Moon didn’t mean to sleep, but he nodded off at some point. He woke lying on the deck next to Stone, with Bramble leaning over him.
Moon could feel through the deck that the ship wasn’t moving. Raksura could sense the position of the sun, even when they couldn’t see it, and he knew that outside it was near dawn. Everything was quiet except for dripping water, and the faint movements of the crew. The distance-lights still played over the cavernous space and the water. He cleared his dry throat and said, “We stopped.”
Bramble nodded. “They decided that we’ve come as far as we can without scouting. There’s been no sign of the Fell; we’re not that far from the door and we’d hear it open. Everybody’s been taking turns sleeping, except Vendoin and Kellimdar. They’re out there on the docks, copying a bunch of the inscriptions and symbols.”
Moon sat up on his elbow. “Docks?” Chime lay curled on his side a couple of paces away, still asleep. Three Kishan were on guard at the stern railing, but Esankel had gone. He heaved himself to his feet and went to the rail for a better look at their surroundings.
They were now in an even larger cavern, in what might be a harbor basin. The rope-like pillars supported archways and sheltered broad stone platforms that did look like docks. There were three to the left of the sunsailer, and two to the right, on either side of a wide canal that led farther into the city. Ramps stretched up from the docks into the shadow past the distance-lights, to openings he could barely see as dark outlines. Vendoin, Kellimdar, and several Kishan stood on one of the docks on this side with a smaller distance-light. Kellimdar was adjusting it to shine on another section of the side of the archway, while Vendoin wrote hastily on a slate. The other Kishan, Moon was glad to see, were all armed with fire weapons and were warily keeping their gaze on the ramps and the water.
Bramble said, “Vendoin thinks she might be able to translate the writing.”
Moon frowned at the archway, brightly lit now by the distance-light Kellimdar directed at it. “Uh, what writing?”
“We can’t see it,” Bramble explained. “It’s in colors we can’t see. But Vendoin can see it, and so can some of the Kishan, just not all of them. She said it’s rare, but they’ve found it on some of the old foundation builder ruins in Kish.”
“Huh.” They had encountered a species they hadn’t been able to see once, but never colors. Or at least Moon hadn’t thought so. If you couldn’t see something and no one who could mentioned it, you weren’t likely to know about it. “Can Delin see it?”
Bramble snorted. “No, and he’s madder than a headless Fell about it, too.”
Stone, who was apparently awake, said, “Ha.”
Moon turned away from the railing. “Where’s Jade?”
“Up in the front, talking with Callumkal.”
“Did she ever sleep?” They had all slept a little in the small boat on the way back to the escarpment, but the fighting and difficult flying through most of the night had been draining.
“She said she was going to.” Bramble got to her feet. “Are you hungry?”
Moon looked down at himself. There was blood spotted on his clothes, his own and Fell blood. The scratches on his arms had closed up, but the bruises were still all there. He felt like someone had punched him all over his body. “Not really. How are Balm and River?”
“Merit put them both in a healing sleep. Everyone else just needed simples. You should have some tea.” She nudged Stone with her foot. “Come on, line-grandfather.”
“Ugh,” Stone said, or something similar, but let Bramble prod him to his feet.
“What did Jade and Callumkal decide to do?” Moon asked.
Bramble pushed him and Stone toward the hatch. “We know we have to look for a way out, but that’s it so far. That’s why you need to eat. Go past that room they gave us to the middle part of the ship, then up a level. There’s a big common room. Some of the others are there. I’ll bring Chime.”
Moon found the way down the corridor and up a set of stairs, Stone trailing behind him. There were food odors in the air: cooked fish and waterweed and roots. The stairs opened up to a big room with windows on both sides, with seats built around the walls and more benches fastened to the floor. There was a square Kishan stove in the center of the room, with a pot on the metal frame top emitting fragrant steam. Merit and Delin were there, along with Kalam and Rorra, sitting around on the benches and looking weary and worried.
Balm and River were stretched out on two padded benches at the far end of the room. From their breathing, they were still deep in healing sleep. Moon tasted the air and caught a little blood scent but no sickness or infection. “How are they?”
“River’s wounds are healing well,” Merit told him. He got up and started to fill a couple of metal cups from the pot. “I’m going to wake Balm in a little and check on her.”
Moon sat down on a bench. His back muscles twinged. Stone plopped down next to him and yawned.
Merit handed them both cups. “It’s Kishan tea,” he explained. Stone sniffed it and winced.
“It’s not as good as yours,” Kalam offered, “but we have a lot more of it.”
Moon downed half the cup. It had a dark smoky flavor that wasn’t unpleasant. “How’s the boat?” he asked Rorra.
She sighed. She had a darkening bruise on her forehead and the skin under her eyes looked swollen. “The steering is pulling to the right. But we’re still floating.” She added dryly, “We’ll be comfortable until the food and water run out.”
Kalam said, “The sunsailer had just filled its water tanks from the spring on the island, so . . .” He looked around at everyone and shrugged a little. “That won’t be a problem for a while.”
Delin stirred. It was hard to tell past the weathered gold of his skin, but Moon thought his face looked a little sunken. He gestured toward the windows. “When we search the city, we will surely find a way out.”
Rorra said, “But we have to find it before the Fell get in. And this place is very large. It must fill the entire escarpment.”
Delin nodded. “That is a succinct description of our problem.”
Bramble came in with a yawning, bleary-eyed Chime. They were followed by Song and Root carrying wooden trays and accompanied by a strong scent of food. Moon tried to get up to help but was still moving so slowly that they had set their burdens down on the benches by the time he was on his feet. Song began to pass out bowls, saying apologetically, “It’s all cooked. You’re supposed to eat it with these little scoop things.”
It was a thick broth with fish, crunchy white and red roots, something green and leafy that tasted like salty sea wrack, and a thick piece of bread in the bottom. The sight of it woke Moon’s stomach and he finished off three bowls before he took another breath. Food had been a good idea; he already felt much less bleary and slow.
All three groundlings were still on their first bowl. Delin was unsurprised, but Kalam and Rorra had initially looked puzzled at the number of bowls. After watching the Raksura eat, they evidently understood. With Stone on his fifth bowl, Kalam asked, “Do you want me to get some more?”
Stone, still eating, shook his head. Moon said, “No, this should be enough.” It was enough for now, mostly because everyone had been catching fish off and on during the day. But if they were trapped here for longer than a few days, flying around searching this place and expending energy, it was going to become a problem.
Jade walked in, trailed by Briar. She stopped to check Balm and River, then sat down next to Moon. He said, “Did you eat?”
She began, “I don’t need—” and Moon handed her a bowl. She looked down at it for a moment, then reached for the scoop.
Briar took a bowl from the tray. “We’ve been talking about searching for the way out,” she said, while Jade’s mouth was full.