Steamsworn (Steamborn Series Book 3) (6 page)

“We took the vow together,” Clark said. “Smith worked on our biomechanics. We’re as close to family as you can be without blood.”

Lottie and Morgan didn’t protest the claim. They didn’t even blink at it. If what Clark said wasn’t true, they were screwed anyway, so Charles just came out with it.

“What has Archibald told you?”

The three echoed it like they’d been practicing for days. “Support the Caddiswing in whatever mad scheme he brings.”

“The Caddiswing?” Jacob asked.

Charles released a low laugh. “My codename in the Deadlands War. Some things don’t stay in the past. They come back and find you when you least expect it. Did he tell you of my scheme?”

“Are these the bombs?” Lottie asked. She patted one of the saddlebags.

“Some of them. We need to get the trunks out of the stables. They’re on the back of a crawler.”

“If one of you can go with me,” Clark said, “we should have no problems getting them here.”

“We have flares,” Morgan said. “They should burn hot enough to ignite the blasting cord.”

“Good,” Charles said. “It’s always good to have a backup. Drakkar, go with Clark, please.” The Cave Guardian nodded. “Jacob, Samuel, help me go over the plans with Lottie and Morgan.”

“When do we start?” Lottie asked.

A dark smile lifted the corners of the old tinker’s mouth.

“Tonight.”

E
xhaustion pulled at
Alice’s eyelids. She hadn’t slept well, her mind warring between excitement and anxiety. Belldorn was more of a myth than anything else, briefly mentioned in some of her history lessons with Miss Penny. It was an ancient city that had been all but lost in the Deadlands War. Now she was going there. They’d be there in a matter of hours!

“You look like you just ate a pound of Cocoa Crunch and slammed a gallon of coffee,” Mary said as she glanced over her shoulder. The roar of the thrusters made Mary a little hard to understand, but Alice picked up enough of it.

“I’m just excited,” she shouted back.

“Me too,” Mary said with a smile. “I haven’t been home in years. I wonder what’s left.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back when I lived there, the edge of the city was falling into the ocean. The government was trying all sorts of half-insane plans to save the rest of those old towers.”

Alice glanced to the side, briefly studying the knots and whorls on the floor while contemplating what kind of towers could be waiting in Belldorn. “Like the skeleton?”

Mary shot her a sideways smile. “Just wait, girl. Just wait.”

It wouldn’t be long now, but Alice didn’t want to wait. “I wish Gladys was here, and Jacob.”

“I wouldn’t mind having George along either,” Mary said. “That man is wickedly good at killing things. I’ve never known a deadlier fighter.”

The thought that Mary had never known a better fighter than George, and George had been beaten so easily at The Fish Head, made her shiver. All it took was an attack you didn’t see coming, and it was all over.

That awful thought stayed with her while she watched the sparsely green desert fade into the barren sands of the waste.

*     *     *

The Skysworn lurched
when Smith cut off the thrusters. He was ready for it, but the sudden swing in inertia still slammed him into the side of the workbench below the brass levers. Smith cursed and rubbed his side.

“Just use the damn harness next time, idiot,” he muttered to himself.

The gauges looked good. He released a valve, sending a cloud of steam rushing through a secondary temperature gauge. Smith smiled when it barely tapped into the red. He half expected the thrusters to be burned up after that run, but things were looking good. Smith opened the rest of the valves to gradually cool down the larger turbines. If they cooled too fast, they could crack, but at these temperatures he was more worried about a fire.

Smith looked over the gauges one last time, nodded to himself, and climbed the ladder that would take him to the deck and then to the cabin.

*     *     *

“How’s she holding
up?” Mary asked when Smith opened the hatch and stepped into the cabin.

“As long as they do not lock up when they cool off, I would say very well. Temperature is normal and pressures are well within the Skysworn’s thresholds.”

“You’re good, Smith. Nobody can argue that.” Mary leaned forward, over the steering column, and cursed. “Do you see them?”

Alice jumped in her seat like something might be terribly wrong. She realized that wasn’t the case when Mary flashed her a smile and pointed off the bow of the ship.

“It has been a long time,” Smith said. He walked closer to the windscreen.

The sky was almost filled with diving, buzzing forms longer than Smith was tall. Huge faceted eyes crowned the end of narrow, jewel-like bodies. Their wings flashed in the light but moved too fast to be seen clearly.

Smith smiled when Alice sidled up beside him and leaned into the windscreen.

“Are those … Dragonwings?” Alice asked.

“Yes,” Mary said. “See how they’re clustered around the mountains? They nest above the walls that separate Belldorn from the Deadlands. We’ll probably see some of the larger ones when we cross the pass. They’re docile creatures, despite the fact they could take your arm off in one bite.”

“They’re beautiful,” Alice said.

Smith turned his attention back to the chaos in the sky ahead of them. He’d seen Dragonwings all along the coasts across the entire continent, from Fel to Ancora and back to Belldorn. There was no other place with such an enormous concentration of them, though.

“Would you like to feed them?” Smith asked.

“I don’t know if we should slow down that much …” Mary checked her pocket watch and frowned slightly. “I suppose we’re a bit ahead of schedule.”

“Alice?”

Alice looked up, drawing her gaze away from the Dragonwings. “Yes!”

Mary brought the throttle down a gear, and the howling of the wind past the cabin receded a bit. “You’re just a big kid sometimes, Smith.”

“This way,” Smith said with a laugh.

Alice almost flew out of the hatch to the cabin when he cracked it open. The wind was still intense out on the deck, but not so much it felt like it would knock you over. Smith brushed his hair out of his eyes, but the black mass was immediately thrown back across his face.

“We keep a trunk of bait bugs, just in case we are in need of a distraction.”

“From what?” Alice asked.

Smith shrugged as he made his way toward the aft deck. “Sky Needles, usually, but you run into some stranger things every now and then in the skies.” Smith cracked open one of the large wicker trunks, revealing dozens of Sweet-Flies. He handed Alice four of them and then let the trunk slide closed.

Alice looked up at the fabric-covered gas chambers above them and followed the edge until it dipped in a bit, leaving the railing exposed from above. She adjusted the Sweet-Flies and walked over to her chosen spot.

“You have a good eye,” Smith said.

Alice sat three of the bugs at her feet and held the last between her hands. They were close enough now that she could hear the buzz of wings and the blast of air when one of the Dragonwings got curious.

She leaned over the railing and looked down at the wasteland below. “It’s all dead.”

Smith joined her at the railing and peered over the edge. “It only looks dead. It may not be as active as Ancora’s lands, or even Bollwerk’s, but there is far more life in those sands than you would suspect.”

One of the Dragonwings slammed onto the railing beside Alice. Smith hesitated to call it a landing, because he could feel the bone-rattling impact through the wood. “Keep your fingers clear.”

“I know,” Alice said. “I used to feed the Spider Knights, you know.”

“Samuel does not seem so likely to bite your hand off.”

Alice turned slightly and gave him a put-upon look before turning her attention back to the Dragonwing. Their visitor had a deep-blue body with four prismatic wings that caught the light and shattered it into a million colors. Where the wings met the back, the Dragonwing was almost furry, but it was always the eyes that grabbed Smith’s attention. Enormous, faceted, and oblong, the eyes were mesmerizing. They met in the middle of the Dragonwing’s forehead and seemed to change colors when the creature tilted its head back and forth.

Alice raised the Sweet-Fly, and the Dragonwing took two quick steps forward. It nosed the Sweet-Fly, and then its mouth opened like a vertical hatch, snatching the Sweet-Fly off Alice’s hand as its front legs closed around its snack. Alice rubbed her hands together and grinned.

“His face is all scratchy, like he has stubble.”

“If you are slow, and careful, you can pet him below the wings. Do not make sudden movements. Docile as they are, if they feel threatened, you are not likely to survive.”

Alice didn’t even hesitate as she took a slow step closer to the Dragonwing. It cocked its head a bit but didn’t move when Alice reached out and rubbed the furry spots below its wings.

“It’s soft.”

“The Midstreamers used to weave the hides together to build mattresses. Not the most comfortable, mind you, but not terrible.”

The Dragonwing finished its Sweet-Fly and shifted to face Alice. It perched on the railing, all six of its legs close together and its tail sticking out in the wind. Alice bent down and grabbed another Sweet-Fly. The Dragonwing snatched it up with its forelegs, stuffed it into its mouth, and launched into the air.

“They’re amazing.”

“They are some of the most efficient killers I have ever seen.” Smith picked up the last two Sweet-Flies and said, “Watch.”

He threw the two bugs off the side of the Skysworn. They didn’t drop more than fifty feet before two Dragonwings swooped up from below and grabbed them.

“Did you see how they approached? Always from behind and below when they can. It is a blind spot for most creatures. Dragonwings terrify me sometimes. A bug should not be so smart.”

Alice smiled and looked up at him. “Amazing. They’re just amazing.”

Smith let out a slow laugh. “You have issues, girl. That is all I will say on it.”

He stayed there with Alice as the Skysworn cut into the mountain pass. Dragonwings dove and streaked and hovered all around them. It was a beautiful sight, and that was a fact with which Smith would not argue.

*     *     *

By the time
they reached the wall in the center of the mountain pass, Alice was back in the cabin with Mary. She’d always liked Smith and Mary, but she’d seen a side of Smith she hadn’t really expected. He seemed to have deep appreciation for the Dragonwings—the kind she only expected he had for biomechanics. It may have been her old Ancoran prejudices, or maybe the fact she’d heard Smith talk about them more than anything else, but she had clearly misjudged him.

“I thought Smith only cared about the Skysworn,” Alice said before she could convince herself she shouldn’t say it.

Mary laughed. “I can see where you’d get that impression. It’s definitely his passion—and the biomechanics. He has a soft spot for nature too. Even the deadlier parts of it.”