Ships of Air, The
The Fall of Ile-Rien
Chapter One
So we made ready to leave the shore of the Isle of Storms, in hope
of never setting foot on it again.
-- "Ravenna's voyage to the Unknown Eastlands,"
V. Madrais Translation
Tremaine picked her way along the ledge, green stinking canal on one hand, rocky outcrop sprouting dense dark foliage on the other. She was exhausted and footsore and at the moment profoundly irritated. She said in exasperation, "All they have to do is get on the damn ship. Is that really going to be so hard?"
"It's the eyes," Giliead told her obliquely. He and Ilias were just ahead of her on the narrow shelf of rock, both men having a far easier time of traversing it than she was. The mossy water a few feet below was foul-smelling and stagnant, inhabited only by weeds and
the occasional brightly colored snake. These canals cut through the rocky island in several directions, leading to and from the stone buildings that housed entrances to the deserted waterlogged city that wove through the caves below. The builders, whoev ... read full excerpt from The Ships of Air: The Fall of Ile-Rien ebook
