You mean this is where they control the leviathan?”
Flower frowned at the plinth and shifted back to her groundling form as if she could see it better that way. “But there’s no way to turn it, no way to steer.”
Watching anxiously, Esom said, “It has to be some kind of control mechanism. We know the Magisters controlled the leviathan when the city was first built, but they lost the ability.” He edged forward, trying to see better but still clearly wary about approaching the device. “Maybe they lost the knowledge to make this work.”
At the moment, Moon didn’t care. He stepped inside, moved close to the plinth, and tried to make some sense of the objects set into its surface. Only one was even vaguely familiar, a round brass plate protected by a glass cover. Inside was a sliver of metal on a pin, pointing south, that quivered and settled again when he tapped the glass. But Flower was right; unlike the steering column of the Golden Islanders’ flying boats, there seemed to be no way to turn the plinth.
“Where’s the seed?” River demanded from the doorway. “Is it in that thing?”
Flower shook her head, bared her teeth in an unconscious grimace. “I don’t know, give me a moment. We’ll have to search this room. There might be more hidden doors.”
Jade glanced up, started to speak, then frowned. “Wait, where’s Balm?”
Moon turned. Balm wasn’t in the room, and wasn’t outside with Stone. Oh no, he thought, and felt his heart sink. The last time he had seen her, she had been on the waterling’s head, just before it had swatted Moon out of the air. She hadn’t been there when Stone had hit the creature from behind.
Flower looked up from the plinth, her brow furrowed with worry. “What? Where is she?”
River and Chime turned away from the doorway and stepped back out into the mortuary chamber. “I don’t see her,” River said. “Unless she’s…” He hesitated, and stared at the waterling where it lay sprawled across the floor.
Jade threw a worried look at Moon, and started after River.
Moon caught her wrist to stop her at the threshold. “Stay here and help Flower search for the seed. Let us look for Balm.” If they had to dig Balm’s crushed body out from under the waterling, he didn’t want Jade to see it.
She hesitated, her spines flicking uncertainly. She clearly wanted to search for Balm herself, but they had to find the seed and get out of here, before Ardan sent anything else after them. After a moment, she nodded reluctantly and turned back to Flower.
Moon stepped out of the dome. Esom still hovered uncertainly by the doorway, nervously watching Stone. “Should I help them look for the seed?” he asked. “I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t want to…” He waved a hand helplessly. “… provoke someone to kill me, but we should hurry before—”
“Ask Flower,” Moon told him, distracted. Chime and River moved around the still-twitching body of the waterling, looking for any sign that Balm was trapped under it. He wanted to get over there and help.
Esom drew breath to speak. Then Stone hissed a warning. With a loud plop, five of Ardan’s warden-creatures appeared, barely paces away.
Four of them leapt for Stone’s head, one came at Moon. Moon yelled a warning to the others, and slung Esom away from the claws that reached for him. Stone tried to hold onto the dome’s panel, but the wardens hit him hard, knocked him off balance and away from the dome. The panel snapped shut.
Moon snarled in fury and slashed at the wide, fanged mouth of the warden bearing down on him. It slammed him to the floor, its weight crushed him down, and he sunk his claws into its jaw. He barely held it back from biting his head off.
Hot ichor washed over his hands. The warden jerked back and howled. Moon ripped it across the eyes and scrambled up in time to see more wardens pop into existence all over the chamber, as far as he could see.
Stone leapt for the nearest group and Moon lunged after him. Jade and Flower were trapped in the dome. Unless there’s a latch—there has to be a way to open it from— Then the wardens charged him, and Moon had no time to think of anything but fighting.
Moon and Stone fell back across the big chamber, fighting warden after warden. Stone took them on directly. Moon darted in to slash