River bounded off, his movements soundless on the sand.
Moon said, “We can warn the ship without the Fell knowing. Someone can swim out to it.”
All Jade’s attention was on the sky. “Chime, do it. Stay there.”
She had chosen the warrior least likely to be an effective fighter. Both situations were dangerous, as the ship would surely be a prime target, but Chime would be close to the water, able to stay under far longer than a groundling, and it was unlikely the Fell would detect him. Moon nudged Chime. “Swim out to the ship and climb the hull. Find Callumkal.”
Chime hesitated. “But—You should—”
Moon gave him a push toward the shore. “Swim fast, stay under as long as you can.”
Chime flicked his spines in assent and bolted down the slope of the beach. Moon caught a faint reflection on his scales as he dove into the waves and disappeared.
Jade said, “Stone, from above or below?” She sounded tense and it worried Moon a little that she was asking for advice.
As calm as if they were planning a grasseater hunt, Stone said, “Doesn’t matter, they’ll expect us from either.”
Balm snapped, “Kethel!” and pointed.
The big dark shape moved across the faint starlight. The groundlings in the east called kethel harbingers, because they were so often the first sign that a Fell flight was nearby. Their armor-like scales were matte black and they had a halo of horns protecting their heads. They were the least intelligent of the Fell, and totally under the control of the rulers. Kethel never traveled alone, and this one’s presence meant the rest of the flight wasn’t far behind.
Between the distance and the darkness it was hard to tell the size. Moon thought it might be three times Stone’s wingspan. Good, not a big one, he thought. Jade said, “Wait, wait.”
“Another kethel,” Briar said from behind Moon.
Moon said, “They’ll hold the third back.” A flight wouldn’t normally send more than three kethel until it was time to feed. The rulers would want to keep some with their progenitor. It was especially likely with a flight in this position, traveling from island to island over water, with probably only one secure place to retreat to. The progenitor might not even be anywhere nearby, but be waiting with the rest of the flight on the mainland, which meant there would be fewer reinforcements.
Jade said, “Stone, you take that one. Moon, with me. The rest of you keep the dakti off us.”
Stone’s shape flowed into darkness, already lifting off of the beach as if insubstantial. A heartbeat later his great wings beat once and Moon staggered from the displaced air. The shape gained weight and substance as it shot upward toward the closest kethel.
Jade leapt after Stone, and Moon followed her. He felt the warriors in the air behind him as Jade crossed under Stone’s path and headed for the second kethel.
Moon flapped his wings hard, angling to get a boost from the wind, focused on Jade and the dark shape of the kethel above them. They had to get to it while it was distracted, before the dakti that were in the air somewhere could swarm them. From behind and further up a noise broke the silence, like a strangled growl. It echoed off the face of the escarpment, distorted by the wind. Moon thought it was Stone seizing a startled kethel by the throat and hoped it confused the rulers and dakti.
He sensed movement swoop toward them and Balm flashed by and slammed into a shape about her own size. That was a ruler, Moon thought. It took everything he had to keep flying after Jade, to not drop back to engage it. Root broke off and twisted after Balm, following her and the ruler down.
He heard River snarl, “Briar, on your right!” and the rest of the warriors broke off. Moon risked a glance back and saw distance-lights glowing from the flying boat, crossing back and forth in the sky.
The kethel above them reacted, but slowly, turning away from its course and back toward where Stone had attacked the first one.
Then Jade struck it in the throat. Moon struck it further down on the chest and gripped with his claws to hold on. It probably couldn’t feel him through its coat of heavy plate scales, but it could feel Jade. Kethel usually wore an armored collar, decorated with the bones of groundling victims. The kethel jerked its head and roared as Jade dug her claws in. Knowing he only had a few moments before a dakti swarm came to its aid, Moon scrambled up its body, around its shoulder, and onto its armored head. Then he stabbed his claws into its right eye.
It shrieked in agony and slammed its clawed hand up to swat him. Moon ripped its eyelid off to give it something else to worry about and jumped away.
He was facing toward the island and saw the moment when something big and dark flashed through the searching lights and struck the flying boat’s deck. Moon thought, We found the third kethel.
The roar of fire weapons sounded and a kethel bellowed in pain. Then something cracked inside the flying boat’s body and it suddenly bent double, with a terrible ripping sound and several loud metallic bangs. Moon tried to think who had said they would be staying on the flying boat, if Rorra might have gone back to it. Big wings flapped above the shape of the ridge, fire from the bow weapon ripped across the dark scales. The flying boat was going down but the kethel was going with it. That kethel had to know ... It killed itself to wreck the boat ...
Then he sensed something diving toward him and twisted away. A ruler missed him by so little it brushed his spines. Moon flapped to recover his balance and a dakti struck him in the side. He ripped it in two and twisted again to meet the ruler rushing toward him. It grabbed for his throat and he caught its arms. Before it could pull him close, he brought both feet up and used his disemboweling claws for what they were meant for. The ruler made a strangled keening noise and Moon felt hot blood and guts wash over his feet. He jerked his claws free and dropped the ruler.
Moon turned and flew right into a swarm of dakti. They screamed in alarm as he tore through them, then they scattered, too disorganized to attack effectively. He couldn’t see Jade, couldn’t see the kethel he had partially blinded, couldn’t see the warriors. Then he realized one reason for the complete darkness was that the lights on the sunsailer had gone out. Chime got there, he thought in relief.
Then fire blossomed on the vessel’s deck. It illuminated a dozen groundling shapes standing near it. As they dodged away, the light shot upward, trailing sparks. High in the air it burst into pieces, erupting into a fountain of fire. It lit the sky, the ship, the beach and the water around them. Like one of the signal devices that the Golden Islanders used on their wind-ships, except far more powerful.
Dakti scattered away from the light, and Moon banked, trying to see the other kethel. Only one was visible, the smaller one that Moon and Jade had attacked. It curved around to dive at the sunsailer, just as another bundle of fire burst up off the deck.
This fire was smaller and faster and arrow-thin, and it arced up to hit the kethel right in the chest. It jerked and floundered in the air, its roar baffled and pain-filled.
Then a heavy body hit Moon from behind. He flared his spines and told himself this is what you get for not paying attention. He struck back with his feet and grabbed the arms that wrapped around him. Teeth scraped across his shoulder, his collar flanges preventing them from sinking in. Moon twisted and rolled, trying to dislodge the ruler, and on the second roll got a glimpse of a shape streaking toward him, the light from the first fire-blossom glinting off blue scales. He rolled again so his back and the ruler’s back were toward it.
The impact jolted his breath, and an instant later the ruler was snatched away. Moon twisted, flapped to get some height, and saw Jade in the process of tearing the ruler’s head off. Another ruler dove on her and Moon shot upward and ripped at his wing.