by SM Blooding
“They’re actually difficult to get.” He put his hand on the shoulder of a boy and murmured something to him. “I can give you one. What do you need it for?”
“It’s a scavenger hunt to see who’s the most capable of filling a spot on the council.”
“Then feel free to take what you need. How long are you staying?”
I spread my hands. “As soon as we get what we need, we have to be off. We still have to get a feather from a sky cat.”
He frowned, continuing to walk through the cavern. “That’s an odd request.”
I agreed. “That’s what happens when you tell the elders of the Great Families to come up with tests so anyone who passes can be counted as their equal.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I probably should send you to the lake to get the rock then. It feels like cheating, doesn’t it?”
I grinned. “Just a bit. However, I’m thinking that part of the test is not only knowing your terrain, but knowing the people.”
“You hope.”
“I do. Otherwise, I’m in trouble.”
The boy came up to Garrett about that time and handed him a clear rock the size of his fist.
Pavel eyed the rock. “The vater that is not vet?”
“It does appear so.” Garrett held it in his hand, watching it, his expression lost in thought.
“I’m a bit surprised to see you not joining the games,” I said.
He headshake was slow. “I’ve already told you. Our allegiance will remain with us.”
I acknowledged that with a nod. “So do I get the rock, or are you sending me out on my own?”
He tossed it in the air and caught it, before handing it to me with a smack against my palm. “We owe you a lot more than just a rock. So I’ll give it.”
I took it from him. “You don’t owe me anything.”
He shrugged. “You could have left us to die, dumped us in any port.”
I hefted the rock in my hand. It was heavy. “I could not have done that.”
His smile was half-hearted.
“Garrett, have you given any more thought to being our neutral party? I’m gathering a council of all the tribes and families to discuss the terms of the treaty.”
He thought about it and raised his chin. “Then it sounds as if, with so many voices, you will not need mine.”
I opened my mouth to naysay him, but couldn’t find the right words to dispute him with.
The woman brought a torch, it’s algae-covered tip glowing bright.
“Well, Synn,” Garrett said, clapping me on the back. “It was good to see you, but as you said, you have places to be and I have a city to run.”
I grasped his forearm. “It was good to see you again, and thank you for your assistance.”
He pulled away. “Try not broadcasting our position . . . ” His gaze was on Pavel. “ . . . to the world.”
I took a step back. “I’ll try not to.” I motioned for Barak to join us and we left.
Once we were inside the small cave that led to the cliff face, our guide turned around and headed back to the city.
Pavel looked at me. “It feels like we cheated a bit, don’t you think?”
I shrugged, staring at the torch Barak held. “It’s not lightning.”
His pointed gaze was on the rock in my hand.
I tossed it a couple of times and stashed it in my sash. “Yes. It does, but I’m not entirely sure what the point of this test is. Is it to test our knowledge of the terrain, or is it more a test of our traveling experience? Or perhaps a test to see how we could find the easier solution?”
Sang sank behind the mountain we scaled. Soon, it would be dark. Kel’mar was already on the rise, big, red and full. I stared at it with a smile, remembering the nights of the full moon. Well, we’d called it a moon, though, now I knew we were the moon. Kel’mar was the planet.
There used to be dancing. The full moon only occurred once a season. Kel’mar drifted between a crescent and a half moon for the rest of the time.
I sighed with remembrance and turned my attention to the cliff face.
The Yusrra Samma wasn’t far away. I flagged her down, but she was already moving toward us, the rope ladder thrown over.
I held the ladder for the others and then followed.
Isra met me on the deck. “Did you get what you needed, sayyd?”
I pointed with my chin to the torch Barak held as I pulled the rock from my sash. “All we need is a sky cat’s feather.”
Her lips curved down before she walked toward the command center. “We also have two days remaining. Do we head for the storm now?”
I pursed my lips, my eyes on Kel’mar. The world darkened around us. The great red planet was the only thing lighting the deck. Well, that and the torch.
The men and women on deck watched Kel’mar as well.
I smiled and turned to Isra. “Take us to the sky. Tonight we dance. Let’s not waste a perfectly good moon.”
Pavel smiled and turned away, disappearing below decks.
Everyone cheered as they scrambled. Several disappeared. Others stayed and tidied an already clean deck. We gathered around the main mast, sitting in a large circle at least four people deep. Drums were handed around.
They all looked to me. Their El’Asim.
I remembered my father. He’d always started the drum circle. Staring at the great red planet filling our sky, I recalled the look on his craggy, bearded face, the crinkle in his eye as he set his hands to the drum between his knees and gave his people a starting beat.
Those with drums followed my lead with nodding smiles. The rhythm took off, found its footing, and ran.
Those that weren’t drumming sang. Not words. Words were not needed. Tonight, we celebrated being alive.
I closed my eyes, letting the pounding drums fill my chest.
The sound of boots stomping the deck rose above the beat of the drums. I opened my eyes and chuckled.
Pavel danced in the center of the circle, leaping and jumping around the mast.
My people grinned and joined him, their arms flung to the stars, our voices filling the air.
I smiled, staring up at my sky, feeling the world move around me as it should, drifting with the currents. The wind brought the smell of fresh rain. Lightning flashed in a distant storm.
This was where I wanted to be, where I belonged.
My hands beat the staccato only my heart felt.
I never wanted to leave. I knew I would probably have to.
I would just have to savor this moment, the full moon dance.
And I did.
CHAPTER 19
TO HUNT A FEATHER
Morning brought not only a new day, but also a storm seething under us. We weren’t alone in the sky. The Jeng Fu and the Zarifa Samma rode the currents above the massive storm with us.
Pavel joined me in the command room. He stared at the gauges and screens over the technicians’ heads. “I do not understand how you can fly a ship vatching this instead of that.” He pointed toward the deck.
I studied the weather screen. Yes. I could look outside and see there was a storm. I wasn’t blind, but this screen gave me more information. I could tell where it was safer to enter the storm, where we would fare better in a battle with cats without having to fight the storm as well.
I also studied the radar. Two other ships sat inside the storm. One was moving swiftly. I assumed it was in chase of a cat. It changed direction and dropped in altitude. I nodded. I was pretty sure my assumption was correct.
That just left the other blip on the radar. I would lay money it was the Hebo Kowka.
Had they left to retrieve their other two objects? Or were they banking on the fact there were two days left? If that were the case, did they know where to go?
Why were they hiding in the storm? Pavel had said it was their home, but still. They couldn’t sit around, hoping a storm would lead them in the direction they needed to go every time.
&n
bsp; Pavel was still waiting for an answer.
I took in a deep breath, tracking the ship that had lost so much altitude. It was possible the cats had claimed their jelly. If that were the case, they would fall from the sky. The sea was not a safe place for an air ship.
“You get used to it,” I said. “When you’re in a lethara, there’s nothing to see except what your lethara tells you and what you see on your screens. When you’re flying a large, metal vessel, either a plane or a fuel station, you can’t see where you’re going all the time, either. Most times, the only thing you can really rely on is your screen.”
He raised his pale brows and held up his hands. “I am glad it is you and not me.”
“Your brother is in the clouds.” I pointed at the dot I was certain was the Hebo Kowka. “What is he doing? Will he attack us? What is he waiting for?”
Pavel shrugged. “I do not know. Ve are not in communication.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. Something in his tone said differently, but I didn’t press. We were supposed to be proving ourselves competent leaders, not trying to destroy each other.
Pavel’s words from the day before haunted me, though. People will not be fighting fair. People will die.
I needed to be on deck. “Isra, I’m heading up top.”
She nodded, her eyes on the screens.
I grabbed my rain coat and cinched the wide belt around my waist, strapping my sword belt over the top of it.
Stepping onto the deck, I headed for the helm where I would have a full view of not only my ship, but the horizon as well. “Take us into the storm,” I shouted. “Four by four quarters. Prepare to release the net!”
Men and women scrambled to meet my commands. Sails were trimmed, and the jelly was pulled closer to the ship, his body slimming as the harness holding him condensed. His short tendrils waved on the wind. He didn’t seem upset.
That was good because he would be soon.
The big, billowing cloud tops crept closer. The Jeng Fu and the Zarifa Samma lowered with us. I watched them closely. An uncoordinated attack on the sky cats was unwise. If we had an open channel of communication, that would be one thing.
A tube rose beside the helm and Isra’s voice poured through it. “Sayyd, I can hail the Zarifa.”
Thank goodness for Isra. “Do it. I want to know what she’s planning, what her intentions are.”
Isra was silent for a long moment as we sank into the clouds. Both ships winked out of sight. “Sayyd Ryo is signaling his intent to join the hunt.”
“You did mention that we’re not hunting.”
“I did. He’s aware of the lightning net and says he will keep his in place long enough to provide us some added protection. He asks permission to come alongside.”
Being able to see him would be helpful. “Granted. Have we heard any word from the Jeng Fu or the Hebo Kowka?”
“No, sayyd.”
“Hail them. I want them to know we pose no threat to either of them. Request their intentions.”
“That might have been something to ask before we entered the storm,” she said.
So I had a lot to learn. I was aware of this. I just hoped I could do so and not get us killed the in the process.
The Zarifa Samma dropped next to us, her sails popping as they were trimmed. Creaks and groans from the two ships filled the eerily silent storm clouds around us.
Ryo stood on the quarterdeck, staring into the clouds, his sharp warrior face fierce. “Do you think we’ll be joined by cats today, little brother?” he called through the quiet.
“Once I release the net?” I called back, not really shouting. Sound carried very well up here. I kept my ears peeled for the sounds of another ship. “Most definitely.”
“We heard you already found your other two objects.”
I didn’t allow my eyes to stop searching the clouds. We still had two ships out there, whose intentions were not clear. I wasn’t taking any chances. “And where did you learn this?”
“We intercepted a transmission from your ship.”
I jerked my eyebrows upward. “Do you know who it was?”
“A Kowkan, little brother. Do you have a stowaway?”
“No,” I said, quieter, my ears picking up something in the distance. “I have an observer. His brother is the captain of the Hebo Kowka.”
“Bad luck, that.” Ryo’s eyes turned in the same direction as mine. “It would mean they could be after your prizes.”
The clouds shown white against gray. “They wouldn’t stoop to that level, would they?”
“Unless they were able to find a flameless fire and dry water in the clouds, then yes. I am fairly certain they would.”
I glanced at him before returning my gaze to the clouds. “Who’s your observer?”
He raised an eyebrow and took in a long breath, hooking his thumbs on his belt. “Officer Carilyn Domitius.”
“You’re not serious.”
“Oh, indeed I am.”
How had the queens managed that? “How are you doing on your search?”
“We have the fire.” He took a few steps toward the back of the Zarifa. “I know where to get the rock. I’m not worried.”
“Why did you stay behind?”
He shot me a grin. “And leave you unprotected against the cats?”
I grinned back, searching the clouds. There! A wisp of movement, large and whiter than the clouds. “You forget, I’ve lived my entire life up here.”
He crouched, his hand going for the long sword at his back. “And you forget, little brother, that I’ve seen more danger.”
I rolled my eyes, but pulled my sword from its sheath. Along the deck, the rest of my crew did the same. We hadn’t released the net, so the likelihood that an actual cat was in front of us was unlikely. It had to be another ship.
The clouds shifted. More white appeared. A sail.
I took in a steadying breath and laid a finger against my lips.
Ryo nodded.
I headed for the tube and murmured quietly. “Be ready to be boarded.”
Silence was my answer.
The clouds shied away again, and this time the Kowka was clear. So was the Jeng Fu directly above it, their gunports aimed at sky cat ship.
I raised the tube to my mouth and shouted, “Rise one to one point two. Bring her about fifteen degrees to starboard. Ready the lightning cannons. Pavel, you might want to warn your brother he’s about to be attacked from above.”
Ryo shouted similar orders to his men and together we rose on either side of the Jeng Fu.
The cannons along the orange hull pushed forward and then were pulled back as big plumes of smoke rose in the air.
The Hebo Kowka splintered.
Men shouted from all ships in several different languages.
“Fire on the Jeng Fu,” I ordered. “Aim for the secondary masts.”
Lightning shot from both El’Asim ships, racing across the sky and hitting the Jeng Fu.
The cannons of the orange, web-sailed ship jammed forward again. This time, they were aimed at us.
“Prepare to be hit!” I pulled at my rain coat, yanking it off my shoulders. I pulled my shirt over my head and my Mark came alive with a sizzling hiss as whips of lava lightning touched the misty clouds.
The cannons kicked backwards and plumes of smoke filled the sky. The balls of finely packed colco rock whistled through the air. I sent my lashes out and pushed away several of them. They turned molten and dripped through the air.
I missed two of them. One ripped through the side of the of the hull at the forepeak and the other tore at the rigging of the main sail.
“Resail!”
Men scrambled to follow my order.
“Aim for the gun ports!”
Lightning laced through the clouds, but before we could take out more than a handful of their cannons, a cry went up through the air and the Jeng Fu sank, their jelly flailing as the harness fell from his lithe body.
I ran to the ra
il and looked down. They were sinking fast. Their jelly stayed close, trying to get back into the harness. They failed to regain control.
Before I could issue a command to assist, the Hebo Kowka’s jelly slipped its harness as well.
I stared in horrified wonder. “Check our harness! Man the jelly!”
Men scrambled, terror filling the deck.
The Kowka wasn’t having any better luck than the Jeng Fu in regaining altitude by re-snaring their jelly.
“Ryo!” I shouted. “Go after the Jeng Fu! I’ll take the Kowka!”
He issued orders and the Zarifa fell through the sky at a controlled rate, the sails snapping as they caught a current that took them after the falling Jeng Fu.
A growling hiss filled the skies.
“Sky cats!”
“Do we cut the net, sayyd?”
We could worry about the feather later. Two ships needed our help, and we couldn’t afford to endanger our own jelly. “No! Bring us down three and three quarters by four! Bring us round eight degrees port side!”
I rushed to the rail to get a better view.
The Hebo Kowka worked desperately to secure their jelly, but something was wrong. The jelly resisted the harness as if something was hurting him.
A sky cat roared almost directly above us.
I searched the clouds, but couldn’t see it. “Ready the grapple ropes!”
We weren’t falling fast enough. The Kowka was gaining speed.
“Drop six by eight. Bring us close!”
“Sayyd,” Isra called over the tube, “that rate could endanger the ship.”
“I am aware, Isra. Drop us six by eight. Do it now!”
We gained speed, but the Yusrra Samma told me it hurt. She groaned, her sides heaving. A board cracked somewhere next to me as the wind rushed past. We caught up to the falling ship.
“Five and three quarters by four!”
We slowed, falling even with the Kowka. The air whipped over us so hard, it took my breath away.
Their jelly slipped the harness again and twisted away.
A white shadow darted through the clouds, intent on its prey, the Kowka’s jelly.
I lashed out with a whip of lightning lava, not intending to hit the creature, but merely to steer it away.
The thing stopped in mid-flight. It’s huge wings beats slowly, creating a wind that drove us down. The cat’s head was level with mine as we dropped past. He bared his teeth. How could teeth be that big? They were easily half the size of my head.
