“Do what?” Aimi said.
They’d been butting heads for weeks now, but there was real concern in her eyes. For a brief moment Keelin considered telling her everything. He considered telling her how his father had torn their family apart, about how Keelin had spent the last ten years hunting down the Arbiter who had murdered his sister. He couldn’t though. He couldn’t let her see his greatest weakness. Keelin had built his entire piratical career on secrets and lies. His identity was a lie, his life was a lie. Now he thought about it, there was very little that was true in his life.
“Keelin,” Aimi said insistently. “Do what?”
Drawing in a ragged breath, Keelin composed himself. He looked down at the little woman in front of him and shook his head. “Go with the others. I will be back here by this time tomorrow.”
“No.”
Aimi stood her ground, her hands balled into fists at her side. Keelin was acting erratically, and the last thing she was about to do was let the fool run off on his own. Aimi wasn’t the type to bandy around romantic clichés, but she was sure of one thing – she liked the captain a lot more than as a friend, and despite his recent spell of acting like an arse, she couldn’t let him go off on his own. They’d already lost Feather and Bronson.
The captain fixed her with a steely glare, but Aimi held fast, though the intensity made her want to shrink away and join the others like a nice, meek crew member. It would take more than a stern eyeballing to scare her off.
“Jolan,” Keelin said, his stare still on Aimi. “I have an errand to run elsewhere in the city. Make certain Aimi does not follow me.”
“Fuck that!” Aimi spat.
“Smithe…” Keelin said.
“You can’t just…” Aimi threw out her arms to push Keelin’s chest, but he caught her hands and twisted her aside, sending her stumbling towards the others. A moment later two thick arms wrapped around her, holding tight.
“Smithe. Find us some treasure to take back,” Keelin continued. “As much as we can carry.”
“Damnit, Keelin,” Aimi shouted, struggling against Jolan’s grip only for it to tighten. “You simpering gull fart, you can’t just fuck off on ya own.”
Without another word, Keelin turned and leapt towards the nearest vine, climbing upwards hand over hand. Aimi struggled, but Jolan held her tight. Everyone else just watched the captain climb up and up, until he made it to the rooftop and disappeared from sight.
Aimi stopped struggling and Jolan relaxed his grip a little. The pirate smelled of sweat and fear, and it made her stomach curdle. She went limp with a heavy sigh, and Jolan loosened his grip a little more.
“Sorry, lass,” he said quietly. “Captain’s orders an’ all.”
“Uh huh,” Aimi grunted, a moment before hooking her left leg around Jolan’s and throwing her body back with as much force as she could muster.
Jolan stumbled and tripped, taking Aimi with him, and hit the ground. His grip released and Aimi rolled free in an instant, springing to her feet and running towards the same vine that Keelin had climbed. Someone shouted something behind her, but Aimi was no longer listening. She leapt for the vine and raced up it as fast as her hands and feet could take her. No one aboard The Phoenix could climb rigging even half as fast as Aimi, and it seemed climbing vines was no different.
The plant was rough and slimy to the touch, and by the time Aimi reached the rooftop her hands were stinging. She ignored the pain. The building had a flat roof, and much of it was crumbling away as the tree that had taken residence inside squeezed through the bricks. Aimi knew it took time, but she was always amazed by how destructive a simple tree could be when it really tried. It rose up behind her, providing shade from the midday sun. Before her stood a city the likes of which she’d never seen before.
The size of HwoyonDo put even Larkos to shame. The city stretched out forever, far into the horizon. Buildings rose high and then higher, and they were all interconnected with the stone bridges Aimi had seen from the ground. From her vantage point she could see that the forest was starting to reclaim the city in many places and, even further in, the buildings were coloured green by nature’s advances – vines, trees, and moss all working to take back what humans had once stolen.
Aimi looked upon the wonder of HwoyonDo, and nowhere did she see Keelin. How he’d disappeared from sight she didn’t know, but he was gone, and there were no tracks to be found on the rooftop.
A cooing noise caught Aimi’s attention, and she turned to see a large bird sitting on a nearby roof, watching her every movement with beady black eyes. The creature was unnerving, to say the least, and not just because it was the size of a small dog. Aimi did her best to ignore the beasty as she wandered over the rooftop, looking for signs of where Keelin might have gone.
By the time Aimi descended the same vine she’d used to climb up, her hands were red, sore, and blistered. She trudged towards the group in a stupor, and could barely find the energy to apologise to Jolan.
“Bloody hurt, ya little bitch,” the pirate said, looking very indignant. “I was only following orders.”
“Sorry,” Aimi said, collapsing into a cross-legged heap on the ground.
“Ah, it’s alright. Didn’t hurt that much.” Jolan smiled. “You feeling alright?”
“My hands hurt,” she admitted, showing her palms to the pirate.
Elaina’s priest rushed forwards, tutting and fussing and demanding to have a closer look at Aimi’s hands. She let him, focusing on the conversation going on between the others, led by Smithe.
“There’s gotta be a palace or something. Place where all the best loot is kept,” Smithe argued.
“HwoyonDo has no palace,” Kebble said quietly. The marksman looked as though he were carrying the weight of the city on his shoulders. “There is the Sky Spire, but I cannot be certain the traps will have lost their potency.”
“Traps?” said Alfer Boharn, Elaina’s quartermaster.
“Yes,” Kebble continued. “Magical in nature and designed to resist intruders and thieves. I believe we would be considered both.”
“So stay away from this spire then?” said Smithe.
“I would suggest just that. The temple may have some riches remaining. Many would travel to pay tribute to the god.”
Alfer sucked in a hissing breath. “Ain’t wise to steal from gods. Some don’t take kindly to such.”
“Where’s Elaina?” Aimi said as Pavel wrapped strips of cloth around her blistered hands.
“Huh?” Smithe grunted. He looked around. All seven of those who remained turned this way and that, looking for the missing captain. Elaina Black was gone.
“Cap?” Alfer shouted, his voice echoing a little in the distance but receiving no reply.
Pavel tied off the bandages and stood, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other as though he really needed to piss. Aimi pushed to her feet and went to stand next to Kebble. He was the only one of them who didn’t look worried.
Chapter 37 - The Phoenix
Keelin passed from building to building, barely taking any notice of their contents. Rooms blurred together as he entered through one skybridge to leave across another, always towards the Observatory. His hands were blistered from the climb up the vine, but it was only a minor distraction. Up on the roof he’d seen the Observatory standing tall amidst a sea of smaller buildings. It was obvious even to his eye, with its rounded roof and the broken remains of what had once been a giant monoscope that the scholars of HwoyonDo had used to study the heavens.
Keelin raised his hand against the glare as he stepped out onto a skybridge. Inside, the light was dim and the atmosphere cloying. Outside, so high up, the air was crisp and the sun was bright.