by Brandon Mull
“I kind of want to keep moving,” Cole said.
“Where to next?” Jace asked.
“Well, with Violet, we can go anywhere,” Cole said. “I need a good weapon. I couldn’t bring my Jumping Sword back from the echolands. The Sky Raiders had a bunch. I thought maybe we could go there and resupply.”
“The Sky Raiders?” Jace exclaimed. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Do you know how many nights I contemplated my death in that place? And how many days I barely dodged it?”
“No scouting missions,” Cole said. “Just buying gear.”
“Adam won’t sell anything cheap,” Jace said. “Who is paying?”
Cole pulled out the king’s seal. “The High King gave me unlimited credit.”
Jace stared openmouthed. “Unlimited credit? Of course he did! Because the world is about to end. Life is always torture.”
Cole tucked the medallion away. “At least it should get me a Jumping Sword.” He turned to Violet. “Can you take us to Skyport?”
“I’ve always hoped to go there!” Violet gushed. “I want to look off the Brink! Endless sky up and down? I have to see it!”
“You’ll come back here before heading to Creon,” Mira said.
“We can,” Cole said uncertainly.
Mira turned to her mother. “You won’t try to stop me?”
“We should talk,” Harmony said. “Cole, absolutely come back before you go after Elegance.”
“Okay,” Cole said. He glanced at Jace. “Coming?”
Jace held up his hand. “I’ve never been to Skyport with a freemark. Freaky memories or not, I wouldn’t miss it.” He bowed to Harmony. “Nice to meet you, Your Highness.”
Violet joined hands with Cole, and a shimmering disturbance appeared.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Harmony said. “Good luck.”
Jace gave a lopsided smile. “That doesn’t work where we’re going right now.”
“Die bravely,” Mira said.
“That’s more like it,” Jace said. “Off we go.”
CHAPTER
7
JUMPING SWORD
Constructed from stone and heavy timbers, the sprawling main building of Skyport clung to the edge of the Brink. Several porches and balconies projected out over the endless drop. Beyond the Brink, in a bright sky decorated with puffy white clouds, several castles floated at different altitudes, one of them close enough to allow Cole to make out details like the battlements on the walls and towers. A single skycraft floated serenely near the closest castle.
Cole stood on a slope looking down at Skyport. Jace emerged from the quivering disturbance beside him, and then Violet came through as well. The wayport closed behind her.
“That has to be the Brink,” Violet said, staring out at the vista.
“Brings back awful memories,” Jace said.
“Should we head into Skyport?” Cole prompted. “You could go out on the porch and look down.”
Violet clapped her hands. “Let’s go!”
“Couldn’t you have put the wayport a little closer?” Cole asked. “Or inside the common room?”
“Slightly closer maybe,” Violet said. “I thought coming in on the side of the valley would grant a better view. And Wayminders never open a way into a building uninvited. Don’t you know that?”
“I did,” Jace volunteered.
“I didn’t,” Cole admitted. “Why not?”
“We don’t want to be hated,” Violet said. “At the beginning of our discipline, some Wayminders opened ways to spy or steal. Very soon we were all despised and hunted. Certain rulers vowed to exterminate us. Our leadership made a pledge never to enter a building without written permission. All Wayminders agreed, most voluntarily. Eventually we earned back the public trust. A Wayminder who violates that rule is immediately stripped of all rights and banished.”
“Harmony gave you written permission to enter her tower,” Cole said.
“Exactly,” Violet said. “In the missive she sent.”
“Come on,” Jace said, trotting down the slope toward Skyport. “We’re wasting daylight.”
Cole and Violet caught up, and together they descended to Skyport and entered the mostly empty common room. A few men played cards in one corner. Adam Jones, a burly man with a grayish beard and long curly hair, sat on his cushioned throne of translucent jade.
“This is a surprise!” Adam bellowed when the three kids entered. “I didn’t expect to set eyes on you two again. Should I prepare for an invasion of legionnaires?”
“The legionnaires were after Mira,” Cole said, approaching the elaborate throne.
“Have they nabbed her?” Adam asked.
“Almost,” Cole said. “Not yet.”
“You boys ready to get back to work?” Adam asked. “I still own both of you.”
“Nobody owns me,” Jace said, showing his freemark.
“Me neither,” Cole agreed, doing the same.
Adam leaned forward. “Come here.” He inspected both freemarks. “Who did this work? You keep him away from here. The scoundrel will drive me right out of business. And who is this young maiden? A Wayminder, I see.”
“I’m Violet,” she said with a small curtsy.
“I gather you brought her to me as a peace offering?” Adam asked.
“No,” Cole said. “She’s with us.”
Violet held up her freemark.
“Those legionnaires did plenty of damage when they tore through here,” Adam said soberly. “I lost three of my scouts when you ran off, plus Mira. And I had to bribe the interlopers to leave us in peace after we slowed their efforts to arrest you.”
Cole pulled the royal seal from under his shirt and showed Adam. “The High King will cover the expenses.”
“You now speak for Stafford Pemberton?” Adam exclaimed. “Somebody has risen in the world! Are you here on official business? Should I set the table with my bestmost utensils?”
“No meals,” Cole said.
Jace elbowed him, then stepped toward Adam. “What are you having?”
“If the High King is paying, we can supply just about whatever you want,” Adam said. He looked intently at Cole. “Is this some sort of stunt? Where did you get that seal?”
“From the High King,” Cole said. “It’s legit.”
“Aye, it appears authentic,” Adam said. He raised his voice. “Bennett! Prepare an invoice for the damage done by the legionnaires, the bribes paid, and the value of three scouts.” Adam leaned back in his throne and drummed his hands on the arms. “Now . . . what else are you after? Or did you just come here to settle up accounts?”
“I lost my Jumping Sword,” Cole said. “I need a replacement. The High King will pay for that, too.”
Adam winced. “We used to have several Jumping Swords. Then we lost the shapecrafter who made them.”
“Durny,” Cole said.
Adam gave a nod. “We still haven’t found an adequate replacement. Scouting is dangerous. Only one Jumping Sword remains. We don’t let the scouts use it. We keep it in the armory in case of emergency.”
Cole stepped closer to the throne and lowered his voice. “This is a major emergency. The entire Outskirts is in danger. We’re trying to stop a torivor.”
Adam laughed. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t you know about torivors?” Cole asked.
“Vaguely,” Adam said. “Fearmongering spooksters from the ether or some such nonsense. Isn’t there one in Elloweer? I’m not a mythologist.”
“There are only two in the Outskirts,” Cole said. “One is about to get free. If he does, the Outskirts ends. No more salvaging. No more Skyport. No more Brink. No more Sambria.”
“Sounds awfully dramatic,” Adam said. “In my experience, boasts that grand don’t tend to pay what they promise. I don’t understand the witchery of torivors, but I am a merchant. I’ll sell you the Jumping Sword if the High King will cover it.”
“Good enough,”
Cole said.
“Funny you should mention torivors,” Adam said.
“Why?” Cole asked.
“One of our teams found a talking castle yesterday that promised an important message about a torivor called Ramarro.”
Cole stiffened and leaned forward. “What was the message?”
Adam shrugged. “The scout who entered the castle never returned. That means we abort.”
“Is the castle still out there?” Cole asked. “Has it entered the Eastern Cloudwall yet?”
“Wouldn’t take long to find out,” Adam said. “Are you interested?”
“Yeah,” Cole said, his heart racing. “We need to get there as soon as we can.”
“Make yourselves comfortable while you wait,” Adam said. “I’ll send for the sword.”
Violet cleared her throat. “Do you mind if I look off the edge? I’ve never been to the Brink.”
“Be my guest,” Adam said. “I’ll have a scope brought to you.”
* * *
“No way am I returning to a sky castle,” Jace said. “Not if you tied me up and dragged me. Especially one that already killed a scout.”
They sat beside each other in rocking chairs, tilting lazily. Violet stood at the railing peering through a small telescope.
“But Dandalus created the cloudwalls that make and destroy the castles,” Cole said. “What if he’s sending a message?”
“Then he should have found a delivery method that doesn’t kill scouts,” Jace said. “I used to be sure I would die in a sky castle. I even managed to make peace with the idea. We’re all just prolonging the inevitable, right? And then we got away. And I gradually accepted that I wouldn’t die in the sky. Don’t make me do this, Cole.”
“You can stay behind with Violet,” Cole said. “Too much depends on stopping Ramarro. We have no real leads. I have to look.”
Jace sighed miserably. “I’m braver than you. If you go, I have to go. Let’s just take the sword and get out of here. Who knows? Adam could be messing with you.”
“You think?”
“Why not? He could just want you to give him a free scouting mission.”
“I’d check the castle before I went inside. Ever heard of a talking sky castle?”
“Nope,” Jace said.
“Which one talks?” Violet asked, her telescope aimed at one of the castles.
“We don’t know,” Cole said. “Probably not one to the west. They’re created in the Western Cloudwall and drift east to the Eastern Cloudwall, where they vanish into a huge vortex. The talking one was explored yesterday, so if it’s still around, it should be in the east.”
“So much to see,” Violet said. “Are you sure you don’t want to borrow the telescope?”
“We’ve seen them a lot closer,” Jace said.
“But not these castles,” Violet stressed. “A person could spend a lifetime studying this phenomenon.”
“Or lose a lifetime,” Jace said. “Really quickly. I’ve seen too many people die in those pretty castles.”
“They’re not all pretty,” Violet corrected. “They all have presence, though. Character.”
“And death traps,” Jace added. “Most of them have death traps.”
She pointed the telescope downward. “There has to be a bottom somewhere.”
“Nobody has ever found one,” Jace said.
“At least nobody who lived to tell about it,” Violet said, aiming her telescope straight up. “Who knows what trickery the designers used? Looping space, maybe? Illusions? What is behind this sky? It can’t extend forever.”
A man came out onto the porch.
“Wenzel,” Jace said, rocking to his feet.
Cole recognized the man but had never officially met him.
“Jace,” Wenzel acknowledged. He held out a sheathed short sword to Cole. “This is yours now.”
“Thanks,” Cole said. Drawing it, he found it a tad longer than his previous Jumping Sword, and a little heavier. He would have to experiment with it and make sure it worked as well as his other one.
“The talking castle has not yet departed the sky,” Wenzel said. “Only a few hours remain before it passes out of reach. If one of you wants to scout it, Adam gave me permission to take you there aboard the Vulture.”
“Did you see it?” Jace asked.
“We visited yesterday,” Wenzel said. “Strange hearing a castle speak. It promised vast treasures and secrets. We got plenty curious. Never saw the scout again once he went inside. The temperament of the castle changed when we left. It sounded angry. I won’t bring the Vulture very near. If you insist on a close look, you’ll be on your own.”
Jace shook his head at Cole.
“We better hurry,” Cole said. “Sounds like time is short.”
* * *
Violet had spent the first part of the flight exploring the Vulture, fingering ropes, peeking into lifeboats, and asking the crew questions. Now she stood at the front of the skycraft as the desired castle drew nearer. The Eastern Cloudwall loomed not too far in the distance.
Nearby, Jace adjusted the straps of Cole’s parachute. “Do you remember why you have this?” Jace asked.
“Of course I do,” Cole said.
“You have it because the horrors inside that castle might be worse than jumping into a bottomless sky and hoping somebody can get under you before you fall forever.”
“Unlike you, I’ve used a parachute to escape before,” Cole reminded him.
“I wouldn’t brag about that,” Jace said. “It’s good to survive a close call. But the scouts who have too many close calls end up dead.”
“I know the dangers,” Cole said.
Jace touched the little vial around Cole’s neck. “Remember what this holds?”
“Poison, so I can end my misery if I end up falling and nobody can catch me.”
“If you fall below the range where the floatstones work, you will never see anyone else again.”
“And poison might be better than starving while falling endlessly.”
“Does suicide poison seem like something you should bring along when doing something voluntary?”
“I’m not doing it for fun, Jace. I’m doing it to get info about Ramarro. I’ll talk to the castle first. I won’t even go inside unless it sounds like what we need.”
Jace sighed. “You’re determined?”
“You know I am.”
“Then I’m coming too,” Jace said. He walked away and came back, shrugging into his own parachute.
“You don’t have to join me,” Cole said.
“I’m going if you are,” Jace said firmly.
“Should I wear one?” Violet asked.
“They’re for people who are coming,” Cole said.
Violet put her hands on her hips. “I’m not coming?”
“It’s dangerous,” Cole said.
“I heard,” Violet replied. “Won’t it be less dangerous if you can open a way and escape whenever you want?”
Cole and Jace looked at each other.
“Yes,” Jace said. “That would actually be much less dangerous.”
“Might also be easier to get to the castle using a wayport rather than a lifeboat,” Violet suggested.
Cole swallowed. “True.”
“But should I wear a parachute in case you get killed, Cole, and I can’t open a wayport?”
“I’ll grab one,” Jace said, hurrying off.
Cole looked down at the approaching castle. Composed of weathered gray stone, the huge building looked long abandoned. Bulky towers added height to the outer wall, while more artful towers topped the soaring buildings within. “Looks ominous,” Cole said.
“Looks empty,” Violet replied. “I wonder how it talks.”
“Are you sure you want to go down there?” Cole said. “We really could die. It looks quiet right now, but visitors get killed in these castles all the time. Opening a wayport could save us. Or we could get crushed or poisoned or stabbed or shot before
a wayport can be opened.”
“You’re a terrible recruiter,” Violet said. “I knew there would be danger when Queen Harmony assigned me to you. Having me along improves our chances for success. I’m part of this mission.”
Jace returned with a parachute for Violet and poison to wear around her neck. Captain Wenzel joined them. They all leaned slightly to compensate as the Vulture drifted to a stop.
“Jace tells me you can open a wayport to the castle,” Wenzel said. “And another to get back. Is such a miracle possible?”
“It’s a little-known technique for traveling short distances,” she replied. “Lets me open many wayports without the usual recovery time needed. Something I am beginning to master.”
“I wish we had that talent with us every day,” Wenzel said. “If your technique will work, I see no purpose in drawing any closer to the destination.”
“The boys will need you if I get killed,” Violet said.
“Aye,” Wenzel agreed. “We’ll linger and keep a lifeboat standing ready in case a rescue is needed.”
“Thanks,” Cole said, casually touching Violet’s hand and energizing her power. “We hope to be back soon. Right away if the castle doesn’t seem promising.”
“Don’t take too long,” Wenzel warned. “We won’t bring the skycraft too near the cloudwall. You don’t want to be in the castle when it gets there. Things quickly get out of control.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Jace suggested.
Violet opened a wayport.
Jace nodded at Cole. “Die bravely.”
“Die bravely,” Cole replied as his friend stepped through, golden rope in hand.
Gripping the hilt of his Jumping Sword, Cole followed.
CHAPTER
8
CASTLE
Battle-scarred walls loomed imposingly above Cole as he arrived beside Jace. With the massive drawbridge closed, the castle appeared unassailable. The only handholds on the ancient wall were narrow slits for archers that began forty feet up.
Cole could not take his eyes off the colossal structure. Its menacing presence demanded attention. There was no obvious threat—no defenders manned the parapets, no sound issued from within. So why did he suddenly feel like a rodent cowering in the shadow of a hawk?