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 undistracted 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.”
Malachite’s attention turned to the retreating sac, which was just coming into view again past one of the pointed peaks. The kethel supporting it had finally gotten organized enough to head along the cliffs. Occupied as they were, they didn’t give any sign that they had seen the fate of the kethel or the rulers who had come after Moon. If they had any sense they were looking for a section of beach wide enough to set the sac down so the fire in the bottom could be dealt with. Malachite tilted her head toward Moon. She said, “You’re unhurt?”
“Yes. Did they tell you what happened?”
Malachite’s spines dipped in assent. Still without looking down, she said, “Go to the flying ship, line-grandfather. Guard it with Celadon and the others.”
Stone growled and lashed his tail. Jade said, “She’s right. You’re exhausted.”
Moon didn’t think that would do it. He added, “Song and Root are wounded, with Ivory and her warriors. If the Fell find the boat, Celadon is going to need help.”
Stone’s grumbling response rumbled through the rock. Moon interpreted it as meaning that Stone wasn’t happy, but he knew they were right. Then Stone flung himself backward in a spray of pebbles and loose rubble, caught the rising wind in the gorge, and flapped inland.
Malachite said, “Moon, go with him.”
“No.” Moon didn’t intend to argue this point. “Not until I can take Shade with me.”
Malachite didn’t respond except with a spine ripple that Moon couldn’t interpret. Jade hissed in frustration. She clearly wanted to send Moon to the boat, but the idea of siding with Malachite on any point involving him was too painful to contemplate. Moon got the idea that the only good thing about the frantic pace of the race after the sac was that none of the rescuers had had much chance to speak to each other.
With no warning, Malachite sprang into flight. Jade snarled, “I suppose she wants us to follow her,” and jumped off the ledge to take to the air. Chime grabbed Lithe and he and Moon scrambled to follow.
Moon flew even with Chime to shout, “I can take Lithe. You go back.”
“No.” Chime sounded as if he was holding onto his resolve with effort. “I heard that voice once. Maybe I can help, like what happened on the leviathan.”
Moon thought he was right, but he had wanted to give Chime the option to retreat. None of them knew what they would be facing.
As they drew near the cliffs above the rocky beach, Moon looked for the sac. It was some distance down the coast now, and the kethel were lowering it toward a relatively flat section of beach that was heavily washed by waves. The bulge of the sac scraped against the cliff and it was still releasing a plume of dark smoke. If the Fell managed to lower the sac into the surf, they wouldn’t have long until the fire was under control; depending on whatever orders the progenitor had left, they might come looking for vengeance soon.
Moon heard a shout from ahead and looked toward the sea just as a familiar scent arrived on the wind. A shape with the bright scales of a warrior flew toward them from the array of islands just off the coast. Floret spotted them and circled, indicating that they should follow her.
Floret led them far out into the water to a rocky collection of spires. Moon landed on a damp, salt-encrusted rock below Jade, using his claws to keep from sliding down, and climbed up after the others to an uneven ledge along one of the peaks. Floret said, “Am I glad to see you all!” She pointed. “The Fell went there.”
It was a tall island several hundred paces away, an uneven dome of rock covered with heavy greenery, standing high above the water. It was mostly vertical, made up of cliffs and steep slopes covered with trees and clinging
vines. There was no beach built up around it; the waves crashed directly against stony cliffs. At the very top, water gleamed through the fern trees, spilling down one of the cliffs to vanish in the jungle.
Floret continued, “They flew to the top, near where the waterfall comes out, then went into the jungle. I waited a while, then flew over, but I couldn’t get sight or scent of them. It was like they went into the rock somehow, but I couldn’t see any caves.” She dropped her spines in chagrin. “I’m afraid they left, and I didn’t see them.”
“You didn’t have much time to search,” Jade said. “They could be there somewhere.”
Moon said, “Lithe, is this the place you saw?”
Hanging on to Chime, Lithe shaded her eyes to study the island. She grimaced. “I saw trees growing on cliffs, saltwater and rock, and crashing waves. But that description fits most of these islands.”
“Where is that water coming from?” Chime muttered.
Jade asked, “What do you mean?”
“If it’s fresh, there has to be a spring, a well, pushing it up through the rock. If it’s saltwater, what’s pushing it?” He glanced around and saw the queens staring at him. His spines flattened defensively. “I just think it looks odd.”
But Malachite said, “As if it’s not natural.”
Chime nodded, relieved that she understood. “Yes, that.”
Malachite crouched and sprang into the air, her claws leaving jagged scrapes in the rock. Jade protested, “We need to talk about—Damn it!”
Moon twitched with the urge to hurry, but made himself wait for Jade. Chime groaned and said, “I hope I’m not wrong.”
Jade just growled in her throat and followed Malachite, and Moon, Chime, and Floret leapt after her.
Malachite had already circled over the island once and now dove down to land near the source of the waterfall. The foliage was so thick, Moon and the others had to land in the palms or ferny tops of the trees and clamber down. This surprised a number of large colorful tree crabs, which clacked their claws menacingly and skittered down the trunks, but Moon didn’t catch sight or scent of anything larger. There were traces of Fell stench on the leaves, caught when the Fell had brushed against them. He couldn’t pick out Shade’s more subtle scent.