“No one else could do the drafting required,” Karris finished for him.
“Galib and Tarkian are probably the only polychromes who could handle all the colors necessary, and neither of them is fast enough. If I can make it easy enough for other drafters, I might tell her.”
“Might?”
“I’ve been thinking about the ways this could be used. In war, mostly. The Seven Satrapies already fight and scheme over the few polychromes there are. This would make it a hundred times worse.”
“Is that Garriston?” she said abruptly, looking north and west. “Already?”
“The real question is whether you want to crash onto land or into the water,” Gavin said.
“Crash?”
“I’m not very good at landing yet, and with so much extra weight—”
“Excuse me?” Karris said.
“What? I haven’t tried flying with a manatee aboard either, I’m just—”
“You did not just compare me to a sea cow.” Her expression made ice look warm.
“No! It’s just that all the extra weight…” What is it you’re supposed to do when you’re in a hole? Oh. “Um.” He cleared his throat.
She grinned suddenly, dimples flashing. “After all this time, Gavin, I still get you.” She laughed.
He laughed ruefully, but the pain went deep. And I still don’t get you. Maybe she would have been happy with Dazen.
Chapter 14
It felt like years before Kip reached the bridge post. He paused, looking back toward the drafters as Sanson caught up with him. The master was still striking his apprentice, who’d curled into a ball, screaming. They definitely hadn’t seen Kip or Sanson, but they were also turned toward them, and if they looked up, the bridge post wasn’t big enough to hide both boys.
The bridge groaned, and Kip looked up. The opposite post, on the island side, was aflame, and the animals were pushing away from it, but too scared to go back into town, which was also burning. That pushed them against the rail directly above the boys—and against the gap in the rail the horse had made—mere paces to their left.
Half a dozen rats splashed into the water, kicked by the other animals. Each of them began swimming in a different direction, including several right at the boys.
Kip’s stomach knotted in visceral fear. It was ridiculous that a rat should freeze him while two drafters didn’t—but he hated rats. Hated hated hated them. Sanson yanked on his sleeve, pulling him away. Kip launched off the post, splashing awkwardly. He turned back, making sure none of the rats latched onto his clothes. His eyes flicked up to the apprentice drafter Zymun, the boy’s head tucked between his arms as his master beat him. But then Zymun stiffened.
Zymun shouted something and stood, and his master stopped hitting him. Kip got his first good look at the boy. He couldn’t have been more than a year older than Kip, with unruly black hair, dark eyes, and a wide, fleshy mouth curved into a triumphant grin. Even in the moment Kip saw him, Zymun’s and his master’s skin were filling with red, the swirls like smoke being inhaled, but then compacted until it filled their bodies.
Kip turned and swam as hard as he could. There was one metal screen in front of the waterfall to keep boats or swimmers from going over, and a dock and stairs next to it. Sanson was already to the screen, more than ten paces ahead of Kip.
After a few more hard strokes, Kip glanced back. The bridge and the jostling animals blocked much of his view of the two drafters, but as he looked, he saw the master run a few quick steps forward. He jumped, spread his arms wide, and slapped his hands together. A shimmering ball of red luxin formed between his hands, and as they slapped together it rocketed forward. The drafter was blasted back by the force of what he’d thrown, but still landed on his feet.
The ball caught fire in midair, right before it plowed through the animals on the bridge. Sheep, horses, and pigs exploded in every direction, body parts flying. Wild shrieks filled the air, sounding almost human. The burning missile tore off the railing and blasted a chunk out of the middle of the bridge itself, and then it streaked over Kip’s head with a fiery roar and smashed the wood stairs above the dock. Kip didn’t think the drafter had missed, and for a moment he thought the man was trying to trap them.
The drawbridge cracked, and all the animals on it stumbled toward the sagging