Thief’s Magic (45 page)

“They’re out of magic,” he said.

He smiled as Veroo and Sezee cheered. The holes he’d made would bring the Dart down slowly, allowing it reach land but forcing the sorcerers to stop and repair their cart before seeking reinforcements. He watched one of them set down his bow and hurry back to the driver’s seat. The wind would still push the Dart towards land. To keep the sorcerers disabled a little longer, he took more magic downwind from the cart, ensuring they would not be able to follow easily and attack the aircart’s rear.

“I’m done,” Veroo declared.

Tyen heard the propellers slow to a stop. “Stay there and steer,” he told her as she began to climb out of the seat. He concentrated on warming the air within the capsule and setting the propellers spinning again.

“We’ve made it!” Sezee exclaimed. Looking down, Tyen saw they had finally passed over land. He let out a sigh of relief and looked back at the Dart. It still appeared to be following them, steering with its rudder.

“Ah … Tyen,” Veroo warned.

Turning back, he saw a wall of foliage blocking their way.

“I can’t see any clearings,” Veroo said.

“Aim for the widest gap between the trees.” Tyen drew more magic and, using the ground below to orientate it, gently took hold of the aircart chassis and moved it upwards. The support struts creaked as they pushed up against the capsule, which bulged and rippled.

The cart rose a little, but too slowly. The raking fingers of a tall branch scraped over his shield where it protected the propellers, jerking the aircart sideways. As it broke through Veroo spun the steering wheel to turn them back towards a too small gap in the trees ahead. Tyen sent out magic in a chopping force, snapping off limbs. Foliage whipped back and forth as they scraped past, then the aircart emerged into branch-free space.

Only to face a high, treed ridge. Tyen noted that it angled towards the mountains.

“Follow the valley,” he instructed.

“We won’t get far,” Veroo told him. “We have to find a place to land.”

“I know, I know.” He looked down, but found no open space. A narrow thread of water glinted in the sunlight. A river … but with trees growing right to the edge.

The cart tilted as it changed direction. Now that the capsule was side-on to the wind the ride became rougher and slower. Tyen felt his stomach lurch as they began to descend quickly. Perhaps the rent in the capsule was being blown wider.

“Tyen,” Veroo said.

“Just keep flying, as long as possible.”

Sezee grabbed his arm. “They’re still following us.”

He looked back. The Dart was cresting the ridge.
Why aren’t they hurrying away? Are they staying to see where we land?

“Tyen!” Veroo shouted.

He turned back to face a wall of branches and leaves.

“Hold on!” he shouted, and strengthened the barrier around the aircart. They plunged into the foliage, branches scraping over his barrier, then burst through.

And fell, nose first, into the waiting heart of another tree.

T
he impact tore the railing from Tyen’s hands. He heard a gasp from Veroo, but nothing from Sezee. He fell forward, sliding head first over the side of the chassis. Throwing his arms out, he caught a strut and managed to hook a leg around the railing support. The shoes tied to his belt swung up to strike him in the chest. His satchel’s strap scraped his nose as it slid over his head. He snatched at it but his hand clawed at the air as it fell.

“Beetle!” he called. “Fly!”

The flap opened and the insectoid emerged, wings blurring.

“Guard bag,” he ordered. Beetle zoomed downward. He didn’t wait to see it land. The aircart’s forward momentum had stopped. Its nose – or, rather, the front of his shield – was planted in the tree, but with nothing supporting the rear it began to fall. Tyen strengthened the shield below the cart, but when it was almost level it caught on something and, after bouncing a few times, went still.

He hauled himself up, the movement setting the cart swaying, and looked around. Sezee was cradled in the netting. She met his eyes and smiled grimly, which he took to mean she was unhurt. Veroo was muttering darkly as she climbed out of the driver’s seat. He sighed in relief. The driver’s seat, at the front of the aircart, could have sustained the most damage but his barrier had protected her.

The rear of the aircart capsule had settled onto a branch of another tree. Only his barrier was keeping it in place, however.

“Keep your movements slow,” he said. “The cart could still fall.”

Sezee looked over the side. “How are we going to get down there?”

Tyen followed her gaze. The ground was too far away to risk jumping down to. It was covered in vegetation, so he couldn’t guess how even or rocky it was. He considered the rope ladder that all aircarts carried, attached to a strut. He doubted it would reach the ground. He examined the tree the cart had plunged into. The branches were too widely spaced to climb down. But a combination of both …

“We’ll go down in stages,” he decided.

“Wait. Can you hear that?” Veroo asked.

They fell silent. A distant, throbbing noise was barely audible over the sound of the wind in the leaves.

“The Dart?” Sezee wondered aloud.

“Probably. If it is we’ll be safer on the ground,” Tyen told them. Using magic, he brought the ladder to him rather than risk unbalancing the chassis. He created a hole in his barrier and stepped out into the nest of branches the cart’s nose had plunged into. Looking down the trunk, he chose another cluster of branches well within the ladder’s reach to aim for. He secured the ropes and started to descend.

“What happened to women going first?” Sezee asked, looking down at him through the netting.

“Do you want to be the one who tests my knots?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“And if you fall I’ll catch you much more easily if I’m standing on something firm.” Safely reaching the cluster of branches, he looked up at Veroo. “Your turn.”

“Sezee should go next,” the woman said.

Tyen nodded. “Then get onto a branch. I don’t want to have to catch you both if the cart falls.”

He stilled the cart as Sezee crawled along it to the tree. Soon she was climbing down the ladder, Tyen putting his weight on the bottom rung to keep it from swinging around. Veroo followed, then Tyen untied the ladder with magic and secured it so that they could descend the rest of the way to the ground.

Firm ground had never felt so welcome. As the women descended he looked up at the cart. With no air being sent into it and heated, the capsule sagged.

“Can you bring it down without damaging it further?” Veroo asked as she joined him and Sezee.

“I hope so.” Sezee had already replaced her shoes, he noted. He sat down on a large exposed tree root and began putting his own back on.

“Can you repair it?” Sezee asked.

“I’ll answer that when I’ve seen the damage.”

Taking a deep breath and a little more magic, he used the barrier around the cart like a cupped hand, gently cradling and guiding the cart downward. It slid off the branch abruptly, then he had to let it tilt away from the tree it had landed in to come free at the front. From there he had to support the full weight of it, which forced him to take even more magic. The struts creaked as he set it down and the capsule collapsed in on itself with a whoof of air.

They moved closer. Sezee stopped, then parted the wide leaves of a plant.

“Here’s your satchel.” She bent then recoiled. “And Beetle.”

Tyen started towards her. “Beetle,” he called.

A familiar buzz sounded as the insectoid rose up from among the undergrowth. It flew over to him and the pressure of tiny metal legs settled on his shoulder. Sezee stared at it in fascination.

“I’ve never asked – is it a he or she?”

He blinked in surprise. “It’s just … Beetle. It doesn’t have male or female, er, parts.”

She reached out and stroked its head. “I reckon it’s a she, based on the pretty wings. You wouldn’t have made them decorative and colourful if you’d meant it to be male.”

“Some men like to adorn themselves,” Veroo pointed out. “And wear bright colours.”

“Not in Leratia, and Tyen’s Leratian.”

Tyen shook his head. “Why does it have to be male or female?”

Sezee shrugged.

“I don’t hear aircart propellers now,” Veroo interjected.

They fell silent, listening intently. The only sounds Tyen heard were of the forest. He let out a sigh. “They’ve marked where we landed and are probably looking for somewhere safer to stop and fix their capsule.” He looked under the plants, found his satchel and picked it up. Opening the flap to check if Vella had survived, his heart froze as he saw she wasn’t in there. He began searching around the plant.

“Lost something?” Sezee asked.

He grunted in reply.

She began parting vegetation. “What is it?”

“A book.”

“The one you were reading during the— Ah! Here it is!”

She crouched, her hands disappearing under the leaves of another plant. When she straightened she was holding Vella. She looked at the worn old cover, turning it in her hands. Tyen kept his expression unconcerned as he walked towards her, extending a hand. To his relief, she did not flick through the pages but handed it over.

“Thanks,” he said, tucking it away in the satchel. “Now, let’s see how bad the damage to the cart is. If we’re lucky the owner kept a patching kit on board for the capsule.”

“Where will it be?” Veroo asked.

“Inside the chassis.”

They followed him over to the aircart. Part of the capsule was draped over the support struts, so he pushed the thick fabric back inside the cradle. His heart sank as jagged ends of wood appeared.

“It’s worse than I thought,” he said. The hole in the top of the capsule appeared. It was not as bad as he’d feared, but the damage to the struts was bad news. He’d need to carve new ones and attach them somehow. Holding the edges of the hole up, he looked inside and found the spear that had caused the damage. As he’d guessed, it had a barbed shaft. He pulled it free, tossing it onto the ground.

“Nasty-looking thing,” Sezee said, eyeing it critically. “And to think it came so close to putting a hole in your head.”

Tyen shivered. “I’d rather not contemplate that.”

“Is this the patching kit?” Veroo held up a small, familiar bag – the standard kit sold to aircart drivers by the main aircart outfitters, Lawson & Sons.

“Yes.” He shook his head and sighed. “It’ll take longer to fix this than the Dart will. They’ll be back before we’re finished.”

“Tyen,” Veroo said, in the same warning tone she’d used when they’d been heading for the trees. He turned to see her attention was on the stream nearby. “We have company,” she told them.

Surely the Dart’s sorcerers hadn’t arrived already? It took him a moment to make out the two figures standing in the dappled shadows of the trees, and he was relieved to see these were not his pursuers. A man perhaps ten years older than Tyen stood with arms crossed, scowling. Beside him was a wide-eyed youth, who kept looking from the aircart to his companion anxiously.

“Who are they?” Sezee whispered.

“I have no idea,” Tyen replied. The pair wore tough, well-worn clothing. The man was carrying an axe. They were probably local, possibly foresters. Would they be willing to help? Though it was a risk to put their trust in strangers, whether or not Tyen repaired the aircart or abandoned it, he and the women needed food and shelter. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps towards them.

“Good day,” he said. “Please, could you tell us where we are?”

The man’s frown deepened. “The Greening,” he said. “Southernmost edge of Rymuah.” His eyes narrowed. “You’re Leratian.”

Tyen nodded.

“But the women aren’t.”

“They are from the West Isles.” Tyen turned to each of the women and introduced them. “I am Tyen. We are…” Fugitives? Escapees? He couldn’t tell them that. “We are adventurers.”

The man tilted his head briefly towards the coast. “I’ve seen your type before. But I’ve not seen the Empire try to shoot one of you out of the sky before.” He tramped towards him and held out his hand. As Tyen extended his, the man seized it and squeezed firmly then let go.

“Welcome to Rymuah. Orn Lorgen,” he said. “This is my son, Ozel.”

The women came forward and were treated to shallow bows. Both men eyed Sezee’s trousers uneasily. Tyen smiled in sympathy.

“So,” Orn said. “These Empire men are chasing you. Did some damage.” He nodded at the aircart.

There was no point denying it. Tyen nodded.

“Their cart was damaged, too. How long do you think we have before they fix it and return here?” Veroo asked.

“Not long enough,” the stranger said. “There’s a village not far north-west of here. The Empire’s men will land there. You have a couple of hours, no more.”

“Are there more sorcerers there?” Tyen asked.

Orn nodded. “There’ve always been arguments about who owns what land around here and has the right to fell the trees and sell the wood. The Empire’s sorcerers settle them for us. Always in their favour of course.”

Sezee turned to Tyen. “Could you fight them off?”

Tyen grimaced. “I don’t know. Depends how many there are.” And what then? He didn’t want to have to kill anyone. “We should leave. We can build another aircart.”

“It’ll take time,” she protested. “They’ll tell the Academy where you are and send more sorcerers and Darts here to hunt for you. By the time we can fly again it won’t be safe to take to the air.”

“If I was you, I’d continue on foot and get some distance between you and here,” Orn said. “I’ll advise you on the route.”

“Thank you.” Tyen sighed. “Trouble is, we can’t get where we’re hoping to go on foot.”

The man’s eyebrows rose. “Over the mountains, eh?” He walked towards the aircart, the young man close behind. “How much damage?”

“Some struts need replacing, and the capsule has to be patched.”

“Can you help us?” Sezee asked. “We can pay you.”

The man pursed his lips, then puffed out his cheeks. Finally, he let out a soft pop of breath and nodded. “I think we can. If I get word to some friends who live hereabouts they can take the cart apart and move it. The Empire types will think they’re scavenging it. You can come back when they’re gone and put it back together again.”