Starsinger

Gates of Aster

The three great walls of Aster loomed over the ocean disapprovingly, daring the waves to challenge them. On the first wall Aaron could see the places that had been pummeled with trebuchets and cannon balls before being patched over with different colors of stone. Battle scars. He glanced at his left arm. The red mottled skin was tight and raised. I know the feeling.

Above the walls, the fortress rose even higher, aided by the slope of a natural hill. When he flicked his scope into place, Aaron could just make out the spire of the Aster Conservatory beyond it, adorned with the same clockwork mechanisms as its southern sister.

Each of the city's three walls blended in with the cliff face as they swooped around the fortress and the thriving city. Down at the foot of the first wall, half the Zareyman fleet was arrayed in battle formation.

"They're coming," Katrina said.

She passed her eyeglass to Jace, who squinted at the horizon. Aaron saw the dark smudge materializing, the gaudy brightness of yellow sails. Crolton.

"They're close," he murmured.

"An hour away, maybe two," Katrina said. "You'll have to move fast."

Aaron shivered at the cold and the unfamiliar fit of his borrowed clothes. There was something heretical about walking onto a battlefield without the blue and gold of Zareyma emblazoned across his chest, and it made him nervous.

The rowboat was strung up along the rail. Aaron stepped into it, careful as the narrow craft swayed beneath him. One by one, Jace, Raelyn, and Sapphire all followed. Aaron held out an arm to Delia, but she clambered over the rail without his help.

"I told you, I'm fine," she said. "I'm ready."

"Just checking," said Aaron. He glanced back at the Drake, which looked strangely deserted. Only a few of the crew had gathered to see them off. The rest were belowdecks, packing gunpowder and sharpening swords. Cally was there, clinging to the rigging with Beau strapped onto her back.

"I ran powder for ships when I was half her age," Katrina told them, but Aaron could see her still wrestling with the guilt. The girl and her brother should be somewhere safe, but safety was not a luxury they had anymore.

Katrina stepped up to the rowboat and gave their team a mock salute. "See you in the next one."

Aaron and Jace grabbed the oars. Katrina signaled to two of her crewmen, who untied the ropes and began to lower the rowboat into the ocean.

When the boat touched water, Sapphire cut the ropes, and the ocean currents sloshed them up against the Drake. Aaron and Jace dug in, pulling the little craft away from the ship with each hard-earned stroke.

Just as they were about to round the spit of land that hid them from view, Jace nodded to Delia. "It's time."

Delia exhaled, letting her eyes drift closed. Her hand found the labradorite pendant at her neck. The stone shimmered green and blue as she murmured the Vlynnish words.

A wave of warmth washed over Aaron. Slowly an iridescent green bubble wrapped around them, a thin membrane through which he could see the outside world with crystal clarity, but turned the inside world to emerald murk. Suddenly his vision of his teammates grew hazy and indistinct. The rowboat blurred under his feet, the oars in his hands.

"Yup. Still nauseating," Jace muttered.

"I can hear you," Delia replied.

"I like your magic best when you cast it on other people." He tried to dip one oar into the ocean and smacked the edge of the rowboat instead. Delia snorted. Aaron readjusted and they felt their way around until both oars hit water with a splash. Together they pulled, and the boat slid forward.