Aberration

by Kyle West

  “Isaru . . . I’m sorry. It’s my fault. If we hadn’t had joined that skirmish . . .”

  “No apologies,” he said, his face becoming firm. “This is war. People . . . and dragons . . . die.”

  I nodded. The lump in my throat made it hard to respond. “It was stupid for me to order an attack like that. We don’t even have lances. What can we expect to do?”

  Fiona placed a hand on my shoulder. “We need to be more careful from now on. We’ll follow your orders. You’re Elekim. But if you were to die, our forces would crumble once the word got out. You can’t just charge into the fray and expect nothing to touch you.”

  “I know I’m not invincible,” I said, a bit defensively.

  “You’re acting like you are,” Fiona said. “You flew Flame into the battle before any of us had a chance to say otherwise.”

  “Soldiers like to see their commander in the battle, too,” Shara said, coming to my defense. “It lets them know the battle is worth fighting for.”

  “They’ll need no convincing in that respect,” Fiona said.

  “I’ll have to agree with Fiona,” Isaru said. “We should fight, yes, but we should be careful in how we fight. We should be with Lord Harrow and the rest of the command, and only put ourselves at risk when needed.” He paused as he grimly considered the situation. “Besides, something tells me the battle will be coming our way, whether we seek a fight or not.”

  I knew that both Isaru and Fiona were right. I knew it, but I felt my own stubbornness in not wanting to admit it.

  “Look!” Isa said, pointing south.

  Several large, black dragons were flying straight for us. My heart sank. Had they broken through already?

  “Run, or fight?” Isaru asked.

  If we chose to fight, it would be the five of us and four dragons against an equal number. But if we ran, there was the question of where exactly we were running to.

  “Mount up,” I said. “Isaru, jump on with me. Flame can handle it.”

  Within seconds, we were mounted. Already, the Radaskim dragons had closed half the distance between the rim of the canyon and our position.

  Just as we were starting to take wing, several cannon reports ripped from above, echoing off the canyon walls. They came one after the other, an unceasing cacophony. One of the dragons began to haphazardly spiral down toward the canyon floor. Another plummeted when one of its wings was blown clean off. The others came on, untouched and heedless of danger.

  Up and away, Flame!

  Flame roared his agreement, hopping off the side of the veranda and into the open air, gliding downward toward the canyon floor to gain some space. The Radaskim gave chase, going into an all-out dive to catch us.

  But all the while, the cannons continued to fire, the reports growing more numerous as well as deafening. Glancing behind, I could see that the Radaskim were dropping like flies. Now that the fire was concentrated, our pursuers didn’t stand a chance. Within the space of half a minute, all had fallen.

  Look, Shara said.

  Another line of Radaskim dragons emerged from the haze obscuring the southern rim – dozens upon dozens of them. At this new threat, the Shen ships turned broadside. Not a moment later, the airships lit with fire, thunder, and smoke. The dragons, flying in mass, simply disintegrated, becoming a mass of flying flesh, scales, bones, and viscera, which clouded the very air. Several bits of dragon flesh struck my face, sticking to it like a crushed bug. Only several dragons escaped the volley, retreating into the haze.

  The airships began to turn away, gaining distance from the canyon rim, floating back toward the north, eerily silent after the cacophony they had caused.

  These ships would be the key to our victory. If they ever fell, we wouldn’t stand a chance. But if we protected them, they would carry the entire battle.

  My attention, however, was drawn by something else. The first of the crawlers were nearly reaching the ground troops below. My father would be down there, if not now, then soon.

  Maybe that’s where we can help, I said to the others.

  It’s safer than a direct fight with dragons, Fiona conceded. Lead, and we’ll follow.

  I urged Flame in that direction, and the others came shortly after.

  Chapter 28

  We swung around Haventree, our dragons tilting until we had entered a dive toward the Southern Pass. Hundreds of crawlers filled the thin road snaking its way down the Grand Canyon’s southern cliff, even as thousands more waited their turn to enter it from above. The path was crowded so thickly that some were being pushed off the side, falling to their deaths hundreds of feet below. But there were so many that it didn’t matter. There were tens of thousands of these creatures, and we’d have to kill most of them to have a hope of winning.

  But perhaps there was a way to kill many before they reached the pikemen below.

  Follow my lead, I said, communicating to both my friends and their dragons.

  I urged Flame onward, toward the middle of the pass where the crawlers were at their thickest.

  “Will Flame be okay with both of us?” Isaru asked from behind me.

  Flame was the largest of the dragons that bore all of us, so if he couldn’t, none of them could. “He would have said something if he was concerned.”

  Don’t tell me you’re going to ram them, Shara said, entering my mind.

  That was exactly the plan. Flame, can you do it?

  Flame circled several hundred feet above the crawlers, taking a moment to consider. Yes.

  Are you ready?

  To kill crawlers? There was amusement at the very question. It’s what I was born to do.

  Before I even gave the order, Flame had already entered a dive. I held on tightly while my stomach lifted, as Isaru leaned forward to grab the spike ahead of me.

  Flame folded his wings close to his body, so that we dropped even faster. The mass of crawlers on the cliffside approached quickly. None seemed to know we were coming.

  Then, close to the moment of impact, Flame spread his wings wide, drawing himself up while Isaru and I were pushed against his back. With a primal roar, he extended his long legs and claws. The crawlers scattered like pins before his wrath. I hardly even felt the impact as Flame’s incredible momentum sent them flying off the edge and into each other. The other dragons struck after him as the crawlers’ pained shrieks filled the air. Flame drew up as his momentum slowed. He veered right, out into the open air and safety.

  Glancing back, I could see my friends’ dragons following Flame. Once all were free of the crawlers, I looked back to assess the damage. Dozens of crawlers were falling off the edge like a waterfall, crashing into even more crawlers below. The progress of the entire crawler swarm had slowed to a trickle.

  Isaru let out a whoop from behind me.

  Everyone okay? I asked.

  “Fine!” Isa yelled, deciding to respond with her voice as she drew up alongside me. “Round two?”

  I looked back at the crawlers. They were reforming with alarming speed, moving as if of one mind. The dead and injured crawlers were callously pushed off the side to make room for the living ones. Several crawlers, I noticed, stared in our direction.

  “They’ll be ready for us this time,” I said. “Let’s go down to the troops.”

  But before we could do that, a shadow fell over us. I looked up, expecting to see a Radaskim dragon ambushing us. But it wasn’t a Radaskim. More shadows moved over us, belonging to the Colonian Dragonguard, their lances extended as their red capes fluttered in the breeze. Captain Dailyn was in the lead, giving me a nod and a lopsided smile as he passed, followed by his dozens of riders. He gave a battle cry as he and his men charged into the crawlers, each man picking a mark to skewer with their lances. The crawlers screamed as the men embedded their weapons expertly, staying far out of reach and returning to the tree for fresh weapons. For all the damage they caused, however, there were still two casualties on our side. One pink Askaleen’s body was already being swarmed
by a small group of crawlers, and it roared as it fought them off helplessly. There was no sign of its rider. Another Askaleen had crashed into the canyon wall, somehow thrown off course, and was now lying dead on a ledge halfway down the canyon.

  For all the dozens we had killed, we had only slowed the advance a little. A mere roadblock that, one minute later, might as well have never been. More and more crawlers poured into the entrance of the pass at the top of the canyon. The only difference was that now some of those crawlers had paused to guard the passage from the air.

  A long note from a horn blew from the direction of the Dragonguard, heralding the arrival of Radaskim dragons, which were once again flying over the southern rim of the canyon, having regrouped from the earlier onslaught of the airships. And those airships were there to answer, turning broadside to fire off their volleys once again, while even the cannons placed in Haventree sent off their own reports.

  Our own dragons were falling back toward Haventree and the cover fire it provided. The troops below would have to fend for themselves for now.

  The cannon fire from the airships did not have the same effect as last time; the range was too great, and the Radaskim dragons were wise enough this time to keep well away. Their presence was probably meant to deter us from attacking the pass directly. The artillery placed in the Tree was too far to have any effect, either. Shen’s airships were the only thing capable of pushing them back, but Guardian Mian wouldn’t risk getting them too far from Haven. Their cumbersome maneuvering could easily be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

  Several more horn notes sounded in the air, only this time they came from the troops. I swerved Flame to get a better look. The first of the crawlers had reached the canyon floor. There they waited for a moment, their thin, spindly legs tipping and tapping, as if eager to throw themselves on the line of pikes that awaited them. They were waiting, I realized, for their numbers to build up a bit more. There was still fifty feet of space between them and the waiting pikemen. Their formation did not budge, in accordance to plan.

  More crawlers entered the canyon, their screams and shrieks hideous and discordant, pushing the frontrunners closer to the pikes. Several broke from the pack, shrieking and charging the wall of sharp points. They were quickly skewered, to the cheers of the soldiers below. The great majority of crawlers, however, had held back. Even the Radaskim dragons held back, well over a hundred of their black forms casting shadows over the soldiers below. Shen’s airships, I noticed, were inching forward, slowly.

  And then, in a single instant, the crawlers sprung as one unit, charging forward in a single mass that crashed against the pike wall like a tidal wave. The din of clashing metal, human screams, and monstrous shrieks filled the air, a sound that would continue until one side was the victor.

  The ground battle had at last begun.

  * * *

  The crawlers were heedless of any danger to themselves. As I watched them throwing away their lives with no thought for self-preservation, I realized that that was the difference between us and them. Humans have an innate need to live. Crawlers had no such instinct; either that, or they were so subservient to Odium that his will overrode any survival instinct they might have had.

  And watching the way those crawlers crashed against that pike wall, over and over in coordinated waves, was nothing short of terrifying. They charged as a single mass, hundreds dying along the line each time, but always replaced by fresh reserves in the next wave.

  And with each charge, the pikes gave a little more space, were pushed back a little further, the ranks forced open a bit more, allowing yet more crawlers to pour in from the pass. To add to the horror, Radaskim dragons were swooping down from above, unchecked save from the odd cannon shot that was lucky enough to find a mark from the direction of Haventree. I watched as the black dragons raked the center of the lines, probing for weak points where the pikes weren’t pointing directly into the air.

  The key to a pike formation, I knew, was compactness. The more compact the formation, the greater the density of the pikes, which wouldn’t allow anything from the ground or air to break through. If the formation was too loose, it would disintegrate from within, allowing the crawlers to run amok, slaughtering any who stood in their path.

  Men screamed and died as the lines were pummeled, again and again. Panic would take hold if the crawlers’ advance wasn’t checked soon.

  But what could be done? I reached for Silence, hoping that its clarity would give me an idea. Its familiar calmness surrounded me, insulating me from anxiety and fear. Now, I could objectively see what was going on below without my emotions clouding things. I could immediately see that we had sorely underestimated our opponent. We needed to send in reinforcements now, hours before we thought they were needed.

  I turned Flame in the direction of Haven, aiming for the Roots where Lord Harrow had his command set up.

  As I flew toward the Tree with my friends following behind, the cannon fire kept us safe from encroaching Radaskim dragons. The Dragonriders and Dragonguard were already engaged with them, giving our ground troops some reprieve. Guardian Mian’s airships were now in range of the canyon rim, preventing more Radaskim dragon reinforcements from joining the battle below in the canyon. So long as we could take care of the ones already fighting within the canyon, then we would only have the crawlers to worry about. There were not as many airships up above as I had hoped. Some of them must have been off fighting some other engagement I didn’t know about.

  I flew Flame toward the entrance of the Roots, through which the brown Colorado meandered. The Roots was a warren that served not only as the entrance to Haven, but also as the docks for rivercraft, while also having warehouses built within. The center of the Roots contained a large platform, built over the river, where many soldiers stood at attention, the reserves ready to be deployed at an order. Lord Harrow stood with his officers on a balcony built on one of the largest tree roots, which by its positioning would offer a good view of the battlefield to the south.

  Up there, Flame, I said. We need to talk to him.

  Flame flew me there, sidling against the balcony. I slipped off and closed the short distance between Lord Harrow and me. He looked at me with surprise, obviously not expecting me to speak to him so soon.

  “We need to send in reinforcements,” I said. “The men are starting to break.”

  Harrow coolly continued to survey the battle, his hawkish eyes not seeming to miss a single detail. “There is nothing to fear, Elekim. The formation has given a little, yes, but that happens in every battle. The men will remember their discipline, and the crawler dead will slow down future charges. With our own dragons defending from above, we’ll hold here for hours yet.”

  Was I simply overreacting? Looking out at the battle, I saw that Harrow seemed to be correct. The army hadn’t been pushed back any further since I’d come to find him.

  “What now, then?” I asked.

  “We stick to the plan,” Harrow said. “It is common for the fighting to be furious in the first few minutes, until the attacking side has exhausted its initial charge. And this battle will not be won within the next few minutes. It will take hours, at least, if not days.”

  I could see my friends flying the dragons nearby, all of them looking my way.

  “I feel so powerless,” I said. “I’m used to being able to affect things, but this . . . this is far too large for any one person to make a difference.”

  “Battles are decided, and victories won, by thousands all making a difference together,” Harrow said. “Every decision matters, Elekim.” He paused to consider. “You’re right, though, in a way. Much of it is outside our control, but we must do everything that’s within our power.”

  “There must be something I can do,” I said. “Some fight I can take.”

  “I saw that charge you made on the pass,” Harrow said. “Brave, but foolish. If we lose you, then likely the battle will be lost as well. News spreads like wildfire among the troops. A r
umor of a leader’s death can lose a battle as much as overwhelming force.”

  I wondered just how many men saw my charge on the crawlers above. Probably all of them. I wondered if any of them thought I was dead from that.

  “I’m only saying to be careful,” Harrow said. “There is one thing that I need, however.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I would like news from the Selvan Pass. I want to know if it’s being attacked, or if more men are needed there.”

  “You want us to go check it out?”

  “Not you personally, but perhaps one or two of your friends would be willing to go.”

  “I’ll see if I can get any volunteers.”

  Already, I was turning to go, mounting up on Flame.

  “You should make an appearance to the troops,” Harrow called out. “Don’t allow even the rumor of your death to spread. Be their leader.”

  As I nodded, Harrow placed a fist over his heart, while I returned the gesture.

  I flew back to my friends. “Harrow needs a couple of us to check on the Selvan Pass.”

  Fiona looked back toward the battle. “What about things here?”

  “He doesn’t seem concerned,” I said. “He said that this battle will last a lot longer.”

  Isaru looked down at the soldiers doubtfully. “Well, if he says so . . .”

  “Who will go, then?” Fiona asked. “I think it’s best if all of us stick together. We need to be where the fighting is the thickest.”

  “All of us together allows us to combine our powers in a bond,” Isa said, in agreement with Fiona.

  I didn’t want to play that card. Not yet, anyway. Doing that would drain my energy and make it difficult to fight. “We’ll know when the time is right for that. For now, let the men fight.”

  “Let me go talk to him,” Fiona said, looking toward Harrow. “Perhaps I can convince him to send one of the Annajen Riders instead.”