Chapter 1

The city was eclipsed by the dead beast floating in the sea. Tiny flecks of black scurried through its golden hide like gnats, the first sign of humanity in what would become Diluv’s new life. He’d thought the hatchlings that terrorized their town were big enough on their own; seeing an adult from so close, instead of dozens of leagues distant, left him realizing how fortunate they had been.

“Di!” Ortwin grunted, straining against the starboard cable and using half his energy to glare at Diluv. Grabbing hold, Diluv hauled his brother bodily back a few steps and braced them both once the village swerved with the course correction.

As they drifted to the west, shining bulbs grew from the beast’s massive sides as the city drew into view. Diluv couldn’t tell where one dwelling ended and the next began, all of them fused together into the bulging facade of the city, the shadow of which was looming closer and closer. Diluv looked back at the village as it was swallowed by the darkness, at the windsocks falling limp and the faded murals on the walls dimming further. He dreaded when the memories of before would fare the same.

“Do you think we’ll get to live near the top?”

“You mean me and Mother? Or you and Lusia?” Diluv headed for the edge of the village, where they’d hastily grown what would be their docking connection, the piling had to be big enough to dock their entire village with not just a few small boats and he’d spent every day the past few weeks tending to it to ensure they’d be able to secure themselves properly to the city.

Catching up, Ortwin nudged Diluv with an elbow and pointed at where one of the dock piling’s protruding knobs could be seen over a roof. “Can you believe it’s taller than even you now?”

“And already there’s something even taller.” He let Ortwin’s evasion go; how much would they really talk once they were absorbed by the city? When he’d seen his little brother’s choice on the housing roster, it hadn’t been a surprise but simply another thread fraying.

“I thought with the beast, we’d get to see a conjoined,” Ortwin muttered, head tilted back at the city and its carcass twin.

“I think you’ll have plenty of chances now that we’re here.”

“Don’t you want to see one? Aren’t you curious what it’s like?”

Diluv watched a limb from the beast slowly be cut apart, the only sound reaching them the splash of it landing in the water. He’d never been curious, not when the village had been the entire world and they’d survived with silence and a sinking home. What did building tall and grand get them except a bigger and perhaps more beautiful target painted onto the people?
They emerged from the warren of homes to the edge, the dock piling a last refuge before they had to leave. Already a sinewy cable had been wrapped around the thick base of the piling, big enough Diluv had to wonder how they’d even gotten it tied in the first place. Their mother waved to them, the official beside her squinting at where her arm turned from flesh to metal.

“Boys, this is Officer Ivek. She’ll be doing the assessments for us,” their mother introduced the officer with a smile, as if they were already old friends.

“Your hand is from a corm?” The officer ignored the introduction, eyes flicking over his mother’s body as if grading the quality of a large fish. Bone structure, tint of the meat, was it satisfactory? Diluv stared, the first he’d ever seen of an inbuilt optic scanner that actually worked. Old Yanno had one, but it had failed before Diluv could even remember and had sat in the man’s face like a raw yolk, jiggling from every motion and liable to run if Yanno rubbed his eye socket too hard. What was the scanner telling the officer now, how much could it see?

“Yes,” His mother stood the scanning patiently, in respect from one assessor to the other. At the unfamiliar word, Diluv wished he’d taken one of the translator seeds he’d passed out yesterday. He’d thought to practice his standard, but after years of only reading his father’s messages, he wasn’t used to hearing it spoken so quickly and he was floundering.

“And it has not failed yet?”

“Not yet.” His mother tucked her hand into her crossed arms, not mentioning the way her pinky was starting to dry out while her wrist joints were turning brittle.

“Miracle this place is still floating,” the officer finally said, a friendly laugh tacked onto the end. “You’re lucky we were passing this trench, usually we’re far in the north over this stretch. Speaking of which, excuse me. The village’s condition is of concern,” the officer said, arm turning sharp and serrated as she stabbed at the wall beside her.

Diluv didn’t remember crossing the distance, didn’t remember his skin turning to scales, or when he’d placed his hand in the path of the blade. The village trembled beneath his fingers, the miniscule quakes tracing through his body. He’d asked his parents why the village was sick when he was six, and was left frustrated when they grew angry that he’d been eavesdropping.

“You.”

Relaxing once he could see her attention was on him rather than the village, he realized she wasn’t the only one. The weight of the other officials was suffocating, but the looks on his brother’s and mother’s faces were the heaviest of all.

“Can the butchering wait until we’ve disembarked?” his mother asked. “It’s in a fragile state as it is, the added stress might well sink us right when we’ve found safe harbor.”

Diluv wished he’d inherited his mother’s silver tongue, the way she could find the words for any situation. He’d had no words in his mind when he’d risked his fingers, merely an instinct. The officer spared a glance at her and considered, her arm already softening back into shape. He took a hesitant step back towards the line, he knew Old Yanno would need someone to translate the questions once he reached the front...

“No, you won’t need to get back in line. You’re assigned to the conjoined corps.” The officer rounded him, an appraising gaze still trained on where his scales were slowly sinking away, and he could see in her eyes as she blinked a confirmation and sealed his fate.