Chime swung over the railing and explained, “I fell out when we forced the panel open, so I just stayed out here.”
“Get the kethel!” Moon pointed.
Chime turned around and took another projectile packet out of the bag. He struck the wick against a small rough panel on the side of the weapon, and it sparked into flame. Then he pushed it into the tube, pumped the handle, and aimed down at the kethel. The weapon fired with a muted thunk, the packet bursting into a fireball as it flew through the air. “Once it’s lit, you have to shoot fast,” Chime muttered.
Floret reached Moon’s side. “Lithe’s staying below with the wounded.” She hesitated. “Was there any sign of Shade?”
“Yes.” Through the rapidly rising smoke, Moon saw the projectile hit the kethel’s back and explode into burning fragments. It howled in rage and pain. Its flesh didn’t seem to catch on fire and but the weapon had obviously hurt it. Thrashing, it dropped down into the burning mass at the bottom of the sac and vanished. And Moon glimpsed daylight, real daylight. “The sac’s open.”
“What?” Chime and Floret leaned over to look. Chime added, “Yes, there’s a hole, I see it!”
The lower part of the sac, where the oil and burning debris had collected, was dissolving in the heat and flames. Red and orange light shone up from it, illuminating the smoky haze as if all the air was on fire. But Moon couldn’t tell if the opening in the sac was big enough. “Can you lower the boat down through there?”
“I can try. If we’re not too low already—” Chime stared at him, startled. “You think we can escape?”
“No,” Moon told him, “but I think we should try.”
Despair and hope warred in Chime’s expression, but he handed the fire weapon and the bag of projectiles to Moon and darted for the steering cabin. Moon said, “Saffron, go with him!” Someone needed to guard Chime if the dakti returned.
Saffron bounded after Chime, and Moon turned to Floret. Flickers of fire glowed all over the nest, obscured by the smoke, and the Fell would never be more distracted. He pointed toward the part of the sac where the rulers had flown with Shade. “The progenitor and the rulers went that way with Shade. Try to get out through the sac and go after them. If there’s no chance to help Shade get away, follow and see where the Fell are taking him.” Moon was counting on the fact that Jade and Malachite and Stone were certain to track the Fell here eventually. How soon depended on whether Celadon or any of her warriors had gotten away or not. Somebody had to be here to tell them what had happened.
Floret cocked her head. “Why ask me and not Saffron? She’s from his court; she has to protect him.”
Moon hissed in impatience but answered her. “Because she won’t leave Ivory, and you know I won’t leave Root and Song.”
Floret hesitated, but then dropped her spines in acknowledgement. “Yes, I do know that.” She stepped away. “Good luck!”
Floret sprang into the air, flapped hard, and disappeared into the heavy smoke and haze rapidly filling the sac. The boat started to drift down, jerked as it hit a support web. Moon lit another projectile and shoved it into the weapon, pumped the lever and fired down toward the bottom of the sac. Judging by the resultant explosion, it hit something, though he couldn’t see what.
He readied another projectile and fired it up at the nest. There were several packets left, and he struggled between the urge to fire them all off or wait until he could spot another kethel or a better target. The nest wasn’t burning as well as the supports and webbing at the bottom of the sac, but then it hadn’t been splashed with lamp oil.
A scatter of dakti appeared out of the smoke, dropped to the deck and charged him. Moon slung the weapon over his shoulder and lunged to meet them.
One flew at his face and as he slashed it aside another one grabbed for the fire weapon. It missed the metal tube but its claws caught the bag with the projectiles and yanked it off the strap. Moon lunged for it but the dakti yelped derisive laughter and threw the pouch over the railing.
Over the railing, right above the fire burning on the supports and at the bottom of the sac. Moon yelled, “Saffron, Chime, get down!” He dropped and covered his face.
The fire below made a terrifyingly loud whoosh noise and heat washed over the deck. Moon waited for the flash of light leaking between his fingers to fade, then jumped up. Dakti sprawled all over the deck, or reeled from the stunning brightness of the flash.
Slashing and tearing at the half-blind dakti, dodging their attempts to pile on top of him, Moon felt the deck sway as the craft sank down toward the bottom of the sac. Choking smoke filled the air until he couldn’t even see across the boat. There must be an opening in the top of the sac somewhere, because the smoke kept streaming upward; it was the only thing that let them all keep breathing. He hoped that meant Floret had gotten out.
Heat washed over the deck and flames rose past the nearest railing. Moon slashed open the belly of the next dakti who flew at him and tossed it over the side. Flying boats, kept in the air by the sustainer that allowed them to drift on the lines of force that crossed the Three Worlds, could only go so far down to the ground. Moon had seen one get as close as twenty or thirty paces but he wasn’t sure if Chime knew how to make the boat do that. If the sac was already low in the air, they could be trapped in the flames.
A dakti hit Moon from behind and knocked him to the deck. He stiffened his spines and rolled to impale it, then lifted his feet, catching another with his disemboweling claws when it tried to dive on top of him. It fell away, keening, and he rolled forward to shake the dying one off his back. He stood up and recoiled in shock.
The rest of the dakti had fled and the deck was level with the burning surface of the sac, sinking into an inferno. The intense heat stung in the cuts and slashes in his scales, seared his eyes, and the stinking smoke boiled up. Past the ring of fire, Moon could see the sac wasn’t burning away nearly as fast as he would have liked. The splashed oil and falling debris had managed to catch this part of it on fire, and it was slowly eating away at the rest, but the whole sac was not going to burn.
The good part was that the boat didn’t seem to be on fire either, even though fragments of burning web landed on it. The plant material it was made of must be just as resistant to burning as cutting. Moon hurried to put out the spots he could reach anyway, singeing his scales to stamp on them. He found a stray projectile packet that must have fallen out of the bag and hastily collected it; if flaming debris had landed on it, they would have discovered just how flammable the boat was.
Then suddenly the boat dropped past the fire and they were in open air, so fresh and strong and salt-scented it was like a welcome slap in the face.
It was late afternoon under a sky stained with gray clouds, and they were on the edge of a rocky coast. Gray stone slopes led down to a narrow ribbon of beach washed by waves. Dozens of islands dotted the deep blue water, some just scatters of peaks standing above the surface, others large domes of rock that supported small jungles of greenery. They covered the water as far as Moon could see.
Moon looked up at the sac, the great mottled mass looming over the little boat. From here the small size of the burning hole was frighteningly obvious; a little smaller and the boat would have been trapped.
Moon crossed the deck in one bound and reached the steering cabin. Chime had both hands on the steering post. Saffron guarded the entrance. From the slashes in her dark copper scales, she must have fought dakti as well. Moon tried to talk, realized his throat was raw from the smoke, and gasped out, “You all right?”
She nodded, coughed harshly, and managed to ask, “Where’s Floret?”
“I sent her after Shade. I didn’t think we’d make it out.” The coast seemed empty, with no sign of her or the progenitor’s group.
Chime, wild-eyed but determined, snarled, “Neither did I, believe me! Where do we go now?”
Moon had no idea; he had never expected to actually survive to this point. But there were no undistracte
d Fell to see which way they went, and if they could get the boat and the wounded far enough away, he could double back to look for Floret and Shade.
The cliffs ran back from the shore, turning into rocky canyons with peaks shaped by the wind into rounded pillars and arches. Moon pointed to a gap between two sloping cliff faces. “Inland, downwind, fast.”
Chime leaned on the steering lever, bringing the bow around to point in the right direction. At least the wind was with them, though Moon wasn’t certain if trying to open the sails for more speed was a good idea or not. All his instincts about wind and how to ride it didn’t seem to apply to this craft, and he didn’t want to get swept into a mountain by an errant gust.
As the boat drew further away, he saw the three kethel supporting the sac from above were flapping in confusion, the smoke pouring up over them. Two were trying to tug the sac inland and one was pointed back toward the sea. Dakti had come out the top and buzzed around them, in and out of the smoke, adding to the chaos. With the wind rushing in through the bottom, the fire had turned the whole sac into a chimney. Dealing with that should keep the kethel nicely occupied.
“How did you make that big burst of fire right as we started down?” Saffron asked, blinking into the wind. Her eyes were red and streaming from the smoke.
“Dakti got most of the projectiles and threw them in the fire.” Moon decided the sail was worth a try. “Let’s get the—”
“Kethel!” she snapped and pointed toward the sac.
Moon turned in time to see the big dark shape drop out of the burning opening. It flapped its webbed wings, shaking off sparks and flaming debris, then caught the wind and headed straight for them. Moon pulled the fire weapon off his shoulder, readied and loaded the last projectile, aimed as best he could and fired.
It clipped the edge of the kethel’s wing and exploded into bright fragments. The kethel roared and jerked away, then plummeted toward the rocks below. But it twisted out of the fall and flapped hard, climbing rapidly toward the boat.
That’s that, Moon thought. He dropped the empty weapon, snarled, “Stay with the boat,” at Saffron, and sprang to the railing. He snapped his wings out and fell into the air.
Flying against the wind slowed him down but the kethel was advancing so fast it didn’t matter much; he cut straight towards its face, slashed, and then twisted away from a grab. He hadn’t connected but the creature was already furious, and it had seen that he was the one who had fired the weapon at it. So when he dropped toward the cliffs it dove after him.
Moon knew he had to keep the kethel’s attention and last long enough for the boat to lose itself in the mountains. He slid left and right in the wind, flapping to keep his speed up. The kethel closed with him, so near that its hot breath rushed over him.
He flew in close to a cliff, skirted dangerously along the rocky face, fighting the gusts that tried to push him into it. He felt the kethel behind him, too close, and tipped his wings up and fell to the side and away.
The kethel scraped along the cliff in a flurry of dust and rock, then shoved off it with one foot. Moon dipped down towards a rounded peak, losing track of the kethel for one dangerous heartbeat. Then it slapped him out of the air.
He bounced off rock with stunning force, just managed to pull his wings in, then tumbled down the slope in a rush of pebbles and dust. He clawed at the rock to stop his headlong fall and caught himself on a ledge.
Dazed, winded, he looked up to see the kethel climbing down the slope toward him, its big claws crunching into the gray rock, its mouth open in anticipation, fangs gleaming.
As the kethel loomed above him, something big and dark dove in and struck its back. It flattened the kethel against the cliff face and the kethel flailed and writhed to try to dislodge it. Its clawed hand slammed down next to Moon and a small avalanche of rocks rained down on him. He scrambled along the ledge, trying to take flight but the kethel’s bulk was too close and its huge wings beat frantically around him. In an instant it was going to crush him.
Then he caught the scent of familiar Raksura in the wind and somewhere below him, Jade’s voice shouted, “Moon, jump!”
Moon’s heart leapt, and he rolled off the ledge into open air.
Chapter Nineteen
Moon fell into Jade’s arms, and she whipped away from the cliff so fast it took his breath. She crossed the narrow canyon, landed on a sharp slope, and slid down to firmer footing on a ledge. She set Moon on his feet but didn’t let go of his waist; her scent washed over him, clean and welcome. He leaned into her warmth, the relief so heady it made his knees weak.
From this angle he could see that the dark shape with claws sunk deep into the kethel’s back was Stone. He had bitten down into the creature’s neck, cracking through its armor plates. The kethel thrashed again, its tail lashed, and it slid further down the slope.
The abrupt change of fortune had scattered all Moon’s thoughts and half-formed plans. All he wanted to do was stand here and hold on to Jade, but he made himself try to catch up. “Celadon escaped?” She must have, for Jade and Stone to have followed so quickly behind the sac.
“Yes, with Delin and four of her warriors.” Jade took his chin and turned his head to face her, looking into his eyes with a sharp intensity. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” It was also a relief not to have to lie. “It was Shade they wanted. The progenitor and the rulers took him somewhere. I sent Floret after him when the fire started. Chime’s all right, too. Root and Song are alive but hurt.”
Jade released his chin and his gaze with a hiss of relief. “When I saw the sac catch on fire, I knew it had to be you and Chime.” She raised her voice to yell, “Stone, stop playing with that thing and finish it!”
Stone’s snarl echoed off the canyon. With his teeth still clamped in the kethel’s throat, he slid his claws forward and into the space under the kethel’s armored collar. He jerked his hands down and twisted his head, and black blood fountained out and down the cliffside. The kethel struggled wildly and dragged Stone down the rocks and almost over the ledge Moon had been trapped on.
Moon told her, “The flying boat—”
“We found it before we found you. The others are there now.”
“How did you get here so fast?”
“We left the warriors and Delin behind to warn Opal Night, and Stone flew as fast as he could, carrying me and Celadon and the other queens. When he had to rest, he shifted and one of us carried him. We stopped only to eat.” Jade added with more than a trace of wryness, “Malachite kept up on her own.”
“Malachite kept up with Stone?”
“Yes.” Jade bared her teeth, an unconscious grimace of irritation. “Your mother is sustained by pure rage. Why did the Fell want Shade?”
The kethel’s struggles grew weaker, turned into death throes. Stone released his grip and the kethel tumbled down, bounced off rocky protrusions and ledges, then plunged toward the bottom of the gorge. Moon answered, “They’re following a voice, something that they can hear but we can’t. It’s been telling them to come to some place along this coast. It told them it wanted a crossbreed consort; we’re not sure why.”
Jade growled in a combination of anger and dismay. “Is that what this was about?”
“I think—” Moon sensed movement above just as Jade dropped him and snarled a warning. He flared his spines and crouched. Two rulers and a cluster of dakti arrowed down toward them.
Moon had time to think they were in a bad spot, they wouldn’t make it into the air before the Fell hit them. Then something large and dark green whipped down out of nowhere to slap the first ruler out of the air and strike the second in mid-dive. Belatedly, Moon realized it was Malachite.
Her dark green scales were almost black in the daylight and her spines rippled in the sea wind. Moon hadn’t seen her outside the confines of the colony before, and it was a shock to see her now. In the wind, she was all predator.
Malachite landed on the rounded boulder above them and
ripped her claws through the ruler, blood spraying as she tore his head off. The second ruler flapped out of control and slammed into the slope to the side of the boulder. Jade pounced and flattened him to the rock. Moon braced himself to spring up and take on the dakti, but Malachite tore two of them out of the air before he could unfurl his wings. Rock crunched below them as Stone scrambled up onto a lower ledge, and the rest of the dakti fled in shrieking terror.
Malachite shook the blood off her spines and turned to Jade and the last ruler. Moon said, “Wait! Ask him where the progenitor took Shade.”
Malachite’s spines rattled in fury. She reached down, seized the ruler by the throat, and yanked him up as Jade pulled away. Malachite shook the ruler. Her voice was hard and cold, too controlled to be a snarl. “Where is the other consort?”
The ruler was dazed, his chest ripped by Jade’s claws and the swipe that had knocked him out of the air. He growled weakly, and Malachite set a claw tip to his right eye. She said, “The others sent you out here to die, and die you will. Slowly, or quickly.”
Moon saw the ruler’s body quiver, and remembered what Malachite had said about the Fell: that their instinctive obedience to the female progenitors could be used against them. Almost as if the words were being drawn out against its will, it said, “An island. Not far.”
Malachite squeezed, snapped its neck, then ripped its head off and tossed it and the body down the slope.
Jade’s spines rippled in pure exasperation. She said, “You could have asked it which island!”
Malachite’s tail lashed. She said, “They always lie on the second question.” Her gaze was on the sky, but the shape flying toward them was Chime, carrying Lithe.
Malachite settled into a crouch as Chime landed awkwardly on the far side of the boulder. He and Lithe scrambled around to a perch above Moon and Jade. Chime looked frightened but determined and Lithe just looked determined. She told Moon, “We thought you’d need our help to look for Shade.”