by Blooding, SM
A chill washed over me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said over the growing static, “that I think Nix knew you were coming to disable her city and she decided to make an example of you.” The static subsided. “She destroyed those gas cells. I think she intended for Sky City to fall.”
“Well, it’s falling.”
“And I have a feeling she’s going to make you the sole person responsible for it, using you for the reason to unite against the Families and wage war on any who do not support the Hands.”
Mother looked at me, her eyes cold. “I did not realize he had such a grasp of politics.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheeks and pressed the button. “Have we heard from Keeley?”
“That’s the reason I called, lad. I’m patching through her signal.”
There was a high-pitched screech and then Keeley’s voice filled the room. “Joshua? Where’d you go? I’m stuck! I can’t get off!”
Fear slammed through me. I pressed the button. “Keeley? Where are you?”
“Synn?” Her voice was filled with fear. “I’m at a landing strip, but there are no more planes. I can’t get off.”
“Just jump, Keeley. We’re right below you. Trust me, we’ll catch you.”
“Just jump?! Are you insane?!”
I shook my head, as though she could see that. “Just trust me.”
The air was silent for a long moment. Her voice came back, in a loud whisper. “Synn, I can’t get close to the edge. Nix is here with an entire squadron, maybe more, of Wands. She has the entire perimeter blocked off.”
Probably because that was the route I’d taken to escape. If her plan wasn’t working as she’d hoped, she’d improvise, and I didn’t like that idea.
“Synn,” Keeley’s voice was filled with desperation, “what do I do?”
My body, heart and soul went still. Keeley had discovered a use for her Mark that the Hands hadn’t yet. If it had been Yvette or Joshua, I might have been frantic to get them back as a friend, but my leader logic might have been able to talk me into something a little more sane, more reasonable.
But this was Keeley. She and Haji were our surprise tickets. Without them there was a great deal we would never have been able to accomplish. If Nix got her hands on Keeley, who knew what she’d do with that information, the knowledge Keeley had of our operation, of how a lethara worked, lived, healed and breathed, and the power of her Mark? Plus, there was no way Keeley could withstand the kinds of torture Nix would inflict.
And…
I closed my eyes, a chill seeping into my very core.
…Nix needed a target for her war. She wanted to take out the Families, have controlling power of the entire world. I knew that. If she couldn’t get to me, she’d use Keeley, my friend and confidant, as a tool to inflict a new kind of pain on me.
I pressed the button. “Stay right there, Keel. I’ll provide the distraction you need. As soon as there’s a break in the line of people at the edge, you jump! Do you hear me?”
There was a broken moan of agreement.
“What are you doing?” Mother demanded, putting her hand on my arm.
I brushed her off and turned to Ryo. “I need back on that city.”
He nodded and left.
I was fast on his heels.
Mother stopped me, spinning me around to face her, her expression desperate and confused. This was a much different woman than the mother I knew. “What are you doing, Synn?”
My heart raced, but I knew what I had to do. I didn’t really have a choice. Nix couldn’t find out about Shankara City, not while they were so close anyway, and she mustn’t get her hands on Keeley. I had to find a way to keep them both safe, along with the rest of the Families. If she intended to start a war, the best place I could be was in her ranks, where I could sabotage and provide subterfuge. I took Mother’s hands and squeezed, not knowing how we’d gotten to the point where she really felt anything maternal for me. “You’re the one who told me I’d have to make the difficult decisions.”
Her gaze searched mine.
I nodded and let go. “I’m making that decision.” I turned and followed Ryo.
He took me to the docks where there was a dragonfly perched dangerously on a long, narrow platform. He took my hand, hugged me close, patted me on the back three times and let me go. “Let us know when you’re ready to leave, and we’ll get you out.”
I nodded, my mind understanding the decision I’d just made. “I’m not coming back. Do not try and rescue me.”
His almond shaped eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“It will take me a while to gain their trust, but when I do, I will send plans for the planes and anything else they’re developing in their laboratories to you. Be watchful of that.”
He raised his chin, alarm splashed across his expression.
“Refit the docks for air craft, and lots of it. Keep Asim station close. If you can, shroud it in your lethara. It’s the best plan of attack. Trust me. And if winter comes before I’m able to find a way out of the Hand Armies, I want you to ensure that the El’Asim fleet is docked in a letharan city for the winter. No lethara should be left above the ice. Do you hear me?”
He nodded.
I took in a deep breath. “Protect them, Ryo.”
His jaw ticked. “If you destroy any of our cities, we will come for you.”
I gripped his arm. “I would expect nothing less.” I hopped onto the dragonfly’s wing and stepped into the cockpit.
“Just tell me one thing, little brother,” Ryo called.
I paused in my start-up sequence and looked at him.
“You’re not returning to be with her, are you?”
“Nix?” I shook my head, anger seething through me, empowering my decision. “No. I’m returning to destroy her.”
He nodded and stepped away.
The wings fluttered to life and I was off, maneuvering through the tentacles of the lethara and rising to Sky City as it drifted slowly downward. The letharan could touch the ocean’s rolling surface by now. Their job was nearly complete.
I found the right airstrip. It was covered in a sea of black and gold, the Wands. I felt Nix as soon as I crossed into Sky City airspace. She railed against my shields with her anger, beating at them, raging against them.
I landed, but before I could climb from the cockpit, I was surrounded. I stood, my Mark ripping itself from my flesh, lashing out at the Wands directly in front of me.
Weapons fired. Bullets tore through my flesh. Shrapnel whistled through the air.
It appeared as though Nix had decided that if she couldn’t have me, she would kill me.
I was taking more damage than I could heal, though I could really only heal after being burned. A bullet cut through my abdomen, hitting the dragonfly behind me with a metal clang. I howled, my back arching, and lanced myself with my lava. Sky bless me, was I going to survive?
A message came through over the dragonfly’s radio. “We’re clear.”
Relief washed over me. I was just one person. My survival wasn’t key. I knew the Families would go on. They had the Librarium. They only needed laboratories and they would be able to catch up. With the Hands’ city temporarily disabled, they should be stalled just long enough to buy the Families time to regain the technological ground they’d lost.
I leapt from the dragonfly and destroyed the machine’s radio with a lasso of lava. A rope of oiled metal wrapped around my torso, swinging me up and into the air. The rope wrapped around my Mark, wrapping me in a burning heat. I cried out, struggling to be released.
I was dropped to the ground, still bound by the ropes far from the group of Wands, and was quickly surrounded by Swords. I fell to my knees, bringing my Marks close to my body, relinquishing the heat.
The sea of blue and silver parted and Queen Dyna stepped through, her pale hair pulled in a tight, cascading braid, her body sheathed in blue and silver leather body armor. Her blue eyes w
atched me with intrigue as she knelt beside me.
I was in agony, burning by my own Mark, but I met her gaze squarely.
“Why did you return?” she asked softly.
I bared my teeth.
Something genuine flared in her eyes for a moment. “It’s not because you are compulsed.”
I blinked, confused by what she was showing me. “No. I control my compulsion.”
She nodded. “Will you fight with me?”
“I do not trust you,” I whispered. Her face was so close, a speckle of my blood landed on her smooth cheek.
She smiled, a real smile, and nodded. “We’ll work on that.” She rose and turned toward Nix who had entered the circle of Dyna’s Swords.
“I demand to have him returned to me.”
Dyna pulled her shoulders back, her expression slammed with ice cold will. “You’ve already proven your inability to control him, sister. Because of your inability, our city has been destroyed and our Librarium lost.”
Nix clenched her fists, shooting anger at me through her eyes. “I shall have him back, sister. He is mine.” She spun and left the circle of Swords.
Dyna turned to me, flicking a gaze at her men surrounding us. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Synn Primus?”
I took in shallow breaths. That was as much as the ropes would allow. I wasn’t entirely sure what she had planned for me.
I recalled the vision of a lethara dying while trying to protect his city. I remembered swimming through the remains of destroyed cities, the fear as our lethara was poisoned. I replayed the reports of my fleet being attacked in a peaceful port. I conjured the look of fear in my mother’s eyes—fear in the eyes of the strongest person I’d ever met.
I met the queen’s gaze and nodded through the pain as the ropes continued to coil around me. “What did you have in mind?” I was going to take down Nix any way I could.
Lucky for me, Queen Dyna had a plan.
LATER, AT THE TOWER OF SWORDS…
Queen Dyna and her Swords escorted me to her tower. The city was in complete chaos. People were scrambling, still trying to find a way off the city as it drew closer and closer to the turbulent ocean below us. They watched us warily on their way to safety, loved ones’ hands clutched along with hastily stuffed travel bags, rain pouring all around us.
They weren’t staring at me. They were staring at her, regarding her with fear. It didn’t take much for me to remember why. She’d stood behind Nix as she burned children in order to prove a point, burned people for speaking words.
They saw me as nothing more than a pawn.
The closer to the heart of the city we got, the more deserted the streets were. I had no idea how many people would remain, how many would succeed in escaping. The city’s power had slipped.
Nix was going to be pissed.
Queen Dyna led us into the wide entrance, through the throne room, and opened a smaller door at the back. She motioned me to enter and held her hand to stall her guards. “Wait outside. Ensure we are not disturbed.”
Her lead Sword nodded, clicking his heels in his salute.
She shut the door firmly behind her.
I didn’t know what to expect. She had steel-like cunning. I could see that in her blue eyes as she studied me. Was she going to try and keep me, a treasured pet, like Nix? Was she going to beat me, imprison me? Did she want me as her lover, too?
She closed her eyes as fatigue washed over her expression. She walked to the recessed window and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest and staring out. “I have a proposition for you, Synn, and I understand if you do not accept.”
I narrowed my eyes and tipped my head, water dripping from my hair and into my eyes. What was she up to?
She laid her head against the stone wall, her blue eyes studying me as water pooled at her feet, soaking into the blue carpet. “I understand why you’re wary, but know this. I am not my sister.”
“No, you just stand behind her.”
“She has a great deal of power.”
“And you don’t?”
Her eyes stayed on me for a long moment before she blinked them toward the window. “I do.”
“What is your intention?”
She was quiet for a long moment. “I want to remove her from the throne of power.”
My interest was piqued. “And replace her with whom?”
Queen Dyna pushed herself off the wall and walked toward her desk, her pale blue dress swishing wetly in the eerie silence. “Who would you see rise to power? Which of the Families?”
“Who says that one person has to have power over the entire world?”
She stopped, her fingertips splayed against her dark metal desk. “Who, indeed?”
I didn’t know how to respond.
“How do the Families work? How did society function before the Hands?”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
“I was born to the Hands, Synn. I know nothing else.”
She seemed genuine. “Well, we have leaders and elders from each Family, and if there is a decision that needs to be made that will affect all the Families and the lesser tribes, we call a council so a decision can be made.”
“And when a decision can’t be made by committee?”
“That becomes the decision.”
She took in a deep breath, her shoulders bowed, and nodded. “I used to believe in the Hands, but of late, I have lost faith.”
I didn’t think she was looking for a response.
“Will you help me?”
If she was serious. “What do you need?”
She licked her lips and came to stand in front of me. She was a tall woman with a demanding presence even with exhaustion blanketing her eyes. “You can leave. I will instruct my Swords to give you clearance and to provide you with a safe route to the edge of our city, but you will be hunted. There will be no safe harbor for you.”
I raised my chin, my heart beating within my chest.
“Or you can stay here. I cannot promise you protection. You will largely be on your own, but I will do what I can when I can.”
“To what end?”
She raked her top lip with her teeth. “You will need to become the Knight of Wands.”
I blinked, letting that thought settle over me.
“You can bring her down, temper her commands, curb her insane justice as no one else can.”
I somehow doubted that.
“And you can protect your Families. I will assist you in leaking valuable information.”
That sounded tempting.
But could I truly become the Knight of Wands?
I guess I was about to find out.
GLOSSARY
Terms
centirit: a large, hundred legged creature
Festos: the name of one of the rocks in the asteroid field
giraficus: an amphibious giraffes
glyryvil: a twelve legged, webbed creature that eats small birds and fish
hana: Sakin – for flower
horndon: a rhinoceros type creature, but red
Indellas: a group of islands the El'Asim stay close to
Ino Sensei: Yotaka's title
Kala: the large orange sun
Kel'mar: the name of their planet
Kiwidinok: the wildlands
Koko Nadie: the islands that surround Peacock Rock
lethera: a jellyfish large enough to house an entire city. (Plural: letharan )
musuko: Sakin - for my son
octoartus: an octopus- like creature
ocwhal: a large whale-like creature
Okaasan: Sakin - for mother
optiscope: the large telescope for star charting on the Yussra Samma.
Sang: the small blue sun
sphynktor bug: a very large bug with pincers that lives in the desert
Yotaka-san: Teacher Yotaka
Families
Bahrain: Landsmen, their elemental Mark is hearth and home
> El'Asim: Airmen, their elemental Mark is storm
Ino: letharan, their elemental Mark isfire
Leblanc: Watermen, their elemental Mark is water
Shankara: letharan, their elemental Mark is air
Umira: Landsmen, their elemental Mark is spirit
Languages
Adalic: similar to Arabia (El'Asim)
Keltak: similar to Celtic (Bahrain)
Nefertarian: similar to Egyptian Arabic (Umira)
Sakin: similar to Japanese (Ino)
Yetyan: similar to French (Leblanc)
Time
Season: A season is how long it takes for the, moon, Illona to travel through a quadrant of its orbit around Kel'mar and Kel'mar's orbit around Kala. Seasons are also affected by Kala's rotation around its neighboring sun, Sang. With this in mind, seasons can last months or years.
Spring: This season generally lasts about three months.
Summer: Summer lasts over a year. The apex of this season is the two months of constant sunlight as Sang and Kala both share the sky and never set.
Fall: Fall is very short in comparison to the two major seasons. It lasts for two to three months depending on the type of winter they're transitioning into.
Winter: Winter is the longest season as Kel'mar travels along it's orbit around Kala and on the dark side of Sang. This season lasts anywhere from three to five years. Kel'mar's orbit is oblong, as is Kala's. That leaves a very long window for the terrible winters this little moon experiences.
Minutes: There are seventy-two minutes in an hour.
Hour: There are thirty-six hours in a day.
Day: This is how long it takes for Illona to rotate on its own axis.
Year: A year is how long it takes for Illona to travel around her planet, Kel'Mar.
Turn: The time it takes for Kala to complete its rotation around the blue sun, Sang.
Centurn: A centurn is a hundred turns
Distance
decameter: 10 metres
hectometer: 100 metres
kilometer: 1000 metres
megametre: 1,000 kilometres
SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, and Ms. Jack, who’s a real bird. She’s still learning to play the piano and the guitar, which is going marginally better, and for those of you looking for an Arabic update, she has successfully learned one word, “Yalla, people, yalla!”