Sky Lord by Rowan Erlking (that summer book .txt) 📕

Jonis looked over the fence, covering Tia with his arm to shield her from sight. He drew his sword carefully. Turning to her, he handed her a knife. She recognized it at once as Albid’s.

“Stay low. I’m going to find the boat I chartered. You had better search for a bird to touch.” He whispered close to her face. “Fly over and land on the mast when you find me. I’ll know if it’s you, so don’t keep me waiting all day.”

He hopped out of their hiding spot without another word. She watched after him, amazed that he had such confidence that she would do as he had said. Regardless of the transfer of memories and thoughts, Tia still had her free will. His plans were half-baked at best with little chance of success. After all, how did he expect to get beyond the gate? And what about the soldiers that were following him? Wouldn’t they just follow him out to sea too? She was half-ready to give up this expedition if it were not for her increased desire to reach the Sky Lord’s island to learn the rest for herself. That, and somehow it felt safe to trust him.

Tia looked around for the nearest seagull, stuffing the knife he had given her into her pocket.

Boat sellers and renters lined the farthest end of the pier. Jonis found a simple sail boat with a cabin that suited his needs. Hopping off after a swift inspection, he paid the deposit, then hurried in to the local shore shop to buy a supply of food. When he had returned, two soldiers were already there inspecting the boat.

“Ah, I thought I’d be seeing you here,” Jonis said, carrying his load on board. He set the bread and kegs of water down. “What can I do for you fine men this time?”

One of the soldiers tromped over to him, reaching for Jonis’s coat. “Where is she? Where did you hide her?”

Jonis blinked. “Hide her? Look, I want the bounty as much as you gentlemen do. Unfortunately last night she did her own little number on me and fled back to sea before I could catch up. Now if you will excuse me, I must be on my way.”

They both glared at him, watching Jonis inspect the outboard motor to make sure it had a full tank of gas.

“If you are going on this boat, then we are coming with you.” The man folded his arms firmly.

Jonis turned with a skeptical glance. “What? You don’t have your own ride? I didn’t bring enough food for you fellas and myself.”

The soldier sat down, gesturing for his partner to sit down also. “You will take us with you, Cordril, or you are not leaving this bay.”

Shrugging, Jonis shook his head. “Suit yourself, but I am not sharing my stash. Sea air makes me hungry, and I’m not catering to the ill-prepared.”

And he went about the ship, ignoring the men as he worked. He prepared the ropes so he could set up his sail. Letting loose the ropes from the dock, Jonis, immediately worked on the motor, starting the engine.

“Do you mind? You are in the way,” he said, shoving past where the soldiers sat.

Glaring, they got up, walking instead to the door of the cabin. One marched down inside while the other stood at the door, watching him.

Jonis Macoy went about his business undisturbed. Even when a seagull landed on his cabin roof, he merely smiled and tossed it some bread. The soldier tried to shoo it away, but the bird was persistent. Soon there were three gulls, begging for bread. As Jonis steered the boat by motor out of the docks to the bay doors, he occasionally tossed the birds crumbs from a loaf he was eating. When they reached the bay doors, he tossed them the rest of the bread.

“You’re giving that to the birds? You said you didn’t have any food to spare!” the solider shouted.

“I did?” Jonis said after hailing the gates and showing his government identification that allowed him to travel without paying tolls. “Well, I just meant I had nothing to share with you. I always feed the birds.”

The soldier growled, stomping down the stairs. Jonis smiled, steering through the open gates into the wide ocean.

Jonis sailed into the sea for what was about an hour, steering contently. Three of the seagulls remained on his boat. The others had flown off back to shore. Jonis had switched from the motor to the sail and now guided the ship from the helm rather than the hand rudder. He was humming a tune unfamiliar to the land, one he remembered from long, long ago. The words came out low as he continued to steer.

“Out in the starry space, there is a lovely place, where people want to go away from ills below, up in the deep blue sky beyond where birds do fly, in the brightness I will meet my sweet love and bliss complete. Singing ooh…”

“Are we there yet?” Sneered one of the soldiers emerging from below deck.

“Do we look there?” Jonis replied with some annoyance.

The other followed him, looking rather green.

“Is he well?” Jonis asked with a slight smirk.

The solder glared at him. His partner replied, “He is not used to the rocking motion. Can’t you steer better?”

Jonis snorted. “My steering does not change the ocean waves. If he can’t stomach a little rocking, he should have stayed on the shore.”

“How much longer to the Sky Lord’s island?” the soldier asked, staggering over to him.

Folding out a map, Jonis took a breath and peered at it. Looking up he said, “Not a clue. I don’t know how to navigate the seas.”

“What?” both men cried.

Jonis laughed. “I was just following the horizon. The rocky sea has to be somewhere that a way.”

“You sneaky little demon,” the soldier snapped, drawing his gun from his side. “You led us out here on purpose!”

“You insisted on coming along,” Jonis replied, raising his eyebrows. “I was still going this way until you two idiots jumped aboard.”

“How dare you!” the man shouted.

“I’m tired of sitting up here, Jonis. Can’t we just push them off?” Tia said, climbing off the roof. The other two seagulls scattered.

“By all means,” the Cordril hunter replied, getting up. “We’re out of the bay now.”

Both the soldier’s eyes grew wide.

“Traitor!” the one shouted, lifting his gun higher.

The other staggered, tripping back from Tia.

Jonis winked at Tia and said, “Duck.”

Immediately the sail swung around, the boom knocking both men overboard. Jonis peered over the side watching them choke when they surfaced. He tossed them one life ring, waving as the ship moved on.

“The Patriarch will have your head for this!” the soldier shouted, spurting water from his mouth.

“He has to catch me first!” Jonis cackled, leaning back over the boat to steer. He glanced once at Tia. “Now that wait was worth it. Don’t you think?”

Tia cast him a dirty look then walked over to the keg of water. “Yes, but I’m thirsty now. All that bread really makes my mouth dry.”

He smiled at her, leaning on the helm to admire her. The plan had worked. And though he knew as well as she did that that was not the last they would see of the Brein Amon soldiers, it would be a while before they had to face them again.

Jonis steered the boat until nightfall. When he got too tired, he lowered the sails and tied the rigging down. Tia had gotten ill halfway along the trip and sat over the starboard edge, staring at the water and her green face. That is, until Jonis handed her a peeled and pickled gingerroot to chew on. It was hot and burned her mouth, but it eased her stomach so that she could handle the motion of the waves. By night Tia was resting on her back on the cabin roof, looking at the stars.

“So we really came from up there,” she murmured.

Jonis lay beside her, looking up also. “Yep. Many worlds like this one exist out there. I find it so strange with all I remember that our world can feel so huge. You’d think it would be limiting to a space traveler.”

Tia sighed. She had gotten used to the motion now. It rocked her like a cradle, encouraging her eyes to close. “I wonder if the other worlds are as complicated as ours? Do all people have to deal with men like the Patriarch?”

“What? Power hungry megalomaniacs?” Jonis snickered. He shrugged. “Who knows? I just think it would be nice if there was some place out there that people could just live peaceably with one another instead of seeking self-interest all the time.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing? Seeking self-interest?” she asked, glancing over at him. The moonlight cast shadows on his face, lighting his fair skin as if it were a duplicate moon over her sky.

Jonis frowned. That question made him squirm somewhat. “No. Not exactly. I consider it…uh…seeking self-understanding. We’re not trying to hurt anyone by what we are doing, are we?”

“But we have hurt people along the way,” Tia replied. She sighed. Yes, she had hurt people along the way. She no longer wanted to use her curse if it hurt so many. Now that she knew what her victims saw when she touched them, she no longer wanted to inflict that on anyone or anything. She swore that seagull was her last transformation.

She could hear Jonis sigh. “That’s true. We have. Perhaps that is why our people should never have come here.”

The waves rolled on. They looked up in silence at the stars instead, wondering about the past. Jonis started to hum again.

“Life is not just a thing for now. Never ending we’ll ascend, though the sweat upon our brow, beads as we reach our end. Into the darkness, we’ll see light—a tunnel to the wider room. And out of our world into the night, we will leave this dismal gloom. Onward, upward, we’ll ascend. Hand in hand, family and friend. Onward, upward to the sky. Lifting, reaching to the utmost high”

Tia glanced at him, his memory floating to her mind, telling her that song was ancient.

Jonis had lied when he said he didn’t know how to navigate the ocean. He had vast sailing knowledge from an ancestor that had been passed onto him. That ancestor had been to the island to seek the treasure, but was driven off by the then powerful Sky Children. The ancestor had barely escaped.

The Rocky Sea was just that, entirely full of rocks and shallow water. Plants grew out among the shallows, growing tall trees that blocked the mast and sail from working well. They had to lower both then go by motor to navigate toward the island.

The first sign they had that they were close were island boatmen fishing among the shallows for crab and mollusks. Dressed in rags intermingled with hand woven grasses, they stared as Tia and Jonis passed through, neither approaching nor retreating from their boat.

“Blue eyes!” one shouted, pointing at them.

“Blue eyes!” another called.

They heard horns trumpet, faces glaring at their arrival. Tia glanced at Jonis, reaching in her pocket for a