THE VOYAGE OF THE JERLE SHANNARA : Morgawr (BOOK THREE)

Enemy airships? All the way out here, so far from the Four Lands? She took a moment to let the information sink in. “Who are they?”


He made a dismissive gesture with one hand. “I don’t know. No one does. They fly no flag, and their crews act like dead men. They walk around, but they don’t seem to see anything. Po Kelles got a close look late yesterday when the Rovers set down to rest, thinking they’d lost them. Not an hour passed, and there they were again. The ones he could see were men, but they didn’t act like men. They acted like machines. They didn’t look as if they were alive. They were all stiff and empty-eyed, not seeing anything. One thing is certain. They know where they’re going, and they don’t seem to need a map to find us.”

She glanced around at the brightening day and the ruins below, her hopes for continuing the search fading. “How far away are they?”

“Not half an hour. We have to fly out of here. If they catch you in Black Moclips by yourself, you won’t stand a chance.”

She stared at him without speaking for a moment, anger and frustration blooming inside. She understood the need for flight, but she had never been good at being forced to do anything. Her instincts were to stand and fight, not to run. She hated abandoning yet again those she was searching for, leaving them to an uncertain fate at the hands of not only the Mwellrets and the Ilse Witch, but now this new threat, as well. How long would they last on their own? How long would it be before she could come back and give them any help?

“How many of them are there?” she asked.

The Wing Rider shook his head. “More than twenty. Too many, Little Red, for us to face.”

He was right, of course. About everything. They should break off the search and flee before the intruders caught sight of them. But she could not help feeling that Bek and the others were down there, some of them at least, waiting for help. She could not shake off the suspicion that all that was needed was just a little more time. Even a few minutes might be enough.

“Tell Po Kelles to take up watch for us,” she ordered. “We can look just a little longer before giving up.”

He stared at her. She knew she had no right to give him orders, and he was debating whether or not to point that out. She knew, as well, that he understood what she was feeling.

“The weather is turning, too, Little Red,” he said softly, pointing.

Sure enough. Dark clouds were rolling in from the east, borne by coastal winds, and they looked menacing even from a distance. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed them. The air had grown colder, too. A front was moving through, and it was bringing a storm with it.

She looked back at him. “Let’s try, Wing Rider. For as long as we can. We owe them that much.”

Hunter Predd didn’t need to ask whom she was talking about. He nodded. “All right, Rover girl. But you watch yourself.”

He jumped down out of the pilot box and sprinted back across the decking to the aft railing and disappeared over the side. Obsidian was already in place, and in seconds they were winging off to warn Po Kelles. Rue Meridian swung the airship back around toward the ruins, heading in. Already she was searching the rubble.

Then it occurred to her, a sudden and quite startling revelation, that she was flying an enemy airship, and those on the ground wouldn’t know who she was. Rather than come out of hiding to reveal themselves, they would simply burrow deeper. Why hadn’t she realized this before? Had she done so, perhaps she could have devised a way to make her intentions known. But it was too late now. Maybe the presence of the Wing Rider would reassure anyone looking up that she wasn’t the Ilse Witch. Maybe they would understand what she was trying to do.

Just a few minutes more, she kept telling herself. Just give me a few minutes more.

She got those minutes and then some, but she saw no sign of anyone below. The clouds rolled in and blocked the sun, and the air turned so cold that even though she pulled her cloak tight about her, she was left shivering. The landscape was spotted with shadows, and everything looked the same. She was still searching, still insistent on not giving up, when Hunter Predd swung right in front of her and began to gesture.