CITY OF BRIDGES

29

Skyland Encounter

Landing this time was easier, but the moment Leonie dismounted, her joints and muscles screamed in protest. She’d been astride for such a long time, even walking caused pain. Dumping her backpack, she gingerly began a series of stretches in an effort to ease the discomfort and get her circulation going.

Once the passengers safely dismounted, the wyvern trio dropped off the skyland to look for dinner. Feiron and Phil bustled about, setting up camp amongst the large boulders out of the cool breeze.

“Someone has been here before.” Phil knelt by an old fire-pit, stirring the remnants. “And only a few months, is my guess.”

“Glins’ool?”

Phil shrugged. “More than likely, but anyone who can fly. If these things travel as far as I’ve heard, then it could have been someone in the far north, or even a flyer from Reenat. The Royal Guards fly gryphons.”

“I’ve heard of them. Something else I’d like to see,” Feiron stated.

“You and me, both,” Phil agreed.

After digging through the packs, two pots were brought out and filled from a water-skin, then set to boil: one for tea, the other as it turned out, for a thick stew of Phil’s concocting.

“I should bring you two with me more often.” Leonie sat back to relax by the fire, aches and pains niggling at her. “It’s good to have someone doing the menial tasks.”

“That’s fine with us, isn’t it Feiron?” Philbert answered. “And I think since we did dinner, she can handle breakfast.”

“I’m not so certain. I’ve noticed when rrells are about, we don’t see rodents to plague us,” Feiron added. “Are you sure you want her to cook?”

“Maybe I’ll go join the wyverns instead,” Leonie said in mock indignation, pleased to see his sense of humour returning. His recovery was improving since his ordeal in the volcano. “At least they don’t answer back.”

Rodents are far too small to worry about and it takes so long to get a sufficient sized meal, Faldo grumbled.

“Hss. I can’t win with you lot.”

“So, don’t argue.” Phil smiled. “Here’s your dinner.” He passed over a steaming wooden bowl.

They all looked up to the sound of rushing air as the wyverns returned.

Leonie wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it seemed the skyland tilted slightly when the wyverns landed. She wondered if the whole thing would topple, like a boat capsizing in a turbulent river. Shuddering, she pushed the image from her mind by watching the antics of the twins. Dorn had nestled in amongst the boulders still radiating heat from the sun, but Slana and Faldo shifted around until they were comfortable, their barbed tails leaving grooves in the ground. Finally, they curled up, wrapping tails around their green, scaled bodies.

With Phil’s permission, Feiron had packed the leather bucket used to save him from the volcano cave. He now hooked a handle over the stub of a branch on a dead tree and poured inside.

Leonie briefly contemplated exploring the strange sky island, but when she stood up the ache in her muscles changed her mind. Spreading her bedroll near the fire opposite Phil, she lay down, pulled the blanket up and slept soundly to the rumbling of the wyvern’s snores.

Leonie awoke with a rough nudge. She looked up bleary-eyed, scrambling back briefly in shock. The sight of an emerald-coloured serpent head the size of a barrel a few feet from her was still a new experience.

Here’s breakfast. We’ll show those men who can come up with the best meal.

Lying on the ground a few feet away was the biggest fish she had ever seen. Quickly she got up to make a breakfast the men wouldn’t forget. Leonie stoked the fire with the remainder of the wood, setting the pot for the tea before turning her attention to the fish. She had no idea of its type but it was so big, the fillets were going to be the size of steaks.

When the tea brewed, she spread out the fire slightly and tossed the slabs of white meat into a pan. She frowned when the pieces draped over both sides of the pan. Can’t be helped. The morning breeze quickly whisked away the mouth-watering aroma. The remainder of the fish was shared with the three wyverns.

“Thanks for getting this.”

Our pleasure. Dorn gulped down the remains of the entrails.

Leonie didn’t need to wake the others; the wyverns did that in the same manner they woke her. Enthused by the sounds and smells of frying fish, the men were soon digging into the hot breakfast with gusto.

Afterwards, leaving her travelling companions to their tea and talk, Leonie went for a stroll around the skyland, partly to exercise but mainly to take a moment to investigate the shiny object she saw on her arrival. She was at the base of the knoll and from this angle it looked a much easier climb than she previously thought.

Sweating slightly and climbing steadily, she reached the summit. It wasn’t a large area, and the mysteriously glinting object was in plain view; a huge crystal jutting out of the ground, surrounded by a collapsed stone wall. As Leonie approached, the crystal’s facets glinted with the changing angle of the sun’s rays. Unsure what to expect, her whiskers drooped. The thief in her had yearned for ancient treasure.

She was amazed at the crystal’s size; her outstretched arms barely reached across the face. It had a bluish tint and when she peered closer, it was like viewing a five-sided glass tunnel. It was cold to touch, and her breath misted fleetingly. Leonie could only guess how deep it went. Her refracted shadow caused many strange shapes to flicker within, and she amused herself for a few minutes by waving her arms to see the effect. When she changed her position, a kaleidoscope of warped reflections faded into bluish obscurity.

Curiosity assuaged, Leonie’s mind turned to other things; the entire skyland awaited her. She walked to the edge and looked down. Thousands of feet below, past the wheeling wyverns, the approaching southern coastline spread out east and west. She could see the dense jungle stretching along the coastline from the base of the ranges and far to the east, as well as the transition from jungle to sweeping plains as the eye travelled north.

The ocean is so vast! Leonie sat down and stared for a long time watching the tiny ripples out to sea form into waves, eventually dashing themselves onto the rocks along the shore. The colour of the water changed closer to the shoreline; from a dark blue then to aquamarine. It was truly beautiful. Leonie was awestruck, she hadn’t realised there were so many shades of blue.

We have found something you might like. Slana flew up. Faldo continued to wheel nearby.

“What do you mean?”

We will show you. Slana gingerly landed on the lip of the skyland, her huge talons gripping the rock. After Leonie mounted, the wyvern dropped off and positioned herself underneath the floating land mass.

Being so close, Leonie could clearly see the roughness where the rock sheared after it broke away from the ground. Crystals of different shapes and sizes were embedded everywhere, all angled in the same direction.

With Slana hovering ever closer towards the centre of the structure. Leonie discerned a darker area; becoming so preoccupied, it didn’t occur to her the slightest change in wind could squash her between the hard rock and the young wyvern.

The dark area resolved into an entrance. Leonie saw a tunnel; rough stairs led into the depths of the floating land. They were almost directly beneath the knoll.

I have stuck my head in there, but its length is beyond my reach.

Without hesitation, Leonie undid her tether and stood in the saddle, disregarding the fact she was several thousand feet above oblivion. She reached up, grabbed hold of the rough walls and climbed into the cracked stairway.

“I won’t be long.” She quickly climbed the stairs, her mind full of curiosity.

The walls and ceiling were formed out of finely cracked crystal. The stairs were littered with crystalline shards, presumably loosened by the forces that created the skyland. After about twenty paces, the passage became wider, forming a small chamber. It had a bluish light source in the ceiling, and glancing up Leonie realised it was the large crystal from the hill. There were carvings and inscriptions along the wall: strange runes, geometric symbols and several diagrams resembling maps. She was certain a sage would want to spend many hours or even days in here, studying the maps and deciphering the runes.

What was once a wooden table near the centre had succumbed to rot and collapsed under its own weight. Dust and gritty residue covered the cracked floor. On the far wall she could see another set of stairs going up but now blocked by fallen crystals and rocks.

The floor shifted under her paws. Leonie braced herself, but other than a slight vibration, nothing else happened. Dust and crystal shards filtered down from the domed ceiling. Not knowing how stable skylands were, Leonie reckoned it prudent to hasten her departure. Turning away, a niche to one side of the tunnel opening caught her eye. She peered in but found it full of grit and debris. When she scraped at the dirt, something fell to the floor. Leonie only became aware of it because of the faint clunk it made bouncing down the stairs. It had a dull glow.

Leonie leapt after it, clawing it easily with a claw, realising it was too fine to be a ring. An earring, she decided. Further study would have to wait until she was back in the air. She quickly loped down the stairs, putting the earring in a belt-pouch.

Slana wasn’t at the exit. The tunnel vibrated again and the drop into emptiness made Leonie’s stomach lurch.

“Hey, Slana. I can’t fly by myself,” she yelled into the emptiness. The skyland now high above the Sea of Tears. The coastline spread out to the east, but to the west it was cut by the southern end of the ranges.

The next jolt, far more severe than the last, caused her to stumble sideways. Her arms flailed as she tried to regain her balance, but the lower step cracked and fell away. Leonie fell with it. Spinning around, she grabbed hold of the next step up. The bottom step she had fallen on tumbled over and over as it plummeted to the water far below. Her legs kicked wildly in empty space as she hung over the edge. Slana was still nowhere in sight. Struggling back up, the step she was clutching tilted with her weight. Try as she might, any other paw holds were out of reach. The step tore free from the crumbling mortar.

“SLANA.”

No sooner had she begun to fall when the young green wyvern appeared underneath her. You can’t fly, silly. Slana said as the step bounced off her scaled neck.

Leonie winded herself when she landed across the saddle. The pommel hit her in the ribs. All the aches and pains of yesterday returned anew. Gasping, she quickly seated herself, sank her claws into the leather of the saddle and wedged her feet firmly into the stirrups, her heart in her throat.

Slana dropped away from the underside of the skyland as more debris rained down upon them. An anomaly within the skyland prevents contact. She explained her delay as they re-joined the others already in the air. I went to inform Singer of your whereabouts.

Leonie didn’t reply, still getting over the close call.

Faldo glided closer.

“You always have to go off exploring, don’t you?” Feiron called out, sounding both annoyed and relieved on her return.

“Yes.” Leonie hoped her voice didn’t betray her fear. “It’s in my blood. Who went off exploring volcanoes alone I wonder?” Her paws were steady enough now to do up the belt.

Feiron shrugged, smiling. “That was different.”

“Ah.” Leonie rolled her eyes with a nervous chuckle.

“You weren’t wearing your harness then?”

“It digs into my back when in the saddle.” She shook her head. “Maybe I will from now on.”

“Are you alright?” Phil moved Dorn closer to the other side. “Dorn senses your distress.”

“A bit bruised and shaken, but fine now.” Taking a few breaths to steady her voice, she told them of the chamber and the fall from the stairs. “Any idea what happened?” They circled back over the skyland. From here it looked as if nothing had changed.

“I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say the shift from land to water affects,” Philbert said, looking down to the skyland, now well beyond the coastline. It turned ponderously towards the west where storm clouds loomed on the distant horizon. “If we stayed long enough, we’d probably find ourselves in Lyhosa within a week or two.”

“Assuming it didn’t drop out of the sky in our sleep. What makes them move the way they do? Where’d they come from?” Leonie asked.

“I’ve heard it’s all to do with the power.”

Well over a century ago, as you measure time, there was a war in the centre of this land, further to the north and west. Dorn informed them. The breaking of the land caused the end of the war and the formation of these sky islands.

“Yes. Who won?” Leonie asked, recalling the conversation with Styx.

I am not certain. Your history is not our concern. However, they do make good resting places on journeys such as this. I have not encountered one going over the ocean before; otherwise I would have warned you.

“So, I could’ve been in someone’s home?”

“It could have been anything. Maybe even part of an old castle. Who knows?” Phil shrugged. “Maybe one day someone will study them.”

“Maybe Feiron, once he’s finished with the wyverns.”

“Somehow I don’t think so,” Feiron said. “It would require a lot of flying. I’d want to find a way of communicating with the wyverns first.”

* * *