City of Ice (27 page)

They were all in need of a rest after the battering they had taken, but there was no time. With grim purpose, they unfolded the straw wing again as the Dancers circled curiously. After they had gotten on it, through pantomime the children and Kles politely requested aid in launching it.

The Dancers seemed to understand, because they raised the edges, more and more of them sliding underneath the exposed wing's belly and lifting it so even more Dancers could slip in and join the effort.

Leech grasped some straw loops as the wing rose jerkily, higher and higher. The Dancers seemed to think it was great sport, flocking in from all sides to add their strength until there were a hundred of them dangling from beneath the wing. All of them fluttering their tails excitedly.

Higher and higher the Dancers took them until they were looking down at the surface of the storm. It roiled like a pot of boiling milk, snowflakes slopping over the edges and cascading downward.

“I think this is high enough,” Bayang said. “They can let go now.”

Leech passed the message on to the Dancer rising beside them with both words and pantomime. However, when the wing still kept going up Scirye gave it a try and then Kles.

“How far are they going to carry us?” Scirye asked, glancing over the side.

“I'm not sure I want to find out,” Kles said.

Koko drummed his heels on the straw mat. “Why can't anything ever go right?”

“Maybe if we rock from side to side, we can break their grip,” Bayang suggested. She started to shift on her haunches. The others copied her, but though the wing tilted from left to right and back again, the Dancers' hold was unshakable.

Suddenly the clouds overhead began to shred as if puppies were tearing the stuffing out of a cushion, and the air turned choppy. The edges of the wings began to flap.

“Not another one of Roland's traps,” Koko groaned.

“I am Naue, swiftest of winds, never tiring, always laughing,” boomed Naue. He pounced on them with a roar like a locomotive thundering down the tracks.

“Oh, great Naue, kindest of winds,” Bayang said, “we're very glad to see you.”

“Brother Naue,” said a wind in a voice like the bass pipes of an organ, “how do these lumplings know your name?”

“Ho, brothers and sisters, these little lumplings are my friends,” Naue shouted. “We had so much fun on the way up here, for is not Naue the jolliest of winds?”

As the other winds joined Naue in circling around them, the sky became so turbulent that the wing swayed crazily and the Dancers not holding on to the wing were tumbled helplessly one way and then the other.

“This is w-worse than Roland's storm,” Leech said, fighting desperately to hold on to the straps.

“Hey, you big blowhard, paws—I mean hands—Look, just back off,” Koko hollered.

“And that lumpling is the noisy one,” Naue added.

“I've heard noisier,” another wind said in a loud but reedy voice.

“Listen to this, though,” Naue said.

“Oof,” the badger gasped as an invisible tentacle coiled around his waist and jerked him up from the wing. Kicking his hind paws, the badger desperately clung to the straw loops. “Let me go,” he screamed.

“You can do better than that, Noisy Lumpling.” Naue sounded disappointed. Koko's belly sagged inward as Naue squeezed the badger like a squeaky toy. “Come on; come on.”

“Let's see who can make him squeal the loudest!” a third wind screeched, whose voice was like fingernails on a chalk-board. The badger began to jerk back and forth in mid-air as the third wind tried to pull him from Naue and Naue refused to let Koko go.

Afraid for his friend's life, Leech spoke up quickly: “Excuse me, great Naue and Naue's wonderful brothers and sisters, we need your help. We asked the Dancers to take us up into the sky and now they won't let go. We have to get to Nova Hafnia right away.”

“Is that what you call them? Well, it's as good a name as any,” Naue observed merrily. “I know them of old. Once they grab an idea, they don't always let go. Why didn't you ask Naue, kindest of winds?”

“You didn't tell us how to contact you,” Bayang said.

“That is just like you, Naue, ‘most forgetful of winds.'” A fourth wind laughed in a rumble like a kettledrum.

“True, true,” Naue said proudly. As long as an insult was a superlative, the words didn't seem to hold any sting. He plopped Koko back on the wing. “But I am here now. And there is no thief craftier. Shall I steal you from the Dancers?”

“Let's make it a game,” the second wind suggested. “Everyone must obey the one who can free your friends.”

“Me first, me first,” the second wind said, and tried to yank the wing away from the Dancers' grasp. To Leech's alarm, a foot-wide chunk of woven straw ripped off and whirled upward.

“No, no, no, not that way,” the third wind objected. She tore the wing away from the second and began to twist the wing round and round as if it were the top of a screw.

The fourth shook the wing up and down so that Leech and the others bounced up and down like popcorn in a red-hot kettle.

“My silly brothers and sisters, the contest isn't about being the strongest,” Naue mocked, “but the cleverest.” Instead of attacking the Dancers gripping the wing, he began to swirl around, gathering up the loose Dancers like cards and packing the surprised creatures together into a dense gleaming ball. Then he hurled them away through the torn clouds.

Immediately, the other Dancers let go of the wing and swarmed up to attack Naue.

“I have won the bet, so you must pay the forfeit. And this is my command: The losers must keep the Dancers from bothering me,” Naue ordered, and swept around the wing, lifting it in an upward diagonal.

Leech turned to see the Dancers flashing angrily as Naue's kin flung them back and forth to one another like a team of jugglers.

“Naue,” Leech called guiltily to the wind, “will the Dancers be all right?”

“You can't kill them,” Naue said. “They're just going to be held long enough to let us get away.”

“Sorry about this,” Leech shouted to the Dancers, “but we have to get going. Thank you for all your rescuing.”

Koko was lying flat on his back on the wing, looking very sick. “Oog. I am swearing off roller coasters for good.”

Scirye felt crushed, her eyes tearing up in frustration. “We came all this way to catch Roland and he still got the treasure and then got away.”

Koko threw up his paws. “Yeah, we might as well have saved ourselves the trip.”

“The chase still isn't over,” Leech said to them. “According to the goddess, he must be heading to the City of Death.”

“What a lousy name,” Koko said. “Why didn't the chamber of commerce change it?”

“Because it's a sacred site where a great battle took place,” Kles snapped.

“Ah,” Naue said, “you talk much about the Roland lumpling and his half lumpling of a dragon. Do we race them?”

“Yes,” Leech said eagerly. “Let's go.”

Within Scirye's coat, Kles murmured to her, “I wonder how much of the buffoon is just a pose?”

Scirye was beginning to wonder herself. “I'm not so sure myself,” she whispered. “Naue
does
like to play games.”

Bayang shook her head. “I'm sorry, Leech. I want to catch Roland as much as you, but we need to get help for Upach first and let Prince Tarkhun and Lady Miunai know where she and their daughter are. So it's Nova Hafnia first.”

“I guess you're right,” Leech said, “but I hate to see them get such a head start on us.”

“Even with a lead, wondrous Naue can chase down any nasty, foul-smelling machine lumplings make,” Naue said.

“And let's pick up some eats too,” Koko said. “I can't eat just air like some windbags I know.”

On Naue's back, they flew swiftly toward Nova Hafnia. The frozen harbor resembled a crescent moon as the ice gleamed in the moonlight. Scirye was glad to see that the Mounties on their owls were elsewhere.

“Oh, great and generous Naue, we have to leave for a short while,” Bayang addressed the wind respectfully. “Will you wait here and pick us up when we come back?”

Naue swung in a lazy circle. “No one should expect a mighty wind such as Naue to make or keep promises,” he guffawed. “Naue stays until he gets bored, and then he leaves.”

“How do we ask you to get us?” Leech wanted to know.

“Ooh, send Naue stars,” Naue shrilled. “Naue so loves them when they blossom.”

“Do you mean some kind of flower?” Leech asked. “I could bring it up to you, but I don't think anything's growing in Nova Hafnia right now.”

Naue spun the straw wing playfully about in a slow circle. “No, no, they twinkle; they sparkle. They're born, but then they die too soon. Humans are always throwing great heaps of them up into Naue's sky.”

Scirye glanced at Kles, who was peeking out of her coat, but he shook his head. He was just as perplexed as she was. Then she twisted her head around and raised an eyebrow at Leech and Koko. Leech shook his head, but the badger seemed thoughtful.

“Do you mean fireworks?” Koko ventured.

“Yes, I think that's what lumplings call them.” Naue made puffing sounds. “Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.”

“The caravanserai probably has them,” Leech said to the others. “They seem to have everything.”

“The question,” Bayang said, “is whether they'll give them to us.”

“Or even if they'll let us leave,” Koko pointed out gloomily.

“We'll just make another daring escape,” Leech said confidently. “We always have so far.”

“There's a first time for a flop,” Koko groaned. “And I'd rather not be part of it.”

Despite the badger's misgivings, Bayang steered the wing away from the wind's embrace and spiraled down gently until they glided to a smooth landing on the harbor where the snow acted as a cushion.

A lone gnome mechanic was standing on a small ladder as he toiled beneath an airplane cowling. Near him a pair of humans in coveralls were bobbing up and down as they used a hand pump to re-fuel a different airplane from barrels on a sled. They both resembled Roxanna's Sogdians. Next to them several imps circled lazily inside a large glass jar, casting light and heat in the immediate area.

Suddenly one of the Sogdians noticed the companions. “It's Lady Roxanna's kidnappers! Tell Lady Miunai quick.”

At his shout, the gnome hit his head against the cowling, but the humans' reaction was more hostile. The second Sogdian jumped down from the sled and, slipping and sliding over the ice, headed toward the city to sound the alarm.

“If we'd stolen her, do you think we'd come back so conspicuously?” Scirye snapped. “It was her own idea to help us find Roland. She's safe with friends. We'll tell Lady Miunai and Prince Tarkhun all about it.”

The first Sogdian had picked up a wrench and was holding it, ready to throw it if they tried to escape. “Prince Tarkhun's out hunting for you in an airplane. And half the clan is out there too in sleds, and the Mounties as well. So there's no use trying to escape.”

“We're not trying to run away,” Scirye said, irritated. “We're trying to explain.”

As they got off the wing, the human mechanic raised his wrench menacingly. “Stay where you are.”

Bayang grew larger so she could carry everyone on her back again. “I wouldn't do that if I were you. I wouldn't feel that thing any more than I would a twig. And if you hit one of the hatchlings by mistake…” She paused, letting the mechanic's own imagination fill in the gap.

Scirye tried to play the peacemaker. “Besides, we're going to the caravanserai by our own choice. Whether we're friends or foes, that would be what Lady Miunai would want. You're welcome to come along and make sure we deliver ourselves into your mistress's hands.”

The mechanic gulped as he gazed up at the dragon. “No, thanks,” he said, lowering the wrench. “I got too much work here. So I'll take your word for it.”

“I'm glad to see that you're smarter than you look,” Bayang said as she folded up the wing.

Bayang set off at a slow, steady trot, her paws sometimes skidding on the slippery surface, leaving the Sogdian behind scratching his head with the wrench.

After a few minutes, they overtook the other Sogdian who had left to warn Lady Miunai. He was plodding along and there was snow all over him as if he'd slipped and fallen several times.

“Can we give you a lift to the caravanserai?” Bayang asked.

The puffing mechanic shook his head. “My mother made me swear to avoid two things: strong liquor and dragons.”

“Suit yourself,” Bayang said, and moved away, leaving him to plod after them.

They couldn't miss the caravanserai, which dominated the wharf area. It peered over the roofs of the other buildings as if waiting vigilantly for them.

There were steps leading down from the dock into the ocean for rowboats when the thaw had come. Bayang did not bother with them but arched her long body so it could climb up onto the planks. She skidded at first on an icy patch but managed to pull herself up.

Some attempt had been made to shovel the streets and dockside, and the dragon made better time as she wound her way past all the boats hauled up out of the water.

As Prince Tarkhun had warned them when they had first entered the town, dragons were a rarity. As they turned onto a broad, crowded avenue, a dwarf stopped scraping the barnacles from a hull to stare and all along the street humans, trolls, and the city's other inhabitants gaped.

A frost giant, his hair and beard pale and pointed as icicles, was so stunned that he just stopped in the middle of the road with a barrel on either shoulder. “Is there a parade?”

“Yes, a short one.” With the suppleness of an eel, Bayang slithered around the living roadblock, ducked under the sign hanging in front of a restaurant, and slogged on, dodging around other obstacles.

“The Sogdians must not have put a price on our heads yet,” Kles observed. “Or someone would be taking potshots at us.”

“Just as a matter of discussion,” Koko speculated, “how much do you think we're worth?”

“The Lady Scirye is priceless.” Kles sniffed. “You, on the other hand—well, I'd pay them to take you off my paws.”

“Now, now, Kles,” Scirye scolded mildly. She'd developed a soft spot for Koko. “A talented badger like you is worth his weight in gold.”

“So my mama always said,” Koko said smugly.

Bayang twisted to her left down a side street that led to the great gates of the caravanserai.

Without Roxanna by their side, the walls looked as high and forbidding as a prison's, and Bayang slowed. Suddenly dozens of rifles pointed at them from through the wall's slits and the huge gates began to swing open.

Scirye pressed an arm around Kles. “They're already expecting us.”

“A lookout must have seen Bayang flying over the harbor,” Kles reasoned.

Lady Miunai strode out with a bandolier strapped across her body and a rifle that looked large enough to put a hole even in a dragon. “Where is my daughter? Why didn't she come back with you?”

Over the years, Scirye had seen her mother calm the ruffled feathers of countless foreign diplomats. Scirye was not sure she could do the same, but she was determined to try.

She slid off Bayang. It was a small gesture that might help ease Lady Miunai's state of mind, since she wouldn't have to tilt her head back to see Scirye's face.

“She's staying with Upach, who was shot by Roland,” Scirye explained quickly. “They're both safe with Uncle Resak.”

Lady Miunai started at the third name, then glanced around the street and motioned them into the caravanserai. “I think you'd better come inside so we can talk,” she said, shouldering her weapon.

“Is that a good idea?” Koko muttered.

“You can stay out here and get shot if one of the chakar gets trigger-happy,” Bayang said as she trotted after Scirye and Lady Miunai.

“Naw, I'm tired of being in a shooting gallery,” Koko said, and pressed himself flat against the dragon's back to make himself a smaller target.

After they had crossed the courtyard and entered one of the warehouses, Lady Miunai ordered all the workers to leave. “And close the doors behind you.”

It took a few minutes for them to exit through the several doors. Each seemed to shut with the ominous thud of an executioner's axe.

Finally, except for the fire imps on the walls, they were alone in the cavernous room. Lady Miunai spoke in a low voice, her breath frosting the air in the vast, cold room: “So you survived the phantoms?”

“As I think you knew we would,” Scirye said.

Lady Miunai folded her hands in front of her. “But we couldn't be sure.”

Scirye told her about their encounter with Uncle Resak and the subsequent fight within his palace and their own adventure in returning to Nova Hafnia. “Uncle realizes that his secret is out, so he wants your husband and Roxanna to act as his go-betweens with the humans.”

“It was only a matter of time before the truth came out,” Lady Miunai observed. “His secret was safe enough when hardly anyone lived up here, but every year brings more people, more ships, and more airplanes.” Her fingers tapped the stock of her rifle as she considered the next step. “I'll send word to my husband so he can head to Uncle's.”

“Upach will need Dr. Goldemar,” Leech said, and explained about Upach's situation.

Lady Miunai nodded. “I've a man who has handled the supply route to Uncle. He can take the doctor. But what will you do now?”

“We'll head to the Kushan Empire,” Bayang said.

Kles gave his purring chirp at the prospect of going home, but it only made Scirye uneasy. She had not seen the empire since she was a small child, and most of the Kushans she had met since then had never made her feel welcome. They usually looked down at her because she did not act like a proper Kushan girl—which made her decidedly inferior. In the small, self-contained world within the embassies that had been bad enough, but the Kushans there had never numbered more than a few hundred. There would be millions of them in the empire, and all of them would wear the same disapproving expression.

Still, she had already done a lot of things she didn't think she could, so she would treat this just like she had any other problem.

“Ah,” Lady Miunai said, “if you ever need help when you are in the empire, find my husband's great-aunt, Princess Catisa, and she will give you whatever you wish.”

If Princess Catisa was anything like her kinswoman, Scirye thought, they wouldn't have any worries. Lady Miunai was only too happy to supply them with more of the powdered emergency rations—Leech kept Koko's grumbling to a minimum. She also thoughtfully added a tiny water imp in a portable distillery. She wanted to give them more equipment, but Bayang did not want to overload the straw wing, which was in need of repair.

However, Lady Miunai was amused when they asked for fireworks. “I think it'll take more than a flash and a bang to scare Roland.”

“They're to summon Naue the wind, who'll take us into the air so we can catch him,” Scirye explained.

Lady Miunai shook her head in amazement. “My husband said that meeting you was like wandering into a tale of marvels.”

“Believe me. It's not all that wonderful when you're smack in the middle of it,” Koko mumbled.

Lady Miunai set her palm upon Scirye's head in blessing and said in formal Sogdian, “May thou pounce upon thine enemy like the mighty griffin. And may Nana keep thee and thine safe.”

Scirye answered her humbly in the same formal tongue: “I thank thee, Lady Miunai, for in thy kindness thou hast been like my own mother. Knowest thou that I will.”
If I'm alive,
she added to herself.

The lines of worry on Lady Miunai's face and the sadness in her eyes suggested the opposite of her cheerful words. She obviously shared Scirye's own concerns.

That made Scirye think of her own mother. Even though there had been no time to do it, Scirye felt guilty that she hadn't written or called her. “And will you send a message to my mother that I'm all right and headed to Bactra? Her name is Lady Sudarshane and she's at the San Francisco Consulate.”