by CM Raymond
Parker rolled his eyes and turned to inspect their surroundings.
The air was thick with humidity, and Parker felt sweat run in perfect lines down his back. A consistent clicking of insects like he’d never heard before filled his head. He thought that one would go mad if one had to listen to the incessant chatter for more than a few minutes.
Another sound filled the air: the mighty flapping of Sal’s wings and the accompanying rush of air. He spun in time to see Sal and Hannah thread their way through one of the only open spaces between him and the sky. The dragon landed short and nearly sent Hannah tumbling off his back as he skidded to a halt, trying to keep his giant scaled body from crashing into the thick foliage surrounding them.
“Thought you’d never make it,” he said to Hannah as she dismounted her dragon.
She patted Sal on the head. “This one is getting pretty good.” Sal nuzzled his snout into her rib cage, drawing a laugh. She took in her surroundings before glancing at him. “Sal, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Arcadia anymore.”
“No shit.” Parker laughed. “And Laurel here’s having trouble making friends.”
The druid gave him the finger, but didn’t take her eyes off the jungle.
Hannah nodded. “Was afraid of that, but we can’t wait around for the trees to tell us what’s up. Guess we’re going to need to do this the old-fashioned way.”
She pulled an old piece of parchment from her small leather bag and gently unfolded it. Faded images showed the mountain ranges and they assumed that a few heavy dots indicated buildings, but they couldn’t be sure if any of them were still standing.
A lot had changed since this map had been made.
Placing a finger on a long line of inverted “V” shapes, she said, “We know those are the mountains, and as far as I can tell we are approximately here.” Her finger landed on a spot on the map. “Give or take a mile or so.”
“Just a mile?” Parker scoffed. “No problem.”
Hannah shrugged. “Better than nothing.” She pointed at an “X” on the map. The mark was fresh; only a few days old. “The coordinates that Lilith has from the satellite for the tech are right here, so we have a general direction to travel in. The spot isn’t far off. Let’s start moving, and Laurel can work on getting to know her new friends along the way. We’ll figure it out.”
“We always do,” Laurel said.
They were smiling at each other, proud of their ability to get shit done, when a roll of thunder filled the air. The light level went from dim to nearly dark, and the pitter-patter of rain on the canopy overhead filled their ears.
“Damn. I kind of hate this place already,” Hannah said, looking up at the sky. She carefully folded the map and slid it into her bag. “This is not going to be good for my hair.”
Parker grabbed a lock of her brown mane and twirled it between his fingers. “Still looks great to me.”
“Ugh!” Laurel grunted. “Is it too late to get on the other team?”
“Hey, we had to split up on the last mission. It’s my turn to quest with my boy,” Hannah said. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Gregory is doing his own pining after you on his way to the mountains.”
“He’d better be pining over me, or Devin will let me know. And it’s not like the two of us got a lot of quality time in New Romanov. He spent every day underground with his computer crush while I was stuck babysitting Parker. Not my idea of a romantic adventure.”
Parker crossed his arms. “I’m offended. We had some good laughs together.”
She raised her eyebrows. “If you call fighting lycanthropes and Skrima a good time.”
“Enough.” Hannah sighed. “Next time I promise to send you and Gregory off alone in your underwear to fight a cave troll or something, but right now I need you focused on the mission.” She straightened the bag across her back and pointed into the jungle. “Let’s get going.”
They walked for a few hours through the undergrowth. Row after row of giant fronds and leaves made it slow going. Each brush past them dropped more water onto their already drenched clothes. Their spirits were already dampened by this alien place—except for Sal’s. He kept diving into the weeds, almost smiling as the water-soaked plants whipped his face.
Parker stayed in front, slashing with his spear and trying to find the best route through.
They had discussed blazing a path with physical magic, but decided that stealth might be their best course of action. There wasn’t any sign of inhabitants—save the bugs that constantly buzzed around their heads—but they all knew it was unlikely that the jungle was empty of people.
Just as Parker was thinking it strange that they had seen no signs of sentient life—no significant trails, no footsteps, no abandoned campsites—Laurel whispered, “What the hell was that?”
He spun to find her looking off to their right, eyes darting back and forth to scan the thick jungle.
“What was what?” he asked.
“I heard something.” She pointed into the green wall of foliage.
“You’re just paranoid,” Parker replied. “On edge.”
“Don’t be too quick to judge, darling,” Hannah said. “We know there are people here somewhere. Just don’t know where they might be. Life in the Dark Forest has made Laurel pretty damned good at sensing these things.” She looked up into the canopy, which was starting to lighten as the rain let up. “Let’s push a bit further. Next clearing we find, we’ll make camp for the night.”
Parker marched on. Hannah correcting him had made his face burn. While the others had easily accepted her leadership, it was taking some getting used to for him. Granted, he knew that she was smart and incredibly powerful, but he had also wiped her nose as a little girl crying in the marketplace when their panhandling didn’t produce what they had hoped for. They had a long history, but now everything was different.
Nevertheless, he knew she was right. Laurel had been invaluable throughout their adventures, and her ability to control and commune with nature had made a difference more than once. The BBBs’ diverse set of magical skills was often the factor that gave them an upper hand in a fight. At times Parker wondered if he should work on developing some magical ability to take advantage of the nanocytes racing through his blood, but he preferred his own style—fighting with his hands and spear, and moving swiftly through the enemy.
After pushing through a patch of green leaves nearly big enough to cover Hannah’s entire body, he stepped into an open area ten feet across. The trees were spaced far enough from each other that they could finally see the sky, which brought him some comfort. He went three paces in, and turned to his companions. “Found our camp site.”
Laurel pointed to an old burned-out fire circle in the middle of the clearing. “And we’re not the first. Look at the ground.” Her fingers traced the edge of the fire circle and then she knelt, inspecting its surface. “It’s been used many times, and the last was no more than two days ago, maybe three.”
“So we’re not alone,” Hannah replied, scanning the trees. Her eyes flashed red, and she slowly rotated 360 degrees before she let them return to normal. “No one's here now. Not that I can tell, at least.”
“Hope your magic isn’t broken out here like Laurel’s is,” Parker remarked.
“Nothing’s broken,” the druid snapped at him, “except your nose, if you keep it up.”
Just as she said that, a rustle came from the jungle not ten yards away. In a beat, each was armed and ready for action. Sal let out a low growl, but then the woods fell silent again.
“You see what I saw?” Parker asked.
Both women nodded. Hannah spoke first. “Figures running. Two of them, I think. Almost human, but not quite. I think they were—”
“Lycanthropes,” Laurel grunted, remembering her encounters in New Romanov. “But I’ve never seen one of them move that fast. They were a blur. Not even sure how many there were. Could have been one, or a half dozen.”
“Everything is strange to
us here,” Hannah added. “Might be something completely different.”
“Probably why you didn’t sense them,” Parker said to Hannah.
She nodded slightly. “Yeah, guess so. They’re gone now. Let’s get camp set up, but keep an eye out. They know we’re here, but we know they are as well. I expect they wanted us to know. Keep us on edge.” She looked over at Parker. “If it’s lycanthropes, I’m not worried. We killed one of those bastards at the old tower before I could even form a proper fireball, and you were shit at fighting back then.”
“I wouldn’t quite say I was—”
She smiled. “Yeah, you were. And take it as a compliment. You pretty much kick ass now.”
“Thanks, babe,” he said as he sidled up next to her.
“Gross,” Laurel said, dropping her bag near the center of the circle.
“She doesn’t understand how a real man treats his woman,” Parker said as he pulled Hannah in close.
“Bleh,” Hannah said, pushing his arm off. “I agree with Laurel, that’s gross. Why don’t you take first watch?”
Parker shook his head. “Now I wish I was with the other group.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Nice landing, kid,” Hadley said, admiring Gregory’s handiwork.
There had been little room to navigate, but he had found a ledge. It was barely big enough to accommodate the Unlawful. “Thanks. I’m getting the hang of her,” he replied with pride. He nodded at Karl and Hadley. “You guys head down and make sure we’re in a safe spot. I need to explain some stuff to Aysa.”
They followed his command, but Aysa’s face wrinkled in confusion. “Me?”
“Grab a seat.”
Aysa climbed into the captain’s chair and squatted next to him. She had spent time with him belowdecks. The Baseeki, though a bit primitive compared to the Arcadians, were people of craft, and she had quickly become enamored by the Unlawful and the way Gregory navigated her with such ease.
“You get how it works?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the panel. “Yeah.” She paused. “Yeah, pretty simple, I think. I mean, I get it.”
He looked down at her and smiled. “I know. You breathed down my neck for enough hours.” Cycling through the controls, he named and explained everything again. Finally he said, “Should have had you actually fly her, but I only now thought of this.”
“Thought of what?” Aysa asked, confusion spread on her face.
He laughed. “We’d be fools to think we’ll all make it every time. If something happens to me, the ship’s going to need a new engineer...”
“No—”
He held up a hand. “You’re the only one I trust with my baby. Now, don’t argue.” He laughed. “I mean, I’m not planning on getting captured or killed, but just in case, I need to make sure the rest of them aren’t stranded out here. Lilith needs those crystals.”
She silently nodded. “Can we get out of here now? You’re kind of freaking me out.”
“Sure, no problem. Just one more thing.”
“Before you ask, I won’t marry Laurel if you die. I have certain boundaries.”
Gregory laughed. “You’re missing out.” He walked to the aft cabin and stood in front of the closed door, waiting for her.
“And I’m not doing anything with you in there either,” she said, nodding toward Ezekiel’s old bedroom.
“You might change your mind when you see it,” he said raising his brows.
He pushed the door open, and Aysa’s eyes widened when she saw that the place had been transformed. Once a quiet meditation chamber belonging to the old magician, Gregory had since filled it with all the tools and raw materials he could find on the ship. Their stop in the New Romanov had allowed him time to scavenge even more.
The room was perfectly organized, everything strapped into its place to guard against turbulence or war.
“Amazing!” she said.
“I know, right? I mean, once Ezekiel said he was staying behind, I thought I could do something with this space. Check this out.” He reached up and flipped a latch at the top of one of the walls. The hinged panel came down, creating a work bench.
“OK, this is totally badass. Can I just stay here?”
“Not a chance, because you need to use this.” Gregory stood on his tiptoes and reached up to the top of the wall. His hand found a short but wide space that would have been nearly undetectable to someone not looking for it. He pulled out a contraption that looked like a serving platter with a metal sleeve in the middle.
She tilted her head, trying to guess what the hell the thing was. Once he turned it over, she understood completely. “Is it for me?”
Gregory smiled and nodded, holding the shield out for Aysa to run her hand over its surface. It was smooth and silver. In the middle, the image of a mountain range was etched.
“How’s it work?”
“Your arm,” Gregory said.
Aysa reached out the scarred stump of her left arm. He took it gently, as if it were the appendage of a tiny baby. Tilting the shield back over, he slid her arm into the metal sleeve.
“What? It’s padded?”
Gregory smiled and nodded. “Found some wool in New Romanov. Tell me if this is too tight.” He turned the shield over, and ratcheted a device, making it snug.
“Perfect.” Her face lit up. “I love it!”
Gregory’s face turned pink with pride. “Yeah. It’s pretty awesome. Might take some getting used to.”
Rotating the shield back and forth, she couldn’t stop grinning. “This thing doesn’t feel so useless now. Thank you!”
“I figure nothing I could say would stop you from running into danger, so at least now you’ll have some protection.”
Inspecting her gift, Aysa pointed at a tiny switch on the underside of the sleeve. Reaching for it, she asked, “What does this do?”
“Don’t touch that,” Gregory spouted. “That’s a little surprise hidden inside.” He tilted the shield in the light of the cabin, catching the rays just right, and the surface glimmered green. “The shield is wired with tiny amphoralds. This baby packs a little surprise burst of energy. I mean, you can’t shoot an enemy at a distance, but if you have someone at close quarters, you’ll give ‘em a hell of a blast.”
“That’s sick.”
“I’ve been known to tinker.” Gregory pushed his kinky hair back. “It doesn’t have a ton of juice though, so use it sparingly.”
“Listen,” she said in a hushed voice. “If Laurel doesn’t make it back—”
“Don’t even joke about that,” Gregory said, but he still couldn’t help but smile at her joke.
“Deal. But really, thank you. How’d you have time to do this and fly the ship? Don’t you sleep?”
“Sleep is for squares. Now let’s get down there before one of those two does something really stupid.”
****
Stepping off the ladder, Gregory reached into his leather bag and pulled out a small black box. It was four inches square, and had been perfectly assembled.
“That it?” Aysa asked, realizing that if something did happen to Gregory she’d need to know about the box as well.
He nodded. “It’s easy,” he replied, swinging a tiny latch-arm off the receiver plate. Pulling the two halves apart, he presented it to Aysa. She furrowed her brow as if to ask if he was serious. “Go on, take it. You’re going to need to know how to do this if…” Gregory drew a thumb slowly across his neck and stuck out his tongue.
She grabbed it from him and shouted, “Stop that!”
Karl and Hadley had joined them by that point. “Sure ye want ta do that?” Karl asked, looking at the little contraption. “I mean, if ye can’t get ‘er back down, then what?”
“You said you like to hike, rearick.” Aysa grinned. “I’m sure a Baseeki toddler could make it down from here with their eyes closed.” She peeked over the edge of the cliff and her head spun, while her stomach flipped over. They were in all-new ter
rain, and even if three of them had been raised on rocks, this wasn’t going to be easy.
“It’ll work,” Gregory said.
“Confident boy,” Hadley quipped.
“Lilith designed it based on some old-world technology. I’m as confident in this thing as Karl is with his hammer, if that means anything.”
Karl snorted. “Well, damn. If ye’d only said that in the first place! Let’s get ‘er in the air.”
Giving Aysa a nod, Gregory told her to turn the dial to the right. Slowly.
As she did, the members of Team Triple-B heard the hum of the magitech core through the massive contraption’s hull. Unlawful lifted slowly into the sky.
“Good. Keep turning nice and steady.”
Aysa complied, rotating the dial with her good hand, the box tucked into her armpit. “Up into the clouds?”
Gregory nodded. They had no idea if the clouds would remain, but they at least offered some shelter for the airship for the time being. “See you later, girl,” he whispered quietly, and took the device back from Aysa, tucking it into his bag.
“Let’s go,” Karl hollered over his shoulder as they started down the rocky ledge in the direction of the jagged-tooth outcropping. He glided over the rocks with the smoothness of a fish swimming in the sea. Right on his heels was Aysa, and she was nearly as nimble.
Gregory, on the other hand, picked his way, stumbling on every third rock. His eyes kept cutting from the rugged path to the sheer drop-off and back. As they progressed the ledge got smaller and smaller, bringing on claustrophobia mixed with a healthy fear of heights. He was scared shitless, really.
A rock slipped out from under him and Gregory let out a shout, his body spilling on the rocky ground. With three quick steps Hadley had grabbed him by the belt, saving the teenager who might just be Irth’s number-one engineer from a hundred-foot freefall.
“Gotcha,” Hadley shouted. He pulled Gregory to his feet. The Arcadian felt a flurry of activity under his shirt, then a sharp pinch right above his ribcage. Apparently Devin was none too pleased with the rock-traversing skills of her new companion.
