She sighed. She had a darkening bruise on her forehead and the skin under her eyes looked swollen. “The steering is pulling to the right. But we’re still floating.” She added dryly, “We’ll be comfortable until the food and water run out.”
Kalam said, “The sunsailer had just filled its water tanks from the spring on the island, so . . .” He looked around at everyone and shrugged a little. “That won’t be a problem for a while.”
Delin stirred. It was hard to tell past the weathered gold of his skin, but Moon thought his face looked a little sunken. He gestured toward the windows. “When we search the city, we will surely find a way out.”
Rorra said, “But we have to find it before the Fell get in. And this place is very large. It must fill the entire escarpment.”
Delin nodded. “That is a succinct description of our problem.”
Bramble came in with a yawning, bleary-eyed Chime. They were followed by Song and Root carrying wooden trays and accompanied by a strong scent of food. Moon tried to get up to help but was still moving so slowly that they had set their burdens down on the benches by the time he was on his feet. Song began to pass out bowls, saying apologetically, “It’s all cooked. You’re supposed to eat it with these little scoop things.”
It was a thick broth with fish, crunchy white and red roots, something green and leafy that tasted like salty sea wrack, and a thick piece of bread in the bottom. The sight of it woke Moon’s stomach and he finished off three bowls before he took another breath. Food had been a good idea; he already felt much less bleary and slow.
All three groundlings were still on their first bowl. Delin was unsurprised, but Kalam and Rorra had initially looked puzzled at the number of bowls. After watching the Raksura eat, they evidently understood. With Stone on his fifth bowl, Kalam asked, “Do you want me to get some more?”
Stone, still eating, shook his head. Moon said, “No, this should be enough.” It was enough for now, mostly because everyone had been catching fish off and on during the day. But if they were trapped here for longer than a few days, flying around searching this place and expending energy, it was going to become a problem.
Jade walked in, trailed by Briar. She stopped to check Balm and River, then sat down next to Moon. He said, “Did you eat?”
She began, “I don’t need—” and Moon handed her a bowl. She looked down at it for a moment, then reached for the scoop.
Briar took a bowl from the tray. “We’ve been talking about searching for the way out,” she said, while Jade’s mouth was full.
Jade nodded, swallowed, and added, “We need to start as soon as you’re ready.” She watched Moon for a moment. “Are you ready?”
He was a lot more ready now than he had been before the food. “Sure.”
Bramble was refilling everyone’s cups with tea. “About that. You need to let me help you.”
Merit seconded that, collecting empty bowls to pile back on the tray. “Bramble figured out which symbols to look for to get in here, and you might need her help figuring out other things.”
Delin said, “I will help, as well.”
“You don’t look so good,” Chime told him, before Moon could. “I think you need to stay here and rest.”
“I will look worse if I am eaten by Fell,” Delin countered.
Jade eyed them, and finished chewing. “Well, you’re right. We’ll take Bramble and Delin.”
With Callumkal watching worriedly, the Raksura leapt from the deck down onto the nearest dock. The party was Moon, Jade, Stone, Song, and Briar, with Root and Chime carrying Bramble and Delin. Rorra was a last-moment addition and was travelling under her own power, with one of the flying packs salvaged from the wreck of the flying boat.
As Moon landed, his spines wanted to shiver and he refused to let them; it was too easy to imagine something waiting in that dark, watching them. The warriors set Bramble and Delin down so they could get their lights out and so everyone could stare warily around at the immense shadowy space. Rorra had a small version of a distance-light mounted on the shoulder of her pack, and it cut sharply through the darkness. Merit had spelled a collection of the metal cups and the Kishan had contributed some net bags of glowing moss. Bramble whispered, “It’s scarier without the groundling boat,” and Briar hushed her.
“I think I agree,” Rorra murmured, tugging the strap of her pack.
Rorra was here because Kellimdar and Vendoin had seemed to want a member of the Kishan party to go along, and Callumkal had given in to placate them. Moon thought they were more suspicious of Delin than the Raksura, not wanting a rival scholar to have a chance at any discoveries. Kalam had volunteered to go, but in the face of Callumkal’s obvious fear for his safety, Rorra had offered to go instead. This was actually helpful, since if they found anything underwater that needed exploring, it would be easier for her to do it.
Merit had stayed behind with Balm and River, to give them time to recover fully in their healing sleep. He also intended to scry. Moon had heard him tell Bramble, “You go find some more doors you shouldn’t and I’ll stay here and fail to scry anything worth knowing.”
On the far side of the boat, Vendoin, Kellimdar, and their guards were lifting into the air with their flying packs, going to copy the writings on the walls above the other docks. Though Vendoin had told Jade, “From what I see so far, these inscriptions may be standard greeting texts we’ve seen before, in the builder ruins in Kish. But it’s that inscription—” She had nodded up toward the broad arch above the central hall, her armor plates cracking with her excitement. “—that may truly prove the most valuable. It’s in a prominent spot, and I am sure I have never seen it before.”
Stone was in his winged form, and had paced a short distance down the dock to the ramp. Jade said, “Forward first.” It was obvious that the likeliest spot for another opening was at the opposite side of the escarpment from this one. If they were lucky, the canal leading away from the basin would cut straight through the city to another hidden doorway. Of course, the Fell were bound to think of that, too. “Bramble, you go with Stone.”
Bramble shouldered one of the moss-light bags and went to Stone. He held out his hand and she scrambled up his scales to a secure position next to his collar flange. Stone leapt up to the first pillar along the edge of the canal, and then to the next, just out of range of the sunsailer’s lights. Bramble’s lighted net swung wildly, then stilled as she steadied it. Moon squinted to see, but couldn’t spot anything but the carved surface of the pillar, and the water stretching beyond.
“Ready,” Jade said. Moon glanced back at Delin and Chime. Rorra tugged at the strap on her pack, and it pulled her upward, her boots hovering a few inches above the pavement.
“Here we go again,” Chime muttered as he picked up Delin.
Jade sprang into flight and Moon leapt after her with the others.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Moon took the last position in the group, wanting Chime and Delin to be closer to Jade and Stone, and wanting to keep an eye on Rorra in case her pack failed. And to make sure nothing came out of the dark to snatch anyone away.
After several jumps from pillar to pillar, the light from the sunsailer faded, making the hall ahead look like a dark and slowly shrinking tunnel. The rest of Moon’s senses could tell they were still moving through a cavernous space. The lap of water against rock, the click of claws finding purchase on the stone, an occasional half-heard sound from the ship behind them all struck faint echoes from distant walls.
Then Bramble’s light jerked and Stone hissed. Moon froze, his claws gripping the edge of a pillar. Everyone stopped. Carrying Delin, Chime had landed just above Moon. Rorra maneuvered her pack close to his shoulder.
After a moment, Moon heard what must have alerted Stone. Claws scrabbled on rock below them, near the edge of the canal. Jade, on the pillar just ahead, turned back and tapped the spell-light hooked around her pack, and then pointed toward Rorra. Interpreting this, Moon whispered, “She wants
you to use your light and try to see what it is.”
Rorra hovered closer, gripping the light mounted on the shoulder of her flying pack. Her voice low, she said, “Where is it?”
Holding on with one hand, Moon pointed to where he thought the scrabble had come from. Rorra angled the light and squeezed it, and the illumination suddenly doubled. It formed a thin shaft, throwing light down onto the edge of the canal. It showed only empty pavement and lapping water, but movement just on the edge of the darkness made Rorra twitch the light over.
Something huddled on the pavement, something at least the size of a small warrior. It had multiple spiky limbs, and a protective shell in bright colored stripes, red, yellow, blue. So many antennae stood out from the head that Moon couldn’t see any features, if it had eyes or a mouth. Two curved claws so sharp the light glinted off their edges shot out from the tangle of limbs, then the creature slid off the pavement into the water.
Rorra moved her light around, searching for more, but as far as they could see there was no movement. That still left a lot of dark space down there that they couldn’t see. “Well, we’re not alone in here,” Chime muttered.
“No swimming,” Moon agreed. They hadn’t seen any waterlings like that around the island, so the creatures might live in the city. All this water was coming in from the open sea some way, probably through channels buried deep in the rock. “Seen anything like that before?” he asked Rorra.
Eyeing the dark water, she said, “No, not that large. There’s a tiny version something like it in the shallows near Vesselae that can snip your fingers off if it gets the chance. I would think a large creature with claws like that would be extremely deadly.”
Moon thought so too. Ahead, Jade hissed a command and they continued on.
They passed a long section where there were no archways leading off into the depths of the city, just the supporting pillars and the ledge running along the side of the canal. Moon could tell the hall wasn’t quite straight, but curved gently toward the left and the eastern end of the escarpment. Then Bramble’s light jerked up suddenly and stopped. As Moon drew closer, he saw Stone had landed on a bridge or gallery, stretching across the hall. The canal extended below it, but seemed to open up into a large space. I really hope this doesn’t dead-end into another basin, Moon thought. But this city was huge; surely it couldn’t function with just one entrance.
The others caught up one by one and Moon reached them and landed beside Chime and Delin. It wasn’t just a bridge, it was a junction. Standing on Stone’s shoulder, Bramble held her net-light up as high as she could, revealing a giant seven-sided space, with tall doorways in each wall.
Chime set Delin on his feet and stepped over to a large oblong of crystal set into the floor. He crouched to peer down through it. “So does the main canal split into seven branches, and one of these hallways follows each branch?”
Jade flicked a spine in Root and Song’s direction and they both jumped over the edge of the bridge. After a few moments they climbed back up and Song reported, “Seven canals, each right below one of these doors. They aren’t nearly as tall and wide as the hall we just came up, and it would be tricky to fly along them. They all look big enough for the groundling boat, though.”
Jade said grimly, “Yes, but which one do we follow?” She turned to look at the doors. “There isn’t a middle one. That would have been helpful.”
There were a few dismayed hisses as the realization penetrated. All the doors were set at angles, none obviously a continuation of the main hall.
Rorra stepped to the edge of the bridge to look down at the canal, angling her light to let her see the sides. “If the halls parallel each canal all the way along, that’s easier than having to trace them by water. Particularly if the canals are inhabited by those waterlings. It’s just a matter of picking the right one.”
“‘Just a matter?’” Delin echoed.
“I didn’t say it was an easy matter,” Rorra admitted, stepping back.
Jade showed her fangs in a brief grimace. “So we may have to follow each one to see if there’s an outer door at the end.”
Moon didn’t think the task was that enormous. “The city’s tall, but it isn’t that wide. It would take, what, maybe a couple of hours to cross the top? The outside walls taper in, but not that much. So searching each canal shouldn’t take that long.”
“They might connect to each other,” Chime added. “That should help, too.”
Jade paced away. “It would still be better if we picked the right one first.”
With Bramble on his shoulder, Stone moved to the first door, letting the light fall down it a little. It was a hallway, on a smaller scale than the big one that led here, with carvings on the arching walls and maybe pillars farther down. Stone moved to check each door, but the halls seemed all the same. There were bands of carving around the doors, but they were all the same size, and nothing seemed to indicate one door was more important than the others. Bramble reported, “I don’t see any of the symbols we found on the entrance.” She added wryly, “That would have been handy.”
“Maybe we should have brought Vendoin to see the writing,” Root said. “I mean, if there’s writing.”
Delin stood near a pillar, examining the carving. “She would still have to translate it, which takes time. And the Hian interpretation of foundation builder language is greatly disputed.” His voice dry, he added, “I heard a great deal about that on the way to the Reaches.” He looked around again, squinting in the dim light. “The designs are asymmetrical. And the entrance was toward the eastern end of the escarpment, not in its center. There is less room for the canals on the eastern side.”
Jade’s tail lashed slowly as she considered it. “So it’s more likely some of these canals dead-end, or get smaller.”
Briar said, uncertainly, “There’s enough of us. We could split up to search each. That would take less time.”
Bramble snorted. “There’s stories that start that way and they all end ‘and then they were eaten.’” Stone grunted in agreement.
Everyone was looking at Jade, waiting for a decision. Trying to give her some breathing room, Moon said, “Do you want to go back and wait for Merit to scry?” He didn’t expect her to say yes, considering how badly Merit’s attempts to scry had been going.
“There’s no telling how long that will take.” Jade hesitated, her tail still moving slowly. “Chime, which hall should we start with?”
Moments like these were when Moon felt Chime’s former life as a mentor came in handy. A warrior would have balked at taking the responsibility; at this point, Moon would have picked a door at random. Chime moved forward, studying each doorway intently. “Asymmetrical,” he murmured. “And the gate into the city was toward the east, and a lot of these carved designs have a focal point toward the left . . .”
Moon, with Jade, Stone, Rorra, and the warriors, turned to stare at the nearest carvings. Bramble and Delin just nodded. Once it was pointed out, Moon could see that many of the carvings seemed to look better if you tilted your head to the left, but he had no idea what that meant. Chime finished, “So I’m guessing we should try that door first.” He pointed to the one third from the left. He turned to consult Bramble and Delin.
Bramble said, “It could be that one or the one to its right, but . . . Yes, I think we should start with it.”
Delin nodded agreement. “Your theory is sound, Chime.”
“What just happened?” Rorra asked Moon.
He said, “I have no idea.”
The hall wasn’t tall or wide enough to make flying or leaping feasible, and while a bounding gait would cover ground faster, it wasn’t a good way to travel through a place as strange and potentially dangerous as this. So they walked.
Moon was worried this might be hard on Delin and Rorra, but Delin seemed more interested in trying to study the wall carvings their lights revealed, and Rorra didn’t seem fatigued. Moon still meant to remind Jade to call for a rest sooner than sh
e normally would need to.
Every fifty paces or so there was another oblong crystal inset in the floor. The glass was cloudy with age, but still allowed a dim view down to the canal below, just enough to see Rorra’s distance-light glinting off the water. With the others, Moon kept tasting the air, but all he could detect was saltwater, rock, nervous Raksura, nervous sealing, and Delin. Keeping his voice low, Chime said, “This isn’t the worst place we’ve ever explored. If it wasn’t for the possibility of a monster locked up in here somewhere, this wouldn’t be so bad.” He was clearly trying to keep his spirits up, because even as he said it, his spines twitched uneasily.
Walking ahead of them, Briar added, “And that we might starve to death if we can’t get past the Fell.”
“Right, I forgot about that one,” Chime said sourly. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“Remember the foundation builder writing,” Delin said. “This place is probably not of the forerunners. Unless they took control of it somehow, before or after the foundation builders departed.”
“Then why did it let Chime open it?” Bramble asked.
“Good question,” Delin said wryly.
Ahead, Stone stopped, and Bramble held up the net-light.
A staircase twisted up a pillar, leading up through an open shaft in the ceiling. Across the hall, an opening showed another set of steps curling down to the canal below. Moon ducked around Stone’s big furled wing to see the steps. Each was broad and flat across the middle, with two raised sections to either side, one a little higher than the other. Delin and Rorra moved up beside him, and Rorra said, “More than two legs? Or just decorative?”
“I don’t know.” Delin leaned into the stairwell, holding his light. “Odd.”
Stone set Bramble down, then shifted to his groundling form. Rorra flinched away from the abrupt transformation, but Delin just stepped closer to take advantage of the unobstructed view. Bramble’s frills brushed Moon’s scales as she pushed between him and Chime to see.
Briar, Song, and Root looked down the other set of stairs, trying to angle their lights to see more. Thinking of the size of the escarpment, Moon said, “I wonder if the city really fills the whole mountain. It’s a long walk up to the top, and we saw buildings through the glass up there.”