The Ghosts of Barak-Minoz by Guy Haley

Author:Guy Haley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FMT
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE LOST SKY-PORT

The Aelsling fared through the sky. Drekki watched the repaired endrin with a cautious eye. No fault could be detected upon the instruments.

‘Good job, Bokko. I couldn’t have done better myself,’ said Drekki, and he meant it too, for once. The endrinrigger bowed modestly at this praise.

The metalith fell behind, revealing itself to be both the biggest fragment of land in the Dead Air, and the farthest out; a wreck-strewn shore on the cusp of a deadly sea. A hundred raadfathoms below the keel, Barak-Minoz waited in the predawn dimness, surrounded by its swarm of floating rocks. Banks of freezing mist bellied up from deeper in the airs, making Minoz and its attendants appear as curios set out on a bed of wool for inspection. Higher up, where the Aelsling was, the air was of crystal clarity, and the vault of the sky above a pale vision of the day to come. The last shreds of night had the crew in their grip, shadows thick, and all was blue and indistinct. They were an audience to the lost port, the lights dimmed before the performance, Minoz waiting on its fluffy stage of clouds.

Hysh burst up through the fog, shining brightly as an aetherlamp. Its rays swept over Minoz, bringing out flashes from metal, glass and ice. The sky turned a painful blue. The fog became a blinding sea.

Narrowing their eyes against the glare, the duardin hunted awhile for a safe place to stop and talk with their guide. Drekki had no desire for further encounters with the local wildlife.

It was Ramarius who chose where to land in the end, descending upon a small floating rock, where he waited for the Aelsling to moor up. Drekki walked stiffly down the gangplank to speak with him. Uzki came with him, carrying a small strongbox.

‘Something pains you, Drekki Flynt?’ the drake asked, as the captain limped up to their meeting.

‘I’ll live,’ said Drekki. ‘I’ll be running endrin-smooth soon enough. We duardin are tough.’

‘For such little things, you are,’ Ramarius agreed. ‘A little hard to chew. Is friend Drekki the toughest of them all? Shall we see?’ He flashed long teeth.

‘Very amusing.’ Drekki smiled weakly.

Ramarius looked out over the vista of port, cloud and snowy islands. It would have appeared picturesque, were it not for the teeming wrecks and debris fouling the metaliths. ‘A small price. Drekki Flynt has success! This is the Dead Air. This is where you wanted to be.’

‘You could have said yesterday, you big lizard,’ said Drekki.

Ramarius let out a blast of fire from his nostrils. ‘Ramarius did not know! We arrived a little early, that is all. This is no easy place to find, especially when the skies are so thick with snow, but find it Ramarius did, for you. You are here where you wanted to be. That is what matters, that is what pays. Our bargain is done. Ramarius has played his part, so you give Ramarius his music box now.’

‘Sure,’ said Drekki. He nodded at Uzki, though the kinks in his neck made him regret it.

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