Other figures were stirring out in the gathering shadows, though. Lander's teeth ground together as he peered through the ragged gap in the thatch. Hanibaz and Mosi were finally shaking off the effects of whatever magic Veseene-it could only have been Veseene-had blasted them with. Hanibaz had his wand out. Lander felt an urge to shout out to Veseene and Tycho, to warn them. The two bards seemed completely caught up in their music and entirely unaware of the recovering wizards.
But Hanibaz hopped suddenly from one foot to the other, looking at the ground and cursing. Mosi looked down, too, and hissed audibly. The veil of flames around him winked out. Lander sat forward, peering through the gap and trying to see whatever it was they saw.
His knees came down in a pool of ice-cold water. He gasped and rocked back again. Outside, Mosi called out a word and bright light flared.
It flashed across dark water. Rapidly rising dark water. Lander's knees weren't the only things wet now. The water was rising in the collapsed shelter as surely as it was outside. "Brin!"
The ranting halfling was standing on a sloping board. He turned around and slipped, hitting the water with a solid splash-and a scream so loud the water might have been boiling! He leaped for Lander. "It's the sea!" he shrieked "The sea is rising! Get us out!"
This time there was no point in protesting. Whatever dangers there might be outside, they were preferable to drowning in a pigsty! Lander sloshed around in the water-it had filled a third of their little space in just moments-getting his legs under himself and bracing his arms against the fallen roof. He heaved.
It didn't budge.
"Harder!" shouted Brin. He was back on his sloping board, huddled desperately as high above the water as he could get without clinging to the roof itself. His eye was wild. Lander glared at him.
"You could help!"
Brin hissed like a wet cat and whipped a nasty little knife out of his belt. "Lift!" he spat. "Or you won't have to worry about drowning!"
Lander stared at the knife, then at the wild-eyed half-ling, and heaved again, straining with all his strength.
Icy water soaked into his wounded hip. His leg spasmed. He went over, slipping under the water. He righted himself hastily, shaking water out of his hair, and thrust as hard as he could against the roof. The water was at his belly now. "Wait," Brin said desperately, "it's wood, right? Wood will float, won't it? You'll be able to lift it then."
"It's thatch over the wood," growled Lander. "When it's wet, it's heavier!"
Brin wailed. Lander cursed as he slammed his shoulder against the roof. The water was at his chest-his shoulders. It clamped him in cold. Through the narrow gap, he could see pigs struggling in the water. Terrified squeals and shrieks echoed around Veseene's song. Brin wailed louder with each one. "Be quiet!" Lander yelled finally. "Be quiet!" There was another sound in the air- the alarmed shouts of men. Who…? Lander bent down and peered through the very corner of the gap. Men were stirring at the far side of the sty. The extra thugs Brin had called in, the ones that Tycho had put to sleep with a single spell-the cold water was waking them.
"Hey!" he screamed. "Over here! Help us! Help us!"
The only response he got was a frightened glance. Most of the men took one look at the wizards and the singing bard, and waded quickly through the waters toward the door into the Eel. The first one heaved it open-and was met by a wave of water. The festhaU was flooded, too! The water in the sty rose sharply. The thugs yelled and struggled on, making their escape. Veseene kept singing.
"Li!" Tycho's shout drew Li's attention. He spun away from Yu Mao and looked.
A shining light flashed up out of the alley like a comet, bright fabric a flickering tail. Li hissed. The Yellow Silk! He lunged toward it.
But Yu Mao had heard the shout and seen the light as well. He leaped forward, landing in a crouch and bringing his leg up in a sweeping kick that caught Li in the belly. The blow sent him flying backward across the pitch of the roof. Slates cracked and skittered under him, the broken edges shredding his clothes and slicing into his back. He gasped, and gasped again.
The Yellow Silk, given weight by whatever Tycho had wrapped it around, hit the roof and bounced. The fabric fell loose and a stone fell out to roll over the edge. The Silk slid to a limp stop, alone and ignored. He twisted toward it-and Yu Mao sprang at him.
Li pushed back hard against the roof and flipped up to his feet, dao meeting butterfly blades with a discordant ring. He twisted away from the block and stepped higher onto the slope of the roof, trying to get around Yu Mao. His brother flung out an arm and a sword. Li parried, knocking the blow aside, but another hard blow followed. "Ayeh! " shouted Yu Mao. "Ayeh! Ayeh!" Each blow forced Li a little farther away from the Yellow Silk and a little higher on the roof until he was straddling its very peak.
The sun was under the horizon now. Purple twilight lay across Spandeliyon-Li could see across the waterfront and most of dockside. Down in the shadows, there was music. Tycho's strilling. And a song, a beautiful song. Veseene! The power of her music spread out into the night like the wind of a storm.
Some small part of that power touched him, too, surging through his heart and blood. Li drew a deep breath and clenched his fist tight around his dao as Yu Mao stepped up to the ridge of the roof. His eyes were narrow and hard. His butterfly swords were raised for a killing blow.
Li looked at his brother. "Why?" he asked again. "Why throw everything away to join pirates? Why murder the expedition from Keelung when you could have been first among them?"
Yu Mao's reply hissed between his teeth. "Because I was tired of being the first among them!" Li froze. Yu Mao's face writhed with hate and anger. "I said you wouldn't understand! Younger children never do! What was the name of Kuang for you? Something to be proud of, a key to open doors. For me it was the lock on a prison." Butterfly swords slashed the air. "Always perfect, always the heir. When you're older, Yu Mao, you must do this. When you lead the family, you must do that. This will be your house. Mei will be your wife. And what was there to do but nod and obey? I was the responsible elder son of Kuang, molded by the family, the traditions of eighteen generations of elder sons pressing down on me from dawn to dusk and in all but my deepest dreams."
He pointed a steady sword at Li. "No more. All my dreams are free. Now I'm the first generation!"
"Yu Mao-"
"What do you know of the weight of family, Li Chien?"
Li's jaw tightened. "Family," he said, "sent me to kill my brother." Yu Mao sneered-and thrust out, thrust high, the butterfly swords cutting deadly, spreading arcs through the air.
"Ayeh!"
Li swayed away from one flashing blade and swept his dao up against the other. His empty hand punched forward, forcing Yu Mao to dodge back. He whirled around, swinging the dao with all of his strength. "HrahfYu Mao got a sword up. It turned the blow, but only barely. Yu Mao staggered and Li pressed him, swinging again. "Hrah!"
His brother dropped. Both butterfly swords came up this time. Straight up, the hooks along their backs catching the dao. Yu Mao twisted his massive forearms and the blades locked together. He stared up at Li. "When you see our honored ancestors," he said, "let them know I won't be joining them."
With a heave of his shoulders, he wrenched the dao away and sent it plunging over the edge of the roof. Yu Mao surged back to his feet. Li flung himself aside as the butterfly swords chopped down.