by Nhys Glover
Looking at the map was like flying on an airling, but with names telling you what you looked at and the distances between one place and the next. Whoever had drawn the map had been very thorough and artistic, bringing it all to life. When I looked at it and the world map of all the kinglunds, what we were attempting to do was made real. If the rebels succeeded, one day I would be the Godling, ruling over it all.
No, I would never rule as the Godlings did, holding magic over the heads of the other kinglunds to get them to come to heel. No, whatever kind of government came into being after the rebellion − war. Call it what it really was, a war − it would not have Godslund controlling the rest of the known world.
"He and his airlings would have covered this area and this area over the last two days." Darkin pointed to the top of the map near the mountains and then at another spot under it. "He planned to be away four days so, roughly speaking, we carved this section of the Badlunds up into quarters."
It was now midday of the third day. So I could see that he would have been close to the middle of the map, or a little to the south of there by now. I looked at the terrain in that area. There were more towns in this part of the Badlunds, mostly because the rainfall was better than elsewhere.
Large properties run by powerful land baruns dotted the area, where hired beastling herders watched over free-roaming stock. The land baruns were laws unto themselves and didn't like airlings because they competed with grounded beastlings for the grasses. Where these properties existed Calun would have moved on. We were after wild grassland we could harvest without challenge.
Closing my eyes, I made myself relive the images sent to me by the terrified airling. I saw the scene ahead just as the gale caught her wings and threw her off-balance. The sun was overhead, so I had no sense of the direction the airling was travelling. Ahead was a deep riverbed, which seemed to be half-filled, running across their current path some distance ahead. Trees lined it in places and beastlings grazed contentedly in the long, grey-green grasses. This was not a suitable harvesting area, so I imagined Calun was just flying over it to get to the next open range. I could see a homestead like our own off to the left not far from the river. To the right there was a slight rise in the flat land with an outcrop of rocks on it.
After that the images had become chaotic. I couldn't even see where the antlike soldiers had come from. Had they been camped nearby? How many had there actually been? It had felt like an army, but an army couldn't have passed unnoticed in this unremarkable terrain.
What was I missing? Or, more accurately, what had the airling missed?
A road directly beneath her! It ran east to west, if she was flying south. A major road and a small settlement. No, an encampment not easily seen from above. They had tents the colour of the grasses! Gods, they were camouflaging themselves against us!
No wonder the airling hadn't spotted them. Such an abnormal sight would have passed an airling by, not identifying it for what it was. Calun would have had a better chance. Had he seen it, but not in time to avoid it?
Opening my eyes, I looked at the men and the girl standing around the table waiting for news of our fallen loved one. Before I said anything, I looked down at the map, trying to figure out where Calun had been in the area Dark had specified. I identified the section of river easily enough, because the main river ran north to south, from mountains to the sea, for most of its journey. Only in one area did a branch separate off to run almost west to east, towards Godslund. Along this stretch of river, but some distance from it, was the road I had almost missed.
Now it was only a matter of looking more closely at those two landmarks until I spotted the homestead I'd seen in the airling's image.
"There!" I pointed to the spot excitedly. "That place matches what I saw. The reason the airling was surprised was that there was an encampment of soldiers, using camouflaged tents, by this road. To the airling, there seemed to be a flock of men. Airlings have little concept of numbers beyond differentiating a pod from a flock. So I think there were maybe thirty or forty men in the encampment. More. I can't be sure."
Darkin looked at the map, his mind already turning over at a frantic rate. When he looked up, it was clear he'd come to a decision. "The first thing we need to know is Calun's condition and a more accurate idea of the number of troops. They have an Air Master with them, we know that for certain. But could they also be using a Master of Illusion, too? Why are they staying hidden like that? Did they hear about a rider scouting the terrain and come looking for Calun specifically? Or was it an accident − he was spotted and the Air Master brought him down so he couldn't pass on their location?"
"I can go in, like I did with the Clifflings," Jaron put in, his eyes alight with excitement.
"I can go too," Flea spoke up. "I can hear their thoughts. We don't even have to ask questions, which would draw attention to ourselves."
"No, definitely not. You're a child. We don't put childlings in the line of fire," Dark said stubbornly, carefully avoiding mentioning the fact that she was a girl.
I didn't even offer to go too. I knew that idea would be squashed as soon as the words left my mouth. It wasn't just that I'd be putting the Goddess' Chosen One at risk, not to mention their wife, but there was a babe to consider now as well. The arguments would be too numerous to count. No, I would not be allowed to put myself at risk. But mayhap I could stay at a distance and wreak a little havoc when called upon. I'd love to cross metaphorical swords with another Air Master. The earth had swallowed up the last one I confronted. At my command. I could do it again.
Over and over again in the last moon I had returned to that moment, trying to come to terms with it. I argued that what I did was the only effective method of ending the fight. I was trying to save my mother from death. When you went into battle you had to accept there would be casualties and you were likely to cause some of them. But that rational argument didn't keep the doubts at bay. It didn't make me feel any better about what I had done.
I had so much power. As Jaron had said, I hadn't even tapped into all of it yet. What might I do when I finally did? Might I blow up the world in a fit of anger? I was a powerful and frightening Being I no longer recognised. Without my husbands I feared I would be lost. Their love, and the love I felt for them, reminded me I was still human. I needed that.
But now one of my husbands was at risk. The one who felt like my other half. What would happen if I lost that forever? I had barely survived losing my twin, and Calun was so much more to me than Airshin had ever been.
"Airsha?" Darkin questioned me, bringing me back from my dark place.
"Hmm? Sorry, did I miss something?"
"Were you getting more information from the airlings?"
"No... I just... Never mind. What were you saying?"
Dark looked at me with troubled eyes. He knew exactly where I had gone. Hadn't he pulled me from that place only a quarter moon ago?
"Jaron wants to take Flea. He agrees with her that she'll be useful. Rama agrees. I want your input."
I nodded, thinking fast. I didn't want to put the girl in danger, any more than I wanted to put Jaron in danger. But there would be risks no matter what we chose to do. The only safe thing was to accept Calun's loss. And that was not an option.
"Flea would be very useful. And Jaron will be there to protect her."
For the first time, Flea looked at me with true approval. Suddenly, I was no longer the enemy.
"It seems I'm outvoted then. Let's work out how we're going to make this happen."
Chapter Seven
FLEA
Never in my whole life had I imagined I'd get a chance to ride an airling. As far as wishes go, it was up there with marrying a lud or the Godling himself. So impossible it was laughable. But, once the decision was made that Jaron and I would infiltrate the Godslunder's encampment, me riding an airling became a necessity. It was the only way we could cover the vast distance between here and there quickly.
When I'd told the
renegades I wanted to be an airling trooper I'd been lying. It'd been the only way I could see to be allowed to stay. But over the quarter moon I'd been staying at the Centre I'd started to wish it were possible.
And though this might not actually make me a trooper, or even a scout, it would still be my first foray into the rebellion. And, no matter the side, I was going to help get Calun back.
Some of the best moments of my life had happened in the first four days of my arrival at the Centre. Most of those were with Calun. Finding someone who could do what I did had felt unreal. Like a dream come true.
No, he did more than I did. I couldn't send my thoughts; I just received them. But it was close enough that I felt understood for the first time in my life.
We had talked for hours as we worked with the raw airlings. He told me about how he first found them and how his brothers had come looking for him and made friends with their pod too. That's when they got their nickname: Airluds. Some smart-mouthed idiot in their town had been making fun of them, calling them high and mighty luds who could ride airlings. And so they became Airluds.
I must admit, I had never heard of them before my arrival. But the stories of their time in the Godslund army, healing the broken airlings who had been treated so horribly, made my heart ache. And when I learned they'd gone against orders to go save their brother, the scarred one, I could understand why they'd become legends. Just not a legend I'd ever heard of before.
I'd shared a little of my life with him too, keeping to the truth as much as possible, without giving myself away. It was very comforting to talk to him about my fear of men who liked little girls. How horrible it was to be able to read their feelings, if not their thoughts, as they smiled benignly down at me. He'd understood and I'd felt accepted.
The only time I didn't enjoy our conversations was when he talked about Airsha. He spoke of her with such love I couldn't help feeling jealous. I couldn't understand why someone like Calun would fall in love with that small, colourless woman. How any of them could, if I was honest. She seemed remarkably unremarkable to me, although I had seen a little of her power and it was startling. But her gifts weren't her.
If you loved someone, it wasn't for what they had, or could do, but for who they were. Mam had taught me that. Dah had only been a fisherman, not even able to read and write, but he was strong and gentle and saw the world as pure magic. He had shown me his world and I'd never forgotten it.
Calun deserved a woman of his own. And though I knew he didn't see me as a woman yet, I had hopes that one day he might. One day he'd want more than a quarter share of an incarnated Goddess, and he'd look at me with love in his eyes, the way he now looked at Airsha. If either of us lived that long, that was.
Jaron motioned me over to the airling. It had been Calun's.
No, I had to get that right. Calun had been Bay's. But he'd asked Bay to widen her allegiance and accept Airsha too. And she had. Now, because she was the gentlest and most understanding of the breed, Jaron had asked Airsha if I could ride Bay to our drop off point. Of course Airsha had agreed. For a Goddess she was way too agreeable. Although she could turn, just like that, digging in her heels and lifting her nose, claiming she didn't answer to anyone. Like when I passed on messages from her 'husbands'.
They weren't really her husbands at all, as there'd been no formal ceremony. They just all started calling themselves married. What kind of person would want to spend their life sharing their lover, no matter who she was? It was a novelty now, probably caused by the rebellion. But it would change, and they'd drift away from her influence.
I rubbed my body against the airling. Her bay fur was soft and warm, and she smelled like... like nothing I'd ever smelled before. A bit like a wagoner's beastling, but not as musty and stale as those oafish creatures. I suppose because airlings have their sweat dried by the air. I don't know.
By the time I was ready to mount the sitting airling, I was more excited than I've ever been in my life. In just moments I'd be flying. And though the reason for the flight was scary and worrisome, the actual flight wasn't. Maybe there was something wrong with me, but the idea of being so high up just didn't faze me at all. I knew I could keep my balance. I knew I could hold on to the two horns that stuck up from the shoulders of the wings to secure myself. And though I didn't know how to direct Bay, I knew she would follow Jaron's airling. All I had to do was sit tight and enjoy the ride.
I mounted Bay unassisted and she seemed happy enough with my presence on her back. I stroked her furry neck and then a length of her leathery wing. She was incredible! This was the first time I'd been this close to one of the creatures.
"The moon doesn't rise until late," Darkin repeated his instructions yet again. "So you'll be able to fly in and land under cover of full darkness. It makes it more dangerous for the airlings, but safer for you. You must fly back the same night before the moon rises. No excuses. Get what you can in the time you have and then get out of there. The airlings will be waiting for you."
He checked with Airsha, who just nodded. Her gift of communication with airlings had grown stronger since Calun's capture, it seemed. Now she could almost do what he did.
"Send an extra airling if you can. Just in case," Jaron said, cringing a little as he waited for the explosion.
"You're not to try to get him out yourselves. Do you hear me? You have Flea's safety to consider, even if you don't think about your own," Darkin barked.
Airsha leaned in to give Jaron a tender kiss. "The Goddess will guide us all. You will have what you need when you need it."
I'd never heard her talk like that. It was almost mystical. Not that I knew what mystical was. I'd never been to a temple or worshipped the gods. But I was moved by what she said, and it gave me confidence that we could do this thing. She might be ordinary, but her gifts weren't.
Jaron looked at Airsha as if the sun and moon dwelled within her eyes. "You're amazing, do you know that yet?"
The little woman laughed self-consciously. "I know the damned bossy Goddess pushes her way in more and more often. My life isn't my own anymore."
"Maybe you need to just become whatever it is you need to become. Does a caterpillar complain when it starts turning into a butterfly? I don't think so. It's still the same creature, just... more."
Airsha kissed him again, this time a quick peck of amused affection. "You have no right to be so wise. Go on, get out of here. We have a brother and a husband to save."
"And a friend," I couldn't help putting in. I was undertaking this dangerous mission for my friend, and I wanted them to remember that. And it wouldn't hurt that it would be yet another way to wriggle my way deeper into their confidence. I'd need that soon enough.
Airsha acknowledged me. "Yes, a friend too."
The sun had set only minutes ago, and that quiet time between night and day had fallen. It was impossible not to feel peaceful, even when excitement had my heart racing and my palms sweating.
Jaron mounted and took to the sky. With no encouragement from me, my airling did the same. One minute I was earthbound, the next I was surrounded by sky. Wind whipped at my cheeks and hair, and my eyes watered so badly I could barely see. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the sensation of flight. The feeling of being above the world. Being bigger than all that existed down there below us.
I wasn't aware of time. All I was conscious of was the gathering night around us, the cooling wind on my face and the warm, safe body beneath me.
When we began to bank and then sink towards the earth, I was surprised. Had it been two 'turns already? Maybe there was a problem and Jaron was landing early. All I could do was hang on and go where I was taken.
Landing was a little rougher than taking off. The darkness made it more difficult for the airlings to judge the contours of the ground they were landing on. But after a few more wobbly hops than I'd seen them usually take, we were down.
I slid off my airling and rubbed my face against hers, thanking her in the way I'd been ta
ught. A wave of affection washed over me as I did so. Startled, I drew back quickly.
Gods' balls, did I just receive a feeling from an airling? It couldn't be!
"You all right?" Jaron whispered, coming to stand beside me. He was so tall. I loved that about all the Airluds. I was a tall girl. I had been since my first blood nearly three suncycles ago. So it was nice when I got to look up at men. Especially young, muscular, handsome men. Not that I felt the same way about Jaron as I did about Calun. I didn't. Calun was the man I wanted. But Jaron was still very handsome and his male scent made my heart pitter-patter. I had been a woman for a long time now, so I recognised lust when I felt it.
I nodded and smiled up at him. "Are we here? That didn't take long."
He gave a soft chuckle and thought at me. 'Two 'turns. But time passes fast when you ride airlings for the first time. Were you scared?'
I laughed and shook my head. I was louder than I should have been and he shushed me. Chagrined, I shut my mouth. I would need to remember all of my house-breaking skills, especially silence, if we were going to pull this off. Forgetting for even a moment where we were could get us both killed.
'All right, let's get this done.' Jaron withdrew a matted looking brown wig from his pouch and slapped it onto my head. After squinting at me in the darkness, to check if it was on straight, he gave a nod and turned away. Jaron, it seemed, liked to collect a store of disguises wherever he went. I knew all about them, as we'd also seen them as tools of our trade. Looking right went a long way to making you acceptable.
He himself was wearing a red tunic he'd removed from one of the dead troopers who'd been taking Airsha's mother to her death. It had blood-stains on it, but in the firelight it wouldn't be noticeable.
"Come on," Jaron said aloud for the first time, taking off at a soundless lope toward the firelight we could just see in the distance.
