Broken Wings (19 page)

Through the heavy fog of the cloud,
she caught sight of Cris and Corsa to her left and down, further
apart than when they entered the cloud. Where was
Leksel?

["Stay close."] He emerged directly
above and ahead of her, his wings jerking from the strong air
currents. ["Corsa, do you have their frequency?"]

["They're following the storm's path,
waiting for us."]

Silence followed from the connection,
but not from the cloud. The air sizzled with the buildup of
electricity and the flash of its release with a deafening crack.
That couldn't be safe. Then, again, Corsa had warned it could kill
them.

["Leks, I can't fly all
night, and Raea's hungry. Crystal fire.
I'm
hungry. And I'd rather not die
here,"] Cris said.

Thunder rumbled around Raea and
lightning flashed. They flew somewhere near the bottom of the
cloud. From what she knew about clouds like this—assuming
cumulonimbus clouds acted the same on Inar'Ahben as they did on
Earth—they couldn't stay there. One lightning strike would be all
it took. Besides, the condensation soaked her and made her wings
heavy and cumbersome.

["All right."] Leksel leveled with
Raea. ["The cloud was heading for an island. We'll land there as it
passes."]

["If we don't miss it."] Cris liked
antagonizing Leksel too much. The older man deserved more respect;
he'd kept them out of Shirukan hands, although she wondered how he
knew so much about them. He'd proven himself, though, and that gave
her confidence in his judgment.

["Then you can stay
behind."]

["You'd let that happen?"]

["Don't argue, Cris!"]

This was ridiculous. Raea had it with
them. ["Would you two stop fighting? Why doesn't one of you fly to
the edge to check for the island?"]

["She's smart, Leksel, and has a good
point,"] Corsa said.

["Go ahead. Tell us if the Shirukan
are still there. They can't fly forever."]

Corsa said nothing, but disappeared
into the mist. Raea wiped her face, but the water condensation
weighed her down. She struggled against gravity and the added
weight of the water soaking her. Lightning flashed, leaving spots
in her vision and her body trembling from the peal of thunder in
its wake.

["Raea!"]

She wiped her eyes clear of the rain.
A brown tube that could have fit two of her in it side-by-side
emerged before she could avoid it.

A quick adjustment turned her upright
so she hit it with her chest. Her breath knocked out, and she clung
to the slippery mass amid the spots in her vision.

A moment later, strong arms secured
around her. ["Let go. I have you."]

Leksel?
She let go and let him lift her. Through the mist and the
spots, she made out a tapering tangle of tubes sinking past her
into the mist. A few seconds later, her feet touched solid ground.
Her knees quivered and she fell against him for support. Being
hungry and fatigued didn't help. She pulled her wings close and
leaned on him.

["Easy."] His voice was gentle and
reassuring.

Warmth rose to her face and she backed
away.

["Well done, Raea. You found the
island."] Cris landed next to them, his dark hair plastered to his
face like hers and Leksel's.

["Where's Corsa?"]

No one answered.

["Corsa?"] Leksel searched the thick
mist. It shifted around them, sometimes revealing ten feet,
sometimes two, and various distances between. An amorphous creature
of weather, it left them cold and drenched.

Lightning flashed too close overhead.
Its thunder cracked a moment later, leaving Raea's ears
ringing.

["Corsa!"]

["We can't stand here waiting."] Cris
stepped forward and disappeared into the mist.

["Cris!"] Leksel urged Raea to
follow.

["I'm here. Come on. Someone has to
live here."]

Cris's shape darkened in the mist of
the cloud and she hurried to catch him. ["Slow down. Aren't you
worried about Leksel or Corsa?"]

["They'll catch up."] His eyes lifted
from her. ["See?"]

["We stay together."] Leksel's tone
and the dark expression made Raea flinch, but Cris continued
forward.

Leksel followed close behind. Wind
buffeted Raea. She held her wings close to her back and shivered.
Heavy drops lashed her. The storm grew worse, if the increasing
size of the fine mist to raindrops was any comparison. Lightning
flashed around them, sometimes streaking past to leave spots in her
eyes and ringing in her ears from the thunder; other times
illuminating the cloud and rain and the land where the cloud
thinned.

It could end already. Raea almost
didn't care about the Shirukan waiting to catch them.
Almost.

She slipped on something wet and
grabbed Cris's arm for balance.

["Careful."] He always smiled. So
opposite of Leksel, or was that why he did it—to purposefully
distance himself? Josh liked to tease his sister by giving her the
exact opposite of what she expected, acting playful when she wanted
him to be serious. It drove Tess nuts, which was why he did
it.

Raea smiled at the memory. She hadn't
seen Tess in a while, but she missed Josh, and Elis, Linds, and
Jess for that matter.

Thunder and lightning ripped through
the air, trembling through her body. She hated this—Shirukan behind
them and a storm around them. She'd give anything for a chance to
eat and rest in a safe, quiet house.

They came to a high ledge of rock on
their left. Water ran in rivulets down the jagged stone. How much
time had passed since they entered the storm? Where were they on
the island? Would Corsa find them? Was she lost or captured?
["Where's Corsa?"]

["I don't know,"] Leksel grumbled.
["It doesn't matter. Keeping you away from the Shirukan does. She
knows that."]

["But if she's lost, shouldn't
we—"]

["No. Follow Cris."]

["But she's part of your group. You're
a team."] And a pretty good one at that, from what Raea had seen.
Didn't he care? What if Corsa had fallen into the ocean or been
struck by lightning or captured by the Shirukan, if she made it out
of the storm?

Leksel's wet wings disappeared behind
him, and his face hardened. ["She knows her duty."]

["Come on."] Cris grabbed her arm.
["This isn't a good time to argue."]

Now he backed down? Wasn't he the
least bit concerned either?

["But—"] Raea slipped but kept her
feet beneath her to move with Cris.

["Keep going. We have to get out of
this rain before the island emerges. The rock will help hide us,
especially you."]

Yeah. Her and her unique Starfire
radiation. She understood that, but she didn't like leaving Corsa,
the woman who had helped her when she awoke on that world, not to
mention helping them through all the trouble of getting past the
Shirukan.

Raea followed Cris,
ignoring Leksel. Whatever happened to leaving no one behind? Or
didn't that kind of ethic exist here, or was it only him? And just
when she thought she could trust his judgment too.
Just goes to show what I know—nothing. At least
Elis would care.

Cris's last words brushed aside her
longing with one problem. ["How will the rock hide us?"]

["Inari homes, Raea. Islanders prefer
to dig their homes in the rock base of the islands."]

Okay. That she had to see for
herself.

["We should be close to someone,
especially with a hill like this."] Cris felt along it,
disappearing into the cloud.

["Cris!"]

Nothing. Oh, God. Now what?

["Cris!"] Raea hurried forward as best
as she could on the slippery ground with the wind thrashing drops
at her like tiny bullets.

Leksel stayed with her. He should have
said something. Or was he glad Cris was gone?

Damn them all! She was tired and
hungry and scared and didn't know who she could trust any
more.

A sudden squeal ahead startled
her.

["Cris! Are you all
right?"]

["Perfect."] His voice reached her on
the tri-comm. ["Get up here."]

He sounded excited. Excited was good,
or at least she hoped it was. This excited was more satisfaction,
so it should be good.

His dark shape materialized from the
cloud.

He pointed to a cut out shape in the
hillside. Rounded at the top with a few steps down to the base. A
door. Thank goodness. Visions of a warm, dry home filled her head,
but this wouldn't be like any home she knew. This was underground
on an island in the sky, no less. Oh, man. The stories she could
tell when she returned, at least to those who already knew her
secret.

Cris touched a pad near the door and
grinned at her, all of him a wet mess. He brushed his hair aside
from his eyes.

A few seconds later, the door slid
partly aside, but not on any automatic prompt like in the city.
This was a basic door in a groove. A man in a coverall stayed just
within the doorway. His eyes widened on a round face darkened by
days in the sun.

["Shirukan! I— I— I'm sorry, but we
don't have—"]

Leksel shoved past her into the door
and pushed the man aside.

["Leks—"] Cris met her gaze and nudged
her to follow, probably so they could argue inside. Once inside, he
slid the door closed behind them. At least they were out of the
storm.

["We're not Shirukan."] Leksel grabbed
her left wrist and peeled off the wet glove.

The man's eyes widened. ["Keepers. All
of you?"]

["Only me."] Damn it, Leksel. What was
he thinking? Raea yanked her hand from him and peeled off the other
wet glove. Her fingers were wrinkled and wet, like the rest of her.
Dry clothes would be a welcome change, but she was glad for the
warm home.

["What do you want?"]

["Dargilis, who was—"] A woman with a
bundle in her arms emerged from a doorway ahead and tightened her
tan wings to her back. By the way she cradled the bundle, it must
have been an infant. ["What do you want?"] Suspicion and fear
poured from her voice and her posture.

Even the public hated Shirukan? How
did the empire stay in power?

["Your protection. A place to rest and
eat."] Leksel's voice softened almost into exhaustion. That she
believed. When was the last time he had eaten or slept? Raea hadn't
even considered the sacrifices the others made for her. ["I'm sorry
to place you in this situation, but we have to get her to Starfire
Tower. We barely escaped the Shirukan disguised as
them."]

At a motion from him, Raea held up her
hands.

The woman relaxed and checked the
infant she held. ["Oh. Certainly then."]

For the first time since waking up
that morning, Raea saw Leksel relax. Cris wore a satisfied smirk as
he peeled off the wet gloves and started shedding the
jacket.

The woman waved Raea forward. ["I
don't think you want to undress here."]

She had that right! Raea hurried to
follow her through a doorway into a short hall. The walls were
roughcut stone of various layers. She wouldn't believe any of this
if it wasn't happening. She had to tell Josh. He'd flip! When she
returned, he'd learn the truth of his Dark Angel and everything
about the world his favorite angel came from. He deserved to know
the truth. Besides, she doubted she could keep it all to herself
when she saw him again.

Raea sighed. More
like
if
she saw him
again. What if the Shirukan came to the island? Leksel said the
rock would hide her, but what if he was wrong?

How would Corsa find them, if she had
survived?

Too much had happened that day. Her
stomach rumbled and her exhaustion caught up. Raea wanted a hot
shower, food, and rest. For a while, she was safe, or as safe as
she could be in the Shirat Empire.

__________

Confrontation

Raea stepped out of the shower and
wrapped the warm towel around her. Inari homes weren't much
different than what she knew on Earth, except they showered rather
than bathed, in a spray-like waterfall. As Kayan had explained
before taking the black uniform, immersing one's wings in water too
often removed protective oils from the feathers.

That didn't matter to Raea like the
weight of the water. Raea had enough of the rain, and only sprayed
down her body. Almost two days had passed since she last showered.
The hot water washed away the city smells and melted the chill of
the storm.

In the small bathroom, she dressed in
the simple gown Kayan had left for her with the hole for her wings
which left a small portion of her back open. Eventually, she'd have
to return to the Shirukan uniform but for now, she could
relax.

And eat.

Barefoot on the surprisingly warm
stone floor, Raea found her way through the short hall to the main
sitting room where they had entered. A nook off to the opposite
side opened into a dining area. Kayan stepped into the faint light
of the doorway with a plate of steaming food, a finger to her
lips.