“If you’da let me —”
“I know, I know,” Magdalys said, spurring Grappler into the air. “You’ll get your toldya so when all this is over! Just take the shot if you got it!” She flew up over the fighting and then zoomed off toward where the billowing cloud of dust raced their way.
DESERT MOUNTAINS SLID past beneath Magdalys. Off to her right, the thorn forest sprawled along the hillsides; somewhere beyond that was the Apache encampment. To her left, the foothills gave way to a wide-open, shrub-covered plain, the Imperial Army a muddled collection of splotches near the horizon.
The bright sun glared angrily from directly above, splashed a rippling shadow of Grappler’s spread wings over the sierras below.
And up ahead: the dust cloud.
Magdalys could already hear the rumble of all those T. rex feet stomping along toward her.
Mapper and Montez would be flying not far behind, probably sweeping wide swaths over the countryside to find Drek.
And maybe they would, and all this would be over long enough for everyone to catch their breath and regroup.
But even then: The Imperial Army was ten times their size. Banks might never show up…. A million things could go wrong, and it seemed like utter annihilation waited one wrong move away. Even if they did everything right, whatever that meant, they could all be wiped out as a slaver empire swept the continent.
She shook her head, taking Grappler low and then banking left around a mountaintop.
This whole ugly world was an impossible puzzle, and they hadn’t even given her all the pieces.
Anger burned through her, as familiar as an old friend.
Sure, Lafarge had warned her against it, but what else did she have? What was she supposed to tap into if not that? Or should she just allow these demon fools to rule the world and destroy her loved ones?
No.
That wasn’t the way.
She breathed deep and allowed those fires to grow within her, felt Grappler burst forward with a new blast of energy, fueled by the same wrath as Magdalys was.
“Come on, girl.” Magdalys’s voice was a hoarse whisper. “These creeps hurt you, hurt Dizz, and they’re trying to run us into the sea. Let’s end this.”
They swooped over a wide plateau and then suddenly swung hard to the right. That mountain of dust was closer than she’d realized. Down below, the whole planet seemed to seethe and shake as hundreds of T. rexes trundled along through the valley, all growls, roars, and stomps. Most of them were grayish or tan-colored with brown-and-purple stripes along their backs. They had flimsy feathers along their limbs and throats, and they were moving faster than Magdalys had ever imagined a T. rex should be able to move.
Magdalys was about to take Grappler into a dive when BLAM!! a bullet whizzed past from out of nowhere.
She veered left and then pulled hard on the reins, sending Grappler up over the dust cloud. Below her, one dactylrider, then another emerged from the swirl and swooped around toward her.
They were both dressed in white robes with white hoods, and they rode albino dactyls — all white with pale pink eyes. Could one of them be Drek? Magdalys flushed out over the sky, pulling out her carbine and prepping it.
BLAM BLAM! Two more shots sizzled past, just over her head. These guys weren’t average soldiers; if she’d been sitting up straight, one of those might’ve brained her, and that would’ve been that. The Sky Raiders! She’d overhead that old man mention them when she was hiding in the chimney back in the Atchafalaya hideaway! He’d said two Sky Raiders would accompany Drek on his mission.
She dropped Grappler low and then swung her around, ready to let off a shot as she spun to face them. Instead, a rifle blast rang out from somewhere nearby and one of the men shrieked and flung forward off his mount, hurtling toward the racing T. rexes below. The other Raider went into a sharp dive.
Magdalys looked up, heart thundering.
“Heyoo!” Mapper yelled, sending Beans down after the Raider. Behind him, Montez held his rifle up and readied another shot.
“Thanks, boys!” Magdalys called, and then spun Grappler low and away from the others. She had to get these T. rexes under her control now or it wouldn’t matter how many Sky Raiders they took out.
The rumble and growls grew louder as they glided just above those gnashing teeth.
“Right there,” Magdalys said, eyeing a tall, gray tyrannosaurus on the edge of the stampede. “Get down close to that one.”
She felt Grappler’s hesitation, her deepest instincts rising up to warn Magdalys away from this ridiculous plan.
Fubba fubba fubba, the dactyl chirped within her, a gentle precaution.
“I know, girl. Ain’t nothing else to it but to do it though.” Reluctantly, Grappler swooped lower until they were just above the beast’s bouncing back. Magdalys patted her lovingly and then slid out of the saddle, dangling herself down from the stirrups. If she slipped, or if the dino decided to move at the last second, she’d be trampled instantly. But she couldn’t think about that. She couldn’t think about anything except her own churning rage and what had to be done.
She let go, her breath catching, and then felt the dino’s thick flesh against her boots. One foot slipped, twisting her ankle sharply, and she found herself suddenly sitting, clinging to the T. rex’s scaly back for dear life to keep from sliding to her death.
FUBBA FUBBA FUBBA! Grappler hooted from above.
“I’m okay, girl,” Magdalys assured her. “I promise! Stay out of the reach of those jaws, okay?” She adjusted herself, trying to ignore the searing pain in her right ankle and the ache that was now pulsing through her left shoulder.
She had to concentrate!
Every bump and rumble rattled through her, igniting her injuries to new levels of pain, and dust covered the world.
The tyrannosaurus herd swung around a bend and then raced forward, screeching and hissing and snapping as they went.
Magdalys closed her eyes.
Tarangatrangatrangatranga the T. rexes huffed and gargled within her. She couldn’t tell if it was the one she was on or a bunch of the ones nearby or all of them. She tried to cast her reach wider. The reply grew louder within her: TARANGATRANGATRANGATRANGA. Surely that meant more could feel her presence.
Over the rumble and din, Magdalys heard gunshots.
She glanced up. Montez and Mapper swooped in a ferocious tussle with the Sky Raider, the two dactyls clawing and squawking fiercely as smoke from their riders’ guns wafted through the air around them. She couldn’t make out who had the upper hand, but she had to focus.
TARANGATRANGATRANGATRANGA the herd chortled vapidly all around her. Her mount had swerved in now and dinos charged along on either side of them, some close enough to touch. Or to chomp her, she realized.
Up above, the other white dactyl zipped overhead. Was it going to help the fight? No — it was diving! She turned, followed the enemy ptero’s trajectory to a spot in the stampede a ways behind her. All she saw there were the heads and backs of tyrannosauruses bouncing up and down.
What was it doing?
Concentrate, Magdalys. The memory of Lafarge’s crisp accent and gravelly voice came to her like a ghost. She was trying. If he were here, they’d be able to end this together, no problem. But if he were here, he would insist she not tap into her rage, insist it would be the death of everyone she loved. He demanded ice, not fire. But Lafarge wasn’t here, and fire was all Magdalys had.
She closed her eyes again, let the flame rise within her.
TARANGA!! TARANGA!! TARANGA!!! The rustle of tyrannosauruses within Magdalys slowed some, from an unending roaring drone to more of a chant, and she knew they were hers. At least, the bunch immediately surrounding her were.
That would have to do.
Up ahead, the valley opened into a relatively wide area with canyons looping off in several directions.
Perfect.
TARANGA!! TARANGA!! TARANGA!!
For all their wrath and feroci
ty, these dinos wanted direction. They seemed to ask her which way to go. Magdalys allowed a slight smile, then pulled more fire from within herself. The Knights would not have their victory today.
Break! she commanded, and a thundering mass of tyrannosauruses peeled off from the main group and burst toward one of the side corridors. Several stumbled in the sudden change of direction, and they immediately got crushed beneath the stampede in a howling, clattering mess. The one Magdalys was riding leapt over a fallen one and kept running, his unstoppable tarangas echoing deep within her.
They blazed down the canyon and then around a bend, coming out alongside the main stampede again. More T. rexes stumbled and were crushed near her, their howls arcing out into the sky. Her pack was still separated from the main herd though — she just had to send it off, and then peel away another group and scatter them too.
There wasn’t much time, but if she could get a bigger —
Blam! Blam! Blam!
Magdalys glanced up, and even as she did, more dinos stumbled and fell around her. Something had streaked past in the corner of her eye but then she’d had to look back at where she was going. This was gonna be harder than she’d thought.
BLAM! Blood splashed up from a tyrannosaurus charging along beside her and it clattered to the ground and was enveloped in the stampede.
Was it the Sky Raider? She turned, arching her back to get a good view of the sky.
Earl Shamus Dawson Drek swooped along just above her on the back of one of the white dactyls. It must’ve been going back to retrieve him when she saw it earlier. He glared down at her with a furious scowl on his face and then held up his rifle.
BLAM!! BLAM!!
Another T. rex collapsed beside her. Where were Mapper and Montez? She twisted in the saddle, lifted her carbine, and let off shot after shot at Drek. Even if she didn’t hit him, which she doubted she would, it would get him off her back for a moment or two.
Smoke and dust enveloped her as the dinos clattered along beside the larger herd and then merged with them again.
Drek had flown higher and was looping around for another pass. Magdalys tried to fire again and the gun just clicked — empty!
Grappler! Magdalys thought as hard as she could. Help!
If she couldn’t end this by wrangling the stampede away bit by bit, she’d have to do it another way. And there was only one other way.
It was her or Drek.
Grappler squawked a fierce war cry and zoomed out of the sky toward her just as Drek angled his dactyl into a dive directly overhead.
Come on, girl, Magdalys thought, cracking open her carbine and shoving more slugs into it. Come on!
Shots rang out from above and dinos began dropping on all sides as the wet thunks of bullets finding flesh sounded around her.
Magdalys turned and shot directly overhead. Drek was still about fifty feet away and closing fast.
But Grappler was closing faster. She swung low over the T. rexes. Another shot sounded above and something wet sprayed Magdalys. Blood! She stood and ran along the back of the T. rex she’d been riding even as it pitched forward into the dirt.
Magdalys leapt.
All the rumblings and gunshots and the endless taranga seemed to fade as she reached out, felt gravity take her, imagined what being crushed by T. rexes would feel like, and then instead felt something swoosh against her. Grappler. She scrambled for purchase, wrapped her desperate fingers around a strap, and hauled herself onto the saddle, every inch of her throbbing.
Blam! BLAM!! More shots from Drek, who was bearing down on them with a hoarse yell, and even as Grappler swept upward and away she squealed with pain.
“No!” Magdalys yelled. Grappler had only just recovered from being shot in the Atchafalaya Swamplands, and now …
Something swooped past them: Drek was making a run for it. His white dactyl flapped away from the stampede.
But why? He had Magdalys on the run, wounded and struggling.
Grappler headed after them. Her wing had been clipped but it wasn’t broken. Magdalys wasn’t sure how far she’d be able to go though.
She glanced around. The skies were empty. Dust rose all around them; tyrannosaurs hurtled past below. The Mexican encampment, or whatever was left of it, was only a few miles away.
Up ahead, Drek and his ptero were headed straight for a rocky embankment atop a nearby hill.
Because it didn’t matter what happened with Magdalys. All he had to do was stay alive and the stampede would run right into President Juárez’s army and crush them, and then the Imperials would be free to join forces with the Confederates and run roughshod across the Americas.
Drek had done everything he needed to. Now he just had to get away and keep the dinos on their course.
Rage seethed and swarmed within Magdalys as Grappler flapped in a crooked rush after Drek.
All that was left to Magdalys was to take him out.
There was no other option.
GRAPPLER WAS STRUGGLING, but they weren’t far behind. Magdalys steadied her carbine on her knee, flinching at the pain. She gazed down the barrel, and when Drek’s mount flapped into view, she blasted once, then again.
A shrill caw tore the air, and Drek went flying as his dactyl spun into a lopsided tumble across the sky.
He landed out of sight, and the fall probably wasn’t far enough to kill him.
“Swing low!” Magdalys commanded just as two shots rang out from below.
“You have to drop me off,” Magdalys said. “You can’t keep flying.”
FUBBA! The reply was an unequivocal no.
BLAM! Another bullet sailed past. That jerk was creeping in some bush, taking potshots. BLAM! This one whizzed so close it made Magdalys jump, dropping her carbine. She grunted, watching it tumble to the dusty plain below. It didn’t matter much — she hardly stood a chance of winning in a shoot-out against him.
“Let me down!” Magdalys yelled. She knew the dactyl was thinking she’d never see her again once she dropped her off. And she was probably right. It didn’t matter though. Well, that wasn’t true, but … Magdalys couldn’t think about that.
Fubbafubbafubba, Grappler warbled anxiously.
“I know,” Magdalys said, pulling the reins forward and down, bringing them lower as she veered away from where Drek must’ve been hiding. “I don’t have a weapon and this whole thing is a ridiculously hopeless escapade and it has been from the start. I know. And I don’t care …”
It didn’t sound very convincing.
“I still have to try.”
Fubba, Grappler muttered, and it felt like a new kind of sadness opening up inside Magdalys. It was a very simple thought. A question: Why?
The shrubs and cactuses slid past below. Magdalys could make out the small branches and rivulets along their leaves. That was close enough.
Instead of answering, she slid off the saddle and let herself drop.
Fubbafubbafubbafoooo! Grappler called, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t do anything.
The ground swung up at her faster than she’d expected, but Magdalys had enough time and foresight to lift her injured leg so she didn’t land with her full weight on it. She tumbled forward and then rolled behind a shrub, watched Grappler fly off crookedly. Another shot rang out from not far ahead, but Grappler kept flying.
Everything ached.
Everything ached and Magdalys knew there was a very good chance she’d be dead soon, but maybe she could take Drek with her.
Grappler’s parting question, or at least Magdalys’s understanding of it, lingered like an echo: Why?
“Magdalys Roca!” Drek called. “Come out, come out!”
She sighed. Sweat covered her body. Pain sizzled through her ankle, throbbed from her shoulder. Every muscle felt like it was on fire. She shrugged off the ammunition belts she’d slung across her chest. Struggled out of her jacket.
“I don’t have any more bullets! Come face me, silly child! We can talk this out!”
; Talk this out, she scoffed to herself. He was lying, but what did it matter?
Why?
The question was alive inside her, a haunting.
There are forces more powerful than your rage, Lafarge had said.
Like what? Magdalys heard her own voice asking. Tell me.
“Where are you, little Roca?” Drek called. She heard his boots crunching unevenly along the gravel. Was his leg wounded too? That tumble he took should’ve done some damage. “It’s over, you know!”
Lafarge hadn’t answered, not really. He’d hedged — told her to practice. But there was something he wouldn’t tell her.
Why? The same sadness in her own inner voice she’d felt from Grappler, a heartbroken kind of accusation. A rippling of betrayal, loss.
“Come out and let me end this quickly!”
Old Lafarge had shaken his head. She hadn’t known then, but she knew now. It wasn’t just that she wouldn’t have understood if she’d been told directly. It was that if she did understand, he knew she’d use it. He’d known it would arrive at this moment, and that it would be her only choice.
“Why?” she said, lurching to her feet.
About twenty feet away, Drek spun around, lifted his rifle.
Magdalys dove as the shot rang out and she landed in a heap. The bullet thwumped into the dirt inches away.
Needlessly reckless. This wouldn’t work if she was dead. She just had to stay alive a little longer.
“Okay, okay! I lied, yes!” Drek yelled. “But now I really am out of bullets! See!” She heard the clunk of his rifle hitting the ground. “Now we’re even, eh?”
Teach me the Gathering.
I can’t.
Poor old Lafarge. He had been trying to protect her. He knew exactly what she’d end up having to use the Gathering to do.
Why?
There are forces more powerful than your rage, Magdalys.
The answer was so simple, had been there all along: love. Love was the answer to Grappler’s sad goodbye question, the answer to all the questions really. Magdalys’s rage had saved her life; it had gotten her this far. But it was love that fueled it, love that could close out the whole cycle. It was love that would save her friends’ lives, her people.
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