Edge of Worlds (The Books of the Raksura) (36 page)

Delin sighed. “I had been thinking about the possibility that the entrance was underwater, placed there either as a protective measure, or because the sea did not yet reach the foot of the escarpment when it was built. This morning I proposed to Callumkal that I take a rowing boat back over to the ancient dock and look at the carvings again. Bramble was bored with idleness and Merit’s help was not needed with those wounded last night, so they came with me, along with two Kishan to manage the boat.”

Jade looked at the warriors. Song said, “We were guarding the boat, and we took turns flying over to the dock, to keep watch on them.” Briar and Root nodded, and Root added plaintively, “It’s the way we keep watch on the Arbora at home.”

Jade just gestured for Delin to continue.

He said, “As we examined the carvings at the base of the escarpment, the wind had died, and the water was much calmer. Bramble decided to try to explore the steps and the area below the dock that Stone had briefly examined.” He spread his hands. “I suggested it might be dangerous, but she was confident of her abilities.”

“I imagine she was,” Jade said, her voice dry. Bramble was finding something absolutely absorbing in the loose threads on the tail of her shirt.

“So she began to dive down to the sand at the base of the dock structure.” Delin added, “She can hold her breath for an inordinate amount of time. I knew her capabilities by that point, so I was unsurprised, but the Kishan were impressed.”

“And what did Merit do?” Moon had to ask. He didn’t want Bramble taking all the blame.

Merit bit his lip and squinched his eyes nearly shut, as if trying to recall. Delin said, “He took clumps of sea wrack and made them glow, to illuminate the area underwater where Bramble was searching.” He gestured to Bramble. “You should explain the rest.”

“It was these symbols in the carvings on four of the pillars,” Bramble said. “They weren’t anywhere else we had seen so far. They looked decorative, but maybe they weren’t. Maybe they were a symbol for ‘opening’ or ‘pathway.’

“I looked underwater, in the sand between each of those four pillars, and I found broken rock, like there was a causeway,” Bramble continued. “But whatever that causeway led to isn’t there anymore. But then I went back up onto the docks and I started to look on the wall of the escarpment, above the carvings the Kishan had already found. I saw a spot fairly far up, where just the shape of the rock looked curved. It looked like a larger version of that symbol was there, and that the rock was on top of it, somehow. So we swam over to the escarpment and climbed up about twenty paces toward the spot I saw—And then part of the rock came off in my hand.”

“It turns out it’s not rock, not on that section of the cliff, it just looks like it,” Merit put in. “It’s like coral, it’s all drilled through with tiny little worm tunnels. Some plant or animal or plant-animal grew up the wall of the escarpment at some point, and then died, and it left this coating that weathered to look just like rock. It’s still very hard down at the bottom, where the Kishan were searching. But it was more breakable further up the wall.”

“And we kept knocking it off,” Bramble finished, “and we found the symbols, and a seam.”

Jade was leaning forward now, absorbed in the story. “A seam for an opening?”

“A big one.” Bramble waved her arms. “There’s a huge door in the cliff. We didn’t mean to find it, and it wasn’t Delin’s fault. He started yelling and waving at us, but we were so interested we didn’t hear him.”

“I thought he was cheering us on,” Merit said with another wince. “The Kishan on our boat saw it, and then a big section fell off and everybody saw it. It’s a really big door. Big enough to sail this boat through.”

“They stopped, then, so the door is not completely exposed,” Delin said, “and we still are not certain of how to open it. But—”

“But now there’s a door,” Jade concluded. “And all the Kishan know about it.”

Delin conceded, “Yes.”

Chime said, “And the Fell will know, as soon as they see it in daylight.” He turned and gave Merit a shove to the shoulder.

“Ow,” Merit protested.

Jade said, “Merit, I thought you were going to scry while we were gone.”

Merit looked at the floor, lifting one shoulder in a not-quite-shrug. He suddenly looked very young. “I tried, but I didn’t get anything,” he admitted reluctantly. “I thought maybe if I stopped for a while and helped Bramble and Delin . . . I don’t know what’s wrong. I should be seeing something about what the Fell are doing now, or the city, but I just get images of water.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.
Maybe he’s trying too hard
, Moon thought. But Merit usually did his best work when he was trying too hard. Frowning, Chime said slowly, “Maybe there’s just too much going on right now.”

Stone groaned, leaning his head back against the wall. Watching Jade anxiously, Bramble said, “I’m sorry we found the door. Is it really that bad?”

They didn’t know about today’s discovery yet. Moon glanced at Jade, and got a nod. He told them, “We found the Fell, nesting in two different places. Rorra got close to one group and saw a crossbreed queen.”

Bramble’s mouth dropped open. Merit made a choking noise. Even the usually unflappable Delin looked alarmed. He said, “You think they will attack again tonight?”

“We’re sure of it,” Stone said. He pushed to his feet. “We need to get out there.”

Jade was up and sweeping out the door before anyone else moved. As the warriors followed, Bramble leaned forward and caught Moon’s arm. “Tell her we’re sorry, Moon.” She looked miserable, and Merit didn’t look much better.

“She knows you are. It’s all right,” Moon told her, trying to sound reassuring. Jade was under a terrible amount of pressure, and she probably blamed herself for this; she needed a little time to just be angry. Moon didn’t think it was necessarily anybody’s fault for Arbora acting like Arbora and doing a thorough job of anything they put their minds to.

“You’re all idiots,” Stone said, gave Bramble a shove to the head, and walked out.

Bramble slumped and sighed in relief. “Stone still loves us.”

“Just get some rest,” Moon told them, and followed Stone out.

Stone and Chime were waiting for him down the corridor by the door to the deck. Chime whispered, “How much trouble do you think we’re in?”

“A lot,” Moon said honestly.

Stone growled under his breath and stepped outside.

Moon sat up on the roof of the cabin on the topmost deck, the metal still warm from the day’s heat. The thin sliver of moonlight slid in and out of the clouds, casting an occasional silver illumination on the waves washing up onto the beach, or the tops of the broadleaf trees. The wind tugged at his spines and frills, and danced across his scales.

Chime, sitting behind him and facing the west, said, “Jade’s right, you should be inside.”

As a consort, Moon was a prime target for a Fell flight who had successfully produced crossbreed Fell-Raksura. He was also tired of being reminded of it every other heartbeat. If there was anybody here supremely conscious of that fact, it was him. He said, “Can we stop talking about that?”

He heard Chime twitch uneasily, scales scraping on the cabin roof. “Sorry. It’s just . . . I’m worried. All right, I’m not worried, I’m terrified.”

“Everyone’s terrified. If anyone on this boat isn’t terrified right now, there’s something wrong with them,” Moon said. Two of the Kishan distance-lights pointed up at the sky and moved in slow patterns, watching for Fell. There were more lights, but Vendoin had said they lasted only for a limited time before they needed to be rested, and their use had to be rationed.

“I don’t know.” Chime sounded weary. “The Kishan think their weapons are going to hold off the Fell because they did last night. I wish I thought so.”

It was far more likely that last night had been a test of the Kishan’s defenses, and a successful attempt to destroy the flying boats and cripple the Kishan’s ability to escape quickly. Moon said, “I don’t wish I thought so. It’s better not to be surprised.”

“If you’re trying to reassure me, it’s not—” Chime began.

At that moment, Stone said from the deck below, “Do you smell that?”

Moon stood and tasted the air. It held saltwater and sand, the green scent of the trees and the heavy groundcover that cloaked the dunes on the other side of the island. And something else, just a trace that smelled of the sea bottom brought to the surface, decaying mud and dead shellfish. He said, “Something came up off the bottom. Something big.”

Stone said, “That’s what I was afraid of. They’re driving something toward us.”

Chime groaned in dismay, and Moon hissed under his breath. It was a trick they had seen before, where an attacker would take control of some large being that was normally harmless, and use it as a battering ram. Moon said, “Chime, go warn the others.”

Chime jumped down to the deck. His voice drifted back as he hurried away, “I didn’t think there was anything that big out here!”

Moon hadn’t either. The sea all through this area was shallow and he hadn’t seen anything bigger than an Arbora swimming through it. “Can you tell the direction?” Moon knew it was coming toward them from downwind, but that was it.

Stone swung up on top of the cabin. “It’s behind the island.”

Moon listened, trying to separate out the wind, the waves washing against the beach, the running footsteps and growing agitation on the ship below. They didn’t know how the Fell could control other beings, but they knew it would have to be a ruler, and that ruler would have to be in physical contact to do it. The instance Moon had seen from far too close had been a ruler mounted on a cloud-walker’s back, protected by a sac made from a kethel’s secretions.

The wind carried the sound of a rushing torrent, the sound of something large moving through water. Moon said, “Do you hear that?”

Stone said, “I’m going to take a look. Stay here.” He stepped to the edge of the cabin and leapt out into the wind. Moon ducked as Stone’s large form flowed into being. Stone fell toward the water, then caught the wind and soared upward.

The distance-lights pointed toward the island now, moving along its shore, past the abandoned camp and the wrecked pieces of the flying boat, already coated with windblown sand. There was no movement there. Moon went to the opposite edge of the cabin and crouched down. One of the distance-lights was mounted on the lower deck, a big barrel with the light pouring out the fluted end. It steamed in the damp air and made ominous clicking noises. All the lights were lit now and Moon hoped they lasted through the night. He called down to the Janderi standing beside it, “Hey, can you point it east of the island, at the open water?”

The Janderi glanced around, clearly not sure who had called to her, but seized the big lever and swung the light to the east.

Moon stood again to look, but the light only revealed an empty stretch of water.

“Moon!” It was Jade’s voice.

Moon jumped down to the deck below. Jade stood there with Callumkal and Rorra. Jade said, “Stone couldn’t tell what it was?”

Moon moved his spines in a negative. “It’s behind the island, in the water, coming this way.” He turned to Rorra. “Can you move the boat?”

Rorra nodded and looked at Callumkal. Callumkal said, “You think they mean to trap us against the rocks of the—”

Then Jade snarled. She was facing out toward the sea and Moon whipped around. Caught in the glow from the distance-light were two dark shapes, each almost as tall as the ship itself. They were rounded at the top, and Moon had the impression that something moved along the sides, like tendrils or feelers. More shapes formed out of the darkness. Moon’s spines prickled with fear and dismay. There were three more, five more . . .

Callumkal swung around to Rorra, “Tell the captain, get us underway—”

Rorra waved an assent, already limping rapidly toward the hatchway that led to the nearest stairwell.

“Do you know what those are?” Jade asked tightly.

Callumkal shook his head, his horrified gaze on the approaching sealings. “There should be little in the way of large sea life in this area, especially carnivorous sea life. I don’t—”

“They don’t have to be carnivorous, they just have to be able to swamp the boat,” Moon said. From the stern, someone bellowed orders to release the anchor lines.

Jade said to Callumkal, “Can you—”

The hull moved under Moon’s feet, then it suddenly jerked upward. His claws slipped on the wood as water and wet sand flooded over the rail. He slid down the deck toward the opposite side.

The distance-lights swung crazily, groundlings screamed. Moon slammed into the rail and held on despite the torrent of water, realized the tight grip around his waist was Jade’s arm. He shook his soaked frills out of his face and saw Jade gripped Callumkal’s arm, keeping him from being washed over the side; Moon was the only one with a free hand to hold onto the rail.

Looming over the deck was a dark shape, rounded on top, a long flowing fin along its edge. There was no sign of eyes, but a narrow lip across its belly poured out seawater.
At least it’s not a carnivore
, Moon thought, not reassured. It must be something that normally lay flat on the seafloor, drawing in water and sand through some other orifice and pushing it out through this one, filtering out everything that had fallen to the bottom.

Something metallic screeched from the stern. Callumkal, shielding his face against Jade’s shoulder, sputtered and gasped, “The anchor lines! They’re holding us—”

Keeping this thing from turning the boat over
, Moon thought, struggling to push himself off the rail. When the other sealings got here, the lines wouldn’t be enough. Or this one would pour enough water into the sunsailer to sink it in place. He tried to plant his claws in the deck and push himself upright.

Then another dark shape loomed up over the sealing; Moon’s heart stuttered for an instant because he thought it was a kethel. Then it buried jaws and claws in the top of the sealing and he realized it was Stone.

The torrent of water stopped, and Jade choked and spit out a mouthful. “Finally,” she gasped, then yelled, “Balm, Briar! Where the shit are you?”