The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (65 page)

She shot a look behind her. The machine was already banking, preparing to come at them for a second pass. Keris put his arm around her shoulders and pulled them both upright. Alondo looked as if he were in a trance.
“Run,”
she yelled at him–then started half-dragging Lyall across the slippery ground, away from the aerial attacker. Alondo awoke from his stupor and caught up to them, grabbing Lyall’s other arm. Keris and Alondo pounded across the moor as fast as their shared burden would allow.

The thrumming grew in Keris’ ears. She hazarded a glance behind her. The flying craft was bearing down on them once more. Suddenly, Keris swerved to the right, choosing a direction perpendicular to their pursuer’s course. Another beam struck the ground harmlessly to her left, kicking up a shower of earth, moss and slush.
Evasion tactics. Change tack–don’t give them a clear shot.
Trouble was, that would only delay the inevitable. They were caught cold, in wide-open country with no cover. There was no possible way they could outrun it. She recalled that Lyall still had one lodestone grenade left following their earlier battle with the Kharthrun Serpent. However, she would have to stop and search his pack to find it, and there was no time. In any case, it would take a throw of great accuracy and wild good fortune to do any damage to the chasing vessel, let alone bring it down.

The machine was coming up behind them again. Keris shoved to one side, pushing all three of them to the ground. A bolt of lightning struck the ground near her feet, flinging dirt over her. The smell of burnt moss assailed her nostrils. She got her feet under her and stumbled forward once more. Alondo was breathing heavily, and Lyall was little more than dead weight.
If I don’t do something soon, we’re all dead.

She spotted a reflection out of the corner of her eye–water. A blanket bog had formed on the waterlogged ground. An idea came to her. There was no way to know how deep it was, but still…

The flying machine had not yet turned. There was no time to explain her plan. She pulled the other two in the direction of the fen. As their boots sloshed through the shallow water, she pushed them both down and threw herself flat. The icy marsh water penetrated her clothing; shocking, then numbing her skin. Keris thrust aside the discomfort, pulling Lyall and Alondo deeper into the marsh, checking to make sure that Lyall’s mouth and nose were out of the water, so that he wouldn’t drown.

She listened for the drone of the engines. The pitch rose and fell, but didn’t seem to be getting any closer. She put herself in the position of the pilot.
Where did we go?
He would be conducting a search pattern. Alondo started to rise, then grunted as Keris savagely shoved him back beneath the water. Her saturated clothing clung to her body, cold and clammy. An eternity passed.
Give it up.
At long last, the sound faded and was gone.

He could have landed to continue the hunt on foot.
She stayed still, breathing slowly. The fetid water seeped into her mouth and nostrils. Lyall’s eyes were closed; she could not determine whether he was conscious or not. She turned her head and hissed in Alondo’s direction, “Don’t move.”

Keris slithered out of the bog, crawling with her stomach pressed to the ground. She turned, carefully scanning both ground and sky. The flying machine was gone and there seemed no sign of further threat. She stood cautiously, then bent down and grabbed Lyall’s arm. “Help me with him,” she instructed Alondo.

The musician rose with a groan and supported Lyall from the other side. Together, they stumbled out of the fen, freezing water dripping from their clothes. Alondo’s teeth were chattering. Keris cast about her. “We have to get out of the open–find cover.” She briefly considered returning to the ship, but dismissed the idea. It would be too easy for the enemy to track them there. There was a range of low hills to the southeast. “That way.”

The three of them set off together, insects creeping imperceptibly across the vast bleak moor.

~

Sadly, Keris’ expertise did not extend to healing skills. Her examination of Lyall revealed no obvious bleeding or contusions. But he remained unconscious, his colour was too pallid for her liking and his breathing was ragged and shallow. She wished she knew what that meant. If there was ever a time when they needed Boxx…

A line of barren hills rose before them. They looked scarcely more inviting than the moorland they had been trudging through. But hills meant valleys, overhangs, possibly even caves; places that would make them harder to find and provide shelter from aerial assault.

Alondo’s expression reflected his deep concern, but his healing ability was no greater than hers. They had unpacked a half-dry blanket and were trying to keep him warm. With no wood for a fire, it was proving next to impossible. Alondo had suggested scouring the area for something they could burn, but Keris rejected the idea.

“This is enemy territory. We can’t risk giving away our position.”

“You don’t know these people are our enemies,” Alondo protested. “We’ve not even seen or spoken to any of them yet.”

“They attacked us on sight,” Keris said, matter-of-factly. “I think they made their intentions clear.”

“Then what about the machine that came upon us at the beach? That one didn’t attack us,” Alondo pointed out.

Keris shrugged. “Maybe it simply didn’t see us. Or maybe it did and it reported our position to the second one. Either way, the result is the same.”

Alondo shook his head. “I don’t like it. We don’t know anything about them. Why would they just attack us like that? They don’t even know who we are. It doesn’t make sense.”

“We are invaders of their world. That may well be all the excuse they need.”

Alondo fell into a brooding silence. Keris got up and walked a little way toward the nearby foothills. “What was that weapon they used, anyway?” he called after her. “It was like a bolt of lightning. The inhabitants of this world must be far more advanced than us in machines. They could help us.”

“They could also destroy us as easily as swatting a mannatar. They have abundantly demonstrated that. Lyall tried to make overtures to them, and look what happened to him. No, we cannot trust these people…” She trailed off.

“What is it?” Alondo sounded anxious.

“Tracks,” she said.

“Tracks of what?”

“I’m not sure. I’m going to check it out.” Keris set off towards the grey hills. “Stay here, I’ll be back shortly.”

“You’re not going to kill anybody, are you?” Alondo asked.

Keris called back over her shoulder, “Not unless I have to.”

<><><><><>

Chapter 10

The structure sat in a natural hollow, embraced by the surrounding highlands; a simple two-story edifice made of smooth grey stone, with an angular roof. Guardhouse? Barracks? It was difficult to be certain. What immediately caught Keris’ eye, however, was the object to the left of the building–a flying machine, exactly like the one that had attacked them. Keris could not be sure that it was the same one, but she didn’t intend to take any chances.

She checked the perimeter one final time, then slipped out from behind the boulder she was using as cover and set out at a low run toward the structure, Keltar cloak fluttering behind her. She reached the sleek silver craft. It sat, quiescent, in stark contrast to the whirring contrivance that had spat fire at them earlier. Keris understood little of the workings of machines, but she figured she knew enough to put one out of commission. There was a tether linking the fuselage to a part of the building. Keris strode over to it, drew her staff and severed the machine’s umbilical cord with a single deft stroke. The cord sparked angrily, then became still. She walked over to the vessel and scoured its smooth surface seeking vulnerabilities.

Her fingers detected a tiny crack. She hefted her staff once more, wedging the diamond blade into the crack and using it as a lever.
Crack.
A panel sprang open, revealing an inner array of components. Keris hacked and sliced at them until there were broken parts hanging from the housing and littering the ground. Satisfied, she approached the building. A main door. She ignored it. There was no way of knowing what manner of creature or how many of them there would be inside. Shock and overwhelm–that would be the best tactic. She skirted around to the rear of the property. There was something that looked like a metal barrel, and she crouched down behind it.

Voices.
They seemed to be coming from a large window just behind a first floor balcony. Keris blipped the lodestone layer of her cloak, detecting a lodestone deposit just behind her. She rose from behind the cylinder, fully extended her lodestone and sailed upward, landing lightly on the balcony, just to the left of the window. There were three…no, four voices, but she still could not quite make out what they were saying.
Four to one, with the element of surprise–it should be simple enough.
The most important thing would be to ensure that none of them had an opportunity to raise the alarm. If she could do that without hurting anybody, so much the better, but she and the others had already been attacked without provocation.
I will do what I have to.

Steeling herself, she jumped once more, grabbed the upper lintel and came crashing through the window, feet first.

Four shocked expressions, frozen in an instant of time. Kelanni. It was the last thing Keris had expected. She had built up an impression of an aggressive soldier-like race, flying around in their aerial contraptions, blasting anything that dared to encroach on their territory. Yet these were her own people. Two of them appeared to be children. Of course, appearances could be deceptive.

She selected the largest–a male. In an instant, the diamond blade was at his throat. “Medicaments,” she growled. “Do you have any medicaments?” The three others looked at each other in confusion. The youngest–a girl–ran to the larger female and held her, whimpering. The woman stretched out a hand toward Keris and spoke something in a pleading tone. Keris relaxed her grip slightly and softened her voice. “I am with someone who is hurt. Do you have a healer here?” The woman looked perplexed. The man was trying to speak. Keris released him. He positioned himself in front of the others and began talking to her in an urgent voice. Keris listened intently, but could not quite make out what he was saying. There was something wrong here. Slowly, she sheathed her staff weapon and then spread her arms wide.

“Help,” she said. “I need help.”

~

Keris sat on a padded stool in the far corner of a spacious sitting room, keeping company with a plant that was growing out of the floor. Her cloak was wrapped around her, although she no longer felt cold. There were five adults and two children in what seemed to be an extended household. All of them gave her a wide berth. The little girl’s eyes looked as if they were ready to fill with tears whenever the raven-haired woman looked in her direction, so Keris had taken to staring at the wooden floor.

Someone was approaching. She looked up to see Alondo. He drew up a stool and sat beside her. He was smiling beneath his festive red hat, yet somehow, he looked less out of place than she did.

“How’s Lyall?” she asked.

“A little better, I think,” Alondo said. “He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but his colour is improved and he seems to be breathing easier. I didn’t want to risk trying to wake him. Let the body rest, give it a chance to heal.”

Keris felt as if her mouth were filled with ashes. “I didn’t know you had any healing experience.”

“I don’t.” He smiled again. “It’s just something Mother used to say.” Keris stared off into space. “These Kelanni are very much like us,” he continued. “I’ve been studying their language.”

“Studying? How?”

“Talking and listening, mostly. Signing helps a lot. There are actually a great number of commonalities–too many for coincidence. I think the conclusion has to be that at one time, Kelanni on both sides of the Barrier spoke the same dialect.”

Keris grimaced. “How does that help us?”

“Well, if we once spoke the same language, then we must also share a common ancestry. That should make them more inclined to help us.”

Keris stared at the walls. They were of smooth stone–too perfect, decorated with a repeating geometric design, the significance of which she could not guess. “You’re forgetting the fact that we were attacked.”

“Yes, but I’m fairly convinced that these people weren’t responsible. When I asked them about it, they seemed genuinely confused. I still don’t think they believe me. They told me that their flying craft–they call them ‘avionics’, by the way–have never been fitted with weapons of any kind, even during some earlier war that they referred to. It’s a puzzle.”