Don Bassingthwaite - The Yellow silk

It didn't budge.

"Harder!" shouted Brin. He was back on his sloping board, huddled desperately as high above the water as he could get without clinging to the roof itself. His eye was wild. Lander glared at him.

"You could help!"

Brin hissed like a wet cat and whipped a nasty little knife out of his belt. "Lift!" he spat. "Or you won't have to worry about drowning!"

Lander stared at the knife, then at the wild-eyed half-ling, and heaved again, straining with all his strength.

Icy water soaked into his wounded hip. His leg spasmed. He went over, slipping under the water. He righted himself hastily, shaking water out of his hair, and thrust as hard as he could against the roof. The water was at his belly now. "Wait," Brin said desperately, "it's wood, right? Wood will float, won't it? You'll be able to lift it then."

"It's thatch over the wood," growled Lander. "When it's wet, it's heavier!"

Brin wailed. Lander cursed as he slammed his shoulder against the roof. The water was at his chest-his shoulders. It clamped him in cold. Through the narrow gap, he could see pigs struggling in the water. Terrified squeals and shrieks echoed around Veseene's song. Brin wailed louder with each one. "Be quiet!" Lander yelled finally. "Be quiet!" There was another sound in the air- the alarmed shouts of men. Who…? Lander bent down and peered through the very corner of the gap. Men were stirring at the far side of the sty. The extra thugs Brin had called in, the ones that Tycho had put to sleep with a single spell-the cold water was waking them.

"Hey!" he screamed. "Over here! Help us! Help us!"

The only response he got was a frightened glance. Most of the men took one look at the wizards and the singing bard, and waded quickly through the waters toward the door into the Eel. The first one heaved it open-and was met by a wave of water. The festhaU was flooded, too! The water in the sty rose sharply. The thugs yelled and struggled on, making their escape. Veseene kept singing.

"Li!" Tycho's shout drew Li's attention. He spun away from Yu Mao and looked.

A shining light flashed up out of the alley like a comet, bright fabric a flickering tail. Li hissed. The Yellow Silk! He lunged toward it.

But Yu Mao had heard the shout and seen the light as well. He leaped forward, landing in a crouch and bringing his leg up in a sweeping kick that caught Li in the belly. The blow sent him flying backward across the pitch of the roof. Slates cracked and skittered under him, the broken edges shredding his clothes and slicing into his back. He gasped, and gasped again.

The Yellow Silk, given weight by whatever Tycho had wrapped it around, hit the roof and bounced. The fabric fell loose and a stone fell out to roll over the edge. The Silk slid to a limp stop, alone and ignored. He twisted toward it-and Yu Mao sprang at him.

Li pushed back hard against the roof and flipped up to his feet, dao meeting butterfly blades with a discordant ring. He twisted away from the block and stepped higher onto the slope of the roof, trying to get around Yu Mao. His brother flung out an arm and a sword. Li parried, knocking the blow aside, but another hard blow followed. "Ayeh! " shouted Yu Mao. "Ayeh! Ayeh!" Each blow forced Li a little farther away from the Yellow Silk and a little higher on the roof until he was straddling its very peak.

The sun was under the horizon now. Purple twilight lay across Spandeliyon-Li could see across the waterfront and most of dockside. Down in the shadows, there was music. Tycho's strilling. And a song, a beautiful song. Veseene! The power of her music spread out into the night like the wind of a storm.

Some small part of that power touched him, too, surging through his heart and blood. Li drew a deep breath and clenched his fist tight around his dao as Yu Mao stepped up to the ridge of the roof. His eyes were narrow and hard. His butterfly swords were raised for a killing blow.

Li looked at his brother. "Why?" he asked again. "Why throw everything away to join pirates? Why murder the expedition from Keelung when you could have been first among them?"

Yu Mao's reply hissed between his teeth. "Because I was tired of being the first among them!" Li froze. Yu Mao's face writhed with hate and anger. "I said you wouldn't understand! Younger children never do! What was the name of Kuang for you? Something to be proud of, a key to open doors. For me it was the lock on a prison." Butterfly swords slashed the air. "Always perfect, always the heir. When you're older, Yu Mao, you must do this. When you lead the family, you must do that. This will be your house. Mei will be your wife. And what was there to do but nod and obey? I was the responsible elder son of Kuang, molded by the family, the traditions of eighteen generations of elder sons pressing down on me from dawn to dusk and in all but my deepest dreams."

He pointed a steady sword at Li. "No more. All my dreams are free. Now I'm the first generation!"

"Yu Mao-"

"What do you know of the weight of family, Li Chien?"

Li's jaw tightened. "Family," he said, "sent me to kill my brother." Yu Mao sneered-and thrust out, thrust high, the butterfly swords cutting deadly, spreading arcs through the air.

"Ayeh!"

Li swayed away from one flashing blade and swept his dao up against the other. His empty hand punched forward, forcing Yu Mao to dodge back. He whirled around, swinging the dao with all of his strength. "HrahfYu Mao got a sword up. It turned the blow, but only barely. Yu Mao staggered and Li pressed him, swinging again. "Hrah!"

His brother dropped. Both butterfly swords came up this time. Straight up, the hooks along their backs catching the dao. Yu Mao twisted his massive forearms and the blades locked together. He stared up at Li. "When you see our honored ancestors," he said, "let them know I won't be joining them."

With a heave of his shoulders, he wrenched the dao away and sent it plunging over the edge of the roof. Yu Mao surged back to his feet. Li flung himself aside as the butterfly swords chopped down.

The water rose fast. Tycho hopped up onto the bench beside the table, and onto the table itself with Veseene and Laera, trying to stay ahead of it. Still playing, he stared in amazement as Veseene's song brought a flood into the sky and the alley. Hanibaz and Mosi weren't just staring, though. For a single moment as Mosi called up magelights and they saw what Veseene had done, they were, perhaps, startled, but then each mage cast a spell. Hanibaz spoke a word, spread his arms, and soared up into the air above the flood. Mosi spoke a different word and spun his finger in a circle. The water before him calmed and flattened into a disc-he stepped up and forward, standing firmly atop the water.

Their eyes shining in the magelights, the wizards turned to the trio caught on the table. Hanibaz's wand rose. Tycho swallowed. Grouped together with nowhere to go, they were an easy target! "Veseene!"

His old mentor's eyes crinkled. She raised an arm. Her song changed.

The other voice that had joined her song, the chill susurration of waves crashing against rocks, surged to a crescendo. Behind Mosi, the floodwaters began to froth and churn. The wizard spun around just as they rose up into a dark, swirling column. He gaped. Hanibaz, whirling in midair, gaped. Tycho gaped, too.

Magelights made bright reflections on the column's surface. The reflections blinked. Jets of water erupted from the column and swept out like arms.

Hanibaz swooped around, diving away from the ele-mental's watery grasp. Mosi, however, pointed his hand at the arm that reached for him and shouted a word. Fire roared out in a scorching path and the creature's limb hissed away in a cloud of steam. A shriek like a storm crossing the open sea burst out of the elemental and it seemed to sway and shrink back. Veseene's eyes narrowed and she poured new force into her song. Hastily, Tycho picked up the intensity on his strilling, adding to her voice. The elemental surged back to its full height. A new arm emerged and lashed out. Mosi flinched and almost stumbled off his disc before gasping out another spell. A veil of fire swept around him once more. The elemental hissed and recoiled.