Fall of Sky City (A Steampunk Fantasy Sci-Fi Adventure Novel) (Devices of War)

by Blooding, SM

  I met my own blue, slightly slanted eyes in the mirror, and raised a single black brow. I wasn’t going to get any prettier.

  I donned my half-coat, the collar of long black wolf hide riding along my chin. I stopped and turned back to the mirror. For a second, I almost looked fierce, almost like a man. I made a face at myself and left, my ears popping with the pressure change, the cracking of the ice almost deafening. We were nearly there.

  Father was topside, standing tall and formidable on the quarterdeck.

  Father’s spitfyre falcon stood proudly on his shoulder. Saqr’s wings were tucked in. His reptile-like, prehensile tail came out from his feathered flight tail and wrapped around Father’s shoulders while the finger claws at the apex of his wing curled in reflex.

  This spring, I would have my chance to capture and train my own falcon as I proved myself a man capable of leading, first an airship, and then the Fleet. We would also work on making my ship. I was more than ready.

  Father’s goggled eyes shifted in my direction, his main attention on his fleet. His face shield was stowed in the pouch on his belt. In the lower altitude, the bitter wind of winter was warmer. I followed his lead, stashing my shield in the pouch on my belt as well, but the goggles were staying. The sunlight stabbing its way back up from the mountainous waves of ice were painful.

  I stood next to him. From there, I could see the whole ship. The new foremast, the veins of copper shining in the light, the gleaming deck, and all the men and women working the rigging. Falcons watched from the trestle trees of each mast, chirping to one another. Several climbed along the full sails, their claws and wings working to keep them close to the cloth. They were hunting the luminescent feather worms, a parasite that was deadly to the air jellies. These currents were filled with similar parasites, one more thing to watch for. Ino City hadn’t found a good location to wait out the winter.

  Father turned and headed down the stairs to the main deck. “This is as far as she goes.”

  An airship never touches water and most certainly never touches land.

  I grinned and followed.

  He waited for me on the loading platform. As soon as I leapt over the railing of our ship and onto the flat wood suspended in the air by ropes, we were headed down. The counter-weight rose beside us.

  Saqr fluttered his wings and resettled closer to Father’s bearded neck.

  Father made a point of studying the hull as we descended and I attempted to follow his lead. The blue feather stars fluttered along the hull, ensuring the Yusrra Samma’s integrity. I was eager to see my sister and really didn’t care too much about the feather stars. They were capable of taking care of themselves.

  The cold of the ice barely had a chance to seep through my boots before a whirlwind of leather and arms attacked me with a screech that made my ears ring.

  I laughed and twirled her around, setting her down to look at her.

  Saqr squawked at us.

  I gave the falcon a laughing glare. Oki and I both reached up to move our goggles to the top of our heads. Once I could see her round face, I gripped her head in my hands and touched my forehead to hers. “Oki,” I said in her native language, Sakin, which was only fair since we were in her territory, not mine, “it is good to see you again.”

  Her slanted, dark eyes beamed at me, her fingers grasping my head as she rubbed her stubbed nose to mine. “I have missed you, little brother.”

  Something sparkly dangling from her ears caught my attention. I pulled back and held the silver jellyfish earring in the palm of my hand. “You’re already in training to be an elder?”

  Oki’s smile dimmed as she ducked her head and pulled away. Her earring swung with the movement. “Mother says there is change on the wind and that we must prepare.”

  “Then Ryo’s in training to be an elder as well?” He was the oldest.

  Oki tipped her head, looking at me through her eyelashes. “He’s a man, Synn.” She laughed. “He has a few more years before he’s gained enough wisdom to train as an elder.”

  Father took her head in his hands and brought his forehead to hers. “You will make a good ruler of the Ino people, Oki.”

  She smiled taking the time in that moment to enjoy the love of a father she rarely got to see.

  I slipped my goggles back into place, giving them their moment, but as soon as Oki broke away, I pushed for more information. “I thought he was her heir.”

  Oki sighed. “We are a matriarchal society, Synn. I’m not going to pretend to understand what Mother has planned for him. I will say, though, that he will not be leading Ino City. This city belongs to me.” She looked up at the lethara blocking the sunlight above us and reached out to caress one of the many tentacles surrounding us.

  It curled around her wrist, tugging gently.

  She smiled and let it go.

  The look on her face was filled with such love. I understood that. I felt the same way about the Yusrra Samma.

  She wrapped her arm around mine and led us toward the leather hut village. “I was afraid I would miss you again.”

  I pecked a kiss on her cheek. “What do you mean?”

  “Mother has moved up the date I am to wed.”

  A frown flashed over my face as I stared across the wild terrain of enormous frozen waves and water spray. “Who?”

  “The Umira. They should be here any day now.”

  I gave her a fierce, one-armed hug as we walked. “Then I’m glad we beat them.” I sent her a devilish grin. “But then again, they aren’t airmen. What do you expect from land dwellers?”

  “Synn,” Father said, scratching the back of Saqr’s head, “would it hurt you to show a bit of respect?”

  Saqr let out a snort of smoke through his beak.

  I gave them both a churlish look. “I’ll start respecting them as soon as Haji learns to do more than beat his face against my fist.”

  Oki ducked her head and laughed. “Then it is good that his brother is a much better warrior. It might do you good to be beaten once or twice.”

  “Oh,” Father said, his smile hiding in his beard, “he has.”

  I gave him a look that told him to stop talking. With all due respect, of course.

  Oki grinned, slowing her snow crunching steps to look up at our father. “Oh, please tell.”

  I pulled her toward the hut city. “I believe Mother is expecting us. We shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

  Father threw his head back and barked with laughter. He clapped me on the shoulder and nodded. “Stories can wait.”

  Oki glared, but led the way through the city.

  Smoke plumed from the white huts. Most of the people were up in their lethara. The few remaining were the elders and the very young. They raised their hands in greeting, smiles on their faces.

  But they were guarded. We were outsiders.

  The union between our Families was still young and obviously had a long way to go.

  Our mother’s tent looked like all the others, except it was larger than the rest, though only marginally.

  Oki raised the white flap and disappeared with a swoosh.

  I took a strengthening breath, stashing my goggles into yet another pouch on my belt, and lifted the flap. I didn’t enjoy being in my mother’s presence. She thought I was nothing more than the son who lacked the Mark of power. To her, I was worthless.

  It took a while for my eyes to adjust. A fire sat in the center pit, smoke rising through the hole in the ceiling. Elders surrounded my mother, who sat on a cushion, a low table in front of her.

  Her assistant sat beside her, pointing to the book he held open for her. He glanced up and muttered.

  She waved him off.

  Oki knelt next to her, peering at the book. Her eyes narrowed and she leaned in with keen interest.

  Mother pushed the book toward her daughter and said something I couldn’t hear.

  Oki gathered the book, rising with it. She pecked a kiss on my cheek on her way out.

  Mother
sat quietly for some time.

  The others in the hut stared at us.

  “We will leave now, Ino Nami,” one of the elders said. “But we must convene soon.”

  “Gather the circle. We will convene now.” She waited until the tent was emptied.

  I grimaced a smile at a few of the elders who walked past us. As soon as I could get out of there, I was going to.

  “Kadar.” A warm whisper of a smile settled onto Mother’s round face as she looked up at my father. She placed both hands on the table and pushed herself to her feet.

  Father made no move to help her, but he gave her a smile, barely seen through his salt peppered beard. “Nami.”

  Saqr took flight, landing on a perch set up near the entrance.

  Mother stopped in front of my father and raised her hands to his face.

  He bowed, taking her head in his hands.

  She gripped his head, bringing his forehead to hers. “It is good to see you,” she said in our language.

  “And you,” he said in hers.

  “The ice is getting harder and harder to bear.” She turned from him and faced me, her expression hardening. “Synn.”

  Great. It begins. I bowed my head. “Okaasan.”

  “Still no Mark?”

  My father shook his head, a quick flame of shame filling his eyes before he banished it. “No.”

  To bear the Mark of power was a great honor, but it wasn’t something someone gave you. It was something you had to earn, something that had to surge its way through you from your very soul, to Mark your skin, telling the world what your power source was. I had no idea if I would even be Marked, and if I were, would I bear the Mark of storm as my father, or of fire, as my mother? Their Marks were hidden under thick layers of clothing, but I’d seen them. Everyone had.

  Both Father and Mother were very powerful. They expected each of their children to follow. It was understandable since the line was so strong, so pure. Each of my siblings had gained their Marks. Everyone except me.

  Sometimes people were Marked late in life. I still had time, but even I was starting to worry.

  “He has not yet gained his spitfyre falcon?”

  “He will this spring.” Father’s voice rang with confidence. “As well as a ship.”

  She took in a deep breath and looked up at my father. “Then in your eyes, he has become a man.”

  He let out a smiling snort. “Trust me, hana, he still has much to learn, but yes. In the eyes of the El’Asim, he is a man.”

  My mother smiled. “We are heading into council.” She met my gaze. “You will sit in it, but you will have no voice. If you speak, you will not be heard.” She turned back to Father. “We have much to discuss.”

  My father looked up to the ceiling. “Yes.” He let out a large sigh. “Indeed.”

  CHAPTER 2

  DO NOT LOOK BACK

  People shuffled in. Pillows were thrown onto the bearskin floor. My mother directed us to sit beside her and the circle of elders was formed. Each of them wore the letharan pendant that denoted their elder status. The longer they’d been an elder, the more strings of silver wire trailed from their jeweled medusas. Some wore their talisman as a necklace, others as a pin. Mother’s was in her hair at the end of a stick protruding from the bun at the top of her head.

  My oldest brother, Ryo, sat on the other side of Mother. His jet black hair was pulled into a tight topknot. He grinned. “Synn, it is good to see you.”

  I grinned back. “And you. How have you been?”

  Mother raised an eyebrow, but didn’t pay any direct attention to either of us.

  Ryo sat back, still smiling. “We will talk later, little brother. I want to hear what terrible mischief you have been up to.”

  I wiggled my eyebrows and turned my attention to the gathering. It looked like everyone had arrived.

  Mother raised her hands, and the hut grew quiet. “With the House of El’Asim here, we can start our session.”

  “What of the Umira?” someone asked. “Should we not wait for them?”

  “They have not yet been accepted into our circle,” Mother said, her expression stone. “If my daughter deems them worthy, then we will accept them into our council.”

  I shifted nervously on my pillow.

  Father straightened his shoulders. “The Hands are reaching further and further. Their technologies allow them access to places only the well-traveled would know.”

  “They have developed something that finds us even in the lethara,” someone said, her voice high pitched with worry.

  “That is not true,” a man on the other side of the circle said. “They track those visiting our cities. We are still able to hide as long as our docks are closed.”

  I shuddered at the thought of Ino City closing her docks in order to hide. Lesser tribes relied on the Seven Great Families. What would happen to them if Ino City closed her docks?

  “How?” someone beside me demanded. “And how can we shield ourselves from this?”

  “We do not know,” someone said on the other side of the fire. I couldn’t see his face through the flame. Every once in a while, I caught a glimpse of a tall black hat. “We need a spy inside Sky City who could tell us how.”

  “We don’t even know how to find Sky City,” the woman beside me said, pounding her knee with her fist to emphasize the frustration in her voice. “It could be a myth for all we know.”

  “It is not a myth,” Ryo said matter-of-factly.

  No one questioned him.

  “Which of our children will you sacrifice as your spy?” the woman beside me demanded. “And how would we stop the Hands from taking all of our children, destroying all of the elders?”

  “We are running out of places to hide” the man beside my brother said.

  Listening to them whine about hiding irritated me. The El’Asim were not afraid. We didn’t hide.

  Ryo straightened. “I fear that soon there will be nowhere else for us to go.”

  “Then why are we hiding?” I asked, my voice quiet but strong. I knew I was there to watch and to learn. I had not yet proven myself and so didn’t have a voice in the council, but that didn’t matter. “Teach me so I might learn.”

  Mother’s expression shone with approval, even though she didn’t look at me. “I would agree with my husband’s son. Perhaps the time of hiding is at an end.”

  Hurt and anger flared through me at her words. Her husband’s son? I closed my eyes and breathed, letting it go.

  Ryo’s expression was torn. “We are outnumbered and their technologies far exceed our own. We would not stand a chance.”

  “What Ryo shu says is true,” a wizened man said.

  Hmm. So, Ryo wasn’t quite good enough to enter training as an elder even though he was older than Oki, but he had managed to prove himself enough to be called a lord. Interesting.

  “The Hands will not wait,” my father said. “They will strike the offensive.”

  “They already have,” the woman beside me said, pounding her fist to her knee again.

  Mother nodded. “Until we can devise a way to defeat them, we learn to hide better. The Hands dominate the sky, not the ocean. We should—”

  There was a loud commotion outside before a cold blast of air swept through the hut. The flame of the fire dove before rising again.

  Just inside the door stood my best friend.

  I rose to my feet, a grin of welcome on my face. “Haji.”

  That’s when I noticed. His skin was smudged with ash, and blood laced his face and hands. One arm of his coat looked as though it had been ripped off. Alarm shot through me.

  His eyes caught mine. He sagged with relief.

  I was at his side in three strides, reaching out to catch him as his knees buckled.

  My father helped me hold him up.

  “Haji.” I shook him to gain his attention. “What happened?”

  He closed his eyes, his black lashes lying against ash covered cheeks. “The Hands,”
he said in his native tongue. His brown eyes pierced mine with desperation. “They attacked my Family.”

  Chill swept through me. The Umira Family was vast and was one of the few remaining of the original Seven Great Families.

  “They have my sisters, my cousins.”

  I blinked as reality punched me in the face.

  He gripped my arm until it hurt, his teeth clenched, tears swimming in his eyes. “They have my mother.”

  The Hands never allowed the adults to survive.

  Fury unfurled in me. This was why we shouldn’t be hiding. This was the reason we needed to fight back. What right did the Hands have to attack a peaceful Family? All the Elders knew the outcome, but no one said anything.

  Father and I helped him to a space closer to the fire. His hands were like ice. “Where is your father?”

  Haji closed his eyes, dark circles surrounding them, and shook his head. “He’s gone.”

  “What happened, Haj?” I asked, offering him a cup of water someone handed me.

  “We were ambushed on our way here.” He swallowed. “We’re not great in the air. We tried to land so we could fight them better, but the ice was broken.”

  My father glanced at me, his expression blanketed with concern. “Your brother?”

  “Gone,” my friend whispered.

  My hands clenched with rage as I looked around me. “We have to strike back.”

  “We discussed this, little brother,” Ryo said in the language of the El’Asim, Adalic.

  “But they have his mother.” I latched onto my father’s gaze.“They have Shani.”

  “That is unfortunate.” Ryo’s eyes were fierce as his will grappled with mine. “But our lethara is still in frozen slumber. Any attack in the immediate area would endanger not only the Umira, who are already beyond hope, but the Ino and the El’Asim. How many of the Great Families are you willing to lose in one day?”

  I ground my teeth and looked at my friend. There had to be something we could do.