Finding the Suun

by J. A. Culican

  He ducked down and stuck his face under mine, forcing me to look at him. "There's only one thing that I ask. You have to promise me something."

  I wanted to object. Tell him no, I wasn't in the position to make anyone any promises. I didn't even want this, to feel like this about him. It would only lead to heartache. But I pressed my lips together and waited.

  Arun smiled. "Take me with you wherever you go. I'll keep you in a lifetime supply of Penydes if you just promise not to leave me behind."

  In spite of myself, I smiled. It was an offer I just couldn't refuse. I slid my hands up to his shoulders. "Fine," I said through gritted teeth, "but I'm going to hold you to that."

  His lips touched mine, feather-light and questioning.

  "Hey, lovebirds," Quynn said, her voice echoing in the silent night. "You're blocking my view."

  I jerked away from him and ducked my head, turning my back on her, crunching the last bits of the candy between my teeth.

  But Arun looked right at the captain, a grin on his handsome face. "Of what? The darkness?"

  "Of anything but you two sucking face," she called back, but I could hear the teasing smile on her lips.

  "Feel free to look away." With that, Arun put a hand on the small of my back and pressed me against him, bringing his mouth down on mine again. His earlier hesitancy was gone. This wasn't a kiss that asked, but a kiss that demanded, and I gave it to him. Breathless, excited, and uncertain. And terrified.

  But I was a Svand. And Svands faced their fears with their eyes wide open, ready for whatever would come next.

  Chapter 14

  A horn blasted through the stillness of the next morning, jerking me from sleep. Arun and I were lying side-by-side on the deck, my head nestled against his shoulder and his arm wrapped around me. We'd spent the night like that, neither one of us wanting to break the spell by going below deck and facing Estrid. But we regretted it now. The crew surged up to the deck, pounding feet nearly trampling us.

  "Hey, watch it," Arun told one man who tripped over my leg.

  "What are you doing?" the sailor asked with a scowl, righting himself. "Didn't you hear the horn? Get up." And he ran away.

  Embarrassed, I pushed myself to sitting and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "I heard it. What was it?"

  "A call for all hands on deck," Arun answered. He stood and reached a hand down for me.

  I let him pull me up and then tried to casually drop his hand while I pretended to brush dust from my clothes. I knew things would look different in the light of day, and I didn't want him to think I held him to anything he said last night.

  Arun saw through my act, though. He snatched my hand back up and pressed my fingers to his lips. Then he squeezed my hand and looked at me intently. "Don't be weird, okay?"

  I took a deep breath. "Okay."

  "Or I'll have to sweep you off your feet in front of all these sailors."

  When I grimaced, he laughed and finally let me go.

  At the helm, Quynn was barking orders.

  "What's going on?" Arun asked.

  "That." She pointed straight ahead.

  We turned and followed the direction of her finger, our eyes landing on a black cloud of birds.

  No, not birds.

  "Ur’gels," Arun said with a sigh.

  Quynn looked back and forth between Arun and me and must have been able to see the defeat on our faces. "What did I tell you yesterday?" she asked me.

  "To stay with you. That you're the best airship captain."

  "Right." She shouted something to a passing sailor. Then, to me, "Do what I say, and we'll be fine."

  I nodded my agreement. Even Arun, who didn't like taking orders from her, was silent, listening.

  "Draw your weapons and fight, but when I say hang on, you hang on. Got it?"

  "Got it," we said in unison.

  Estrid appeared then, her hair still messy from sleep. "Got what?"

  We filled her in as we made our way to the bow of the ship, stepping over ropes and weapons and the legs of men who were crawling around on the ground, tying things down. She was still standoffish, but she seemed to have cooled down some. At least, she wasn't openly insulting me, so there was that. I still let Arun do most of the talking.

  "Hang on?" Estrid looked like she'd woken up and stepped into a nightmare. A fight, the Svand sisters could handle. A fight in the air where we were told to "hang on" and crew members were anchoring themselves to the ship with ropes? That was something we were less prepared for.

  We didn't have time to back out, though. The ur’gels were on us like a swarm of bees, but the sailors were ready for them. Renwick was the one I noticed first, probably because he was the highest. He leapt from the mainmast as if he had wings. The rope wrapped around his wrist pulled taut and swung him around. He grabbed one ur’gel by the wing and slung it to the deck, where it landed at my feet. I hadn't even pulled my ax yet, so I stomped on its back and jerked its wing, snapping it before Estrid and I tossed the body overboard. The ur’gel, still stunned, made no move to save himself.

  That was how it went on for the first few minutes—one of the Wind Wraith's crew would sail out into the open sky, knock an ur’gel down to us, and we would dispatch it. I kept my eyes open for Savarah, ready to pull out the locket and use it to finally beat her once and for all, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  Even without her, the ur’gels kept coming. There were so many that they started getting past the sailors, landing on the deck and tucking in their wings, drawing their weapons and charging at us. With every one I killed, another took its place. I heard a shout and looked up in time to see an ur’gel cut through a rope and send one of our men—Renwick, I realized when I saw the flash of gold in his hair—plummeting to the ground.

  "Stiarna!" I cried. Together, the griffin and I leapt from the railing.

  I heard Arun say, "Frida, don't," and I felt fingers graze the back of my shirt, but I didn't pause. I couldn't pause, or Renwick would be lost.

  I kept my hand on Stiarna's shoulder but didn't get my legs around her until we were already in the air, diving after Renwick. My ax was in my hand and I swung at every ur’gel we passed, but it didn't take long for us to drop below the fight. We caught up to Renwick as we entered the veil. When he saw us, his eyes went wide with shock, but then he tucked his legs in and rolled so that he was face-down and could reach for us. But I didn't want his hands. I had my eye on the rope still tied around his wrist. It was closer to me, an easier target as it fluttered in the wind several yards above his head.

  Tucking my ax away, I leaned over, one hand wrapped in the feathers at the base of Stiarna's neck, the other stretching for the rope. My fingers wrapped around it.

  "Hold on," I grunted, not sure if I was talking to Renwick, Stiarna, or myself. Maybe all of us.

  Stiarna spread her wings to stop our fall and the rope went taut. It felt like it nearly pulled my shoulder out of its socket. Of course, it was the same shoulder that an ur’gel had speared during the fight in Barepost. It burned, but I held on, grinding my teeth against the pain.

  We were finally ascending again, and the ship was directly overhead. The ur’gels were swarming the ship, hanging from the hull nets, and standing on the railings, rocking it like they'd done to the Iron Duchess in the Valley of the Horses.

  "That's not good," Renwick called up to me.

  "Are they going to capsize the ship?"

  "Not if the captain can do it first."

  I squinted down at him. "Wait, what?"

  "You might want to get out of the way."

  I nudged Stiarna to the left with my knees and she followed, veering out from beneath the ship but still angling upward. I heard shouts of "hang on," and "what's happening," and suddenly the Wraith was tilting precariously toward us. I caught a glimpse of blonde hair—Estrid. She'd tied herself to the mainmast. Then Arun appeared at the railing, searching the skies. For me, I realized.

  "Arun!" I shouted, waving to get his at
tention. He had to tie himself off or he was going to fall.

  But he didn't see me.

  The ship kept rolling. The sailors were still fighting, swinging around on their ropes with nothing below them, breaking wings and dropping ur’gels who free fell into the clouds below. Sailors were even standing on the hull as it became the top side, dispatching the surprised ur’gels with an ease I'd never seen before in someone this high up in the air. No one noticed Arun, who was sliding across the wooden slats, hands scrambling for purchase. An ur’gel with a torn wing was next to him and reached out, grabbing Arun's ankle. Arun kicked but the ur’gel didn't let go. They hit the railing together and tumbled over. Stiarna was close enough for me to grab him, but she wouldn't be able to hold all our weight.

  "You have to get on board," I shouted to Renwick, who nodded in agreement. With Stiarna's help, I slung Renwick up, letting go of the rope at the very last moment. His hand wrapped around the ship's railing and he held on tight. On my other side, I reached an arm out and caught Arun as he fell, our hands clasping each other's elbows. He kicked again and the ur’gel finally let go, tumbling into the clouds.

  I flung him onto Stiarna's back and whipped around to glare at him.

  "Thank Onen," he gasped. "I thought you were dead."

  Even there, in the air, with ur’gels raining down around us, I needed to make one thing clear. "Just because I kissed you, don't think that I'm going to stop fighting and doing what—"

  He shut me up when he covered my mouth with his, our noses squishing together in his eagerness. When he pulled away, he said, "I'm pretty sure I was the one who kissed you."

  "What I'm trying to say—"

  "I know," he said. "I get it. I don't want you to change. I'm sorry. I was just scared. For you."

  An ur’gel spun past us. Stiarna kicked out with one clawed leg and caught it in the side. It screamed as it fell. Overhead, on the upside-down ship, the sailors began their victory cheer.

  Chapter 15

  When the Wind Wraith was upright again, Stiarna landed on the crowded deck. We were met by Estrid. She had rope-burn marks around her wrists, but she took the time to look me over and make sure I was okay. It was as close to forgiveness as I figured I would get from her.

  The sailors were already working to clean the ur’gel blood with mops and buckets and soapy towels. Renwick, whose life I had just saved, handed me a wooden bucket filled with water and a rag that might once have been white but was now a dull brown color.

  I took them from him. "Seriously?"

  He shrugged. "No rest for the weary." He turned to walk away, but then seemed to think better of it and turned around. "Thanks, by the way." As if it had been no big deal, keeping him from shattering into smithereens in the Bruhier jungle. He passed two more rags to Estrid and Arun, and then approached Stiarna, who was grooming herself in her favorite spot near the bow of the ship. Instead of forcing her into menial labor, he patted her on the head and gave her a huge fish that she gobbled down greedily.

  Ugh.

  We scrubbed the deck for hours in spite of our aching muscles. While the sailors, including Arun, joyfully regaled each other with tales of victory or sang bawdy songs, Estrid and I crawled around on our hands and knees and grumbled angrily, cursing Quynn under our breath.

  It wasn't until night fell that Renwick collected our supplies and dismissed us. Most of the sailors went below decks for supper. While I usually took my meals on the deck, I followed, starved and tired, ready to eat and go straight to bed. Everyone else was in high spirits, though, even Quynn. The captain raised her glass of ale to me and my sister, who sat at the opposite end of the table from her with Arun.

  "To the D'ahvol," she said. "The second-best fighters in the air."

  "To the D'ahvol," chorused her crew.

  Estrid and I flushed, hiding our pink cheeks behind our glasses of ale. The drink was strong and burned going down, but the more I drank, the easier it became to swallow and the better the food tasted.

  As soon as supper was over, the empty plates were cleared and cups were filled with ale, Quynn brought out a deck of cards.

  Estrid's eyes lit up.

  Quynn noticed. "We don't play often," she said, shuffling the cards expertly in her long-fingered hands, "but we enjoy a good game now and then. Can I deal you in?"

  Without answering, Estrid scooted out a chair and sat back down.

  Then, Quynn noticed me still standing. "And you?"

  "No." I waved my hands in front of me. "No, I'd be no good. I can hardly keep my eyes open."

  Arun was behind me, standing too close. I didn't know if the heat in my neck was from the drink or his proximity. I wondered if he would stay.

  But before he could say anything, Quynn eyed him over my shoulder and said, "Don't even think about it, Phina."

  If he hadn't been thinking about it, he was now. "What?"

  "You're not invited to our game. I know all about you." She began to deal, flipping the cards quickly to the group around her.

  Arun crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you know about me?"

  "That you're a cheater."

  The card players murmured to each other and gave him narrow looks.

  I stepped back to get a good look at him and his reaction.

  He seemed adequately shocked, his mouth open and his brow furrowed. "That's ludicrous. I'm no cheater. And how would you know? You've never played a game with me in your life."

  Quynn stacked the remaining cards on the table and peeked at her own hand. "Maybe not, but my brother has."

  "Your brother?" The confusion on his face was as real as the shock.

  The satisfied look on Quynn's face told me that this—whatever Arun had done to her brother—was the real reason she gave Arun a tough time. "Have you ever heard of the Wynleth family?" she asked Arun.

  Arun shook his head.

  "No, you wouldn't have. The Phinas and the Wynleths don't exactly run in the same circles. The Wynleths come from nothing and have nothing. My father, though, worked his way up through the ranks to become a master airship builder. We had a small but decent life, but when he and my mother died, all they had to leave us were the two airships still in the Wynleth name. The Wind Wraith and one other."

  "The Iron Duchess." Arun uncrossed his arms and stared at the captain.

  "Yes," Quynn confirmed. The card players were making their bets, but Quynn folded her hand and leaned back. "The ship that you stole from him."

  He held up a finger. "To be fair, I won it. He wagered it and he lost it."

  "You cheated. My brother never loses."

  "I didn't cheat."

  "The airship was all he had left of our parents. You could have shown mercy."

  Arun shook his head. "You would respect me even less if I had."

  I left them to continue their argument and went to our small sleeping quarters, where I took off my leather armor and washed up, then lay in my cot, studying the wayfinder's stone, which had been curiously quiet today. It was still not giving off any clues, so I tucked it under my pillow beside the compass and the locket and rolled over, closing my eyes in the darkness.

  Sometime later, a small, shuffling sound woke me. The cot across from me creaked, and there was a tired sigh. I knew without looking that it was Arun, and the lack of snoring from the cot above me told me Estrid was still at the card game. I waited until Arun lay down and his breathing grew even, and then I slid out of my cot, as quiet as a hunter stalking its prey. There's no way to get into a cot quietly, though, and Arun jolted awake as his cot creaked and moaned under my weight.

  "It's just me," I whispered to him.

  "Hello, just me." He held an arm up and I slipped in, pressing my back against his chest. With the extra weight, the sides of the cot folded up around us, creating our own little cocoon. He buried his face against my neck, where my hair was getting too long, and breathed deeply.

  "Don't do that, I stink."

  "It's that irresistible scen
t of ur’gel blood."

  I swatted at him and he chuckled quietly, pressing me closer. I'd been nervous about crawling into his cot—all joking aside, it was the first time I'd made the first move. But I wanted to be open to him. I wanted him to know I wanted to be near him. And I was glad I had. It felt right, to be tucked up against him in the dark.

  When I had about drifted back to sleep, Arun asked, "Do you ever wonder what the heir is like?"

  I came slowly back to awareness, so it took me a second to process his question, and another second to realize that for all the searching for her and talking about her, I had never actually thought of her as a real person. "Well, I guess I thought she would be like me."

  "Like you?"

  "Strong. A fighter. Training her whole life to be a warrior and fight Dag'draath."

  Arun grunted. I felt it against my back, a low grumble.

  "What? You don't think so?"

  "Remember we promised Ravyn that we would help her? So … maybe not."

  "Why would they hide her away if not to prepare her for what was to come?"

  This time, I felt him shrug. "I could be wrong."

  I could only hope he was.

  Sleep came easily after that. So easily, in fact, that I didn't hear Estrid come in. It wasn't until she was screaming at me I finally rose to consciousness, peeling myself away from Arun and sitting up on the edge of his cot.

  "What in Onen's name are you doing?" she shrieked.

  "What are you talking about?" I rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

  Arun shifted behind me but couldn't sit without rolling me out onto the floor, so he just lay there, looking up at Estrid with wide eyes.

  Estrid drew her sword and suddenly the room got even smaller. "I'll kill you, elf." He was demoted back to "elf" now.

  I stood quickly.

  The cot shifted and dumped Arun onto the floor against the wall. Estrid stabbed at him and tore the thick material of the bed. He flattened himself against the wall and shuffled away from her, staying just out of her reach.

  I grabbed Estrid's shoulder, but she shook me off. Her sword took a chunk out of the wall and for all that I didn't want to be on the other end of it, I also didn't want to face Quynn's wrath if we destroyed any part of her ship.