Free Above World by Jenn Reese Page B

hawks that flew over the coral reef, but her face was much like a Kampii’s. If she’d had a tail instead of wings, she could have been one of the Elders.
    “Quickly, are either of you feeling ill?” High Senator Electra asked.
    Aluna ground her teeth together and refused to answer.
Never let your opponent see your weaknesses,
Anadar always said. Usually right before he knocked the weapon out of her hands.
    “Answer me!” the Aviar yelled.
    Aluna clutched her head from the pain. Black spots swam in her eyes. Anadar would be so disappointed.
    “Fetch a breather,” Electra said to one of the Aviars. Then to Aluna she said, “Listen to me carefully. You have sky sickness. The air here is thin, and your body is not adjusting. You need more oxygen.”
    Aluna could hear her words, but only partially understand them. The whole world felt blurry, like the moon when viewed from beneath the waves. She breathed faster, but her lungs never seemed satisfied.
    An Aviar with white feathers covered in symbols spoke. “I’m sorry, High Senator. We rose too quickly. I wasn’t thinking.”
    “No, you weren’t,” Electra said. “We’ll discuss it later.”
    “Help her,” Hoku said. Even through her haze, Aluna could hear the panic in his voice. Why was he worried? “You did this to her. You have to save her!”
    With a rustle of wings, the Aviar who had been sent for the breather returned. A moment later, High Senator Electra shoved something into Aluna’s mouth. She tried to resist, but her body felt heavy, as if her arms were filled with sand instead of muscle. The artifact was the size of a clam and covered in tubes and blinking lights. It emitted a low hum that she found strangely soothing.
    “Breathe through the device,” the high senator said.
    Aluna shook her head and tried to spit the machine out of her mouth. Another hand grabbed her arm. A smaller one. She looked over and saw freckles.
    “Do it, Aluna,” Hoku said quietly. “If you don’t trust them, at least trust me.”
    She inhaled. Air rushed into her body. The invisible hand crushing her chest released its grip slightly. She breathed again, and again.
    “Good,” Electra said. “Now I’m going to stick something to your skin. Do not pull it off. It will instruct your body to adapt faster to the altitude.”
    “How?” Hoku asked.
    “There are messengers in our blood that carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. We will tell the girl’s body to make more messengers.”
    High Senator Electra gripped Aluna’s shoulder and clipped something to her earlobe. It stung, but no more so than pricking a finger on a sea urchin. She disliked earrings, but then again, the City of Shifting Tides didn’t have any that could save your life.
    Her headache receded. She fisted her hand, relieved to feel its strength returning.
    “The worst has passed,” Electra said. “Continue using the breather until you can do twenty push-ups without straining.”
    Aluna had no idea what a push-up was, but she understood all the same.
Keep it on until you’re ready to fight.
    The Aviar whistled and four guards stepped forward, their spears clutched at their sides.
    “Escort our guests to their chambers on the prison level,” Electra said. She turned to Aluna and Hoku. “I have saved you, but only for now. I will inform Her Royal Greatness, President Iolanthe, of your presence. It is she who will decide whether you ever leave this place alive.”

A LUNA’S PRISON CELL had walls of stone and a door of metal bars. She wrapped her hands around two of the bars and shook them once, then again, then again with all her strength. Nothing. No sign of weakness. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against the coolness of the metal.
    “I can’t see you,” she whispered to Hoku.
    “No,” he said quickly, “but we can still talk. And we don’t even have to yell. The artifacts in our ears still work up here.”
    “Unless they separate us,” she said. “This