King Koriar couldn’t believe what he had just seen. “You…you traitors! You just murdered six thousand of my people!”
The Queen flicked her finger over to Rybert’s orb. “No, he did. I’ll leave it to you to take it up with him once he gets back.”
“But…”
With a wave of her fingers, his orb lost its shape and splashed back into the lake. She sat down, clawing her fingers into the arm of the throne angrily.
“Ii’ilaikara! Athel got us. She tricked us into powering down the web.”
* * *
In the royal tree, Nikki lowered her spyglass sadly. “The entire fleet has fallen into the sea.”
Queen Forsythia turned to Odger as he poured over his marked-up charts. “Well?”
He nodded, bits of dirt breaking free from his neck. “It’s perfect, with that section of the web disabled, no airship will be able to fly between here and Boeth. They won’t even be able to send in reinforcements.”
He looked up. “The invasion route is cleared, the target is completely cut off.”
“That means there’s no escape for them,” Talliun added.
The Queen walked over and placed a sympathetic hand on Nikki’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Nikki shook her head. “It’s all right,” she said trying to convince herself. “We agreed to this weeks ago. I thought I was prepared, it just…hit me harder than I thought it would.” She sniffed. “They were only ships, after all.”
The Queen did the same to Odger, dirtying her glove. “And to you as well.”
Odger shrugged. “I’ve been an engineer my whole adult life. I’ve lived listening to the screams of the children killed to power that evil flight web. Believe me, we did them a favor.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “But even still.”
Odger patted her hand and wiped a muddy spot on his cheek. “Thanks anyway, but after what we’ve done, my people are already damned.”
“You and me both,” the Queen whispered sadly.
She turned to the rest of the room, her wrists and ankles still raw from the shackles she had worn, a red ring around her neck from the collar that had been placed on her, her auburn hair tussled from where her crown had been torn off, the sounds of battle raging in the plaza below as her people fought, her forest thrashing and shrieking about in every direction. But she kept her head held high. “We’ve got our chance, everyone. For the Alliance, for Aetria, for our homelands, for our families, for everything we hold dear in this good green world, launch the invasion!”
The delegates cheered.
She placed her hand over her heart. And for Alder.
All over Wysteria, the illusion of rocks and hills faded away, revealing massive black tarps that were thrown back, revealing Eriia, enormous sky whales, each of them carrying a saddle-shaped defensive building on their back, a howdah, studded with guns and filled with soldiers.
One Beastmaster stepped up atop each of the beast’s heads, and they rose aloft. Thousands of them, entire herds, rising up to the sky above the writhing trees like flocks of birds. Majestically, they swam through the air, their bright colors glistening as they turned east, heading towards Boeth, and the monolith.
The Royal tree rocked to one side, and everyone had to fight to keep their footing.
“The women have breached the main gate,” Talliun warned, looking over the balcony for confirmation. They are coming!”
“We don’t have much time, the Queen warned. “Everyone to your Eriia. I’ll see you in the air. We don’t stop until we destroy the monolith!”
The delegates cheered once more and dispersed.
* * *
Inside the library, Sir Justeen Albashire sat back and admired his work for a second. The finished bound book lay before him. It was his best effort ever. Feeling a sense of pride he’d thought lost long ago, he dipped his quill into ink, then set down the final words.
The En….”
The room around him rocked to one side, causing his hand to slip, the final letter dragging across the page in a big ugly line.
“By Estus’ teeth!”
He threw down his quill and stomped petulantly towards the door. “Just what is going on out there?”
The door exploded inward, knocking him back and dusting the room with shards of wood as an unconscious Treesinger was thrown inside, collapsing to the floor in her armored gown.
As the dust cleared, Talliun poked her head in. “What are you still doing here? We’re evacuating.”
He poked his head out from the pile of rubble. “I thought that was in a week.”
Privet stepped in and stripped away the Treesinger’s pistol and staff, flinging them out a window in case she woke up. “Come on, we’re leaving.”
“Okay, one second.”
Albashire grabbed his book and started to gather up stacks of paper.
“No, now.” Privet scooped the man up and hefted him over his shoulder.
“But…but my notes for the spinoff! Wait!”
They ran down the statuary corridor with the Queen, the sounds of battle drawing nearer every second.
“I didn’t think they’d get here this quickly,” Privet noted.
“It will be all right,” the Queen stated calmly. “Our Eriia is just up ahead.”
The floor of the corridor before them parted like an iris, and a layer of wood rose up, a group of black guard carried with it.”
“Or not.”
Talliun fired a trio of sonic blasts, scattering the guards before they could react and forcing them to take cover.
“We can’t afford to get bogged down in a fight,” she warned. “We’ll be surrounded.”
“Come on, we’ll have to go around.”
They ducked down a side passage, Talliun creating a barrier of hard-light to slow down their attackers. The living wood around them pulsated and twisted, the passages becoming wild and feral. The expensive rugs tore under the writhing, priceless works of art were shorn and crushed.
A pair of Treesingers rounded the corner ahead of them. “There they are!”
They fired their pistols, but Privet rushed them, slashing to ribbons the net of stranglevines as they exploded before them. Talliun set her tumbler to the Kwi caster stone and fired a shadowy blast at their feet. The floor become incorporeal, and the Treesingers fell down through it, crashing noisily to the level below.
“I have got to get me one of those,” Privet quipped.
“Sure, no problem, “Talliun teased.” “Just have your arm torn off by a pack of Iso hunting trogs while defending your forest.”
“Pass.”
The tubes running through her arm like veins began to dim.
“Twigs, I’m running low,” she cursed.
“The sound came from over here,” came some voices from behind them.
“They’re homing in on us,” the Queen warned. “This way.”
The Queen reached over and pushed on the edge of a portrait of Athel’s great grandmother Catflower Forsythia, and the picture opened within the frame like a door.
They stepped inside and closed the picture behind them. The Queen put her finger to her lips and they all stood silently, listening to the armored footsteps of the Treesingers moving through the hall on the other side.
“Ii’ilaikara! Where are they?” one of them swore. “Why can’t I sense them?”
“The royal tree is resisting us.”
“They must have doubled back! Come on.”
As the footsteps drew further away, the Queen and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
The Queen led them down the narrow dark passageway, the sounds of battle occasionally drawing near.
“What is this place?” Albashire wondered.
“Servant corridor.”
“Oh, like a secret pas
sage.”
“Nothing so garish. These allow the men to move around the palace without being seen.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want men to be seen, what a crime against the forest that would be,” Privet grumbled.
Athel thought sadly on the men of her household leaving her. “You were right, Privet.”
“Of course I was. About what?”
“You told me once that my mother may have been kind to our men, but she was no abolitionist. At the time I thought you were just being flippant. Now, I see that you were right. I didn’t even try to understand how the men felt.”
“Neither did I,” Talliun added. “Until I was treated like one of them.”
The sounds of battle and the squealing of the trees from below grew stronger.
“Yeah, well, none of that will matter if we don’t get you two out of here safely,” Privet said.
“It lets out right here.”
A fireplace in the grand foyer pivoted open like a door, and the four of them exited warily.
“It’s just over this way,” the Queen pointed. “Past the scullery.”
Privet closed the fireplace and the doors to the foyer opened on the opposite end. They all whipped their heads over and saw Calla Forsythia standing there in the doorway, wearing her grey uniform. From the look on her face, she was just as surprised to see them as they were her.
The Queen and Calla locked eyes. From the corridor beyond, a squad of black guard could be heard drawing near.
Calla and Athel both realized the same thing. If Calla yelled out, they would be caught.
For an agonizing moment, no one moved.
“Is the foyer clear?” came a dark voice from beyond.
Calla opened her mouth, but then hesitated. “Yes, it’s clear,” she lied.
The black guard could be heard heading down another corridor, drawing farther away.
The Queen looked at her gratefully.
Calla stepped aside and allowed them to pass. “I’ll wait two minutes before I call out,” she said.
“I’m grateful, Calla.”
“Don’t be,” she corrected. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for me. Once you’re gone, I’ll be the new head of the family.”
“Of course.”
As the four of them passed her, Calla reached out and grabbed the Queen’s sleeve.
“Thank you for not banishing me,” she whispered, looking away. “It’s more than I would have done.”
The Queen nodded. “Care for our family.”
“I will.”
“Don’t trust Spirea.”
“I won’t.”
The Queen looked on her cousin regretfully, and realized she would probably never see her again. “Goodbye, Calla.”
“Goodbye, Athel.”
The Queen walked away, leaving her home behind for the second time in her life. Only this time, it brought no joy to her.
* * *
“Come on, come on!”
Nikki jumped aboard her Eriia, and watched as it moved away from the branch it had been moored to. Far below, beneath the red sky, the forest fought itself at the base of the royal tree.
Nikki looked out worriedly to the last Eriia docked. It was the Queen’s.
“Where is she? Do you think we should wait?”
She had to grab hold of the doorframe to maintain her balance as the Eriia jerked to one side. Flung from across the island, a boulder sailed through the air where they had been only a moment before.
“You can stay,” King Frians of Hoeun said, fingering the Beastmaster necklace around his neck, “but I’m leaving.”
“There they are,” Nikki said, pointing.
* * *
The Queen and her group ran out along the spine of the branch. This high up, the crimson air was chilled.
The street-sized branch bucked, nearly tossing Albashire overboard. He had to drop down and grab a stem to keep his balance.
“What was that?” he yelled.
The Queen ran up and helped him to his feet. “They’ve found us.”
Lady Buckthorn followed them out onto the branch, her daughters close behind. “Halt right there!” she commanded.
Talliun punched back, releasing a gout of shimmering fog, forcing the Treesingers to retreat and take cover.
“Come on, lads,” Captain Evere yelled from the Eriia. “It’s time to go.”
Evere and Mina reached down, helping Albashire up into the howdah.
“Hurry, sweetie!”
The Treesingers fired through the dissipating cloud, but unable to see, most of their shots went wild. Privet stood before Athel and slashed his silver blade three times, deflecting the shots away.
The High Priestess came out onto the branch with a dozen of her black guard and realized what was happening. “Stop that beast!” she commanded.
Orlaya and Delphinium raised their staffs, but the enormous tree branch did not budge.
“She’s fighting us,” Delphinium yelled.
“All together, at once, Oleander commanded. “Bend her to your will.”
“But she’s…”
“Just do it!”
All the black guard planted their staffs in unison, and the royal tree shuddered in violation. The Treesingers groaned, straining with all their might in a titanic clash of wills.
Orlaya let go of her staff. “This feels wrong,” she said, stepping away in disgust.
“Lady, Buckthorn, help us,” the High Priestess strained.
From her Eriia, Nikki watched as Athel, Trillium, and Privet jumped up onto the Eriia, and it pulled away.
“She made it!”
The Buckthorns planted their staffs and joined in as well. The royal tree squealed horribly, her very essence being defiled. Trembling, the end of the branch whipped out and wrapped itself around Athel’s Eriia, holding it fast.
“She’s got us,” the Beastmaster yelled, doing the best he could to control the struggling air whale as it squirmed and hollered.
“We’ve got to break free, lads,” Evere yelled. The screeching of the tree was truly awful to behold. Like a hare being throttled. The whale screeched and bucked, tossing everyone about, but it could not break free.
Captain Evere managed to bring himself to his knees and fired one of the cannons mounted on the howdah, but another branch reached out and caught the shot, protecting the Treesingers.
More black guard arrived. “High Priestess, we are needed below, the men are overwhelming our lines in the plaza.”
“First help us,” Oleander strained. They pulled out their staffs and did so.
Sweat rolled down Lady Buckthorn’s face as she gripped her staff. “Reel…it…in,” she ordered, barely able to speak.
As the whale kicked and bucked, the royal tree pulled in closer. On nearby branches, more black guard arrived, and added their weight to the magical depredation.
* * *
Nikki grabbed King Frians by the collar. “We’ve got to turn back,” she yelled. “Athel’s not going to make it.”
The Beastmaster looked back at the struggling beast. Already some of the Treesingers were firing their rifles at the terrified occupants.
“Not a chance.”
Nikki looked below and noticed a war bow mounted atop one of the nearby trees. “Put me down there.”
Frians looked down at the thrashing tree. “That thing will tear you to shreds.”
“I’ll be fine, just do it!”
* * *
Privet climbed down off the howdah and began hacking at the wood that held them. Mina climbed up top, and released a gale of frost, covering the living wood in ice.
“Don’t hurt the tree,” Athel bade.
“Oh come on!”
“It’s my great-grandmother’s tree.
”
“Then tell grandma to let us go!”
“I can’t! If I use my magic, Alder will die!”
* * *
As her Eriia swooped by, Nikki jumped off the howdah and landed on the warbow platform. The enraged tree squealed at her presence, taking a swipe at King Frians and his Eriia as they sped away as fast as they could.
Missing its prey, the tree turned its attention to her, but she took off her glove and with hopeful trepidation, touched the living wood, allowing it to read her heart. It instantly began to calm down.
“See, it knows I mean it no harm,” Nikki said in relief. “I wasn’t sure if that would work.”
Slapping the activation rune, Nikki pulled back the arming lever and aimed the warbow up at the Treesingers attacking Athel’s Eriia. The bow bent and released a volley of darts with a steady staccato rhythm.
Treesingers and black guard jumped for cover, the darts from the warbow ricocheting off their armor and knocking them off their feet.
Their control over the tree weakened, and the Eriia began to pull free and away, the frozen section cracking under the strain of the powerful creature.
“Down there!” Lady Buckthorn called out, straining against her staff, and the women of Wysteria returned fire at the rebellious warbow.
Nikki was hit in the shoulder, her blood splattering against her neck, then again in her thigh. She gasped with pain and doubled over, clutching her wounds.
The Treesingers resumed their spoliation, and the royal tree yanked the Eriia in, trying to bring it close enough for the black guard to climb aboard.
Captain Evere fired another shot with the cannon; Talliun released a jet of fire, and Mina let loose a sonic blade, but it wasn’t enough. More Treesingers were arriving by the second, and there were too many to interrupt at once. Although they scattered women here and there, the tree kept pulling them in, closer by the second.
* * *
Nikki pulled her hand away, looking in terror at the blood covering it.
“No,” she hissed, gritting her teeth. “I am fourth generation military, an officer in the Alliance military, and a proud daughter of Falmar, and I will not die on my knees!”
Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles Page 52