Diamond Bonds (24 page)

Pearl nods.  “Once, about six months after I started flying.  A key rune just ran out of power midflight. I was probably about a thousand feet up, and I had to abandon the sky boat.  I unharnessed myself and floated to the ground!”  She frowns and looks down at her lap.  “Father wasn’t happy we lost the craft and the load, of course, but he was glad I survived.  If it was anyone else, they’d have been dead, and he’d need to hire a new pilot, train him from scratch… the whole bit.”

Era grasps the shrewd nature of Pearl’s adoptive father.  The bartender chooses this moment to emerge with their food, the aroma of the roasted lamb almost prompting Era to drool as Pearl gets her plate first.  ‘
Take that, Fire!
’ he thinks as the two hungrily dive into their meals.

*              *              *

Jem paces impatiently, alternating between staring at her watch and glancing at the pink and orange sky.  Frustrated, she groans, “It’s going to be dark by the time he gets her back home!  What are they doing in that restaurant?”

Di smirks at Jem’s impatience.  “I see I’m not the only one upset by this whole thing.”

“I’m upset, alright.  Upset that Era gets to schmooze pilot-girl while I sit out here hungry in the dark,” she remarks while swatting at the gnats. 

Fire appears from behind a tree and beckons while keeping her voice low.  “They just left the restaurant.”  Without waiting for a response, she retreats back into the woods.

“About time,” Jem grumbles while waving furiously to Di.  “Come on, come on!”

Di hurriedly gets off the ground and brushes herself off.  “He’d better not give her a goodnight kiss,” she mutters to herself as they catch sight of the two leaving town.

*              *              *

“No way!”  Pearl brings a hand up over her mouth, surprised by the volume of her own exclamation.  This time keeping her voice down, she whispers, “Is that true?”

“I’m not lying.  It was huge, I swear!” Era boasts with his arms spread wide.  “It could control the water around it just like a water shaper.”

She gasps and asks, “So how did you escape it?”

“Escape it?” he repeats, offended.  “I slew the beast, naturally.  I had to protect my weak and fragile companions.”

Pearl grips his arm tighter.  “Yes, of course you did.  So how did you do it?”

Era pauses, unsure of how many details he should be giving out.  “Well, as it turns out, one strike to its center was enough to kill it.  If it hadn’t, I’m not sure what we’d have done.”

“You’re so strong!” she exclaims as she rubs Era’s forearm.  She wonders what kind of person he is, realizing everything he’s said about himself could well be a lie.  ‘
Crafting this story about the water beast is proof he’s prone to exaggerations
,’ she tells herself.

As they approach the operation’s clearing, Pearl lets out a loud sigh.  “I’m so sad the date is already over.”  She leans close, pressing herself against her date while looking into his eyes.  Her gaze is tender and vulnerable, and Era’s heart pounds as he wonders what exactly Pearl has planned.  The girl stands on her tiptoes and leans in, giving him plenty of time to let his imagination run wild.  Placing her mouth near his ear, she whispers, “Want to go up in the sky boat?”

“W-W-What?” Era stutters.

Excitedly, she steps away from Era and says, “Just a quick trip!  I can tell my father I noticed something wrong with one of the ballast runes.”

“Didn’t you say it’s dangerous to go up after dark?” he asks.

“We’ll just go up and down.  There’s no harm in doing that.”  Giving him a mischievous grin, she asks, “Think you can sneak onto the roof of the sky boat while I go talk to my father, Master Thief?”

Era can’t reject the opportunity to show off his skills, plus he admits to himself he’d like the date to continue a little while longer.  He puffs his chest and brags, “Sure thing!  It’ll be easy for me.”

Pearl waves and dashes into the clearing, and Era wonders if she didn’t have this planned from the beginning.

*              *              *

Fire emerges from the brush next to Jem and Di, who are crouched over a log while watching from a distance.  “Date’s over?”

Jem furrows her brow.  “I think so, but Era is just staring after his date.”  Turning around, she slumps against the log next to Di and lets out a groan.  “Ugh, what a long day.  I hope the jerk enjoyed his meal.”

Fire sits on the other side of Di.  “I haven’t seen any movement, but the military isn’t known for its expediency.”

Jem frowns.  “Or maybe those two hunters are still chasing after us?”

“There’s no way those oafs could avoid my detection,” Fire insists.  “If they’re giving chase, they’re miserably lost.”

Di takes her eyes off Era to shoot Jem a nasty look.  “He better not have gone on this date for no reason.”

“Oh, so now you’d be upset if we were in the clear?” Jem scoffs.  “Just let it rest, Di. Era isn’t even a great catch.”

“How is he not great?”

Jem starts counting fingers.  “He’s bumbling, slow…”

“…stubborn, idiotic…” Fire chimes in.

“…he sleeps in, he’s lethargic…”

“…naïve, presumptuous…”

“…and he’s totally useless!” Jem finishes.

Di glances at each one, a smile curling at her lips.  Turning back toward Era, she gasps as loudly as she can.  “Whoa!  They’re kissing!”

“WHAT!?” the two girls cry out in unison, stumbling to get to their knees so they can peek over the log.  Once positioned, however, all they see is Era continuing to wait by the edge of the clearing, and they look to Di in annoyance as they return to their seats.

Di giggles at her mischief as her eye catches motion.  “Hey, that’s weird.  Era just ran into the clearing.”

“What’s that moron doing?” Fire grumbles as she hurries off, disappearing from view as she can be heard making tracks toward the clearing.

Di giggles as Fire leaves.  “Did you see how red her face was?  I could tell even in the dark!”

Jem hadn’t even noticed Fire’s reaction to Di’s ruse, but the notion seems ludicrous.  She sternly scolds, “Di, you acted like a child.  Grow up.”

“Think what you want,” Di says, waving Jem off.  Staring after Era, she wonders aloud, “Just where did he go, anyway?”

*              *              *

Era darts from tent to tent as dusk settles, taking care to avoid any chance of being seen.  Making his way toward the sky boat, he ducks behind a set of crates and waits to make one last charge.  The craft hardly looks sturdy.  If not for the tubing all over, it would just be a giant box sitting there in the grass.  It has no wheels, no windows, and he can’t even find the door.  He again gulps at the thought of flying in the thing, getting more nervous with each passing moment.

Sensing an opportunity, he dashes up to the converted carriage.  He pulls himself onto the top of the sky boat and lays prone next to the pilot’s seat.  The workers’ voices fade as they enter their tents, each turning in for the night.  Darkness falls over the camp with just a hint of lantern light escaping the tents.  Era sees a tent flap open as Pearl emerges and makes her way to the sky boat.  She uses the built-in steps to hoist herself to the top, and she’s pleased to find Era waiting for her.

She straps herself in and whispers, “Good job.  Just hang tight for a few minutes.”  She loops the straps around Era’s legs, securing him to her seat.  After tightening the ribbon in her hair, she asks, “Ready?”

He offers a nervous thumbs-up, and Pearl engages the affixed runes on the console, prompting them to expel wind at incredible velocities and even more incredible noise.  Some of the workers withdraw from their tents in alarm, but when they find Pearl at the helm, they disappear once more.

Her pre-flight checks complete, she crouches low and whispers, “Hold on tight!”

An even louder blast erupts from the console, and Era resists the urge to release his hold and cover his ears.  His shaggy brown hair whips around his eyes from the wind, and he grips the straps tightly as he feels upward acceleration.  He watches Pearl masterfully tap the console, her fingers moving as if it were a musical instrument.

Slowly and steadily, the speed of the ascension increases. He looks out over the roof of the sky boat just in time to see the tops of the trees disappear behind the edge of the craft.  Era starts to feel queasy, but Pearl shows no sign of slowing down.

After what feels like an eternity, Pearl shouts, “High enough?”  Clinging tightly to the harness, Era fervently nods as Pearl reduces the output of the wind.  The craft loses its upward momentum and comes to a standing hover.  In its current state, the sound of the sky boat isn’t completely overwhelming.  The boat rocks back and forth, and Era stares at the roof in an effort to keep his dinner inside.

Pearl motions around.  “Well, come on!  Take a look around!”

Era reluctantly obeys, peering into the darkness of the night, and his eyes widen at the vast expanse before him.  The stars are crystal clear in the cloudless night, and the nearly-full moon looks all the larger as it dominates one side of the sky.  Era’s jaw drops as he can no longer tell where the ground meets the sky, and small lights from the many tiny villages in the region dot the expanse.  He had no idea there were so many towns in this part of the country.

“Over there is the Lidoran Sea!” Pearl shouts as she points out in a particular direction, though it’s impossible to make anything out.  “Sorry, it’s pretty dark, but we could probably see the shoreline if it was light out!”  She then points in the opposite direction and says, “And over there is the Impal mountain range! Or… well, it’s too dark to see.”  She shrugs sheepishly, realizing there is a lot less to take in after dusk.

Even without the sights of a daytime excursion, the stars are simply brilliant, and Era can get a sense from the village lights just how high up they are.  “This is amazing!”

Pearl nods.  “I never get tired of this view.  It makes me want to break my own limitations.  I want to fly faster, I want to fly higher!”  She stretches her hand skyward and says, “Maybe one day I’ll have the power to touch the stars.”

While he’s able to understand Pearl’s sentiment, Era experiences a different emotion.  Since first meeting Di, it has felt like the world is shrinking on them as they have been pursued.  Seeing the countryside like this allows him to breathe, and an anxiety he hadn’t noticed begins to fade.

Pearl leans back and admires the view for herself.  “When flying a load, I only go about half this altitude because the winds up here can be rocky.  But it isn’t hard to fly this high if I’m not going anywhere.”

Era crawls to the edge and glances down briefly before retreating inward.  “Can we see Canterin from here?”

Pearl looks north.  “Not at this height.  The country is far bigger than you’d expect.”

As Era finds the courage to sit upright, Pearl’s face swings into his field of view, making him jump in surprise.

“Hey,” she says as softly as she can while still being heard.  Her tied hair whips around her neck as she sits beside him, apparently trusting the controls to keep the craft steady.  She slides close and says, “I’m glad you came up here with me.”  Her silver hair sparkles in the moonlight, and she meets him with large, vulnerable eyes.  “Maybe you can hold me?  So I feel safe?”

‘
Is that a joke!?
’ Era wonders, watching as Pearl sits fearlessly near the edge of the sky boat while he clutches the harness.  Still, he does his best to play the role, and he reluctantly releases the strap from one hand and swings his arm around her slender shoulders.  He watches out over the dark horizon, and his mind begins to wander.

Pearl leans into him.  “What are you thinking about?”

Era grimaces.  “Life isn’t turning out quite how I expected.”

“Oh?  You didn’t expect to sit hundreds of feet above the ground with such a fair maiden?”

He can’t help but chuckle.  “Well, that’s certainly true.”

“What else, then?”

It’s difficult for him to sort through his thoughts, but he finally says, “Since I was young, I had always committed myself to a…
particular
path in life, and I’ve never once doubted it.  My time with my partner has been fun, but we have different goals, so I know I’ll need to part ways with her. For some reason, that makes me sad.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Pearl asks.  “We grow fond of those around us.”

He shrugs.  “A thief’s life requires isolation from others, right?  My dad left his family to pursue his dream.  I’ve always known this, and yet… it’s hard.”

“What if a thief’s life could be had without isolation?” she asks.  “Do you think that’s a scenario worth exploring?”

He reflects on his time with Jem, and then his travels with Di.  Even Fire has a certain appeal he can’t quite explain.  The journey has been eventful, and these friendships have changed the way he envisions his future.  “Of course it is, Pearl, but it isn’t so simple,” he finally answers.  “Jem and I want very different things.  Eventually we’ll split ways.  We have to.”