Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) (42 page)

Haji walked toward the rigger and set his mechanical arms along the chest plate.

The blue glow emerged from cracks in the armor and covered him again.

His shield men retrieved their glowing red packages, and stashed them back in the bags slung over their shoulders.

“I want someone inside that thing,” I commanded into my mic. “The blue dragons have been recalled, but the poison they removed from the air jellies is still there. Be careful what you touch.”

“Aye, Admiral,” a male voice replied.

Jamilah returned to my side, staring up at the mechanical beast. “Now, I understand why you brought the menagerie.”

“They give us life,” I said, as my red-feathered worms returned to my torch, a bit more blue than red now that some of their toxins had been released. “But they’re not always harmonious.”

She tipped her head, watching the worms flutter back.

“Always remember,” I said softly, “they
choose
to cohabitate with us. Should they choose otherwise, it would be detrimental to us, not them.”

She met my gaze, respect filling her dark eyes.

Respect for me or a renewed respect for those who resided beside us, I didn’t know. But I didn’t care either.

It was time to reclaim Pleron City.

Khayal Layal: Nix

N
IX OPENED HER DOOR AND
peered into the chillingly quiet, slightly tipped hallway.

No one.

Dashing back inside, the door closing shut behind her due to the tilt of the ship, she grabbed her makeshift bag and slung it over her shoulder. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been treated as poorly as Synn and his people had treated her. Like scum. Like a slave.

She opened the door and stepped carefully out, holding her head high.

She understood they thought she needed to be punished for her crimes. They were now starting to understand she had perfectly good reasons for doing what she had done, and now they were going to finish what she’d started.

Clearing her throat, she paused to listen if anyone would stop her.

No one.

Good.

She didn’t know the ship nearly as well as she should have, especially since she’d only had cleaning tasks while on board, but Synn had given strict orders that certain parts of the ship were off limits to her.

Those were the areas of the ship she probably needed to go to as those were the parts that most likely had doors that would lead to her escape.

How easy had he made it? Was he tempting her? Was he toying with her?

She slipped down the corridor, walking almost on the opposite wall, toward the first area she was never allowed to go. She’d been there once, of course, before she’d been reprimanded like a child and told never to return. He’d called it the menagerie, and the answer of why was clear. It’s where he stored the wild collection of animals and plants his vessel needed to survive.

If she wanted to really damage him, she could poison his
lethara
. It wouldn’t be too difficult really. Add a little sulfur to his water.

Though, where was she going to get that? She didn’t have her botanist handy to refresh her poisons and tinctures.

It didn’t matter in any case. The opportunity to escape was now, while everyone was off the ship.

Though, why would Synn fail to secure her door? Was this a trap? What did he intend, if it was? Was this a test of her loyalties?

Well, if it was, she didn’t care if she passed or not. She wasn’t loyal to him. He should be grateful to her. For what she’d done.

She’d been the reason Kadar hadn’t given the nanites to Synn.

She’d been the reason Synn had been sheltered from the pure blood battles.

She’d been the one to protect him when he’d been too young to defend himself.

The menagerie was empty except for the plants.

Frowning at the large, empty space, she stopped. Perhaps, this, whatever this was, had nothing to do with her. Perhaps, it wasn’t a trap or a test.

If that was the case, then the time to escape was perfect.

She could see a door at the very back and headed for it.

She turned her nose up at the musky scent of the
lethara
in the moisture heavy air. Even with the creature gone, she still had the horrible smell of “home.” Shankara hadn’t been “home” for so many years now, but the smell of
lethara,
the sight of it twisted her soul. The only way she liked
letharan
was dead.

The wheel on the door was stuck, or too heavy for her to turn. She rose on tiptoes to peer through the circular window at the top, but saw only empty docks.

Docks. That’s not where she wanted to exit in any case. In order to leave that way, she would need a plane and she didn’t see a single plane, or any other kind of flying vessel.

She turned, her eyes narrowed, and spied a door to her left. Darting toward it, she spun the wheel. It gave with surprising ease, the door giving a metallic groan as she opened it. She was met with a metal-grate staircase that spilled into a large room that spanned the entire mid-ship. It was open from the bottom floor to the top, which was a grand total of four floors. A large ceiling of sorts broke the space in half, though it didn’t fully encompass anything.

Wings. Was that where the wings went? She’d studied his designs. When she made it back to Sky City—and she would—she would take his designs with her, though she had no idea where he hid them. She’d committed to memory everything she could.

People milled around below. Peering through the metal grates of the stairs and walkways, Nix saw lines and lines of cots. People carried in the wounded. There weren’t many yet. A boy wearing the uniform of the Han and three or four others.

Ah. Battle. With the Han.

Perhaps, not the best time to escape.

Though, if Synn’s ship was on the ground without the menagerie, the battle had to be fairly far away. Synn wouldn’t risk his ship.

Nix crept down the stairs, her eyes on the bay of open doors before her.

A girl with long, red hair worked on someone laying on a cot. Blood dripped from the wounded man’s hand onto the floor. There was something in the fiery glow of her hair that tugged on Nix’s memories.

Keeley. The little wench who had distracted Synn while he’d stayed in Sky City.

Nix nearly growled. Dear, sweet Keeley. The only thing that burned about that
child
was her hair. A simpering dolt of a small-minded woman.

Aiyanna looked up, her dark eyes scanning the bay.

Nix ducked into the shadow of the corner and watched, her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t be caught. Not again. She needed to get out of this oppressive environment. If she never saw another toilet except to use it again, it would be too soon.

Aiyanna shook her head and returned her attention to the child on the cot in front of her, working to remove his uniform, his skin blistered and red.

Curling her lip, Nix continued down the remaining flight of stairs, imagining how Keeley and Aiyanna must feel over the child. Such weak-hearted women. Burned and wearing the uniform of the Han. Did they even realize who had hurt the boy?

And when they figured out, how long would they weep over it? How long would they wail about it? Oh, and the endless torment Synn would inflict upon himself when he saw the damage he’d caused the boy, who by all intents and purposes, looked as though he’d survive.

She needed to find stronger people.

Nix shook her head and slipped through the shadow to the door. No one arrived to stop her. Tarot was watching out for her.

She slipped through the door and fell to her hands and knees on the wet ground. She hadn’t expected the drop that waited on the other side of the door, but she should have. The ship lay almost on its side.

She didn’t have time to wonder. She grabbed her bag and took off for the woods. She didn’t know where they were or how she would regain contact with Sky City. First thing she had to do was make it safely away.

Ducking behind a tree, she looked around to see if anything looked familiar. Trees. Plants. Bushes. A darkening sky. The sound of crashing surf.

Excellent. It was about to rain on top of everything else. She scaled the mountain, skirting large logs and thick vegetation. For the first time, she was grateful not to be wearing her court gown. There were no trails to follow. She merely worked her way down. If they were in the Koko Nadi, which was probable as it seemed Synn spent most of his time there, she knew of several ways to get in touch with Sky City. She might even be able to coax the elusive Garrett into allowing her the use of his communications console.

At least she hoped. She’d never actually met the man, but she had heard stories.

A boom rocked the area. Rocks and dirt jumped at her feet. The trees swayed. The leaves quivered.

Shouldn’t there be animals? Why didn’t she hear of any of those? Where were the birds? It didn’t matter where they docked, if they were on land, there should be birds.

She turned to see where the shock had come from and held her breath in shock and wonder.

It had been turns since she’d last been here.

She’d been there to steal the Librarium, the Great Families’ great deposit of information.

Her breath escaped her body explosively. They were on Kiwidinok outside Pleron City. And there was no way to get word to Sky City. Not from here.

What could she do? Stay? Flee? Go back?

If she continued to flee, there was no way off this landmass, no way to another island. They were simply too far away to travel by boat, or at the very least a boat she could piece together.

If she went back, she could help Keeley with the sick and wounded. That would buy her some merit with Synn. Perhaps he would let up on his chores list, or allow her some small bit of freedom to which she could then use a more opportune time to flee.

Her decision made, she picked up her skirts, though they were short enough not to require it. Tribal wear was extremely flexible.

A branch snapped behind her.

She spun, a lie on the tip of her tongue, ready to be issued.

She didn’t speak it.

A dozen Han soldiers crept through the woods toward her. “What do we have here?” the leader said in a broken Sakin, the language of the Ino. “Queen Nix.”

She backed up a step, trying not to stumble and as the ground shook again. “I’m with the El’Asim now.”

The lead soldier smiled. “We are killing him now. So, no, Queen Nix, you are with us.”

On the far west side of the continent, Rose pulled the trigger. Ammunition spilled from her guns into the sea of planes around her, missing most of them. She growled, pulling up, attempting to miss the return spray. “We need some way to identify us from them!”

Bettie laughed. “That’s easy, Captain. They’re the slow ones!”

It wasn’t that easy.

The air exploded to Rose’s right. She flinched, but kept
Wise Girl
headed in an unmodified trajectory. Up, over and back into it.

Planes were everywhere.

One zoomed by, so close, his fluttering wings nearly whacked Rose’s dome.

“Sparks!” Rose barked.

“I missed you by a metre.”