by SM Blooding
He swiped a massive paw as we sank, but instead of scraping our hull, it flinched back.
“Keep the net up!” It was the only thing keeping us alive.
A gut wrenching splinter filled the air, coming from the Kowka. The main mast split. The cat-shaped ship spun out of control. Her sails tangled with lines, pulling at the other sails.
I raced to the deck. We were underneath the storm now. Rain beat at us. My Mark sizzled as it came into contact with the heavy rain. The winds pushed against me as I ran. I pulled my rain coat out of my belt and tossed it to the deck by the stair. “Drop six by six.”
I could almost feel Isra’s warning.
“Be ready to grapple!”
A group of eight men ran for the grappling hooks and secured them. Barak handed me one.
“Do not secure to their rail! Find a point below it!”
Isra appeared at the command door.
I met her gaze for a brief instant. “You have the deck.”
She nodded and headed up.
With a grapple hook in one hand, I leapt onto the slick rail, and perched there, waiting. The wind whipped around me, my Mark still active. I scanned for the cats as I eyed the ship falling below us. Closer. Closer.
The ocean was coming up dangerously fast.
“Four degrees to port! Drop six by seven.”
We fell a bit faster, and came closer, though it was difficult to keep her steady in the twisting winds.
We didn’t need to be steady. We just needed to get close.
“Three degrees to port!”
We were directly above their spinning ship.
“Launch and grapple!”
I leapt into the air.
It was like falling in slow motion. My feet touched their slippery deck. The Kowka spun like a drunken top. Her main mast was gone, her secondaries cracking with the strain. Men scrambled to secure sails, to keep the masts they still had, and to re-harness their jelly. A few of them saw us, what we were attempting to do.
I ran toward the rail, but ignored it. When we pulled upward—and we would—the rail would disconnect from the ship, leaving us with a railing, and them with a still sinking ship.
This was not a Samma vessel. I didn’t know if it had a grapple eye and from what I could tell, it didn’t. I found a metal tooth and fought to work the grapple into it.
A roar filled the air, followed by several others.
“Secure!” I shouted and ran for the tallest mast. I was going to need to get as high as I could if I had any hope of saving their jelly from the sky cat.
“Secure!” one of my men shouted.
“Secure!” There was a whole chorus.
“I can’t find anything!” someone shouted. “There’s nothing to latch onto!”
I didn’t have time to worry about him. Others could. The Kowka crew had caught onto the fact that we were trying to help them save their ship.
I scrambled up the foremast as the roaring of the sky cats intensified.
“Sayyd,” Isra shouted. She said something else, but it was lost in the wind.
I scrambled the rest of the way up.
“Secure! Secure! Secure!” came the shout from below.
I latched onto the foremast with one arm bracing for impact. “Secure!” I shouted with all my might to Isra. “Secure, secure, secure!”
The Yusrra Samma stopped sinking with the Kowka. The ropes of the grapple lines tightened and the world jerked to a stop.
That’s when the sky cats attacked.
The jelly stayed close to the ship directly under me, his tendrils seeking the comforts and safety of his harness.
Eight sky cats swept through the rain around us, each with powerful claws and teeth.
“Bring us up!” I shouted. “Use the lightning to bridge a net!”
One of my men scrambled along the shrouds, the latticework of ropes that covered the hull of the Yusrra Samma. “Sayyd!”
“Use the lightning cannons to bridge a net to the Kowka!”
He nodded, tucked his head into a gun port and relayed the message.
The smallest of the sky cats brought his wings close to his body and dove at us.
I brought my lightning lava whips out, reaching as far as I could.
“We need to aim to kill, sayyd!”
If we had to, but I knew that if we made the meal too difficult, they’d leave. All predators were the same.
The lightning cannons were busy working the front of the Kowka, leaving the rear side unprotected, and my whips didn’t extend that far.
Ropes were everywhere. I spotted one dangling several feet in front of me and leapt, my lashes whipping out, encircling the area in a radius of fire. I was watchful of the sails, the ropes, the rigging, the masts. It was very cluttered up here with things that would burn if I touched them.
Men were on the quarterdeck fighting off two large cats. I swung above them, tagging the cats and herding them away.
The rain slackened, though the wind wasn’t as forgiving. My hand slipped on the slick rope, but I held on tight, finding a slippery purchase on the top knot of the mizzen mast. Wrapping one leg and an arm around the mast, I concentrated on the cats below.
With a yowl, they fled the deck.
Ino City loomed along the horizon.
With no way passed the lightning cannons and my Mark, the cats rose into the clouds, hiding again in their natural habitat.
“Take us to Ino!” I yelled and the command was repeated down the line until our heading altered. The Yusrra Samma traveled with the Hebo Kowka dangling from her hull toward safety.
Feathers littered the sky. There was no mistaking this lesson. I scanned the sky to see how the Zarifa had faired. They were fighting off their last cat, the orange, web-sailed ship in their clutches metres from the rising reaches of the ocean’s arms.
Someone had tampered with the jellies’ harnesses. Whoever that was had to be found. Many people had nearly lost their lives. The games were about a seat on the council., not conquering other tribes.
It should never have been this dangerous. Anger churned in my chest. I was going to find the lying, cheating bastard who had orchestrated this and send him on a one way ticket to the bottom of the ocean.
CHAPTER 20
CONSPIRACY, CONSPIRACY
As we drew closer to Ino City, I knew we had a problem. We had nowhere to drop our disabled ships. Airships weren’t designed to touch the sea or the earth. We needed a place where we had the space to rig something else.
I climbed down the mizzen mast, but stopped about three quarters of the way down.
The man I’d seen from afar, wearing the gray long coat, stood on the deck watching me.
I called my Mark to my flesh, the blackening tattoos sizzling in the drizzle. “Permission to board,” I called.
He said nothing for a long moment. “Permission granted.”
I let go and jumped the rest of the way, turning to watch Ino City grow larger. “I’m assuming you have a way to communicate with Ino City.”
He nodded, his blonde hair dark with rain and plastered to his head.
“Good. I need to contact them, let them know we’ll need clearance on a different dock.”
He narrowed his eyes.
I’d just saved his vessel from the oceans where he would have lost his ship and at least half of his crew. “Look, I could go back to my ship and send the message, but I want to look at your harness, and I don’t want to hop to my ship and then come back to yours.”
Pavel joined us and said something to his brother, who didn’t take his blue eyes off of me.
Finally, the captain gestured to Pavel. “Tell him your message and ve vill send it.”
Rain cascaded off the Yusrra Samma, dumping on us. The storm was picking up again. I turned to Pavel. “Tell them that the El’Asim needs the runway cleared. They’ll give you the heading.”
Pavel frowned and tipped his head, but disappeared into the bowels of the ship behind me.
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br /> His brother hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
“I would like to see your harness.”
I didn’t think he was going to allow it, but then he turned toward the front of his ship.
His jelly floated at the top of the broken main mast, his tentacles twitching in agitation. The harness lay on the deck.
I picked it up. From what I’d seen, it had looked as though the jelly was in pain when the harness had been applied. What was it? A barb, perhaps? The jellyfish body was sensitive. It had no scales. Their delicate skin made them a delicacy for the sky cats. The idea of eating one of them revolted me. They smelled awful.
With the harness in my hands, though, I didn’t see anything sticking out. The leather straps seemed strong, soft, supple.
“Was there anyone in the rigging during the chase?” I asked, my attention still on the harness.
Silence was my answer.
Perhaps, he didn’t understand the language.
Dark boots entered my line of sight.
“Do you know if there’s anyone on board who’s allegiances are not with the Kowka?”
Again, silence met my question.
I sighed and looked at the person who had joined us. He was really dark, his head shaved and deeply tattooed. That was most likely his Mark, though the tribal patterns weren’t something I recognized. I could only assume this was a member of another tribe I didn’t know. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Everyone understands you, El’Asim,” the dark man said. “The world speaks your language.”
A thin line of disapproval laced those words. “Then does anyone know if there are people aboard this ship who had the motive to harm your jelly?”
“And risk dying?” The dark man’s eyes narrowed.
There was that. Whoever it was had to be quite the fanatic. “Is there anyone whose allegiance is not with the Kowka Clan?”
“Just myself.”
“And where are your allegiances?”
He straightened. “The Wolowo Tribe.”
“And are you willing to die this day?”
“No.” There was no doubt to the finality of that answer.
I twisted on the balls of my feet so I could see Pavel’s brother. “Have you performed a search of your ship?”
“It is commencing now, El’Asim.”
I turned back to the harness. What had I seen? Why had this jelly and the Jeng Fu’s jelly both refused to return to the safety of their ropes?
“Brother,” Pavel said, continuing in my language. “The message has been sent. Coordinates have been given to the Yusrra Samma, and we should be docking shortly.”
The captain of the Kowka spoke to his brother in a harsh, fast language.
Pavel answered.
It sounded like they were angry with one another, though their body language and facial expressions were calm.
I brought the harness to my nose and pulled it away with a jerk. It didn’t smell right.
I turned to Pavel. “When we dock, make sure this gets to Keeley Bahrain. Ask her to look at your jelly before you re-harness him.”
“Do you think he has been poisoned?”
I offered it for him to smell.
He pulled away just as abruptly, his nose turned up. “Vhat is that?”
“I don’t know.” I dropped the harness to the deck.
“Vill she see us?”
I walked toward the nearest mast so I could get to my ship. I needed my long coat. The rain was cold. “I don’t know why she wouldn’t. You can use my name, if you think you need to.”
A hand fell on my arm. It belonged to the captain.
I turned to him, waiting.
He tipped his head, his eye twitching, and offered his hand. “Eosif Novokshorov.”
I grasped his forearm. “Synn El’Asim.”
He grasped mine. “Thank you for assisting us. There are no hard feelings, yeah?”
“For attacking us or for Pavel’s involvement in telling you that we had something worth stealing?”
He thought about that, his lips pursed. “Yes.”
I grinned. “Just get it on your own.” I let go and climbed the rigging toward the Yusrra Samma.
A runway had been added to the level above the docks at the far end of the city when I’d overtaken the refueling station and inherited the Hands’ airplanes. About a half dozen of these planes were parked randomly along the wide strip. People scrambled to relocate some of them in order to clear a large enough space for us to unload our cargo.
With the Hebo Kowka and the Jeng Fu landed and propped up for repairs, Ryo and I moved the Samma’s to the airship docks. I had to report to my mother and the game council. I secured the torch, a feather, and the rock and headed for the dock.
Isra waited for me at the rail.
I cupped her head in my hand. “You’re in charge.”
Her smile was warm as she returned the gesture. “It was good to have you home, sayyd.”
“It was good to be home.”
Her forehead clunked against mine. “Come back to us.”
I nodded and pulled away. “Take her above the storm. Keep our people safe.”
She took a step back. “I always do.”
I perched on the rail and leapt.
Ryo met me on the long dock.
I grinned. “Good flying out there.”
Pavel leapt onto the dock behind me.
Ryo’s dark brow rose. “You too.” He grasped me in a strong hug and pulled back, clapping my shoulder. He glanced at the departing Yusrra Samma. “You are not heading back out?”
I shook my head and hefted the things in my hands. The feather drooped and clumped, but the algae glowed bright.
“You’re not worried that you’re coming back too early?”
I headed toward the Zarifa, which was in the direction I needed to go anyway. “The point of this exercise was to get the objects. I’ve done so.”
He didn’t say anything, just smiled as he studied the hull of his ship.
“I would love to stay out there,” I said, watching the Zarifa’s graceful lines, my heart recalling the feelings of home. “But someone is sabotaging other ships, and I need to find out who before it gets worse. Do you know if the saboteur was found on the Jeng Fu?”
“Let’s just say that if they found this person, they did not tell me, and that person will not be long in this sky.”
If he had been aboard my ship, I would feel the same way.
He let out a moaning sigh. “I have to find a rock. I will be back tomorrow.”
“Good luck, brother. You command the air well.”
“You’re not so bad either.” He hopped onto the loading platform and rose, boarding his ship.
Ryo would make an excellent airman. I needed to speak to Mother about that.
I gestured to Pavel to follow.
I walked toward the closest bridge leading to the next level, and found a rising platform that wasn’t busy.
The arena was crowded. Occasionally, I would see a booth, or hear the strains of a song as I walked by. My rain coat was too heavy to be worn inside the lethara. It was starting to get uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to bear my Mark. Not here. Not now.
Something roared and the floor shook as I passed a fenced off section. The spectators roared, clapped, and stomped.
I pushed through the crowds, most shying away as my wet coat touched them. Inside the fence, a woman fought hand to hand with a creature I’d never seen before. The six-legged, blue and white furred creature bellowed and the woman charged, wrapping her arms around its chest and pinning it to the ground. She wrapped her long, bare legs around the beast and held him as she bandaged one of his legs. With the bandage in place, she released him and jumped back.
The crowd cheered.
Several more of these fenced arenas were scattered around, making maneuvering difficult.
A large tent stood tall behind the pole holding the list. A long table sat at the back.
Few people stood inside. I spotted my mother among those behind the table.
She saw me and ended the conversation, heading toward the table I was closest to.
I set down my three objects, the rock and stick thunking against the table.
Surprise filtered over the expressions of all those immediately around us.
“You have completed your task a full day early,” Mother said.
I gestured to Pavel. “My observer will give you the full report.”
Mother watched the man with a narrowed gaze. “We will take yours as well just to ensure there are no discrepancies.”
We didn’t have that kind of time. “We have a bigger problem. Someone attacked the air jellies of at least two of the airships.”
Mother turned her razor sharp gaze on me. “Are you sure of this?”
I shifted from one foot to the next under the power of her stare. “I watched the airships fall from the sky at the same time. They were from different families. This was a concerted effort by someone. We need to find out who and how many are affected.”
Marko Dudyk stepped up. “This is a serious charge, even for the El’Asim.”
“The Samma’s are fine,” I said. “The Kowka and the Jeng Fu are currently on the runway in repair.”
“Then, if there are other ships under attack, it is probably the El’Asim orchestrating it.” Marko raised his chin.
Pavel answered. “I do not think so. The El’Asim had his jelly guarded against sabotage.”
Marko studied me carefully. “Why?”
“I had a bad feeling.” My lips tightened as I turned my attention back to Marko Dudyk. “We need to see who else is affected.”
“We won’t know until tomorrow.”
“That will be too late!”
“These are experienced airmen, El’Asim,” Marko shouted over me. “I will not provide a search party when we have no idea where anyone was headed, or if anyone is in trouble. If someone is targeting the jellies, there are other ways of harnessing one.”
I clenched my jaw and looked to my mother. “I will need to know what vessel Iszak Tokarz is commanding.”
