Sounds of disturbance echoed off the polished wood walls, worried voices and someone’s startled outcry. Lithe’s bower was deep in the old section of the colony tree, on a wide corridor with one end leading down into a spiral of teachers’ bowers and the other with an open balcony onto the central garden well. There was no Fell stench in the cool night air, no screams, no sound of fighting. Lithe’s heart unclenched a little. “It wasn’t an augury. It was a dream.”
The auguries within the past month had been frightening enough. All the portents hinted that Fell were moving somewhere, though nothing indicated that they were near the Western Reaches. The reigning queen Malachite had sent messages to their nearest allied courts, but their mentors had seen nothing similar yet. But this had been more painfully real than any augury.
“But we both had it,” Reed said, stepping out of the bower behind her. She tilted her head, listening to the voices echoing down the corridor, from the bowers above and below them. She met Lithe’s gaze, startled. “Everyone had it.”
Then Auburn ran past them down the passage, calling, “Come on!”
They bolted after the older mentor, following him through the winding passages, past the teachers’ and hunters’ bowers and down toward the main greeting hall. The large domed chamber was carved with warriors in flight, swirling around the image of a queen in the center, her body curled to follow the curve of the dome. It was already crowded with anxious warriors and Arbora, but one figure instantly commanded all the attention.
Malachite stood in the center of the room under that image, her scales so dark they didn’t show green until the light struck them, the gray tracery of her scars like silver gilt. She was a cold still presence, as formidable as the mountain-tree itself, and just seeing her calmed the frantic pounding of Lithe’s heart.
The sister queen Onyx stalked around Malachite as warriors and the Arbora soldiers came forward to report to them. Her dark copper scales flashed angrily as her tail lashed. Malachite’s daughter queen Celadon stood beside her, while Onyx’s daughter queens waited nearby, along with Umber, Onyx’s consort.
The only other consort here was Shade, sitting to one side with his warrior Flicker and a worried group of teachers. Lithe hoped he hadn’t had the dream too. She glanced at him, but he smiled reassuringly at her. She and Shade might have Fell blood themselves, but they had never seen a real one until last turn. The thought of a Fell attack on the colony made Lithe’s skin turn to ice. Looking around the chamber, it struck her how many of the court were scarred by the Fell, on their bodies or their minds, even those who had been born later, or whose bloodlines had never left the Reaches. It can’t happen again, Lithe told herself. Not here. Please not here.
Tail lashing as she paced, Onyx spotted Lithe and said, “Perhaps Lithe has insights the other mentors lack.”
Lithe pressed her lips together. Most of the time no one commented or much thought about the fact that she was half Fell. Lithe never thought much about it herself, and was fairly sure Shade and the others didn’t either. When Malachite had brought them to the court, she had said they were a sign that the Fell had taken nothing from them that couldn’t be taken back, and everyone had accepted that. But Onyx had a sharp temper and liked to poke at Malachite through others, as poking directly at Malachite was a game too dangerous for even another queen to play. Still, when Lithe stepped forward to answer, she was relieved when Reed and Auburn stepped with her. She said, “We think it was a shared dream.”
There was a puzzled murmur from the watching Arbora and warriors. “But what caused it?” Malachite asked. Her voice was neutral and colorless, as if they were discussing a minor crop blight.
“The same cause as the auguries,” Onyx said, with another tail lash.
Celadon betrayed some impatience in the angle of her spines. “Probably, but we still don’t know what caused the auguries—”
Moth, one of the warriors on guard patrol, burst in from the opposite passage and scrambled to a halt in front of Malachite. He said, “A group of warriors are at the entrance platform. They say they have an important message from Indigo Cloud.”
“Indigo Cloud, in the east Reaches.” Lithe didn’t realize she had said the words aloud until Reed turned to her and said, “Whatever sparked the dream, it’s coming from the east.”
Onyx lashed her tail again and said to Malachite, “Of course, it would be something to do with your offspring.”
Malachite didn’t flick a spine. She told Moth, “Tell the Indigo Cloud party that I’ll hear their message in the queens’ hall now.”
A few days later, Moon woke during the night to the faint scent of smoke in the air. He nudged Jade gently until she rolled off him, and sat up. The light and his internal sense of the sun’s position said early pre-dawn; the window crystal was open and the air was just barely tinted with wood smoke.
They had seen some small settlements in the distance, mostly too far away to discern any detail, and once a structure stretching between two low hills, a little like a Dwei hive. The skylings who lived in it had fled the flying boat and hid inside before they could get a close look at them. But now the complexity of the scent on the wind told Moon they were approaching a much larger habitation.
He slid out of the narrow bed and picked his way over sleeping bodies to the nearest window. Briar, sitting by the door on watch, whispered, “What is it?”
“I think we’re coming up on a groundling city,” Moon whispered back. He paused and did a quick body count. “Where’s Stone? And Bramble?”
“They stayed with Delin.”
Stone had probably needed a break from the warriors. Moon reached the window and leaned out, but the sky was still dark enough to show stars, and he couldn’t make out anything in the distance. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep anymore. He told Briar, “I’m going up on deck.” He shifted, and climbed out the window.
He scaled the hull easily, pausing to peer cautiously over the railing to make sure none of the crew were in eyeshot. They were more used to Raksura now, but still easily startled. The deck on this side of the ship’s spine was empty, so he slung himself over the railing and shifted back to groundling. He stretched and rolled his neck. The air was cooler, the steady breeze tugged at his clothes. He went toward the bow, tasting the air. He could scent the salt of the sea now, part of the complicated blend of odors.
He went forward, the deck still warm under his feet. Two crew members spoke in Kedaic on the other side of the spine, an idle conversation about someone’s relative’s prospects. There was a lamp hanging outside the hatch in the spine, one of the bright fluid lights, and Moon circled around the pool of illumination.
He reached the bow and leaned against the railing. Trying not to think about the clutch, the court, and what might be going on at the colony was easier up here than while lying in bed staring sleeplessly at the ceiling.
The sky was lightening, and soon he could see that they were traveling over coastal plain, with tall grass and stretches of marsh. The great dark expanse ahead started to show flickers of light. Trying to decide which sparks were in the port, which were on islands, and which were ships occupied him until he heard a step on the deck behind him.
He leaned back into the railing and watched Callumkal approach. He didn’t think Callumkal realized there was a Raksura standing in the shadows. To test the theory, he said, “We’re nearly there.”
Callumkal flinched and fell back a step. Then he made a rueful huffing noise. “I hope you were concealing yourself with some power of invisibility.”
At least Callumkal wasn’t taking it badly. Rorra would probably have never forgiven herself. “No, I was just standing here.”
“Well, it’s early.” Callumkal leaned on the railing. “You can see it from here?”
“Just some of the lights.”
“Hmm.” Callumkal squinted into the darkness. Most groundlings couldn’t see that well at extreme distances. “We’ll reach it by full dawn. It’s than-S
erest, the largest trading port along this stretch of the western coast. We didn’t come this way before, of course. We went through the smaller port of Yukali, on the sel-Selatra. We’ll stop here briefly and purchase supplies.”
“Have you ever been here before?” Moon asked.
“No. Have you?”
“No.” Moon had never come this far north on his own. “Stone might have, but he hasn’t said anything.”
Callumkal considered the view for a moment. “We shouldn’t be there long.”
“You’re not worried about taking a bunch of Raksura into a groundling city?” Moon asked. Even if they all stayed on the boat, the idea made him uneasy. They had no idea if the people in than-Serest knew about Fell, and someone catching a glimpse of a shifted Raksura might prove awkward. Or worse than awkward.
Callumkal gave him a sideways glance. “Perhaps I wasn’t until just now.” He looked back toward the clusters of buildings along the coast, slowly forming out of the dark horizon, that he probably couldn’t see yet. “We won’t be staying long. And you don’t have to leave the ship, if you don’t care to.”
Moon appreciated the fact that Callumkal hadn’t attempted to make that an order. Jade, who probably didn’t want any of them, especially the Arbora and the more inexperienced warriors, leaving the boat anyway, would not have taken it well. “What kind of people live there?”
“Many kinds; it’s a very active trading port. I can’t pronounce the name of the main race, but they are from a group of species called Coastals. They run most of the ports along here and populate the closer islands. They come from an older groundling species that interbred with the shallow and deepwater sealings.” He added, “It is an interesting place. The port is still closely allied with the shallow-water sealing colonies just beyond the islands, and there is actually a great deal of interaction between them, with special trading areas in the docks.”
It did sound interesting. Moon asked, “Are you going there?”
Callumkal lifted a hand, making a negative gesture. “I’ll be occupied with obtaining supplies, and local maps.”
Moon turned that over thoughtfully. Sealings should have contacts all along the coast, and out into the archipelagos, and maybe beyond. It might be useful to see if they had heard anything about Fell.
By dawn the port city was fully visible. There were a great many spiral stone towers of different sizes—or at least Moon thought they were stone. The surfaces caught the light in a way that showed they were oddly smooth and polished, and might be treated with some other material. Between the towers were small dwellings and winding streets, leading up to the curve of the shoreline. Islands studded the harbor, and beyond them lay the limitless sea, the sun glinting off the white-capped waves, even as high clouds threw shadows across the gray-blue water.
The shore toward the north end was open beach, dotted with small houses or buildings. The other end was all docks, extending out far into the harbor, some turning into bridges reaching to the nearest islands. And there were boats and ships of every size and shape imaginable. Moon spotted a couple of flying bladder-boats tied up to a smaller tower, but didn’t see any Golden Islander craft, or anything else similar. He wondered where Niran and Diar were, if they had been able to follow as Delin hoped.
Earlier Callumkal had gone into the steering cabin, and Jade had come up to the bow to watch the city appear on the horizon, trailed later by a still sleep-bleary Chime. The others had followed them, Merit and Bramble lining up along the railing with Delin and Stone, and the other warriors perched up on the center ridge. Jade stirred now and said, “Did Callumkal say where he was planning to put this thing?”
“He said we’re going to dock on one of those, with the bladder boats.” Moon jerked his chin to indicate the smaller towers that seemed to work as air-docks.
“We’re leaving by dark, right?” Chime asked. He watched the approach of than-Serest uneasily. “The last time we went to a groundling city like this, they tried to give us to the Fell.”
“And Delin was with us then, too,” Moon pointed out.
Chime glared at him, not appreciating the humor. Moon nudged his shoulder in apology. “You don’t have to get off the boat if you don’t want to.”
“None of us have to get off the boat.” Jade eyed him. “Do we?”
Moon hesitated, considering his half-formed plan. “I’d like to hear if there’s any news, especially any news of Fell. Or things happening that might mean Fell are somewhere around. And I’m not sure if the Kishan know how to ask for it.”
Jade made an annoyed noise in her throat. “Where would this news be?”
“Callumkal said there were trading places where you can talk to the sealings that live in the shallows. They may have heard something from the sealings further out in the sel-Selatra.”
“That . . . doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Jade’s brow furrowed thoughtfully.
“Would they have contact with sealings so far away?” Chime asked.
“I don’t know, but we can ask.” Moon didn’t know much about the sea kingdoms, but a city where groundlings and sealings were allies seemed like a good way to find out. And it wouldn’t seem odd for a flying boat heading toward the sel-Selatra to ask if anyone had heard about any trouble out there. Or at least it wouldn’t have seemed odd back in the Abascene, where Moon had done most of his traveling.
Chime nodded slowly. “I suppose asking Rorra for help would be out of the question.”
Moon winced at the thought. “Right, no.” They had been getting along with Rorra fairly well, getting used to her scent and learning to treat it as just part of the scents associated with the flying boat. But Rorra was still a difficult person in her own right, and it was obvious her past as a sealing was a subject to be avoided.
Jade was still doubtful. “Have you ever talked to sealings before?”
“No, but someone you’re related to has.” Moon turned to look back along the deck where Stone leaned against the railing with Delin. Stone saw them all staring and narrowed his eyes.
CHAPTER NINE
Despite the strong wind from the sea, the flying boat managed to lower itself down enough to tie off at the upper level of the smaller docking tower. Like all the towers it formed an open spiral, stretching up from a broad base and narrowing at the top. The flying craft were docked by securing their ropes around the outer rim of the spiral, and then a plank bridge was connected to the ship so the crew could disembark.
Watching this process with Jade, Stone, Chime, and Delin, Moon asked, “Is that going to hold?” The bladder-boats docked here seemed to be secure, but the Kishan flying boat was considerably larger and probably stronger.
Delin told him, “The material is not stone, not metal. No one knows what it is. Vendoin says these towers were all here long before the port was built or the Coastals settled here.” He made an impatient gesture. “Another mystery.”
The breeze was fresh and strong, scented of salt and the sea and groundling city. The warriors and the Arbora were on the far side of the boat, staring at this closer view, with Balm to keep an eye on them and make sure none of them shifted.
The groundlings who helped with the docking must be Coastals. They were tall and slender, their skin covered with pale gray scales that seemed flexible and soft in texture, almost like feathers. Their heads were a long narrow shape, eyes oblong slits, noses long and pointed, jaws long and mouths small, as if originally meant for eating small shellfish. They wore loose-fitting clothing, mostly brief wraps around the waist, and their hair looked a little like water grass, curving back from the crests of their heads. There was variation in colors and shapes between some of them, which might indicate different races. The differences were probably terribly important to them, though like Moon, most other species probably found them barely noticeable. Like the way most other species confused Raksura, especially Raksuran consorts, and Fell rulers.
They watched Callumkal, Vendoin, Kalam, and two crew members go down
the plank onto the tower. Callumkal stopped to speak to the Coastals who had helped with the docking, then he and the others started down the ramp. Moon looked down the deck for Rorra, and saw her just vanishing into the passage to the steering cabin. She clearly had no intention of visiting even the groundling portion of the city.
As Callumkal’s group took the first turn down and disappeared from view, Jade said, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Moon faced her. She was serious, and, from the furrow of her brow and the angle of her spines, very worried. He said, “It’s how I lived most of my life.”
“I know, but . . .” Jade sighed. “You weren’t very good at it sometimes.”
Moon decided to let that go. Besides, she wasn’t entirely wrong. “I was good at this part.”
Jade seemed to find this less than reassuring. Stone said, “Hey, I’ll be there.”
Jade’s expression made it clear that she didn’t see this as a benefit. “Just be careful.”
Callumkal had told his own crew that if they left the boat, they must stay in the vicinity of the market around the base of the tower. Moon had heard a few complaints about this, but the fact that the boat was meant to leave by late afternoon had reconciled most of them.
Several Kishan left after Callumkal’s group, and Moon and Stone gave them a chance to get a little way ahead, and then followed.
Walking down the tower’s ramp, they had a good view of the city. Moon had spotted grasseater-drawn carts from the air, but at this distance he could see that the grasseaters weren’t the big furred or armored mammals he was used to seeing used as draught animals, but big flightless birds. They towered over the groundlings, easily twenty to thirty paces high, and their feathers looked more like shells or plates. Tall crests of that hard metallic plumage obscured the shape of their heads, but their beaks looked long and sharp. “Are the groundlings here out of their minds?” Moon muttered.
Stone said, “They might not be meat-eaters.”