A Leaf and Pebble

by Andrew Monroe

  His luck only lasted him a few more rounds than me, though he’d been one card away from winning twice. The game was down to a handful of crewmen, with the rest of us idly watching or placing side bets, when a call came to anchor reached us. Volunteers clambered to the side, waiting to be picked. For these kinds of people, any chance to jump off of something high up would not be passed over lightly.

  Jameson came by, critically looking over the group. “Jormandur and Pat, you’re up.”

  With a whoop, the two rushed down to grab their fallpacks. With impressive speed, they were geared to go. Giant, harpoon looking pieces of metal were handed over, and both dove over the sides of the ship in opposite directions.

  With the stolen moon illuminating the deck, most everyone went back to their normal tasks of tying down and preparing for a night’s rest. Both ropes that were attached to the separate harpoons were tugged tight, the slack being taken out and then tied up. “Anchors secured,” hollered an indistinct shape.

  Before either of us could get off the main deck, a runner found us. “Captain wants you to meet her in the hold.” With a nod, he was off, more orders to deliver.

  “She could have just yelled for us,” I mumbled to Volant as we jogged across the springy deck.

  “Sure, but that’s undignified. She only yells on special occasions,” he said. “Crews are very particular about when they want to hear a captain yelling.”

  We stopped in front of the door. “That so?” I asked.

  Volant grinned, knocking once before entering the captain’s cabin.

  Three of Andreska’s enforcers, as I was beginning to think of them, were already waiting for us along with Andreska. All four looked oddly cheerful. It was the unsettling, cheerful look Volant would get before we did something stupidly dangerous. And considering what their definitions of stupid and dangerous would be, a flicker of worry tugged at me.

  “Blending in?” Volant asked, puzzlement in his voice.

  Sure enough, the clothes they were shrugging on over their standard sky pirate fashion were most definitely Erset looking cloaks and hats. Long, double breasted jackets went over silk shirts and vests. One of the enforcers turned, trying to fight back a crooked grin. Unsuccessful, he opened one side of the long coat to reveal a pair of knives hiding out of view. A spin, and we saw a pair of axes strapped to his back, naked edges threatening to cut through the coat.

  “Blending in, and going well prepared.” Andreska shrugged into her own coat as she spoke. “There’s a few citizens that need to be visited, and reminded of how things work in Balteris.”

  “Prepared?” I said, looking at the row of knives laying on the table.

  “Quite. I expect the Equal’s spies here will be less likely to relay any information if their throats are cut. Yesterday started something big. I’m going to try some surgical precision to prevent the cancer from spreading.” Andreska looked hard at me. “Is that going to be an issue for you, Learner?”

  I shook my head in the negative. “As long as it’s just the Equals.”

  They all nodded in agreement. A cloak was handed to both of us, and another two of Andreska’s more muscle bound crew members came in. Finn was one of the two, and Volant bristled almost immediately.

  “Him?” he hissed.

  “Get. Over. It.” Andreska said in a slow, clipped tone. “He’s quite useful, and frankly your little squabble is childish.”

  Finn waved to me happily before buckling on an axe and then hiding it under a cloak.

  Disguised as a group of rather tanned and tall leafers, Volant and I the shortest by far, headed down to the fallpack cage. We all suited up, no more joking. Nothing said at all, apart from short commands from Andreska. Each of the crew from Wydvis took a deep breath, and clapped their hands, the meditation technique I’d still not figured out.

  Doors opened.

  We jumped into the gentle night. Noiseless we dropped through the air towards the canopy of green with each person no more than an arm’s length away from the other. As we fell, I briefly wondered what Andreska planned to do with the fallpacks once we landed. Not my biggest concern currently, I decided. And then I was scraping through the canopy.

  Thirty-seven

  Since the upper layers of my home forest are made of the smallest, thinnest, and weakest branches, we mostly just crashed through until landing on one of the larger bridges strung about between trees. Luck was with us it seemed. The worst of any injuries was a decent gash on one of the enforcer’s arms. Besides that, cuts and bruises for most everyone. It’s hard to count your blessings when troubles already running right at you though. A pair of rather alert Guards had seen us crash through the canopy and seemed intent and taking care of the illegal entry.

  “Neutralize if at all possible,” Andreska commanded. “We are here to kill Equals, not people doing their job.”

  “Aye, Captain,” came a chorus from the enforcers.

  But when the two ran across a beam of moonlight, illuminating their uniforms, her order no longer mattered. Both were wearing the green and gray of the Equals along with their Guard uniform. Both were intercepted by Andreska’s seemingly unarmed men.

  Someone swore loudly but was cut off mid oath by nearly simultaneous pair thuds that uniquely sounded like someone being stabbed. Andreska didn’t even pause, leading us down the bridge from where they came. In a dark shadow next to the bridges end, we unharnessed the fall packs, anchoring them in a knot to a sturdy and low hanging tree limb.

  “You’re up, Nil,” Andreska said at the bridge’s end. “We need to find your parent’s home. Lead on.”

  We ran into a few more Thumpers on night patrol, these also wearing Equal uniforms. They were taken care of just as efficiently. It was beginning to look like the entire night patrol was made up of Equals, until we finally found a lone woman in Erset’s traditional Elite uniform.

  Considering the uniform, I was sent forward to greet her, while everyone else tried to look as innocent as possible, which sadly made us look rather suspicious. We exchanged a few greetings before she got more serious about why a group of our size was out wandering so late at night. Some fast talking, and she chose to look the other way.

  It took almost no time for us to come to my old home. Andreska didn’t even bother to knock, instead opening the door and striding in. My mother was awake still, reading a book by glow light when Andreska barged through. Through an act of supreme self-control, not something I normally associated with her, she barely let out a gasp when she saw us pile in. Ignoring the crowd, she set the book down and walked over to me, arms outstretched. We hugged tightly.

  “Let me get your father,” she said, still ignoring everyone else.

  The two came back into the room, my father pulling his long hair back into a signature bun he thought was stylish. “Bit late for a party,” he drawled, hugging me as well.

  “Quite. But, it’s an excellent time to be killing Equals,” Andreska said.

  My parents paled visibly in the weak candle light. “We are not Equals,” my dad said.

  “We know.” Andreska paused, taking a few steps forward. “First, you will be hiding both your son, and mine, until we can figure out a more permanent solution to their predicament. Just so you know.”

  My mother nodded in agreement.

  “Second. I need your help. A woman named Sliva lives somewhere in Erset,” Andreska said. “We need to find her very quickly.”

  “I know her,” my mother said, voice shaky. “She lives in one of the upper levels, pretty close to the Origin Tree.”

  Andreska almost looked pleased at this. She gestured to one of the men, who stepped forward and flourished two nondescript daggers, holding them out hilt first to my parents. They recoiled at this, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Growing up, they wouldn’t even let me pretend to fight imaginary monsters I’d entertain myself with,” I interjected. “Instead, I was encouraged to befriend them. Violence was a patriarchal construct used
to oppress women.”

  “He has told me about that,” Volant added. “Most passive people I’ve heard of. No offense.”

  My father sniffed in dismissal. “None taken. It’s a badge of pride for me.”

  “Dad, we both know it’s not a choice for either of you.” I said with a reassuring pat. “And there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “Time is not on our side.” Andreska made another motion, and her men immediately fanned back out of the home onto the wide walkway that circled the tree my parents shared with another dozen families.

  Leading the way, my mother took us towards Erset’s center. It was mostly deserted, which only led to a heightened sense of tension. It looked like everyone shared that sentiment. Without actually having the Equals coming at us, the enforcers became increasingly jumpy. A squirrel dropped down into our path at one point, a brief flash of fur, and nearly caused a group heart attack.

  The tension thrummed in every fiber of my being by the time we came to Sliva’s door without seeing a single Guard. Not good. My mother reached the door first, and knocked. The captain was against such niceties, opened the door and barged past anyways. The rest of Wydvis enforcers followed her in.

  The four of us waited outside, my parents too courteous to even consider entering someone’s home without an invite, and Volant staying out to watch me as I watched them. It seemed that this person was at least expecting Andreska, maybe not tonight exactly, but they were all back out quicker than it would have taken to have an awkward conversation about our capture, or anything along those lines.

  “Are they coming with us?” Sliva asked, indicating the four of us.

  “That’s up to them,” Andreska replied. It was almost a question, coming from her.

  “Would you mind if we stayed here, Sliva?” My mother looked pale.

  Sliva shrugged and stepped out of the doorway. “Make yourself at home.”

  “Nil and I are coming, right Nil?” Volant looked over at me, expression not leaving any room for argument. Not that I’d even consider not going along with whatever came next. This was my mess. I needed to help get it right.

  “Of course we are. You guys would be useless without me, and we all know it.” I grinned despite the nervousness I felt.

  My parents looked like they wanted to argue, but neither had the spine for it, and instead waved meekly before heading inside and shutting the door. You could almost feel Andreska’s eye roll but she held her tongue.

  “Tally ho, gents” Sliva said. Unlike the rest of us, she carried the typical Erset Guard-issue pole axe. This seemed odd until my brain caught up with my eyes and took in the black on black uniform she was wearing. She was an Elite.

  Now we practically ran, the lack of patrolling Guards becoming even more agitating. Our feet stomped across wood and rope and leaf, a ruckus in the night’s silence. We swung back and forth as we crossed a sturdy rope bridge that ran in multiple cardinal directions and was wide enough for a cart to be driven down. We twisted around back paths, crawled up trees, and jumped about as if the city were our personal playground.

  “Since the Equals took over the Guard here, they tripled the night patrols. We should have seen a couple squads worth of them by now,” Sliva practically shouted behind her. “Hopefully they are hunkering down in the barracks,” she added as we turned onto a side bridge made of rope and plank.

  We sped past the Origin Tree, Erset’s heart. It was supposedly the first tree in the forest. It was definitely the largest. Skirting its side, we began to descend levels until even the stars were having trouble shining down on us. This low in the city, almost all of the bridges were solid expanses of metal, most of these partially rusted. After a few more spans covered, we came right up to the base of an old residential tree on the outskirts of Erset. Stairs were built along its side, climbing back and forth from where the bridge ended against the trunk.

  “This his place?” Andreska asked when we stopped.

  “Sure is. I don’t know what all he has waiting up there. Could be the entire force,” Sliva said cheerfully.

  As one of the men started up the stairway, Andreska called for him to stop. “What do you know, Sliva?” She asked.

  “He keeps multiple sentries around the perimeter. Probably one or two inside if rumors are true.” She looked up in thought, tapping her chin. “Possibly some traps. I can’t imagine someone of his level of paranoia not having good old-fashioned nastiness hidden about the tree path.”

  “Wonderful,” Andreska said dryly. “Guess we might as well get on with it.”

  Off we went. Andreska, Sliva, Volant, and I sandwiched between the enforcers as we rushed up the stairs. Since surprise was most likely a non-option now, it seemed Andreska was going for a brute force method. Sliva’s booby trap prediction proved correct when Finn, who was in the front, fell through a section of steps. Having enough forward momentum when the stairs fell away, he ended up crashing into a decent sized limb instead of plummeting down to his death below. Still, we all stepped just a bit lighter after that. Of course, Volant had his left handed rope and was as smug as could be. Whether he’d grabbed it as we jumped from the ship, or if he had just started wearing coils of it everywhere, it didn’t matter. I was never going to live this down.

  By the time everyone was across the gap in the stairs, Andreska was in a full rage. Her expression hadn’t changed, but dark purple coloring was spread around her neck and face. A vein throbbed ominously. I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone look as angry as that. Apparently trying to kill her crew really worked the captain up.

  “Keep going,” she growled out, before taking the lead herself.

  We climbed back and forth until finally reaching a wrought iron gate covered in thorn-like metal spikes. It was an oddly beautiful piece of defensive structure, but ultimately useless. Sliva’s pole axe had the lock smashed apart shortly. If there was any further way to warn of our coming, the loud screeching sound of metal on metal was a blatant announcement. Just past the gate, and onto the lower terrace of this mystery person’s estate Andreska was so intent on infiltrating, waited a roughly equal number of Thumpers.

  Thankfully, none had bows, this being Erset where they were practically useless when people weren’t storming out of stairways directly in front of you. They did, however, have the big, heavy bladed pole axes which were quite useful here. There was a pause as everyone took in the situation. Each side sizing up the other, and coming to the same conclusion. Pretty even numbers.

  “This could go badly for us,” Sliva mused, sounding far too happy about it.

  “It’s definitely going to,” replied one of the Guards across the way.

  Andreska’s men fanned out to either side, shrugging off coats and hats as they went. Not a single one seemed upset. In truth, a smile was plastered on every one of their faces. A positively insane group of people, these gents. They’d just been involved in what was probably the first battle of the first war that Balteris had seen in hundreds of years, and they were strangely excited about yet another fight.

  “You could walk away,” Andreska suggested.

  Instead of replying, the Equal rang a metal bell hanging just behind him. It chimed loud and clean, a melodious sound in the earthy air. He winked at Andreska.

  “He just winked at my mother,” Volant said, affronted.

  A chorus of angry growls echoed from the enforcers. Sliva snickered.

  “He’s going down first,” one of the sailors said.

  Venomously, another agreed. “No one winks at our spitting Captain and gets away with it.”

  As one of the enforcers started forward, the man who rang the bell held up his hand, forestalling any movement. Andreska nodded in agreement and her man stepped back. Meanwhile, the bell grew softer until quiet.

  “Well?” Andreska asked after the final vibrations subsided.

  “Well,” he yawned, “it’s late and it’s not like we sit around with an armed party of Naturals just waiting to ambush people wh
ile they’re distracted with us measly muscle. They have to wake up, get dressed, and make it down here.” A door cracked open to our left, a well hidden one that blended into the tree. Less even odds now, I thought, as four sleepy looking men filed out.

  “God spawning kitten kickers,” Sliva cursed. Then narrowed her eyes, looking between the two groups. “Not a single woman?” She asked the bell ringer.

  “Gods, no! Turk doesn’t hire women.” The man looked actually offended by the question.

  “And why is that?” she asked in a dangerously innocent voice, taking one small, innocuous step forward.

  “Well, ‘cause women aren’t very useful.” His voice had the tone an adult would use when speaking down to an especially dumb child.

  “So much for walking away,” Volant said shaking his head.

  Andreska made another hand signal, her men shifting in response, all towards the tree and away from the edge of the landing. “Those ones are your problem,” she said to Volant and I, not taking her eyes off Sliva. “Try and be quick about it.” As if summoned by her words, one last man popped out of the side door, still tugging a shirt on. “Crivens,” he said to the other four, “sorry, couldn’t find my boots.”

  Another nodded in our direction. “Oh, not a drill then?” he said dismayed. “Ah well, let’s wrap it up quick and--”

  Concentrated waves of wind blasted into the late arriver mid sentence, taking him clear over the gated edge above the stairs and into the dark, leaf filled sky. The roar of it drowned out any noise the man had made. Volant pivoted, bringing a fresh wave to bear on the others. Not one to be outdone, Sliva chose this moment to let loose some yell about male anatomy, and proceeded to let her pole axe speak even more loudly as she swung about. Sinewy muscles stood out under her shirt, and a small part of me filed away a warning to not get on her bad side.

  Not wanting to be outdone either, I dove back towards the stairs, opposite the side Volant was engaging in a Natural on Natural shoving match. The other three Naturals didn’t even pay attention to me, raptly watching the rare stand-off between two like-type Naturals. Weird things tend to happen in such instances. Still, this annoyed me quite a deal more than it should. They should be worried about me, and my pride wouldn’t be ignored. My body moved automatically, while that inner voice took a back seat to provide feedback. I hefted the hammer sword Dioden had given me, while pulling a knife into my other hand.