In the sky, a ship torn open at the stern wobbled in midflight. It tore through illusions and defensive shields that obscured the makeshift fortress hidden in the middle of the forest.
Radeon let the ship dive nose-first. He needed the spectacle for his plan. He needed the higher-ups to feel their own urgency.
He staggered down the gangplank as the vessel settled. dical practitioners rushed in, chanting their spells. Seeing no deep cuts and only minor splinters, they laid cool hands on bruised flesh, finished their healing arts, and moved aside as those in charge strode forward.
"Report, scouts. What did you find out there? Tell this flight bought us more than broken planks."
The six-man crew glanced at Radeon as if he were their true leader. None of them spoke, their mouths held shut as if waiting for him to start. Radeon only looked at the grey-bearded man, trusting that the mory of dangling midair would deliver the fanfare he needed.
The man caught his nod and began to speak. Scouting teams sent out in tens. Arrows raining down at every twist and turn. Their boat nearly capsized under bullets of condensed energy. Each man was questioned one after the other. As if that was his cue, Radeon drew out the map.
"Commander, we've found the way into the cultist's den."
Radeon raised a hand toward the six before they could say more. Naming the exact terrain here would be as good as shouting military secrets across the docks.
"Very well. I'll see what waits inside myself, and you'll have your pay in full."
After they were dismissed, the captain grabbed Radeon by the neck of his robe and pulled him close, his voice dropping low.
"You traced that map well enough in your skull, did you not, sailor? Draw it for . I'm keen to see what ga they're playing up at Ashli Crag."
"Captain, best we stay in the wake this ti and let the great lords ram their prows first."
Without another word, Radeon pressed a folded slip into his palm. It was a list. Numbers pulled from Giovanni's head, nas and totals that dwindled enough to intimidate any sane man.
The captain read the paper and clenched it so hard his qi turned to heat. He looked back at Radeon with a grave face.
"A conspiracy, sure as storm-tide. A hundred years we've sailed, and now we find ourselves dead center in so bastard's plotting."
Surprised by the force of his reaction, Radeon covered his mouth with his fist. He fought the urge to curse everyone in the fortress.
"Captain, hush. Walls have ears in a place like this."
The captain knew that all too well. He did not want to be swept away by whatever sche was being cooked at Ashli Crag. Knowing Radeon would be sent out again for a second round of scouting, he instead gave him the ticket for his armor. In his mind, the choice to retreat to the backline hardened into a quiet vow.
"Captain, this is more than my share…"
"Take it before I grow sensible. You've never failed yet. I an for every soul on this crew to co back breathing."
"Aye, captain."
Radeon went to the armory with a face like a man walking to his own hanging. As he arrived, rows of tal armor stood waiting on their racks. Weapons lined the walls in neat, cold order. The ticket in his hand allowed him to choose any of them.
His fingers did not linger on anything heavy. He reached instead for a long strip of black fabric, a cloth too thin to be any normal armor.
"Ah, good eye. That scrap ca up from the far south, from so won's sect that keeps to itself down there."
"And what trick does it hide?"
"They say you need so secret art to wake it. So swear it can be torn into pieces and still hold together. , I just hand it over and stop asking questions."
"If I sign for this, can I take two lengths in place of a blade?"
"No one ever signs for it, so take what you like."
Radeon took two of the black, nearly see-through silks in his hands. The n present started to murmur, saying his choice would please the won of his house.
Wearing the face of an old man, he pulled his wrinkles into a lewd grin and licked his lips, raising two fingers before all the n. He did not let the mask slip for sothing as small as their banter.
When he returned to the docks for the spirit ships, he found the commander waiting, scanning the crowd as if looking for soone. Their eyes t, and the commander beckoned him closer.
"Commander, where do you need ?"
"You handled that run well. How long have you been flying spirit-ships?"
"Eighty years under sail and array, commander."
The commander said nothing at first. Instead, he gestured toward the longship Radeon had flown.
"This arrow was only a graze, yet it near tore your hull apart, did it not?"
"Aye, commander. Felt like a Gilded Core's work to ."
"Just so. The residue here belongs to soone on the verge of forming a nascent embryo."
Radeon schooled his features into horror. Inside, he reviewed the mont, how he had chosen which arrow to let bite into the hull while he dodged the ones that felt lacking.
"I'm no madman, sky-sailor. Suppose I let you choose any hull in this yard, crewed with Gilded Cores, how far could you run her?"
"Far, commander. As far as you'll let ." Radeon paused, his gaze drifting toward the frigate.
Seeing where his eyes had settled, the commander frowned, unsure whether Radeon ant to claim the main ship, so he pressed.
"Then what do you have in mind?"
"Give only that frigate's sails, and the largest flight array your yard can spare."
Radeon knew he had not been clear enough. He bent over the parchnt and sketched a broad sail fixed to a narrow platform, the array etched where wood and fra t. A sailboard he had known in another life.
When looked at closely, the sketch resembled a wide sail and a single plank ripped from a ship.
"Sky-sailor, you swear this contraption will fly?"
"For speed, commander? We could eat those hundred miles of sky in a quarter of an hour."
The array masters bent over the parchnt and then leaned back to study him, their gazes dragging across his lined face. Astonishnt ca first, sharp and naked, then a flicker of sothing like regret.
That this old man, already with half a foot in the grave, would be the one to lay such a design before them.
One of them stepped closer, unable to hide his excitent at the prospect of a new ship design.
"If I do not go with you, who will lay the defensive wards on this fra?"
The n around them drew closer too, as if missing a word would rob the array masters of so great secret.
"It will have no wards at all. One sound arrow, and we drop out of the sky."
The murmuring died at once. Soldiers and array masters fell silent at his words. Only soone very confident would demand such a thing of a ship.
Reviews
All reviews (0)