Breaking the Suun

by J. A. Culican

  Arun did a double-take when I ran past him with the weapon. “What are you doing?” But from where he stood at the helm, he wouldn’t be able to see our pursuer.

  I had never been very good at using a bow. I lacked the patience and preferred the personal aspect of hand-to-hand combat. But like every D’ahvol, I’d trained in a variety of weapons and was no stranger to archery. So I nocked the arrow, drew the string back until it touched the corner of my mouth, and aimed at the winged beast who was quickly gaining on us. I took aim, focusing on the white bandage, then below the wound I’d already put there.

  The arrow flew straight and true, burying its pointed tip in the creature’s chest. He stopped climbing and instead grasped the shaft of the arrow and pulled it from his chest. The wound was pouring black blood. His eyes closed, and he plummeted out of the sky, soon becoming nothing but a black splotch against the green and brown grass of the valley below.

  Chapter 21

  Just because their leader had fallen did not mean the ur’gels were ready to give up. They were launching rocks and sticks at the bottom of the Iron Duchess, who seemed to be struggling to rise above the clouds of the veil.

  “We need more wind,” Arun said. “The sheriu box can only get us up, not out.” He gestured to the blue box at the very top of the mainmast.

  It wasn’t until he said it I realized how still the air was. I walked to the front of the ship where my siblings stood watching the thick crowd of ur’gels beneath us. A stick sailed over the railing. I picked it up and lobbed it back over, hoping it would at least knock one of them out. A series of large rocks came next. Most of them landed harmlessly on the deck but one flew past me to the other side and cracked Estrid on the back of the head.

  My sister toppled forward, the railing catching her at the waist. Her feet went over her head and she was gone from view.

  Erik and I both rushed to where she’d been standing, expecting to see her falling to the ground, but instead, she was hanging from the hull nets. The rocks and sticks had stopped coming. Instead, the ur’gels on the ground had gotten loud with excitement, waiting for her to fall so they could tear her to pieces.

  I hoisted myself up on the railing. “Don’t let go.”

  “Believe me, I won’t.” Her voice edged with panic.

  I stepped over the railing. Erik took my hand and I dropped down to where Estrid was still hanging. I reached down to her. “Take my hand.”

  She looked down at the crowd below us. When she did, I saw the blood matting the back of her head, turning her yellow hair red. Then, looking back at me, she said, “I can’t.”

  “What do you mean?” I stretched even further, until she would barely have to reach for me. “Of course, you can.”

  “I don’t feel so good.” She squeezed her eyes closed and her fingers slid slightly against the rope as she loosened her grip.

  “Lower,” I hissed at Erik.

  He grimaced and stretched until I could almost touch Estrid’s fingers. Stiarna appeared then, swooping over the edge of the ship, and hovering just below Estrid. But Estrid wouldn’t accept her help, kicking her feet anytime the griffin got near her.

  “Estrid. Estrid. Look at me.”

  She tore her eyes from the hoard below her dangling toes.

  “You will not fall. I cannot lose you. Take my hand.”

  A breeze caught the ship’s sails and we rose suddenly. Estrid gasped and released the net with one hand, clapping it instead around my wrist.

  “Pull us in,” I ordered Erik.

  He heaved us back over the railing and the three of us collapsed in a heap on the deck. As soon as Estrid looked up, I reached out and punched her in the arm. Hard.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I snapped.

  Estrid groaned and rolled to the side, holding her arm where I’d hit her. She didn’t answer. Erik crawled to her and began to examine the cut on the back of her head.

  I stalked away toward the helm, Stiarna on my heels. We were still below the veil but high enough the rocks and other projectiles didn’t reach us and moving fast enough we were soon out of view of the ur’gels.

  Arun glanced at me, then away. “I’m glad she’s okay.”

  “Me, too.” I didn’t tell him she almost wasn’t.

  “So, where are we headed? Is it time to follow the rock?”

  I touched the pocket in my vest, but didn’t draw out the stone Ravyn had given me. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  “Isn’t that why we left?” he asked.

  “I promised Ravyn I would help the heir. Is leading the ur’gels right to her really the best way to handle it?”

  Estrid and Erik appeared then, Estrid rubbing the back of her head and looking dazed.

  Erik was guiding her by the elbow and came to stand beside us. “Estrid filled me in. I have to say, I thought the same thing. If the whole point is to protect the heir, won’t our arrival in her hiding place put her in danger?”

  Even though it had been the point I was making, it still irked me she was getting such consideration when I got none. The only thing keeping me from going straight there and throwing the girl to the ur’gels was the fact I’d made a promise to Ravyn.

  “But there was also the vision,” Arun added.

  Erik nodded. “Right, the dead woman.”

  “It’s possible, then, that the ur’gels have already found her, or will find her soon. If that’s the case, delaying will only guarantee her death.”

  They both looked at me. “What do you want to do?” Erik asked.

  I ran a finger along the edge of my ax. It needed to be sharpened, but that would have to wait. “We need to split up.”

  “No,” Erik said at the same time Arun said, “I’ll go with you.”

  “I’ll go alone,” I said. “I’ll lure the ur’gels away, and you will go after the Suun heir while I keep them—and Savarah—distracted.”

  Erik was shaking his head even as I spoke. “That’s a terrible idea.”

  I planted my feet firmly, refusing to be swayed. “It’s not, and you know it. It’s the only viable idea that keeps the heir safe. Isn’t it worth it to save the world?”

  Arun studied me. “I don’t know. Is it?”

  Once again, no one was listening to me. I pressed my lips together and looked away.

  “Frida,” Arun said in a warning tone. “Talk to us.”

  But I was done. So, I did what I knew would bother him the most. I turned on my heel and walked away, ducking into the crew’s quarters below deck. He was flying the ship, so he couldn’t pursue me.

  The crew’s quarters were a dark, paneled room that would have been large except it was stuffed to bursting with wooden crates, kegs, and a wide table where the crew could take their meals. There were about a dozen cots hanging on the walls, stacked tight on top of each other. I’d spent as little time as possible in here, not liking how it reminded me of being trapped in the mines. I had never eaten down here or slept on any of them.

  I sat on one now. It rocked gently with the swaying of the ship. I must have drifted off to sleep because the next thing I knew, Estrid was shaking me awake. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but she looked better. Alert.

  “Erik told me what you said. About leaving.”

  I blinked up at her, and then pushed myself to sitting. “Yeah.”

  “I think you’re forgetting how important you are to this plan.”

  The hammock creaked as I turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”

  She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at her lap. “We can’t find the heir without you.”

  I grunted in acknowledgment. That much was true, if the stone even worked, but we could find a way around it. I could set them on the right path and then make my own way somewhere else, in the opposite direction.

  Estrid cleared her throat. “But even if we could… We wouldn’t. You know that, right?”

  “Why not?” I asked. “If it would save the world?
I find it hard to believe that anyone, Erik especially, wouldn’t find honor in that.”

  She laughed. “I’m not talking about honor. I’m talking about family. Even if you’d been the Suun heir, you still would have been a Svand. And Svands don’t leave each other.” When I didn’t respond, she added, “What was it that you said to me earlier? ‘I cannot lose you.’ Well, little sister, I won’t lose you either.”

  She was right. We had never left Erik. Not when we’d thought he was dead after the shipwreck. Not when he insisted on staying in Barepost to repay his life-debt. We hadn’t let Estrid go when she’d nearly fallen off the Duchess. But somehow, I’d never thought it was a rule that applied to me.

  I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips. “It would be easier if you would just let me go.”

  “Who needs easy when I have you?” She bumped her shoulder against mine, and then stood. “Now, let’s go up there and figure out where we’re going so Arun can stop flying us around in circles.”

  The sun was a low orange ball by the time we emerged, painting the veil in pinks and yellows. We were flying between two towering plateaus whose tops disappeared into the clouds. I peeked over the railing to confirm there were no ur’gels anywhere in sight.

  Arun was just where I’d left him, his hands on the ship’s wheel. “Feeling better?”

  “Yes. I’m—”

  He held up a hand to stop me. “We all have our moments. I mean, I attacked you, right? So, it could be worse.”

  I laughed, despite myself.

  “So where to, then? I assume I’m not dropping you off as ur’gel bait somewhere.”

  Shaking my head, I reached into my vest. “Here goes nothing.”

  I pulled the stone from my pocket and held it flat in my hand. It was cold to the touch, colder than it should have been since it had been pressed against me, but otherwise, completely normal. Arun and I both stared down at it, then at each other.

  “Well?” he asked.

  Estrid was peering over my shoulder. “What’s supposed to happen?”

  I didn’t actually know. “I’m not sure, but I expect something is supposed to happen.”

  “Someone gives you a magic rock and you don’t even ask how it works?” This from Erik who was hanging back, feigning disinterest in the proceedings, but apparently unable to keep his opinions to himself.

  “It’s magic,” I said with a shrug. “How was I supposed to even know what to ask?” Despite my bravado, I had a sinking feeling in my chest. I’d wanted nothing more than for them to listen to me, and now that they were, I had absolutely nothing to tell them.

  Chapter 22

  She was dead.

  That was the only explanation.

  I paced back and forth on the deck, ignoring the others’ suggestions.

  The star on my eye told me I was the right person. Raven’s story told me I was bound to the heir whether I liked it or not. So, the only reason the rock wouldn’t guide me to her would be if she no longer existed.

  Right?

  But wouldn’t I know if she were dead? Would our bond tell me that?

  Then again, I hadn’t even known I was bound to anyone until the day before.

  “I need a heading,” Arun called eventually as I made another circuit around the deck.

  “Well, I don’t have one for you.” The rock was still cold in my hand, although my hands were sweating with nerves. Strange, but not helpful. I stared down at it, willing it to do something—anything at all.

  “Um, Frida?”

  “I told you,” I said irritably, “I don't know yet.”

  “No, that’s not it.”

  I looked up to find him pointing toward the west where the sun was sinking. Squinting into the horizon, I saw dozens of flying objects growing closer. “What is it?” I stashed the rock back inside my vest to be safe.

  “Looks like—”

  “Ur’gels!” Erik ran toward the rear of the ship, sword already drawn.

  But it wasn’t just ur’gels. Leading the pack, flying faster than I’d ever seen her fly, was Stiarna. The ur’gels snapped at her wings and her rear legs, and she was whirling and diving and pushing herself forward. She must have been hunting when they found her, and she’d brought them right to us in her panic.

  She crashed to the deck in a pile of wings and claws, and my ax cut cleanly through the neck of the ur’gel who had been hot on her heels. His body went one way and his head went the other, rolling to a stop at Stiarna’s feet. She plucked it up in her beak and tossed it over the side of the ship. Then, seeming to recover her bravery, she took off into the air again, chasing after another ur’gel who zoomed past us.

  The other ur’gels congregated around the ship like buzzards circling their prey. Some of them carried non-fliers and dropped them to the deck. A particularly large one ran at me, his protruding incisors turning his smile into a grimace. When my sword hit his arm, instead of slicing through it, the skin deflected it like armor.

  That was new.

  It laughed, wrapped its iron hand around the blade, and jerked it from me, tossing it aside. My ax was in my other hand, but I didn’t want to lose it, too, so I dropped it into my belt. The ur’gel swung at me and I ducked, over and over until we were pressed against the railing. It took another swing and I went to my back, braced my feet on its stomach, and using its own momentum, propelled it up and over the side.

  I scrambled to my feet, grabbing the railing and leaning over to watch it fall. And fall it did, fast and hard, like a stone. A flier went after it, but I didn’t think it stood much of a chance of catching it before it crashed to the ground.

  Turning back, I surveyed the others. Erik had gathered up a rope and was using it as a lasso, pulling fliers to the deck where Estrid waited to dispatch them. Arun was using his bow. I watched an arrow tear a hole in a wing, and the flier spin wildly out of control, dropping below the ship and out of view. He was quickly out of arrows, though, and turned his attention back to the wheel and keeping the ship under control. While I watched, though, his eyes went wide.

  “What is it?” I asked, shouting over the din.

  “The sheriu box.” Arun was pointing up with one hand, the other white-knuckling the wheel to keep us on course.

  I looked up to see a small, winged ur’gel examining the blue box at the top of the mainmast. Without hesitating, I ran for the rigging and began climbing the rope net that reached up to the first yardarm. It was a climb I’d made often, but never with any urgency. Trying to hurry made me careless and my feet got stuck in the nets, actually making the climb even slower.

  When I reached the first yardarm, I scooted along it to the next net, and climbed even higher, keeping myself hidden by the white sails. All the while, I kept the ur’gel in my sights. It was fiddling with the box, trying to remove it from the mast. If he did that, I suspected we would plummet to the ground. Much as the armored ur’gel had done.

  I made it to the third sail before the wind began to knock me around. I held on tight and continued my climb, my arms and legs trembling with the effort. The ur’gel hadn’t seen me yet, but when it did. Well, I would deal with that when it came down to it.

  Finally, I came over the top of the fourth and final sail and balanced on the yard arm, one hand on the narrow mast, my ax in the other. The ur’gel looked over its shoulder, saw me, and shrieked. I quieted it with an ax to the forehead. He released the box and fell, his wings whipping in the wind. He fell at Estrid’s feet. She looked up, saw me, and saluted, before turning to face her next opponent, a flier with a nasty scar running across its face.

  I was just contemplating how to get back down and re-enter the fight, when a sudden silence befell us. The fliers were gone, and the only ur’gels on the deck were dead ones.

  “Where did they go?” I shouted down to my siblings.

  Erik and Estrid each ran to one side of the ship, and when they looked back, glancing between me and Arun with wide eyes, I had a sickening feeling.


  “Get down, Frida,” Erik called. “Quick.”

  But Estrid was shaking her head. “There isn’t time. Secure yourself.”

  What was she talking about? The ship trembled, and I hugged the mast, the wood scraping against my cheek.

  Estrid tied a rope around a hook on the deck, and then wrapped the other end around her waist before going to Arun and helping him secure his hands to the wheel. Erik was doing the same, unfurling a length of rope and knotting it around his chest.

  The ship heaved, tilting to one side. My feet slipped off the yardarm and I scrambled for purchase. That was when I understood. The ur’gels were below the ship. Not able to remove the box, they were going to take us down another way. They were going to capsize the Duchess. And if I didn’t get myself secured, I would be going down with it.

  But there were no loose ropes up here, nothing I could tie around myself or use as an anchor.

  My time had run out. The ship rocked perilously. I wrapped one of my hands in a rope connected to the sail and held on to the mast with the other. My feet came out from under me and we were sideways, nothing between me and the ground but hundreds of feet of air. I heard someone screaming but I couldn’t focus on anything except not letting go.

  The ship groaned again. Crates and boxes slid off the deck and I watched them fall, disappearing before they exploded against the ground. My hand burned, the fingers turning blue, but I would not let go.

  “Hang on!” someone shouted, maybe Arun.

  We kept going, kept turning, and then my feet were dangling past the sheriu box which should have been over my head. The trees and the rocks and the winding river below me were so far away they seemed like child’s toys, like I could pick them up and move them around at my will. My hand slipped, my arm tingling as the rope cut off the blood supply.

  But I would not let go. I tried to fold my feet underneath me, to find something to grab onto, but there was nothing. Suddenly, there was a creaking, a snap, and the rope—