Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) (46 page)

Tokarz bled from his abdomen. Blood poured through his fingers as he attempted to stop the flow. He was in no shape to fight. Or to run.

Ryo raised his head. “I could take your life, but were I to do so, I would leave your people—” He twisted to look behind him. The storm had swung back around and was picking up speed. “—to the storm.”

Tokarz ground his teeth.

“And to the people of Kiwidinok. You’ve heard of their—” Ryo rolled his choice of words around in his mouth for a moment. “—hospitality, have you not?”

Few knew anything about Neira’s tribes. But Ryo hoped Tokarz had heard rumblings. Or that he could draw his own conclusions.

Tokarz swayed on his feet, his good eye rising to the storm.

The winds picked up, throwing debris at them like a child throwing a tantrum.

He opened his mouth to say something. Blood dribbled out instead. He fell to his knees.

Ryo stayed his ground, watching the man who claimed to have slaughter the El’Asim tribe.

Tokarz’s head fell forward. He pulled his bloodied hand away from his abdomen and stared at it. Raising his head, he smiled a bloodied smile. “What little is left of my life is yours.”

A cold hunger settled through Ryo.

“In exchange, you protect my people.”

A common courtesy of war. “As if they were my own.”

Tokarz closed his good eye. “You are a better man than I.”

Ryo turned and gestured to his people. “I know.”

Nix stared up at Ino City from the docks. The last time she’d been there, a crown had rested on her head and power had been at her command.

She tried to call on the power of her Mark again, but there was nothing.

Damn it!

Ino Nami strolled down the docks, an old woman with a slight hunch to her back.

How could something so ancient be so strong? Nix refused to drop her gaze, refused to show any sign of weakness as the old woman approached.

What had brought Ino Nami to the docks? Her?

No. Something else was going on here. Nix might be powerful, or at least, she had been. But now, she was nothing more than a pawn, a pawn no one wished to keep on board any longer. For all that Nix was trying to get back to Sky City, she knew—she
knew
—the other queens would not take her back.

Ino Nami stopped a few metres away and looked toward the water.

The
letharan
curtain had dropped nearly as soon as Nix and her captures had docked their sea boat. A sea boat. On these waters. Nix was lucky to be alive. At least the
letharan
curtain cut off the winds. She was chilled to the bone.

A black-haired head poked out of the water’s surface, several more joining it throughout the dock area.

Nix stepped forward, her lips pursed. She’d been told how the LeBlancs had survived her purging by using their Marks to convert their bodies into a half-fish, half-human type creatures. She’d never seen them before though.

The woman who had first appeared turned and daggered Nix with her violet gaze.

A hiss escaped Nix’s lips. Sabine. She took a step back.

“Shankara was attacked from below,” Ino Nami said. “How?”

Sabine bobbed in the calm water. She reached toward the docks with a webbed hand. “Yvette.”

Sabine’s daughter. Nix had taken her when she had attempted to destroy the LeBlanc Family years ago. The girl had befriended Synn along with two others right before he’d managed to escape Sky City.

But after their escape, the girl had been reunited with her Family. Or at least, that’s what Nix had heard. She hadn’t even shown up for the Games.

“You told me she was no threat,” Ino Nami said forcefully. “You assured me her allegiance to Synn was not a concern.”

“And I thought that was the case. She gathered a great harem, Ino Nami. She retook our ways. She seemed to be progressing.”

“What happened?”

Sabine shook her head.

Ino Nami rose, turning away. “I thought you could be trusted, Sabine.”

Something hissed off Nix’s neck. She blinked. Her Mark? Why had it returned now? What could she do with it? She was in the middle of the damned ocean with no way to make it back to land.

“I thought you were someone I could count on.”

Nix turned her attention to the LeBlanc nearest her, a man with long brown hair plastered to his face and shoulders. The Mark of the LeBlanc was used to turn them into these…these merpeople.

She had the power to take the Mark of others. All she had to do was to clear a path to the water.

And hope this worked.

It would.

Fire whips rose off of her shoulders as something cold raced up her legs. She turned and willed the guards blocking her way to back off.

They did.

“Stop her!” Ino Nami shouted.

Stay away from me
, Nix thought with every ounce of her will as her legs began to morph. She ran to the edge of the docks as her toes and fingers webbed together, and leapt into the calm ocean as her legs spliced together as one.

The guards at the dock made no move to follow.

The merpeople in the waters around her moved out of her way.

The fire Mark shown like a beacon in front of her as she dove. Her lungs threatened to explode. Light and dark danced in front of her eyes. Her body undulated, pushing her forward. Her webbed hands clawed at the water, propelling her faster.

She opened her mouth and took in a large gulp of water.

But instead of drowning, instead of water filling her lungs, the cool water passed through holes in her neck. Her lungs stopped aching. Her head stopped throbbing.

She continued under the
lethara’s
veil. The waves from above pushed against her, but she had no reason to go to land.

Not yet. She could be anywhere. Go anywhere. Do anything.

Her fire Mark continued to shine brightly, but pointed toward the left.

Toward Synn.

Her Mark
was somehow tied to Synn.

Wasn’t that an interesting discovery?

T
HUNDER CRASHED SO CLOSE, THE
pebbles danced on the cave floor at my feet as we climbed past the abandoned doorways of Pleron City. The wind howled, ripping through the tunnel, pummeling us with cold, wet debris.

The menagerie had made it to the top by the time the storm hit our location, but they hadn’t made it back to the
Layal.
I leaned against the rough rock wall behind me and shivered with cold.

The girl holding the cup for my
lethara
shivered so hard, her teeth chattered.

With a sigh, I called up my Mark, creating a kind of canopy above our heads. The rain ceased, but I could do nothing about the wind and debris. However, now instead of being drenched in cold rain, the chimney was filling with humidity.

There really was no reason why we should all hunker down on the cold, drafty stair. “Let’s move into the city.”

Several people glanced at one another, but once they saw our options, whatever issues they had with bunking down temporarily in the abandoned city dissipated.

The city was odd. The rock looked as though it had been chipped away with a chisel and a hammer piece by piece. Intricate ornamentation decorated a lot of the doorways.

But people didn’t venture too far into the city.

“It’s haunted,” the girl holding the
lethara’s
cup of water muttered.

“It’s not haunted,” I said, holding back my chuckle. I’d heard ghost stories as a kid, but I’d never taken them seriously.

“Just don’t take anything,” the big, burly red-headed man on Haji’s team said. “The ghosts’ll follow you.”

I settled against one of the walls closest to the big window that looked out into the chimney, keeping an eye on the storm. As soon as there was a break in the storm, I wanted to get back on the
Layal
and get as far away from this place as I could. As far as I was concerned, I’d spent too long on the ground. I needed to get back in the air.

I kept my Mark out, heating the rooms and keeping them lit. No natural light source down there. No sconces for torches. It was hard to see how people had actually lived down there.

Haji had slipped out of his skitter unit, leaving it in the next room. He looked at me, his expression dry.

I frowned at him, not entirely sure what had him giving me
that
look. I tapped my right ear to initiate communications with the
Layal
.

Thunder crashed again, deafening any sounds, ricocheting off the walls and growing in strength before tapering down.

“
Layal
, this is the El’Asim. Come in.”

Wa-sna-win’s voice entered my ear. “This is the
Layal.
”

“I need a status update. How is the
Layal
fairing?”

“One moment, please.” Wa-sna-win disappeared for a moment.

Another voice entered my ear. Jamilah. “My El’Asim. Are you all right?”

“We’re fine.” I sighed and leaned my shoulder against the rock, allowing my Mark a bit more room to maneuver. “We were hoping to make it to the
Layal.
”

“Be glad you’re not here.”

Thunder pierced the chimney again, the wind picking up in rage.

When I could hear again, I asked, “Is the
Layal
in danger?”

“She’s surviving well enough.” Jamilah’s voice inflected down as if she were gritting her teeth. “This storm is knocking down trees.”

Something I hadn’t thought of. What happened if it knocked down a tree on top of the
Layal?
“Are you safe?”

“As safe as we can be. You?”

Thunder split the air.

Biting my lip, I waited for the rumble to abate, but was followed by another crash, another chest-vibrating rumble, then a rippling shriek.

I released a long breath, staring through the window, up the chimney. The storm clouds bubbled like a pot of boiling water. “We’re fine. Surprisingly. The enemy is defeated. The pleron is safe.”

“How many survivors?”

“Us? No casualties.”

“Oh.” Surprise laced her word.

Such confidence. “
They
will no longer be a problem.”

“Then no survivors for them.”

“None that we could find.”

She paused. “Good.”

It annoyed me that we were stuck in the mountain instead of moving. “What is the status of everyone else?”

Jamilah didn’t immediately answer.

That wasn’t a good sign. “Jam. What is it?”

“All the ships are fine. The
Basilah
is grounded.”

“I thought you said—” The air split with thunder. I waited. “I thought you said all the ships were—” Thunder interrupted me again.

“They are,” Jamilah said as soon as she could be heard over the storm. “Ryo captured Tokarz.”

I straightened. “He what?”

Haji looked up, meeting my gaze, his startled.

“Is Tokarz still alive?”

“He lives. Barely. Ryo waits for the El’Asim to pass judgement.”

I narrowed my eyes. And what judgement would I pass on him? Death? Was that too easy? Or something like Nix’s punishment, making her live a life of servitude. Nix! I’d forgotten about her in the midst of everything. “Where is Nix?”

“She…” Jamilah trailed off then cleared her throat. “She was captured by Ino.”