder if the noise had been natural. But dragging her luggage over every root and stone for a distance no less than a mile proved aggravating. It was possible that carrying everything she had would be a waste of time if another plane came, but thinking clearly was beyond her.

  When they returned to the rocky beach, flurries of dialogue between the boatmen left Tris even more bewildered. They started packing their nets and cages into the rowboat.

  “Wait, where are you going? You’re just going to leave me here?” she asked Lux, begging for his attention. If they could protect her on the beach until another plane came, that seemed like her best chance of getting home.

  “We go,” Lux replied, using the phrase he seemed most comfortable with. Tris held her face in her hands as she tried to sort out what to do. She couldn’t blame them for leaving if there were deadly phantoms or trained killers around, but for that same reason staying on the island alone would be tantamount to suicide.

  “Then I’ll go, too.” In her mind she succumbed to the obvious: there would be no easy way to get out of this, and she might not find a way home until she made it with them to the Plagrass mainland.

  The wheels on her luggage clacked against every board as she pulled them across the rickety dock. It would be a tight fit in the rowboat, which had two sets of oars and plenty of fishing supplies and junk strewn about inside. Again, no one helped her put her suitcases inside, and as a result one nearly bounced into the water when she pushed them off the dock.

  Along with the boatmen, Tris got into the boat, taking a spot on one of the benches near the rear. Lux took a seat beside her, providing her with relief that she
could say something if she wanted to without disturbing everyone else.

  Once the entire group was seated and two of the men had taken up the oars to row them out to sea, the gentle yet rolling waves began spilling over the sides into the boat. Looking over, Tris saw just a few inches separated the boat from submerging completely, which couldn’t be good.

  Lux participated in another conversation with the others before turning to Tris. “Too heavy.”

  “What are we going to do about it?” she asked, barely getting the words out before it dawned on her what he meant. “No!”

  But before she could do anything, Lux took one suitcase and threw it over the side. The suitcase floated in the water as they rowed away, becoming part of the island scenery.

  Just as she had settled down and began to think how much worse things could get, more voices caused her to look around and spot another rowboat with a solitary rower coming around the island from the far right. The boat was a long way away, but the rower appeared to be a man in a dark, hooded cloak, and Tris’s nerves chewed away the last of her composure.

  The man who had slaughtered her companions on the plane was following them.

  Another flurry of voices caused Lux to stand in the rocking rowboat and aim his gun at their pursuer. The other boat must’ve been several hundred yards away and wasn’t moving as fast as they were. Lux tried to keep his gun steady while Tris peered at the pale green stone. A small amount of toxins in the air would be a small price to pay to get rid of him.

  Lux pulled the trigger, the hammer cracked against the stone, and the metal ball dropped into the water halfway to its target. Tris groaned at the miss, but Lux’s reaction was worse. He sucked his teeth and rubbed the burns on the hand holding the gun. Its green stone glowed brighter and steady warmth touched her skin, even underneath her clothes.

  Over time, Tris marveled at the situation she found herself in. That guy over there? He’s just the one slowly making his way over so he can kill me, she thought. There was nothing to do but watch him follow them at roughly the same speed, never looking over his shoulder to see if he gained or lost ground. Meanwhile the green stone had grown pale again. The other woman with them had waved a flag signaling to the schooner, and a couple of hours later they met it in the middle of the sea.

  Three men and one woman occupied the gorgeous wooden vessel, all of whom were delighted to be reunited with their companions. They were so pleased that they nearly forgot to help Tris and her luggage out of the rowboat, which was then towed behind the back of the ship.

  The schooner had an area below deck with some bunks hanging from the wall, barrels of food and water, and a number of sharp weapons piled into a corner. Tris packed her suitcase into a different corner and returned to the deck in search of Lux, whom she found eyeing the pursuing rowboat. It continued to follow them even though they were moving much faster now.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “I have bad sense,” he answered, and Tris knew what he meant. But as long as the cloaked rower was so far away, nothing could be done about him.

  “Are we sailing to the Iron City now? I could find a plane there and get home to Cumeria,” she said, but the look on his face didn’t give her much hope.

  “No, no, we work,” Lux said, a devious grin forming on his face that made the spider on his cheek seem to move.

  “What kind of work?” Tris asked, but she would find out soon enough.

  Sleeping on a boat turned out to be a much more enjoyable experience than Tris would’ve expected. The rocking motion significantly assuaged her fears, and the bunk she had was surprisingly cozy. The next cycle they had sweet peppers and spiced beans for breakfast, a simple meal that turned out to be a delight, purifying even.

  “You know, if it wasn’t for the circumstances, I might have loved this,” she said. How strange that seemed for a woman who spent most of her life in a garden. She’d heard about people getting seasick, but Tris already felt right at home on the schooner.

  “I’m liking the circumstances,” Lux said, which seemed an odd response. Maybe he hadn’t understood her properly and only mimicked her words. Surely he hadn’t meant that he enjoyed being chased by a murderer. Perhaps her pursuer had given up the chase, knowing that rowing for an entire cycle would’ve been impossible for anybody. Lux’s smile had an affable quality that made her forget about the spider on his face.

  As the cycle rolled on and Tris became acquainted with the mundane tasks of sea life, the crew gave her the task of keeping an eye on a compass set into a beam that crossed the front of the ship. They were headed to one island in particular that already loomed in the distance and emitted smoke, signaling the presence of inhabitants.

  The ship plunged through the waves, the crew adjusting the sails in accordance with the wind, and they even broke out into an intriguing, yet incomprehensible, song. With seemingly no provocation, the song sprung from every mouth around Tris. Haunting and melodious, the lyrics must’ve recalled something harrowing and maybe even spiritual. The closer they got to the island, the more intense the song became. The entire crew assembled in the open space toward the front deck, huddling together and swaying.

  Sharp cries interrupted the song, and the crew stamped their feet on the wooden panels. Tris watched in awe, wondering what it was all about. All at once, the sound ceased when a small village of thatched huts came into view. Rather than going right to it, the ship nestled into a bay around the corner.

  “That was a beautiful song,” Tris said to Lux, who was preparing to drop anchor. “What was it about?”

  Lux only shook his head.

  “No talking now. We go. You stay,” he whispered.

  Put off by her sudden exclusion, Tris crossed her arms and watched everyone else climb into the rowboat and paddle to shore. Tris wanted to shout that it was still attached to the schooner by a rope, but she concluded they must’ve known that. The entire crew disappeared into the woods, heading in the direction of the village.

  Suddenly alone in a place she could never identify even if she had a map, Tris tried to puzzle out what the crew was going to do in the village. She didn’t see anything they planned to trade. For all she knew, they had arrived home and were planning to spend the rest of the cycle lounging in their huts. If that were the case, staying on the ship really wouldn’t do her any good, not when she needed Lux or someone else to bring her to the Iron City, or at least somewhere with an airport.

  Growing impatient that she’d been left behind, Tris decided to exercise her bold streak that Lowell had always said he loved so much. She got a running start, jumped off the edge of the boat, and dropped right into the green-blue water. From there it took little more than a few strokes to make it to the beach and spot the track her companions had taken into the woods. She couldn’t afford to get left behind.

  The short trees had countless long green leaves that made it difficult to see where she was headed, but she pushed on, knowing sooner or later she’d make it to the village.

  As soon as the brush began to thin, screams and shrieks filled the air until they were replaced by the clatter of metal against metal. Tris stepped into the open to view a village that was in the throes of utter chaos. One hut went up in flames while her crew ran around, swords drawn, attacking the villagers.

  Lux emerged from one hut with a crate over one shoulder, drew his gun, and fired it point-blank into the chest of a villager coming at him with an axe. The villager dropped to the ground. Lux cocked back the hammer and took aim at another target. Around him, other crew members were engaged in swordfights and blatant acts of destruction. Tris’s jaw dropped.

  She’d been rescued by pillagers.

  The shouts continued, and a group of sword-bearing villagers regrouped and rushed at the crew, most of whom were now carrying crates or sacks. Lux fired another shot at them, and the crewman who had rowed her away from Pover raced into the fray only to be cut down and decapitated.

  The rest of the crew ma
de their getaway, which happened to bring them right in Tris’s direction. She turned tail and fled back into the brush, stricken with the likelihood that they’d trample right over her or leave her to the justifiably ferocious villagers.

  A few of the crew overtook her on the race back to the beach, but she crashed into the rowboat and scrambled aboard the schooner as soon as the raiding party rowed within reach. By the time the villagers made it to the shore, the crew had already pulled up the anchor. An archer fired an arrow that punctured a sail, but soon the only things the villagers could reach the ship with were angry shouts.

  “What was that about? Why did you do that?” Tris asked Lux, who elbowed her away. At first she thought it was because he refused to talk about it, but Lux hunched over the side of the boat and vomited into the water. His gun and its bright green stone were strapped to his burned lower back.

  “That’s the poison. You’re going to kill yourself!” Tris shouted. Lux got up and wiped his mouth. He had a vacant look in his eyes.

  “No, no, too powerful,” he muttered before his speech switched to Copian.

  The crew piled their booty in the middle of the deck, happily perusing what turned out to be a meager-looking haul. They had a sack of grain, a few more knives to add to the pile below deck, a ragged old rope, and a few sections of rolled leather. Tris cringed when she realized that this was what they’d gained in exchange for one of their crewmember’s lives, but none of them seemed fazed by the loss.

  “That’s it? One of your men died on your stupid raid, and it’s for this?” Tris’s shouts caused the others to quiet down. Lux pursed his lips.

  “No, he is dead for this,” he said, reaching for the foot-long box he’d carried away from the village. The rest of the crew gathered around as he lifted the lid. Inside were glittering gold coins, polished diamonds, and topaz jewelry. The crew erupted with delight, cheering and hugging each other. To Tris, it still seemed like a heavy price to pay for shiny rocks.