Expiation (Shadeward Book 4) Read online

  ‘And you’re saying all that happened 2307 rounds ago?’

  Meru nodded.

  Kiri thought about it.

  ‘So what went wrong?’ she asked. ‘Why don’t we all know about the Obelisk and the ship and the flying machines and this Earth place and everything else?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Meru said. ‘But I have an idea.’ He spoke up. ‘Sandra, when did the first flare hit? What round?’

  Sandra’s voice responded. ‘Round 341.’

  ‘And since then?’

  ‘Subsequent flares occur at intervals of 491 rounds. The current flare is the fifth to have occurred since records were kept.’

  Meru nodded. ‘Caesar said there was no other access to his hangar after that round until we turned up to talk to him. We found the body of a woman … her name was Sandra, I named the voice after her. She died in that first flare. I don’t think our ancestors were ready for it.’

  ‘So … all this stuff they could do, all this cleverness … lost?’ Kiri’s voice was hushed.

  ‘We found bodies in Caesar’s tunnels,’ Meru said, nodding. ‘Burnt to a crisp. That woman left a message saying the heat was really bad, she’d lost contact with the Obelisk, she was trying to save everyone, but had to seal herself in. She died alone. Everything we’ve found, our ship, these flying machines, all of it … it’s all from back then. Some of it works, some of it is broken …’

  ‘But if they couldn’t deal with the flare,’ Kiri said. ‘How can we? We don’t know …’

  ‘People have survived this long,’ Meru said. ‘Somehow we’ve survived all the flares that have happened since. Enough of us to keep going anyway.’

  The flying machine vibrated around them. Meru grasped hold of the controls until the turbulence faded away.

  ‘The priestesses have books,’ Kiri said, after a moment’s thought. ‘They call them the Elements. They speak of Lacaille growing angry, a blackness crossing her face because of the Nirians and their machines. Cold smote the land followed by storms of fire long ago. That must have been the last flare.’

  ‘I remember you telling me this when we first met,’ Meru said. ‘You spoke about Elena and the Voren Empire.’

  ‘Elena was supposed to have lived back then,’ Kiri said, recalling what she had been taught. ‘At the end of the empire. She founded our faith, had gifts of incredible strength. The Elements say that the men of Nireus defied Lacaille. There was war. Elena fought them and beat them, sending the survivors into exile … your people. The flares stopped, but the empire was gone, destroyed in the conflict. And we were taught that the evil was unfinished, Lacaille would be angry again … which led to …’

  Meru nodded. ‘Everything since.’

  Kiri looked downcast. ‘It was supposed to be the will of Lacaille. I used to be so sure of it, but it was just half-truths, bits of legend. Women are supposed to be in charge, but looking after everyone, not just themselves like we have. We only wanted the gift for us.’

  Kiri stopped and looked out of the windows of the flying machine. She took a deep breath.

  Meru reached across and held her hand.

  ‘You know, for having your whole world turned upside down in the last pass … losing everything you believed, everything you trusted in … you’re doing pretty well.’

  Kiri laughed. ‘Three rounds ago I was raking through litter and hunting marsips so I didn’t starve. It might have been different if I’d been raised a priestess. Back then it was enough just to stay alive. You learn to take one stretch at a time.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Then I thought I was special, that Lacaille had chosen me, singled me out. Zoella was right when she accused me in Taloon. I did see myself as Empress, thought it was my destiny …’

  ‘And now?’

  Kiri shrugged.

  ‘It’s so strange … I just … I just don’t want it any more. I don’t want to fight, I don’t want control … I can’t explain it. It’s not just knowing that all that religion was wrong, it’s something else …’ Her eyes widened. ‘Ever since Nerina tried to tear me …’

  ‘Tear you?’

  ‘When the priestesses take the power from another,’ Kiri said. ‘I couldn’t resist her, she was unstoppable … I only just escaped and now …’

  ‘Your gift …’

  ‘Weaker … not like it was … and the rage is gone …’

  Kiri stopped, she looked out of the windows again.

  * * *

  Coran sat across a table from Senators Henoch and Janaid.

  ‘Truth be told,’ Janaid said. ‘I’d rather you did take her with you. I’ve no idea what to do with her. She’ll have to be locked up for the safety of everyone.’

  Henoch nodded. ‘If she loses her mind once again she’d run amok here,’ he said. ‘No one has any idea what she’s capable of or how to stop her. These powers she has …’

  ‘I can’t guarantee my crew will have her back aboard,’ Coran said. ‘What she did … they may not forgive her, or even give her another chance.’

  Henoch exchanged a look with Janaid.

  ‘But you say you need her?’ Janaid asked.

  ‘A precaution,’ Coran said. ‘Meru is on his way to this Obelisk, the witch-girl Kiri with him. They intend to fix the Obelisk. He believes he can trust her, but I have my doubts. If he isn’t successful or that trust is misplaced we need someone with these powers to talk to the Obelisk. If the Obelisk isn’t fixed, based on what we know, we all die. Zoella may be our only choice.’

  ‘A risk either way,’ Janaid said with a nod.

  ‘It seems clear that you must take her,’ Henoch said.

  ‘I can’t force that choice upon my crew,’ Coran said. ‘I’d be putting their lives at risk. Zoella is quite capable of killing us all should she lose control again.’

  ‘And she lost control due to grief?’ Henoch asked. ‘The boy who died?’

  ‘So it seems,’ Coran answered. ‘Grief mixed with a desire for vengeance on Kiri. Lots of history there.’

  ‘Then the choice belongs to your crew,’ Janaid said. ‘And whether they can find it in their hearts to give her a second chance.’

  Coran nodded.

  ‘If they will not accept her,’ Henoch said. ‘She stays here under lock and key. We can take no risks. She will be a prisoner, in a secure cell, not your house.’

  Coran sighed, but nodded.

  ‘Will you give her over to me for now?’ he asked. ‘I will vouch for her and be responsible for her actions.’

  ‘You’ve done much for us,’ Henoch said. ‘If you think you can redeem her, then yes.’

  ‘I will ask my crew,’ Coran said. ‘If they decline, I will hand Zoella back to you.’

  Janaid and Henoch nodded.

  ‘Agreed.’

  * * *

  Zoella heard a knock at her door. She got to her feet, hearing the bolts on the outside unlocking. Coran appeared in the doorway.

  ‘Come with me,’ he said.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘To the ship,’ he replied. ‘The council have handed you over to my care.’

  ‘Oh … thank you!’ Zoella said.

  ‘Don’t be thanking me too quickly. I’m going to explain our position to the crew. Meru and Kiri have gone to the Obelisk. I want to help them, and to do that, I need you.’

  ‘I will do whatever you say,’ Zoella said, earnestly.

  Coran nodded.

  ‘It’s the crew you have to convince, and accept any stricture they place upon you. I will not force them. What you did …’

  Zoella nodded.

  ‘Will you let me speak to them?’

  ‘I will,’ Coran said. ‘But understand this. If they will not let you back aboard, then you will stay here, answerable to the council and subject to their laws.’

  Zoella swallowed.

  ‘They’ll keep me locked up.’

  ‘Aye, that they will,’ Coran said. ‘Likely in a cell, blindfolded. So, choose your words carefully.’
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  * * *

  ‘What is that?’

  Meru had been watching the instruments. He looked up hearing Kiri’s voice, scanning the horizon ahead. In the distance was a curving wall of cloud reaching far up into the heavens. It was still hazy and indistinct, but he could sense the scale of it. Above the forest hung a dark grey and oppressive looking belt of cloud stretching all the way across the horizon. Above that the clouds towered into the sky, widening out from the base and reaching out towards them. As they watched they could make out more and more detail, the cloud wall seeming to roll towards them.

  ‘It’s the edge of the vortex,’ Meru whispered.

  A bright pulse of light flickered from the cloud base, outlining shapes in an eerie bright purple before fading.

  Kiri looked at him.

  ‘We have to go in there?’

  Meru nodded. ‘It’s a huge storm that surrounds the Obelisk, like a giant whirlpool of cloud. But we’d better set down before we try flying into it. Too tired now. We need to be as alert as we can.’

  ‘What about over there?’ Kiri said, pointing.

  Meru could make out a green area between the huge shades. It was still full of vegetation, but it was wide enough to set down in.

  ‘Let’s hope the ground is solid,’ Meru said.

  ‘There’s nowhere better we’ve seen.’

  Meru slowed the flying machine and jostled it into a hover above the clearing. The shades rose up above them as they descended.

  ‘They’re huge,’ Kiri said, in awe. ‘They must be almost a hundred hands high.’

  ‘Everything looks like it’s bigger,’ Meru said. ‘Those plants, look … and the flowers. Enormous.’

  Meru toggled the machine’s undercarriage and was rewarded with a faint clunk as it lowered into place. They continued to descend, his hands clenched on the controls, ready to pull the ship back up if the ground wasn’t firm. Greenery rose about the windows.

  ‘Still not down,’ he said, watching the controls.

  ‘Can’t be far …’

  The flying machine jolted, canting to one side. Meru levelled it out, reducing the thrust downwards.

  ‘I think we’re down,’ Meru breathed, waiting for a moment before shutting down the engines.

  Kiri opened the co-pilot’s door.

  ‘Wow …’

  A blast of heat swept into the cabin, the air outside was thick and humid. Meru watched as she stepped outside.

  ‘It’s so hot!’ she said. ‘And these plants. They’re like the ones in Drayden, but they’re huge.’

  The vegetation outside Meru’s door was too thick for him to open it, so he scrambled across and clambered down beside her.

  She was right. He recognised some of the plants, but they were five or ten times the size he was used to, on a scale that matched the enormous shades nearby. All the vegetation around them was taller than they were, underneath the ground was firm and dry.

  ‘I feel like a marsip,’ Kiri said. ‘Like I’ve shrunk.’

  Strange calls sounded around them, rumbles and hoots that filled the thick air. A buzzing noise sounded above them. They looked up to see a narg that was almost two hands long.

  It buzzed above them, regarding them with its three eyes, its head turning this way and that before it rose up and flew away.

  ‘Did you see that?’ Kiri said. ‘It was huge …’

  There was an echoing boom from somewhere in the distance, they felt a tremor in the soil beneath their feet.

  ‘That sounded big too,’ Kiri whispered.

  ‘I don’t think I want to know what that was,’ Meru said back.

  ‘Maybe we should stay in the ship until it goes away.’

  ‘I think you’re right,’ Meru replied. ‘Let’s get some food and rest.’

  * * *

  Coran looked around at his crew, they were all sitting in the Mobilis’ cramped mess room. All of them save Zoella.

  ‘You’ve probably all figured why I called this little meeting,’ Coran said. ‘Got something we need to decide.’

  They were all looking at him expectantly. None said anything.

  ‘We’ve come through a few stretches of rough seas,’ Coran said. ‘We won a battle, we lost a friend. One of our crew mates is down in the sunward Lacaille knows where, and the other …’

  ‘Tried to do us all in in a murdering rage,’ Fitch finished for him.

  Coran nodded.

  ‘The council have put her fate in our hands,’ Coran said. ‘If we take her back aboard, it will be our responsibility. If we decide we won’t, she stays in Amar under lock and key until …’

  ‘You’re not seriously thinking …’ Fitch began.

  Coran held up his hand.

  ‘That’s what we’re here to discuss,’ he said. ‘All things being equal she’d not be stepping back aboard, but things aren’t that plain.’

  Everyone was listening to him.

  ‘Zoella did help us contact Meru and set that towards straight,’ Coran said. ‘Meru’s in the company of this Kiri girl … same one as attacked us and busted Fitch’s arm. They’re heading for the Obelisk.’

  ‘Can we trust her to fix it?’ Mel asked. ‘She’s a priestess after all …’

  ‘Trust her?’ Fitch asked. ‘You daft? Of course we can’t trust her.’

  ‘Meru’s vouching for her,’ Coran said. ‘That’s all I’ve got. There’s been something between those two ever since we left Nireus.’

  ‘She might just be stealing him away,’ Fitch said. ‘We’ve seen some of what these priestesses can do, how do we know he’s not just under her spell?’

  ‘We don’t,’ Coran said.

  ‘Then we need a backup plan,’ Mel said. ‘If Meru doesn’t fix the Obelisk then we’ll have to do it ourselves …’

  ‘And we can’t do that without …’ Fitch said. ‘Oh great.’

  Fitch and Mel looked at each other, even Daf and Creg breathed in sharply.

  ‘Exactly,’ Coran said.

  ‘She can’t come back on the ship,’ Fitch said. ‘I ain’t sailing with her. No way.’

  Daf and Creg were shaking their heads as well. Mel looked doubtful.

  ‘I don’t think we can trust her,’ Mel said. ‘What she did …’

  ‘I know what she did,’ Coran said. ‘She did it to all of us …’

  ‘She snuttin’ near killed us,’ Fitch said. ‘If Meru hadn’t caught her in that cell she would have killed that witch-girl … shame she didn’t really … but leastways she’s out of her mind. What happens if she goes all sideways on us at sea and takes a fancy to squashing our brains? None of us can stop her, she’s proved that already …’

  ‘Pains me to say it,’ Mel said. ‘But Fitch is right about that.’

  ‘It’s definitely a risk,’ Coran said.

  ‘But we need someone with those powers to fix the Obelisk,’ Mel said. ‘If Meru and Kiri don’t make it for any reason …’

  ‘Like you said,’ Coran agreed. ‘A backup plan.’

  ‘What about that other girl?’ Fitch asked. ‘The mute one. Can’t she do it instead? She’s not gone do-lally, has she?’

  ‘Ira can come with us,’ Coran said. ‘But Zoella’s the only one who can translate her hand speech. Doesn’t help, and Ira’s too young anyway.’

  ‘The girl is a menace,’ Fitch said. ‘I ain’t getting my brain crushed. Not for no one.’

  He folded his arms and glared at Coran from underneath his widebrimmed hat, the tip of his nose protruding and catching the overhead lights. Daf and Creg nodded.

  ‘She was trying to get at Kiri,’ Coran said. ‘Vengeance, she wanted to kill Kiri. Zoella loved Ren, we all did. We all thought the same.’

  ‘Don’t deny it,’ Fitch argued back. ‘I’d have stuck an axe in the dratted witch, but not by stepping over the dead bodies of my crewmates first.’

  ‘I hear you,’ Coran said. ‘I have misgivings myself. I could make the call, done it enough in the past, but this is your sa
fety we’re talking about and I can’t guarantee it. You’ll have to make up your own minds.’

  Mel frowned.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘We vote,’ he replied. ‘If it’s not unanimous, Zoella stays here.’

  ‘Then she’s staying,’ Fitch said. ‘I’m not sailing with her …’

  ‘Let’s listen to what she’s got to say for herself first.’

  ‘She’s here?’ Fitch demanded.

  ‘I’m vouching for her,’ Coran said and then pulled a wooden cudgel out from underneath the mess table. ‘And if there’s any trouble, she’ll get a dose of traditional medicine. Ready?’

  Fitch exchanged a look with Mel. She looked at Daf and Creg. They all nodded silently.

  Coran leant back and rapped his knuckles on the door.

  The door clicked and opened. Zoella stood there, outside in the corridor.

  Mel, Fitch, Daf and Creg looked at her and then looked at each other. Everyone recoiled.

  ‘Let’s just stay calm,’ Coran said. ‘I’ve spoken with her, she has something to say to all of us. Will you let her speak?’

  Fitch muttered something under his breath. Daf and Creg were looking towards Mel. Mel stared at Zoella for a long moment before nodding.

  ‘Come on in,’ Coran said to Zoella. ‘You can sit here with me.’ He tapped the bench alongside him. Zoella walked in and sat next to him.

  Coran saw her swallow, her hands were clenched together, he could sense her trembling beside him.

  ‘I …’ she began, before looking down. Everyone waited as she gathered herself and looked up.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, her voice cracking. She looked around at each of them in turn. ‘I know I hurt you all. You all took me in and then I did this …’

  She was pulling at the tips of her fingers, twisting them this way and that.

  ‘I truly, deeply regret what I did,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to hurt anyone ever again …’

  ‘Except Kiri,’ Fitch said, unfolding his arms and gesturing at her. ‘You want to kill her, don’t you?’

  ‘Fitch!’ Mel snapped, elbowing him in the side.

  ‘No,’ Zoella said. ‘He’s right. I tried to kill her, I did want to kill her; make her pay for everything she’s done. But there was this rage, a rage that just took over, almost as if I was watching it and it wasn’t me. I couldn’t control it. I hated the way I felt. I hurt you all, and because of me Meru’s run away …’