“It’s your job to pick who does what,” Caffari responded. “It won’t bother me if you take a bribe or two. Privilege of authority.”
As the crew worked, waves carried us closer and closer to the reef and the volcano. Sitting on a sack of spare sailcloth, I closed my eyes. A light breeze tickled my face. Now and again, a swirl of the air brought steam from the shore. Warm and damp in my nostrils, the air smelled of cinders. I thought I caught a hint of kivi blossom perfume, but that might have been wishful thinking.
As I opened my eyes, a light began to blink from aboard Zyri’s Promise.
“Caffari,” I said, pointing.
She’d already noticed. The bandit nodded, her lips moving silently as she watched the signal. When the blinking light went dark, she turned to me.
“Did you get that?”
“Get what?”
Caffari chewed the corner of her lip. “Right. Land-born and land-raised. You wouldn’t know the sailors’ signals.” She smirked. “Your Captain Altak has quite a vocabulary with his hooded lantern. He uses a few signals I thought were known only by those of us in the less-than-honest trades. Could it be he has a bit of piracy in his history?”
I rolled my eyes at the thought. Captain Altak might not fit the usual gutterborn or trader mold, but he was far too honorable for thievery. Most likely, he’d learned the signals during the years he and Nyralit voyaged far and wide between Nocturnais.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He suggested we douse the lanterns, turn south and skirt the shoals to their end. Thinks we have a good chance of making harbor at Ashkalan.”
I nodded. Heading south would take us past Mieshk’s last known location. So far, we’d followed the traditional approach used by Kiriilti Nocturnais. The old village and pier, built on the eastern coast of the island, had been destroyed in Ioene’s first major eruption after our arrival. In the following chaos, I’d fled south, only to be chased by Mieshk and her followers.
Near the southernmost extent of the island, a hidden lagoon had provided sanctuary for my small group of rebels. Between this lagoon and the original village, Mieshk had established a base of operations. Though we had no way of knowing where she was now, that beach seemed the best place to start looking.
Beyond the lagoon, the coastline turned north again, and on the side of the island opposite our original Nocturnai village, the city of Ashkalan encircled a protected harbor.
“Can you ask him whether he’s considered going around to the north?” I asked. Until we had our bearings, it might make sense to avoid Mieshk.
“He said you’d ask that,” Caffari said, smiling crookedly. “Said it’s unexplored. Better to get the ships to safety before we strike out into the unknown. I doubt we’ll find another Vanished ship to take us home if we lose these two.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Going dark!” Caffari called across the deck as the lanterns aboard Zyri’s Promise winked out.
A trio of thieves jumped up and started snuffing lanterns. Soon, both ships were nothing but shadows in the night. From this vantage, Ioene’s fires haloed Zyri’s Promise, but from shore, we’d be nearly invisible.
As the oars began tugging us forward, adding stomach-churning motion to the seesawing caused by the waves, I wondered if other vessels were haunting the nearby sea. We had yet to catch a glimpse of the three ships Trader Ulstat had stolen. Given the extra help he’d received from my duskweaving, I had to assume he was somewhere near the island already.
The line of spray marking the shoals fell away toward the island, and Captain Altak steered Zyri’s Promise closer to shore to match it. Once we drew within a few thousand paces, I probed the aether again.
Nothing.
Rot. I clenched my fists.
What is it, Lilik? Tyrak asked.
The aether’s empty. There’s no one. How could the strands just disappear?
As we veered closer to shore, the scale of the changes on the island stole my breath. In the sky, the aurora created an ocean of tranquil light, nearly as bright as the heavens just before dawn. Beneath, the mountain roared, a constant spray of cinders and ash fountaining while jets of lava spewed in all directions.
Abruptly, I felt a tingling in my scars that I hadn’t sensed since leaving the island. Before, I’d needed to touch Ioene to feel her power, but now the air felt saturated with raw magic. But no nightstrands. Why?
Still resting on the sailcloth, I reclined and let the lights from the heavens sink into me. Maybe I’d have a better sense of what had happened once I laid hands on the island.
Moments later, hissed calls to attention traveled through the crew. Captain Altak was signaling again. I stood and looked to Caffari, waiting for translation.
After a moment, she nodded. From a small chest bolted to the deck beside the helm, she pulled out a spyglass.
“Vidyul says there’s a channel through the shoals. Not wide enough for the ships, but we can take a dinghy through.” She raised the glass to her eye, bracing a knee against the pedestal supporting the ship’s wheel. “And it appears your Ulstat friend hasn’t moved much.”
Returning her hands to the wheel, she handed me the spyglass. The brass housing was cold around my eye as I peered.
My brows raised. No, Mieshk hadn’t gone far. Set back from the beach where I’d first huddled beneath a trio of boulders, the Ulstat heir had constructed a fortress. Guard towers defended the compound at each corner, and the tops of the walls were studded with so many torches the walls themselves seemed to burn.
“But she’s been busy,” I said.
Caffari nodded, holding a finger aloft while she mouthed more words. Once again, Captain Altak was signaling.
“He asks whether we should send a boat to scout.”
As I was considering my answer, Raav came striding over the deck and joined me. When he entwined his fingers with mine, I noticed that his calluses had been pinched into sharp ridges from holding a pair of oars. He’d probably volunteered for the duty.
“Lower the dinghy and muffle the oars,” I said. “Let’s see what we’re up against.”
With Daonok working the oars and Raav manning the rudder, I sat on the rowboat’s bench and felt Ioene drawing closer. With each stroke of the paddles, the tingling in my scars and the sensation that magic drenched the air only grew stronger. Yet the aether was still a vacant cavern.
We drew even with Zyri’s Promise and waited while Jet clambered down the ladder. When he stepped into the boat, it tilted hard, nearly tossing me out.
“Sorry,” he said, his face dark with embarrassment.
“You aren’t the only gutterborn land-dweller here,” I said to set him at ease.
Once we’d shoved off from the Vanished ship and had paddled out of earshot, I licked my lips.
“There’s something I have to tell you all. Please bring this news to Captain Altak and Tkira as well. The nightstrands are gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?” Raav asked. “Mieshk? She destroyed them?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think we’d be in much bigger trouble if she had. But I can’t contact them. I don’t know what it means.”
“What about your magic?”
“Useless until we can figure out what the problem is.”
I watched Daonok while I spoke. Raav and Jet would be loyal to me no matter what. But Caffari’s band had only agreed to follow me after seeing what my duskweaving could do. Daonok had a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Well,” the small thief said after a while, “I guess we better figure it out. I’ll tell Caffari, but you’d be a fool to share with the others.”
Though his words grated against my new resolve to be more honest, I agreed with his assessment. I just had to hope I wouldn’t be trapped in another deception for too long.
The narrow channel presented little trouble for our small boat. Soon enough, we floated on the calm water inside the reef’s protection. Around us
, the ocean looked like rumpled black silk, studded here and there with the glow of the jellyfish. After so many days being tossed by wild seas, the absence of motion made me feel vaguely queasy.
Apparently, when it came to seasickness, I just couldn't win.
At one end of the beach where Mieshk had encamped, a lava river flowed into the sea. Before we’d left Ioene, it had crept slowly into the water. But in the intervening time, it had grown from a narrow stream to a full torrent. Molten stone oozed over itself, massive bulges and bubbles black on the outside with fiery innards. A ridge I’d climbed during my last visit had been completely buried by the flow. A wide fan of superheated stone reached into the shallows, the nearby water steaming and boiling.
Hot mist soon coated my skin, joined by an occasional cold splash from the oars. The lava roared where it entered the sea.
Without speaking, Raav turned the boat to parallel the shore, skirting the inner edge of the shoals. Everyone in the boat sunk low to the rails. Though we were far enough from shore I doubted we’d be seen, the precaution couldn’t hurt.
When we drew even with Mieshk’s fortifications, I once again raised the spyglass to my eye. I gasped at what I saw.
Formed of heavy blocks of stone, the outer wall of Mieshk’s compound was taller than two men. Inside, more torches—hundreds of them—had been plunged into the rocky soil, the light vying with Ioene in brightness. I’d already noticed the guard towers at the corners of the walls, but now that we were closer, I spotted more perches for sentries outside the compound. These smaller towers were more like pillars. Just a little taller than me, they were capped with a low wall providing some cover for the guard atop the tower.
Even within the walls, another half-dozen stations provided a vantage for sentries who stood with freshly-crafted bows at the ready. At the center of the camp, surrounded by smaller barracks which I assumed Mieshk had built for her followers, a massive stone keep, three stories tall, rose above the landscape.
But the real shock was in the stonework. Though it looked like the walls had been originally built from stacked blocks, the stone had the glassy shine of rock that had been melted and fused. It would be impossible to climb the outer wall—or any of the structures within for that matter. And more, I doubted the strongest battering ram in the history of warfare could knock down the walls.
“Well, at least Trader Ulstat isn’t here,” Daonok said.
“Not sure that’s a positive,” Jet commented. “Seeing as we don’t know where else we might run into him.”
I handed the spyglass off to Raav. As he examined the camp, his shoulders slumped. But he didn’t give voice to his concerns. Instead, he noticeably collected himself and turned. “Seen enough?”
“Yes—wait.” I held out my hand for the spyglass. When I peered again at the camp, my brows drew together in puzzlement.
All told, Mieshk had around thirty guards watching over the encampment. If everyone we’d left behind was still alive, that was around half her force. A surprising level of vigilance. Backs were stiff, heads turning. Within the camp, no one shirked a duty. Each follower moved with purpose, knees high as if marching. How had she managed to inspire that amount of obedience? With the food stores surely depleted and little knowledge of foraging, her followers had to be exhausted. Yet for some reason, they moved almost like puppets.
Shrugging, I pressed my lips together. “To Ashkalan?”
Raav nodded and smiled, probably remembering our talk from what felt like years ago about rebuilding the city together. “To Ashkalan.”
Chapter Five
AS SHARDS OF Midnight followed Zyri’s Promise around the southernmost part of the island, I scanned the shore. Somewhere near this point, an underwater passage led to the lagoon that had been our sanctuary. Within the hidden amphitheater, a strange glowing mural decorated the wall. Painted by someone who’d lived during Vanished times, the painting showed Ioene with a shimmering figure on her shores. Though we’d never learned the meaning of the painting, the color of the depicted person had been eerily similar to the pearly glow from my scars.
Thinking of it, I pushed my sleeves back from my forearms. Back home in the Kiriilt Islands, my scars had seemed to fade. But now, not only had they begun to tingle again, but they also shone as bright as a full moon.
I couldn’t spot the lagoon and its mural, though I’d hoped I might spy a hint of its glow. Or maybe even a red flicker of torchlight. Peldin, the speaker for the Vanished, had volunteered to lead Paono to the lagoon. But with Mieshk’s fortress not far, I expected Paono would have found a new refuge.
With good fortune, there was a similar explanation for the absence of the nightstrands. Maybe they’d found some sort of sanctuary from Mieshk’s temptation. The problem was, whatever they’d done had hidden them from me too, and I suspected I’d need their help to defeat Mieshk.
Speaking of… As we rounded the final curve and began sailing northwest toward Ashkalan, I suppressed a shudder at the thought of Mieshk’s guards standing at such rigid attention. Moving with such strange alacrity. Together with the empty aether and the looming evil at its edge, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I understood far too little.
There’s more going on here than we expected, I said to Tyrak.
With Mieshk’s fortress, you mean?
Well, that’s part of it. I hadn’t imagined she’d be organized enough to build something like that. The fused walls… Have you ever seen something similar?
She commands the fire, Tyrak said. No doubt she used her power to seal the stones together. But that’s not what’s bothering you, is it?
I shook my head. Why are the strands gone? At first, I thought they might be hiding from Mieshk somehow. But I guess I’m worried it’s more complicated than that.
Tyrak remained silent as he considered my words. Before he had a chance to respond, Raav joined me at the rail. On this side of the island, the waves were smaller, maybe because the mountain’s flank stood between Mieshk and us. And the shoals and shallow reefs had petered out, allowing us to sail closer to the shore.
“Not far now,” Raav said as he laid his hand over mine. “I admit there were times over the last few weeks when I worried we’d never return to Ashkalan. Especially not together. I know we have a lot ahead of us still, but we shouldn’t forget how far we’ve come.”
He lifted my hand from the rail and laid it on the back of his neck. I turned into his embrace while he lowered his lips to mine.
“We’ll rebuild it together, right?” he whispered after the kiss.
I wanted to share his optimism. It would be nice to fall into fantasies about living here after the Ulstats were vanquished and the island healed. But dozens of doubts whispered in my thoughts, a fog of muttering phantoms. How was I going to find Paono? He could be anywhere on this huge, night-bound island. How were we going to get past Mieshk’s defenses? Where were the strands?
And even if we had all those answers, we couldn’t forget Trader Ulstat and his mercenaries.
I forced a smile onto my lips. I did appreciate Raav’s words and his dreams for the future. And I hoped we’d have that chance.
“I noticed you shaking your head a moment ago,” Raav said. “You no longer talk out loud to empty air, but a keen observer can still tell when your thoughts are in the aether. If you’d made contact with the Vanished, I suspect we’d hear about it right away. So I assume you were talking with Tyrak. How is he handling the strands’ absence?”
I pressed my lips together. I should’ve asked you that earlier, I said to Tyrak. You were expecting a chance to talk to Zyri today.
A wave of melancholy flowed from the dagger. I’ve waited a thousand years. Another day isn’t much in comparison.
Well, I’m sorry you have to wait another minute.
“He’s brave,” I said to Raav. “Doing well, considering.”
And don’t forget, even with the nightstrands missing, I still get to see Ashkalan.
“But he’
s returning home for the first time in centuries. We might think it’s been a long time since we saw Ashkalan, but we’ll never compete with Tyrak.”
Raav chuckled. “One of the many ways I’d never try to compete with him. But—” He pulled me close. “There’s one prize I’d fight anyone to the death for.”
Ah, yes, but you can’t fight what you can’t see. Tyrak slipped, ghostly, from the dagger. With a tickle of amusement, he laid a phantom kiss on my cheek. It will be our secret, he whispered in my ear.
As Raav bent to kiss me again, I waved my hand in the air to try to shoo Tyrak away. Tyrak laughed.
Hey, Tyrak… I said as Raav pulled away. We will find Zyri. I swear it. The nightstrands can’t be gone for good.
I hope you’re right, he said, his voice wistful.
Me too, I thought, keeping the words to myself.
As we drew near the entrance to Ashkalan’s harbor, I asked Caffari to signal the captain. As if understanding why I’d called a halt, Zyri’s Promise lowered her dinghy to the water, and Tkira and Jet fetched Raav and me from the Midnight. From the open sea, we couldn’t see all the way into the harbor. A very narrow passage between cliffs guarded the sheltered water. Those tight-pressed walls could also hide Trader Ulstat’s small fleet from view.
After we’d settled into the boat, Jet rowed us into the channel connecting the harbor to the sea. Towering high above us, the cliffs seemed to welcome me back. But my excitement at returning was nothing compared to the thrill I felt from Tyrak. His spirit swirled inside the dagger, as eager as a pack of hunting dogs awaiting dinner.
Tkira, on the other hand, looked ahead, sullen anger on her face. No doubt she’d recently heard the news about Nyralit. Reaching forward, I laid a hand on her shoulder, surprisingly bony considering the wiry muscle in her arms.
“When we return to Araok Island I can help you speak to the strandmistress,” I said quietly.
She blinked as her lips twitched toward, but didn’t quite reach, a smile of gratitude. “Miss that woman,” she said gruffly. “Flowing silks and soft hands and all. Ten times stronger than she looked.”
Shattering of the Nocturnai Box Set Page 74