The Skyfall Era Trilogy: Books 1-3

by Matt Larkin

  Malin laughed. “You? Little Mahesa plans to challenge me for leadership of the Lunars? Boy, I haven’t declared myself War King. Did Ratna put you up to this?”

  “I promised you I’d have revenge, beast.”

  Malin dropped into his own fighting stance. “Revenge for what? Sparing your life?”

  Mahesa circled him, his form perfect. Malin kept his hands up, fingers curled, as he turned with Mahesa. The boy launched a fast jab. Malin parried. Mahesa moved faster, his cross caught Malin in the jaw. Mahesa’s other hand slipped from Malin’s parry, slapped him in the temple.

  Staggered, Malin couldn’t react. Both Mahesa’s palms caught him in the chest, sending him flying backward.

  Malin hit the ground on his back. Couldn’t breathe. With each gasp he tried to pull air back into his lungs. He’d never seen the boy move that fast. Had seen very few Moon Scions that could hit that hard. Not even Chandi.

  Malin drew his Potency Blessing. Enough of this. He rolled to his feet.

  Mahesa charged him, swept at his legs. Malin blocked the kick with his leg. Launched a series of blows. Mahesa blocked each. Escaped every grab Malin made.

  The boy caught Malin’s wrist. Yanked Malin right into the incoming elbow.

  Malin retreated up the cliff, spitting blood. He’d only felt that kind of strength once. Rahu, who’d been addicted to the Amrita.

  “Took more of the Amrita, did you?”

  Mahesa continued to advance. “Ironic accusation, beast.”

  “Since when did you start calling me beast, Mahesa?”

  Mahesa extended a hand to his side. “Did you think death would deny me my revenge?” A tree trembled. The shaking intensified until the trunk splintered. Shards of wood like spears broke away from it.

  Malin gaped. He drew his Blessing harder, flung himself to the ground. The spears flew past him faster than any seligi.

  “I’ve come to reclaim my throne. I am beyond death. I will rule the Lunar Empire until the end of time.”

  Impossible. “Rahu?” Malin scrambled to his feet, launched himself at the man.

  Rahu caught his wrist, spun it around behind his back. “You will suffer eternal torment for your betrayal, Malin.”

  Malin jerked his elbow into Rahu’s face. The man—ghost—staggered backward. “Cutting off your head not enough to keep you in the underworld? I’ll find something worse.”

  Rahu moved like lightning, launched countless attacks. Malin parried each, just as Rahu blocked his. A Moon Scion weretiger, now he could finally match the man’s speed and strength.

  Again and again they traded blows.

  Malin blocked on the inside, turned the block into a jab. It caught Rahu on the chin. The instant it slowed him was all Malin needed. He wrapped his arm around Rahu’s. Yanked him into his headbutt.

  His other fist pounded into Rahu’s ribs.

  Rahu’s knee caught him in the abdomen. Malin tried to block the pain. Kept pummeling Mahesa’s body.

  Something slammed into Malin’s shoulders, hurtled him away. He skidded along the ground, the rocks raking gashes along his face and arms.

  Malin tried to push himself up, but his body wouldn’t respond. Gasping, he forced himself to roll over.

  Rahu stood there, in Mahesa’s body, blood gushing from his broken nose. One hand grasped his ribs. Malin had probably broken three or four. The other hand reached into the sky. A palm tree floated there, dirt falling from its dangling roots.

  Malin’s legs trembled as he rose. Had the man hit him with a Chandra-damned tree? He was lucky his back wasn’t broken.

  Rahu glared at him. Shouted something inarticulate. The tree hurtled through the air, spinning in a horizontal arc.

  Malin tried to dive under it. It came too fast.

  The thing caught him in the abdomen. Pain blinded him, but he held his Blessing. Had to hold it. He felt himself flying through the air.

  Falling off the cliff.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE

  “Kertajaya tried to press his claim as Ratu Adil,” Semar said.

  Naresh nodded. Of course he would. And Naresh was running out of time to decide what to do about it. Lang had returned to rejoin his uncle. With the power of the Firewalkers behind him, Kertajaya might really do it, conquer the Isles.

  “He has at least two challengers after the title, though. The Spice King to the east, and a Lunar. Currently laying siege to Daha.”

  Naresh stumbled as they walked along the riverbank. A man in a wide-brimmed hat paddled a canoe past them, casting a wary glance their way. His passing sent ripples through the otherwise calm river.

  Semar paused until Naresh caught up.

  “Malin? Ketu?” Naresh’s breath came short. He didn’t need the tea to keep the fever down anymore, but his strength returned slowly. Of course, the thing about malaria was that it could recur any time.

  Semar shook his head and continued their trek upriver. “There was a Moon Scion lord, head of his House. His little brother went lunatic and was slain for it. This lord lost not only his brother, but his wealth and prestige, as well. Driven to the edge of poverty, cast out from Bukit, he turned to piracy. He might have made a mediocre pirate but for his tendency to draw men to his banner. When he spoke, people listened. In that way, you have something in common.”

  Naresh snorted. He was nothing like this Lunar. So a former pirate was willing to challenge Kertajaya. “But the real question here is what you will do, Semar. If you allow Lang to call enough Firewalkers to aid Kertajaya, how can this Lunar hope to defeat him?”

  “We have a long way to go today. Save your strength. It will be worth it.”

  Naresh scratched his head. Hiking through the mountains would help him regain his stamina, but it wasn’t exactly his idea of fun. His leg hurt. “You haven’t even told me what you need to show me out here.”

  “Very observant.”

  Damn priest. Naresh trudged on after the man. “So who is this Lunar?”

  “His name is Rangguwani. He was the lord of House Kshuparaka. He remains the lord in name, though that House has fallen out of favor.”

  Kshuparaka. Why did that sound familiar? Semar stared at him, as if daring him to ask. Fine.

  “Just tell me what I’m missing, priest.”

  Semar smiled, and ushered him further into the highlands. “Some things take more than words.”

  Surya’s glare!

  No wonder Chandi hated the man. Still, she’d have loved this trek. She’d often spoken of hiking in the mountains of Swarnadvipa, in her childhood.

  “Were I to explain everything,” Semar said, “it would mean less than if you came to understand on your own.”

  Wherever they were going, it would have been easier to Stride them both there and be done with it. Well, the exercise was good for him.

  Semar climbed a rock ledge, then extended a hand to help Naresh up. The ledge was slick, slippery. Naresh could have Strode atop it, but Semar easily hefted him up. The priest was stronger than he looked.

  From a distance, the sound of rushing water reached him. Naresh looked around. Mist rose over the mountains ahead.

  “You never answered my question. This Rangguwani is attacking Daha. Will you allow your people to aid Lang and Kertajaya?”

  “Should I?” Semar continued on, upriver.

  The sound of the water grew more intense as they drew near. Wet mist breezed over his face and tingled his nose. Ahead, Semar pointed to another rock outcropping, at least twenty feet high.

  “You could take us there the easy way, or we can climb.”

  The man was testing him. Naresh blew out a breath. Chandi had once said it was the climb itself that mattered. Fine. His leg raged with jolts of fire every time he pressed it against the rock. Moss covered the handholds, making them slimy and slippery. Ten feet up, his hand gave way, and he started to slip down.

  Semar caught his elbow and helped him back to the rock. He hadn’t even realized the priest had climbed up
behind him.

  At last, Naresh crested the rock and pulled himself over. He bent and reached a hand to Semar, then helped the Igni up as well.

  From here, he had a perfect view of a string of waterfalls that ran along the opposite bank of the river, falling from the cliffs. Forty feet high, maybe higher, though spread thin over a large area. Greenery overhung the waterfall and rose above it in the mountains beyond.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Semar nodded. “Up here, the river is a torrent. Tossed and changed and churned and refreshed, all by the force of the weight falling on it. But downstream, after flowing around many bends, it’s calm. At ease once again, at least until it reaches the sea.”

  The combination of sweat and mist left Naresh drenched, and his hands were slimy with the moss. He had no desire to unravel whatever Semar was trying to tell him. But this place. Despite the sound of pouring water, the chirping birds, the buzzing insects, it felt still. Safe, clean.

  Yes. Chandi would have loved it.

  “I’m worried about my wife.”

  “You will see her again.”

  Naresh rubbed the water from his face, then realized he’d just wiped the moss grit on his forehead. Semar sounded so certain, Naresh could almost make himself believe. He had to believe.

  So many things she’d tried to tell him, and he hadn’t heard her. If Semar was right, then by Surya, he’d listen next time. And maybe she had had to go. Just so long as she came back to him.

  Empu Baradah was his father. But in the end, he was a good man, and he’d loved Naresh’s mother. So … Maybe it didn’t matter Naresh was their bastard son. And maybe, in Chandi’s place, maybe he’d have kept it secret, too. Or, if not, at least he could see why she would.

  “If we are to move past the war and chaos,” Semar said, “the Skyfall Isles will need a leader. When that leader comes, first there will be more change, but eventually we can hope for calm.”

  So. “If it comes to choosing between the two, much as it pains me, I’d have to go with the Lunar.” Anything had to be better than following Kertajaya, a man that had betrayed his own family. Kertajaya had tried to have Ken Arok killed.

  Because Semar was right. The separate dynasties were not enough, anymore. Too much had fallen. And that meant they needed this Ratu Adil, insane as the idea sounded.

  “Are you certain those are your only choices?” the fire priest asked.

  “I don’t know.” But Naresh was no leader himself, if that’s what Semar was still implying. He couldn’t unite the Solars, much less the other dynasties. He was a warrior. He brought death and chaos, not unity.

  He turned to Semar. “Is Rangguwani a good man?”

  “He is a bold man. In a crisis, sometimes boldness is all that matters.”

  For half a phase or so they sat. Then Semar rose. “Change is painful, Naresh. But necessary. It’s the flow of life. Without the cycle, you find only stagnation and decay.”

  Or corruption.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY

  The sun warmed Chandi, despite the tide washing over her legs and soaking her sarong. She lay on a beach. Sand caked her face, her arms. It had crept in under her clothes, rubbed her skin raw.

  Breathing hurt. She spit out grit. Had to sit up. Her muscles gave out after a brief effort. Instead, she managed to roll over onto her back. Her dirty hair stuck to her face.

  From this position she could see Bendurana beside her. The Serendibian lay face down. Please don’t be dead. Chandi struggled to him, rolled him over. The exercise reminded her of the rope burns on her right hand, from clutching the rigging.

  The captain’s breath was shallow, but he did breathe.

  “Wake up, Ben.” Her voice sounded raspy, even in her own ears. She shook him with her left hand. “Please.”

  Her muscles felt like water. Had she really held Ben with one hand during the emong? At more than six foot tall, the Serendibian had to be almost twice her weight.

  What if using her Blessings that much had driven her lunatic? Would she know it?

  Chandi continued to shake Bendurana. He gasped, then grunted. He opened his eyes, shut them again.

  “Ben, do I seem crazy to you?”

  The captain grunted again. “Always.”

  Chandi bit her lip. Well, she did do some crazy things. Even lunatics ebbed and flowed. Maybe now was a sane period. Or maybe she was fine. Maybe the lunacy really did flush out of your system like a drug. Chandi smiled at the thought.

  Had she been a lunatic when she fled from Naresh? No. This time, she had only herself to blame for her mistakes. And she had made plenty.

  “All right, time to get up.” She found her own advice hard to follow.

  Ben opened his eyes. “We have to find Landi. She must be here somewhere.”

  Chandi had to draw her Blessings to block the pain enough to sit. She pulled Bendurana up beside her, then rose, lifting both of them to their feet.

  Landi. And Ratna, sweet Chandra. Her cousin. What could have led Rangda to take her cousin? Maybe she’d never know. Landi … She had saved them with the emong. The broken goddess had done one last thing for then.

  “I’m sorry, Ben …”

  He shook his head, his wet locks flinging drops of water about. “No. No, she was the Queen of the South Sea. She’s not going to drown.”

  “They’re both dead, Ben.” Ratna was dead. Landi was gone. Chandi’s throat rasped. She’d found her cousin again, but it wasn’t her. “That was… That was an emong she dropped on them. Whatever spirits were in them, human bodies couldn’t survive that.”

  Ben shook his head again, then collapsed against her. He trembled, and she had to keep her Blessings just to support his weight. She wrapped her arms around him. Strong. Be strong for him, now.

  Chandra, how would she react if she’d lost Naresh? Gods above, she’d been so stupid.

  A low moan rumbled inside Ben’s chest. She felt it as much as heard it.

  She rubbed his back for a long time before she spoke. “Ben … We need water. Food. Shelter. We need to know where we are.”

  His voice choked, came out as a rasp. “Probably Malayadvipa. It was closest.” She held him for a time. “She’s really gone?”

  What could she say to that?

  She wanted to cry but her eyes were too dehydrated. Maybe that was best. She had to be strong now, for Ben. For both of them. If only Naresh were here.

  And that was it, wasn’t it? No matter what had gone on between them, she couldn’t imagine her life without him. Only he understood her. And to see Ben now, broken… How could she have been such a fool to leave Naresh like that? No matter what happened, he was her husband.

  “Did you ever notice how her hair shimmered in light?” Ben pulled away from her and stared out over the sea. “Even candlelight. Even on our wedding night.”

  Chandi tried to speak, but the sound caught in her throat. “Beautiful,” she managed at last. The most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. And so torn, almost broken. And maybe made stronger for it all.

  “She hadn’t wanted to be a warrior. She was going to be a musician, a flutist. Even after joining the Guard, she practiced all the time. Sometimes at night, in Cenrana, she’d go up into the hills to play. Sometimes I’d sit nearby and just listen, even if she didn’t know I was there.”

  Another dry sob wracked through her. Ratna had liked to climb the cliff at night, and watch the moon and stars and sea. They’d dreamed of the men they would marry. And now she was gone forever. Chandra, please bring her soul peace.

  They had to get away from here. If she’d lost Naresh, she’d have died. And she couldn’t let that happen to Ben. Chandi forced herself to rise, then pulled Bendurana away from the sea.

  After a few paces, he stopped walking. “Where are we going?”

  “Anywhere,” she said. “We can’t stay here. I’ll find some coconuts first. We can think clearer with food and drink.”

  Ben grunted. “There’ll be fishing village
s along the shore. Probably either direction.”

  “Good. We’ll travel south. If we’re in Malayadvipa it’ll take us toward Swarnadvipa. We have to get back to the Skyfall Isles.”

  The Serendibian hesitated before he spoke. “No. We should go north, toward Au Lac. There’s nothing left for us in the Isles.”

  Chandi stopped and stared at him. “How about Naresh? You want to run? Our home is in chaos, war is everywhere, Malin is still out there, and you want to run away?”

  “Seems like a damn good reason to run, to me.”

  Well, true. But she’d never leave Naresh. And he was right, they did owe their people loyalty. And all the children of the Skyfall Isles were their people, now.

  “Ben, I know how hard it is to lose someone you love. Trust me, I do. But Landi and Loro saved us. They killed Rangda Demon Queen. I can’t imagine anyone giving more than that.”

  Ben still hesitated. She knew that lost feeling.

  “I don’t know why you ran from Serendib. I just know you feel you can’t go home again. We ran from our troubles in Yawadvipa and hid in Cenrana. You want to run again? You want to run forever? You told me you’d found your place among us. Now’s when you have to prove it. Are you going to make Landi’s sacrifice count for something? What are you going to stand for?”

  The Serendibian scowled. He looked at his feet, at the trees, at the sea. Everywhere but at her. Then he sighed. “There should be a city to the south.”

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE

  A haze clouded Malin’s memories. He couldn’t separate reality from his fevered dreams. He was pretty sure he was lying on a mat in a hut, somewhere. And Rahu—he prayed that had been a dream. Unlikely as that seemed.

  Someone had bandaged his ribs. His bones felt like they had knitted back together, but his whole body remained tender. Malin poked at the bandages. It stung. Perhaps his ordeal had tested the limits of even his healing.

  Pohaci slipped through the door and knelt beside his mat. “Thank Chandra you’re awake.” She put her hand on his cheek. As though nothing had gone wrong between them.