Cold, still air greeted them on the other side of the gate. As the light-blindness faded and sight returned to his eyes, Saul looked over the side of the boat. Vertigo stunned him.

  Below the wings of the boat lay a vast empty space, lit by gray flickers from clouds above. Saul breathed in a sweet scent, the origin of which he could not place, but which reminded him of his mother and her home on Hidria after she separated from his father. All at once the smell and the light told him where they floated.

  “We’re between worlds.”

  Olivia glanced at him, from the helm. “We’re not in a passage, though.”

  “Each passage bridges a gap, a chasm both physical and spiritual.” Saul moved along the side of the boat toward the bow, gazing out at the barren gray emptiness. “But if this is where Luther’s ship came out of the gate, then where is it?”

  They passed beneath a shimmer of shadow. Saul and Olivia looked up together. A low buzz broke the silence. Miles above them, partially concealed by clouds, floated a bulbous shape, as lacking in aerodynamics as anything Saul had ever seen, beneath which whirled a massive scythe blade. The small form of Luther’s bladed vessel cut through the air on one side of the floating structure.

  Saul frowned. “Well, that’s explained.”

  “You know what that is?” Olivia glanced at him, eyebrow raised.

  He shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Same goes for that ship Luther and his group are on.”

  Olivia steered the boat upward along a steady curve. She really had learned something from watching Una. “Holy crap. How big is that thing?”

  “No idea.”

  The ovoid crystal that formed the majority of the enormous structure was dotted with jutting rust-colored towers and scaffolding that became more visible as the boat climbed.

  Crystal glittered, almost opaque, but within tiny shapes moved. A few flapped, but most glided between shadowy internal structures that looked like buildings. Saul stared, forcing himself to accept the reality. Luther had taken them to a city that floated between worlds.

  A flotilla of bladed ships drifted into view around the side of the huge crystal city as they closed. Most the vessels were no bigger than the small one Luther had boarded back on

  Hidria, appearing as black specks with blurred undersides, but a few towered high like aircraft carriers from navies of the Earth. All were held aloft by glowing orbs on their undersides and blades whirled beneath their hulls.

  “What do we do? Something tells me those ships aren’t on our side.”

  Saul squinted at the distant ships. They moved around to the far side of the floating city from Olivia and Saul’s wing boat. He shrugged. “They don’t seem interested in us right now. Let’s find a way into that city before they change their minds.”

  “Saul?”

  “What?”

  “What makes you say it’s a city?”

  “You mean, you don’t see the buildings in there?”

  “I can see shadows inside.” Olivia sighed. “Don’t tell me your magic maker eyes work better than mine.”

  “In general, they don’t,” said Saul. “It could be something about the crystal.”

  Olivia guided the boat over the level of the circling scythe blade that hung from the impossible crystalline city. A rush of air buffeted the wings as the pure black edge of the blade passed beneath them. Saul gripped the side of the boat and glanced down at it, but it was gone again in an instant, spinning on. Despite the speed and power, there was no way that blade held up the city on its own, even here in the gray.

  His eyes returned to the pale crystal and red metal of the city above them. They flew closer to the inverted, spiral of a crystalline tower that suspended the blade a mile below the lowest ovoid of the city. The longer he looked, the stranger the juxtaposition of rusty metal and gleaming jewels became.

  From the base of the rounded crystal hung a web-work of scaffolds and slender metal towers. Black smoke issued from some of those towers, white steam from others, still others looked dark and still. Above, higher in the crystal, there were openings cut into the exterior. From the closeness of the wing boat, Saul glimpsed stubby docking towers made of the same metal as the other structures built on the outside of the city.

  He turned to Olivia. “There are docks up there, but wing boats don’t seem to be especially in style. We’d be noticed.”

  “You sound like you have a plan.”

  “An idea.” Saul walked to Olivia’s side and pointed at one of the smaller towers on the lowest crystal, far below any docks. It was connected to the web-work of small walkways that led to larger structures closer to the crystal city itself. No steam or smoke issued from any point of the little tower. It might be abandoned. “Take us to that one.”

  “I’ll try.” Olivia’s eyes fixed on the tower for a moment. She stretched out one arm straight in front of her, stuck out her thumb, and then sighted down the length of her sleeve.

  “Alright. I can do it. The city’s moving, but it’s slow enough, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  They flew over occasional wisps of cloud toward the tower, borne on unseen vapors from below. Saul looked over the side one more time, just for a moment. Space below looked almost the same as space above. Thin clouds and small points of silvery light turned dark further ahead of them. The scythe blade that supported the city slashed past below and

  Saul stepped back from the side.

  Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Any idea what’s down there?”

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  “If we’re between worlds, then there isn’t anything down there. Except gern.”

  “A real live abyss.” She whistled. “Someone call Nietzsche.”

  He shook his head.

  “Name doesn’t ring a bell?”

  “No, I’ve heard of him. I lived on Earth for almost five years.” Saul looked toward the tower as they drew closer. “Look for somewhere to roost.”

  “What do you think I’ve been doing while you stared at nothing?”

  “Fair point.”

  The boat banked toward the tower. Saul held onto the side as they circled down. The boat perched on a walkway beneath a broken windowpane. The boat’s talons latched on tight to the walkway and the whole hull tilted up and back by a few degrees.

  Olivia released the helm. Rult sprang down from Saul’s backpack and landed on the floor of the boat. “This is amazing.”

  “Glad you like it.” Saul looked up at the bulbous crystal structure that loomed overhead. “Can you smell the hilt?”

  “I can’t tell from here. Smells are strong.”

  Saul’s stomach growled. Olivia walked down the slant of the deck. She climbed out onto the walkway where the boat had landed. Saul followed her, with Rult just ahead of him.

  Nat wriggled out of Saul’s shirt collar. “What’s wrong?”

  “We need food, Nat. I imagine you’re getting hungry too.”

  “A little, yes.”

  “I hope you appreciate that metabolism I gave you.” Saul climbed onto the walkway behind where Olivia stood a few yards away from the boat.

  She gazed up at the city. “Looks like Luther went up to the top.”

  “Yeah. You hungry?”

  She shrugged. “I guess I should be. Not sure if I could eat, even if we had food.” She touched a hand to her stomach where William’s fingers had shredded her shirt. “What did you do back there?”

  “I rubbed temper sap on your wound. It heals cuts.”

  “Temper sap. Add that to the list of useful crap I didn’t know existed a day ago.”

  “It’s very rare. My father keeps temper trees, so I took a few vials when I went to Earth.”

  “Your father. You didn’t like it when your uncle compared you to him.”

  Saul grimaced. “Of course, I didn’t. I can’t stand either of them.”

  “Maybe not, but berserk rage?”

  “I didn’t go berserk.”

  “And I didn’t just land a winged boat on a city hidden literally in between worlds.”

  He groaned. “Look, let’s just find something to eat.”

  Rult pawed the surface of the walkway. “Too bad we’re in a city. I doubt there’s any way to hunt out here.”

  Saul glanced at Rult with a smile. The lion-side of the new art-child must be strong. He shook his head. “We’ll do what we should have done back on Hidria. We’ll buy food.”

  “Right.” Olivia looked from the walkway through the interlocking web of walkways and towers that fanned out on the underside of the city. She squinted. “I’ll look for a hot dog cart.”

  “You do that, wise-ass.”

  “Hey, next time you chase down the seed of a universe you can ask someone else for help.”

  Saul grunted. He started along the walkway, looking all over for any sign of other people. She shouldn’t have asked about my father, but he did not feel as angry as he might once have at her probing. He looked over his shoulder.

  Olivia followed him at a distance. One hand gripped her cattle prod The other she stuffed into the pocket of her trench coat. The coat itself looked little worse for wear after their fight with William, though he bet it was stained with blood inside the front. She walked lightly, but her steps still sounded loud on the metal walkway.

  A cold breeze crossed Saul’s face. Am I really going to talk about this? He sighed. “Olivia. It’s true. I never liked my father. But I always admired him.”

  “Why was that?”

  “Because he’s a worldmaker.”

  She frowned. “How important is that to you?”

  “My mother was a worldmaker too. It’s only natural I follow in their footsteps.”

  “So, what? You really want to rule a brand new universe?”

  “I don’t know.” Saul shook his head again. “Right now I want some food. Then, maybe.”

  “First things first.” Her lips curved partway into a smile. “Alright.”

  Saul glanced at the boat. “If authorities patrol down here, we may not be able to come back this way.”

  “I’ve got everything of mine.” Olivia folded her arms. Her cattle prod dangled from her hand. “If someone is gonna come looking for this boat, we should get going before they show up.”

  “Yeah. Nat.”

  Nat climbed onto Saul’s shoulder. “Yes?”

  “It’s pretty shadowy down here. How far can you take us?”

  “Together, you two are a bit heavy for me to go more than a few hundred feet.”

  Olivia frowned at Nat. Her arms remained folded. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she stayed silent.

  “Guess we’ll stick to the walkways except in emergencies.” Saul set out along the walkway. It curved toward the central tower that supported the scythe spinning below.

  They passed under a wall hanging low from overhead. Saul looked toward the central tower’s dark, rust-colored walls, where they plunged into the gray. “Why the blades?”

  Olivia raised her eyebrows.

  “The ships,” said Saul. “And this city. Why do they need these blades?”

  “Seems like they use them to fly.”

  “Could be, but there have got to be simpler ways, maybe not for the city, but for the ships.”

  “On Earth we don’t have giant bird wings, but we still fly.” Olivia followed his gaze toward the scythe tower. “Things are different all over.”

  He nodded. “That makes me wonder what kind of people live here. Makers or Exiles?”

  Rult looked up at Saul from a place at his feet. “This place is cold, Saul.”

  He knelt and held out his arms for the little lion. “Sit in my pack. Should be a little warmer in there.”

  Rult climbed into his arms, then scampered to the backpack. Saul heard the zipper open. Rult dropped inside with a soft thump.

  The wind picked up, rising warm from below the city. Saul looked over the side, threatened by vertigo. Shapes moved in the darkened portion of the gray, unintelligible in the shadows of the city. Gern? Or something else? He stepped back from the edge.

  “Enemies everywhere,” murmured Rult.

  “What did you see?” Olivia asked.

  “Big gern, I think. Like the one opening the portal back in Mortressa.”

  “I hope Tori’s alright.”

  “Me too.”

  “She got under your skin a bit.”

  “So do you. Ever think that’s why I want my own world? I’m not really a people person.” He kept walking without looking at her expression.

  The scythe tower grew closer after another few minutes of following the walkway. Rult nestled as a warm weight, against Saul’s back. They passed near another tower which plunged dizzyingly downward into the gray light that filled the emptiness below. He chose not to look down. A thump rang against the walkway, completely separate from their footsteps.

  He paused and held up a hand. Olivia stopped walking. The thump came again. The walkway shook from below.

  Olivia’s eyes moved to Saul’s face. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Another thump, this time from ahead of them on the walkway, reverberated through the floor. Saul nudged Nat. “Peek over the side. See what’s down there.”

  Nat flew off Saul’s shoulder and glided to the side of the walkway. His tiny, stick-like form alighted. Nat crept onto the underside of the walkway, vanishing from view. He was gone for a just a few seconds before returned over the side and flew back to Saul’s shoulder.

  “There is some kind of animal under there.”

  “An animal? Not a gern?”

  “I think so.” Nat butted his head against Saul’s collar. “But it’s big.”

  The thump echoed from the walkway. Then a brown-furred claw stretched out from below, bear-like. Another claw followed. A hairy creature, the same size and general shape of a black bear, hauled itself onto the top of the walkway. It straightened its back so it looked almost humanoid.

  Olivia raised her cattle prod. “What is that?”

  The creature took a step toward them, walking on two legs.

  Saul shook his head. He reached slowly for an oven rod at his waist. The bear-like creature stopped, then held up its clawed forelimbs. Its muzzle peeled back. The face of a young boy peered down at them from the large frame of the creature.

  He spoke in English, with a mild accent Saul couldn’t place. “I saw your weird boat. Who are you?”

  Olivia stared at the bear boy’s face. “Asked the kid in the bear suit. I’m tired of people eavesdropping.”

  “My name is Daz. And you two sounded like you could use a hand.” He held out one claw, pads up. “Heard you were hungry.”

  Saul blinked. “Hungry?”

  “Yeah,” said Daz. “You two are new here, and I happen to know a place you can get food.”

  She glanced at him. His hand moved away from the oven rod. He massaged one temple. “Where is it?”

  “And what does it cost?” asked Olivia.

  Daz smiled brightly. “I have a feeling you’ll like that part. Foodfall is free.”