Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3)

by S. M. Blooding

  How did he know that?

  “I say we push them over the edge,” Rashidi said. “Who knows how deep that hole is.”

  The original tribal families did, probably.

  “It’s a good plan,” Synn said, his Mark rising leisurely in long, lava whips. “Let’s destroy the units as much as we can first.”

  Wynne retreated back to the ceiling with her unit. “Rashidi.”

  Each land eater was peppered with dozens of blasting sticks.

  Rashidi slipped out of the shadows, red globs in both of his hands, the rest of his shield unit following.

  “Get out of here, Synn,” Haji said.

  He paused, but nodded and ducked behind the wall.

  Rashidi lobbed his two red blobs at the land eater nearest him. One landed on its head, the other on its back. “Ain, Geb,” he shouted and ran for the opening to the room.

  Two of the shield men ran toward the land eaters.

  The rest ran for the exit.

  Haji nodded toward his skitter units and they exited as well. He wasn’t as comfortable around the explosives as Rashidi’s unit seemed to be, but he knew he had some protection via his skitter unit. “Do you think that’s enough?”

  “It’s enough,” Rashidi growled. “Clear the room!”

  Moments later, an explosion rocketed out of the room in a rush of dust and dirt.

  Rashidi looked up at Haji and grinned a feral grin. “It was enough.”

  Ryo hopped off the rear docks, ignoring the incoming storm. Winds pushed at him, demanding his attention.

  He simply didn’t care.

  Tokarz had landed in a rather large, flat meadow. That had been a bit of luck for Ryo. Not for Tokarz. Ryo didn’t want to blast the man’s ship to bits. He wanted to wring the life out of the man’s neck, watching as his face turned first red, then purple as he fought to gasp his last breaths.

  The Basilah was parked on her eight retractable feet behind him like a great mountain in and of herself. His pilots and a few of his warriors stepped out with him, but did not advance with him toward the enemy ship.

  It lay like a broken animal, each end on its opposite side. The people who milled around were not in great condition.

  One man Ryo could see had lost an arm.

  Another screamed, holding his bleeding knee, the lower half of the leg dangling by what appeared to be a thread of blood.

  People hung off the ragged sides. They yelled. They scrambled for weapons. Some cried.

  No children.

  Ryo stopped and folded his hands in front of him, his head bowed. He would not decimate Tokarz’s people when they were so obviously broken. That was not the way of the El’Asim.

  It was the way of the Ino, the way that had been beat into him since he could hold a stick. He was no longer Ino. He was El’Asim, like his little brother. He would not attack a people who had so little left.

  Tokarz stumbled out of the mid-level part of the ship, crumpling to the ground as he landed wrong. He stayed there for a long moment, his black leather tunic ripped along the shoulders and back. The glass eye-patch covering one eye glowed blue as if with hot anger. He pushed himself to his feet, his oily black hair hanging in hanks around his face, and limped forward

  Ryo could have eased the man’s journey.

  Could have.

  This man had claimed to have murdered the El’Asim tribe when they’d gathered to celebrate his sister’s wedding. This man boasted that he’d murdered hundreds of men, women, and children. This man bragged that he, and he alone, had set the El’Asim ships ablaze, setting off bombs that had blown them out of the sky a thousand metres above the ocean.

  No. Nothing in this world would make Ryo ease this man’s journey.

  Tokarz stumbled to a stop, sagging where he stood. He rolled his one eye, scraping his tongue along his teeth, and straightened his shoulders. “Ino Ryo.”

  Tokarz must have known better than to soil Ryo’s name with his mother’s taint. Ryo blinked slowly, not taking the bait.

  Bowing his head to one side, Tokarz stood as tall as his wounds allowed, his lips curled. “That was a rather unmatched fight, don’t you think?”

  Ryo narrowed his eyes. “You’ve had as many months as we did to strengthen your defenses and offenses.” He raised his gaze over Tokarz’s shoulder to the broken ship where the wounded and non-wounded continued to gather. “Your laziness was well rewarded.”

  Tokarz flinched, pulling his lips off his teeth.

  “I can provide medical attention to your wounded.”

  The bright blue light of Tokarz’s eyepatch rose, the other eye narrowed.

  “In exchange for your life.”

  “And you think I would give it.”

  Tokarz bled from his abdomen. Blood poured through his fingers as he attempted to stop the flow. He was in no shape to fight. Or to run.

  Ryo raised his head. “I could take your life, but were I to do so, I would leave your people—” He twisted to look behind him. The storm had swung back around and was picking up speed. “—to the storm.”

  Tokarz ground his teeth.

  “And to the people of Kiwidinok. You’ve heard of their—” Ryo rolled his choice of words around in his mouth for a moment. “—hospitality, have you not?”

  Few knew anything about Neira’s tribes. But Ryo hoped Tokarz had heard rumblings. Or that he could draw his own conclusions.

  Tokarz swayed on his feet, his good eye rising to the storm.

  The winds picked up, throwing debris at them like a child throwing a tantrum.

  He opened his mouth to say something. Blood dribbled out instead. He fell to his knees.

  Ryo stayed his ground, watching the man who claimed to have slaughter the El’Asim tribe.

  Tokarz’s head fell forward. He pulled his bloodied hand away from his abdomen and stared at it. Raising his head, he smiled a bloodied smile. “What little is left of my life is yours.”

  A cold hunger settled through Ryo.

  “In exchange, you protect my people.”

  A common courtesy of war. “As if they were my own.”

  Tokarz closed his good eye. “You are a better man than I.”

  Ryo turned and gestured to his people. “I know.”

  Nix stared up at Ino City from the docks. The last time she’d been there, a crown had rested on her head and power had been at her command.

  She tried to call on the power of her Mark again, but there was nothing.

  Damn it!

  Ino Nami strolled down the docks, an old woman with a slight hunch to her back.

  How could something so ancient be so strong? Nix refused to drop her gaze, refused to show any sign of weakness as the old woman approached.

  What had brought Ino Nami to the docks? Her?

  No. Something else was going on here. Nix might be powerful, or at least, she had been. But now, she was nothing more than a pawn, a pawn no one wished to keep on board any longer. For all that Nix was trying to get back to Sky City, she knew—she knew—the other queens would not take her back.

  Ino Nami stopped a few metres away and looked toward the water.

  The letharan curtain had dropped nearly as soon as Nix and her captures had docked their sea boat. A sea boat. On these waters. Nix was lucky to be alive. At least the letharan curtain cut off the winds. She was chilled to the bone.

  A black-haired head poked out of the water’s surface, several more joining it throughout the dock area.

  Nix stepped forward, her lips pursed. She’d been told how the LeBlancs had survived her purging by using their Marks to convert their bodies into a half-fish, half-human type creatures. She’d never seen them before though.

  The woman who had first appeared turned and daggered Nix with her violet gaze.

  A hiss escaped Nix’s lips. Sabine. She took a step back.

  “Shankara was attacked from below,” Ino Nami said. “How?”

  Sabine bobbed in the calm water. She reached toward the docks
with a webbed hand. “Yvette.”

  Sabine’s daughter. Nix had taken her when she had attempted to destroy the LeBlanc Family years ago. The girl had befriended Synn along with two others right before he’d managed to escape Sky City.

  But after their escape, the girl had been reunited with her Family. Or at least, that’s what Nix had heard. She hadn’t even shown up for the Games.

  “You told me she was no threat,” Ino Nami said forcefully. “You assured me her allegiance to Synn was not a concern.”

  “And I thought that was the case. She gathered a great harem, Ino Nami. She retook our ways. She seemed to be progressing.”

  “What happened?”

  Sabine shook her head.

  Ino Nami rose, turning away. “I thought you could be trusted, Sabine.”

  Something hissed off Nix’s neck. She blinked. Her Mark? Why had it returned now? What could she do with it? She was in the middle of the damned ocean with no way to make it back to land.

  “I thought you were someone I could count on.”

  Nix turned her attention to the LeBlanc nearest her, a man with long brown hair plastered to his face and shoulders. The Mark of the LeBlanc was used to turn them into these…these merpeople.

  She had the power to take the Mark of others. All she had to do was to clear a path to the water.

  And hope this worked.

  It would.

  Fire whips rose off of her shoulders as something cold raced up her legs. She turned and willed the guards blocking her way to back off.

  They did.

  “Stop her!” Ino Nami shouted.

  Stay away from me, Nix thought with every ounce of her will as her legs began to morph. She ran to the edge of the docks as her toes and fingers webbed together, and leapt into the calm ocean as her legs spliced together as one.

  The guards at the dock made no move to follow.

  The merpeople in the waters around her moved out of her way.

  The fire Mark shown like a beacon in front of her as she dove. Her lungs threatened to explode. Light and dark danced in front of her eyes. Her body undulated, pushing her forward. Her webbed hands clawed at the water, propelling her faster.

  She opened her mouth and took in a large gulp of water.

  But instead of drowning, instead of water filling her lungs, the cool water passed through holes in her neck. Her lungs stopped aching. Her head stopped throbbing.

  She continued under the lethara’s veil. The waves from above pushed against her, but she had no reason to go to land.

  Not yet. She could be anywhere. Go anywhere. Do anything.

  Her fire Mark continued to shine brightly, but pointed toward the left.

  Toward Synn.

  Her Mark was somehow tied to Synn.

  Wasn’t that an interesting discovery?

  THUNDER CRASHED SO CLOSE, THE pebbles danced on the cave floor at my feet as we climbed past the abandoned doorways of Pleron City. The wind howled, ripping through the tunnel, pummeling us with cold, wet debris.

  The menagerie had made it to the top by the time the storm hit our location, but they hadn’t made it back to the Layal. I leaned against the rough rock wall behind me and shivered with cold.

  The girl holding the cup for my lethara shivered so hard, her teeth chattered.

  With a sigh, I called up my Mark, creating a kind of canopy above our heads. The rain ceased, but I could do nothing about the wind and debris. However, now instead of being drenched in cold rain, the chimney was filling with humidity.

  There really was no reason why we should all hunker down on the cold, drafty stair. “Let’s move into the city.”

  Several people glanced at one another, but once they saw our options, whatever issues they had with bunking down temporarily in the abandoned city dissipated.

  The city was odd. The rock looked as though it had been chipped away with a chisel and a hammer piece by piece. Intricate ornamentation decorated a lot of the doorways.

  But people didn’t venture too far into the city.

  “It’s haunted,” the girl holding the lethara’s cup of water muttered.

  “It’s not haunted,” I said, holding back my chuckle. I’d heard ghost stories as a kid, but I’d never taken them seriously.

  “Just don’t take anything,” the big, burly red-headed man on Haji’s team said. “The ghosts’ll follow you.”

  I settled against one of the walls closest to the big window that looked out into the chimney, keeping an eye on the storm. As soon as there was a break in the storm, I wanted to get back on the Layal and get as far away from this place as I could. As far as I was concerned, I’d spent too long on the ground. I needed to get back in the air.

  I kept my Mark out, heating the rooms and keeping them lit. No natural light source down there. No sconces for torches. It was hard to see how people had actually lived down there.

  Haji had slipped out of his skitter unit, leaving it in the next room. He looked at me, his expression dry.

  I frowned at him, not entirely sure what had him giving me that look. I tapped my right ear to initiate communications with the Layal.

  Thunder crashed again, deafening any sounds, ricocheting off the walls and growing in strength before tapering down.

  “Layal, this is the El’Asim. Come in.”

  Wa-sna-win’s voice entered my ear. “This is the Layal.”

  “I need a status update. How is the Layal fairing?”

  “One moment, please.” Wa-sna-win disappeared for a moment.

  Another voice entered my ear. Jamilah. “My El’Asim. Are you all right?”

  “We’re fine.” I sighed and leaned my shoulder against the rock, allowing my Mark a bit more room to maneuver. “We were hoping to make it to the Layal.”

  “Be glad you’re not here.”

  Thunder pierced the chimney again, the wind picking up in rage.

  When I could hear again, I asked, “Is the Layal in danger?”

  “She’s surviving well enough.” Jamilah’s voice inflected down as if she were gritting her teeth. “This storm is knocking down trees.”

  Something I hadn’t thought of. What happened if it knocked down a tree on top of the Layal? “Are you safe?”

  “As safe as we can be. You?”

  Thunder split the air.

  Biting my lip, I waited for the rumble to abate, but was followed by another crash, another chest-vibrating rumble, then a rippling shriek.

  I released a long breath, staring through the window, up the chimney. The storm clouds bubbled like a pot of boiling water. “We’re fine. Surprisingly. The enemy is defeated. The pleron is safe.”

  “How many survivors?”

  “Us? No casualties.”

  “Oh.” Surprise laced her word.

  Such confidence. “They will no longer be a problem.”

  “Then no survivors for them.”

  “None that we could find.”

  She paused. “Good.”

  It annoyed me that we were stuck in the mountain instead of moving. “What is the status of everyone else?”

  Jamilah didn’t immediately answer.

  That wasn’t a good sign. “Jam. What is it?”

  “All the ships are fine. The Basilah is grounded.”

  “I thought you said—” The air split with thunder. I waited. “I thought you said all the ships were—” Thunder interrupted me again.

  “They are,” Jamilah said as soon as she could be heard over the storm. “Ryo captured Tokarz.”

  I straightened. “He what?”

  Haji looked up, meeting my gaze, his startled.

  “Is Tokarz still alive?”

  “He lives. Barely. Ryo waits for the El’Asim to pass judgement.”

  I narrowed my eyes. And what judgement would I pass on him? Death? Was that too easy? Or something like Nix’s punishment, making her live a life of servitude. Nix! I’d forgotten about her in the midst of everything. “Where is Nix?”

  “She�
��” Jamilah trailed off then cleared her throat. “She was captured by Ino.”

  “How do we know this?”

  “The Vash,” Jamilah said simply. “They saw the capture, but made no move to retrieve.”

  “The storm.” I closed my eyes and thumped my head against the wall behind me. My Mark twisted with a sharp pain in my shoulder blades. I moved to relieve the pressure off of them. “I don’t know if I’m relieved or concerned.”

  “I am relieved,” Jamilah said bluntly. “I didn’t like having the woman on my ship.”

  I snorted. “Your ship.”

  “Yes, mine. You forget, your leader of all our ships, but the Layal belongs to me.”

  Quite so. “Any word from Neira?”

  “She was injured. They took the hardest hit. Few survived.”

  “What happened?”

  “Shankara.”

  I frowned and waited for the thunder to recede so Jamilah could continue. The wind went from a growling howl to a whining shriek.

  “Shankara surfaced in the bay just south of their location and started bombing them.”

  “Using their planes?”

  “No. Their planes were engaged elsewhere.”

  “Rose?”

  “Is fine. We lost Bennen, though.”

  I breathed and let the information settle over me. We were going to lose men and women in a battle, especially one this big. That we hadn’t lost more was a shock.

  “Shankara fired long-range missiles.”

  “That had to be long-range for them to reach Neira’s location from the bay.”

  “Something we haven’t seen yet.”

  “Possibly worth looking into.”

  “Without a doubt.”

  “Is Neira safe?”

  “Yes. Ryo’s plasma cannons took Shankara out of the battle, but then, Shankara was fired upon from below.”

  I frowned. We didn’t have any ocean units. “Enhnapi?”

  “Even if they happened to traveling to that bay, they would only now be reaching it. No.”

  “Then, who?”

  “We don’t know.”

  The thunder rumbled further away like a grumbling old man. The wind continued to scream through the tunnel.

  “The rest of our fleet?”

  “All ships except for the Layal and the Basilah are safely above the storm.”