The Brightest Shadow, page 11
Her eyes were locked downriver, the rest of her only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Slaten was there, of course, and unfortunately Melal was as well. They were accompanied by a number of guards, both human and mansthein. That included the Catai who had chased her, and though Tani still wasn't comfortable with him, she had to admit that he wasn't as bad as she'd thought at first.
Ignoring all of them, Tani looked between the ships. Her gaze focused on a strange vessel like a house mounted on two canoes... might that be it? Across the river floated a small ship with a sail larger than the vessel itself that she thought might be a foreign design and watched eagerly, until it tipped over and fishermen began yelling at each other. There wa-
Focused on the river, Tani failed to look to the sky until the shouting from the others became too loud to ignore.
It hung in the sky, an enormous... her first thought was that humans had somehow created a false cloud. But it was smoother than a real cloud, and it was clearly moving toward them. Though it seemed to hang still in the air, when Tani managed to find its shadow, she reconsidered and realized just how high up it was. Unless her instincts were wrong, it was actually moving quite fast.
Around her, she could hear the people of Bundlin torn between awe and panic. The mansthein soldiers stood firm, but most were also staring. Melal alternated between trying to act casual and gawping. Slaten focused on it unblinkingly, but she decided to try asking anyway.
"Do you know what that is?" Tani asked. He shook his head silently. Tani looked instead to Ghakin, who leaned against the side of a house not far away. "What about you?"
"Not a clue," Ghakin said. "We don't have them on Orphos, so I think they're something new on Eltar Trathe."
With no answer forthcoming, Tani could only stare. As it drew closer, she was able to make out the other details clearly. Strange protrusions emerged from the back that she guessed were wings, and a structure beneath that looked much more like something humans could make. Why that shape, though?
Ghakin gave a low whistle. "Well, I'm impressed. Guess they've made, uh, sky boats now."
"Dirigible." The voice came from an unexpected direction, making Tani swivel. A mansthein warrior sat on top of a set of boxes, a hooked blade across his knees. When he saw attention swing toward him, he gave a shrug. "That's what they call them in Teralanth, though they're actually from Xithalal. If that's too much of a mouthful, commoners usually called them 'airships'."
"Didn't know you were from Teralanth, Ugkaav."
The smaller mansthein shook his head. "Fighting's bad there. Was probably going to get killed, so I volunteered when the chance came. Don't know anything special about these things."
Though this Ugkaav was allegedly from a completely different continent, to Tani he didn't look much different from the other mansthein. Same mottled green-brown skin and hairless head, though he did wear leather armor instead of going shirtless. Tani believed his story, mainly because he seemed truly uninterested in the airship as it approached.
The airship drew closer and dropped lower to the ground, confirming just how large it was, but didn't come all the way down. Instead it loomed over the grasslands beyond Bundlin, just hovering there by whatever power kept it aloft.
Now at least she understood why they had gathered at the edge of town instead of the harbor or the small secured port. Their group headed out toward the shadow of the airship, though with some trepidation.
Before they arrived, a rope dropped from the ship, hitting the ground as if heavily weighted. Several mansthein warriors slid down the rope one at a time, spreading out to secure the area. They looked similar to the mansthein she had seen, though these all wore metal clothes similar to Coran nobles except that theirs were dark and ornate.
Ghakin went forward to converse with them, and from a distance all Tani could hear was that they were speaking in their language. After the area was secured, more ropes dropped and some mansthein wearing simple workers' garb began to slide down them, carrying small boxes.
Though Tani was curious about what they might be bringing, that was not her reason for being here. More important was the human guest, who presumably must be in the structure above. Staring at it, Tani realized that there were two complex symbols drawn on the side. They were quite large, each with many more overlapping strokes than the Rhen alphabet, much less Coran. She could only assume they were a name of some sort.
Asking one of the warriors that came with the airship didn't seem wise, even if they spoke Coran. Perhaps it was best to wait for the human guest and speak with them.
At that moment, Tani spotted someone she was sure was their guest. Judging from the build it was a woman, and instead of sliding down the rope bare-handed, she was fitted with a harness and strange glove. Likely not a warrior, then... though Tani wouldn't have been sure about sliding that far herself. Another reminder of just how far she had yet to travel.
Their guest descended slower than the others, giving Tani plenty of time to observe her. She was clearly not from the Chorhan Expanse, with skin as dark a brown as Tani had ever seen and eyes even darker than hers. All her hair was tied into tight braids that were bound together in a tail that hung partway down her back, a style that Tani thought looked beautiful but made her fingers ache to think about braiding.
The woman wore dark pants and a tunic that reminded Tani most of Coran designs, though they appeared much better made. Over one shoulder fluttered a half-cape of striking purple, tied with a golden cord. It flared out as she finally landed, the woman swiftly unhooking her harness as she swept her gaze over the area.
Though she didn't betray the slightest hint of nervousness, she also didn't move from where she stood. Tani wondered if she knew all about them, or if everything was new to her as well. This was probably the part where she was supposed to step forward, but...
"This is your job, humans." Ugkaav said. He didn't seem in any way surprised by the new arrival, suggesting that she was neither unusual for Teralanth nor anyone overly important. But that was unsurprising, as rumor had it that the human sent along was a specialist related to the shipment.
Slaten acted on the prompt first, striding toward the new arrival. Tani hastened to join him and saw that Melal followed, now staring at the woman instead of the airship. Probably not a good way to start negotiations, but there was nothing she could do now. Judging from how the woman seemed comfortable traveling with a crew of mansthein, perhaps their entire strategy was ill-advised.
"Welcome to Bundlin," Slaten said, then followed with a set of lilting words Tani hadn't heard before.
The woman's eyes widened in shock and she rapidly responded in similar sounding tones. When she saw Slaten shake his head, she smiled in understanding and continued in Coran. "You don't actually speak the language, then?"
"Sorry, I have not yet had the chance to learn it. I tried to learn what to say before you arrived. Was my pronunciation any good?"
"I understood what you were trying to say, which is better than I expected." She raised two fingers to the center of her forehead, then lifted them away from her face. "I am Eraes Tor Yin."
"Slaten. Just Slaten." Not having a long name made it awkward, but Slaten repeated the gesture smoothly. Tani decided that this was a good time to introduce herself, so she attracted Eraes Tor Yin's attention and copied the gesture as best she could.
"I am Tani of the Nelee. Welcome to the continent."
"Nelee?" Eraes Tor Yin tapped her chin and gave her a searching look. "I'm afraid I don't know every group on Breilin."
"Well, your Coran is excellent. You didn't learn it just to come here, did you?"
"Hardly. What you call 'Coran' I learned as Felnaln. It's the trade language of Fareshel, so it's more commonly known than you wou-"
At that moment Melal stepped in between them, grinning and grabbing Eraes Tor Yin's hand between both of his. Eraes Tor Yin twitched in alarm, but he didn't seem to notice. "I'm Melal. And I must say, someone as shockingly beautiful as you must be of noble blood, yes? You'll soon learn who your equals are on this continent, let me te-"
Eraes Tor Yin pulled her hand away and cast him a freezing glance. "I am certain that I will."
The awkward pause seemed to have no effect on Melal, who just kept grinning, and it seemed to stun Slaten. Seeing that it was up to her, Tani engaged Eraes Tor Yin from the left to give her a way to turn aside from Melal. Tani gave her the best smile she had.
"We're here to help make you comfortable, Eraes Tor Yin. If you need anyth-"
"You can simply call me Eraes. There's no need to say rune names unless there's some confusion about which Eraes I am, and that doesn't seem very likely, does it?"
Though the explanation was rather blunt for Tani's taste, it was true that she was ignorant of Teralanth's customs. So she just smiled at Eraes and nodded. "I understand, Eraes. Now, we don't know what you need, but we'll do what we can. Are you hungry from the trip?"
"Of course!" Melal hit his forehead and then moved to put an arm around Eraes' shoulders. "Let me show y-"
Eraes sidestepped the movement deftly, as if she was merely turning to speak to Slaten. "You three work under Commander Kolanin, correct? Is he here, or did he not come to greet me himself?"
"There is... a conference of merchants at the moment," Slaten said flatly. Eraes frowned, glanced at Tani, then looked toward where the mansthein warriors were stacking their boxes.
"I'm grateful for the offer, but I should stay to observe the shipment. It needs to be handled carefully until it's placed in a secure location. Frankly, it would be better to take it all the way by dirigible, but since there's nowhere to refuel here, we have to risk it."
"There are other mansthein coming to ensure its secure transport."
"Very good. I will speak with them about several details." With that, Eraes turned away on one heel, leaving her ostensible escort behind. Tani found herself struggling to keep her face neutral. The woman rubbed her the wrong way, but she tried not to judge before she understood better.
When speaking to Ghakin and the others, Eraes seemed cool and a little arrogant. But when she turned back to talk to one of the mansthein who had come with her, Tani was surprised by how much her expression softened. Eraes made her usual gesture tapping her forehead and then hesitated, exchanging a few awkward words but not wanting to say farewell.
The foreign mansthein began returning to the airship, gripping the ropes and then being pulled upward. So the airship would not land, if it was even capable of such. While most watched them being taken into their air, Tani instead watched Eraes. Her expression was controlled, but not perfectly.
Thinking back, her smile had been surprisingly genuine when Slaten greeted her in her own language. Combined with the other factors, Tani suspected that Eraes was hiding her insecurity behind a cold front. And who could blame her, getting sent across the world to a land she didn't know? Though she seemed on good terms with the mansthein, Tani had the impression that Eraes was not a free woman.
Because Tani wasn't looking skyward like the others, she noticed someone shifting in the corner of her vision. A Coran man moved through the crowd. He stared upward too, so it wasn't that strange, yet his feet moved too purposefully in one direction.
Toward the pile of boxes.
Before she thought about it much, Tani began moving to intercept. Yes, he was definitely walking toward the shipment. It didn't seem that he had noticed her yet, so she took a moment to observe him. No visible weapons and not much space to hide them in his short tunic, but he was rather muscular. Only a little taller than her, but he probably weighed far more. Unlike most Coran men, he didn't shave his beard but kept it short.
His movements suddenly became more fluid, no longer pretending to amble but moving directly toward his target. Before Tani could react, he had already moved behind the pile of boxes, hidden from most of the people watching the airship. Intending to steal?
Throwing aside caution, Tani let her sein flow and burst after him. Just in case, she drew her two smallest knives. He hadn't noticed her, but she would need to round the side of th-
A hand closed over her mouth and jerked her upward.
Tani found herself hanging just off the ground, the Coran man easily holding her up with one arm. He must have been lying in wait, then grabbed her so that she couldn't call for help.
Her instincts kicked in and Tani stabbed at his arm with one knife, but it glanced off a bracer that had been hidden underneath his sleeve. Hesitating only a moment, Tani stabbed around the edge, aiming to skewer his hand.
She didn't hit the bracer, yet her blow still skated to the side. She'd left a white scrape along his skin and the man grimaced, but she hadn't even drawn blood. Before she could attack again, the man squeezed, crushing force closing on her jaw and drawing a muffled cry of pain.
"I'm not here to hurt you, girl, but I will if need be."
Tani stopped attacking, but did not let go of her knives. She glared at him, then pretended to look away in acceptance, though she was actually scanning the environment. The boxes hid them from most of the crowd, but she could just see a few of the taller men. Melal might not be reliable and Slaten wouldn't fight, though...
"Why are you defending the Deathspawn, little Rhen? Surely you don't believe this offer of peace, not while they trample our land. Maybe they haven't come to your people yet, but they will." The man chuckled humorlessly. "Of course, you can't answer me. Can I trust you not to scream?"
She did her best to nod... but at that moment the scent of mint burned in her nostrils. Tani had a split second to realize that sein was building in his arm, that he wasn't going to set her down. Her left knife stabbed at his chest, barely managing to break his skin.
The knife in her right hand sailed away from them and bounced off Ghakin's head.
Most didn't notice, but those who did were stunned for a moment. Ghakin whirled, eyes filled with rage that shifted as he spotted her. Slaten saw, but froze instead of helping.
Meanwhile, the man gave a bitter grin. "Clever little fucker."
He threw her to the ground hard, his other hand already moving to his belt. Tani caught a glimpse of something there that burned like fire, but even as he started to move with it, Ghakin thundered in between them.
She hit the ground hard and rolled on her side once before she caught herself, trying to catch up. It looked like the Coran man had dodged Ghakin's axe, but then Ghakin had struck him with a secondary blow. The man was stumbling back, but if he had been untrained he would have had his ribs shattered.
Instead he let out a yell, hurled something at Ghakin's face... and sprinted in the other direction.
Ghakin lunged to catch up, but the Coran was surprisingly fast and had too much of a head start. By the time the Catai warrior had nearly caught him, the man dove straight into the river. As Ghakin started shouting orders, Tani dropped onto her back and groaned as she felt the aches. The Coran man's hand had been very strong and he'd thrown her down hard. She felt no serious injuries, but it took her some time to get back to her feet.
It looked like the mansthein had ordered everyone away from the river, taking places around it to wait for the moment the man surfaced. Though she was too far away to see the river clearly, Tani had a feeling they wouldn't find him. His arrival had been no accident and he had gone straight for the river - he'd had a plan.
"Well done." Slaten walked up beside her, holding out the knife she'd thrown by the blade. Tani took it gratefully.
"I wish I knew if I had accomplished anything. I was sure that he was suspicious, but I don't know what he was trying to do."
Looking back to the boxes, Tani discovered that Eraes stood there, examining the shipment carefully. While doing so, Eraes glanced sharply over her shoulder at Tani. "Did he give any clues about his intention?"
"He wasn't trying to kill me and he seemed to hate the mansthein. I don't know if he was trying to steal one of the boxes." Tani rubbed between her cheekbone and jaw where it was still sore. "Oh, he had something with him. A small piece of metal that looked like it was burning, I think. Not something I'd seen..."
She trailed off because Eraes responded with a string of words in her own language. Tani didn't need to speak a word of it to know that they were curses. Eraes stood up and pressed her fingers hard against her eyes. When she pulled her hands away, she seemed to have calmed down again.
"You know what it was?" Tani asked.
"Not specifically, but I can guess," Eraes said. "He must have been trying to destroy it all... and this close to the city, near so many people..."
Slaten frowned and looked toward the airship. "How did he know you were arriving? Could he be from Teralanth?"
"No, he looked local to me. I don't know how bad your security is here, but Commander Kolanin and several others knew I was coming. The information must have leaked." Eraes tapped one foot irritably and glared at the boxes as if she could make them shape up. Tani was more concerned about what they contained that was so dangerous, but restrained herself.
More mansthein were now ringing the boxes, so they seemed safe for the time being. Slaten and Tani moved toward the river, Eraes following them lost in thought. The mansthein soldiers had taken nets from the local fisherwomen and moved downriver, but she doubted they'd be fast enough.
"Idiots." Melal walked past them, shaking his head as he stared into the river. "He was probably a master of the art of strong breathing. If he went downriver, he could be out of sight before he needed to break the surface."
"Do you think he could be with the Coran resistance?" Slaten asked. He looked at all of them, but Eraes was distracted and Melal just shrugged as he wandered off, so Tani decided to answer.
"That could be, based on what he said about the mansthein. But I don't know very much about the Coran resistance."
