Skyborn

by Eric Asher

  Alice shivered at the thought of being so high in frigid temperatures. How the condensation she saw now would likely be ice then. “Don’t you have lifts or something nearby?”

  “Not too far,” Furi said, “but that’s where everyone goes. Too likely to be seen.” She knocked on a metal door with a porthole in it, the corners rounded and framed by rivets. It reminded Alice very much of the door to the cabin on the Skysworn.

  Furi frowned and tried the handle when no one answered. “She’s always here. And this is never locked. Unless …” Furi glanced over her shoulder and then up.

  “Not up,” Alice muttered.

  “One more level. To the warehouses. The only time Kura locked her house was when she was hiding something. Or someone.”

  House, Alice thought. To call that squat thing a house? It couldn’t have been more than twenty feet square. Unless there was more in the back she couldn’t see, but she doubted it.

  “It’s so small,” Alice said.

  “If you hadn’t noticed, anything that’s not open air is a premium here. I guess your house in Ancora was bigger?”

  Alice nodded, starting to feel like her family had been much better off than she’d realized.

  Furi shrugged. “Home is home. Our homes are small here.”

  Alice cringed when Furi started past Kura’s house. Beyond a fluttering tarp waited another ladder. As bad as she’d thought the first one was, this one had two broken rungs. “You can’t be serious.”

  Instead of answering, Furi started up. She glanced down at Alice. “Kura replaced good rungs with broken ones. Keeps people away. Just don’t put any weight on them.”

  Alice groaned and followed her up, slowly realizing that the ladder was quite a bit longer than the last. A steel cage encased the top where the last three rungs had been broken out. She reached back to take the last few steps on the cage itself, holding her breath as she took one long stride to reach the next level.

  But what waited for them there stole her breath. It was a floating city in earnest, far more than the docks below had been. This held warehouses, some two stories tall, and a sparse scattering of restaurants hidden behind vibrant awnings.

  Furi’s pace increased, taking them off the grates on the edge and onto solid footing. If Alice didn’t know what waited below them, she might have thought she was walking on the streets of Ancora itself.

  There were homes in the distance, capped with graceful arches that set them apart from the plain blocky warehouses of the edge.

  “This is where I went to school,” Furi said. “If you can call it that.” She twisted a doorknob and led Alice inside one of the sheet-metal buildings. It was dark except for a light in the far corner. Shadows loomed around them, crates and barrels piled high on shelving that looked far too narrow to handle the load.

  The farther they walked, the more Alice understood how much larger the facility was than she’d thought. It must be hanging out past the edge of the docks. What had been a small light when they first entered grew into a doorway, and beyond a room with a few tables and a cracked chalkboard.

  Beside the chalkboard sat a woman scribbling furiously in a stained notebook.

  A smile split Furi’s face. “Kura?”

  The woman cursed, bobbling her pen before taking a steadying breath. “Furi? Furi!” Her eyes lit up beneath a wild halo of salt and pepper hair. She jumped to her feet, throwing her arms around Furi to crush her in a hug. Alice didn’t think the woman looked more than twice her own age, far too young to be caring for the number of children Furi had spoken of.

  “I thought you were dead,” Kura whispered into Furi’s hair. “How are you here?”

  Furi glanced at Alice. “It’s … it’s a bit of a long story. Do you have time?”

  “Of course, of course. Grab a seat. And bring your friend.” Kura paused and stared at Alice. “Where in the world are you from, girl?”

  Alice gave Kura an awkward smile. “That’s rather a long story too.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Furi told her story first. The battle, which made Alice cringe, hearing it again and seeing the horror on Kura’s face. And then the prison. Alice studied Kura’s reaction, surprised at the woman’s lack of surprise. From there, Alice came into the story, and their trips to the library.

  It was the first time Kura looked skeptical. And Alice couldn’t blame her.

  “Banned Ballern texts in Belldorn?” Kura shook her head. “We’ve had plenty of books pass the other way, and some older Ballern texts were brought in by smugglers. But you’re talking about treason.” Kura’s voice dropped to a whisper. “About high treason by a member of royalty.”

  “Kura,” Furi said. “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course I trust you. We looked out for each other for years on the docks.”

  “And you looked out for me before I was smart enough to look out for myself.” Furi opened her notebook and passed it to Kura.

  Kura’s kind smile faded as she read, shaking her head as things she had thought were their true history were contradicted entirely. The last paragraph she read out loud, and Furi could hear the heartbreak in her voice.

  “As their homes are overrun by their own foolishness, the Children of the Dark Fire will seek to expand east. Suppressing the Skyborn, the largest threat to their power, is their first priority. And in their wake, they will leave the world a shattered ruin.”

  Kura looked up and met Furi’s gaze. “You saw this?” Her voice trembled, and she glanced at Alice. “With your own eyes you saw this?”

  “It’s in Belldorn’s library,” Furi said. “A gilded griffin on the spine.”

  Kura grimaced. “That house was one of our most reliable presses. Before the monarchy crushed them.” She barked out a humorless laugh. “Crushed them for treason, of all things. I still managed to get a few of their titles for you kids, you know? Scraped the spines so no one would be the wiser. But nothing so incriminating as this.”

  “Who are you?” Kura asked, staring at Alice.

  “I’m …” Alice started, then glanced at Furi, who nodded. “I’m from Ancora.”

  “Ancora!” Kura sat up straighter. “Surely not. That’s the other side of the world.”

  “Almost,” Alice said. “But there are more cities across the sea, farther east than us. I’ve never seen them, but I’m told my family came from there long before the old wars.”

  “And how do you know Furi?”

  Alice sighed. “We were on opposite sides of a battle near Bollwerk. The same battle where her ship was struck down.”

  “She came to visit the prison,” Furi said. “That’s actually how we met. I’d like to think you wouldn’t have bombed me if you knew me.”

  Alice gave a small, uncomfortable laugh. “Of course I wouldn’t have.”

  “You two met in battle?” Kura asked.

  “More or less,” Furi said. “After the battle, obviously. But that’s how I got to see the Crown Library.”

  “So you’ve really seen it?” Kura leaned back. “You’ve been in the Crown Library of Belldorn? How I wish I could see it one day.”

  “She met the Lady Katherine, too,” Alice chimed in.

  Kura’s eyes widened, blinking rapidly. “What?”

  “She seemed nice,” Furi said.

  “Oh, Furi,” Kura said. “You have brought knowledge here that will spread like the wasting.”

  “What do you mean?” Furi’s words were hurried, almost panicked.

  “This is the heart of everything that has poisoned our city. And I fear it’s too late to save it. It is like the story of Anabelle and the Apple Tree.”

  Furi’s face darkened. “I am not so naïve as that. I didn’t unknowingly bring poison to my home.”

  “No,” Kura said. “You brought a light to show them the poison that has been killing them as long as their memories.”

  “What is Anabelle and the Apple Tree?” Alice asked.

  “A children’s tale,” Kura
said. “A tale of warning. One I teach to the youngest of my students. If the apple breeds ignorance, ignorance begets death.”

  “Then the ignorant will lead themselves into oblivion,” Furi said quietly.

  “And I have raised the Skyborn better than that, child. They will rise, and they will burn down the oppressors who call themselves kings.”

  There was passion in Kura’s voice. So much that it made Alice shiver. She seemed a good Samaritan, a good soul, wanting to help people. It reminded her of Jacob. But where Jacob wanted to do good often for the sake of good, it seemed to her Kura wanted to burn down an empire for the outside chance of something good.

  “What do you mean to do?” Furi asked.

  Kura looked down at Furi’s notebook. “If this is all true … or even a fraction of the truth … much of Ballern’s power comes from Fel. Fel is as much a threat to the Skyborn as anything.”

  “There’s more you don’t know,” Alice said. “They destroyed part of my city. Half of Ancora is in ruins because of Fel, and Dauschen may never be the same.”

  “Word travels here faster than you may think,” Kura said. “I’m aware of the war in the east. And if it comes here?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned to Furi. “That I cannot allow.”

  Alice glanced down at Kura’s notebook. It took time to make out the words as they were upside from Alice’s perspective, but they slowly came together.

  Kura hastily closed the notebook when she saw Alice looking. Some of the text didn’t make sense, but other parts did.

  “You’re going to Fel?” Alice asked, taking a step back. “Are you one of them?”

  “No!” Kura said.

  Furi glanced between the two. “What are you talking about?”

  Kura sighed and opened her notebook. “It’s a code. Furi, what you brought here is only the proof of a conspiracy some of the mercenaries have been speaking of. Things are already in motion.”

  “What kind of things?” Alice asked, suddenly concerned about what they might have just stepped into.

  “They’re going to Fel.” Furi wasn’t asking a question as she glanced up from the notebook.

  Kura’s voice lowered to little more than a whisper. “A small group of mercenaries mean to infiltrate the Fel forces staged near the Red Woods.”

  The quiet caution in Kura’s whisper, so far on the edge of Ballern and the docks, made Alice’s skin crawl. What kind of threat did they live under to worry about being overheard at the farthest edge of a city?

  Alice shook her head. “Not a good idea. Midstream already knows about the soldiers stationed there. Your mercenaries could get themselves killed.”

  “Our friends will make sure the soldiers in the Red Woods are sabotaged. They are not fools.” Kura glanced at the clock on the wall. “You already know some of them, Furi. They’ll be here soon.”

  “We are already here,” a voice boomed.

  Alice spun as she stood, priming her wrist launcher when she saw the crossbow leveled at Furi’s head. She raised her arm, cocking her wrist so the launcher started to spin.

  “Drop it,” Alice commanded.

  Furi turned slowly, freezing when she locked eyes with the mercenary, much as the mercenary froze when he saw her.

  “Furi?” He almost threw the crossbow away, but Alice kept her sight trained on the man, just above his outrageous mustache.

  “Jakon?” A range of expressions stormed across Furi’s face, but she finally stood and stepped forward and hugged the old man. “You’re a mercenary?” She backed away and frowned at him. “But you work in the palaces.”

  “Mercenary is a strong word,” Jakon said with a gentle smile. “Perhaps informant would be better?”

  “A spy,” Alice said, relaxing. “But for who?”

  “Whoever has the coin to pay.”

  The man sent Alice’s hackles up immediately. A spy inside the royal palaces of Ballern? Who was also a mercenary? Suspicions plagued her thoughts as she tried to pin down the extent of the threat he presented.

  Kura handed Jakon her notebook. He didn’t read it at that moment, simply tucked it away into his jerkin.

  “Where have you been?” Jakon asked. “The Nightingale was shot down. How did you get home?”

  “Alice saved me,” Furi said.

  Alice waited for her to expand on the story, but she didn’t. So however Furi knew Jakon in Ballern, it wasn’t enough to tell him the entire truth. But Furi did tell him about Rin and Beck and the raid where they’d been forced to fire on children. Jakon’s face darkened, but Kura didn’t seem surprised at all.

  “Children,” Jakon said. “It is bad enough they recruit their own children for war. But to target the children of an enemy …” He shook his head.

  “What do you know about the Children of the Dark Fire?” Furi asked.

  Jakon gave her a weak smile. “You go to a dangerous place, Furi. It is not safe to speak of them. Eyes everywhere. Ears in every wall.”

  Furi bit her lip. “But you know they’re bad, right?”

  Jakon took a deep breath. “Furi … yes. But you cannot stop madness that has grown such deep roots.”

  So Furi told him in detail about what she and Alice had found in the library at Belldorn, ignoring Jakon’s questions when he asked how they could possibly have gotten inside. She showed him the excerpts from her notes and Alice’s, the rise of a religion that brought down an empire from the inside.

  At the end, Jakon looked up to Kura, who only nodded. He cursed and closed the notebook, handing it back to Furi. “There are many who will not believe this without the book itself as proof. I fear there are many more who will not care. The Dark Fire is all they know.”

  “Then the Skyborn will remove them as they once removed us,” Kura said, her knuckles whitening on the table.

  “You are as stubborn as those pirates,” Jakon muttered.

  “What pirates?” Kura asked.

  “I needed a single barrel of Pill-Bug eggs, and they forced me to buy four.”

  “Mary?” Alice asked before she could stop the question.

  Jakon raised an eyebrow. “Do you know the thief? I suppose I should not be surprised that a pirate would change the terms. But it is still an annoyance.” He grinned. “Though it did give me the idea to journey with my mercenaries. I’ll sell the extra barrels to the soldiers in the Red Woods before we sabotage them.”

  “Do you know of any ships they could take to Fel?” Kura asked.

  Jakon shook his head. “The Red Woods are as close as you’ll get right now. You’re welcome to join my crew.”

  “Will you cook on the way?” Furi asked.

  “Of course!” Jakon said. “It’s a long flight, and we will all need to eat.” His mustache rose with his smile.

  Furi turned to Alice. “What do you think? We won’t have to risk talking to anyone else on the docks.”

  From that perspective, Alice thought it was a great idea. But she worried about Jakon. If Furi hadn’t known he was a mercenary, and he was a spy inside the palaces, what else didn’t she and Furi know? But if it would get them closer to Midstream, she thought it might just be worth the risk.

  Alice nodded.

  “Excellent!” Jakon said. “You’ll have an egg like nothing you’ve tasted before. And then you’ll be sick of them because I have too many eggs.”

  Alice smiled despite herself. Seeing the fallout from Mary’s rather skillful negotiations was an entertaining sight indeed.

  “You know I lived in Belldorn for years as a spy,” Jakon said.

  Alice froze. To so freely admit he was a spy to someone he didn’t know was insane. But the words that followed chilled her.

  “I know the only way you could have gotten into the library was as a guest, or a prisoner.” Jakon studied Alice. “I suppose you were a prisoner of this one.”

  “Her name is Alice,” Furi said. “And, well, yes, you’re right, but she’s my friend.”

  Alice blinked at that.
<
br />   “It is tiresome to lie to those you care for,” Jakon said. “The older I get, the less taste I have for it. But the old library.” He nodded slowly. “That was a place I rather enjoyed. It is also the place I learned more about Ballern and the western cities. The Children of the Dark Fire may be a threat to the empire today, but religions have come and gone before. Some ruling for a time, some forbidden to rule, and some scoured from the world by a rival.

  “Not all the old wars were fought over land and food. Some were waged in the name of ideals and stories, principles of religion that their own followers ignore when it suits their goals.” Jakon looked to Furi. “You tread in dangerous waters, but you do not tread alone. Our ship is crewed by defectors fleeing Ballern. Only a few of us will return to the city at the end of this journey.”

  “It sounds like you already know what we need to know,” Alice said. “We need an insider who can tell us about the palaces and workings of Ballern.”

  “So you can invade it,” Jakon said. It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes,” Furi said quietly when Alice hesitated.

  “You will need an army. A fleet of airships to breach the docks. It would take a battle the likes of which has not been seen since the Deadlands War.” Jakon paused for a time. “Come to the ship at midnight. You’ll find The Ray four docks over on the northeastern edge of the Bones. I can help you with some of what you need.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  If the docks had been unnerving in the daylight, at night, they were terrifying. Sparse lights along the walkways gave brief visibility in the cover of night as Alice and Furi looked for The Ray. Every step they took on the solid metal around the warehouses rang out.

  Alice cringed, waiting for someone to stop them, to question what they were doing. “I can’t believe no one has asked us what we’re doing out here.”

  “Have you seen anyone?” Furi asked. “Of course not. Every sensible dock rat is asleep. They’ll have to be awake in a couple hours as the supply ships finish refueling and start to leave.”

  The noise of their footsteps changed, and Alice glanced down. They were back on the horrible grating that let her see the city far below. She’d almost grown used to the constant swaying of the docks in the hours since they’d arrived. But she had most certainly not grown used to the vision of city lights beneath her feet, so distant they might have been glowworms in an endless chasm.