by Frank Morin
Anton slid closer, his tower twenty feet tall, ringed with downward-pointing spikes as if he planned to drive the walls down over Aonghus and rip him apart as he had Ilse. Fogwatt slid across the ground to his right. Together those two might pose a serious threat. Anton said, “The gander can chase away children with overwhelming ferocity, but the master of the house still enjoys the feast.”
Nicklaus gripped Hamish’s arm and said, “Oh, good one. I bet he’s talking so plain because the very bad man doesn’t understand deep thinking well.”
He was right. Aonghus flung the earthen shield away and snarled, his florid face turning redder with anger. “My queen has forbidden such stupid talk.”
He threw his hands forward, and the earth between them rippled as he struck a mighty blow. Together, Anton and Fogwatt deflected it to the left, and the earthen wave continued onward to plow into an entire company of Aonghus’ Boulders, burying them in a screaming avalanche. Aonghus didn’t even seem to notice the damage, or the frantic work of three Sentries trying to save them.
“You fools can’t hope to win. I am the mightiest Petralist now!” Aonghus chortled.
He’d always had a swelled head, and reports of his ascension had clearly only inflated it. Hamish hated that Aonghus might just be right, though. With Connor, Evander, and Kilian all fighting the queen, who could stop him?
“Where’s that bombardment?” he asked Jean.
“Targeting him now. Give us a few seconds,” she responded immediately, her voice tense with worry.
Anton didn’t seem afraid of Aonghus. He flung out a hand in a dismissive gesture, and two entire buildings on the south side of Lossit were flung into the air, aimed right at Aonghus’ back. Looking bored, Aonghus cast giant balls of earth to intercept them, but in that second, fingers of earth erupted out of the ground at Aonghus’ feet, tearing at his armor and digging at his face. For a second Hamish thought Anton was going to do it, that he would actually overwhelm Aonghus in a single, mighty strike.
With a howl of rage, Aonghus threw himself off the ground, and a column of earth rose up to catch him. His anger before seemed laughable compared to his new rage. He shouted, “Feel the landslide, old man!”
He lunged, driving his leading foot hard down into the earth, and again the ground rippled out between them. This time it undulated, rising and falling like a series of waves approaching the shore. The first one struck Anton’s tower and deflected aside, knocking his entire tower back several feet, but doing no damage. The second one struck at Fogwatt, knocking him back much farther. The third and fourth rose so high they threatened to swamp Anton’s tower, but he somehow withstood each one.
While he was distracted with the fifth one, the sixth wave struck Fogwatt’s tower, but another wave struck from the right, clearly catching the earthnail by surprise. It crashed down over him, burying him and sweeping him away.
He did not reappear.
Anton glanced at the spot where Fogwatt had stood, now covered by boiling earth, and Hamish heard his soft whisper, “The night oft falls early, and sorrow weighs the hearts left lingering over the campfire.”
Hamish’s sense of optimism vaporized. Another mighty Sentry destroyed by Aonghus. Hamish’s rage returned in a flash and he cried, “Jean, we need that bombardment!”
“Warn Anton. We’re about to fire three hundred penetrator rounds,” she said, sounding sad, but resolute. Hamish hoped she didn’t beat herself up that they hadn’t arranged to fire sooner. They might have saved Fogwatt, but maybe not. Such thoughts could destroy her tender heart.
“Hamish!” Nicklaus shouted, reaching up to shake his helmet. “You have to listen to me.”
“I don’t have time for games, Nicklaus. What can you do to help?” Hamish demanded, fighting to control his anger. Venting it at Nicklaus wouldn’t help.
“Get me to the ground, Hamish,” Nicklaus said calmly, looking completely sure of himself. “I’ve got a higher-level mechanical that can stop Aonghus.”
“Really? Why didn’t you tell me?” Hamish demanded.
“You didn’t give me a chance.”
Above them, two of the mighty Battalions had shifted position to hover directly over Lossit. Every cannon mounted beneath their huge decks swiveled toward Aonghus and belched flame.
Hamish shouted into Anton’s paired speakstone, “Anton! You have to retreat. The Battalions are firing. Get out of there!”
Down on the ground, either Anton hadn’t heard or didn’t care. He was driving his tower through the ongoing earthen barrage that Aonghus was sending against him. Even Aonghus looked surprised, but that only enraged him more.
Aifric’s voice surprised Hamish, speaking through Nicklaus’ speakstone. “Hamish, can you hear me?”
“How—?” Hamish began, but Nicklaus said, “Later.”
The boy said, “Aifric, we hear you. Where are you? Hamish is bringing me down to punish the very bad man.”
“Rosslyn got away from me,” she said bitterly. “I’ll meet you on the north side of town.”
That helped Hamish feel better about the plan. If Nicklaus really did have a higher-level mechanical that could help, they needed to try it, but landing anywhere near Aonghus was dangerous. With Aifric to help, they’d survive long enough for Nicklaus to try. He banked north, tipped into a dive, and threw wide his main thrusters. Nicklaus whooped, and Hamish appreciated his ability to take enjoyment from the simple pleasure of flight, even in such dark times.
On the ground, Aonghus shouted and threw up his hands. Anton had closed to within fifty feet, pressing through everything Aonghus threw at him. If he reached the crazy general, he would crush the life out of him with his bare hands.
Except the ground all around Anton abruptly flew into the air, as if it was all sitting on a giant sheet that Aonghus just yanked. Anton and his entire tower, together with tons of earth flew upward.
“Look out!” Jean cried. Hamish flew faster. If he could get Nicklaus to Aifric, maybe he could help.
Even tumbling into the air, Anton oriented himself toward his enemy, and the earth around him seized him and threw him toward Aonghus. The earth in front of him parted, forming a slide and he accelerated at his enemy.
Chortling like a madman, Aonghus made a seizing gesture, his fingers like claws, and the earth around Anton mimicked the movement, slashing in like hundreds of talons. When Hamish glanced back with his long-vision goggles, his fear for Anton spiked higher. Those claws of earth broke off inches from his body, but more and more kept plunging in, and each wave grew closer and closer. Hamish estimated that Anton would get ripped to shreds long seconds before he reached Aonghus.
He spotted Aifric, who skidded to a stop at the northern gate of Lossit. Hamish swept past at twenty feet and released Nicklaus, confident Aifric would catch him. Nicklaus triggered directional thrusters to slow himself, waving good-bye. Hamish banked south and poured on all the speed he could muster.
“Hamish, no! Not over the town!” Jean screamed.
53
Time-out
As Hamish flashed over the town, the bombardment fell like every thunderclap the world had ever known. Penetrator rounds plunged out of the sky like giant steel hail, slamming into the ground all around Aonghus with impacts that shook the earth, and reports like thunder. They stabbed deep, then detonated, concussive wave building upon concussive wave, burying Aonghus in a firestorm of destruction and shattered earth. Clouds of dust billowed out, obscuring Aonghus. The last thing Hamish saw of him, he had flung his hands over his head and seemed to be attempting to shield himself.
Hamish didn’t have time to worry about it. Although most weapons struck close around Aonghus, some missed the mark, raining down over Lossit with devastating effect, shattering every building and consuming town in fire and destruction.
Hamish flew through it all.
He didn’t have enough blind coal to simply ignore the danger. Instead, he max-tapped obsidian and drew deep from the enhanced reflexes and thin
king power to calculate the trajectories of incoming missiles and plot a course around them. He banked and turned like a leaf on the wind, pulling more agility out of his many thrusters than he’d ever dreamed possible. He wove through the incoming destruction, less than a hundred feet above the ground, plunging through explosions and clouds of debris, tapping blind coal just enough to avoid getting obliterated.
Hamish scowled, angrier than ever at Aonghus for ruining what could have been a wonderful experience. Ilse’s death burned his mind, and he couldn’t shake the memory of Aonghus’ sword plunging into her chest. Rage drove him on to take reckless risks. Instead of banking away and fleeing Lossit, he kept going, pitting his skill against the entire might of two Battalions. The air boiled around him, visibility dropping to zero as he shot through explosion clouds. He shouted a howl of grief-filled fury. His thrusters struggled to find purchase against the screaming air currents that tore at him from every side, but he would not relent. Three times he threw himself into barrel rolls to make the maneuvers he needed. Time seemed to slow, and the world compressed until every second seemed to take a minute, filled with dust and choking smoke and deadly debris, and missiles raining down on every side.
Then he burst free, flashed over the shattered square, covered in impenetrable dust, and caught sight of Anton, falling limp toward the ground. He wasn’t sure if the big man was hurt or dead or simply exhausted, but set an intercept course to snatch him out of the air.
He planned on making it a really impressive maneuver, but in reality the impact nearly yanked Hamish right out of his suit. Anton was solid. But Hamish recovered quickly and powered south, intending to bring Anton back to his strike force.
His ears were ringing, and it was hard to hear. Jean’s voice sounded as if from a great distance, but his voice was dry, and speaking hurt. He noticed most of the battlefield had gone still as everyone stared at the awesome destruction over Lossit. So he triggered bursts of colored light from his suit, alternating red and green. That should make their opponents wonder if he was celebrating victory, or just coordinating a counter attack.
He spotted the Sentry strike team standing upon a swatch of torn earth to the south. Only thirty of their number remained, but it looked like they’d defeated or driven off most of their foes. For the moment, they owned that part of the valley. Hamish settled Anton to the ground, and several Sentries with sandstone secondaries rushed in to tend to him.
Others gathered around, asking a torrent of questions, but Hamish held up a hand to forestall them and replied to Jean first. “I’m here, Jean. Sorry, but I was busy with Anton, and my ears didn’t seem to be working.”
“Oh, Hamish. For a second I thought you’d gone and killed yourself,” she cried, her voice heavy with worry and rebuke. If they all survived the day, she’d give him a stern lecture. He smiled at the thought. Jean hadn’t yet realized she always looked more alluring than ever when she was lecturing him, her eyes flashing with annoyance, a little color flushing her cheeks. Occasionally he annoyed her on purpose, just to enjoy a little tongue lashing.
“Builder! Aonghus lives,” one of the Sentries said, gripping his shoulder. He didn’t even know the man’s name, but the big fellow looked worried. Nearby, Anton started coughing, but didn’t seem ready to resume the fight. Without him, the other Sentries all together would not be enough to fight off Aonghus.
“He must be wounded,” one woman said hopefully.
“Perhaps, but his will walks the earth with undiminished potency,” the man responded. “Lightning may mar the great tree, but springtime brings forth new buds.”
Hamish turned north, activating his long-vision goggles, scanning the dust cloud hanging over Lossit for signs of Aonghus. If he was wounded, they might have a chance. “Jean, I just got a report that Aonghus is still alive. Can you target him again?”
Before she could reply, the ground rumbled, a deep, threatening sound that somehow felt deeper than anything the Sentries had done in all their fighting. Around him, the Sentries and Sappers all gasped. They looked afraid.
What had Aonghus done now?
Hamish activated thrusters and rose into the air for a better view. The dust clouds hanging over Lossit abruptly fell in a brown sheet like rain, revealing Aonghus. The general was bloody and battered, his left shoulder slumped in an unnatural way. He wasn’t laughing any more, but he too had turned north and his posture looked as surprised as the Sentries near Hamish.
He looked farther north and spotted Nicklaus and Aifric at the far end of town. Nicklaus was crouched, hands pressed to the ground, with something clasped in them.
His mechanical?
Nicklaus’ voice boomed out his speakstone, even though he wasn’t tuned to a paired stone. The boy’s voice echoed all across the valley, and Hamish realized with a start that somehow it was speaking at full volume through every speakstone on every soldier. It also boomed out of the speakstones on every hovering sightscreen or scout mechanical, and shouted like thunder from the big loudspeaker speakstones mounted on the Battalions far over head.
“It’s time to stop fighting. You are acting badly, and I have taken away your earth powers until you behave. I call it Time Out.”
Hamish gaped. What had Nicklaus been doing in Merkland? He and Verena were the top researchers, and they hadn’t figured out how to link one speakstone to every other one. He would have stated as fact that it was impossible. Even more impressive, could Nicklaus really suck away earth power? He’d drawn the waters from the square and driven Rosslyn away, and they’d done something similar with Sucker Punch, but how had he figured out how to apply that to earth over such a huge area?
He descended to thirty feet and called down, “Is he right? Can you walk with earth?”
The earth movers were chattering like scared children. The same burly man who had spoken with him earlier said, “We feel the earth, but cannot step through the door. Indeed, Builder, he has done it. Why didn’t you warn us such a mechanical would be deployed?”
“We’ll talk about it later. Use the distraction to tie up the enemy Sentries,” he suggested. That galvanized them into action. The entire company, except for one of the Healers still tending to Anton, switched to primary affinities, shouted war cries that seemed exceptionally loud in the still air, and charged toward enemy Sentries who had retreated from them earlier.
That sent a spark through the entire valley. Soldiers on both sides resumed bash fighting with zeal. The tertiaries seemed shocked, and some hesitated, confused and unnerved by the lack of their powers. Most of those were struck down and shackled before they recovered. On the western side of the valley, the great bash fight resumed with enthusiasm, and on the north side, Ivor and his embattled Spitters resumed fighting their enemies. The regulars battled for control over the far northern reaches of the valley, but Hamish focused on Aonghus.
He could kill the man now.
Except he spotted huge, hulking things beginning to rise out of the earth all around Lossit. They looked like summoned creatures, but as huge as houses. Most were vague shapes lurking under a coating of earth, but he sensed terrible threat within them.
Nicklaus’ voice boomed over the battlefield again. “I told you to stop fighting. Don’t make me punish you.”
That was amazing and more than a little scary. What had the boy unleashed? More mounds of earth rose all across the battlefield, and fighting slowed to a halt. Soldiers from both armies wisely retreated from the new summonings. Hamish soared over Aonghus, who was staring in shock at several earthen giants ranged around him. He looked to be trying to heal himself, which frustrated Hamish, but he needed to deal with Nicklaus first.
He landed near the boy and Aifric, who looked as astonished as Hamish felt. Nicklaus looked up at Hamish, young face glowing with joy.
“Hamish, I can feel the Builder threshold! This mechanical took me to it. I can do it, Hamish. I can ascend!”
His blood seemed to freeze in his veins as he realized the terrible truth
. The elementals had been whispering to Nicklaus, promising to help him, but they’d set him up for destruction.
He rushed toward the boy, shouting, “No! Don’t do it!”
54
Dying for a Good Cause Never Gets Easier, No Matter How Many Times You Try It
“Why can’t things be easy for once?” Connor muttered, bracing himself for another round of battle with the dread queen.
She was stalking toward him, sculpted slate held in her hand, but her scowl was directed more toward Verena, who still lay at Connor’s feet. The sight of Verena’s bloody, battered form filled Connor with anger, but now she was trapped on the ground with him. If he failed to fight off Queen Dreokt again, she’d slaughter Verena in a heartbeat.
Verena’s entire body convulsed, her eyes snapping open, her expression terrified. They were still connected with chert, so Connor felt the queen’s mental strike against Verena, shared her pain, and felt the queen piercing Verena’s thoughts.
“Get out!” Connor bellowed as a door seemed to open in his mind, releasing a flood of raw hatred that eclipsed anything he’d ever felt. The queen was attacking Verena’s mind.
He would not allow it.
Shouting with rage, Connor charged even as he poured all his will into fending off Verena’s vulnerable mind before the queen could snuff her out like she had so many others. He would not be able to live with himself if he allowed the queen to turn Verena into another mindless servant.
They clashed in Verena’s head, and she writhed on the ground, screams ripped from her broken body. Connor felt the queen’s fury, clearly sensed her outrage that a vile Builder had touched the previous slate stone, and he realized she wasn’t trying to kill Verena. Yet.
She wanted to know if Verena had tampered with the stone.