Jupiter Drake heard the droning cry of a huge towing beast — a Gharumal — echoed from up river.

‘They’re on the move again.’ Pariqhamtu said and wheeled her dhomqari — moasaur about.

Jupiter nodded at the young manisaur then turned to study the gravel fan he had jumped from to escape the manisaurs hunting him. Birds wheeled over the fallen body of the manisaur who had failed to match his wild leap. None of the hunters had tried to retrieve it. With no sign of the Air Lord and his guard on the cliff Jupiter still thought he could hear the baying calls of the Thraqanonkra hunting beasts under the deep bass note of the Gharumal. Maybe his fear and imagination still haunted him.

‘We have to get out of here,’ said Maggie.

‘How do we get to Qhawadha — The Way?’ Jupiter ran his hand through his wet hair. The hair had grown long, it tangled in his fingers. Perhaps the dunk in the river had given it the wash it needed. He shivered in the cool sea breeze that had risen as the afternoon grew shorter.

‘There are several qhayuvakdha from the coast,’ said Ashe. ‘This is naru — number six.’ Ashe rode his dhomqari — moasaur — close behind Jupiter as they raced back towards the sailing outrigger grounded on the gray shingle of the riverbed.

‘We can’t follow this qhayuvakdha — this sentinel way.’ Jupiter pulled the food bag over from his back and pushed Breeze away before the imp could get at anything that remained good to eat. ‘The Air Lord is still after me.’

‘The hunt is getting closer,’ Tamm said.

‘We have leave now, get along the coast. But which way?’ Nothing of much remained worth eating in Jupiter’s food bag after his dip in the river. ‘Leave it Breeze. I’m the hungry one.’

‘Towards the south. That is the direction all Qhawadha run to. Towards the capital,’ Tamm said.

Jupiter eyed Tamm the sejrat’sha — turned blade. The Imperial officer had been imprinted upon Jupiter through trauma and his life saving rescue. He remained loyal now but for how long? Jupiter had been warned of the danger of turned blades but still chose to trust the manisaur he had come to think of as a friend. ‘But the beach runs east-west,’ Jupiter said. ‘Which is the best way? To the east or west?’

The sun had been in Jupiter’s face as he had run down the gravel fan — so that way lay west and he gazed that way now. The river must run roughly south to north from the heart of the great southern continent.

’If the Air Lord and his skyships take this sentinel way — Naru’qhayuvakdha — they go to the capital.’ Pariqhamtu said.

‘If you want another qhayuvakdha then you need the one that lies to the south.’ Tamm bobbled his head to emphasize his insistence. The manisaur turned his head up the braided river towards the sound of the approaching hunt.

‘Which is it then? East or west along the coast to find a south route?’ Jupiter worked at speed now to ready The Jupiter’s sail, and checked the rigging.

‘East.’ Pariqhamtu swung down from her dhomqari. ‘The eastern cape turns south, and you can join with Ehta’qhayuvakdha — fifth sentinel path — which is a short run into the mountains. Qhawadha — The Way — can be joined there or at the port town of Qhayuvakham — Harbour Sentinel.’

‘The Qhawadha reaches the sea there?’ The Jupiter’s sail swung to the side as Jupiter hauled on the halyard raising it up the mast. ‘So the Air Lord had been more interested in his hunt for me than the fastest route to the interior and Qhawadha.’

Jupiter checked the outrigger over then climbed into the cockpit.

’Spin up the kheel.’ Jupiter took hold of the rope and tiller. ‘Just enough to get her to turn into the wind.’

Maggie started to do the spin but Breeze shoved her aside and spun harder. The Jupiter rose and scraped across the shingle of the dry riverbed before grounding again.

‘Easy Breeze.’ Jupiter fussed with setting the rigging and the ropes that controlled the sail shape. ‘Now turn her.’ All the while he remained oblivious to the discussion going on around him.

‘You can carry four?’ Pariqhamtu hunkered down with her legs bending backwards in the strange manisaur squatting egg-laying position.

‘Sure. Wait. Isn’t everyone coming?’ Jupiter looked up and saw the others staring.

‘No.’ Ashe held both dhomqari reins in his two-thumbed hand. ‘I will return to the skyship Kitaraham.’

‘How do you know where Gan will be?’

‘I know the plan. Where Kitaraham Ganarasha will attack next.’ Ashe swung onto his mount.

‘So Tamm, and Pari-pari. You’re with me?’

‘Aye Captain.’ Tamm seemed almost about to salute.

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’So Maggie, and me… makes four.’ Jupiter caught Breeze’s gaze. ‘Breeze is five.’ The imp bobbled his head in imitation of a manisaur and Jupiter grinned. But it still boggled him that somehow he had become worthy of their loyalty. That these people, from different times, cultures, and species, had become a crew and set him up as their captain.

‘Five then.’ Pariqhamtu pulled a pack from her dhomqari and stowed it in the hull. ‘I will guide you.’

‘And I will guard you.’ Tamm climbed onto the outrigger close enough to the hull for his leg to be a step inside. He stared up the qhayuvakdha where the baying of the beasts came clearer now.

‘We’ve got to get going.’ Maggie said.

And with that Breeze spun up the kheel, Pariqhamtu took up a position the mirror of Tamm’s, and The Jupiter rose fully clear.

Jupiter held out his hand to the mounted manisaur. ‘Pull the stern around will you Ashe? Set us into the wind.’ They gripped hands to make the pull turn and Jupiter saw the stark difference between their hands. The manisaur’s soft yet strong with the second thumb wrapping over the back of his own. The nail ridged down the centerline but ending in a soft curve.

Jupiter locked eyes with Ashe. The manisaur’s flashing aura told of fear but tempered by determination. The colors flickered to warmth and friendship as if in a smile. Jupiter grinned back but fear and determination lay within his own heart too.

The Jupiter’s sail filled out and the outrigger began to move forward. Jupiter squeezed Ashe’s hand once more. Ashe’s dhomqari stepped away, their grip broke, and then they were off. By the time Jupiter turned to look behind, Ashe had run his dhomqari far into the westering sun.

He adjusted the sail with a tweak of the mainsheet to angle The Jupiter in a broad reach across the sea breeze. The course he laid ran directly down the coast, away from the estuary, the river, and — he hoped — from the hunt.

Smaller than the great trading island of Zenska, the port city of Qhayuvakham lay crammed between the sea and a ring of high hills that fronted a line of white capped mountains. Qhayuvakham — the sentinel harbor — did not have even as much flat land as the island. In the harbour floated a fleet of mostly small waterborne coastal fishing boats with square rigs on a single mast with a line of rowing positions on either side. Many fishing boats sailed into harbor on the sea breeze now, while on those close to shore had lost the wind and rowers pulled hard for the docks. Flurries of white birds wheeled in their wake after scraps thrown from the gutting tables.

‘The fishing boats leave on the tide when there’s a morning land breeze,’ said Tamm. ‘And return with the sea breeze as the sun begins to drop to the horizon. Sometimes both wind and tide align, but when it doesn’t… they row. But the distance is never far, the waters here are rich with fish.’

‘Just as well.’ Jupiter scanned the harbour mouth. ‘There’s not a lot land for growing food.’

‘You’d be surprised what the forest has to offer.’ Pariqhamtu had moved a little outboard to help counter the tilt of the sail. ‘But they trade along ehta’qhayuvakdha - fifth sentinel path - for food in exchange for fish.’

The Jupiter skimmed along just above the waves where the sea met the rocky cliffs that rose shear into the heights. Pillars of rock stepped down the cliff, sometime punctured by sea caves. White and red seabirds mobbed The Jupiter as she shot past startling them from their perches on the ridges and ledges congealed from the volcanic rock ages past.

‘Do we want to stay here then?’ Maggie said.

She was right to be worried. Jupiter reckoned they had not had a lot of luck in the last port they had visited.

‘We need provisions,’ said Pariqhamtu. ‘We might make a wayhouse along Qhawadha, but if we need to keep clear of the Air Lord it is likely you will need to leave Qhawadha — The Way — and rough it somewhere in the mountains.’

Pariqhamtu directed Jupiter to the docks, away from the curious eyes of the fishing vessels, and instead to the repair yards. The day drew now towards evening and the light had begun to fail.

‘It is height of the fishing season, so few vessels are in the docks being repaired.’ She pointed. ‘Over there. On that small jetty next to the warehouse.’

Jupiter signaled Breeze to let the outrigger drop to the water. They coasted in on the remainder of their speed. A wave spread behind them as Jupiter angled the sail to the last breath of wind from the sea. One of the rudders banged into something underwater. He frowned, the rudders only made sense when in the water, not flying. And the steering vanes would work as well. But the rudders made it harder to sail into the shallows.

‘I’ll have to fix that,’ Jupiter said. He pulled out his oilskin bag of tools determined to fix it.

Pariqhamtu stepped ashore and helped tie up to the jetty. ’I’ll go into the market to get what is needed.’

‘I don’t want to stay here,’ Maggie said. ‘This water smells.’

Jupiter lowered the mainsail while Breeze jumped ashore snorting. A sulfurous stench overlaid the reek of dead fish.

‘Only I need to go,’ Pariqhamtu said. ‘It would be best if you stay here.’

‘No way,’ said Jupiter and he put all thought of repairs aside. ‘I want to see this place.’

Pariqhamtu’s aura flashed uncertainly. Jupiter smiled. He knew she remained unsure of who had command of their small team. No one. Not really. And that’s how he wanted it. Maggie had already walked along the jetty holding her nose.

‘We’ll all go,’ Jupiter said. ‘Except Tamm. Can you stay to guard The Jupiter? And Breeze…’

Tamm agreed to this, but Breeze followed them and would not stay.

’Smell… Bad… Go…’

Jupiter shrugged and touched Breeze on the shoulder in assurance. They followed Pariqhamtu along the jetty where they caught up with Maggie. Long slipways ran from the water to large wooden workshops where boats would be hauled out for repairs. There were several smaller watercraft hauled out and propped up on their keels with wooden beams and posts to keep them from toppling over.

Jupiter did not quite understand why Pariqhamtu had joined them. Tamm he understood. The imprinting thing, and perhaps something more now, had bound him to Jupiter.

But Pariqhamtu had been combative and reluctant to deal with him when they had first met. He liked the young female manisaur, in her surly way she expressed a quiet confidence and assurance. Had she been ordered by Gan to save him?

They walked along the jetty until it ended on a broad paved quay. As on Zenska, a line of wooden houses faced a waterside road with a cargo landing area spread before it. Stonework ground floors faced the water. But here they were run down. Many looked abandoned, though Pariqhamtu insisted most were still occupied. Jupiter noted that the signal panels and flags seemed to be in good repair at least.

‘This is a poorer town than Zenska.’ Pariqhamtu led them past ramshackle stone colonnades towards an archway that led into the port-side town. ‘And this is the remains of an old trading quay, with human trade houses. Many have left now. They are not so welcome in the Empire these days.’

Jupiter wondered what that would mean for he and Maggie to be walking around the town shopping. But if Pariqhamtu thought it okay then he would be too.

But perhaps they should have taken her advice to stay with The Jupiter despite the stink.