The Duelist 8 Read online

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  Chapter 1

  The airship that used to be the tip of Monger Manor hovered about a quarter of a mile above the sagging house on stilts, and the semi-transparent sails reflected off the serene cerulean lake below. When I looked solely at the reflection, it reminded me of the wingspread of a graceful manta ray.

  In fact, it was such a good likeness of what I’d seen on several of those nature videos narrated by David Attenborough, that I was considering renaming it to Manta Manor.

  Huh.

  That… actually had a fine ring to it.

  Or the Manta Ship.

  The Mil-manta-ium Falcon?

  Oof. Yeah, maybe just the Manta Ship.

  The majestic wingspan of the airship was quite big, hence the need for it to be “docked” so far above us, and just as I was thinking of ways to get up there, a bright green slash dove from the courtyard ledge.

  “Ahhh!” Nova, the siren-woman who lived in the decrepit house below the ship, clung to my waist as she buried her face between my shoulder blades.

  “Nova, honey, it’s alright,” I chuckled, and I twisted around in order to try to bring her out from behind me.

  “Monster,” she insisted and eluded my maneuvers.

  “Haaaahhaaaahhhaa,” Ozrid, the nine-foot-tall sloth-man to my right, laughed long and low in his deep baritone as he watched our strange shuffle.

  “Oi!” a familiar cry rang out through the sky, and I looked up in time to see Horus on the back of the green pterodactyl-like creature swooping over our heads. “Is that Alex Brightwood I see?”

  “Get down here, you loon!” I hollered up at the falcon-man. “Show our new friend that La is harmless, won’t you?”

  “Alright, then!” he called back and circled under the house ostensibly to tie up La.

  “Seeee? Noooot moooonsteeer,” Ozzy droned and patted Nova’s inky-blue head, which jarred her enough that she actually forgot about hiding for a second and swatted away the Omite like the fickle thing she was.

  “Oz-zeeee!” she chided by breaking up his name into two distressed and whiny syllables meant to convey much more than her limited vocabulary would allow.

  It was efficient, but it actually had the opposite effect on the sloth-man, because he only chuckled again and twiddled his clawed fingers above her like she was a feisty kitten with some string.

  The image was made complete when the siren-woman even leapt up like some sort of jade-colored puma in order to swipe at Ozzy’s wiggling digits.

  “Cuuuuute,” Ozzy said, and even though I wholeheartedly agreed with him, I kept my comments to myself.

  “Hmpf!” Nova huffed and crossed her arms over her voluptuous chest.

  “Don’t listen to him, honey,” I coaxed. “Come with me to see my friend?”

  “Hmmm.” She glanced down her petite nose at me but still kept her arms tightly wrapped around herself. “No.”

  “Please?” I tried, and I even folded my hands together in the multi-universal sign for “pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top.”

  It seemed to semi-amuse her because her lips twitched at the corners in spite of herself, but when she noticed her face was betraying her, she got even more huffy. “No!”

  My head snapped back at the sudden force behind the singular word, and I held up my palms and took a step back.

  She blinked at me with her claret wine eyes and mirrored me when I took another step back. After a beat where it seemed as if she was expecting something, she turned tail and ran back up to the house.

  “Gooooo?” Ozzy cocked his head at me and then gestured in the direction the persnickety siren-woman ran off to.

  “Nah, she needs her space,” I said. “Wanna come and meet Horus? You’ll like him, I promise.”

  Ozzy hummed in thought and then nodded his large shaggy head.

  I took that as permission to lead us down the crooked path and to the under part of the house leaning heavily on its spider-like legs, but when La came into view, I sensed the sloth-man’s steps falter just a tad behind me.

  Since she’d just viciously ripped a chunk of flesh out of some eel-slash-fish creature she managed to snag in her razor-sharp talons, I didn’t blame him for being cautious. The pterodactyl-creature was as proud as she was beautiful, like a hippogriff from Harry Potter, and Ozrid was smart to approach slowly.

  “No offense, chief, but if this is your new estate, don’t ask me to help with repairs,” the falcon-man said as he came into view from around the lethal beast.

  “Yeah, I killed the guy who owned it, but I’m going to take a pass,” I joked back as I bridged the gap so we could grasp forearms. “It’s good to see you, buddy.”

  “Same here, my friend,” Horus said as he squeezed my arm back just as strongly. “Who was it you killed, anyway?”

  “Krev Alda,” I said and had the satisfaction of seeing the man’s eyebrows fly up to his black-feathered hairline.

  “I thought he was already dead?” was his reply.

  “Yeah, I thought so, too,” I said, and then I gestured for him to follow me up to the house. “But that’s a long story I don’t feel like rehashing more than once, so for now, fill me in about what all has happened.”

  “You mean since you and Rylan took a dive off the bow of Her Majesty?” he asked after patting La on her flank one last time. “Well, you both were lucky to have an audience to that travesty, let me tell you. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  “This is Ozrid of the Okoba,” I said and gestured to the large man over my shoulder. “He gave us a hand when Ry and I attempted to grow some wings. Again, it’s a long story, but the beginning is basically just me sleeping off some injuries.”

  “Injuries?” Horus asked as his crest fluffed up in alarm.

  “Mercedes, you really are going to make me explain, aren’t you?” I snorted when I realized there wasn’t any way around having to retell the recent saga multiple times anyway.

  “Just tell me how you and Rylie ended up falling off the ship,” Horus chuckled as he clapped me on the shoulder. “The rest I can hear when you sum it up for all of us in front of the fire with Arvid’s home cooking.”

  “Ah, well… I’m not exactly going back with you right away-- and before you bombard me, yes, there’s an explanation.” I held up a hand to forestall him. “And you haven’t even said ‘hi’ to Ozrid, yet, rude.”

  “Nice to meet you, Ozrid.” The energetic falcon-man seamlessly switched tack and nodded to the gentle giant next to me.

  Ozzy smiled and waved one of his clawed hands. “Heeeello. Yooouu knoooow Arrrrvid?”

  “Ah, yes, our resident chef,” Horus said with all of his usual charm. “Do you know him?”

  “Broooother,” Ozzy droned and did that swaying nod I’d seen Arvid do as if anyone needed any more proof the two sloth-men were related.

  “Excellent,” the falcon-man said and then turned back to me. “Chief? Explain?”

  “God, you’re all over the place today,” I snorted.

  “I’ve substituted a lot of kolee for decent sleep this past fickle looking high and low for you,” he said with a sharp look jabbed in my direction. “I thought for sure you both plunged into Mercedes’ Great Blue, and I’ve been taking La over the waves nearly every day in search of you two.”

  “Ah, man, I’m sorry,” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Rylan and I didn’t have a choice. And you’re about to meet the reason why in just a second, so don’t startle her, she’s shy.”

  “She?” Horus questioned just as I pushed open the front door.

  “Nooooovvvvaaaa,” Ozzy said and gestured for both of us to go in while he waited outside.

  “Nova?” I called into the dimness of the sparsely-furnished house, but the only thing that returned my greeting was a muffled thump coming from a cupboard. “Come on out, honey.”

  A frustrated grumble came from behind a panel in the corridor before one of those hidden servant doors popped open. Then a tangled blue head of hair poked out before the siren-woman herself shyly crawled out.

  “Oh… hello,” Horus said as he blinked his gold-green eyes in astonishment. “You must be Nova?”

  She didn’t say anything and instead shuffled behind me so she could bury her face into my back.

  “She’s the last of the Omite Lakuna Children,” I said for the falcon-man’s benefit.

  “A what, what?” he asked.

  “They were the protectors of the lakes on this island,” I said. “I learned this from the forest people like Ozzy. They don’t need tithe stones because the leaves distill the rainwater.”

  “That makes a lot of sense,” Horus said. “I remember briefly learning something or other about how the Omites don’t serve on the Asher Council because they ascribe to other beliefs and practices. Or something. I might have skipped that day.”

  “Well, you’d better brush up on your lore, Asher Horus,” I teased.

  “I keep forgetting I’m one of you lot now,” he snickered and tucked his Duelist Stone under his dark green tunic for safekeep
ing.

  “Anyway, Nova’s species is descended from Mercedes’ Sacred Fish children, and she basically ‘asked’ Rylan and I for our help,” I continued. “You know how the kid tends to walk around in his sleep? Well, I ended up joining him that night, and I tried to catch him before he fell over the side, but that didn’t work out too well for us. I was laid up for a while.”

  “But you’re better now?” he asked. “And Rylan?”

  “Small One is sleeping,” Nova piped up from behind my back and pointed toward the small kitchen.

  “Finally,” I said with an eye roll. “Then there was the matter of him and I being cursed if we couldn’t come through for this little lady here.”

  The siren-woman grumbled grumpily and then skulked away back into her hidden cupboard.

  “Is she always this charming?” Horus asked with an arched eyebrow.

  “We’re working on it,” I said with a grin.

  “And I’m assuming she’s coming with us?” he questioned.

  “Again, we’re working on it,” I said for the second time. “I’m not even sure if Nova wants to leave with me.”

  “Nova does!” came the muffled shout from behind the walls.

  “Ah,” I said with a bashful smile in the face of Horus’ wide roguish grin. I bit my lip and then gestured toward the kitchen for us to continue. “You were also going to finish telling me about what happened after we disappeared.”

  “Right,” the falcon-man said as he followed me into the cramped kitchen, but since he was pretty tall, he had to stoop ever so slightly. “Basically, Bodin was in the wheelhouse and saw someone fall past the sails. He sounded the alert, and when it was clear you two weren’t on board, we figured out pretty quickly what had happened. Goddess, he looks like rewarmed death.”

  We both looked down at the sleeping teenager curled up on the sad little pallet Nova clearly used as her own bed.

  Rylan’s lanky limbs were a little longer than the siren-woman’s compact frame, and the pretzel-like position looked anything but comfortable. However, the exhausted kid appeared as if he could sleep through the next Red Sun Event if the little trickle of drool and the snoring were anything to go by.

  “This particular curse only affected him because even though she was beseeching me to help her, the curse targets children,” I explained.

  “Basic balance of magicks,” Horus said as if by rote. “I remember that lesson from my time at the Academy at least. The fact she is from an ancient subrace of Mercedes’ children means the curse would have demanded a child in return. It is an enchantment designed to basically hold you hostage by threatening Rylan.”

  “Yup, and it was quite effective,” I agreed as I frowned at my son’s still too-pale complexion. “He needs to rest in a proper bed and preferably where your sister can look him over.”

  “Scree…” Crackers the screecher attempted to whisper-squawk from his perch on the sill above Rylan’s head, and the look in his beady reptile eyes seemed to blame me for how exhausted Rylan appeared to be.

  “I know, buddy,” I answered.

  “This bugger,” the falcon-man said as he gestured to the pterosaur-creature. “When did he show up?”

  “At the most inconvenient time, trust me,” I said as I handed over the letter I read moments before the airship arrived. “But you will like what it says. It’s from Amaya and Anwaar. They’re done taking their Acolyte assessment and are on their way back to us on The Soaring Light.”

  “Finally,” he said with a grin, and I knew it killed him to be parted from the ibex-mage just as it did for me to be parted from her sister, the augur. “We can send a response to them overseas with Crackers to tell them of our unscheduled stop on Om. And then I’m pretty sure we can send Roofus to talk with you until you’re ready to join us.”

  “Yeah, let me quickly sum up everything for you to take to Jenner,” I said and sat down at the rickety table. Several scraps of paper were discarded all around, but they were mostly blank and in good repair, and with a small piece of charcoal, I scrawled down the updates as well as notes for the koala-archivist.

  I detailed as much as I could based on the documents Nova had shoved at me when I first got here, but I’d only had time to skim the papers before we were interrupted by her corrupt father, the known shape-shifter and believed to be long dead, Krev Alda.

  So I told Jenner what I could, and I also explained how Krev obviously managed to fake his death by assuming the identity, and face, of the Quarry Overseer Yates.

  I then jotted down a request for Jenner to look into more about the Lakuna Children as well as any and all relevant information about Om he could tell me.

  From the little I’d already learned about the Okoba Forest People, there was a divide of some sort from their brethren in the Tatabo Plains.

  And if Terr taught me anything, it was that usually a divide between people was far from ideal, if not explosive, so maybe us being here was meant to be.

  “Nooovaa.” The siren-woman pointed at a random word on the page I was writing on, and I startled slightly.

  “Hey,” I chuckled at her and poked her hand.

  “Hey!” she said back and retracted her arm like a fussy house cat.

  “No, no, you’re right,” I placated. “I need to focus.”

  “Yes,” she said and then got up, stepped over Rylan with an unceremonious thump, and went out the window.

  Somewhere.

  “Is she alright?” Horus asked with a puzzled frown.

  “M’who?” Rylan asked muzzily as he peeled his crusty eyes open.

  “Nothing, go back to bed,” Horus said.

  “Bullshit, it’s time to wake up,” I countered. Now that I finally had a chance to breathe, and neither one of us was struggling for our fucking lives, I remembered how mad I was at my son. “Or did you forget how much trouble you’re in?”

  This got him to snap his eyes wide awake. “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh,” I sighed. “I can’t really even talk to you about it right now, but you should know I’m angry. And, dammit… I’m really fucking disappointed you disobeyed me after we’d already talked about this.”

  “I-I know,” Rylan said, and even though he looked away, he firmed his jaw like he knew this was long coming. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sure,” I said with a shrug. “But there comes a point when words just become words. You need to be aware of that.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said respectfully, but his tone was reserved. “I’ll go check to see if any of our stuff is in the other room.”

  I took the ruse for what it was and let him go so he could have a moment to himself, and then I rubbed my forehead with my stiff fingers.

  “I take it he did something foolish like sneak out and follow you when he was expressly forbidden and told to stay behind,” Horus said, and he was uncannily correct.

  “You’ve got it in one,” I confirmed and returned to the letter I wanted to send off.

  I was satisfied for the most part as I skimmed the contents. The only thing I needed to add was a request for Jenner to look into the Aldas even more, especially when it came to their offspring. So far, aside from Rylan belonging to Kavo, Nova and the Terran lizard-girl named Mozz were half-sisters belonging to Krev.

  And all three of them were linked in some way.

  “Everywhere is clear,” Rylan said as he returned. “It’s not like we had much stuff to begin with.”

  “Good, you’re going to leave with Horus,” I said.

  “What about you?” he asked.

  “I need to stay here for Nova,” I said. “I basically destroyed the only life she’s ever known, so I can’t just leave her until I know she’s taken care of.”

  “I thought she was coming with us,” Rylan said with a slight frown.

  “That’s up to her,” I said. “I don’t want to force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

  “Okay, don’t be long,” he said, and I nodded before I turned and scooped up my correspondence.

  “Hey, Ry, go down and take this to La,” Horus instructed and tossed him some sort of offal from the satchel across his body.

  The boy nodded and slipped out the door without a word.

  “Horus,” I said and handed the falcon-man the folded packet for Jenner as well as my wives.

  “I’ll make sure everyone is up to date,” my trusty second said with a sharp nod. “And don’t worry, there is plenty around the airship to do, so I’ll make sure Rylan stays plenty busy and out of trouble.”