In each breath, Ji could sense the strength of the wind around her. Bracing for each gust, she made her way to the middle of the ship under the flapping sail. Shielding her eyes from the driving rain, she peered upwards until she sensed a break in the wind.

Learning to control the air around her had been easy, but was proving difficult to master. Whenever she stumbled and fell, she could not help but remember the liquid grace of the Esgan in Channan Harbor. Every move the woman had made, whether it was taking a single step or leaping down from the cliffs to alight gently on the railing of a ship, had seemed completely effortless. But she put such thoughts aside. There was work to be done.

Ji leaped into the air, wind gathering under her heel like taut fabric as it pushed her upwards towards the sail. Leaping had been the easiest skill to learn. Stopping proved more of a challenge. Before she could rise too high, the air above her pushed back, and she landed gently on the mast. Clinging to it with one hand and her tail, she undid the rope she was carrying and started to loop it down around the loose sail. After nearly being blown into the sea three times, she managed to tie it down. It looked ugly, but it would hold.

"Sail tied!" she bellowed to be heard over the howl of the storm. With her task done, she stood and looked out over the churning sea. In the distance, she could see flickering lights, the lanterns of their fellow ships. Flashes of lightning illuminated the nearest, and she could only tell that all of them still had their masts. For a moment, she considered leaping across to check up on them.

En Chitei must have sent the storm for a reason. Was it a test of strength? Was she supposed to demonstrate all she learned? Was this her chance to snatch lightning from the sky?

A wave slammed into the ship and sent stinging salt spray into her eyes. Ji spit out the water and pushed her ambitions out of her mind. This ship was her priority. There were too many precious people on board to leave it behind. She waved to Jado and leaped down to the deck in between gusts of wind. She tried to land gracefully, but the deck heaved upwards and smashed into her, sending her sliding across the deck until she managed to seize hold of the railing.

It was going to be a long night.

-

Saiyun stared blearily at the bowl of hot porridge sitting on his leg. He knew he should eat. He hadn't had a bite since the storm began. But even though the skies were clear and the wind was calm, his stomach was still tossing and turning. After they had come so far, a passing storm had nearly ended everything. What other obstacles lay ahead? Maybe he should have taken up Wabaro's offer and stayed behind. At least then he'd get something out of this.

Setting aside the bowl of porridge, Saiyun stood up and stretched. No. The time for second-guessing himself was well passed. An empty belly and a sleepless night were no reasons to sink into despair. He took a deep breath of sea air and looked out over the reassembled fleet. Every first-rate ship had survived the storm. Sailors and carpenters were swarming over them, filling the air with the sounds of hammering and sawing as they raced to fix them before the daylight faded. The supply ships had survived as well, but three of the second-rate ships were still missing.

Scattered across the water were the smaller, innumerable Vathlanri ships. After the ferocity of the storm, Saiyun was sure they all would have been scattered or sunk. But they had endured the night well, even if they were being subjected to the same frantic repairs as the first-rate ships. The fleet was mostly together. He'd call it a success.

"Are you going to finish that?" Aven asked Saiyun as he walked up beside him.

"I haven't even started it," Saiyun said, still looking out over the water. "What news from the Tavada?"

Aven sighed and rubbed his side. "They looked south and west of us. They found a few Vathlanri, but there's no sign of any of the Hilt ships anywhere. No island either. We don't know how far off course the storm blew us. Anatel wants to wait another few days to see if the other ships turn up, but Sayel wants to go now."

Saiyun could see the wisdom in both options as he drummed his fingers on the railing. The longer they were at sea, the more chance there was that someone would spot the fleet and word would get back to the shipyard. They had no idea how fortified the place would be and everyone agreed that the element of surprise would be vital in the battle to come. But their fleet was small enough already. Even if they managed to add the Achara Ata to their number, could they afford to write off three armed ships? "Who do you think will win out, Anatel or Sayel?"

"Sayel," Aven said after a moment of thought. "If she doesn't get her way she'll just sail off on her own. A lot of the Tavada don't like sailing with drylanders anyway, so I doubt anyone will complain if she does."

On the balance, the Tavada leaving would be much worse than losing some second-rate ships. But the three ships had a lot of guns between them. And a lot of sailors too. "Why," asked Saiyun. "Did she only search in the south and west? Is she sure they aren't north or east of us?"

"We're sailing north and if any are in that direction, we'll find them anyway," said Aven, licking his finger and sticking it up in the air. "The wind is blowing in from the east, and it's steady. Sailing or rowing would take too long."

An idea flickered to life in Saiyun's mind. "Do you think Sayel would be willing to wait if we had search parties in the east?"

"I told you, there's no point," replied Aven. "The wind is against it."

Saiyun reached into his robe and pulled out one of the Tanlin dolls. "It's against sails and oars. I can have my summons pull a longboat east and make a search. That would give us a better chance of finding the missing ships. Could be a good enough reason to get Sayel to wait for a little longer too."

"Could be," said Aven. "I'll go ask. If she says yes, I'm coming with you."

"Wait," said Saiyun, grabbing Aven's shoulder before he could go. "Are you sure? Have you healed?"

Aven lifted his shirt to reveal a dark, circular scar on his side. "I've had the stitches out for a week and I feel fine. If I don't do something useful around here I'm going to start climbing the walls."

"Ji will want to come along too," Saiyun said, letting him go.

"No, she's resting now. She needs it after everything she did last night," Aven replied, stepping away. "Yazwa's helping out with the repairs, she won't be able to come either. So long as we have a few crewmen that can navigate and set a sail we'll be fine. I'll see if Anatel and Sayel will agree on it."

Saiyun watched him go, weaving through the repair crews that were scurrying around the deck. When he disappeared inside the ship Saiyun picked up his porridge and started eating. If he was going searching, he may as well have a full belly.

-

"On my mark, turn 45 degrees to the north," said the navigator, peering down at a map and compass. "Mark!"

Saiyun gripped the edge of the boat as he willed Tanlin to turn sharply right. Aven, Saiyun, and the four other sailors swayed as the ropes tying Tanlin to the bow of the longboat creaked as the summon pulled it through the water. The boat evened out as they set on their next course. "How long before our next turn?"

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The navigator drew a new straight line on the map as he fiddled with a stopwatch. "Thirty more minutes. "We'll continue this pattern for another three hours before we raise sail and head back to the fleet. With the wind at our backs and your creature pulling, we should make excellent time."

"Right," Saiyun said, patting the doll next to him. "When we change course again I'll put out another Tanlin so the other one can rest."

"Do they need to rest?" Aven asked from the back of the longboat. "I mean, they're not real..."

The other sailors looked back as Saiyun cleared his throat. "While they aren't real, they are flesh and blood. If I keep one out too long, it will tire. Swapping out will keep us moving as fast as possible."

"Fine by me," said the navigator, pulling a deck of cards out of his pocket. "I say we play Palace this time."

Saiyun raised his hands as the others gathered in the wider back of the boat. "I'll pass this time."

"You didn't lose that badly," Aven said as he shuffled the cards.

"I'm fine," replied Saiyun as he looked forward into the vast emptiness ahead of him. The sea was thankfully mild, and the sky carried towering white clouds. Among them soared distant seabirds, barely more than dark specks against the sky. That was a good sign. It meant that they were near some sort of land. If they were birds. If.

Saiyun frowned at the thought, tuning out the chatter of the card game behind him. Azun's Treasure Fleet had been accompanied by dozens of flying summons that kept watch from high above. If the fleet was protected, he had no doubts the shipyard would be too. As the only Vao in the fleet, it would fall to him to advise and protect from such a danger. But there was no way to do that. If he had managed to learn an aerial summon while under Tsen's tutelage, he could have his own eyes in the sky, but the wind-medium summon had proved beyond his meager abilities.

A splash of seawater on his hand broke him out of his dark thoughts. There was no use dwelling on what he couldn't do. There were no manuals aboard he could learn from, and despite his efforts, he hadn't been able to maintain three summons at once. Jado, Tanlin, and Kotack were the only weapons he had. Not that they were useless by any measure. Kotack might prove helpful if their battle were to be waged on land. Tanlin was demonstrating its worth now, and every time Saiyun made use of Jado, he was convinced even more that he had made the right choice when he’d picked the tree-runner out of Tsen's archives.

"Do you see that?" Aven asked, shaking Saiyun out of his musings.

"What?" Saiyun asked, following his gaze. Off to their left was a smudge of brown amidst the endless blue of the sea. "That? Yes, I see it. Is it a ship?"

The navigator scrambled to the front and picked up the compass, carefully turning it and setting it down on the map. "It could be. Don't turn towards it until I mark our position change."

Saiyun did as he was told, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Do you think it's a ship?"

"Too far to tell," replied Aven. "Whatever it is, it's low in the water. Maybe a whale? Giant turtle?"

"Wrong color to be a whale," said the navigator, looking up from his chart. "Turn 19 degrees east on my mark. Mark."

Silence fell over the longboat as Tanlin pulled them closer and closer to the object floating in the water. Saiyun tossed the other summon doll from hand to hand as they closed in. Whatever it was, it wasn't moving. If it was an island, it was completely barren. If it was a ship, its sails were pulled in.

"It's one of ours," claimed the navigator, standing up on the bow. "I recognize the lines. I think the masts are gone."

"Damn," Saiyun mumbled as he squinted ahead. Not only was the navigator correct, but the ship was listing heavily to one side as well. That was one less ship to bring to bear against Azun. "Is there anyone onboard?"

"I think I can see some movement," the navigator said. "Could be birds for all I know."

Saiyun nodded. At least they'd been able to discover what had happened to one of the ships. If they were lucky, they might be able to pick up a few survivors too. As they moved closer he could see the ship more clearly, but he couldn't make out any movement on the slanted deck.

"Oh no," Aven hissed from the back. "This could be bad. There's another ship tied up to it, aft."

It was small, but Saiyun quickly spotted the boat. It was small and Vathlanri in design, with twin hulls and a single thin mast. "It could be some lost Tavada. Why is that bad?"

"It could be," said the navigator, sitting back down. "Or it could be another Ata. Slow us down. If they haven't noticed us yet, we don't want to spook them by charging in."

Saiyun willed Tanlin to slow down. The caution surprised him, but then he remembered every meeting he had ever had with the Vathlanri began with multiple guns leveled at him. Both ships appeared more convincingly empty the closer and closer they got. "Should I stop?" Saiyun asked.

"No, but be ready to get clear," Aven said as he stood up and cupped his hands to his mouth. He shouted in Vathlanri, earning no response until a sharp whistle rang out. "Turn!" he was shouting before it even died away.

The longboat lurched as Tanlin swung around and Aven dove down. On the ship, six Vathlanri darted out from their hiding places, shotguns drawn. Saiyun ducked as a shot whistled overhead and slammed into the sea, sending splashes of water into the boat.

"Get the wind at our backs!" the navigator shouted, rushing to raise the mast and unfurl the sails. "Roll out the oars, we need to put as much distance between us as we can!"

"Wait!" called Saiyun as the sailors scrambled around them. "If they aren't Tavada, they might be Achara! We should see if we can get them to talk!"

"We already know they don't want to talk," Aven said, pointing back at the ship.

The Vathlanri had already leaped onto the ship and unfurled the sail. As it filled with wind, the sea around the ship turned to froth as they dug their oars into the water.

"Those little ships are fast, and they have guns," Aven said, grabbing one end of the sail. "If they get close enough, they can just kill us at their own pace."

Saiyun pounded his fist on the ship. If they ran, they might lose their chance at making contact with another Ata, they might even miss the Achara completely. If they stayed, they would all get shot. Whatever Aven said hadn't convinced them they were friendly. All they needed was a chance to talk-

Of course.

Saiyun grabbed his spare Tanlin doll and hurled it into the water. It hit the surface with barely a splash and slipped under the waves. "Don't speed up too much," he warned. "I don't want to get out of range."

"Good," the navigator said, clapping him on the shoulder. "We might get out of here with our hides intact if your seal thing slows them down."

"He's going to do a little more than that," Saiyun grinned. The Vathlanri ship sped through the water, aiming straight for them. It got close enough to hear the chanting, then Tanlin burst out of the water and seized one of the Vathlanri's arms in his mouth. The others scrambled to grab hold of her, but Tanlin's girth dragged her into the water.

Aven stared as the summon swam towards them, a screaming Vathlanri held firmly in his mouth. "She's not going to be happy."

"But I bet she'll listen to you," Saiyun replied.

The green-haired woman was indeed not happy when Tanlin dragged her up beside the boat. She howled curses at them and punched the summon over and over again even as it dragged her through the water. The others tried to catch up, but only managed to keep pace with the longboat.

Saiyun watched as Aven shouted to her, catching the odd word like 'Tavada', 'Achara', and 'Azun'. He wasn't sure if whatever Aven was saying got through to her or if she just got too tired to fight back. They exchanged some terse words before Aven patted him on the arm.

"Send her back," said Aven, pointing at the ship that was still straining to catch up with them.

Tanlin drifted to a stop, lazily flipping around and swimming back the way he came. "What did she say?" Saiyun asked.

"Just that she didn't believe me," replied Aven. "But she got a lot quieter when I mentioned Azun."

"Is that good?" Saiyun asked, watching as Tanlin dropped her off in front of her ship. He ordered his summon to dive as the Vathlanri opened fire on it.

Aven was quiet, watching as the Vathlanri pulled their waterlogged companion onto their ship.

Not long after the ship turned around and sped north. "They think what I told them was important enough to rush back to their Ata and report."

"We should do the same," Saiyun said.