The relief of being able to shift was overwhelming; the claw scratches, bruises, everything faded into minor irritations. He shook the water off and jumped for the passage above the pool, reaching it in one long bound.
As he raced along the open passage, flames spread across the bottom floor of the hive, and thick smoke streamed upward, obscuring much of the center well. He heard the buzzing flight of Dwei below him somewhere, and the muffled roar of a kethel. The Dwei must have overwhelmed the single remaining kethel and escaped their prison.
Several dakti still guarded the doorway to the Arbora’s chamber. When Moon landed among them and ripped the first two open, the others scattered, diving off the ledge into the smoky well. Moon crouched to rip open the door membrane, calling down, “Heart? Can you all shift?”
“Yes!” He saw Heart looking up at him, bright blue in her Arbora form. “Moon, did the others start the fire?”
“Yes! Come on out; we’re leaving,” he told her, looking warily out at the central well. Clouds of smoke obscured the view, giving him only glimpses of dakti flying wildly around.
Merit scrambled out of the shaft, followed rapidly by Needle and Gift. Crouching next to Moon, his spines bristling nervously, Merit demanded, “How do we get out?”
Good question. Moon couldn’t risk trying to fly the Arbora out one at a time, and the openings in the wall made a climb up or down impossible. He would have to lead them out the way he had come in, whether it was on fire or not. Then he made out a large dark shape, banking through the smoke, heading back toward the progenitor’s chamber. Uh oh. Ranea was returning and Moon was out of time. “Run, that way!” The startled Arbora stood and Moon gave Merit a push to get him started. “Now! Take the first turn down!”
Dream was just climbing out of the shaft with Snap and Heart behind her. Moon dragged them out and tossed them after the others. He ran after them, keeping his eyes on that dark shape.
Merit reached the open passage in the wall first, the turn into the long spiral ramp that led down through the hive, and looked back to Moon for instructions. Moon waved at him to keep going.
Then he felt a rush of air behind him. Moon somersaulted forward and landed in a crouch. Ranea was barely ten paces away, cupping her wings, coming in to land on the ledge. He shot forward, turning to rake her across the chest with his disemboweling claws. She tumbled backward off the ledge. Moon bounced off the ceiling and dove for the passage down.
It was the long spiral he remembered, leading down toward the bottom of the hive, and he could hear the Arbora about three turns ahead of him. Leaping from wall to wall, Moon felt that familiar constriction in his chest, that pressure, and thought, It’s her, she’s trying to make me shift. Ranea was part queen, and she had the Raksuran queen’s power, just not as strongly as the two mentor-dakti. If she succeeded, he was done for. But he needed her to stay focused on him, and not the Arbora.
He caught up with them at the fifth turn and dropped to the floor to run beside them.
“What is that thing?” Heart asked breathlessly. “What kind of Fell is—”
“It’s another crossbreed, part progenitor, part queen.”
Heart threw him a horrified look. Running just ahead of her, Merit gasped, “I didn’t think this could get worse.”
Oh, it can get much worse, Moon thought. “Just run.”
Around the next turn, a passage in the outer wall glowed with warm daylight. Needle and Dream reached it first and ducked into it; the other Arbora followed.
Moon thought, Damn it, that’s not going to work. They were still too high. There wouldn’t be a way down for the Arbora. Moon darted after them.
The passage opened out onto a broad ledge in the side of the hive that looked out over the pillars and crumbled walls of the main entrance to the ruined city. The curve of the river lay just beyond it, the canyon heavy now with the shadows of late afternoon. “Wrong way, go back!”
“No, no, look!” Needle grabbed his arm, bouncing with excitement. “It’s Jade!”
“What?” Moon turned. Jade and several Aeriat were just flying over the top of the hive. Their colors were oddly mottled and it took Moon a moment to realize they were covered with metal-mud.
Dream and Snap called out in chorus, a sustained high-pitched note. Jade twisted in mid-air, turning to lead the way in a swooping dive directly toward them. The other Aeriat peeled off to circle, and she landed with a thump on the ledge. Her scales were blotchy with metal-mud. She looked exhausted, furious, and beautiful. “Moon—”
Moon hoped she didn’t want a detailed explanation, because there wasn’t time for one. “Quick, she’s coming! Get the Arbora out of here.”
Jade turned to the warriors. “Do it! Take them to our hiding place!”
Floret and Coil swept forward, snatching up Needle and Gift on the wing. Vine, Song, Sand, and Chime landed to get the others. Chime grabbed Heart and asked Moon, “Aren’t you coming?” He sounded breathless with fear and excitement.
“Not yet.” Moon shook his head. “Go, get her out of here.”
“I’ll explain on the way,” Heart told Chime, wrapping her arms around his neck.
As Chime dove off the ledge, Jade said, “Who’s coming?”
He said, “It’s a progenitor, a crossbreed like the mentor-dakti. She’s part queen. We have to kill her.”
Jade hissed, spines flaring. “Did she—”
Moon heard the rush of air from behind him and dropped into a crouch. Ranea slammed through the passage, saw Jade, and leapt straight for her. Jade fell backwards, curling her body up, just as Ranea crashed into her. They tumbled across the ledge in furious struggle. Moon jumped for Ranea’s back, got buffeted back by a wing and thrown against the ledge. He rolled upright just as Jade and Ranea broke apart.
Terrified, he looked at Jade, but she was crouched, hissing through barred fangs, battered but not bleeding. Ranea had rips across both shoulders, her dark scales dotted lightly with blood. She grinned at Jade, her jaw distended to show a startling array of teeth. “Come now, we’re kin. We should be friends.”
Jade grinned back. “I’m going to rip your womb out and eat it.” Then she launched herself at Ranea’s throat.
They tumbled off the ledge in a furious, snarling tangle of wings and tails. Moon dove after them, darting in to rake Ranea’s wings. Ranea obviously couldn’t force Jade to shift, but Pearl had said Raksuran queens couldn’t do that to each other. Moon had been able to resist her so far, but he was willing to bet the warriors couldn’t.
Locked in battle, Jade and Ranea fell far enough to be in danger of crashing into the walls of the ruin. Moon yelled, “Jade, break off!”
Jade tore herself free and Ranea wheeled away, knocking off the top of a pillar before catching the air and banking up. Moon stayed near Jade, circling around while she caught the air again and swooped back up. Ranea was higher in the air, but that wasn’t much of an advantage; she could only close with one of them at a time, and the other could attack her from behind.
“Try to get her up to the top of the hive,” Jade said, as she spiraled up toward him. “The others are—”
Moon lost the rest as Ranea rushed down at them again, heading for Jade.
Moon slipped sideways toward Ranea, taking a swipe at her face. She turned on him with a shriek, and he kicked at her stomach, trying to hook his claws under her scales. She clawed at his legs, nearly getting a grip on him, then jerked back when Jade struck at her from below. Moon twisted away, taking a painful rake across his wing. That ought to do it, he thought, knowing that if she hadn’t been angry enough to follow him before, she was now. He broke off, heading up toward the hive, and Ranea shot after him.