Witch Fall (15 page)

Fear and a burst of excitement rushed through Lilette. She stepped onto the crook of the elephant’s leg and scrambled up. And promptly slipped off onto the beast’s rear. The elephant looked at her with something close to amusement in her eyes.

Brushing off her backside, Lilette tried again. She hiked her foot up and stepped on the elephant’s leg. Her other foot went in the loop hanging from a sort of harness around Jia Li’s neck. Lilette still wasn’t at the top. Grabbing the loop, she pulled herself belly first over the elephant’s neck and swung her leg around.

The elephant straightened up, a motion that felt like a tree swaying. And Lilette was once again much higher than she liked. But at least it was warm and dry beneath her damp legs.. Scooting forward, she blew out all her breath and nudged the back of Jia Li’s ears. “Go.” The elephant started forward, and in two steps, they were out of the stable. Lilette kicked behind the elephant’s left ear to turn it left—only the animal turned right. “Gah!” She tried again, kicking the opposite ear. Jia Li turned left. In five strides, Lilette could see the entire battle.

She scanned the keepers. “Jolin!”

Her friend broke away and gaped up at Lilette. Jolin’s face was slack with wonder—she’d probably never seen an elephant before.

Lilette pointed back to the stables. “Get the witches on the horses. There are a few stable hands, but they shouldn’t be much trouble. I’m going to break down the gates.”

“What—” Jolin cried, but Lilette was already nudging the back of the elephant’s ears and heading straight for Han. The two brothers were still fighting, their blades carving paths through the rain. Han moved like a shadow, his strikes swift and smooth, but Lilette had the distinct impression he was holding back.

“Han!” she called. “It’s time to go.”

Chen’s head turned at the sound of her voice, leaving himself open and vulnerable for half a second. Sword gripped in his fist, Han punched his brother in the temple. Chen crumpled to the ground. The rain tapped against his leather armor as if to wake him.

Han looked up at Lilette, his face filled with darkness. She reared back and Jai Li came to a stop. The murder slowly dissipated from Han’s eyes, replaced with hopelessness. “If you stay here, you’ll die,” Lilette said. When he still made no move, her voice went soft. “I need you.”

He looked down at his brother. “I should kill him.”

“Can you live with yourself if you do?”

Han slid his swords home. “Not like this.”

She slapped the elephant’s shoulder. “Lift leg!” She reached out to Han. After snatching a bow and quiver from a dead man, he scrambled up behind her.

Lilette turned to see keepers coming out of the barn astride the horses, the women’s dresses tucked up around their thighs. Each woman held the lead ropes of additional horses.

“Leader Geth!” Jolin yelled.

Geth glanced back at her before calling out the order to fall back. His men began retreating toward the horses as the witches’ song held the elite back.

Lilette gripped Jia Li’s harness, her fingers turning white. Han nocked an arrow. “They won’t touch you,” he promised her.

She hoped he was right. The mounted witches pulled back on the reins, slowing their mounts so the guardians could take the extra horses. They spurred forward and took up flanking positions around the elephant.

“Follow me!” Lilette turned Jai Li toward the gates and nudged her ears until she was half trotting, half loping. Elite leapt out of the elephant’s way as they cut toward the gate.

Behind her, the bow twanged as Han loosed arrow after arrow at elite who tried to stop them. “Cursed thing is wet. Range and accuracy are off,” he muttered behind her.

Clearly realizing they had to stop the elephant, the elite sheathed their swords and scrambled for bows. Lilette ducked low to make herself a smaller target. One man swung at Jia Li, cutting her across the chest. The elephant trumpeted in fear and dodged away from any elite who came too close. Arrows rained down on them, but the witches sang from atop the horses. A wind shot out, turning the arrows.

Finally, they reached the gates. Without hesitation, Jia Li lowered her head and charged it. Han swore and pushed Lilette flat against the elephant’s head, covering her body with his own. There was an enormous crack. Splinters and wood went flying.

Lilette felt a sharp sting as something imbedded in her arm. Han grunted in pain. Then they were through. Guardians and witches burst into the open in front of the palace. They crashed down the city streets, lightning and thunder at their backs.

Elephants are useful for many things—most especially for clearing things out of the way. ~Jolin

Dozens of lightning bolts struck behind the palace compound. Sash and the others were still alive and fighting. Before them, a scattering of imperial soldiers converged.

Han tossed the bow and the empty quiver. “I’m out.”

Lilette patted her sheath—she still had the jeweled dagger. “Which way?”

“There.” Han pointed from behind her. “Take merchant’s row.”

Lilette turned the elephant down the street and looked back. The witches still followed her. Surrounding them, the guardians had their swords out.

Shouting came from the one of the side streets. Imperial soldiers ran toward them. Knowing they couldn’t afford to be trapped, Lilette nudged Jia Li to go faster. People and animals moved out of the elephant’s way. Anything that didn’t was simply ran over. More than one merchant cart was knocked down, its wares trampled in the streets.

“Not much farther now,” Han said.

There were more shouts, and Lilette turned to check on the keepers. Still coming. Feeling some of her tension ease, she faced forward. “Oh, no.”

“What?”

Wordlessly she pointed to the blockade of carts. Han leaned around her and promptly cursed. With no side streets, there was nowhere to turn.

“Can she go any faster?” Han asked.

Lilette shook her head.

“Hang on!” He gripped her middle so tight her side pulsed with pain. He pressed her flat beneath him just as Jia Li hit the blockade. She blasted through carts and broken furniture that had been piled higher than a man, but quickly lost momentum. Lilette kept kicking. Jia Li trumpeted, her ears flapping at the sides of her head. 

With a yell, imperial soldiers charged them from above. Han leapt to his feet, his swords whirling above her. Clutching her dagger, Lilette hugged Jia Li’s neck. “Come on, girl. Come on!”

From the ground, the soldiers cut at Jia Li’s legs.

“No!” Lilette sobbed. “Leave her alone!” Trumpeting, Jia Li reared up, shaking loose the soldiers and Han with them.

“Han!” Lilette reached for him, but he was already gone.

Jia Li dropped back to all fours and began picking up broken bits of furniture with her trunk, flinging it at the soldiers swarming them. “Good girl!” Lilette rubbed her rough skin. Guardians quickly joined the fray, protecting Jia Li as she cleared a path for them.

Finally, they were free. Witches booted their horses forward, guardians swinging up behind them. Lilette looked around for Han.

“Lilette!” he called. “Go on! Don’t stop!” He grabbed a loose horse and jumped on its back.

She could see the docks. They were going to make it! She kicked Jia Li back to full speed. A group of soldiers darted in front of them and disappeared in a narrow space between buildings.

Before Lilette could make sense of it, they shouted. “Now!” A rope as thick as her leg snapped up. Jia Li skidded, trying to avoid it, but she couldn’t stop. She trumpeted as she hit the rope. Lilette went flying, skidding across the paving stones before coming to a stop.

Quickly she assessed her injuries—nothing seemed to be broken. She braced herself on her arms and looked back. From atop their horses, guardians were fighting more soldiers. Jia Li lay where she’d fallen, her enormous body seeming so much smaller now. Oblivious to the chaos around her, Lilette stumbled toward the elephant and knelt beside her head. Jia Li was covered in cuts, blood pooling around her. How could something so magnificent and strong fall?

Lilette reached out and rested her hand on Jia Li’s face. The animal looked at her and touched Lilette’s stomach with her trunk. With a start, she remembered the boy giving her a bunch of bananas. The elephant wanted a treat.

“I’m so sorry, girl. I don’t have anything.”

Jia Li kept searching until her trunk flopped on the ground and her eyes went unfocused. A strangled cry left Lilette’s lips.

A sudden hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her to her feet. Han lifted her onto a horse’s back. “Come on! We’re not dying. Not today.” He swung up behind her. His arms came around her, and he urged the horse forward. Lilette turned back to watch Jia Li’s body and the pursuing soldiers grow smaller.

“Lilette! Answer her!” Han shouted practically in her ear.

She swiveled around to find Jolin riding directly beside them. “Which one?” Jolin asked.

Shaking herself, Lilette followed her gesture. There were hundreds of ships docked in the wharves or simply tied to some free spot on a pier.

Lilette’s mind grabbed onto something familiar to keep the grief at bay. She scanned the ships and found a suitable-sized zhou with a sea-going, curved hull and tumblehome topsides. It appeared to have some sort of hold and sat low in the water, meaning it was loaded, hopefully with food. The craft’s sails were stretched between horizontal battens, making them look like the membranes between a bat’s wings. It would be fast, hold all of them, and handle all but the roughest seas.

“That one,” she said, pointing.

The horse balked at stepping on the pier. Abandoning the animal, Han pulled Lilette from the saddle and shoved her in front of him. “Run!”

But Lilette’s body refused to obey, and her legs buckled. She struggled to push herself up until Han tossed her roughly over his shoulder and sprinted down the pier. The guardians brought up the rear, ready to fight off any soldiers who came after them.

Han hustled up the gangplank and deposited her next to the gunwales. A cluster of sailors took one look at the armed guardians and dove off the side.

“Does anyone know how to operate this ship?” Geth called out.

Silently cursing her illness, Lilette searched the crowd, hoping someone else would step forward. After all, she’d never run anything larger than Fa’s fishing vessel, which only had one sail. But there was no one. She took a deep breath. “I can.” She hoped. “But I don’t know the way.”

“I can navigate us by the stars,” Jolin spoke up. “And witches never run into bad weather.”

Lilette pushed to her feet. Her body trembled and her coordination was off, but she could move. “See if you can find some charts.” Jolin left and Lilette glanced up at the sails. “Untie them. Two guardians at the bow—watch for snags in the harbor.” Lilette moved to the stern and studied the enormous rudder. “Three guardians to man this.”

“Uh, miss, you better hurry.” She turned to find Galon behind her.

“You’re alive!” She started to smile, but he pointed toward a group of soldiers coming down the pier. “Pull in the gangplank!” Lilette ordered. “Untie the ropes! Witches, sing us a wind!”

Guardians hurried to untie the ship while the witches sang a wind to fill the sails. Others sang for the kelp to shoot out of the water and snatch at the soldier’s legs.

A handful of soldiers ran onto the ship just before the ship moved out of range. The guardians met them, dispatching them within moments.

A low-toned gong cut through the chaos. Lilette froze and turned toward the city, wondering what the sound meant.

“We have to get out of the harbor before they raise the ship breaker!” Han shouted.

Lilette whirled to face him. “The what?”

“A chain across the harbor mouth.”

“Creators’ mercy,” someone said.

“Sing!” Lilette cried. “Our lives depend on it!”

A dozen witches formed a circle, the injured in the center. Their songs called forth a wind that whipped across the sails, filling them to capacity within seconds. The ship strained forward.

Lilette pushed through the press of bodies towards the bow. Han motioned to the circle. “Shouldn’t you join them?”

She didn’t pause. “If we stray from the channel, all the singing in the world won’t stop us from running aground.” She shouted commands to the guardians manning the rudder. They guided the ship into the deepest channel in the harbor. Lilette’s eyes scanned for sandbanks or snags.

Stretched across the harbor in front of them, she could see water buffalo being strapped to an enormous wheel. They strained against their yokes, turning the wheel. A rusty chain as tall as Lilette scraped out of the water.

Knowing the center of the chain would be the lowest point, she aimed the ship for it. Helpless to do more, she watched with the guardians as the chain slowly clanked out of the water, one link at a time.

The wind whipped them from behind, flinging Lilette’s hair in her face and stinging her eyes. One more clink and she could make out the entire long line of rusty chain. She glanced at the sails. She wasn’t sure they could take more wind without tearing, but if they didn’t make it past that chain, it wouldn’t matter.

She started singing with the others, her voice blending with theirs. The ship seemed to move a touch faster. Then the chain passed out of sight under them. Lilette held her breath.

The ship shuddered, and a high-pitched screeching filled the air. Crouched down, Lilette waited for the crunch of the wooden hull. The ship tipped up as the chain lifted the stern out of the water. But their momentum carried them forward. When they slammed down, Lilette lost her balance and pitched into Han. Something splintered, and Lilette gripped his armor and held her breath, waiting for the ship to come apart beneath them.

But they were still moving forward. She searched for signs the ship was taking on water—slowing down or sitting deeper. Nothing. She released her breath and let go of Han. “See if the hold is taking on water. Be thorough—if there’s a small leak now, it will be an enormous one by tomorrow.”

Lilette scanned for any sign of a reef they probably wouldn’t be able to avoid anyway. She didn’t see any darker shapes, or the break of waves on rocks. She set up a watch at the stern for pursuit and at the bow for snags.

Geth trotted toward her. “The rudder caught on the chain. It’s ruined.”

That must have been the splintering sound. Cursing, Lilette hustled to the stern as fast as her exhausted body would allow. Sure enough, the rudder had shattered at the narrowest point.”

“Pull it up and see if you can’t rig something to get us by until we can reach Grove City.”

“And how do we steer in the meantime?” Geth asked.

She pursed her lips. “Right now, steering isn’t as important as getting out of sight. If the ship is damaged, we won’t outrun anyone.”

“But with the keepers singing—” Geth began.

“Their singing won’t stop us from sinking or sitting so low in the water we can’t move,” Lilette interrupted. “We can steer the ship with the wind, at least a little.”

She felt Han’s solid presence beside her. “I didn’t find any holes.”

They were going to make it. Lilette couldn’t stop herself from glancing back at the city of Rinnish as dusk stole over the island. Through the blur of rain, smoke rose toward the sky. Lightning lit up the clouds. The palace still lorded over the city, looking pristine among the destruction.

Lilette let out a breath. “This isn’t the first time I’ve fled this city while it burned.”

Han made a sound deep in his throat. “I remember.”

All these years of trying to get back to her sister, and they’d had less than an hour together. Sash had taken Lilette’s place, and Lilette had abandoned her. “I’ll come back for you, just as you came back for me.” The wind caught her promise and carried it away. Lilette wished her sister could hear it.

Knowing the image had burned a brand in her memory, she turned away. They’d made it, but how many had fallen behind?

Guardians were hauling the injured below decks while the witches continued singing. Jolin wove through the mass of guardians and witches toward them. “I found some charts to plot our course by,” she said, then turned and headed back.

Lilette motioned for Geth and followed Jolin to the hatch. They waited as Han went down first. “How long will it take to reach Grove City?” Lilette asked.

Jolin looked toward the circle of witches, her eyes narrowed with concentration. “If we keep a steady rotation of singers, five days.”

Lilette went down next. Her trembling legs barely held her weight, and she went slowly so she wouldn’t fall. The hold was one long room full of barrels, crates, and swaying hammocks. Someone had already lit the lamps. A couple dozen injured had already been laid out. Witches went among them, doing the best they could.