Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3)

by S. M. Blooding

  Ethel smiled at her and gave her arm a slight squeeze. “Down that way, love. At the menagerie, hang a left, go down the stairs, and you can’t miss it.”

  Sounded easy enough. “Is Synn here?”

  Nodding chipperly, Ethel reached for a rolling cart. “Just got back with the Umira Nuru. So, yeah. He’s around someplace. But, listen, doll, it’s a pretty big ship. Only way you’ll find him is by hunting him down.”

  Which wasn’t something Keeley wanted to do.

  Bucking up her courage, Keeley walked in the direction Ethel had sent her.

  I was in the starboard galley when Du’a let me know Keeley was on board the Layal.

  She’d been the one who’d really saved me in Sky City. Joshua had been all right. He hadn’t really warmed to me. Yvette didn’t even like me. The only reason I’d survived Sky City had been because of Keeley.

  And then, the only reason I’d won a treaty between the Hands of Tarot and the Great Families had been because of Keeley.

  Maybe, I didn’t know her long. Maybe, I didn’t know much about her, but we’d been close once. She’d extended the hand of friendship when everyone else had been too scared.

  And, for a brief moment, I’d thought of possibly marrying her.

  It had been a fleeting thought.

  My tribe being blown out of the sky had erased all thoughts of possible marriage. To anyone. My only thought had been to keep her and anyone I cared about far away from me. As far away from me as I could stomach it.

  I’d succeeded with Keeley a little too well. A very good friend. Fearful of a lot of things. Terrorized by a man who said he was a friend.

  If I’d been Keeley, I’d probably have left me, too, but different reasons. The tantrums. Setting everything on fire in a fit of rage. Yeah. I would have left to get away from someone acting like a supreme child.

  She’d fled in fear.

  And, now, she was on my ship.

  Haji gripped my arm and bowed his head. “Go. I will take care of things here. We do not need you.”

  I didn’t want to leave my best friend when his had just died. It didn’t seem fair.

  “You can do nothing here, Synn.” Haji turned and stared down at Mesi’s body. “Go.”

  Feeling a little like a moron, I walked up the metal-grate stairs to the next landing, then walked through the door through the wall and into the next galley.

  Keeley stood in the empty bay, clutching her bag. Her curly red hair glowed in the soft lights. She looked lost.

  I walked slowly down the stairs. “Keeley.”

  She spun, fright widening her eyes.

  I slowed my pace as I approached her. “Doctor Carson said he’d be sending someone to set up a hospital here.” I applied a smile I hoped looked like I was sane and in control of my anger. “I’m glad you came. We have some cots you could set up. A few medical supplies.”

  “I—” She cleared her throat and ducked her head, taking a step back. “I have more supplies coming via plane.”

  “Oh, good.” I stopped and shoved my hands in my pockets. “Look, Keel—” I interrupted myself, unsure of what to say.

  “You need a hospital. I’m here to help. That’s all.”

  Which was great if she was a soldier, which she wasn’t. “I’m sorry.”

  She looked up at me, her expression pinched and startled.

  “I’m sorry. I was horrible. I should have had better control of my emotions. I didn’t. I scared you off.”

  “I—” She shook her head, taking in a deep breath as she gripped the handle of her bag tighter. “I need to stop being so easily frightened.”

  I happened to agree. “The world is changing.”

  “I’d hoped it would change for the better.”

  “Me, too.”

  We stood in awkward silence for a long moment.

  “I’m sorry about your tribe, Synn.”

  I nodded. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  “I’ll, um, work on that.”

  “I’ve got myself under control.”

  “Until you’re not again.”

  I looked toward the other set of stairs as a couple of my crew members brought cots down from the storage space. “Well, um, you, uh, you let me know if you need anything. Okay?”

  Keeley nodded.

  I took a step backward, then turned, retreating back up the stairs. I was pretty sure I’d just lost that friend for good.

  The reports from home were not good. The Han had indeed used the tunnels to secret his forces behind Kiwidinok’s borders. How?

  Neira had an idea and the thought made her sick, but the information before her was too damaging. How else would he have known how to get from the Koko Nadi all the way to Lake Chatan? There were too many tunnels. The underground of the entire area was like a maze. With any luck, he’d lost a few of his men down there.

  But if she was right, he wouldn’t have.

  If she was right, the nanites weren’t the key to his invasion.

  If she was right, she had a traitor. One she knew well.

  Neira leaned over the map table in the command room of Synn’s ship. “Drop me and my forces here.”

  Synn frowned, but nodded. “The southern tip.”

  “It will be his first attack point.”

  His cheeks sank, his cheekbones standing out sharply. He raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement. “Do you still want me to take the Layal to Lake Chatan?”

  She moved the marker that denoted his ship to Lake Chatan. “Reports claim he has three land eaters, four destroyers, and something I haven’t even heard of yet there.”

  Wa-sna-win had been relaying the reports for the past hour as people saw the Han’s progress through various tunnels and along the shore.

  “That’s more of a land fighting unit than we have.”

  She sighed in sad frustration. Anger flashed through her and she clenched one hand. “He has his ground fighters primarily located on the southern tip. That’s why I’m taking my fighters. The Umira Nuru is the only thing that might stop the Han at Lake Chatan.”

  “Agreed.” He moved the marker that denoted her people to the south.

  Haji nodded, massaging one shoulder. “Our unit is smaller, but we will be ready.”

  “You have abilities he doesn’t,” Synn said, his voice low and solid. “You are fast where his units are slow. Use the shield men. Concentrate mostly on using the bombs, but only if there are no other civilians.”

  “We are not a civilization of weaklings,” Neira said, her ire rising. “We are all trained fighters.”

  “Babies are not.” His tone left no room for argument. “We heard there’s an air strike to the west. I’ll send Captain Rose to the Najmah where she can combine air strikes with Lt. Colonel Bennen.”

  Neira stared at the map, all the markers being moved into place and wondered again how the Han had come into position so quickly. It seemed impossible.

  “I’ll have the Karida stay central and lay down an airstrike of their own.”

  Synn, for all that he could be stupid, could be impressive, too. He appeared self-confident, strong. His face. His expression. His words. He’d grown a great deal in the past few months. Away from his mother. Away from his tribe. She would never condone the blood spilt to have made this happen, but was glad of it.

  Synn flicked his gaze at her, his lips pensive and straight. “Are you going to be all right?”

  “Of course I am.” Neira lowered her head, breathing patience and pushing away her fear and anger. “I simply wish to be back home where I can protect my people.”

  “Where we can protect your people.”

  The ship shifted unexpectedly and they all stumbled.

  “We’ve hit the storm.” Jamilah folded her arms over her chest, her face fierce. “Retract the wings.”

  “Aye, Commander.” The co-pilot punched something on the dash.

  Neira couldn’t hear anything, but the ride settled.

  Synn straightened. “We�
��re nearly at your drop. Get ready.”

  Rose fought the winds. The dark skies exploded in lightning all around her. If she were smart, she’d turn Wise Girl around and head back to the Layal. The storm was too fierce to fly well in.

  The Najmah came into view as she dropped out of the storm. The Najmah’s smooth hull gave off a soft glow of lethara light, almost like a beacon as she rose back into the safety of the storm.

  Safety. There really was no such thing, not in a storm like this. Too much power. Too much wind. Rose stared down at the ground beneath her feet, but all she saw was rolling ocean water.

  That was good. It meant the Han hadn’t detected them, hadn’t seen them yet. Surprise was the best weapon they had.

  She brought Wise Girl into the belly of the storm, lightning tagging her and racing along the copper lacework of her outer skin.

  Rose fought off a chill, her neck muscles tightening. Too many things could wrong in here.

  The Najmah wasn’t that deep within the storm. She waited, her bay doors open. Rose led the way and set Wise Girl on one of the few empty docking pads. This ship had easily four times the room for planes as the Layal did. The docks stretched from the rear to almost the center of the monstrous beast. Where the Layal had two galleys on either side for the Umira Nuru’s land units, Commander Najat had opted for more flight docks.

  Rose turned off her engine. The rest of her crew landed and the bay doors closed beneath them, sealing off the ferocious winds. Rose raised Wise Girl’s domed cock-pit cover and pulled herself out, sliding onto the wing, careful not to damage it with her boots. While she still wouldn’t go with the stronger, metal, straight wings, there was something to be said for the fragility of her more natural dragonfly wings.

  Lt. Colonel Bennen Domitius met her on the dock. His oblong face broken with a smile.

  “How can you smile in a time like this?” Rose demanded, landing a bit more solidly than she would have liked on the dock. She was stiff and jittery. Not a great combination for heading into battle.

  He wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “I get to see you again. For as much as we’re in the same tribe, or whatever these people call it, we never get to see each other.”

  They’d both spent the better part of their careers in Sky City under the command of the Hands of Tarot. All this tribal stuff didn’t make a great deal of sense to either of them. They understood orders and work.

  Well, at least Rose did. “We’re too busy for social calls anyway.”

  He snorted and turned them toward the main part of the bay. “You might be, but you like it that way.”

  She shook her head wryly. He was just as busy, if not more so. He had a larger unit and he was working to build more. His plan was to have a unit of planes on ever Khayal. On top of that, he was the overall commander of the flying unit forces.

  “You lost people today,” he said simply.

  There was no use in denying it. “I’ll lose more today.”

  He nodded slowly. “I’m sure we will.”

  A pained frown flicked between her brows as she turned her face away.

  He stepped back and clapped his hands. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun. Now, com’on, Rose. I’ve got a bottle of whiskey. How about a nip?”

  Neira landed with a roll and came to her feet, her long dagger in hand. She raised her head, trying to listen past the deafening roar of the Layal’s engines and the howling wind. She staggered beneath the force of a gust and moved to crest the hill.

  Skah met her stride for stride. “They wouldn’t have attacked, not when the storm was worse than this.”

  “Why not?” Neira shouted back. “They have the might to withstand winds like this with their land eaters and such.”

  “Which are at Lake Chatan,” Skah reminded her.

  “Then maybe, just maybe, we’re in luck.” Though Neira wasn’t going to bet on it. Han was cunning. He knew the best time to attack would be when his enemy was vulnerable, and they were at their most vulnerable during a hurricane.

  Skah hunched her shoulders and took the hill. “The caves are just over this hill.”

  The caves she spoke of belonged to the Paha tribe. They didn’t connect to the Koko Nadi Islands. Why didn’t they when Lake Chatan did? The caves at Lake Chatan were further north, a great distance from Koko Nadi, so it didn’t make sense.

  She didn’t have time to think about that.

  A wide, sweeping plain opened before them, filled with grass and wild flowers. The hill they’d crested had a sharp face on the other side, concaving before sloping downward in a slide of green mossy rocks.

  No footprints. Had anyone attacked the cave without knowing the safe path, the moss would have slipped with their steps. Neira had also installed a few traps along just in case. She’d known this day might happen.

  Not with the Han, though. She never would have guessed Taileh would have aimed so high. Another island tribe? Probably. Yes.

  Taileh had left a scorned woman.

  Even so, Neira hadn’t imagined her revenge would be this severe.

  A sharp, forceful wind shoved Neira, trying to push her over the cliff.

  Her fellow warriors gripped the ground tightly, digging in.

  Neira ground her teeth. If the Han were here, in this area, then their traitor was Taileh, without a doubt, and if that was the case, she’d want to meet in their special place.

  Shah looked at Neira from the side of her eye. “Tell me this isn’t her.”

  Neira couldn’t, not when everything in her gut said it was. The information about the tunnels? The attack on the Koko Nadi Islands, specifically Tunnel—Peacock Rock?

  No. Taileh and her tribe, the Napa Lutes, had been the ones responsible for mapping the tunnels, determining which were safe and which were off-limits.

  Scowling, Skah gnashed her teeth, the rest of their warriors lining the hollowed cliff top on either side of them.

  Already, Neira could feel the wind slacken and release as if the world was a big tug of war and it was tired of playing. She scanned the forest. The reports had claimed sightings of the Han’s foot soldiers in this general location. Where were they? If Taileh was the informant, she would have told them of the Paha caves.

  The Paha caves were a hidden resource of both pleron and labor.

  She narrowed her eyes. Or would she have? Would her betrayal extend that far?

  On a whim of a thought, she turned to Skah. “Take a small group to the Paha-owa. Scout it and report back.”

  Skah nodded, flicked her hand to the people around her and disappeared into the thick vegetation behind them.

  The Paha-owa was nothing more than a large scar on top of a hill not far away. A large group of caves and tunnels littered it. It looked like a dead and shriveled volcano. Her people remained clear of it, though, preferring not to tempt the gods that resided inside the volcanic mountains.

  “Chaska,” Neira said to the large man on the other side of her.

  He swayed with the pressing winds, which while they had lost power, were still strong. “Akcit.”

  “Check on the Paha. Ensure they are all right and let them know they need to leave the caves. They are no longer safe.”

  He nodded and flipped over the ledge, disappearing amongst the stones with his forest-colored tunic.

  Neira flicked her fingers to her other scout masters, commanding them to scout along the perimeter.

  Skah returned before the other scouts did. She ran out of the woods, and crouched beside Neira. “Your suspicions are confirmed. They are at the Paha-owa.”

  She met Skah’s gaze.

  The other woman didn’t need any further orders. She rose barked a single, piercing note that sounded like the cry of a predator bird, the wanbli, and disappeared into the thicket, Neira’s people following.

  That left Neira free to go where she had to. She skirted along the wall of fallen trees, a scar of the last turn’s hurricane season. She followed it north to a small
meadow.

  She knew this meadow well. For almost a complete turn, she had spent many happy hours in this meadow with the woman she thought she’d loved, until one fateful day when Taileh had shown her true colors and ruined everything.

  Neira took her blade, slammed it into the soft earth, and roared her rage to the heavens to announce her presence.

  A twig snapped behind her.

  Neira spun.

  A woman stepped out from behind a tall pine. Wind ruffled the long fur of her wolf-pelt collar. She held her longbow at her side. “Neira.”

  The soft lilt of the other woman’s voice as she called Neira’s name tugged at her heart with long forgotten pain. “Taileh.”

  Taileh tipped her head to the side. “You have not changed.”

  And neither had she. Her long reddish-blonde hair was swept up in a loose braid, the wind tugging strands of it into her face even in this shielded space. Her blue eyes, bright as the summer sky, seemed no less dim for all the years that had passed.

  How could Neira feel such longing for the woman after all this time, after all she’d done?

  Bowing her head, Taileh glanced at Neira through her eyelashes. “Is this any way to greet an old lover?”

  Taileh hadn’t simply left all those years ago. She’d stolen valuable information, maps of the mines, and had nearly killed Neira’s brother in her escape. She’d abandoned Neira, abandoned her with the knowledge that the woman she’d defied her father to love had betrayed her. And for what? She’d been unable to regain access to the mines. She’d not been able to gain any fortune from the information she’d stolen.

  Taileh chuffed, raising her face to the sky. “Still sore, I see.”

  “Why the Han?”

  Taileh released a long sigh.

  “The Han. You brought the Han to my people. You showed him how to gain access, how to get through our defenses. You allowed him in. What did I ever do to deserve this? After you stole from me, to inflict this upon me as well? I don’t understand it.”