lowered back to the ground with a dull thud. At this rate, the city could take hours to bring the whole thing up. The techs swarmed around it, trying to secure it as it leaned upward, but the back end wasn't moving yet. It was going to take more chains. Many more chains.
Freezy prodded the horse forward, and it slowly took the ambling path up the hill back to Ebon's camp. When we got there, the first thing I noticed was that the horses were gone.
That's how this story changes.
Freezy and I sat on horseback, my hands at her hips and our eyes scanning the camp to see it barren. Everything was empty, blowing in the wind. I dismounted quickly, propping myself up on crutches and calling out,
"Hey Ebon! We did it!" My voice didn't echo back to me this time. It was swept up in the wind, carried away. I moved from tent to tent, glancing in to see them all abandoned. I turned, made my way to the wagon, and flung the door open, calling in, "Ebon!"
Breezy was behind me at the door, an uncertain look crossing her face. She was looking all around, and then finally at the dusty sky.
"Will you look at that," I heard her say distantly.
I burst through the front door of the wagon, realizing that I had pulled my pistol. My crutches squeaked as I leaned heavily into them, pulling myself to the throne room. There it was, the dog skin throne, now empty. Silks and bells blew and jingled in the wind from the open door, pushing a few errant papers across the desk. More had been arranged there, beneath them, weighted down with colorful little metago stones.
A diagram. Notes. Numbers turned to words, words turned to pictures.
Part 1. The drilling machine. Part 2. The oil rig.
A crushing moment passed, and I swiveled with Freezy's voice,
"Adon, come out here quick!"
I ran on the crutches, snapping one like a bone and clattering to the floor. I clawed my way across the dust and the silk, out to where I could see. A shooting star was in the sky, cascading down like a hammer on fire. A thousand eyes looked up from the spider city, and in an instant -
What do you suppose the horses know?
The star, with its long pluming smoke trail crashed onto the city, smashed it with a mad ball of fire tearing through the dust, sending buildings crashing sideways, shattering in wide plumes and terrible spirals of smoke and ash. I tumbled down the stairs, screaming, crawling with my one leg behind me. Silently, the city took a weak step, snapping two of its legs beneath it and lurched, swinging forward and - and it died, the brilliant gold and red exploding onto the dust below. Like a flower.
The sky went dark. Freezy's lower lip was pouring out of her mouth, contorted to show the awe and terror we both felt. Tears streamed from her eyes instantly. She looked like she might never smile again.
The sound reached us. With the smoke spiraling out, mixing in the storm it crushed our ears. Freezy leaned into me, her eyes wet on my shoulder and I knelt on the dust and the sand, watching the wind snatch the cloud from the city, pull it up into the sky in a single long arm. I held her tight in, sealed my eyes shut. We sat there for several minutes, clutched to one another. Waiting.
The city exploded again. And again. We didn't see it, but we heard it. The sound was deafening, rattling our bones. Freezy cried something, but I couldn't hear it. My eyes were suddenly open, staring only at the ground in shock.
After several moments of waiting I chanced to look up, but not at the city. No, I looked as far away from it as I could, toward the opposite hill. And there I saw the five riders.
Horses know.
Horses know that they are property, and who owns them.
Men do not.
That was Atus' joke before Jester Breezy shot him - the punchline he heard before laying down at peace. I knew it now. And as I stared across a long dust plane at Ebon the Waste, I could tell that he knew it too.
Freezy prodded the horse forward, and it slowly took the ambling path up the hill back to Ebon's camp. When we got there, the first thing I noticed was that the horses were gone.
That's how this story changes.
Freezy and I sat on horseback, my hands at her hips and our eyes scanning the camp to see it barren. Everything was empty, blowing in the wind. I dismounted quickly, propping myself up on crutches and calling out,
"Hey Ebon! We did it!" My voice didn't echo back to me this time. It was swept up in the wind, carried away. I moved from tent to tent, glancing in to see them all abandoned. I turned, made my way to the wagon, and flung the door open, calling in, "Ebon!"
Breezy was behind me at the door, an uncertain look crossing her face. She was looking all around, and then finally at the dusty sky.
"Will you look at that," I heard her say distantly.
I burst through the front door of the wagon, realizing that I had pulled my pistol. My crutches squeaked as I leaned heavily into them, pulling myself to the throne room. There it was, the dog skin throne, now empty. Silks and bells blew and jingled in the wind from the open door, pushing a few errant papers across the desk. More had been arranged there, beneath them, weighted down with colorful little metago stones.
A diagram. Notes. Numbers turned to words, words turned to pictures.
Part 1. The drilling machine. Part 2. The oil rig.
A crushing moment passed, and I swiveled with Freezy's voice,
"Adon, come out here quick!"
I ran on the crutches, snapping one like a bone and clattering to the floor. I clawed my way across the dust and the silk, out to where I could see. A shooting star was in the sky, cascading down like a hammer on fire. A thousand eyes looked up from the spider city, and in an instant -
What do you suppose the horses know?
The star, with its long pluming smoke trail crashed onto the city, smashed it with a mad ball of fire tearing through the dust, sending buildings crashing sideways, shattering in wide plumes and terrible spirals of smoke and ash. I tumbled down the stairs, screaming, crawling with my one leg behind me. Silently, the city took a weak step, snapping two of its legs beneath it and lurched, swinging forward and - and it died, the brilliant gold and red exploding onto the dust below. Like a flower.
The sky went dark. Freezy's lower lip was pouring out of her mouth, contorted to show the awe and terror we both felt. Tears streamed from her eyes instantly. She looked like she might never smile again.
The sound reached us. With the smoke spiraling out, mixing in the storm it crushed our ears. Freezy leaned into me, her eyes wet on my shoulder and I knelt on the dust and the sand, watching the wind snatch the cloud from the city, pull it up into the sky in a single long arm. I held her tight in, sealed my eyes shut. We sat there for several minutes, clutched to one another. Waiting.
The city exploded again. And again. We didn't see it, but we heard it. The sound was deafening, rattling our bones. Freezy cried something, but I couldn't hear it. My eyes were suddenly open, staring only at the ground in shock.
After several moments of waiting I chanced to look up, but not at the city. No, I looked as far away from it as I could, toward the opposite hill. And there I saw the five riders.
Horses know.
Horses know that they are property, and who owns them.
Men do not.
That was Atus' joke before Jester Breezy shot him - the punchline he heard before laying down at peace. I knew it now. And as I stared across a long dust plane at Ebon the Waste, I could tell that he knew it too.
Similar Books
