Fall of Sky City (A Steampunk Fantasy Sci-Fi Adventure Novel) (Devices of War) (44 page)

She held me a long time before finally pulling away. Her gaze raked my face. Concern and worry washed over her expression before she blinked and it was gone, replaced by the stone mask of a leader as she turned away. “Your friends are continuing to check in,” she continued in Adalic, which puzzled me. We were in Ino City where Sakin should have dominated. “Several of them managed to return to your refueling station.”

I followed her to the communication station. “Who has checked in?”

She handed me a list.

Haji, Yvette, Joshua and several of the others from the original crew who had volunteered. “Keeley? Where’s she?” I asked in Sakin.

Mother shook her head. “She hasn’t checked in yet,” she continued in Adalic.

I gave up and continued in Adalic, unsure as to what was going on or why she was showing me the respect of speaking my language. “Where is Ryo?”

“Here, little brother,” he said in Adalic, a grin on his face as he clapped me on the shoulder and presented me with a shirt. “Here, I thought you’d appreciate some clothes. I see you had to show off.”

I returned his grin and covered my Marks. “It seemed appropriate.” I turned serious, looking at my mother. “What is Ino City doing here? What other cities do we have? I thought you said the Families were hiding and could not join the fight.”

“And in our mind, little brother,” Ryo said instead of Mother, “we’re not. We’re rescuing them after you took out their city’s ability to navigate.”

That made sense, but something ticked in the back of my mind. We were never supposed to destroy Sky City, only warn them. “What other Families joined you? I didn’t know there were other
letharan
as big as Ino City.”

Mother flicked her eyebrows and did something with the communication panel. “Shankara and Furst.”

My body went absolutely still. I grew up believing that both Families had been wiped off the face of the planet, and Nix truly believed she’d obliterated the entire Shankara Family line. “What made them come out of hiding now?”

She looked up at me from her stooped position. “Your courage, young El’Asim.”

“And,” Ryo said, pushing his way into my line of sight to stare at the radar, “I told them they were cowards and needed to show the world we are not as low as the Hands claim we are.”

I shook my head. “If Nix finds out there’s an entire Shankara City—”

Mother shushed me with a wave of her hand. “Nix thinks she is a great deal more powerful than she really is. She’s nothing more than a spoiled child taken in by priests who elevated her sense of self.”

I shook my head. “I think you underestimate her.”

Mother reached up and cupped my cheek. “And I think you overestimate her because you fear her and her control over you.”

I shook off her hand, my mouth open to ask another question.

“How was that, by the way?” Ryo asked. “I’m assuming you’re the reason for the major explosion, why Sky City is falling uncontrollably from the sky.”

I smashed lips in negation. “I met with her, fought her, but that explosion wasn’t me.”

He frowned.

As did I. “Why are you here if you didn’t know Sky City was going to fall?”

“Ino Kilak had a premonition,” Mother said, her voice low, her breath long, “right before she died.”

Oh. I blinked. I didn’t know what I felt about that. Relief, a little, but also guilt for feeling relief. She’d been one scary lady.

The radio buzzed to life. “Ino City, this is Asim Station.” That was Joshua’s voice.

I stepped up to the console and pressed the button to speak. “Joshua, this is Synn.”

“Oh, for the love of dirt, lad, you scared the piss right out of me!”

I chuckled and pressed the button. “I need a report. What happened up there?”

There was a pause after I let go of the button. He finally came back on with a static start. “There were explosive charges already set up, Synn.”

A chill washed over me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he said over the growing static, “that I think Nix knew you were coming to disable her city and she decided to make an example of you.” The static subsided. “She destroyed those gas cells. I think she intended for Sky City to fall.”

“Well, it’s falling.”

“And I have a feeling she’s going to make you the sole person responsible for it, using you for the reason to unite against the Families and wage war on any who do not support the Hands.”

Mother looked at me, her eyes cold. “I did not realize he had such a grasp of politics.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheeks and pressed the button. “Have we heard from Keeley?”

“That’s the reason I called, lad. I’m patching through her signal.”

There was a high-pitched screech and then Keeley’s voice filled the room. “Joshua? Where’d you go? I’m stuck! I can’t get off!”

Fear slammed through me. I pressed the button. “Keeley? Where are you?”

“Synn?” Her voice was filled with fear. “I’m at a landing strip, but there are no more planes. I can’t get off.”

“Just jump, Keeley. We’re right below you. Trust me, we’ll catch you.”

“Just jump?! Are you insane?!”

I shook my head, as though she could see that. “Just trust me.”

The air was silent for a long moment. Her voice came back, in a loud whisper. “Synn, I can’t get close to the edge. Nix is here with an entire squadron, maybe more, of Wands. She has the entire perimeter blocked off.”

Probably because that was the route I’d taken to escape. If her plan wasn’t working as she’d hoped, she’d improvise, and I didn’t like that idea.

“Synn,” Keeley’s voice was filled with desperation, “what do I do?”

My body, heart and soul went still. Keeley had discovered a use for her Mark that the Hands hadn’t yet. If it had been Yvette or Joshua, I might have been frantic to get them back as a friend, but my leader logic might have been able to talk me into something a little more sane, more reasonable.

But this was Keeley. She and Haji were our surprise tickets. Without them there was a great deal we would never have been able to accomplish. If Nix got her hands on Keeley, who knew what she’d do with that information, the knowledge Keeley had of our operation, of how a
lethara
worked, lived, healed and breathed, and the power of her Mark? Plus, there was no way Keeley could withstand the kinds of torture Nix would inflict.

And…

I closed my eyes, a chill seeping into my very core.

…Nix needed a target for her war. She wanted to take out the Families, have controlling power of the entire world. I knew that. If she couldn’t get to me, she’d use Keeley, my friend and confidant, as a tool to inflict a new kind of pain on me.

I pressed the button. “Stay right there, Keel. I’ll provide the distraction you need. As soon as there’s a break in the line of people at the edge, you jump! Do you hear me?”

There was a broken moan of agreement.

“What are you doing?” Mother demanded, putting her hand on my arm.

I brushed her off and turned to Ryo. “I need back on that city.”

He nodded and left.

I was fast on his heels.

Mother stopped me, spinning me around to face her, her expression desperate and confused. This was a much different woman than the mother I knew. “What are you doing, Synn?”

My heart raced, but I knew what I had to do. I didn’t really have a choice. Nix couldn’t find out about Shankara City, not while they were so close anyway, and she mustn’t get her hands on Keeley. I had to find a way to keep them both safe, along with the rest of the Families. If she intended to start a war, the best place I could be was in her ranks, where I could sabotage and provide subterfuge. I took Mother’s hands and squeezed, not knowing how we’d gotten to the point where she really felt anything maternal for me. “You’re the one who told me I’d have to make the difficult decisions.”

Her gaze searched mine.

I nodded and let go. “I’m making that decision.” I turned and followed Ryo.

He took me to the docks where there was a dragonfly perched dangerously on a long, narrow platform. He took my hand, hugged me close, patted me on the back three times and let me go. “Let us know when you’re ready to leave, and we’ll get you out.”

I nodded, my mind understanding the decision I’d just made. “I’m not coming back. Do not try and rescue me.”

His almond shaped eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”

“It will take me a while to gain their trust, but when I do, I will send plans for the planes and anything else they’re developing in their laboratories to you. Be watchful of that.”

He raised his chin, alarm splashed across his expression.

“Refit the docks for air craft, and lots of it. Keep Asim station close. If you can, shroud it in your
lethara
. It’s the best plan of attack. Trust me. And if winter comes before I’m able to find a way out of the Hand Armies, I want you to ensure that the El’Asim fleet is docked in a
letharan
city for the winter. No
lethara
should be left above the ice. Do you hear me?”

He nodded.

I took in a deep breath. “Protect them, Ryo.”

His jaw ticked. “If you destroy any of our cities, we will come for you.”

I gripped his arm. “I would expect nothing less.” I hopped onto the dragonfly’s wing and stepped into the cockpit.

“Just tell me one thing, little brother,” Ryo called.

I paused in my start-up sequence and looked at him.

“You’re not returning to be with her, are you?”

“Nix?” I shook my head, anger seething through me, empowering my decision. “No. I’m returning to destroy her.”

He nodded and stepped away.

The wings fluttered to life and I was off, maneuvering through the tentacles of the
lethara
and rising to Sky City as it drifted slowly downward. The
letharan
could touch the ocean’s rolling surface by now. Their job was nearly complete.

I found the right airstrip. It was covered in a sea of black and gold, the Wands. I felt Nix as soon as I crossed into Sky City airspace. She railed against my shields with her anger, beating at them, raging against them.

I landed, but before I could climb from the cockpit, I was surrounded. I stood, my Mark ripping itself from my flesh, lashing out at the Wands directly in front of me.

Weapons fired. Bullets tore through my flesh. Shrapnel whistled through the air.

It appeared as though Nix had decided that if she couldn’t have me, she would kill me.

I was taking more damage than I could heal, though I could really only heal after being burned. A bullet cut through my abdomen, hitting the dragonfly behind me with a metal clang. I howled, my back arching, and lanced myself with my lava. Sky bless me, was I going to survive?

A message came through over the dragonfly’s radio. “We’re clear.”

Relief washed over me. I was just one person. My survival wasn’t key. I knew the Families would go on. They had the Librarium. They only needed laboratories and they would be able to catch up. With the Hands’ city temporarily disabled, they should be stalled just long enough to buy the Families time to regain the technological ground they’d lost.

I leapt from the dragonfly and destroyed the machine’s radio with a lasso of lava. A rope of oiled metal wrapped around my torso, swinging me up and into the air. The rope wrapped around my Mark, wrapping me in a burning heat. I cried out, struggling to be released.

I was dropped to the ground, still bound by the ropes far from the group of Wands, and was quickly surrounded by Swords. I fell to my knees, bringing my Marks close to my body, relinquishing the heat.

The sea of blue and silver parted and Queen Dyna stepped through, her pale hair pulled in a tight, cascading braid, her body sheathed in blue and silver leather body armor. Her blue eyes watched me with intrigue as she knelt beside me.

I was in agony, burning by my own Mark, but I met her gaze squarely.

“Why did you return?” she asked softly.

I bared my teeth.

Something genuine flared in her eyes for a moment. “It’s not because you are compulsed.”

I blinked, confused by what she was showing me. “No. I control my compulsion.”

She nodded. “Will you fight with me?”

“I do not trust you,” I whispered. Her face was so close, a speckle of my blood landed on her smooth cheek.

She smiled, a real smile, and nodded. “We’ll work on that.” She rose and turned toward Nix who had entered the circle of Dyna’s Swords.

“I demand to have him returned to me.”

Dyna pulled her shoulders back, her expression slammed with ice cold will. “You’ve already proven your inability to control him, sister. Because of your inability, our city has been destroyed and our Librarium lost.”

Nix clenched her fists, shooting anger at me through her eyes. “I shall have him back, sister. He is mine.” She spun and left the circle of Swords.

Dyna turned to me, flicking a gaze at her men surrounding us. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Synn Primus?”

I took in shallow breaths. That was as much as the ropes would allow. I wasn’t entirely sure what she had planned for me.

I recalled the vision of a
lethara
dying while trying to protect his city. I remembered swimming through the remains of destroyed cities, the fear as our
lethara
was poisoned. I replayed the reports of my fleet being attacked in a peaceful port. I conjured the look of fear in my mother’s eyes—fear in the eyes of the strongest person I’d ever met.

I met the queen’s gaze and nodded through the pain as the ropes continued to coil around me. “What did you have in mind?” I was going to take down Nix any way I could.

Lucky for me, Queen Dyna had a plan.