Witch Fall(54)

Shaking herself, Lilette followed her gesture. There were hundreds of ships docked in the wharves or simply tied to some free spot on a pier.

Lilette’s mind grabbed onto something familiar to keep the grief at bay. She scanned the ships and found a suitable-sized zhou with a sea-going, curved hull and tumblehome topsides. It appeared to have some sort of hold and sat low in the water, meaning it was loaded, hopefully with food. The craft’s sails were stretched between horizontal battens, making them look like the membranes between a bat’s wings. It would be fast, hold all of them, and handle all but the roughest seas.

“That one,” she said, pointing.

The horse balked at stepping on the pier. Abandoning the animal, Han pulled Lilette from the saddle and shoved her in front of him. “Run!”

But Lilette’s body refused to obey, and her legs buckled. She struggled to push herself up until Han tossed her roughly over his shoulder and sprinted down the pier. The guardians brought up the rear, ready to fight off any soldiers who came after them.

Han hustled up the gangplank and deposited her next to the gunwales. A cluster of sailors took one look at the armed guardians and dove off the side.

“Does anyone know how to operate this ship?” Geth called out.

Silently cursing her illness, Lilette searched the crowd, hoping someone else would step forward. After all, she’d never run anything larger than Fa’s fishing vessel, which only had one sail. But there was no one. She took a deep breath. “I can.” She hoped. “But I don’t know the way.”

“I can navigate us by the stars,” Jolin spoke up. “And witches never run into bad weather.”

Lilette pushed to her feet. Her body trembled and her coordination was off, but she could move. “See if you can find some charts.” Jolin left and Lilette glanced up at the sails. “Untie them. Two guardians at the bow—watch for snags in the harbor.” Lilette moved to the stern and studied the enormous rudder. “Three guardians to man this.”

“Uh, miss, you better hurry.” She turned to find Galon behind her.

“You’re alive!” She started to smile, but he pointed toward a group of soldiers coming down the pier. “Pull in the gangplank!” Lilette ordered. “Untie the ropes! Witches, sing us a wind!”

Guardians hurried to untie the ship while the witches sang a wind to fill the sails. Others sang for the kelp to shoot out of the water and snatch at the soldier’s legs.

A handful of soldiers ran onto the ship just before the ship moved out of range. The guardians met them, dispatching them within moments.

A low-toned gong cut through the chaos. Lilette froze and turned toward the city, wondering what the sound meant.

“We have to get out of the harbor before they raise the ship breaker!” Han shouted.

Lilette whirled to face him. “The what?”

“A chain across the harbor mouth.”

“Creators’ mercy,” someone said.

“Sing!” Lilette cried. “Our lives depend on it!”

A dozen witches formed a circle, the injured in the center. Their songs called forth a wind that whipped across the sails, filling them to capacity within seconds. The ship strained forward.

Lilette pushed through the press of bodies towards the bow. Han motioned to the circle. “Shouldn’t you join them?”

She didn’t pause. “If we stray from the channel, all the singing in the world won’t stop us from running aground.” She shouted commands to the guardians manning the rudder. They guided the ship into the deepest channel in the harbor. Lilette’s eyes scanned for sandbanks or snags.

Stretched across the harbor in front of them, she could see water buffalo being strapped to an enormous wheel. They strained against their yokes, turning the wheel. A rusty chain as tall as Lilette scraped out of the water.

Knowing the center of the chain would be the lowest point, she aimed the ship for it. Helpless to do more, she watched with the guardians as the chain slowly clanked out of the water, one link at a time.

The wind whipped them from behind, flinging Lilette’s hair in her face and stinging her eyes. One more clink and she could make out the entire long line of rusty chain. She glanced at the sails. She wasn’t sure they could take more wind without tearing, but if they didn’t make it past that chain, it wouldn’t matter.

She started singing with the others, her voice blending with theirs. The ship seemed to move a touch faster. Then the chain passed out of sight under them. Lilette held her breath.

The ship shuddered, and a high-pitched screeching filled the air. Crouched down, Lilette waited for the crunch of the wooden hull. The ship tipped up as the chain lifted the stern out of the water. But their momentum carried them forward. When they slammed down, Lilette lost her balance and pitched into Han. Something splintered, and Lilette gripped his armor and held her breath, waiting for the ship to come apart beneath them.