Chapter 481 - Crown of the Winds

Quick question about Book 7 so far: How is the pacing feeling? I got to the end of this chapter and wondered if I've been moving things along too slowly. Just been enjoying some chill sections after so much action myself but I may be overindulging.

They didn’t spend long on the Sky Isles. As promised, Acalin organised transport by the following morning, leaving them only enough time for Hump and the others to grab a skewer of spiced meat taken from one of the large flying creatures in the streams of essence above, and a warm flatbread from a busy street vendor. Other than that, it was straight to the skyport.

Where they had docked the windrunner the day before paled in comparison to this placed—an entire distract carved into the cliffside of Jartis, platforms layered one above the other, each wide enough to host a fortress. Great runed towers jutted into the air, glowing faintly as they anchored the immense vessels overhead.

Hump stopped at the edge of the platform, craning his neck. The skyships dominated everything. From the air, they had looked impressive—temples drifting through the clouds—but up close, they were giant. Beyond giant. He’d seen castles with less bulk and presence. Whole crews of altari swarmed across the decks like ants. The air buzzed with movement. Ropes creaked, essence hummed and filled the air with such rich intent that it was overwhelming. Birds and the winged creatures he’d seen during the travel circled overhead, while strange fish-like creatures swam lazily in the currents of essence beneath the vessels, trailing them as they left the port.

The ships were varied. Some were carved of polished wood, while others seemed to be entirely made of metal. There was one with a hull patterned like living stone, with crystal veins running through them. The cargo ships seemed largely boxy, with large hulls, while others were entirely different, seemingly designed more for appearance than function—narrow-spear like ships, towers, or flat sprawling platforms that seemed almost like flying cities, the hulls filled with balconies.

As they got to the lower levels, Hump could look up at the underside of the hulls, each shining with crystals cut in complex facets, and runes etched across their surfaces that channelled the bronze light that held them aloft. Such crystals would cost a fortune back at home, but here they were plentiful, raised from the ground by the shattering of the world.

“They looked so large from above,” Dylan said, eyes wide. “But seeing them up close… I am struggling to believe my eyes. How can such things fly?”

Karo laughed. “They are impressive, aren’t they. It is the same mechanism as the windrunner. In fact, being larger makes it easier to keep them in the air, much like the islands they are inspired by. At a certain size, they are simply too large to fall.”

“That sounds like you’re asking for trouble,” Emilia said. “Everything can fall.”

“Not these. Not without a lot of help.” Acalin had his hands on his hips, a great grin on his face. “It is through these that altari survive. Food growing land is scarce, and often far, far away. We require a constant supply to sustain our people.”

“It must be difficult relying so heavily on such a supply chain,” Emilia said. “Do the vessels get targeted?”

“Are you asking about sky bandits?” Bud asked. “Are there sky bandits?”

“I am not familiar with this word,” Acalin said. “Bandits are enemies?”

“Thieves,” Bud said. “And unconnected to any kingdom.”

“Ah. Then yes, we have such things as sky bandits. Attacks in these parts are uncommon, but farther away absolutely. And it is not just people. Many of the more intelligent monsters have figured out that our vessels contain huge amounts of food. At times, entire hosts of monsters will come together under a greater beast and attack. Speaking of which, I’ve already informed the captain of your rather exotic companion. Not that I’m calling Nisha a beast.”

“She can be out in the open?” Hump asked.

Acalin nodded. “You’re not the first to have an unusual pet. Though you may be the first to have a dragon. They are both as rare as they are powerful, and I do not know of anyone who has seen one in person.”

“Thank you, Acalin,” Hump said. “You’ve saved us a lot of hardship. It was our good fortune to meet you all.”

The altari laughed and shook his head. “Perhaps it is your culture, but I can’t help but find the humour in such a statement. If not for you, Karo certainly would be dead, and the rest of us would have had some serious difficulty escaping those griffins. This is the least we could do. And I don’t intend to stop here. When we arrive in Urandel, I will make sure you have all you need.”

They rejoined the crowds, sifting their way through to one of the lower levels of the cliff, where their ship awaited, attached to a rune tower extending out from the cliffside. It was one of the smaller vessels, though still as big as any ship Hump had seen in his own world. Below, a wide bridge connected to the hull through a massive set of doors through which floating wagons of goods were hauled back and forth.

Acalin led them to a ticket desk where their tickets and luggage were inspected before they could board. They left the talking for Acalin and his party after being instructed not to speak the holy tongue unless they had no other choice. Once they did, there would be no escaping attention. For the first time, they were scanned for magic, though it didn’t seem to detect the illusion spell Hump had over all of them. He wondered if their lack of knowledge of spells would make such detection magic more difficult than normal because he couldn’t imagine getting through any sort of security back home.

Once done, they were directed to a queue of other passengers. Hump had Nisha rejoin them now, flying up from below to stand in queue with the rest of them. There was no escaping the attention she drew, but Hump would take that over being separate from her for the entire trip. They spoke in the altari language, but from the gasps and awed looks, Hump could guess what they were saying. He stared ahead silently.

Surrounded by so many people, her eyes were everywhere but she didn’t let her excitement show too much. A few months ago, and it would have taken a stern word to keep her from racing off to say hello to everyone that glanced her way, but she’d matured much—perhaps too much—after what she’d seen and been through.

As Acalin had said, she was far from the only exotic creature around. There were a number of richly adorned carriages. One pulled by two six-legged lizards that snaps and hissed at the air. Another pulled by a dozen small three headed dogs.

“They’re showing off,” Tamira said to Celaine with a scowl as they started up the steps of a metal walkway connecting the dock to the ship before it levelled out at the top “Pathfinders have their own mounts. You will see a few. Useful, flying mounts instead of silly pets.”

When they reached the ship deck, Hump saw a few boarding from such flying mounts, though he wasn’t too impressed with the riders. There were many pathfinders about even down with the passengers and crew, hired to protect the ship or rich enough to pay for more luxurious travel. From what he could tell, most of them were significantly weaker than Acalin’s party, let alone his own.

Power washed over Hump, subtle, but not enough that he didn’t notice. He put up his soul defences immediately and glanced in the direction of the probe. There was the bridge—the large top section of the ship from where Hump assumed the crew steered. But he couldn’t see anyone. The large glass windows reflected too much of the sun’s light to see through.

What Hump did know was that up there was someone powerful enough to warrant his attention.

“Someone’s detected my illusion,” Hump said quietly, careful to make sure the other passengers didn’t overhear his alveronian.

Acalin frowned.

“A problem?” Bud asked.

“Perhaps. I did not inform Captain Hadbur that you were not altari. He may not be pleased.”

“He is a powerful man,” Meli informed them, “and a dungeon capturer. Be careful when you meet him because he will not be fooled so easily.”

“Can we trust him?” Hump asked.

“He is a pathfinder and has worked with my family for a long time,” Acalin said. “Whether that is enough is up to you.”

“Did you get a sense for his strength?” Celaine asked.

“Silver ranked,” Hump said. “I couldn’t tell if he was stronger than we are, but his detection seemed clumsy.”

“Clumsy…” Karo murmured. “Clumsy means talvak, correct?”

“Correct,” Acalin said.

Karo shook his head. “It is difficult to imagine your world, my friends. If Hadbur is clumsy, we must look like fools to you.”

Tamira snapped something in altari that didn’t sound friendly.

“You might us well say it to my face,” Hump said.

“I said you are mistaken,” Tamira said with a laugh. “Captain Hadbur is one of the most powerful men in Urandel.”

“Perhaps his skills lie elsewhere then,” Hump said diplomatically. “And you’re not fools, Karo. We were all where you are now at one point not so long ago.”

“You are young!” Karo said. “Younger than us by three years.”

Hump let out a heavy breath. “True, but there is a price to the strength we have now. One that isn’t worth it. Dylan’s arm is only the most recent of far too many sacrifices.”

***

The Crown of the Winds was many times faster than the windrunner despite its size. From the deck, the view of the islands as they passed below was amazing. Hump had been at such heights through the eyes of Nisha and the vision from her mother in the past. He had flown with dragons, at least in his mind, but seeing it in person and over such an extended period left him unable to tear his eyes away.

The islands had been numerous from the ground, but up here he got a true grasp of just how many and how massive they could be. Layer upon layer of islands descended into the deeps, almost feeling like his vision was blurred they were stacked on top of each other in such a way. They passed farms that encompassed entire islands, hunters using sky ships like fishing vessels, capturing prey from the water streams that meandered through the air.

A few pathfinders had disembarked the ship atop their hippogriff mounts to go hunting the birds from before, the more docile and meeker cousins of the griffins making fearsome but loyal steeds.

Celaine, at his side, turned away first. Nishari perking up at her sudden action and following her gaze. Hump sensed discomfort in the dragon and glanced over to see a altari man approaching. He was had a tall, lithe build, with a long sabre at his hip, and comfortable white silks draped over him.

The man called to them in altari.

Celaine responded with the greeting that Acalin had taught them, but the man pressed again. Celaine frowned as if considering her words, but it was clear this person had already seen through their charade.

“You are Captain Hadbur, aren’t you?” Hump said finally.

There was brief surprise in the altari’s eyes. “Yes. You do not speak the common tongue?”

“No.”

A smile spread over the captain’s face. “You know why I am here?”

“You saw through my magic.”

“Yes. I do not like such magics upon my ship. It is dishonest. I am not one for dishonesty.”

“If I told you we just value our privacy, would that be enough?”

The man shook his head. “You are still here because it was Acalin Legare that brought you aboard. I come here now to know if it will remain that way. Who are you?”

“Are you threatening us?” Celaine asked.

“Call it what you like. I will not fly with those I do not want to. This is my ship. My crew. My passengers. And it is my name that will suffer if I were to let anything happen to them or bring those that do not belong to Urandel. So, I ask you again, who are you?”

“I can’t drop the illusion here,” Hump said. “What I can tell you is that we are not altari, and we are not from your world. Loften—the Maker, as you call him—as tasked us with meeting with his High Priest in Urandel, and Acalin and his party have helped us get there.”

Captain Hadbur looked at Hump for a long moment. Then his smile widened. “Those are large, ludicrous claims, and that only makes me more intrigued. What are your names.”

“Humphrey.”

“Celaine.”

“You are welcome aboard, for now, Humphrey and Celaine, so long as you do not cause any trouble on my ship.”

“We have no intention of causing trouble,” Hump said.

“Then we’ll get along just fine. You must join me for dinner this evening and bring your friends. I would hear more of this divine quest.”