Yazwa shuffled sideways on the deck to stay in the shadow of the ship's mast. Until she'd set out from home, she never realized just how differently time could pass. The last three days had flown by while they were waiting on the Vathlanri and news from Zeidu.

With the search for the Akshi out of their hands, Yazwa had been able to focus on her staff. After some trial and error, she managed to carve the glyph for 'Sharp' into it properly, and now she could effortlessly transfer the essence from the obsidian shards into it. At least aboard the ship she could. In the heat of battle would be another matter. There would be a chance to find out soon enough.

Batro remained an enthusiastic sparring partner. Their matches had become a source of excitement for the rest of the crew, although Yazwa wished they wouldn't shout out bets while she was trying to concentrate. Especially if everyone was betting against her. Yazwa rubbed the remains of a bruise on her arm, Batro was still getting the better of her, but it was taking him longer with each session they had. Now that she was getting used to her new staff, maybe Cai would place a bet on her for once.

A chittering sound to her left interrupted her musing, and she jumped nearly a foot in the air when she looked to see a massive centipede staring at her, colored dark brown with hundreds of tiny legs running the full length of its body.

She wished she hadn't given Saiyun a hard time when he said he didn't want to frighten her. Crawling Kotack was one of the creepiest things Yazwa had ever seen, and she prayed Saiyun never asked her to help when it came time to learn how to capture people with it.

The summon lifted the front third of its body to reveal a small scrap of paper clutched in its mandibles.

Yazwa plucked it out and unfurled it. "The key is in a secret drawer in my desk. We leave at midnight by the west gate," she said, reading off the scrap of paper and handing it back to the summon. After a moment it delicately took the out of her hand and scuttled to the stairs below deck. Cai must still be helping Saiyun practice listening through the summons ears.

Aven and Ji had been busy too. With nothing else to do the two of them had been constantly training every spare hour. The crew wasn't as interested in their matches, as grappling apparently wasn't as exciting as two people beating on each other with sticks. Aven said Ji was getting better at slipping out of holds, although it all just looked like sweaty grappling to her.

Yazwa looked up. Ji was in the same spot she'd been for hours, crouched on the railing, staring out into the ship-filled harbor as her tail twitched back and forth.

While the last three days had flown by, the last few hours dragged on to compensate. Around noon three tiny ships sailed in the harbor, so small that Yazwa could hardly see them except for their tall sails. They set off a flurry of activity and she was called up to help lower the ship's boat over the side. The second it touched the water, Bill and Aven leapt in, rowing out to meet the trio of ships.

The Vathlanri had finally arrived.

Getting to her feet Yazwa made her way to Ji's side, shielding her eyes from the sun and looking out over the harbor. "Any sign of them?"

"Not yet," Ji said, her voice raspy. "They went behind that ship with the red sterncastle, so I've been watching that spot."

A thought gnawed at the back of Yazwa's mind. She couldn't quite figure out what it was, but it was persistent. "You need water. Get down and let’s get you some."

"I can wait," replied Ji.

"No," said Yazwa, turning and gently nudging Ji backwards with her elbow. "Not with you sounding like that."

The nudge knocked Ji off balance and she fell backwards, quickly getting her feet under her. "Maybe you're right," she said, wincing and flexing her knees.

"I can't believe you stayed there for that long," Yazwa said, walking over to the rain barrel. A sudden downpour the other day left them with a nice cache of freshwater that was almost gone. Yazwa dipped the ladle deep into the barrel and handed it to Ji when it was full. "My legs start to hurt if I stand in one place for that long."

Ji grabbed the ladle and drank quickly, dipping it in for another. "Do you think those stories about the Vathlanri were true?"

"Which ones?" asked Yazwa. Most of the crew spun lurid tales of fleets of Vathlanri ships sailing out of the ocean to lay waste to whole cities and leave entire coastlines piled high with corpses. They kidnapped children to fill their ranks and burned any drylander ship they found on their ocean. Bill, Cai and Aven offered different tales. All of them included raiding and piracy, but they insisted the Vathlanri were no worse than anyone else. Which Yazwa didn't find too comforting.

"The bad ones," Ji said, eyes darting to the harbor. "Like the one about wearing clothes made of human skin and decorating their ships with human bones."

"I doubt it," Yazwa said, seeing the worry in her eyes. "Do you really think Bill and Aven would be dumb enough to go off alone with people like that?"

Ji took a deep breath through her nose. "No."

"Then there's nothing to worry about," Yazwa said, patting her shoulder.

Ji sighed and walked back over to the railing with Yazwa following. "I keep having the wrong thoughts," she said, staring out into the water.

Yazwa paused, the only sound waves lapping at the boat and seagulls screaming overhead. "What kind of wrong thoughts?" she asked, choosing her words carefully. Ji was an odd one. Sometimes she was a cold, ruthless fighter. Other times she reminded Yazwa of her timid little sister.

"Like Aven not being safe. I know he's with Bill, I know he knows them and that he knows what he's doing but..." she said erratically waving her hands in front of her face before resting them on the railing. "I can't stop thinking them."

The thought was back, gnawing at the back of Yazwa's mind. She was missing something. "We've been through a lot together. A lot," Yazwa said, tossing a loose dreadlock over her shoulder. "It's only natural to be worried."

"Look!" Ji shouted, pointing ahead. "I think that's them!"

Yazwa shielded her eyes from the sun and looked out over the harbor. The little ships with tall sails were back, zipping for the harbor exit. Two broke away, turning about and sailing right towards them. As they closed in, Yazwa could see they were towing a rowboat behind them.

"Cai!" Yazwa shouted. "I think they're coming back!"

Cai came running and clapped his hands when he saw the three rapidly approaching ships. "Here they come! Get everyone above deck and tell Saiyun to get rid of his summon. You two, help me get this net overboard," he said, pointing at Yazwa and Ji and kicking the rolled up boarding net.

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Yazwa grabbed one end and hurled it over the side of the railing. "Will they speak Gray?" she asked, following Cai to the other side of the ship. The rest of the crew gathered there too among a cloud of nervous whispers. "I mean, everyone who travels speaks Gray, right?"

"Some of them will, but don't ask them anything," Cai said, leaning against the railing. "They're a careful people, especially when they're surrounded by drylanders. I'm half surprised Bill managed to coax them over."

"All I want to-" Yazwa began, before Cai shushed her.

"Trust me," Cai said. "Let Aven and Bill handle this."

"What are those?" Saiyun asked, brushing dirt off his hands as he joined the rest of the crew.

Yazwa followed his gaze out into the harbor. Now that the Vathlanri ships were closer she could see how strange they were. Rather than a single hull, each ship was made of two linked together with wooden struts. Three of the green-haired women sit in each of the hulls, rowing them forward and chanting softly. In between the hulls were platforms made of nets that held two more Vathlanri. The sails were drawn up as they closed in and Yazwa caught sight of Bill and Aven sitting in their ships longboat before the vessels slipped out of sight when they pulled up alongside their ship. "I've never seen anything like that before," Yazwa whispered.

"What do we do now?" Ji asked, tail tapping against the deck.

"We wait," Cai said, raising his voice so the whole crew could. "We wait, they'll come up when they're ready."

After a tense silence the ropes holding the net over the side jerked and two Vathlanri pulled themselves up on deck. They both looked around Yazwa's age, with bright green hair tied into a tight topknot. Each wore a brown, canvas garment that slipped on over their heads and fell to their knees, tied around the waist with a leather belt. Both also had a short spear and small oval shield hanging from their belts.

Yazwa felt a chill run up her spine when she saw each of them was cradling a short musket in their free hand. The pair dropped to one knee, holding their guns at the ready, but pointed down at the deck. Yazwa took a deep breath, trying to figure out if her curse would stop the guns from this distance.

"Stay calm," Cai said as the two Vathlanri knelt in silence. "They're just taking a look around."

One of the Vathlanri let out a string of short, sharp whistles, never taking her eyes off the crew.

"I'm coming up!" said Aven, voice drifting up over the side of the boat. "Just me. Bill's going to stay in the boat for now."

Aven climbed up, followed by three more Vathlanri. Two looked like the others, but Yazwa certain the third was their leader. She was older, green topknot faded and streaked with gray. A nasty burn scar covered the side of her head above her ear and her right arm was decorated with dozens of tattoos of small interlocking circles. At first Yazwa thought they may have been symbols of a Chuxa, but they were far too random.

"Is she the one in charge?" Yazwa asked, swallowing her words when the woman locked eyes with her, resting one hand on a holstered pistol.

"What do you think?" Cai asked, leaning against the rail as Aven and the tattooed woman talked to each other.

They must have been speaking the Vathlanri language, because Yazwa couldn't understand a word of it. Although she thought the word 'Tsen' came up more than once.

"I'm going to go show her the tin," Aven said, pointing at the door that led below decks. "She wants to make sure we're telling the truth about it."

"Can't blame them," called Cai.

"He's going alone?" Ji said in a small voice as Aven led the way down into the ship. The leader and one of the other Vathlanri followed him down, with a third standing guard at the door.

"Aven said he knew them," Yazwa said, patting her on the shoulder. The one standing guard at the door was close enough for Yazwa to see that her musket was strange. It had two barrels, like two muskets had been joined together. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Did you see the scars on the old one?" Batro whispered behind her. "I've seen burn scars like that before. They're from surviving a point-blank shot to the head. Bet she has stories."

"She's smart too," Saiyun said, glancing back and forth at the Vathlanri boarders. "Jeweled Fist calls this hook ambush."

Yazwa frowned, looking over her shoulder at Saiyun. "An ambush?"

"It's what the formation is called anyway," Saiyun said. "You can't completely surround an opponent with firearms because of the risk of crossfire. It says the best formation is with one group in the front and one group to the side, that way there's no risk of hitting an ally. After you've expended all your ammunition, close in on the wounded, disoriented enemy with melee weapons."

"You're scaring people Saiyun," Cai said, elbowing him in the ribs. "They're not going to start shooting in harbor unless we start something. We're not going to start anything, so we're going to be fine."

An uneasy silence fell over the crew until Aven climbed up the stairs with one of the chests of tin in his arms and a smile on his face. "We made a deal."

The old Vathlanri let out a string of rapid, sharp whistles as she stepped into daylight. The others held their weapons at ease and made for the side of the ship.

Bill let out a belly laugh from below. "Good! I'm coming up!"

As the younger Vathlanri climbed down, Bill climbed up and over the side. The leader stayed by the side of the ship with a bored look on her face.

Yazwa, Bill and the rest of the crew swarmed around Aven once there weren't guns being trained on them anymore. "They agreed to bring Bill and I to the Ata in exchange for this chest. Their leader will negotiate a price for the information we need once she knows what the question is. At least that's what she told me."

"Where's the Ata?" Bill asked.

Aven gave him a look. "Do you really think she told me?"

"Stupid question," Bill said, shaking his head. "How far away is it?"

"She said they'll sail through the night and get there at first light," Aven said, adjusting his grip on the chest. "Then it will take a day or two to get their trade mission ready before they set sail for Adoti again."

Bill stroked his beard. "So three or four days, maybe five. We can make them work, especially if they decide to join up with us."

"How much tin is that going to cost? Sounds to me like you're cutting into our share for this," Cai said to supportive grumbling from the crew.

"None of you signed up for this to make tin money," Bill said with a wild grin. "Just one more step on our way to the big score. If anyone wants to cash in their share now they can. Anybody?"

A few cleared their throats, but no one said anything.

"Good," Bill said, rubbing his hands together. "Cai, you're running the show while we're gone. If Zeidu manages to track down the Akshi, don't make a move until I get back. Keep eyes on it, but do not attack it unless you're certain it's going to make contact with its handler."

"Leave a demon alone? Easiest order I've ever gotten," Cai replied with a nod.

"That goes for both of you," Bill said, looking at Yazwa and Saiyun. "Since you'll be the ones doing the watching. Be careful, be cautious. We can't afford to lose it again."

"I will not fail you," Saiyun said with a shallow bow.

Yazwa swallowed and nodded. "I'll do my best."

Bill swept his gaze from Yazwa, to Saiyun, to Ji. "You three are the best back luck I ever had. I should let Aven make stupid decisions more often."

"Thanks for that," Aven said, resting the chest of tin on the railing. "Are we ready?"

Ji stepped forward. "Should you be going alone?" she blurted.

"That's the deal," Aven said. "They know me and they know Bill."

"The boats are small too," Bill said. "Too many passengers will slow them down."

"When I get back, we'll train again," Aven said, throwing one leg over the railing. "See if you can get someone else to help you practice."

"I...come back soon," Ji replied, walking over to the railing and watching him climb down to the waiting twin-hulled boats.

Yazwa joined her. "Make sure you ask about Yia too!" she called.

"I will!" Aven shouted as Bill sat down next to him.

After untying the longboat the Vathlanri got underway, chanting and digging their oars into the water. Soon they were speeding past the moored ships, heading straight for the entrance of the harbor.