by Martha Wells
She was surprised when Malachite lifted one spine in agreement and turned away.
“No,” Consolation said, startled. “Stay!”
The dakti tugged on Consolation’s ankle again. It’s afraid she’ll fly off with us, Jade realized suddenly.
Then Malachite whipped around, hissing in a breath to taste the air. The abrupt movement made Jade flinch back a pace. Consolation leapt back and ducked. The dakti almost fell off the outcrop.
Malachite tilted her head, and said to Consolation, “If this is a clumsy attempt at a trap, none of you will live to regret it.”
Jade tasted the air, but Fell stench was already heavy through these hills. She threw a glance at Consolation, who just looked confused. “What trap?” Consolation said.
Suddenly a dark shape appeared over the hill from the camp. It was the size of an adolescent warrior, its limbs still gawky and its wing control awkward. It made a keening sound of alarm as it dropped to a landing on the outcrop down from Consolation and the dakti. It called out to her in the Fell language, and that was when Jade realized it was a young ruler. Consolation shifted into her winged form, and said, “He hears the Fell. The other Fell. They’re coming.”
The dakti made a squawk of alarm, and said in a low gravelly voice, “He’s not here. What do we do?”
Then Jade caught fresh Fell stench on the wind, coming from the northeast. Another flight was coming. She snarled, “If you planned this—”
“No,” Consolation growled at her. “Not a trap. They hate us because they know we fought the flight at the old sea city.” She glared up at the sky, gathering herself to leap. “They think we’re allies with you.”
Malachite said, “Stop.”
Consolation froze, then shook out her spines and stared at Malachite in confusion. “What?”
Malachite said, “Don’t take to the air yet. Wait until their kethel are overhead. I’ll take the first one.”
“I know.” Consolation backed away. The dakti and the ruler scrambled down the outcrop. “I know what to do. I just forgot, because I was mad.” She whirled around and bounced up, snapped her wings out for one powerful flap, and then dove behind the hill.
Jade turned to Malachite, incredulous. “We’re going to help them fight off a Fell flight.”
Malachite didn’t take her gaze off the sky. “I am.”
A growl rose in Jade’s throat. She shouldn’t have been surprised. The bloodline resemblance between Moon and Malachite was particularly strong, though Moon couldn’t see it. And you have five of them back home in the nurseries, she reminded herself.
The first kethel swept into sight, then two more not far behind. They were the largest Fell, and always the first sent to attack. The lead one was probably half the size of the Golden Isles wind-ship, the other two a little smaller. Like all Fell, their armored scales were a deep unreflective black, but they had distinctive halos of horns protecting their heads.
They were flying far too close together. Jade bared her teeth. “They don’t think much of the half-Fell.” Bunching like that might be a good tactic for approaching groundlings, but not for fighting in the air. Perhaps they were relying on surprise; Fell weren’t good scent hunters, and if Malachite and Jade hadn’t been here, the half-Fell flight might have been taken unawares.
Malachite moved one spine. “They wouldn’t. The progenitors and the rulers think of these half-Fell as something to be used against us. It’s a mistake.” She spared Jade a glance. “Perhaps their penultimate mistake.”
This time when Malachite crouched to leap, Jade matched her and they burst into the air together.
Malachite hit the first, largest kethel in the throat. Jade struck its shoulder and scrambled up past the horns, going for its eyes. She had known Malachite’s size and strength gave her an advantage, and she had seen how fast she was in battle. But it was still a shock that by the time Jade reached the kethel’s head, dark blood fountained up from its throat and its wings flapped in frantic alarm. Jade shoved off it, twisted away from a wild grab by the second kethel, then landed on its back. She spared a glance down and saw the half-Fell flight rise out of the hills in a black cloud.
Malachite was so fast, leaving so much carnage in her wake, it was hard for Jade to find targets. She caught glimpses of Consolation tearing through the other flight’s rulers, and her dakti and kethel attacking in a smart, coordinated fashion completely at odds with the way Fell usually fought. By the time Jade ripped open her kethel’s eyes, got knocked sideways from a tail slap by another one, recovered to claw up two rulers, and shredded a half dozen dakti, the attacking flight was in confused retreat.
Malachite shot past and Jade followed her to circle down to land on a hilltop.
As Jade’s claws hit the sparse grass, Malachite dropped two severed ruler’s heads and shook her claws to get the blood off. It was usually important to sever and bury the rulers’ heads, to keep the rest of the flight from being drawn to them. Since the rest of the flight already knew exactly what had happened to their missing rulers, Jade supposed Malachite had only done it to make a point.
As if she needed to, Jade thought. Two of the attacking kethel lay sprawled in the lee of a hill, and the rocky ground was dotted with the corpses of dakti.
The half-Fell circled now, the kethel staying in the air to watch the other flight retreat, while the dakti and rulers started to land back at their camp.
This whole fight should have been impossible. You couldn’t ally with Fell. It was impossible to ally with a being that didn’t see you as anything except prey. But none of the half-Fell flight had even tried to use the confusion to strike at Jade or Malachite.
Jade spotted Consolation circling down toward them. She told Malachite, “We have to get back to the wind-ship.” The Fell had been coming from the wrong direction to have found it, but they couldn’t take any chances.
Malachite flicked blood off her spines and turned away.
Consolation cupped her wings to land down the hill, and called out, “You’re still leaving?”
Malachite paused to look back at her. “We have to return to others who travel with us. We care for each other the way you care for your flight.”
Consolation hesitated, spines signaling confusion, but so erratically it was hard to tell if the gesture was intentional. Then she said, “I’ll keep following you.” It should have sounded like a threat, but it had the air of a stubborn fledgling refusing to obey their teachers.
Jade heard Malachite say, “I’m counting on it,” just before she followed her into the air.
The sun was starting to sink into the horizon by the time they came within sight of the wind-ship again. Jade hissed with relief to see it floating along undisturbed, Islanders on the deck and the glint of scales from the warriors on watch atop the cabins and the mast. But she wanted a private conversation with Malachite, and the ship would be no place to have it.
One of the raised water channels was below. Jade dipped her wings toward Malachite, then turned down toward it. As Malachite followed her, Jade landed on top of a supporting pylon, not far above the water.
The channel was thirty or so paces wide, the water clean except for windblown dirt and the thick purple leaves of the vegetation around it. Patterns and unreadable writing were carved on the channel’s bottom, faded with age. Jade let her gaze follow it, trying to get her thoughts in order. This was not going to be an easy conversation, at least for her.
Malachite landed neatly on the rim of the channel, her dark foot claws curving around it. “We can use the half-Fell to our advantage,” she said, as if continuing a conversation they had already been having. “If the Fell are as agitated as Consolation said, the half-Fell flight may deflect their attention.”
It wasn’t going to get any better, so Jade blurted, “How did you— You made Consolation forget you were there.”
Malachite stared at her, the only sound the lap of water in the channel.
Jade persisted, “I know you can
do that to other Raksura. You can do it to Fell?”
Malachite said, finally, “It’s possible.”
“Can you hear them?”
“No.” Malachite stood there like a statue. Then she added, “It’s unnecessary.”
“You can make them hear you.” It had finally started to come together for Jade. All the different things she had noticed herself. The brief accounts she had heard about the destruction of Opal Night’s eastern colony, the rescue of the prisoners taken away by the Fell. What Malachite must have done to rescue those prisoners. Hearing how Consolation had killed her progenitor and taken over the flight, and how the dakti or kethel or both had turned on the older rulers, had finally made Jade understand. She asked, “Is that how you killed the Fell that attacked your colony? You got inside the progenitor’s mind. Without her, the rulers couldn’t make the kethel and dakti obey.”
Malachite looked down, but it didn’t feel as if she was avoiding Jade’s gaze. She touched the water with one claw tip and watched the minute change in the flow. She said, “I made her obey me, and it broke her control over the flight. Many of them killed each other.” She looked up, pinning Jade with her gaze again. “They were not adept at functioning without her. And she had made the dakti and kethel hate each other very much.”
Jade moved her spines in understanding. “Teach me how.”
Malachite’s head tilted. It wasn’t quite amusement, and it wasn’t quite a threat. “It isn’t something that can be taught. Not entirely.”
Jade felt the burn of disappointment. “Are you sure?” She realized an instant later it was a stupid question, a fledgling’s impatient question, but Malachite didn’t react to it anymore than she would have if Jade had said something intelligent.
“You have to want it very badly.” Malachite looked away into the distance, toward where the flying boat would be by now. “But you must be careful of what you want.”
“I don’t want it,” Jade said honestly. “But I might need it.”
Malachite’s tail twitched once. “I hope you don’t,” she said, and then turned and launched herself into the air.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Court of Indigo Cloud, in the Reaches
The arrival of Celadon, the sister queen of Opal Night, and her two hundred warriors went better than Heart had expected.
Celadon had been greeted formally by Pearl, then taken up to the queens’ hall for tea and to meet Ember. Since Opal Night was already a bloodline ally, Heart and the other chiefs of the Arbora castes had stayed in the greeting hall to help with sorting warriors and supplies.
Indigo Cloud’s colony tree was large enough to take in a much bigger group than this without crowding, and most of the preparations had revolved around cleaning out unused bowers and getting the lights and heating stones ready. The teachers had been sorting the food stores and bringing in everything ready to harvest, with the hunters working hard to bring in more game to preserve. Even though Malachite had said her warriors would be prepared to do their own hunting, they still had to be ready to supply a number of meals. They had also warned the Kek, the people who lived under the roots of the colony tree on the floor of the Reaches, and made every other preparation for Fell attack that anyone could think of. Heart just hoped it would be enough.
Watching with Blossom as the strange warriors streamed in through the greeting hall entrance, Heart felt an odd combination of dismay and relief. Indigo Cloud had never had this many visitors in its entire history, at least as far as their still existing records said, and it was daunting. But if the attack did come the way the visions had suggested, the Fell were going to get an unpleasant surprise.
Vine, who stood nearby, said, “They’re showing off. They’re not really this organized all the time.”
Heart snorted. He was clearly jealous. “Keep telling yourself that,” Blossom told him, unsympathetic.
The Opal Night warriors all seemed to be on the large side, with strong lean muscles and good conformation. Heart could tell they spent a lot of time in the air, a lot of time hauling and carrying, and maybe fighting, too. It was a contrast to the Emerald Twilight warriors Heart had seen, who all seemed very sleek and well-fed and strong, but not this intimidating. And each group that entered was well-behaved, jostling each other good-humoredly. They all stopped to stare up in admiration at the tree’s great well. The enormous space spiraled up through the trunk, with balconies and round doorways leading off into the upper levels. They pointed out the curving stairways and the carved pillars, and the waterfall dropping dramatically down to its pool.
Floret, Aura, and Selene managed the influx, greeting the warriors rapidly and sending the different groups off with an Arbora soldier or teacher to take them to their quarters. The Opal Night warriors caught on to this system immediately, with one from each group going to join the crowd around the three female Indigo Cloud warriors and politely shifting to groundling to wait for their attention, while the others dumped their packs on the floor and settled down to wait. The younger Indigo Cloud warriors who weren’t on patrol or helping Floret were gathered on the balconies, watching and, Heart hoped, learning some decorum. So far none of them had made any trouble, but maybe that was because Blossom kept catching the gaze of her warrior clutchmate Fair and making motions indicating that if he and his friends started anything that she would finish it.
A group of smaller, rounder figures entered next and Heart stared in surprise. “They brought Arbora!”
“That’s a relief.” Blossom craned her neck to see the newcomers. “We can use the help.”
The Arbora seemed pleased to be here, regarding the greeting hall with approval as they shed their packs. One saw Heart and Blossom and came forward, the warriors parting for him respectfully. Heart went to meet him, Vine and Blossom following her. As the stranger reached her, he said, “I’m Auburn, mentor of Opal Night.”
It was even better that Opal Night had brought another mentor. Heart named herself, Blossom, and Vine, and said, “All of you are welcome here.” That was especially true; Arbora of different courts didn’t get a chance to meet much, except on the occasional trading visit.
Auburn thanked her politely, and added, “I wanted to ask after the warrior Chime, who visited at Opal Night with us once.”
Blossom said, “Chime isn’t here. He went with the sister queen’s party to the sel-Selatra.”
Auburn took that in with a worried expression. “I hope they are all well.”
“So do we,” Heart admitted. “The waiting hasn’t been easy.”
Vine leaned in to ask, “How did so many warriors move so fast?”
Auburn turned to him, explaining, “Small groups of warriors travel ahead, carrying some of the hunters and a mentor. They prepare camps, and hunt for game, so food and places to rest are ready when the larger groups come through. We’ve done this before on a small scale, but never with quite so many warriors. The mentors had to consult the old Suspended Forest Travels and Recorded Court Movements. Not a book anyone has much reason to look at nowadays, but very helpful.” He glanced around. “I should get back to the others and help move the supplies.”
Blossom kicked Heart in the ankle and Heart said hurriedly, “I hope you and the other Arbora will join us in the teachers’ hall later.”
Auburn thanked her for the invitation, and returned to the Opal Night Arbora.
Heart turned to Blossom, who spread her hands helplessly. Blossom said, “Don’t look at me, I’ve never heard of a court moving that many warriors, let alone like that.”
Vine asked hopefully, “Do we have that book?”
Heart sighed. It was obviously not only the Indigo Cloud warriors who were going to feel inadequate during this visit. “I’ve never heard of it. We should probably try to trade for a copy.” Much of the court’s library had been lost during the chaos of the long journey from the Reaches so many turns ago. Heart and the other mentors and teachers were still coming to the realization of just how much must hav
e been left behind along the way.
Blossom gave Vine a poke. “Floret’s glaring at you.”
Heart looked. Floret was glaring and would have been flicking spines if she wasn’t in her groundling form. Vine muttered, “All she had to do was ask, I’ve been standing right here,” and went off to join her.
“Aeriat,” Blossom sighed. “Sometimes I wonder what our ancestors were thinking.”
Heart absently agreed to this sentiment, much expressed among older Arbora. “I just hope they’re all settled by the time the other queens get here.” The messengers had been sent just after Malachite had left to follow Jade and the others. With Indigo Cloud and Opal Night both experiencing the dreams and visions, it had been obvious it was time to convince the other courts the danger was real. But the messengers had brought back the news that the mentors of Emerald Twilight, Sunset Water, and some other allies had begun to have similar visions. Arranging the meeting of the queens at Indigo Cloud had been easier than anyone had anticipated.
Now the only problem was Pearl. She had seemed to agree that a meeting of allied queens was a good idea, but Heart knew from experience how quickly Pearl could change her mind. And just because Pearl thought something was a good idea didn’t mean she actually wanted to do it. “How do you think this will go?”
Blossom said slowly, “That depends on what kind of day Pearl is having, doesn’t it? If she’s down, it’ll be a disaster. But you know, she’s been better since the day we got here, and even better than that since Jade had a healthy clutch. So the chances are good.”
Heart hated relying on luck. Flower, the mentor who had taught her, who had been so important in the fight to bring the court here to safety, had tried over and over again to help Pearl. It’s melancholia, Flower had told her, there’s nothing to be done but wait and hope. It was the product of Pearl’s consort Rain’s death, the death of so many clutches, of Pearl’s sister queen, all the others, from the illness and misfortune that had haunted the old colony. Being away from the Fell influence on the old court had helped immeasurably, but Pearl was . . . still Pearl. And Heart didn’t know how much help Celadon was going to be. “I wish Jade was here.”