Aberration

by Kyle West

  But suddenly, the entire mass of crawlers advanced at top speed. As one, the horsemen withdrew as if they were a repelling magnet. The horses were light on their feet, not winded in the least. The front crawlers started falling from their expert shots; how these men could hit such a fast and moving target was beyond me. It was a testament to a lifetime in the saddle with a bow.

  But it was not only the crawlers that were advancing. The dragons were, too, charging right for us.

  I grabbed hold of Silence and connected my mind to every dragon in our force. Get ready to attack.

  As one, the dragons responded to my order, lining up on either side of me. The Radaskim dragons lifted higher into the air, as if to get above us. In response, our own dragons rose, so as not to become their target.

  But it was all a feint. By the time we were well above them, they changed tactics, going right into a dive for the horsemen.

  After them! I called.

  As our dragons dove to defend the Plainsmen, I saw it would be impossible to get there first. The Radaskim dragons’ sharp claws and teeth ripped beast and man alike to shreds. The air was filled with the sound of their screams, both horse and human. By the time we were getting close enough to counter the dragons, they retreated to the safety of their own side of the field. Only a few of the laggards were caught by the Elekai dragons.

  Dozens of dead men and horses littered the empty field. The crawlers pushed forward, claiming the space as their own, while the horsemen regrouped to fire on them.

  It was the Radaskim’s first counterblow, and it had stabbed deeply while proving that the Plainsmen were not invincible. But we would not be driven back yet.

  We can’t let them do that to us again, I said to my dragons. They want to kill the Plainsmen so the crawlers can advance. We can’t let them draw us away from defending them.

  The Radaskim dragons had also reformed by this point and were coming for another charge. The crawlers combined themselves with this assault, and the Plainsmen, too, advanced to meet them on their horses. This time, my dragons flew right above the Plains People. We would not get drawn too far above them, like last time.

  But this time, the Radaskim dragons only continued to rise, until they were several hundred feet above us. If we let them dive into us unopposed, many dragons would die.

  I connected my mind to half of the dragons. Keep with them. The rest of us will stay down here and guard the horses.

  By the time half of the Elekai dragons were rising to counter the Radaskim dragons, the Radaskim had already entered their own dive. And they were going right for us. The only choice was to engage them from a disadvantage; the other option was to try and dodge them, but that meant leaving the Plainsmen below completely open to attack.

  I had to decide, and quickly.

  But then, the air resounded with the deafening boom of cannon fire. At last, Shen’s ships had made their slow, ponderous way over, their guns in range of the high-flying Radaskim. Amid the smoke and thunder came the sound of dragons’ screams. Looking above, the Radaskim were being ripped to shreds. Violet blood and viscera rained from above, most of it missing our force, and instead landing on the advancing crawler tide.

  Another volley fired, bringing down yet more Radaskim. They broke away from the slaughter, retreating once again behind the safety of their own lines. Newly dead Radaskim dragons littered the fields below. There were probably several dozen dead.

  Our own ranks reformed, and for the first time, the Radaskim seemed hesitant to push forward. They just didn’t have the numbers to challenge us in the air. If they flew too high, they would be countered by the airships. Too low, and our greater numbers could meet, and defeat, them. And meanwhile, the crawlers were shot at by the circling horsemen in a never-ending stream of arrows. Each horseman could fire three, sometimes as many as six, arrows before being forced to turn away from the crawlers’ oscillating fangs.

  Of course, some of our own died, too. Some horses got too close, or they were tripped up on the already fallen. In these cases, the crawlers surged forward, throwing their numbers and ferocity at those who were weak, ripping them to shreds.

  But by and large, it was the Radaskim who were feeling our fury, to the point where they were no longer the ones advancing. Like this morning, they were being held back by their own dead. They were not halting out of fear – they were trying to press forward. Crawlers had no fear, no sense of self-preservation. They were getting caught on the wall of their own dead, a wall that was only increasing in size as the Plainsmen added to it.

  And, just as quickly as the battle had started, the crawlers fled once again with a collective hiss. The wall of dead crawlers meant our own men could not pursue them easily, except for those on the flanks, who were already wrapping around and shooting down the fleeing monsters. They were just as skilled, if not more so, at felling them on the run, whooping and hollering the entire time.

  When the Radaskim dragons set on our harrying troops, I called for our own dragons to defend them. As soon as we started moving, the Radaskim dragons broke off their attack, pulling away.

  But the Plainsmen were overextending themselves; having my dragons here, or split up, left other parts of the army vulnerable. I swooped in low over them. “Go back!” I shouted in English. “Don’t be cut off by the wall!”

  They looked as if they didn’t want to go back, but in the end, some man who must have been in charge shouted the order, and the two hundred or so horsemen turned back in the direction they had come.

  I eased Flame up, realizing I had only seen one side of the battle. I took half of the dragons with me to see how the other side was holding up. The crawlers over there were still fighting, and still advancing. But with the Radaskim dragons in full retreat, we could charge them by the air and break them, too.

  I called all my dragons toward me and took the chance. The crawlers didn’t recognize the threat yet, and by the time they did and turned to flee, it was too late for them. At once, some three hundred Elekai dragons swooped down as a single unit on the crawlers, raking them with sharpened claws, biting them with serrated teeth, casting them into the air like dolls, and completely shattering their formation. Once the charge was over, the horsemen swarmed in, weaving in and out of the confused crawlers, which were in no way organized. They were speared, they were shot down, they were trampled. And very few were able to escape, even into the nearby forest.

  A few minutes later, that section of the plain was empty of all save the bodies of dead crawlers. There were horses and men among them, but the vast majority were Radaskim. Hundreds upon hundreds of them had died in the space of minutes. My heart was warmed at the sight.

  But now, the crawlers were well and away, out of reach of both horses and dragons. It looked as if the second clash had ended in our favor as well.

  Pull back, I said. We fought well. But this isn’t the end. They’ll be back soon, and we can’t get too confident.

  I flew back with the dragons to where the Plains Warriors were already congregating, many of them already seeming to celebrate with food and drink.

  I’ll have to put an end to that, I thought.

  But for now, it was a victory. And it tasted very sweet.

  Chapter 47

  The plains became the scene of a celebration. As soon as I landed, people were already drinking, eating, and starting bonfires. Maybe from the ground they just couldn’t see how big the Radaskim host was, or maybe they truly thought they had won already.

  I went straight to the only person who could stop it. Victor’s force, including my own Black Hills Tribe, was still in the vanguard, and there seemed to be less chaos there, though many were already taking celebratory drinks.

  Space was cleared as Flame picked out Victor amongst the crowd, landing right in front of him. Victor seemed to be giving orders to some of the chiefs, and they went off in different directions on horseback. He looked up at me, breaking into a smile.

  “We drove them back, as I knew we
would,” he said.

  “This isn’t over,” I said. “The people are celebrating as if they won’t be back tomorrow, or even tonight!”

  Victor seemed noncommittal. “If they do return, we’ll know of it. I have my scouts watching, and your dragons will catch sight of them should they try anything. No one can hide on these plains, not even at night.”

  “Stop the drinking, at least! We need the archers’ aim to be true.”

  “It is customary after a battle for a warrior to take a cup of fermented milk,” Victor said. “One cup will not hurt anything.”

  “Some seemed to be drinking more than just a cup,” I said.

  Victor didn’t respond to this. “Smile, Elekim. We killed hundreds of crawlers on the field today. Telling the men to eschew their traditions will only hurt morale.”

  I bit my lip, but I didn’t want to argue with him. If they were truly only drinking one cup, then it probably wouldn’t affect anything. It would be hours before the Radaskim regrouped for another assault. And, I realized, I had no way of controlling these men. They had their own traditions, and I might lose support with them if I forced them to stop.

  “I hope they shoot as well in the next round as they did today,” I said. “We can’t abandon our position until the Elekai come out of the pass. That means we’ll have to stay put and be ready to fight at any time.”

  “I’ll remind my men,” Victor said. He gave a rueful smile. He reached into his saddlebag, taking out two clay cups. “Will you share a cup with me, Elekim? It would hearten the men to see you share our traditions.”

  “A cup of water,” I said, but I couldn’t help but smile. “The men won’t know the difference.”

  Victor shrugged, filling my cup with water, and his with the frothy milk. He passed me the water, and we raised our cups on high. All the surrounding men seemed to be watching us.

  “To more dead monsters!” Victor called. “May their blood water the grass on which our horses feed! May we never rest until all of their kind are gone from the world!”

  We drank to this, and I drained my cup quickly. The men cheered, seeming not to know that all I had was water.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “We let the men and horses rest,” Victor said. “We fletch more arrows. We eat. I imagine those monsters will lick their wounds a while longer.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” I said. “From the air, it was clear they were only using a small portion of their true strength. Odium has been testing us, Victor, and would like nothing more than to give us a false sense of confidence. He’s an enemy we cannot overestimate.”

  “You know him better than me,” Victor said. “I will speak to the chiefs about this, so they can encourage their men not to grow too complacent.”

  I nodded. “I don’t know what’s coming next, but it’ll take our breaths away.”

  “Do you see this?” Victor asked. “As Chief Hadon can see things?”

  “Not exactly,” I said. “It’s more of a premonition. A warning from the Xenofold.”

  All signs of merriment faded from Victor’s face. “We’ll do what we can to be ready, Elekim. We will eat, rest, and guard the pass so that your friends can join us.”

  I thought of all my friends just then. All of them, save Shara, who I had seen fighting among the riders, were back in the pass right now. I could send one of the Dragonguard to check on their progress, but alone, a single messenger wouldn’t be safe.

  We would have to hope that they came sooner rather than later.

  “Something tells me they’re waiting for darkness,” I said. “They know we won’t fight as well then.”

  “Maybe so,” Victor said. “But tonight, the sky will be clear, and the moon almost full. We fight almost as well at night as we do during the day. We’re no strangers to the darkness.”

  “Good,” I said. “I’ll leave you here, Victor.”

  “I plan to gather the chiefs when things calm down a bit,” he said. “Come join us at the center of the horde.”

  “I will,” I said. “But first, I want to find Shara and eat.” And, at a sudden wave of exhaustion, I added, “and get some sleep.”

  * * *

  The Black Hills tribesmen set up a tent for me and Shara to rest in. We took our dinner within it, ignoring the celebration outside, and went right to sleep with orders to wake us up if the Radaskim returned during the night.

  My dreams were haunted by crawlers, black-winged dragons, and Odium’s hideous visage. I felt his cruelty and malice, and more than that, his confidence, as if his victory were a foregone conclusion. As if our success today had meant nothing to him.

  Not yet, I managed to think. Not while I live.

  Not for long, he seemed to say back. Not for long.

  I didn’t know if this was him truly speaking to me, or only my exhaustion conjuring nightmares. The Tree formed in my vision, haunting, ethereal, as it had stood for millennia. This was the Radaskim’s Sea of Creation. Just as Odium had to reach ours, I had to reach his. I just didn’t know how to do that, yet. I needed to return to Ragnarok Crater and speak with Tiamat. Tiamat knew how to travel between worlds. Only he could show me how to do it.

  You’ll never get here alive, the voice came again, this time from the Tree. It was said in a tongue I didn’t recognize, yet all the same, I understood it at my deepest level. You cannot survive the Void Between Worlds. No one can. No one can . . .

  I felt myself being shaken. I opened my eyes, not recognizing where I was at first. Shara’s face looked down from above me.

  “Something’s happening,” she said.

  I roused myself, sitting up in my cot. The animal skin walls of the tent flapped in the increasing wind, which was fast becoming a gale. I stood hastily and followed Shara outside. It was late evening, and the western sky was as red as blood. The color was vibrant, glowing like fire. What could cause the sky to look like that?

  But Shara was watching toward the south, and so were a lot of the Plainsmen, more serious now that something strange was happening. They spoke nervously, while others were preparing their mounts for battle, though no battle horns had been sounded.

  I realized then what it was. I could only see half as far as I should have toward the south, and it wasn’t just explained by the oncoming evening.

  The air was beginning to fill with dust, the very same we had faced at Haven.

  “Where is it coming from?” Shara asked. “It can’t just be a coincidence . . .”

  I shook my head. “It’s no coincidence. They’ll attack soon. The darkness and the dust will make it nearly impossible for us to fight back.”

  “But we have to fight back,” Shara said, as if in protest.

  Now, the horns were sounding, and men were readying themselves for battle.

  “They must be coming now,” Shara said.

  I called Flame to me, while Shara called Red Tail. Within the minute they landed beside us. Shara grabbed a lance she had procured from somewhere, hefting it with an easy strength that belied her size.

  Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but comment on it. “I can’t believe you know how to use that thing.”

  She shrugged. “I received some training with the Hunters. I suppose I remember that much of my time with them.”

  “I’m glad that training didn’t go away,” I said. “I’m going to need your help. I don’t know the source of the dust, but we’re going to have to figure out how to stop it. You and me both.”

  “Can it even be stopped?”

  “I don’t know, Shara. I do know it isn’t natural. It was supposed to be a clear night, but no longer. If the army loses here, then we can’t get to the Crater and Tiamat.”

  “We were only at the Crater a few weeks ago,” Shara said. “So much pain could have been avoided had we known what we know now.”

  We don’t really know much more now than we did then, I thought. “Maybe things turned out this way for a reason,” I said. “So, are you with me?”
/>
  “Of course I’m with you,” Shara said. “Do you even have to ask?”

  “It’ll be dangerous,” I said.

  “I’ve been through this much already,” Shara said. “There’s no safe place left. If it’s fate that I die, then that’s what I’ll have to do.”

  It was at that moment that a horse rode up at a gallop, sliding to a stop just in front of us. It reared, and its rider, Victor, held on with just his legs, not seeming anywhere close to falling.

  “The crawlers are beyond the wall of dead,” he said. “We must deploy now.”

  “Go, Victor. The entire command is yours. Shara and I have to find a way to stop this dust.”

  “An ill-fated storm,” Victor said. “There’s nothing you can do to stop weather on the plains. Though it’s strange to get such a storm this time of year.”

  “It’s anything but natural, Victor,” I said. “The same thing happened at Haven. They use the dust to confuse things, and it’ll make it difficult for your men to shoot.”

  “I know that,” Victor said. He looked nervously toward where all his men were riding and was clearly anxious to join them. “But if you believe it can be stopped, then that’s what you should do. Far be it from me to stop you.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” I said. “But I’ll certainly try.”

  “What of his dragons, Elekim?” Victor asked. “Will they not attack you if you fly too far from us?”

  “I’m hoping most of his dragons are focused on the battle itself and aren’t suspecting a couple of us slipping behind enemy lines. The dust should work in our favor as much as his.”

  You don’t know that, I thought. For all I knew, we’d just be making ourselves targets. I couldn’t worry about that, though. We had to take the chance, or thousands would die.

  “I need to go,” Victor said. “The men are already fighting, and we want to kill as many as we can before the storm gets worse.”