An Amifata knelt beside it, and from its injuries, it was the same one Moon had spoken to earlier. It seemed far more alert than it had before. It spoke to the Onde in another language, filled with clicks and stops. It held out its hands as if pleading with it, and its leftward eye was focused intently on the Onde’s face.
Stone sat a few paces away from them, watching, and Merit was nearby, along with Copper. Also present were Hiak and some other Kek who Moon recognized as the healers who had helped the Amifata. They were surrounded by a litter of water jugs and containers for simple ingredients, bowls and bone cups and wrapped leaves.
Blossom whispered, “It looks a little like it’s related to some of the treelings we’ve seen.”
Weave whispered back, “I wonder if there are treelings we can’t see.”
The Amifata stopped speaking. The Onde replied, almost too softly for Moon to hear. The Amifata’s eye swiveled back to Stone and it said in Kedaic, “It will not tell me. It asks again, if the skin-hunter will return?”
Jade leaned over to whisper to Balm. Balm turned and, as the warriors and Arbora hastily made way for her, slipped out through the doorway.
Pearl, her spines twitching impatiently, asked, “What’s this?”
“A demonstration for our guest,” Jade said.
After a few moments, Balm reappeared, followed by Bramble. Bramble carried a bundle wrapped in an old piece of cloth.
The warriors and Arbora moved aside for them and Bramble stepped just inside the room. At a nod from Jade, she pulled the cloth aside to reveal the skin-hunter’s head.
It didn’t look much worse dead than it had alive. The punctures and bruising where the Onde hide had been sewn into its scalp stood out against the mottled gray skin. The eyes were dull and glazed over with a white film, and the mouth gaped open.
The Onde stared, its eyes widening and the multiple layers and fans of its ears spreading. It leaned forward. Then it sat slowly back and its body relaxed. It spoke to the Amifata, whose right eye rotated in response, possibly a reaction to show consternation. The Onde lay down on a cushion, curling up as the Amifata spoke agitatedly.
“What is it?” Pearl demanded. “What did it say?”
The Amifata turned its left eye to Pearl and said in Kedaic, “It thanks you and says it believes you now. And it wishes to rest.”
“What?” Stone stared at the Onde, clearly not understanding. Jade hissed in dismay. Pearl flicked her tail impatiently, and the Kek rattled worriedly, wanting a translation.
The Amifata said, “It will not tell us where its people are, or how to help it. This behavior is not clear to me.”
Moon said, “It’s too much.” He wasn’t sure why he understood, but he did. Everyone turned to stare at him, and he tried to explain, “It’s too tired. It can’t run anymore, and now it doesn’t have to. And that thing being dead isn’t going to bring back any of the dead Onde.” He turned and pushed past a few warriors not fast enough to get out of his way. He didn’t want to argue with anyone while they translated what he had said, and there was nothing he could do to help. It had been too late for that long before the Amifata and Elastan had decided to come here.
Moon went back to the clutch, curled up next to their nest, and fell asleep again. He was conscious of teachers moving around in the room occasionally, or going in and out, but it was comforting and not enough to wake him. He woke briefly when Stone came in. Stone said nothing, just shoved Moon over a little and fell asleep beside him.
When he did wake, Jade sat beside the nest, letting a couple of the sleepy babies chew on her fingers. She was in her Arbora form again, her scales and spines softened, her wings gone. He could tell that outside the great tree the sun was just moving above the horizon. He felt completely rested for the first time in days.
Jade said, “The hunters and Chime found parts for a dozen different species on that thing. No Raksura, though. It had a sort of voice device down its throat, like the Amifata have. They’re grown in the moss canyons by their version of mentors, but the Amifata said other species make them too. The skin-hunter must have taken it from some trading species that used it to speak Raksuran.”
Her expression was preoccupied and a little sad. Moon asked, “What about the Onde?”
“It died.”
Moon sat up on one elbow and put his hand in the nest. A little warm body wrapped around it. No one else was in the room, but he could hear Blossom and Bead talking nearby, then Chime’s voice, and Balm’s.
Jade’s brow was furrowed in thought. “How did you know … How were you so sure you understood how it felt?”
Moon hadn’t been sure at the time, but the badly needed sleep had focused his thoughts. “It stayed in the leaf boat. Maybe it didn’t want to leave the Amifata and Elastan, maybe it was giving them water, hoping enough Kek would show up to make the skin-hunter leave. But it could have slipped away if it really wanted to. So it must not have wanted to.” That was one reason. The other was that Moon knew what it was like to live with that sort of tension for turns at a time. The combination of that and the near-mortal dart wound must have been hard to struggle against. And they didn’t know how old the Onde had been, how many of its family and companions it had lost.
Jade’s mouth twisted in resigned agreement. “It didn’t try to help itself until the leaf boat was brought here. Then it just slipped into the tree and found a place to die.”
The baby was trying to gnaw on Moon’s thumb. “At least we saved the Amifata. And Elastan. They wanted to be saved.”
Jade shook her head a little. “I wish we could have saved those Kek plant hunters. Kof asked us for help and all we did was bring them trouble.”
“They helped bring the trouble,” Moon pointed out. The thing he had learned from all this was that the Kek were shy and gentle and nervous, and when threatened, utterly fearless. And from what he had understood from Kof and the various healers, they had had no intention of leaving the groundlings to die out in that leaf boat.
From behind him, Stone said, “I’m beginning to think the Kek like trouble. That’s probably why they live under Raksuran colonies.”
Jade didn’t look reassured. “I wish I’d been able to help.”
Fern was crawling away from the others, and Moon scooped her up and set her in Jade’s lap. As nerve-racking as this whole situation had been for Moon, he knew it had been worse for Jade, unable to shift and stuck inside the colony. “Me too.”
Jade stroked Fern’s soft frills, and smiled a little. “We decided to put off the celebration until the Amifata recover and leave, just in case anything else happens.”
“That’s when I get gifts, right?” Moon asked, partly to distract her further from thoughts of the poor dead Onde, partly because he really wanted to know. He had been given one new armband already for the successful conception, but from what he understood, there was more coming.
Jade lifted a brow. “I thought you didn’t care about gifts.”
Stone snorted. Moon considered elbowing him but he didn’t want to be knocked unconscious. He said, “This was rough. I want gifts.”
“Then we should get started.” Jade put Fern back with her brothers and sisters. “Most of the court is waiting to see this clutch. Our clutch.” Jade’s smile was whole-hearted this time. “Are you ready to let them in?”
Moon was ready.
APPENDICES
Appendix I
THE COURT OF INDIGO CLOUD
AERIAT
Queens
Pearl—Reigning Queen.
Jade—Sister Queen.
Amber—former Sister Queen of Pearl, now dead.
Azure—the queen who took Stone, now dead.
Frost—a fledgling queen of the court of Sky Copper, now adopted by Indigo Cloud.
Indigo—the Reigning Queen who originally led the court away from the Reaches to the east.
Solace—a Sister Queen in an earlier generation of the court, who was the first to visit the Golden Isles.
Cerise—a past Reigning Queen; Indigo’s birthqueen.
Consorts
Stone—line-grandfather.
Rain—Pearl’s last consort, now dead.
Moon—Jade’s consort.
Thorn and Bitter—fledgling consorts of Sky Copper, now adopted by Indigo Cloud.
Cloud—the consort Indigo stole from Emerald Twilight.
Sable—Solace’s consort.
Dust and Burn—young consorts given away by Pearl when Rain died.
Dust became the second consort to the reigning queen of Wind Sun.
Warriors
River—leader of Pearl’s faction of warriors. A product of one of Amber’s royal clutches.
Drift—River’s clutchmate.
Branch—River and Drift’s clutchmate, killed in a Fell ambush.
Root—young warrior from an Arbora clutch; a member of Jade’s faction.
Song—young female warrior; a member of Jade’s faction.
Spring—fledgling female, one of only two survivors from Amber’s last clutch of warriors.
Snow—fledgling male, Spring’s clutchmate.
Balm—female warrior, and Jade’s clutchmate. Jade’s strongest supporter and leader of her faction.
Chime—former Arbora mentor, now a warrior; a member of Jade’s faction.
Vine and Coil—male warriors of Pearl’s faction, though they chafe under River’s rule.
Floret—female warrior of Pearl’s faction.
Sand—a young male warrior of Jade’s faction.
Serene—a young female warrior of Jade’s faction.
Band and Fair—young male warriors of Pearl’s faction.
Sage—an older male warrior of Pearl’s faction.
Serene—a young female warrior of Jade’s faction.
Briar and Aura—young female warriors, inclining to Jade’s faction, but currently unattached. Aura came from an Arbora clutch.
Sorrow—female warrior who took care of Moon as a fledgling, believed to be the last Aeriat survivor of his court, killed by Tath.
ARBORA
Mentors
Flower—leader of the Mentors’ Caste.
Heart—young female mentor, one of the Arbora rescued from the Dwei Hive by Moon.
Merit—young male mentor, rescued with Heart.
Copper—a young male mentor, still in the nurseries.
Thistle—a young female mentor.
Teachers
Petal—former leader of the Teachers’ Caste, killed in the Fell attack on the old Indigo Cloud colony.
Bell—new leader of the Teachers’ Caste, and clutchmate to Chime.
Blossom—an older female, one of only two teachers to escape during the Fell attack on the colony. Later learned to pilot a Golden Isles Wind-ship.
Bead—a young female, she escaped the colony with Blossom.
Rill, Bark, and Weave—female teachers.
Gift, Needle, and Dream—young female teachers, rescued from the Dwei Hive by Moon.
Snap—young male teacher, also rescued from the Dwei Hive.
Dash—a very old male teacher.
Gold—an older female teacher, and the best artisan in the court.
Merry—a younger male teacher, and Gold’s student.
Hunters
Bone—leader of the Hunters’ Caste.
Braid, Salt, Spice, Knife—young male hunters.
Bramble, Blaze, Plum—young female hunters.
Wake—an older female hunter.
Strike—a very young hunter, male, who volunteered to test the Fell poison.
Soldiers
Knell—leader of Soldiers’ Caste, and clutchmate to Chime.
Grain—the first Arbora to speak to Moon and to order him to leave Indigo Cloud.
Shell—Grain’s clutchmate, killed in the Fell attack on the colony.
Sharp, Ginger, Sprout—young female soldiers.
THE COURT OF EMERALD TWILIGHT AERIAT
Queens
Ice—reigning queen of Emerald Twilight.
Tempest—senior sister queen, Ash’s birthqueen.
Ash—youngest daughter queen.
Halcyon—another sister queen, Tempest’s clutchmate.
Consorts
Shadow—first consort to Ice.
Fade—second consort to Tempest, now dead.
Ember—consort sent to Indigo Cloud, from Tempest and Fade’s only clutch.
Warriors
Willow—a female Warrior who greets visitors at Emerald Twilight.
Torrent—female warrior, from a queen’s clutch with Tempest and Halcyon.
Beacon, Prize—female warriors of Tempest’s faction.
Dart, Streak, Gust—male warriors of Tempest’s faction.
THE COURT OF OPAL NIGHT AERIAT
Queens
Malachite—reigning queen of Emerald Twilight.
Onyx—sister queen.
Celadon—daughter queen, of Malachite’s line.
Ivory—another daughter queen, of Onyx’s line.
Consorts
Dusk—first consort to Malachite, killed after the attack on the eastern colony.
Umber—first consort to Onyx.
Shade—young consort, son of Malachite’s consort Night.
Warriors
Rise—female warrior of Opal Night, of Malachite’s faction.
Saffron—female warrior, clutchmate of Ivory.
Sorrow—female warrior who took care of Moon as a fledgling, killed by Tath.
Horn, Tribute—male warriors of Ivory’s faction.
Gallant, Fleet—female warriors of Ivory’s faction.
Dare, Rime—male warriors of Celadon’s faction.
ARBORA
Mentors
Lithe—female mentor, young but powerful.
Tear—older female mentor, now dead.
Reed—young female mentor.
Auburn—an older male mentor.
Teachers
Feather—female teacher, survivor of the eastern colony.
Russet—female teacher, survivor of the eastern colony.
Twist, Yarrow—two male teachers killed in the eastern colony.
Luster—a male teacher.
Moss—a young male teacher.
Hunters
Fair—a female hunter killed in the eastern colony.
THE COURT OF VERIDIAN SEA
Amaranth—reigning queen.
Flint—her first consort.
THE COURT OF SUNSET WATER
Zephyr—a sister queen, daughter of an Emerald Twilight consort, Shadow’s clutchmate, who was given to the reigning Sunset Water queen.
THE COURT OF OCEAN WINTER
Flame—a sister queen.
Garnet—a daughter queen.
Venture—a female warrior, clutchmate to the reigning queen.
Violet—a female mentor.
Appendix II
EXCERPT FROM OBSERVATIONS OF THE RAKSURA: VOLUME THIRTY-SEVEN OF A NATURAL HISTORY BY SCHOLAR-PREEMINENT DELIN-EVRAN-LINDEL
The Two Breeds of the Raksura
ARBORA: Arbora have no wings but are agile climbers, and their scales appear in a variety of colors. They have long tails, sharp retractable claws, and manes of flexible spines and soft “frills,” characteristics that are common to all Raksura. They are expert artisans and are dexterous and creative in the arts they pursue for the court’s greater good. In their alternate form they are shorter than Aeriat Raksura and have stocky, powerful builds. Both male and female Arbora are fertile, and sometimes may have clutches that include warrior fledglings. This is attributed to queens and consorts blending their bloodlines with Arbora over many generations.
The four castes of the Arbora are:
Teachers—They supervise the nurseries and train the young of the court. They are also the primary artisans of the court, and tend the gardens that will be seen around any Raksuran colony.
Hunters—They take primary responsibility for providing food for the court. This include
s hunting for game, and gathering wild plants.
Soldiers—They “guard the ground” and protect the colony and the surrounding area.
Mentors—They are Arbora born with arcane powers, who have skill in healing and augury. They also act as historians and record-keepers for the court, and usually advise the queens.
AERIAT: The winged Raksura. Like the Arbora, they have long tails, sharp retractable claws, and manes of flexible spines and soft frills.
Warriors—They act as scouts and guardians, and defend the colony from threats from the air, such as the Fell. Warriors are sterile and cannot breed, though they appear as male and female forms. Their scales are in any number of bright colors. Female warriors are usually somewhat stronger than male warriors. In their alternate form, they are always tall and slender. They are not as long-lived generally as queens, consorts, and Arbora.
Consorts—Consorts are fertile males, and their scales are always black, though there may be a tint or “undersheen” of gold, bronze, or blood red. At maturity they are stronger than warriors, and may be the longest lived of any Raksura. They are also the fastest and most powerful flyers, and this ability increases as they grow older. There is some evidence to suggest that consorts of great age may grow as large or larger than the major kethel of the Fell.
Queens—Queens are fertile females, and are the most powerful and deadly fighters of all the Aeriat. Their scales have two brilliant colors, the second in a pattern over the first. The queens’ alternate form resembles an Arbora, with no wings, but retaining the tail, and an abbreviated mane of spines and the softer frills. Queens mate with consorts to produce royal clutches, composed of queens, consorts, and warriors.
Appendix III
EXCERPT FROM ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF PREDATORY SPECIES BY SCHOLAR-EMINENT-POSTHUMOUS VENAR-INRAM-ALIL.
Fell are migratory and prey on other intelligent species.
The Known Classes of Fell
Major kethel—The largest of the Fell, sometimes called harbingers, major kethel are often the first sign that a Fell flight is approaching. Their scales are black, like that of all the Fell, and they have an array of horns around their heads. They have a low level of intelligence and are believed to be always under the control of the rulers.