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I awaken to the sound of birdsong. Tovian is already up, moving around the cavern, preparing for our departure. I roll out of my cot, nearly tipping it in the process, and quickly gather my belongings. There wasn’t much to be done about my soiled clothing. I didn’t bring much with me. What’s most important are the supplies taking up most of the space in my pack.
Medical supplies.
I hurriedly bury the black pouch beneath my dirty clothes and buckle it closed.
“Hungry?” Tovian holds out a piece of fruit.
“Where did you get this?” I asked, examining it. “What is it?”
“Dragonfruit.” He offers me a knife, hilt-first. I take it and cut a slice. The tough skin yields to a surprisingly soft interior studded with tiny seeds and pale purple flesh. Sweet juice drips down my chin when I bite into it.
“Why don’t we have these in the north?” I moan and gulp it down, grabbing the knife to cut another slice.
“You’d have to brave the Boscage to get them. Few people are willing to dare, and most of them wind up like your pursuers did yesterday. It’s mostly the Ansi and the dragons who eat them.” He slings his pack over his shoulder. “Ready, Arianelle?”
We return to the front of the cavern and continue climbing. The handholds carved into the cliff face continue off to one side. I try not to think about how dangerous this is. A fall would kill me. The cliff gradually tapers upward, however, until by the time I reach the top, all I have to do is lean over the rounded ledge and push up to standing.
“Get down!” Tovian shouts, his handsome features contorting in real fear.
Heart racing, I drop instantly to the ground.He quickly comes over the ledge to join me.
“Don’tscareme like that,” I complain.
In the bright morning light, I can see all the way to the opposite ridge. Jagged black rock rises from the ocean, forming protective walls that rise in altitude to form three mountains at the northernmost end of the island.
Directly below us is the Boscage, and further out, between the sloping rock walls is the Central Valley. The view isn’t as peaceful in the light of day. Plumes of smoke rise. Red flames flicker amongst the deep black.
“Goddesses,” Tovian breathes. “The fires are out of control. This is horrible.”
“Nineteen days.” I swallow hard. “Nineteen days to destroy our country.”
What little we’ve learned about the Skía’s attack strategy is that they’ve been infiltrating pirates into the countryside for months. Moving ammunition and dirt bikes up into Central Auralia by the wagonload and storing it until they felt they had enough numbers to strike.
We knew they were amongst us. But not how many. Not when they would strike. We may never know why they chose that moment. Our spies were busy trying to infiltrate the Skía; to this day, we don’t know how long they had ships full of mercenaries on standby.
Now, we’re in a race to find Zosia. One I am poised to lose.
If we find her first, we rally our people around her and reclaim our country.
If they find her, we’re fucked. She’s especially fucked, and not in a nice way. Zosia deserves better than that.
Tovian is somber for a while. He waves me over to the other side of the cliff. Here, it drops in a smooth, slick, lichen-bedecked black surface straight into the sea. Below are atolls stretching for miles. Bobbing amongst them are the small boats that made it possible for the pirates to congregate right offshore. These shallows have claimed may ships over millennia.
You can see the logic of the supply lines. Drop your ammunition on one of the uninhabited islands, just out of view. Move it under cover of darkness using row boats and skiffs. A few well-placed bribes in Oceanside would have kept their secret.
Anger at those traitors roiled within me.
Perhaps they didn’t know why they were being asked to keep quiet. Perhaps they did, and chose to look the other way for a little extra coin. Either way, I’d hang them for betraying us.
“They can shoot us from here.” Tovian gestures to the pirates on the bare rock.
“How?”
It doesn’t seem likely.
“Big rockets.” He points up the slope. A large crater is visible beside a cracked outcropping. “Never seen anything like them. This ridge gets narrower and lower the closer we get to Oceanside. Your white shirt will be visible to them if you get too close to that edge, and visible to pirates on the interior as we get closer to the shore. The lower we descend, the easier it will be for them to shoot at us.”
