A heavy crystal roof covered the city, much of it cloudy and stained from uncounted turns of weather. Moon crouched and ran his hand over it. His scales weren’t as sensitive as his groundling skin, but he could feel the smooth crystal, and the tiny pits where the material was damaged. It was warm from the sun and condensation formed just beneath the surface. He leaned close, trying to see down into it, and glimpsed a long shadow that might be a column, and the narrow canyon of a street or walkway.
He looked up at Jade. Her tail lashed, and she said, tiredly, “Well, this is typical.”
Merit scrambled down from Stone’s shoulder and stared around, frowning. He waved his arms, a gesture of pure frustration. Moon stood as Stone paced away to investigate more of the crystal surface. He shielded his eyes, the fitful wind buffeting his spines and furled wings, trying to gauge the size of the transparent slab. It didn’t stretch over the whole top of the escarpment, but covered an area that he judged as roughly the size of the colony-tree’s circumference. Parts of the crystal shield were covered with patches of what looked like rock. Moon went to the nearest and poked at it with his claws. It was actually windblown sand, packed and crusted until it was nearly as hard as sandstone.
He turned to look toward the towers. They were huge, rounded, each one swelling out into a bulbous shape, then tapering up to a sharp point. They were made of a light-colored stone, now heavily weathered by wind and rain. There were no openings from this side, at least not that he could see. “That has to be the way in, those towers,” he said, but he felt a sinking sensation. It was possible they had been built as a windbreak and nothing else. “It can’t be completely sealed off.”
“Can’t it,” Jade said, her voice flat. She squinted to look up at the peak. The light surface of the stone was smooth, except for pitting from the weather. From this angle, it was clearly made of the same material as the towers.
Jade and Merit continued to examine the crystal, Merit bounding and Jade making short flights, looking for any break in it, or anything like a door, or just a spot where they could get a clear view down into the city. While Moon went for a closer look at the towers, Stone flew toward the far end of the escarpment to examine the other side.
Moon found each tower had been carved from solid rock, all in a piece, and there was no way in that he could see. He examined the bases from the inner side, then climbed out to get slammed by the wind and investigate the outer. He was frustrated, cold, and mad by the time he gave up and climbed back over.
He went to join Jade and Merit in their fruitless search. They were at the far edge of the crystal barrier, where it flowed smoothly into the shaped rock of the escarpment. “Any luck?” Merit asked hopefully.
Moon explained what he had found, which was pretty much nothing. “I didn’t even see any carving,” he told them, shaking ice crystals out of his frills.
Jade scuffed her disemboweling claw against the crystal surface. “If the towers and the horn were built to be a windbreak, then this must have been open at one point.”
Merit scraped at some sand on top of the crystal. “Keep looking?”
Jade’s tail lashed in tired irritation. “Keep looking.”
As the sun moved into late afternoon, Stone returned from his investigation, an annoyed growl rumbling in his chest. He shifted down to his groundling form to say, “I went all along the far edge. Past the crystal, it’s just solid rock. There’s no way in.”
Merit sat on his heels, his spines drooping tiredly. “They had to have an entrance lower down. There’s that dock, for one thing.”
Stone rubbed his forehead. “I’m wondering if the Kish fire weapons could break this.”
“Maybe. I’d hate to carry a groundling up here through that wind,” Jade said.
Moon agreed. The Janderan and the Janderi had tough skin, but not as tough as scales. He wasn’t sure they could take the cold.
And then we have to decide if we really want to find the way in, Moon thought. Because this city was sealed off, impenetrable, like the one under the island. And it might be for the same reason.
So they had come back down, uneasily riding the punishing wind, to report failure. The warriors had been watching for them and came up to meet them partway down, and Moon was so exhausted he was glad for the escort.
About thirty strange Kish-Jandera were waiting on the beach with Callumkal, Vendoin, and Kellimdar. A short distance away, Delin sat on the sand with Chime, Root, and Bramble. The warriors, and Stone with Merit, landed further away down the beach, but Jade spiraled down to land close to the Kishan, and Moon landed with her.
The crowd parted as Delin and the others slogged through the wet sand toward them. Moon was tired, damp, the skin under his scales chilled from the wind at the top of the escarpment. He hated standing there under what felt like an array of hostile stares. He knew it was his imagination, that the groundlings were just anxious for word of what the Raksura had seen, but knowing that never helped.
“We couldn’t get in,” Jade said, as Callumkal was drawing breath to speak. She described the crystal shield and the towers, to growing expressions of dismay from Callumkal and Kellimdar, agitation from Vendoin, and grim worry from Delin.
Moon shifted to his groundling form. It was a miscalculation; the aching muscles and exhaustion could be borne with his winged form. In groundling form it made him stagger. The warriors shifted too, and Song and Briar both sat down in the sand. River wavered, as if he wanted to but meant to use sheer willpower to stay on his feet.
Jade caught Moon’s arm to steady him and said, “We need to rest. Follow me to our tent, and I’ll answer all your questions.”
The discussion moved to the Raksuran camp, where Bramble had made a hearth and started heating some tea. Moon had a cup and then retreated into the tent to sleep. Chime curled up with him, with Song and Root settling nearby.
Moon slept deeply for a short time, then woke and found the tent empty. He stretched to ease the lingering ache in his back muscles. He had heard a little of the discussion with Callumkal and Delin and the others, as they had talked about the crystal shield, and what weapon might penetrate it, and how best to get it to the top of the escarpment. Callumkal and Vendoin were both against breaking the crystal unless it was absolutely necessary. Kellimdar was more impatient, but Delin also wanted to wait, saying that there must be an entrance lower down. Moon knew Delin was playing for time, hoping they would find some definitive sign that the city had been built by the foundation builders and not forerunners. Chime had said Delin had been going over all the notes and drawings Kellimdar and the others had made while waiting for Callumkal to return, but had so far gleaned no more from it than the Kishan scholars had.
Now Moon rolled to his feet and stepped outside. It was nearly dark, and the wind had eased somewhat. Jade was down at the beach, watching the warriors and the Arbora, who were either playing in the waves or looking for shellfish and lizards in the tidal pools. Chime and Delin sat in the sparse grass only a little distance from the tent. Delin had his writing materials spread out, the paper pinned down to keep it from blowing away in the wind.
Moon couldn’t see Stone for a moment, then finally spotted him. He was in his groundling form, half-buried in the warm sand above the waterline. Groundlings are right; Raksura are strange, Moon thought, not for the first time.