“But you’re not?”
“Probably less than I should be.” He tucked his spellshard away in the belt pouch that kept it close to him at all times-the only reason it had stayed with him at Bull Hollow and through all kinds of battles over the years-and held out his left hand to show Dandra the ring he wore. “This was an inheritance from my great-grandfather. I was given it on my sixteenth birthday. It protects me from fire. Probably not the best gift to give a rebellious adolescent, but I don’t think my parents knew what it really was.”
Dandra examined the ring. “I know a power that does the same thing,” she said. She reached out and took his hand, her fingers parting his to look at the ring from all sides. Her touch tickled.
“What about your powers?” he asked and immediately regretted it as Dandra stiffened. He felt blood rush to his face. “I mean, what about Tetkashtai’s …” he began again awkwardly but Dandra shook her head.
“It’s all right,” she said. “I know what you mean.” She released his hand and sat back. “A psion’s powers are a reflection of her psyche. Tetkashtai is … forceful. She’s a fighter and she chose to follow a path suited to swift victory: the powers that she honed, her combat skills-” Dandra pressed fingers to her chest “-even her creation of me to augment her own resolve. Fire suits Tetkashtai.”
Singe hesitated for a moment, then asked a question that had lingered in his mind since Dandra had opened her memories to him and Geth. “Is that why Virikhad loved her?”
“Loved? I-” Dandra winced, then shook her head. “Tetkashtai would prefer we didn’t talk about that.”
“Oh.” Singe glanced at the yellow-green crystal around Dandra’s neck and shifted uncomfortably. “Sorry, Tetkashtai.” He looked back at Dandra. “She can hear me, right?”
“In a way, yes.”
“Is it very different being …” He gestured to the crystal.
Dandra nodded. “To Tetkashtai, it’s torture, able to see and hear but unable to do anything more,” she said. “The only influence she has on the world is through me and even that’s limited. We share our powers-we both have the knowledge, but I have most of the raw energy and she has most of the skill. Do you remember after the Bull Hole, when I was so drained? It was because Tetkashtai was trying to punish me by drawing away. Without her, I exhausted myself moving the stone that capped the Hole. But without me to work through, Tetkashtai can’t use her powers at all.”
Singe cocked his head. “How is Medalashana able to use her powers to communicate through the crystal band?”
Dandra’s lips pressed together and she hesitated before answering. “Singe, when I told you that Medalashana could only be alive if she yielded to Dah’mir, there was … something else. I couldn’t say it because Vennet was with us and later, I wasn’t sure how to tell you.” She looked him in the eyes. “If Medalashana has her powers back, it’s because she has been returned to her body, either by Dah’mir or by her own twisted will. Either way, it means it’s possible to reverse what Dah’mir did.”
“That’s good!” Singe said-then the underlying meaning of what Dandra was saying hit him. He struggled to keep a smile on his face. “So you and Tetkashtai would switch back if you could?”
“It’s her body.”
“I guess it is.” He stood up. “What about Virikhad?”
“What about him?” Dandra asked, rising as well. Singe felt blood rush to his face again.
“I mean, do you think he’s alive?” he said quickly. “Like Medalashana?”
Dandra paused, then said. “Tetkashtai hopes he is.”
“And you?”
She shook her head.
A shout interrupted them. “Shallows ahead!” called a lookout. “Approaching land.”
Up ahead, the long bay narrowed to the mouth of a meandering river, by no means large enough to allow Lightning on Water to progress at her full speed. As they came up on the river, the elemental gale that had howled in Singe’s ears for five days faded away. The misty ring that bound the elemental to the ship shimmered and solidified once more and their speed dropped. Without the elemental’s speed, the hull of the ship slid back down into the water, hiding the great running-fins once more. It seemed like they were crawling through the water, though Singe knew they were still making as good time as any conventional ship could hope for.
Glancing back, he saw Vennet surrender the helm to a junior officer, then make his way forward, collecting Geth as he went. Shifter and half-elf joined them in the bow of the ship. Vennet gathered them all close together in a conspiratorial huddle. “Listen,” he said quietly, “we’ll reach Zarash’ak at about dusk. You can disembark with the other passengers then if you want to, but I’ve got a problem I’d appreciate if you help me with.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the stern of the ship. “I have cargo in that aft hold that needs to be taken ashore here.”
“And you can’t unload it with Ashi tied down in the middle of the hold,” guessed Dandra.
Vennet nodded. “Aye. I have a plan, though.” He glanced at each of them. “I know a man who lives close to the docks and he has a strongroom in his house. Between the four of us and Karth, I think we can walk Ashi that far. Because we’re docking so close to dark, it won’t seem odd if I give the crew the night on shore and leave unloading for the morning. Once they’re all off the ship, we can get Ashi away without anyone getting alarmed. Then when the unloading is finished …”
“… we bring her back onboard, shackle her down again, and you carry her off for Sharn.” Singe scratched at his chin under his beard. The plan struck him as risky. “Can’t you unload the forward hold, move her up there, then unload the aft?”
Vennet looked at him like he was an idiot. “The ship needs to be balanced, Singe.”
“Really?” He felt half like the captain was pulling his leg, but Vennet’s expression was serious.
“Leave questions of sailing to House Lyrandar and I’ll leave questions of defense to House Deneith.” Vennet glanced at them all, then looked back to Singe. “Help me with this and I’ll waive the fee for taking her to Sharn.”
That was five hundred gold. “Done,” Singe said quickly. Vennet clapped him on the shoulder.
“Good man. Thank you.” The half-elf stepped back. “It won’t take long for the crew to clear off once we’re tied up. Be ready.” He grinned at them all. “In the meantime, you might want to keep yourselves out of the way. If you thought leaving port was busy onboard a ship, you don’t want to see how busy the crew is coming into port.”
Vennet hadn’t been joking about how busy the crew would be. As Lightning on Water slid up the river, the ship’s crew scrambled all over her, above deck and below. Vennet was as busy as his men, maybe even busier. Singe and Dandra tried to find a moment to get into the forward hold to collect their meager gear-including the honor blade Singe had taken from Ashi and the crystal band, cunningly hidden by Dandra to avoid the necessity of carrying it constantly-but so many sailors moved through the hatch that it was easier to avoid it.
“It will only take a few moments to gather,” Dandra pointed out. “It can wait.”
Singe grimaced. “I’d feel better about having everything to hand.” Geth grinned at him and patted his own gear, brought up on deck days earlier. Singe gave him a cool glare.
At least he and Dandra were unencumbered as they gathered with the other passengers to watch as the ship came into port at Zarash’ak. The City of Stilts was, Singe thought critically, far from the most impressive port he had ever seen. True to its name, the city’s wooden buildings and plank streets sprawled above river and marsh on a forest of stilts, props, and piles. Singe couldn’t help but think of a child’s makeshift fort carried to extremes. Still, there was something curious to the way Zarash’ak almost hovered above the water, long rickety bridges leaping from platform to platform. Small boats skimmed the shadowed water around and between the piles. Smoke rose above the city, mingling with evening mist and merging with the twilight sky. Croaking frogs and calling marsh birds made a soft chorus, broken only by the rhythmic shouts between dockworkers and sailors as Lightning was guided into her berth. The entire scene was surprisingly beautiful.