The Gatekeeper Trilogy

by Scott Ferrell

  I had a moment to wonder if the opening in the building was wide enough for us to fit through. It wasn’t enough space for the wings. We were going to hit the walls and tear the wings off. We were going to plummet to the ground or fly right into the building across the street. I held myself and braced the best I could in the rattling seat.

  A second later, we cleared the opening and were in the air. I started to believe we actually had a chance of get away in that flying garbage can. We even made it over the adjacent building and found ourselves soaring over Delicia. The sudden rush of hope was short lived, though. The plane stopped gaining altitude. In fact, the contraption started to lose it.

  11

  HOME FREE

  We hadn’t gained all that much altitude before inertia caught up with us and we started to sink toward Delicia’s buildings. The roll of the plane into a descent made my stomach turn over like driving too fast over a hump in the road. Aoife’s scream grew in pitch and volume as we began to drop at an alarming rate. I couldn’t say that I blamed her. I probably would have screeched myself if my teeth weren’t clamped together like a vise.

  I gripped the sides of the plane involuntarily and tensed my legs. I made the mistake of glancing out the plane. A stone building rose up to meet us faster than what could have possibly been safe. I wanted to yell a warning to Tias, but my jaw wouldn’t unclench to let me.

  Tias dipped his head and searched the cockpit. He reached to do something on the primitive instrument panel. The engine expelled a hiss of steam and the propellers hummed faster. Tias pushed forward on the yoke. A vibration rattled down the plane. It leveled out just feet from the roof and began to climb again.

  “Woo!” Tias yelled in elation.

  I wanted to join him in celebrating not being mashed into a building like a bug on a windshield, but I had lock jaw or something. It felt a little too early for celebrating, anyways. The jubilation should be saved for when we landed safely on the ground far from Delicia. To be honest, I wouldn’t feel safe again until Aoife and I were off this world. Far away from Daresh. Seanna. All of it. My life before wasn’t the greatest, but at least I had a little bit of control over it. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something.

  I worked up the courage to look over the side. The thought of doing it made my stomach clench, but I had to do it for my own sanity. I had to see we were really escaping, that we’d really make it out of the city. I couldn’t tell how high up we were, but we easily cleared the tallest buildings in Delicia. I guess that wasn’t say much when the tallest were only four stories high. Still, it was enough for me to breathe a little easier.

  Soldiers down in the streets ran and pointed at us as we passed overhead. They had no clue what to do about us. We were getting away and there wasn’t a thing they could do about it. A few pointed their cylinder guns at us, but they were nowhere near powerful enough for the projectiles to reach us. That was my hope, anyways. None fired their weapons, so I assumed I was right on that account.

  As we climbed higher, I got a good look at Delicia below. Seanna had been right. The streets were concentric rings that radiated out from the Circle of Atlas at the center of the city like waves rippling out from a rock tossed in a pond.

  I glanced into the back seat. Aoife had stopped screaming but looked like she could be sick at any moment. I didn’t blame her. The vibrating plane rattled me to the bones. It jiggled my insides like an out of control, demonic massage chair. I probably would have been sick if I had a weaker stomach.

  Seanna struggled to get the straps around them both. The seat hadn’t been made for two and it didn’t help that Aoife was as stiff as a board. She was no help at all.

  “Can you get it on?” I called back.

  “I’m trying!” Seanna yelled.

  “Look!” Tias drew my attention. “We’re clear!” He let out another whoop.

  I looked over the side again just in time to see the thick walls pass below us. Wide, empty plains and freedom stretched out for miles.

  “I told you this would work.” Tias laughed and reached a hand over the side to pat the plane like it was an animal that had performed admirably. We listed to the side and he snatched his arm back in to hold yolk steady with body hands.

  “How far can this thing take us?” I asked over the rush of wind.

  “I don’t know! The plans weren’t very specific in that regard.” Tias replied over his shoulder. “Far enough, I expect. Any distance from Delicia works in your favor, don’t you think?”

  I could have argued that point. The further the better. I would probably kiss the man if he flew us all the way back to the Jo-Shar’s mountain. I reached a hand over his seat and patted his shoulder. “Thank you, Tias.”

  “Don’t thank me! This is fun.” He laughed.

  Fun wouldn’t be the adjective I would attach to flying in an oversized tin can that felt like I was on the verge of rattling itself apart. I inhaled a long breath and blew it out to try to settle the nerves that had settled in my stomach. It seemed like everything had been going wrong for me, so maybe this was my turn to have something go right. It had to happen eventually, right? I mean, I had already hit bottom, I was sure. Down in Daresh’s dungeon was my bottom—the deep, dark pit literally and figuratively. Riding in this plane as it angled higher into the air was my horribly cheesy metaphorical rise out of that pit.

  I shifted in the seat. It was less comfortable than it looked. It was barely more than a curved piece of metal covered by a thin cushion of some sort and green leathery fabric. Still, I closed my eyes and tried to relax.

  Eventually, Tias leveled the plane out and cut back the engines as we glided through the air. The violent vibrations reduced to an almost pleasant buzz. It mixed agreeably with the rush of wind. It felt a lot like the fan I kept blowing on me at all times when I slept at home. It was a comforting feeling that chased off my nerves, leaving a warmness in my stomach. I didn’t bother to fight sleep. I let it come in to claim me.

  ***

  “What’s that?” Seanna asked.

  I jerked awake, sitting up in the seat. I couldn’t be sure how long I slept, but the sun was fully up to our right. Seanna pointed out to the front and to the left.

  “What?” I asked, squinting.

  “Out there!” She waved a finger as if that motion would help me see better.

  Funny thing was it did. I saw a few dark spots in the sky where she pointed. I leaned forward and tapped Tias’ shoulder, directing his attention in the same direction. He nodded and pulled the stick slightly to the right, turning our course further away from the dots.

  “What are they?” I called out.

  “I have no idea-”

  Aoife’s scream cut him off. A shadow appeared in front of the sun as something large flew right at us. Tias reacted instinctively. He yanked back on the stick. The plane dove. My stomach leapt into my throat. The thing missed us, flying a few feet above our heads. It moved fast, but I caught rows of metal plating as it blurred past.

  “Look out!” Seanna yelled.

  Two more dark forms appeared, silhouetted by the sun. Tias pulled the stick to the side to avoid them, but they were more maneuverable than the plane. One dropped right in front of us and I got a good look at the monstrosity.

  At first, I thought it was a dragon, but they were made of metal and leather. Maybe it was a dragon! It certainly looked like one. It had a long sleek body, a tail that trailed out behind it, and a large head. It couldn’t be a dragon, could it? A red light glowed from deep within the head structure where the eyes should be. It floated in the air waiting for us, gently flapping leather wings to stabilize it. Its hinged mouth opened as we flew at it. A large cylinder that acted as its throat dripped liquid fire.

  Tias panicked and jerked the stick too hard. The plane rolled over. Aoife screamed again as she came out of the seat. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to watch her flip and hang out of the plane, clutching the half the strap that Seanna obviously never managed
to get attached.

  I did something incredible stupid. I didn’t really have choice. I let go of my seat, trusting my own straining straps to hold me and reached out to grab her wrist. Our eyes met. Her face was a mask of sheer terror. The ground was a faraway blur below her.

  I glanced at Seanna. She struggled to hold herself upside down in her seat. She managed to hold on through force of will. She wouldn’t be able to help. I had a grip on Aoife’s wrist and she held the strap, but I didn’t know how long we could hold on if Tias didn’t get the plane righted.

  I felt my hips start to slide out of the strap. I pushed my knees against the sides of the plane. It helped hold me in my seat, but my right hamstring cramped. I gritted my teeth against the pain.

  “Tias!” Seanna screamed.

  The plane jerked toward the ground and rolled. Angry red flames blew overhead as Aoife twisted in the air and landed on Seanna in the seat. The plane jerked right and she flew out again but landed on the wing. The strap she held scraped against the edge of the cockpit and frayed.

  “It’s going to break,” Seanna yelled over the wind.

  Aoife noticed it at the same time. She released the strap and grabbed my wrist instead. She slid on the wing, but we held on to each other. The yank on my arm felt like it almost pulled my shoulder out of socket.

  We finally leveled out for the moment and I yelled at Seanna. “Help!”

  A shadow crossed over the plane. It took only a moment to register it, but in that moment, Aoife disappeared. At first, I thought she fell, but my arm was up in the air. I followed it up, past bloody scratches Aoife’s nails had dug into my wrist, to the sky above us. Aoife dangled from one of those dragon machine’s claws. The thing beat its wings to gain more altitude.

  “Aoife!” I called out. I grabbed Tias’ shoulder.

  He nodded at my wordless plea to follow. The plane’s horrible rattling roared back to life as he pushed the motor harder. We gained speed and rose up behind the metal monster. For an engine powered only on steam, it had enough power to catch up to the swift thing. It saw us, though, and swerved to the side. Aoife flopped under it.

  “Get beside it” I yelled. “Not too close.”

  Tias’ responded by gaining even more altitude and speed until the dragon machine flew off our right side. I untied my strap with fumbling fingers. I floated off my seat for a moment as the plane dove a couple feet to keep even with the machine. Once it leveled out again, I pushed myself up to my feet.

  “What are you doing?” Seanna screamed.

  “Keeping a promise!”

  I pulled myself over the side of the plane and knelt on the wing, gripping its edges to keep myself steady. I glanced down at Aoife. She was silent, too terrified to even scream. I brought my eyes to the wing. It flapped up and down in a steady beat.

  Flap.

  I pushed both feet under me, bent over to keep my grip on the wing for support.

  Flap.

  The beat was rhythmic. In time. Perfect

  Flap.

  If I mistimed it...well, I couldn’t think of that.

  Flap.

  I stood, taking two stumbling strides down the length of the wing and jumped.

  Flap.

  12

  FREE FALLING

  I hung in the air for what seemed like forever. As soon as I had launched myself from the plane’s wing, I knew I wouldn’t make the jump. The gap was too large. I couldn’t get enough boost from the unsteady plane wing to cover to make it. The mechanical dragon’s wing was coming up and I’d fly right underneath it.

  When I had first discovered my telekinesis ability, it was hard to pull the power up to activate it. It had been like trying to find a matching sock in a dryer full of clothes. The more I used it, however, the easier it became. It was almost like the power eagerly came up to meet me on its own now.

  That’s exactly what happened as I crossed the gap. I didn’t have to consciously dig for it. It roared in my ears with the wind and made my heart thump back to life. It rushed through my veins like a shot of adrenaline. It pushed on the plane behind me, propelling me toward the dragon’s wing. I landed hard, lost my footing, and rolled down the wing to the body. I slid a foot. I reached out a desperate hand. I slid down the body until I felt a gap in the metal plates. I hooked my fingers in and held on for life.

  I made it. In spite of my stupidity, I was on the creature carrying Aoife. I didn’t know what to do next, though. I was stuck there, clinging to the rough metal plate. All I had managed to do was give the thing two prizes instead of one. If I didn’t fall off, that is. I grabbed the plate with my other hand and readjusted myself on its body.

  The creature was made of various sized metal plates bolted together. The body plates were larger, but where more flexibility was needed, they were smaller interlocking pieces. All the plates had gaps between them. I pulled myself to the gap I clung to and peeked between the two plates. There was a layer of some sort of leather just underneath. Not the creature’s own skin, but what looked like dried and sewed together pieces of leather.

  I jammed a couple fingers further in the gap, prodding at the leather. There wasn’t much I could do about the metal plates, but maybe I could find a weakness in the skin underneath.

  Apparently, it didn’t like being prodded. It swung its giant head around and focused a red eye on me. It tucked its wings in close to the body and rolled. I had a moment of free falling as I lifted off the wing but managed to keep my fingers dug into the gap in metal plates.

  “Gaige!” Seanna called out an unnecessary warning from the plane that struggled to keep up with the dragon machine.

  It was unnecessary for me, but unfortunate for her. It had gained the thing’s attention. It rolled right side up and turned its head their way. Its gapping maw opened. It had metal teeth the size of my hand. They gleamed in the sunlight and liquid fire dripped from its lower jaw.

  “No!” I screamed.

  Tias saw it coming, too. The plane shuddered and jerked, trying to climb for altitude. Fire spewed from the dragon. I knew the contraption wouldn’t get high enough, fast enough. I reacted instinctively. I tapped the energy well and released it simultaneously. I pushed the stream of flame aside. The dripping fire barely missed as the plane veered away from us.

  Saving the plane was a small victory and short lived. Another of the things streaked across the sky, swooping down from above. It slammed into the plane’s wing, ripping it from the body. The plane turned into a spinning dive toward the ground.

  Through the flapping of the dragon’s wing, I watched the plane plummet toward the ground. It was useless. There was nothing I could do. I was stuck, hanging on for my life on the side of the creature. Aoife was still in its clutches somewhere underneath it. Tias and Seanna were falling to their inevitable death. Our miraculous escape turned into sure death for all of us in mere moments.

  My attention was drawn to a dark spot of land, a black scar slashing across the horizon. The swamps. It was the only chance Tias and Seanna had to survive. The marshy land might soften the crash, but they were angling too sharply toward the ground.

  I tapped more energy and gave the plane a great shove, up and forward. The plane stabilized for a moment as it jerked forward but started to spin again. I didn’t have the right angle to tell if they’d make it to the swamps, but I did the only thing I could to help. I had other more urgent matters—the whole hanging from a dragon with Aoife in its claws kind of matters.

  I pulled more energy to the surface and took a deep breath to steady myself. If I thought about what I was about to do too much, I don’t think I would have been able to make myself do it. I just had to act. I let go of the dragon. The rush of wind yanked me off the side of the beast. Thanks to pulling the grate off the wall in our escape from the Circle of Atlas, I now knew I could pull as well as push. I used my power to latch on to the clawed foot that held Aoife. I jerked on my power like a rope. I was snapped toward the claw like a yoyo. I slammed into it and
wrapped my arms around a toe.

  Aoife stared up at me with wide, terrified eyes. The thing had two claws hooked under her armpit and she dangled like a doll. “Are you stupid?”

  “Trust me!” I called down with more confidence than I felt.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting us off this thing.” I didn’t have a plan, really. I was making it up as I went.

  She looked down to the ground. Way, way, way far down to the ground. “We should wait for it to land. It’s going to land eventually, right?”

  It was bound to land at some point, but where? Right in Daresh’s backyard? These things were his, weren’t they? I had to assume they were. I didn’t even want to think how he controls them. I just had to go on the probability that these things would take us back to him. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “I have a better idea.” I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way, but I figured it came out sicklier than anything.

  “Gaige, wait!”

  I didn’t. I found a gap in the plating that made up claw holding Aoife. I shoved my fingers in as far as I could. I didn’t have to reach into my well of power. It seemed to be a steady stream now, so it was at my fingertips for me to pour out and into the gaps. I used both muscles and power to yank on the metal plates. The fastenings groaned and I pulled harder. The claw flew apart in a shower of bolts, metal plates, and flapping leather.

  The sudden release of resistance caused me to flip back and off the dragon’s foot. I found myself falling through the sky along with Aoife. Life whirled around me in a blur of sky and earth. I caught glimpses of Aoife, but she’d fly out of my field of vision a half second later. Wind pushed on my eardrums. Blood rushed to my head as I tumbled. I thought I might blackout. I would blackout if I didn’t get some kind of control. I flailed around in the air but couldn’t stop from twirling head over feet.

  I had never skydived, but I recalled watching people spread their arms and legs out wide in movies and stuff. It was the only think I could think to do, so I pushed my limbs out into the wind. At first, nothing happened, but after a moment my spinning slowed and I found myself facedown to the ground with my back arched.