Edge of Worlds

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Moon straightened up out of a crouch, dripping with his own blood and the ruler’s, and saw he had an audience. The fire-blossom device pointed at the sky, illuminating the space above the sunsailer. In its reflected light, several Kish-Jandera, all holding the bulky tubes of the fire weapons, stood on the deck staring at him. They were all strangers, no one he recognized from the flying boat crew. No one shot at him, which was good.

The deck was littered with dead dakti, and Chime perched on the roof of a cabin, breathing hard from exertion. He called anxiously, “Are you all right?”

“Sure.” Moon lifted his right arm and hissed at the pain where the ruler’s claws had pierced his scales. Chime started to jump down to the deck, and Moon said, “No, stay up there. Can you see the others?”

Chime said, “Jade’s killing a ruler over by the wrecked flying boat. River and Song and Balm were fighting off a bunch of dakti toward the groundling camp, or that’s the last place I saw them. The last kethel flew away, and Stone went after it. I lost track of Root and Briar.”

Moon flicked his spines to show he had heard. He turned, trying to look up without using any muscles on the right side of his body. He couldn’t see much from this position, the glare of the light obscuring what moved in the darkness beyond it. Then a door behind him banged open and Kalam stepped out. One of the others called a warning to him but he ignored it and ran up to Moon. He said breathlessly, “Rorra’s on the upper deck. She saw you come down and said you were hurt.”

“No, well yes, but—” Ignoring Moon, Kalam pushed a folded cloth against the worst wound, pressing hard to stop the bleeding. Moon admitted, “All right, that’s actually a good idea. But if I tell you to run—”

“I will,” Kalam promised.

“I can’t see any more rulers or dakti in the air,” Chime reported from the cabin roof. “They might—Oh, Jade’s coming!”

Moon swayed, partly with relief. Careful to sheathe his claws, he put a hand on Kalam’s shoulder to steady himself. One of the Janderan stepped closer and said, “Kalam, you should back away—”

Kalam said, “Tell the physician to get down here. There must be other wounded out there, and on the airship.”

The Janderan hesitated, but then turned back to give the order. Jade banked overhead and spiraled down, the light glinting off her blue scales. Moon was starting to realize how lucky he was the Kishan hadn’t shot a fire weapon at him. They would have seen two nearly identical dark figures hurtling toward them.

Jade landed on the deck. She took in the dripping blood and the dead ruler. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Moon said. “Did you see Root and Briar?”

“They’re on the beach with Stone.” She leaned in to look and Kalam moved the pad so she could see the wound. She grimaced. “How many were aboard your flying boat? Do you know?”

Kalam answered, “There were five aboard. Is it destroyed?” He looked up at Jade, wincing in anticipation of the answer.

She shook her head. “It’s on the ground, but I didn’t get much of a look at it.”

Chime reported, “I see Balm coming this way.”

The cabin door banged open again, and Callumkal came out, followed by another Janderan. As they drew closer, Moon saw she was the healer, Serlam. Callumkal said, “On the beach—Were there survivors? We were lucky that most of the crew decided to sleep here tonight but there were five left on duty aboard—”

“Stone is there now and I’m about to go join him,” Jade said. “Tell your people not to shoot anything in that direction. The Fell are gone and Stone may have to lift the upper portion of the flying boat to look under it. If we find anyone, we’ll bring them here. Will you help Moon?”

“Yes, of course.” Callumkal hesitated, frowning, but apparently was only trying to consider the logistics of helping a person with spines on his back. “Can he change?”

Kalam peeked under the pad again. “He’s still bleeding, but not as badly.”

Jade’s gaze was worried, but Moon didn’t want to delay her. He said, “Kalam, step back.” He didn’t want to fall on him.

Kalam moved away, and Moon shifted. And then things got vague and dim, and his knees started to fold. Callumkal caught him and held him up, and Moon managed to at least look like he was still alert and conscious. “Go on,” he told Jade.

She stepped back, then took a running leap off the deck. Callumkal and Kalam guided Moon through the doorway and then down a wide corridor. Unlike the flying boat, the deck was wood and the walls a dull copper metal. The liquid light bubbles were built into the ceiling and nested in patches of moss.

They half-carried Moon into a cabin with wide padded benches built against the walls, and a braided grass rug on the deck. Callumkal lowered Moon down to the nearest bench. “Are you going to be all right?” he asked.

Gripping the bench, Moon managed a nod. Callumkal took him at his word and left, hopefully to go back out on deck. Moon wanted him out there, keeping any of the nervous Kishan from overreacting and shooting a Raksura. Kalam reappeared, urging Moon to lie down, and stuffing a cushion under his head when he did. Moon pulled up his blood-soaked shirt to see the wound. Kalam made a noise of dismay.

“It looks worse than it is,” Moon tried to croak. He wasn’t in danger; it was just going to be painful until his body could heal it.

Serlam pulled Kalam away and sat down on the bench next to Moon. He hadn’t spoken much to her aboard the flying boat. She was one of the Janderan who had kept her distance. She said, “I don’t suppose you’re going to bite me.”

“Not unless you ask nicely,” Moon told her.

She blinked, then made a huffing noise he assumed was a laugh, and opened her satchel. “I’ve never treated one of you before. Can you tell me what I should do?”

“Just clean it.” She took a wad of folded cloth out of her satchel that smelled astringent. Moon set his jaw and didn’t flinch when she wiped away the blood. Her touch wasn’t rough, but she wasn’t as deft as Merit.

She finished cleaning the wounds, her expression still uncertain. “Are you sure I shouldn’t sew this up?”

Moon was pretty damn sure. “It’s not bleeding anymore because underlayers of skin have already started closing up. It’ll be fine if I don’t rip it open again.” It wasn’t the explanation Merit would have given; Moon had made up the word underlayers himself to describe what he had noted about the way his deeper cuts and slashes healed.

She leaned close, frowning. “Hmm. All right, but I’m going to strap it, just to make sure.”

He let her bandage the bigger wounds, and endured questions like “is your skin supposed to be this hot?” when he had no idea if it was or not. It didn’t feel hot to him and no one else had ever seemed to think it was odd.

Then heavy steps and bumping in the corridor signaled the arrival of Kishan crew members carrying more wounded. “Are they from the flying boat?” Moon asked.

Serlam said, “I don’t know. I have to go. Try to rest, and I’ll check on you later,” collected her bag, and strode out.

Gritting his teeth, Moon levered himself up in time to see three Kish-Jandera carried past, one on a makeshift stretcher. From what he could see, their condition wasn’t good.

“He’s in here,” someone said, and Stone stepped into the cabin.

“What—” Moon grimaced as the slashes and punctures in his side stretched. “The Arbora and Delin?”

“They’re fine.” Stone sat on the bench next to Moon. “Bramble dug in under the tent, literally. There were three paces of sand on top of them. They were still digging out when I left.”

Moon sank back down onto the bench again, too relieved to comment. Whether it was fear or the Arbora talent for doing things thoroughly that had led them to dig so deep, he was glad Bramble hadn’t underestimated the Fell. “What happened at the flying boat?”

“It’s in pieces, and two Kishan were killed, Berkal and Lilan. They were running the big fire weapon that took out the kethel. Esankel was a little banged up, but the other two are in bad shape. The Fell got that smaller flying boat too, the one that was anchored on the island, but there was no one aboard it.” Frowning, Stone looked under the bandage. He tasted the air, possibly looking for scents of poison or infection. He didn’t look like he had been in battle with two kethel, except that maybe his skin was a little grayer than usual. “You need Merit?”

“No.” Moon levered himself up on his elbows again, ignoring the painful pull at his ribcage. He couldn’t talk while he was lying flat on his back. “Did you—” He took a closer look at Stone’s expression. “What?”

Stone sighed. “The Kishan caught a dakti with that projectile weapon they have. They took it off the beach in one of the small boats and are bringing it up on deck now.”

“Caught . . . It’s still alive?” Moon had trouble understanding. “What’s the point of that?”

Stone’s expression was sour. “They want to talk to it.”

Moon hissed, but he knew the Kishan scholars well enough by now to not be entirely surprised. “They realize what they’ll actually be talking to, right?” Individual dakti had feelings and apparently personalities of their own, but they acted as conduits for their rulers, and probably for their progenitors, too. Something else would be seeing and speaking through the dakti’s body.

Stone grimaced. “There’s realizing it, and there’s understanding what it means.” He threw a wary glance toward the doorway. “I wish your birthqueen were here.”

Moon suddenly found himself defensive and he had no idea why. Maybe because he had been wishing Malachite was here too, and didn’t like to hear Stone articulate that hidden thought. “Why? Even Malachite can’t kill a ruler by talking to it through a dakti.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Stone said.

Stone started to stand, and Moon held out a hand. “Help me up, I want to hear this.” Stone’s expression was not encouraging. Moon glared. “Come on, we know more about Fell than anybody here. And it’s not like the rulers didn’t see us already.”

Stone said, “Don’t think you’re fooling anybody with that ‘we’ bit. You think you know more about the Fell than anybody here,” but took Moon’s arm and hauled him to his feet.

Stone helped Moon out to the corridor. Moon scented Fell, but the door was open onto the deck and the whole island and the sea between here and the escarpment stank of Fell right now. “How did they breathe under three paces of sand?” Moon asked suddenly, remembering the Arbora’s hiding spot. “And how did they keep Delin breathing?”

“I don’t know,” Stone admitted. “Sometimes I wonder about the Arbora.”

Sometimes Moon did too. They limped out onto the deck where the wind had died and the hanging fluid-lights glowed steadily. The fire blossom in the sky had faded but distance-lights on the upper decks swept the air and the beach. Jade was out there, with Balm and Chime, still in their winged forms. Balm had long scrapes and scratches on her arms, but didn’t look wounded anywhere else. Moon was beginning to think his decision to grapple with a Fell ruler all the way down to the sunsailer was possibly not the best choice. Calumkal, Kellimdar, and Vendoin stood with half a dozen of the Kishan crew. The mast of one of the smaller boats was just visible above the railing.

Moon heard Kellimdar say, “I feel we should apologize, but we truly saw no sign the Fell were still in this area.” He sounded genuinely regretful.

Callumkal said, “They were waiting for our return, clearly. But how did they know?”

Jade said, “That’s a good question. You know they could have put one of your people, a Kish-Jandera, under their influence and set them to spy on you.”

“That should have been impossible,” Kellimdar told her. “Our arcanist, Avagram, was alert for such deceptions when we were on our way here. He died before we arrived, but there was no chance of the Fell abducting anyone and returning them while we were underway.”

“It could have happened before we left Kedmar,” Callumkal said before Jade could. “We weren’t as careful then, not suspecting the Fell might be interested in our actions.”

“Perhaps the Fell were attracted by the Raksura,” Vendoin said. There was a pause as Callumkal and even Kellimdar stared at her, startled by the suggestion. Jade’s spines started to lift.

Vendoin raised her hands. “I did not mean deliberately attracted! I meant, perhaps the Fell thought we sought out the Raksura because they knew the way into the city, and acted because of that.”

Jade, having spent a good portion of the night saving groundlings from Fell, managed to lower her spines with difficulty. “It’s possible,” she said, an edge to her tone that could have cut bone.

“Since I was the one who invited the Raksura to come here,” Callumkal pointed out, grimly, “I ask that we put this discussion off until later.”

“Perhaps after my consort’s blood is washed off the deck,” Jade added, still eyeing Vendoin.

“I meant no offense,” Vendoin said.

Moon sighed. For someone who didn’t mean any offense, Vendoin had picked the worst time to cause it.

Chime glanced back, saw them, and stepped over to Moon with a relieved wince. “Are you all right? You don’t look all right.”

“If I move around, it’ll heal faster,” Moon said. It sounded right.

Chime’s concerned expression turned exasperated. “No, not really.”

Moon didn’t want to argue so he didn’t reply. Balm threw a worried glance at them and nudged Jade’s arm. Jade looked over her shoulder, did a double-take, and glared at Moon. He glared back.

Jade wasn’t able to take any action because the winch extending off the upper deck creaked as two crew members turned the wheel at its base. It hauled something in a net up off the small boat, and Moon caught the scent of burned dakti. All the attention shifted to the rail.

The net swung over and was lowered to the deck. Wary armed Kishan surrounded it and the dakti trapped inside snarled at them. It was still in its winged form, small compared to an adult warrior. It had armored plates on its back and shoulders instead of scales, and it had a long jaw and a double row of fangs. Moon had seen dakti in their groundling form, which was not particularly prepossessing either. It moved like it was injured, but wasn’t showing any emotion except anger and what was probably a thwarted desire to eat groundlings.

Jade stepped forward with Callumkal. Balm moved a step sideways, putting herself between the dakti and Moon, Chime, and Stone.

Callumkal asked Jade, “How do we begin?” He sounded a little uncertain and Moon thought, Good. Overconfidence wasn’t going to help anything.

The angle of Jade’s spines suggested that if they had to do this, they might as well do it thoroughly. She said, “Just wait. There’s no point speaking to the dakti itself.”

Watching uneasily, Kellimdar said, “Does it understand us? If the rulers won’t speak through it, perhaps we could offer to release it to carry a message to them.”

Jade flicked her spines in a negative. “It’s hard to explain, but that wouldn’t work.”

The dakti would know the rulers would probably kill it for showing that much initiative. Moon figured all the dakti who were capable of thinking for themselves and resisting a ruler’s commands were either dead, or had slipped away from their flights and were living happy though lonely lives in a forest somewhere.

Callumkal said, “I’ve heard speculation that they are a group mind, incapable of individual thought. Delin said it was a theory, but nothing was known for certain.”

Jade’s spines relaxed a little at these signs of understanding. “He’s right, we don’t know, for certain. They act as a group mind much of the time, share memories with each other. But sometimes the rulers act as individuals, so we don’t know who has the control, if it’s a group of the rulers or the progenitor or . . . something else. But the dakti and kethel have been bred to be obedient.”

Moon heard Rorra’s boots on the deck behind them and a moment later she stepped up beside Chime. She must not have heard about the dakti, because her expression was wide-eyed and incredulous. She muttered something in a language Moon didn’t know. It sounded exasperated.

Then the dakti stirred and stretched its head up.

Everyone went still. The dakti’s mouth opened and its throat worked. A voice, grating and hollow, said, “So here we are.”

Moon’s skin prickled as if he had just been dipped into freezing water. No matter how many times he had seen a ruler do this, it never got easier. Maybe because the dakti clearly had no choice, no identity once the ruler took over. Maybe because it seemed so easy for the Fell to give up that identity.

Callumkal said, “And who are you?”

The voice said, “A friend. You seem sorely in need of friends.” It would have been a chilling moment, but Stone made a disparaging noise in his throat clearly audible to everyone on the deck.

The Fell spoke in Altanic. Fell always spoke their prey’s language, which meant this flight might come from the eastern peninsula, where that was the most common trade language among groundlings. It also might mean it came from closer to Kish, and just didn’t want to reveal that by speaking Kedaic. Or possibly Moon was overthinking this.

Jade leaned toward Callumkal and said, keeping her voice low, “They always speak that way to groundlings, at first. They always call themselves friends.”

Callumkal made a gesture of assent. “So I’ve heard.”

Kellimdar whispered, “It’s disturbing to see it in practice.”

Moon felt the tension in his chest ease a little. Chime, who had apparently been holding his breath this entire time, gasped.

Callumkal raised his voice to say, “We are in need of friends. We’ve just been attacked by Fell.”

The ruler who spoke through the hapless dakti said, “We attacked the Raksura.”

Rorra, standing with her arms folded, snorted in derision. Callumkal said, “The flying craft did not belong to the Raksura.”

Moon sensed the mood on the deck turn from uncertainty and fear to something more grimly angry. All the Kishan were focused on the dakti, and no one looked at the Raksura. Moon suspected the loss of the flying boat and the dead and injured crew aboard it was not going to be easily excused by any of them. It was a relief.

“So what did they want, then?” Chime whispered. “They could have approached the Kishan like they normally do, tried to trick them. Why attack openly?”

It was a good question. Moon noticed Rorra leaning close to listen. He said, “Maybe because they’re Kishan. Maybe the Fell thought it wouldn’t do any good to try to trick them.”

Stone muttered, “It’s not going to be that simple.”

The fact that the ruler hadn’t answered immediately was telling. Though what it was telling, Moon wasn’t sure. Then it said, “It can’t be discussed in this manner. We must meet with you.”

Callumkal didn’t appear convinced by that argument. “I’m having no trouble discussing it in this manner. Just tell me what you want from us.”

There was a pause. “We want to help you enter the city.”

Callumkal’s whole body went tense. He looked at Kellimdar, who shook his head and muttered in Kedaic, “Playing with us like toys.”

Callumkal said to the dakti, “You have an odd way of helping us, destroying our flying craft, killing our people.”

The Fell said, “That was the Raksura. They attacked us.”

Moon wanted to growl and managed not to. Fortunately, Callumkal and Kellimdar, whatever his doubts, didn’t appear to believe any of it. Callumkal said, “We don’t want your help.”

The Fell said, “But you want to enter the city.”

Jade flicked her spines impatiently. “If you want to help, tell them where the door of the city is. On top of the escarpment? Somewhere on a cliff? Around the base where the water meets the rock? Tell us.”

The dakti made a choking noise, coughed up a dark gout of blood, then collapsed. Most of the Kishan flinched back. After the dakti lay still for a moment, a Janderan approached cautiously and poked it with the butt of a fishing spear. It didn’t move. She said, “It’s not breathing.”

The other Kishan cautiously moved closer. Stone tasted the air, and said in Raksuran, “It’s dead, all right.”

“Abrupt way to end a conversation,” Callumkal said sourly. He turned to Jade. “Will they be back tonight?”

“I don’t know.” She glanced at the sky. “But they will be back.”

“So why did they bother to talk?” Moon asked Stone. Chime leaned over to listen to the answer. “To see if we were still allies with the Kishan?”

“Maybe,” Stone said. “Maybe they just wanted to see how badly we wanted to get into the city.”

Jade had managed to sound skeptical and indifferent about the prospect, and Callumkal had made it clear he wasn’t interested in help from the Fell. But that didn’t tell them when the Fell would attack next, or how.

“They want to keep us here. That’s why they destroyed the flying boat,” Chime said, keeping his voice low. “We could have put all the groundlings on it and taken off downwind, and the Fell couldn’t have tracked us. Now, they have us trapped.”

Balm glanced back, her expression grim. “Hush.”

“They were testing us,” Callumkal was telling the Kishan crew. “Testing our weapons, testing the Raksura.”

Someone said, “But was that all of them? If it was, we can hold them off here.”

Everyone looked at Jade. Her spines tried to rise and she forced them back into a neutral position. She said, “I don’t know. They might have held back part of the flight.”

Balm said, “We need to know where they’ve nested. If it’s nearby, I don’t know, maybe we could get close enough to see how many there actually are.”

“That’s a big maybe,” Stone said. He added, under his breath to Moon, “But it’s a good idea.”

It was a good idea. Moon wondered if Callumkal had a map showing nearby islands, or if there were any flying islands in this area.

Chime muttered, “It’s a good idea but I don’t like it.”

“But why would the Fell attack now?” Callumkal said. “I thought if they were truly here watching, they must be waiting to see if we could open the city.”

Jade said, “That’s a good question.” After a moment of thoughtful silence, it was apparent no one had an answer.

They did this for a reason, Moon thought. The Fell had been tracking this expedition for a long time, watching it, waiting until the flying boat returned. They hadn’t just gotten hungry and taken off to see how many groundlings they could grab. They have a plan. Or they had a plan, and something went wrong.

Moon heard a disturbance in the water, but Stone said, “It’s the other small boat.”

A Kishan posted on the upper deck called out and swung a light around. Rorra hurried to the rail, calling, “Lower the boarding ladder!”

River, Briar, and Song climbed up over the railing without waiting for help. River glanced around the deck, then went to Jade. “The Arbora and Delin are with the groundlings in the boat. Bramble wouldn’t let us fly, she said the Kishan would shoot us.” Fortunately for their relationship with Callumkal and Kellimdar, he said this in Raksuran.

Jade just said, “Good.”

At the rail, Rorra gave Delin a hand up, as Merit and Bramble scrambled over. Both Arbora were in their groundling forms; probably Bramble being cautious again. Magrim and two more Janderan followed Delin up the boarding ladder. Callumkal asked them, “Is anything salvageable?”

“Some of the supplies that were on board, yes, and we were able to find all the levitation packs,” Magrim reported. He looked weary, and his pants and the sleeves of his shirt were dusted with sand, as if he had been digging in the wreckage. “But the ship itself, no. The motivators were torn loose from the hull. That’s what caused it to fall.”

Merit spotted Moon’s injuries immediately and hurried across the deck toward him. “What happened? Let me see.” Bramble followed him, making worried exclamations.

Moon fended Merit off. “No, it’s fine.” Delin had joined Jade, Callumkal, and Kellimdar and was speaking urgently and Moon wanted to hear.

At that point Balm came up and took Moon’s arm firmly. “Jade said to go back inside and let Merit look at you or she won’t let you help anymore. She says to take Bramble with you.”

That was just unfair. Moon said, “That isn’t—”

Callumkal was telling Jade, “Let’s go inside and speak of this. We need the chief navigator and the maps before we can come to any decision.” He turned to Kellimdar. “Will you make sure the crew is prepared for another attack?”

Stone tugged Moon along, and Moon relented, since the action seemed to be moving inside anyway. Maybe he would feel better if he sat down. As they reached the hatchway, Delin caught up with them and said in Raksuran, “I had an idea, while we were under the sand. I think that may be where the entrance is.”

Confused, Chime said, “Under the—You mean the sand underwater, at the base of the cliffs? Where the stairs were?”

“Yes. Stone could see no indication of a door or opening, but perhaps it was even lower.” Delin lifted his brows. “Could Stone dig underwater?”

Stone’s sigh was more than half growl, causing the Kishan waiting in the corridor to edge uneasily away. He said, “Stone thinks Delin needs to make up his mind whether he wants to get into this city or stay out of it.”

Resigned, Delin said, “Stone is right.”

Kalam waited in the corridor, and told them they could have the cabin where the healer had treated Moon. The choice was good for the Raksura, since it was close to the hatchway and the open deck. Moon was about to point that out when he got dumped onto a bench, half-smothered with cushions, and told to stay put while Merit examined his wound.

Delin and Callumkal and the other Kishan headed on down the corridor, but Jade turned to the warriors. “Does anyone need Merit to look at their injuries? Do you need to rest, or can you go outside on guard?”

Everyone flicked their spines in a negative. They were all keeping to their winged forms so whatever cuts and bruises they had would heal faster. Briar said, “I don’t think I could sleep if I tried.”

Root added, “I’m kind of hungry.”

Bramble, stowing their packs under a bench, said, “That I can do something about.”

Jade smiled and gave Root’s shoulder an affectionate shake. “I want Briar, River, and Song on watch outside, on the upper decks. Balm, come with me, and Chime, stay here with Moon and Stone. Root, stay out on that lower deck for now, in front of that hatchway.”

The warriors went out and Jade turned to Stone. “You’re staying here?”

“For now.” Stone dropped down on another bench. “I’m going to take a nap.”

Jade turned to Moon and he said, “I’m staying here too.”

“You’d better.” She stepped close to look over Merit’s shoulder.

Merit had pulled up the bandage and spread a sweet-smelling simple on the slashes that immediately dulled and eased the pain. He asked Jade, “Do you think they’d let me help with the groundling wounded?”

“Maybe. We can ask.” Jade brushed her hand against Moon’s cheek, and then left with Balm. Merit hastily gathered his satchel and hurried after them.

Bramble watched her go, frowning. “She’s worried.”

Chime folded his arms, and his spines flicked nervously. “Should I go out on watch too?”

“No, you should do what Jade told you and stay with Moon,” Bramble said. She stood and went to Kalam, who still waited uncertainly beside the door. The conversation had been in Raksuran, so he would have understood none of it. She said in Altanic, “Can you find us some food? The warriors will need to eat soon.”

Kalam looked relieved to be able to help. “Yes, I’ll show you.”

As they left, Moon’s tense muscles relaxed. His eyelids felt heavy and he had a distinct feeling that it had something to do with whatever Merit had put on his wound. If it made it heal faster, he was all for it. Stone was lying on the bench across the room, asleep or just resting. Chime was still standing there, and Moon patted the bench beside him.

Chime hesitated, then shifted to groundling, and came over to sit on the bench. He slumped a little, his clothes still damp from the swim across the cove. In his groundling form, it was easy to see his eyes were a little too bright and he was trembling. Moon knew then why Jade had wanted Chime to stay in here. He had been all right out on deck, but the reaction was setting in and Jade had seen it.

Moon managed to heave his almost inert body over a little, and said, “Lie down, there’s room.”

Chime winced and rubbed his eyes. “I’m supposed to be on watch.”

“Root’s on watch.” Moon tugged on the back of Chime’s shirt. Chime gave in and lay down on the bench, his back to Moon’s side, but pressing close. Moon settled in and let his mind drift. After a long moment, Chime took a deep breath and relaxed. The corridor was noisy, with Kishan going back and forth, but it was a reassuring sound. Not long after Chime stopped trembling, Moon slid into sleep.