Tinker's War (The Tinkerer's Daughter Book 2) (11 page)

I brushed the tears away and poked at the coals with a stick, telling myself that everything would be all right. That was what Corsan would have said. He’d have told me to toughen up, to do what it took to survive and quietly plan my revenge. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the heart for revenge. I felt as if something inside of me had broken and it might never heal. I couldn’t bear the thought of a world without Tinker, but in light of the general’s death, I had to face that possibility. For all I knew, Tinker might already be dead.

And if he was? Then what? Could I go on, knowing that everyone I’d ever cared about had died? Did I have the strength to persevere? At that moment, I couldn’t even find a reason to try. I had already come so close to losing everything. I didn’t know if I could take one more death.

As I stared into the embers, I reached deep down inside myself and summoned my last ounce of courage. “I don’t know that he’s dead yet,” I said quietly to myself.
Tinker might still be alive. I must find out.

Throughout the afternoon, I heard the sounds of the Vangar slave-ship moving across the plains. I heard explosions now and then, and occasionally, the sound of voices echoing up and down the mountainsides. These were Vangar scouts talking to each other as they searched for signs of humans who might have escaped. Though I could hear them quite clearly, I knew they were miles away. The passage of sound up the mountain canyons and ravines made things on the plains sound much closer than they actually were.

It wasn’t hard to imagine farmers taking their families and fleeing into the countryside before the advance of that ship, and I strained to pick out the sounds of human voices or hints of what might be happening down below. I hoped in vain for the sounds of people escaping, people that we could rescue before the cruel Vangars captured them. I heard no such thing. It seemed no one could escape the Vangars.

The problem was the scouts. The Vangars had been smart enough to send scouts ahead so that even if the farmers tried to escape, they wouldn’t get far. It occurred to me that this wasn’t the first time the Vangars had invaded a foreign land. Their tactics were too perfect, their execution flawless. They even had ships prepared to round up the thousands of prisoners they would gather from across the countryside. The Vangars were conquerors, and they knew exactly what they were doing. And the more I understood them, the more hopeless I became.

I woke Robie at sunset and offered him the food I had prepared. He would have slept longer if I let him, but we couldn’t waste any more time. For now, he was rested enough to continue, and the sleep had done him some good. The dark circles under his eyes were gone and his mood seemed lighter. He was grateful for the food, and didn’t even seem to mind much when Tam returned from scouting. I hardly dared hope that they were becoming friends, but with Robie’s improved mood, they did seem at least to be tolerating one other. Then Tam began to speak:

“I scouted further south than I had planned,” he said. “I hadn’t realized how close we were to Anora. When I saw the city walls, I wanted a closer look.”

“You’ve been to Anora?” Robie said.

“Within a few miles, but I’m afraid I have no good news. The Vangars have locked the citizens inside the city. It will be nearly impossible to get in or out without being seen, even for a Tal’mar.”

“There must be a way,” Robie said. “I’m not going to just give up.”

“I haven’t told you everything yet,” Tam said “After I returned to the mountains, I continued to scout out your path. I knew that I would have to return to the queen soon, but I wanted to help you find your way south, should you choose to do so. While traveling, I caught the scent of fire and tracked down a group of humans in the mountains east of Anora.”

My jaw dropped as he spoke. “Is this place a plateau, surrounded by maples and aspens? With a waterfall to the northeast, facing a deep canyon?”

“It is the very same,” Tam said. “You know it, then?”

I stared, not even seeing him. In my mind’s eye, I was already there. I saw the trees, the grassy sloping mountainsides, the steep ravines leading down into the trees… I turned to look at Robie. “Do you remember it?” I said.

He shrugged, looking at me as if I were crazy. “Should I?”

I smiled. “It’s where you first volunteered to be a pilot.”

It was his turn to look stunned. I saw the memories washing over his face. “The camp!” he said at last. “That’s where my parents took me when the Kanters invaded Riverfork. I was so young then. Hardly a teenager.”

“Yes,” I said. “And ready to lead my team of pilots to the end of the world, as I recall,” I said teasingly. I think he actually blushed.

Tam rolled his eyes. “I’m glad you remember the place so fondly,” he said in a tone that contradicted his words. “Shall we go there, or do you still insist on going to Anora and getting yourselves killed?”

“We will go to the camp, of course!” said Robie. “Let’s go!”

Of course, there was no arguing with him after that. Not that I really wanted to. If Anora was in the condition that Tam had described, I could see no use in the three of us trying to get inside. If anything, what we needed to do was take stock of those who were still free and see if they could be made into a fighting force. If so, we might still have a chance at turning the Vangars aside and driving them back to the sea.

Deep in my heart, there was one more reason that I had to go to the camp first. I had to look for Tinker. I had to make sure he’d escaped the city with the others.

Robie frequently paused to throw rocks at squirrels or gather wild berries from bushes along the path as we traveled south. Tam tried to chastise him for this, reminding us both that Vangar scouts might very well be patrolling the mountains as well as the plains, but it didn’t go very well.

“Any Vangars that came this far from their army are asking to die,” Robie boasted. “And I plan to help them.”

Tam pursed his lips and shook his head, but decided not to pursue the argument. Instead, he leapt up into the branches and disappeared ahead of us. Robie gave me a cocky grin and I rolled my eyes at him.

“You might pay attention to what Tam says,” I warned. “The last time, they weren’t traveling alone.”

That quieted him down, but not for long. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter anything more dangerous than a young black bear foraging for food. The creature took one look at us and decided we didn’t look edible. The beast nonchalantly turned its attention back to the berry bushes and ignored us entirely, as if we weren’t even worthy of a snarl.

At last, early that afternoon, we reached the encampment. It had grown from the way I remembered it. It was more like a village than a camp. Dozens of families from Riverfork and Anora had fled before the Vangars. I saw at least two hundred refugees wandering around. They must have received enough warning to pack before they fled, because they’d brought tents, food, and other equipment, but I saw evidence everywhere that they didn’t have enough. I noticed campfires and bedrolls scattered across the clearing and in between the tents, proving that there simply wasn’t enough shelter for everyone. I also saw a small hunting party organizing at the edge of camp; further evidence of inadequate supplies.  

Robie and I recognized many faces among the crowd, including Analyn trader. I’d known Analyn most of my life. She had been my schoolteacher once, but only for two years. My father and Tinker had taught me to read before I even started school, but Analyn helped my studies greatly. After she had accepted me for what I was, we became great friends. It was during that same period, in the midst of the war with the Kanters, that I learned Analyn was actually King Ryshan’s daughter. She had eloped with her husband Daran to live in Riverfork, where they opened a mercantile and she went to work as a teacher.

A few years later, after the war had ended, Daran died while hunting in the mountains. It was winter, and apparently, he slipped on the icy rocks along the edge of a mountain cliff. The physician’s best guess was that Daran had damaged his spine in the fall, and then froze to death the following night. I couldn’t help but wonder if his death had been related to his injuries from the war, when the Kanters broke his neck. I’d done my best to heal him at the time, but I had no guidance or training and I could only follow my instincts. I hoped his death hadn’t been due to some failure on my part, but I would never know for certain.

After Daran’s death, Analyn sold the mercantile in Riverfork and moved to Anora where she returned to teaching. I visited her there as often as my schedule permitted. Analyn was happy to see me of course, but I could tell from her face that she wasn’t hopeful about our situation. She took the three of us into a mess tent where a group of elderly women were busily preparing kettles of stew for dinner.

“You’ve been busy,” I said, noting the tables made from freshly hewn timber.

“We have tools and manpower enough,” Analyn said. “I’m just worried about what will happen when winter comes.”

“Do you think you’ll be here that long?” I said.

“Winter comes early in the mountains. We have two months, perhaps,” she said distantly. “I don’t dare imagine what might happen between now and then. Here, let’s get the three of you something to eat.”

I tried to protest, knowing that there wasn’t enough food as it was, but Analyn wouldn’t hear of it. Admittedly, I didn’t protest too much. I was starved. Analyn served us plates of cooked venison and freshly baked bread. I was salivating before we even sat down.

While we ate, we traded information. Analyn was heartbroken to hear of General Corsan’s death. “He was a good man,” she said. “I will send a party out tomorrow to find his remains and give him a proper burial... I can’t believe the Vangars moved north so quickly. Silverspire has fallen as well?” She finished this last statement with a glance at Tam. He dropped his eyes.

“They hit the palace first,” he said sullenly. “All the royal family were murdered, except for the queen. Most of the common folk were taken prisoner in one of those blasted dragon ships.”

Analyn watched him speak, nodding along. “They landed some of the ships,” she said. “They attached wheels to them, and have been using them to gather up families from around the countryside.”

“We saw one of them,” I said. “I can’t understand though, how do they power those machines? We’ve never built anything nearly that big. Steam couldn’t do it, and it would take all the Blackrock steel in the city to build one motor that size.”

“They use something else,” Analyn said. “A type of oil that looks and burns like tar. They burn it in their machines. They belch that cruddy black smoke out day and night. In two days, they’ve managed to cover Anora in a fog that won’t blow away. The fumes are horrid to breathe. They burn your eyes and your nostrils and make your lungs ache horribly. My heart weeps for the people left there.” Her gaze drifted away from me. “I hope Tinker is well…”

I dropped the mug I’d been drinking from, spilling water across the table. I hardly noticed. “Tinker is in Anora?” I said, searching her face.

“Oh poor child, you didn’t know? Alas, we tried to bring him. I begged Tinker to come, but he refused. He said he was too old to go hiking through the woods and sleeping on the hard ground. He said the Vangars would need a knowledgeable mechanic, and that we would need a good spy.”

“A mechanic?” I said. “That’s ridiculous!”

“I know that dear, but the Vangars don’t. Tinker should be able to do quite well among the Vangars if he can convince them that he knows enough, but not too much.”

“I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

She gave me a patient smile. “The Vangars are quite clueless about our technology. The militiamen in Anora gave them quite a fright when they started firing their rifles. The Vangars had never seen powder charges before. I daresay our soldiers took a good number of them to the grave.”

I stared at her, absorbing that. “That doesn’t make sense. How could they build those dragon ships if they didn’t even know how black powder works?”

“Actually it makes perfect sense,” Robie said. “This fuel they use, this black oil is probably all over in their land. I’ve never seen it here, but where they live I imagine there’s enough to power as many ships as they like.”

“So it would appear,” Analyn said.

“Then what do they seek here?” Tam said. “Have they come for slaves?”

“We don’t know yet,” Analyn said. “That is the sort of thing we need Tinker to learn for us.”

I leaned forward, pressing my head into my hands. I thought about all of the farmers who had escaped the Vangars and found their way into the mountains. I thought about the many thousands who hadn’t escaped and had been forced into those mighty black ships that fanned out across the continent. I wondered how far north and south the Vangars had gone. Had they followed my grandmother into the northern wastes, beyond the Borderlands? Had they pressed south into the Badlands, and washed over the Kanters the way they had the rest of us?

Mostly though, I wondered about Tinker. What had he been thinking, staying in Anora like that? The old fool was trying to get himself killed. And Analyn… I hardly dared consider the fact that she’d let him do it. The mere thought made me want to reach across the table and throttle her.

At last, I raised my eyes and locked gazes with her. “I’m going to see him,” I said. “I have to find out what’s going on.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Analyn said. “You could be caught. We can’t afford to lose you, Breeze. You’re the best pilot we have and you’re the only person who knows as much about building planes as Tinker.”

“Planes?” I snorted. “Why bother? The dragon ships can blast our planes right out of the sky. We wouldn’t stand a chance against them. And even if we did, we couldn’t build enough planes or train enough pilots to make a difference.”

She considered that, watching me thoughtfully. “Well, if that’s the case, then all hope is lost,” she said. “The Vangars overpower us on the ground easily enough. They are fearless, bloodthirsty in a way that I’ve never seen. If we can’t attack from the air, they have no other weakness.”