With me, Tangata, he called. The Human Queen falls this night.
Across the deck, he saw the pale face of the queen swing in his direction and he cursed silently. She had heard him, knew they were coming for her. But what did it matter? The Anahera had the woman pinned against the bow where Adonis had first climbed aboard. She had placed a pile of barrels to her back to keep from being surrounded, but even that would not help against so many. There would be no escape for the human queen.
Grinning, he started across the deck with his Tangata.
An all-too-human curse slipped from the creature’s lips and she leapt back from Nyriah, finally managing to bring up her gauntlet. Light flashed as its magic lit the night and Adonis rushed forward, his Tangata with him. He knew this weapon, its magic. The queen could not strike them all with its power.
Nyriah’s wings swept down, hurtling her into the sky as the queen unleashed the magic. Adonis and the other Tangata charged into the gap the Anahera had left and one of his brethren went down, caught in the gauntlet’s awful power. But not Adonis, and teeth bared, he leapt at the queen…
…but she was already turning from him, her magic vanished, reaching instead for a…lantern. The sight gave Adonis pause and he hesitated, watching as the queen wrenched the flaming light from a hook and raised it high. The whisper of wings from above announced Nyriah’s return, but the queen paid no mind to either. With a shout, the queen hurled her lantern at the pile of barrels.
The crash of breaking glass followed as it smashed upon the wood, spilling burning oil across the barrels in a whoosh of heat. Even as Adonis struggled to comprehend the woman’s plan, she swung on one of his brothers, bringing the Tangata down with a terrible blow to the face.
And as he fell, the queen charged through the gap he left, escaping the circle of her pursuers. Before anyone could stop her, the woman reached the railings of the ship and hurled herself over the side, out into the darkness of the river.
For just a second, Adonis stood staring at the point she had disappeared. What was the creature thinking? The Tangata and Anahera would only follow her into the waters. She would not escape there, whatever—
Boom.
The night erupted in an inferno.
14
The Prisoner
Erika cried out as a wave of light and sound burst through the cabin, followed by such heat that she feared they had been engulfed by flames. Smoke seared her lungs as she drew in a breath to scream, and instead found herself choking. Her ears rang and stars danced across her vision, but the heat vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and she found herself lying again in the iron cage.
Except the cage was no longer standing upright, but rather lying twisted on its side. Groaning, Erika struggled to push herself up, even as her vision cleared and the first sound returned to her ears. Somewhere nearby she heard the roaring of flames and screams of men in agony, before a whisper from nearby drew her attention, desperate, urgent. A hand grasped her by the shoulder and shook her.
“Erika, are you okay, please, I can’t—” Cara’s voice broke, as though she were already imagining the possibility of Erika’s death.
Erika let out a moan, hoping it would reassure the Goddess, though truthfully she wasn’t sure what condition she was in. She was already so weak…and now she could hear a roaring from above, as of…flames, growing closer.
What had happened? That explosion…it had to have been the black powder Amina had mentioned. She couldn’t help but feel some small measure of satisfaction at that. It seemed only fair that the woman’s stolen weapon had been turned against her. The Archivists knew the perils of the black powder well, and never stored great quantities in one place.
Deciding she was still in one piece, Erika managed to push herself upright. “I’m okay,” she said softly, placing a hand on Cara’s arm as she looked around. The walls of the cabin had been torn apart by the force of the explosion, but they hadn’t been so lucky with the cage. Some of the bars had twisted, but otherwise it remained in one piece.
Fear touched her as she saw the fire flickering beyond the twisted ceiling. Orange lit the night, illuminating the silhouettes of men and women still struggling on the decks of the galley. Erika didn’t know whether to scream for their help or hope they didn’t notice them. The queen did not appear and Erika could only assume she was fighting the Tangata someplace else on the massive ship.
Swallowing her fear, she turned to Cara. They would get no better chance than this, if only they could free themselves of the cage. The Goddess seemed to have realised the same thing, for some of the life had returned to her. Seeing that Erika was unharmed, the Anahera turned her attention to the bars of their prison. Pale fingers closed around the steel and veins appeared on the Cara’s neck as she exerted her incredible strength. Erika held her breath; Cara obviously hadn’t been able to escape this way before, but if the explosion had weakened one of the bars…
…but breath held, Erika watched as the Goddess strained—and the steel bars resisted. They would not give an inch, not even to a Goddess made flesh.
Warmth touched Erika’s cheeks, a dry, searing heat that swept through the broken cabin. The silhouettes beyond the shattered walls had vanished, the ship abandoned, but the light of the flames only grew, creeping closer. She could feel the ship rocking sharply beneath them too, the floor pitching as the vessel sunk lower on the river.
Idly, Erika found herself wondering which would reach them first—the
