Shattering of the Nocturnai Box Set

by Carrie Summers

  You should listen, Lilik, Tyrak said.

  If I want your advice, I’ll ask for it. But I knew that Tyrak was right.

  “It’s just the situation,” I said. “It’s making us fight.”

  Scooting over, I patted the bunk. Raav lay beside me and pillowed his head on his hands as he stared at the ceiling. “I know, Lilik. I forgive you. Things have been stressful...”

  I rolled onto my side and gave him a mischievous grin. “Any ideas how we might relieve some of that stress?”

  Raav smiled back, clasped my shoulder, and pulled me toward him. Our lips met. He tasted of spices and smelled like sun-warmed wood. Tingles spread outward from my belly as his hand ran down my back. For a moment, there was nothing in the world but Raav’s body against mine.

  But he froze when his fingers brushed my new scar. With a gentle nudge, he pushed me back. His eyes were still closed.

  “I still remember the feeling. I was so desperate to fulfill Avilet’s command. I would have killed you if Mavek hadn’t…” His throat closed down over his words, strangling them, as he sat up. Planting his feet on the floor, he rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his face to his hands.

  “Raav,” I said, laying a hand on his back. “It wasn’t your fault. How can I help convince you?”

  “You can’t.” His hands muffled his voice.

  “I’m alive, Raav. We can go forward from this. Forget that it happened.”

  Abruptly, he sprang to his feet. When he turned, his face was a mask of anguish. “Maybe I just need rest. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lilik.”

  “Wait, Raav.” I raised a hand to stop him, but he was already gone.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “IT’S AN INSULT,” Caffari muttered. “No… it’s a defilement.” She stood by a cleat on the deck. A roped was bound to the metal anchor, the other end tied into a harness that held one of her thieves over the edge of the rail. The dangling smuggler held a makeshift paintbrush cut from one of the ship’s brooms. She dipped the brush in a pot of whitewash then added a curve to the insignia of House Ulstat taking shape on the side of Shards of Midnight. At the front of the ship, another smuggler was lowering the dark pennants Caffari favored for her vessel, replacing them with flags fetched from the Ulstat ships.

  “No one but Mieshk and her band will see,” I consoled her. “And I’ll help scrub the hull clean after this is over. “

  Caffari snorted while she fiddled with one of her throwing knives. “No one will see, yeah. But I’ll always have the memory up here.” She tapped her temple with the point of the knife.

  I gave her an amused smile. “Truly, I appreciate your sacrifice.”

  Despite everything, I’d slept well. Apparently, my body had realized how desperately I needed rest, even if my mind had been unwilling to settle down. Raav’s turmoil kept returning to my thoughts, but I pushed it away best I could. I had a responsibility to everyone on Ioene, and I couldn’t let my feelings get in the way.

  During the night, a small scouting party had been sent out in the Midnight’s dinghy. Because we couldn’t thread the shoals near Mieshk’s camp due to the heavy swell hitting the island, any approach by sea would need to hug the coast along the inside of the reefs. Fortunately, the scouts had found a narrow channel that would give the Midnight entrance into this band of protected waters. It would be a risky approach to the encampment, but Caffari felt her crew was up to it. Her smugglers were quite skilled at navigating treacherous waters avoided by law-abiding sailors. As soon as the ship was ready, she and a skeleton crew posing as Ulstat guardsmen would take Trader Ulstat to his daughter.

  Meanwhile, around a dozen of us would approach the fortress overland. Paono had said he knew a route between this area and Mieshk’s beach. It was treacherous in places, but for this plan to work, we needed to arrive separately from the ship. Besides, Caffari’s thieves were nimble and accustomed to dangerous approaches. And the fighters joining our party from among Captain Altak’s crew were highly motivated to seek revenge after what had happened during the Nocturnai.

  Ioene was quieter today than she’d been. The lava still surged from her crater, oozing down the mountain’s flanks in the rivers of black crust webbed by glowing cracks, but the ash plume clung near to the volcano’s peak. The smell of cinders was largely absent, replaced by the salty breath of the sea and the perfume of kivi blossoms.

  I’d been up before the moon for a quick trip onto the island. The root pulp from the Eikkas tresses I’d harvested was safely stowed in a watertight flask within the rucksack I’d packed shortly after returning. The pack sat against a pile of rigging now, awaiting our departure.

  Though I still wore the hardened leather armor over my chest, as well as a pair of bracers to defend my forearms from blows, I’d changed into thin trousers and shoes with soles of supple leather. Daonok had suggested the clothing so that I could move freely on the approach. Better to arrive in one piece than fall off the ledge because I moved awkwardly in the metal-ribbed leggings that provided extra protection from edged weapons. In loose trousers after so long confined to the stiff armor, I felt as if I could turn flips through the air.

  Over on Zyri’s Promise, Paono was deep in conversation with Captain Altak. I hadn’t had a chance to speak with either of them after the meeting yesterday. Given everything our friendship had been through, I didn’t think I needed to say anything to Paono. By my guess, though, I still had a ways to go to earn Captain Altak’s forgiveness for my callous remarks. After we dealt with Mieshk, I’d be sure to seek him out.

  As I tapped a cupful of water from one of the casks that had been stacked atop a crate for ease of access, the ragged group we’d taken captive emerged from the hold. No longer bound, they appeared to have been treated well. Daonok and another thief climbed the ladder behind them and encouraged the small group over the rail to Zyri’s Promise. No sense bringing them back to Mieshk. Every person aboard the Midnight was someone Mieshk would turn to her side if she got close enough to influence them. We’d decided to send as few sailors as were necessary with Caffari and Trader Ulstat.

  After seeing the prisoners across the rail and into the hold of Captain Altak’s ship, Daonok returned and greeted me with a nod.

  “Ready? Best if we have a head start.”

  I nodded. “Is everyone else?”

  “They will be as soon as I crack my knuckles at them,” he said. He hesitated afterward as if he wanted to say something else. Another warning about keeping myself safe, most likely. But after a moment he inhaled and gestured toward the beach. “Have someone ferry you over. We’ll be ready to go in just a few minutes.”

  I thought about fetching Raav; he was coming with the overland group. But after last night, I thought he might want privacy. Lifting my rucksack from the deck, I swung it over my shoulder and headed for the dinghy. A pair of smugglers turned the winch to lower the rowboat to the sea. The thief at the oars didn’t seem to want to make conversation as we headed for the beach. Me neither.

  I didn’t have long to pace before the rest of the group assembled. Raav greeted me with a quick hug. At least he hadn’t given up on us. We would work this out as soon as we had the luxury of time. As for the others, I counted eleven smugglers and sailors, plus Daonok and Paono.

  My best friend stood somewhat apart from the group. Though he answered when people greeted him or asked him simple questions, he seemed so much more distant and distracted than the person I remembered. No doubt his time alone had worked changes on his heart, along with his regret over the dawnweaving. I wondered if having the aurora inside him had changed him, too.

  I closed the distance between us and touched his shoulder. “You ready? You seem… lost in thought.” I didn’t want to say distracted because I worried he’d take offense.

  He nodded. “I’m just adjusting. I got used to having no one but myself to talk to.”

  I searched his eyes. Was that all?

  Casting me a halfhearted smile, he nudged my shou
lder with his knuckles. “Don’t worry, Lily Pad. I’ll be fine once all of this is over.”

  I nodded before turning away. I hoped he was right, but concern for him still ate at me. The events on Ioene had been hard on all of us. And Paono had such a good heart. It made him all the more susceptible to strain.

  With a clatter of metal against metal, the thieves shouldered their packs. I whirled, surprised at the noise.

  “Don’t worry,” Daonok said with a grin. He nudged a cluster of climbing gear hanging from the outside of one of the packs. Pitons clanged against each other while a hammer for driving them into cracks in the stone knocked against buckles securing the load. “With luck, we won’t need this stuff and we’ll be able to leave it behind long before we reach the fortress. On the other hand, if we do need it, we’ll be quite happy to have brought it along.”

  I shot a glance to Paono. He shrugged. “I mentioned the path was a little difficult.”

  “This way,” Paono said as he squeezed into a tight chimney of stone. The narrow cleft tunneled back into the mountainside for about twenty paces before pinching off, an apparent dead end. Turning sideways, Paono pressed his back against one wall and his feet against the other as he prepared to shimmy upward.

  “Wait,” Daonok called from near the entrance to the wide crack. We’d set a marching order early on. Paono, then me, then Raav with the assorted crew and thieves intermixed behind. Pulling a length of silken rope from his backpack, Daonok passed it up. “Tie your packs on. I can’t count the number of times I’ve punctured a waterskin or crushed a sweet roll by chimney climbing while wearing a backpack. Two or three rucksacks at a time. We’ll haul them up from the ledge above. There is a ledge, right?”

  Paono swallowed. “Well, sort of.”

  “Wasn’t there a ship going to the same place we’re bound?” one of Captain Altak’s crew grumbled.

  The nearest thief wiggled his way forward and helped Paono with the knots before gesturing for my pack. While I waited for the load to be secured, I rested my hands against the stone. Ioene sent icy tingles up my arms. I closed my eyes, hoping to feel something more from the mountain. On my first trip here, I’d learned to sense the spirits of the Vanished while in contact with Ioene’s stone—the local magics of the fire and the aurora somehow strengthened a soul priestess’s power. Yet the fires deep in Ioene’s belly had also caused the cataclysm. Or rather, a coven of compellers had caused it by forcing too many strands to give their energy to the fire. At least, that’s what I’d been told. But after what I’d learned about the Hunger, I wondered whether the truth was more complicated.

  Paono began to climb, grunting quietly each time he pressed his palms against the rock to scoot his back up the rough stone wall. Once he was high enough, I took a deep breath and wedged myself beneath him, moving one foot at a time then mashing my palms beside my butt and inching higher. The muscles in the backs of my legs and arms began to cramp after just a few repetitions.

  All this time sitting around on boats has made me weak, I said to Tyrak.

  I think the problem is more with your friend Paono’s choice of route… I lived on Ioene a long time. I’d say it’s the mark of a civilized people to favor roads over the roosts of bats.

  I smiled. If nothing else, I’m sure this is the most direct path. Paono may want simple things from life, but I’ve never known him to pass up a chance to make his task harder.

  Hmm. You told me once that you and Paono were more different than you’d once imagined. But I see a lot of similarities. Though he teased, Tyrak extended beyond the bounds of the dagger and added his strength to mine. The going got easier, and my arms shook less when I braced them against the wall. After a few minutes of climbing, I arrived breathless on Paono’s so-called ledge. Around two paces wide and sloped alarmingly toward the sheer drop at its edge, the perch would have room for just five or six people. Some of us would need to continue on to give space for the others to climb up.

  Straining to pick out details in the faint light from the heavens, I examined the rock face ahead. Where the ledge ended, a series of hand and toe holds shot across the cliff, ascending diagonally for a distance of about fifty paces to an actual flat spot atop a pedestal. During our childhood, I’d been a better climber than Paono. He’d come this way before, so I had no doubt I’d make it across. But glancing at the drop to the boulder-strewn slope below, I shuddered. The scars on my palms had been caused when a foothold had broken as I’d climbed a ridge in an attempt to escape Mieshk’s hunters.

  “Hey Daonok, I’m ready to see how those pitons work,” I called.

  No sooner had I spoken than a thief poked his head out of the chimney. “I’ve been hoping we’d have the excuse.”

  He’d made the ascent one-handed, carrying his pack in the other. From one side of the pack, he unbuckled a length of thin cord that had been threaded through holes in the ends of the iron spikes. On the other side, a cluster of oval rings with hinged gates was fixed to another strap.

  He nodded at me as he hefted the pack onto his shoulders. “Unfasten me one of those carabiners.”

  When I squeezed the gate, the carabiner opened. I unhooked it from the cluster and handed it over. The man had holstered his hammer in a hardened leather ring attached to his belt. After unthreading a piton from the cord, he squinted at the wall behind Paono.

  “Move this way, please,” he said to Paono, nudging my friend toward the chimney. The thief then set the iron spike against the crack no farther than a hand’s width from Paono’s skull.

  “Uh,” Paono said, turning his head in alarm at the nearness.

  The thief grinned. “I’m used to night climbing. But it’s a rare treat to bring a glowing human torch along. Makes it easier to find good placements for my pins.”

  With that, he smacked the end of the piton with the hammer. Metal rang, the pitch getting higher with each hammer strike as the thief drove the spike into a crack in the stone. Finally satisfied, the man clipped the carabiner through the eyehole on the exposed end of the piton, reached over his shoulder into his pack and came up with the end of a heavy silken rope, and fixed it to the carabiner. Moments later, he’d turned a couple armfuls of the same rope into a harness that wrapped Paono’s legs and hips.

  “Good,” he said. “Now you can help me bring up the packs without the weight throwing you back down to the bottom of the cliff. As for you…” He looked at me as he removed another piton from the cord and eyed the rock wall in search of a suitable fissure. “Once I get this anchor reinforced, I’ll belay you—let out rope, I mean—while you lead across.”

  I blinked. “Me?”

  He nodded as he whacked the next piton, sending it singing into the stone. “You’re lightest. Easier to catch if you fall. Plus, you have small fingers that fit into narrow cracks.”

  I glanced across the sheer cliff face. “But I don’t know how to put in those… What did you call them? Pins?”

  “That’s the easy part,” he said, holding out the cord with the jangling metal. “You wedge them in the crack and smack them. Hard.”

  Reluctantly, I accepted the rack of pitons. Made of iron in different shapes, some narrow and flat like the blades of butter knives, others of thicker metal folded at an angle to wedge into wider cracks, the spikes were heavier than I’d anticipated. But Tyrak quickly flooded me with extra strength, nudging my weight the other direction to keep the sudden heft of the clanging iron from knocking me off balance.

  “You sure this is a good idea?” I asked.

  He grinned as he started wrapping loops of rope around my legs and waist to form a harness. “Better you than me.”

  With nothing but air beneath my heels and my fingertips pressed onto narrow ledges, I felt freer than I had in weeks. I concentrated on every move, the drop to the slope below tugging at me and reminding me of the consequences if my focus slipped. The harness was snug around my waist, and a loop of a knotted cord was slung over my shoulder and across my body. On it, the pi
tons were held on individual carabiners. With the precarious traverse I was making, I wouldn’t be able to get both hands free to slip a piton off the length of cord without dropping the whole bundle.

  The soft-soled shoes bit into narrow ridges of stone as I placed the edge of the ball of my foot against the cliff. Weighting my foot, I wedged my fingers into a vertical crack and used the hold for balance while I rocked on to the new foothold. The change in position started to lever me out from the wall, and I clamped harder with my trailing hand while crossing my free leg behind the planted foot for balance.

  A grin landed on my face. This was fun.

  Back on the ledge, four of our party had climbed up and joined Paono and my belayer at the anchor. The thief had added to the single piton he’d driven into the stone, pounding two more spikes into cracks. That way, he’d said if someone did something stupid like jump off the edge, the group wouldn’t be relying on a single placement to keep them secure.

  “Now would be a good time for another pin,” the thief called out.

  I glanced back at the loop of rope between my harness and the last piton I’d pounded into the rock. At least three arm’s lengths separated me from the spot where the rope ran through the carabiner. If I fell, the thief would lock down the belay to keep more rope from paying out. But still, I’d swing back beneath that last placement, no doubt bouncing off the rock a few times before I came to a halt, dangling from the little iron spike.

  Okay, so maybe he had a point. Another pin would be good.

  Squinting, I examined the stone near my face. No cracks split the rock except for the vertical fissure I’d used to make my last move. I leaned to the side to try to peer inside it. I thought I had a piton that would fit. Unfortunately, my fingers were currently jammed into that spot.