Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) (14 page)

“I am not.” I studied Oki’s face, fighting the sorrow before it could fully fester. “Not yet.”

“You will be.”

“How long until we get there?” Hitoshi asked, his voice full of gravel.

“An hour.” I gripped my sister’s hand. I hoped she’d make it.

She had to.

T
HE
LETHARAN
CITY OF
E
NHNAPI
was nestled deep in the wilds of Kiwidinok. Personally, I hadn’t thought it possible to bring a
lethara
so far inland. We weren’t at the heart of the wild woodland, but we were close. Large rivers flowed from Lake Chatan. Neira knew their names, how they flowed in each season, and all the dangers they could provide. She also knew all the ways the lake could protect her
letharan
city. It was deep; deep enough for him to submerge for many long years yet.

I had moved Oki to the galley. A wild wind ripped through the bay. This wasn’t the same storm we’d fought under hours ago. This was the season of storms. The great, green trees bowed under the force of the winds and the slicing rain. A flock of brightly colored birds lost cover for a brief moment and then were again hidden as the wind let up.

I yawned to pop my ears as we lost altitude, and searched for signs that we were getting close. Trees. How could Neira find anything in this cursed place? Every square centimetre of it looked the same.

Hitoshi pulled on his ear, glancing furtively in my direction.

I yawned again, not for my ears, but to show him how to clear his own. On a
lethara
, the pressure never changed, or if it did, it was so slow and subtle, few noticed. Airships were different. Yes. I could have kept the pressure regulated by keeping the galley doors closed. However, I wanted the ability to head out as soon as the Enhnapi docks were in sight.

Chie clasped Oki’s hand, her gaze dark and distant.

Kenta wasn’t much better. His eyes were rock hard with resolution. He didn’t hold Oki, but he was close, his hand in constant contact with her body.

We sank suddenly, and then rose minutely. My gut groaned. Air pockets. They weren’t uncommon, but this close to the ground they could be dangerous, and they made me uncomfortable. Microbursts could slam a vessel several metres down without control.

We didn’t have several metres.

The wide mouth of a river showed itself in the pale storm light. I couldn’t tell which of our two suns was trying to pierce the heavy storm clouds. We’d traveled within them to cover our tracks. If we’d ridden above the storm, Mother—Ino Nami—could have sent vessels to track us.

We’d never have been able to do that in the
Samma’s
. As much as I wanted to disrespect that woman, she had prepared us for the war she wanted.

I took one wide step to the doors and gripped the edge of the nearest one. They couldn’t take my weight for long. I hadn’t designed them to support it, but I needed to see and I didn’t want to be sucked out of the ship. The wide river connected to a large lake a hundred metres upstream. From this altitude, I could see the full leaf-shaped perimeter, but not the details.

Trees. Just a lot of trees.

The lake was peppered with sand islands. They couldn’t support life. They were nothing more than sandbars.

But within the bay of sandbars near the center of Lake Chatan, Neira’s
lethara
stood tall, rising from the protective waters of the lake as far as he could. His hood waved with the wind, his tendrils keeping him in place.

We were home.

Home. Such a strange word to use on such a strange place. Who would ever have thought that a
lethara
would be more of a home to an airman than his ship?

As we drew closer, the
lethara
reached out his jellyfish tentacles and helped draw us in, using the hooks that had been specifically designed for him. The copper we used to harness the lightning was toxic to him, something we’d learned early on quite by accident. So his safe areas were devoid of copper and of the pleron metal. Only woods and flax for our
lethara
.

The
Basilah
broke from the storm just over us. My stomach twisted with worry. Ryo hadn’t been up and about for long yet. His health was still fragile. I didn’t want to set him back and I didn’t know what would happen, how he would react, if we couldn’t wake Oki. They’d grown up together. They were a lot closer than either of them were to me.

Oki hadn’t stirred the entire trip.

As soon as the
Layal
touched down on the deserted docks specifically designed for the
Khayals
, I touched Kenta’s shoulder and gestured for him to bring Oki and follow me.

I led the way down the docks to the first elevator platform. Ours were not enclosed like Ino City. Our
lethara
evolved daily as he became used to new things. Our city morphed regularly, growing, shifting, changing. Wind blasted us as Chie, Hitoshi, Kenta, Oki and I crowded onto the square piece of dried flax that served as the floor. I grabbed the rope and tugged four times, one for each level I wanted to go up.

The platform rose with a mechanical groan from the pulleys eight stories above us.

Enhnapi wasn’t the sprawling, overwhelming metropolis of Ino City and I doubted we’d ever be that. Each level was minimal, taking up only as much space as was absolutely required. The floor directly above the docks wasn’t a complete floor due to some of the experiments we’d had on the docks. It had been safer that way.

We rose above the random planks of flax, and came to the third level of the city. Here’s where our market was. It wasn’t much. We had a few shops, but the Vash had very little need for markets. It was a nomadic gathering place where Neira’s people could come and trade as they willed. Most of that occurred in the wilds still, anyway.

The fourth level of the city housed Keeley’s hospital. Technically, it belonged to Doctor Derby, but I barely knew the man, and I knew how much time Keeley had invested in the place.

The platform stopped and we got off, pushing against the wind as a sudden gust tore through. The
Maizah, Najmah,
and
Jihan
dropped out of the storm, preparing to land at the docks. I narrowed my gaze, waiting for the sixth and final ship to leave the storm. A moment or two later, the
Karida
joined them.

To the unknown eye, they looked pretty much the same. But the
Karida
was marginally smaller and her accentuating copper lines were painted blue. The
Maizah
was longer and shorter, and her copper lines were straight, no artwork, and were unpainted. The
Basilah
dwarfed them all, longer, taller, wider. Her copper lines flowed like Sakin letters and were painted red.

They were all beautiful, though.

My feet hadn’t stopped while I was checking on my fleet. The floor was wide and open with very little to interfere with traffic coming in or out. The hospital itself was nothing more than a few curtain walls of varying colors. They’d used whatever pieces of material they could get their hands on. Doctor Derby had wanted more permanent walls of flax or something stronger, but we lacked the materials he’d requested.

The silk curtains stretched the width of the floor, but only about half the depth. The
lethara’s
tendrils worked to keep the area tidy, something older
letharan
couldn’t do. He lowered his screen from his hood. Within moments, the wind was blocked, though I could still hear it whistle through the levels directly below us. The rest of the
Khayals
still needed to dock and the screen wouldn’t complete its journey to the water until they were all safely inside.

I burst through the deep blue silk curtains. “Keeley!”

The space inside the make-shift hospital was open. Cots were neatly arrayed in long rows, inviting colored blankets folded on top of each of them. Along the back, more curtains were hung. Keeley’s workspace.

“Keeley!”

A tall man walked out of the back, letting the magenta curtain swish behind him. “Admiral El’Asim, Keeley is busy. Can I assist?”

I watched Doctor Derby with a careful eye. His pale hair was feathered back, his blue eyes sparkling behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles. He shoved his hands in the large pockets of his brown overcoat as he walked at a slightly hurried pace. Keeley hadn’t agreed to see me in months. The last time we’d been together, I’d terrified her. Would I ever see my friend again?

I sighed and gestured to Oki lying limp in Kenta’s arms. “My sister. We took her from Ino City where she was being held for execution. I believe my mother might have given her something to induce sleep or worse. Her breathing is steady, but she will not wake.”

Doctor Derby quickened his pace. He gestured to a cot, pulling a device out of his pocket. He shoved the curved tips into his ears, and placed the device located on the end of a string against Oki’s chest. “How long has she been like this?”

Kenta knelt beside the cot. “About two hours.”

The doctor narrowed his eyes and stashed his instrument, opening her eyelids and peering inside. He nodded curtly and rose. “I will need you to leave so Keeley and I can work. When we know something, we’ll send for you.”

Kenta ground his teeth. “I am not leaving.”

Doctor Derby sighed. “The rest of you must leave. You, do not get in our way.”

I had to trust in my friend and I had to trust in the man she trusted more than she trusted me. I just hoped Oki would survive whatever Mother had done to her.

Enhnapi: Aiyanna

A
IYANNA DISEMBARKED FROM THE
L
AYAL
with no clear intentions, as was normal as of late. In her training to become a priestess, she’d always been busy. Leisure was a luxury a priestess could ill afford.

Oh, but here. She rested her hand on the outer skin of the
Layal
and almost imagined she could feel the ship shiver.

The veil of Enhnapi’s
lethara
was in place, cutting off the torrential winds of the incoming storm. She recalled as a child living on the ocean boats through storms like this. Typhoons. Well, now that they were on land, she supposed it was called a hurricane, though why a storm gained a new name simply because it came into contact with land was something she didn’t understand.