The Magic Wakes

by Charity Bradford

  Talia sat with her hands clasped in her lap, staring out the window at Joharadin. There were pockets of burning city and pockets that looked untouched from the air. She could see the invading force darting between the buildings in the distance, marked by flashes of red light and explosions.

  Talia took a deep breath. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

  “Have you ever died with me in one of your dreams?”

  “No, you’ve never been with me when they found me.” She took comfort, hoping that as long as her death took the form of one of the dreams, she would be safe.

  “Then I’ll not let you out of my sight until you’re safely out.”

  The ship shook violently and dropped a few feet as it lost speed. Talia screamed and braced herself.

  A panel in the dashboard popped opened, and a burst of air pushed the manual navigation controls forward. Landry gripped the control stick as the scytheglider tilted toward the ground.

  “The computer shorted out. Cloak is down.” Landry pushed buttons and tried to reboot the computer with one hand while keeping his other on the control stick. Nothing he did made any difference. “Damn. Okay, open the panel in the floor by my feet.”

  The shaking of the transport brought all of her fears of flying to the surface. It kept her glued to her seat.

  “Talia, snap out of it. I need your help.”

  She slid off the seat and turned the handle with shaking hands. Under the cover lay a mess of wires and an outlet the size of her fist. “Okay, got it open.”

  “Grab the canister under your seat and plug it in.”

  She found a gray battery canister. “Is this it?”

  “Plug it into the floor. Hurry!” The muscles of Landry’s arms bulged and his knuckles turned white from the effort of keeping the nose of the ship up.

  After a momentary shudder, the scytheglider slowed its descent and leveled.

  Talia returned to her seat and looked at the silvery wings that had sprouted from the sides of the ship. They caught the air current and the craft bounced upward.

  “What happened?”

  “Some kind of disruption wave overloaded our electrical systems. You just activated the emergency glider controls.”

  “That doesn’t come with your standard transport package.” Talia chose to ignore the part about the disruption wave. No matter what, that wasn’t good news. She searched the skies and wished for a safe landing. And soon.

  “No, but this is a top of the line scytheglider. That canister had enough energy to open the wings. Now we glide as far as possible before landing,” Landry said.

  “Gliding. I didn’t think anyone did that anymore.” The skies remained empty.

  “It’s your lucky day. I glide, but this ship is heavier than my normal sport glider, so I’m having trouble gaining altitude. I’m afraid we’re not going to make it to the forest, but I’ll get us as close to the edge as I can. We’re going to run for it when we land.”

  The last thing Talia wanted was to be on the ground in the city of her death. “Where are they?”

  Landry nodded behind them. “Back there somewhere. Probably cloaked and waiting to get closer. I wish we could see them.”

  “You think they’re following?”

  “Definitely. Why knock out our cloak if not to follow us?”

  “We can’t land then. We won’t last five minutes against their weapons.” Talia gripped the edge of the seat and watched out the back window.

  “We won’t last in the air either. If they have cloaking and disrupters, they have weapons. Our only advantage is that this is my city.” Confidence flowed from him.

  Talia reached out, touched his arm, and let his strength flow through her. She closed her eyes, grateful his fear didn’t paralyze him the way hers did. Landry glided in and out of the buildings, weaving his way through the city streets. Luckily, this part had been evacuated, so he didn’t have to worry about other aeroflyers.

  Unfortunately, it also meant they were an easy target. Talia glanced back again. The air shimmered in the city lights and solidified into a ship four times the size of Landry’s glider.

  “There they are!”

  “Hold on.” Landry jerked the ship to the left. A red plasma beam streaked past them and disintegrated the side of a skyscraper in front of them. The momentum sent Talia flying into the side door. “Sorry, it’s going to get rough.”

  Landry dodged the debris falling from the building and banked hard right, putting another building between them and the alien ship. Talia clung to the seat to keep from slamming into Landry or the door with each turn.

  Every second in the air was a blessing and a curse. They moved closer to the safety of the forest, but each time their pursuers came into view, plasma beams lit up the sky. They continued to lose altitude.

  They would crash, or get blasted from the sky. It was only a matter of time. The image of Roan’s shuttle crashing into the side of a mountain flashed before Talia’s eyes.

  “Talia, do you trust me?”

  She peeled her eyes from the front window to look at Landry. He seemed calm, and she nodded.

  “Stay close. We’re going to fake a crash.”

  Landry plunged the glider into a nosedive as he rounded another building and dodged between two more.

  The force of the turn threw Talia into the window. She watched the ground rushing toward her and remembered Roan’s last recorded words, “Sorry, Bug.”

  Tears slid down her cheeks. I’ll be with you soon, brother.

  Landry talked as he struggled to keep control of the ship. “When we land, jump on my back, keep your head down close to mine and you’ll stay inside my cloak.”

  Talia nodded and braced one arm on the bulkhead and the other on the window in an effort to remain sitting as they careened around more buildings. Her shoulder burned with the effort.

  Her last glimpse of the forest had made it look a long way away. Now, her head was spinning. No, the transport was spinning. Talia’s stomach flopped again as the centrifugal force pressed her into the seat. They dipped behind another building and at the very last second Landry pulled out of the spin. They skidded across the deserted street.

  They wiped out two abandoned aeroflyers, but only bounced once before coming to rest against a transportation call station. Talia crashed into the navigation console, a sharp pain radiating down her arm from the injured shoulder.

  The door of the glider opened and Landry stumbled out. “Talia!”

  She shook her head to clear it and crawled toward him. Using the glider as a step, she climbed onto Landry’s back, wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned her head against his. She wrapped her good arm around his shoulder and held his shirt in a death grip. The injured one hung loose by her side.

  Landry’s voice sounded inside her mind. I’m activating the level one cloak, which will hide us from sight but not mask our bio-signs. What’s wrong with your arm?

  Don’t worry about my arm. Talia gritted her teeth against the pain. Each step jarred her shoulder more.

  I’m going to destroy the ship.

  He ran into the nearest alley just as the alien ship appeared in the street. Talia slid her feet to the ground, but clung to Landry’s back to stay in the cloak.

  Don’t give up on me yet. He extended his hand past the shield so he could see the timer counting down the self-destruct sequence. After the explosion, I’ll move to level two shields. That will mask life signs from anyone scanning the area. Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .

  Nysyk was amazed and more than a little impressed with his quarry’s evasive tactics. Somehow, he managed to stay in the air after losing power, and he stayed at least one step ahead of the chase. They had just reached firing range when the other ship plunged toward the ground.

  At first Nysyk thought it another tactical movement, and maybe it had been originally, but something had gone wrong. He watched the ship spiral out of view behind the next line of buildings.


  This section of the city was deserted, so Nysyk’s team kept up with the crippled ship easily, slowly gaining ground. When the pilot cleared the building, Nysyk was surprised yet again to find his prey gone.

  “Report!” Nysyk turned to the sensors.

  “We still have them on scanners. They appear to be going down two streets over.” The younger Dragumon quickly tapped controls. “Course routed to navigation. ETA twenty-five seconds.”

  “Good.” Nysyk turned back to the control screen.

  As they rounded the last building, Nysyk saw the ship resting against a tall light pole. There were scorch marks across the street and burning debris. A thin line of smoke rose from underneath the downed ship. Nysyk ordered his pilot to hold their distance. His caution was rewarded seconds later when it exploded.

  Nysyk stared at the burning ship. Something didn’t feel right. He rubbed his temple and asked for the sensor report.

  “Life signs exterminated seconds after the explosion, sir.”

  “Convenient. I want a team on the ground to investigate. That pilot was too good. I want to know why they crashed, and I want to see their bones.”

  Chapter 26

  The glider exploded and the windows of the buildings shuddered and cracked, but they didn’t shatter. When the smoke cleared the enemy ship hovered a safe distance away. Waiting.

  Damn! I hoped they’d get close enough for the explosion to damage their ship.

  Landry’s shoulders were iron sinews beneath her fingers. What will we do if they land?

  Run.

  You’ll never be able to carry me. Talia sagged into him.

  I can carry you as far as I need to. Landry turned and pulled Talia close.

  You can’t hide the facts from me.

  His mental wall went up, and Talia was alone in her head once again.

  “Now that the time is here, I’d rather be on my feet anyway. At least I know what to expect. But I want you to stay cloaked,” Talia whispered.

  “What good will that do?”

  “I don’t want them to know you survived the crash.” Talia trembled in his arms.

  Talk to me. Landry pushed his way into her mind again.

  I know what my death looks like. I’m prepared for that. But I can’t watch you. No one I care for has ever died in front of me. Not in real life or in my dreams. I want to keep it that way. Promise me you’ll stay cloaked . . . no matter what.

  Landry’s hand slid up Talia’s back, around her neck and up the side of her face. He used touch to guide his lips to hers. The kiss grew rough as he crushed Talia into him. She returned the kiss, putting all her longing and frustration into the farewell. Landry jerked back.

  “This is not a goodbye kiss.” Landry grabbed Talia’s hand, de-cloaked, and pulled her down the alleyway.

  “Sir, we have a . . . it’s gone . . . now it’s back. Just a moment. Sir, I am definitely reading a life sign. Now there are two, and one of them is the mage we’ve been following, and the second life sign also bears markers of the mage.”

  “Where?” Nysyk looked over the soldier’s shoulder at the view screen.

  “Three hundred yards east. Sir, there’s a third mage signal approaching from the west.”

  “This is becoming an epidemic. Let’s go hunting.” Nysyk eagerly grabbed a power pack and plasma staff. He placed a sensor on his wrist before leading his team out the door and across the street.

  Landry and Talia reached the end of the alley and headed north east. The street was empty, but the night was full of sounds. Explosions echoed through the buildings, coming closer. The smell of burning rubber drifted on the breeze.

  “Landry, we can’t outrun them.”

  “I don’t plan to. We just need to reach the history museum. There’s a way into the underground tunnels.” Landry paused to look around him. “It’s a few streets over.”

  Images of the water flooded tunnel from her dream filled Talia’s head. She slowed a little and Landry turned to her.

  “Come on, you can do this,” he said.

  “I’ve died underground in the dreams.”

  “It’s our best chance.” He pulled her across the street and headed for the next through alleyway.

  The windows of the building beside them shattered as the Dragumon fired their weapons. Talia screamed and ducked, but Landry pulled her around the corner as another beam blasted the wall. Bits of cement and molten metal showered down into the alley, stinging their arms and faces. Talia let go of Landry’s hand to brush the smoldering ash off her arms.

  “Keep moving, don’t stop!” Landry called back.

  She heard the sound of running feet. They were coming for her. Anger sparked the fire within and she ran. There would be time to heal the burns and scrapes later. If she lived.

  Landry led her into the next street and cut back up toward the center of the city. He pulled her into a building just as the Dragumon shot out of the alley.

  “Up the stairs. We’ve got to cross the street; we’ll use the connector bridge.” Landry ran up the stairs off the entryway with Talia close behind.

  When they reached the top, they ducked behind a pillar to catch their breath. The bridge was a glass-enclosed hallway over the street, connecting the building to the one across from it. They would be easy targets.

  The doors opened and the Dragumon entered the lobby below.

  “Little mage, you can’t run forever.” The same eerie voice from her dreams called out. “We’ll make it quick.”

  The deep tones sounded rich and earthy; it sent a zing of electricity through Talia’s veins. Landry held her close and they tried to breathe as quietly as possible.

  Landry spoke to her mind, We’re going to use the shield again to get across the street.

  Okay. Talia climbed onto his back and he activated the shield.

  They left the safety of the pillar and walked into the bridge hallway. The Dragumon argued their way up the stairs.

  “Where did they go? We’ve lost the signal,” one of them said.

  “They’re still here. They must be using a cloak. Open fire that way.” The leader pointed down the hallway.

  Talia squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain. They were only halfway across. Landry stepped to the edge of the walkway, right up against the glass and picked up the pace.

  The Dragumon aimed down the middle and fired. The heat blasted by. Talia bit her lip to keep from crying out.

  Landry thought, Just a few more feet.

  “Keep firing, widen your range,” the leader growled. Another volley of plasma beams heated the air once more. The heat left ripples in the air around the shield. “There, left side.”

  Landry lunged right, but the proximity of the plasma stung Talia’s shoulder, barely missing a direct hit. She cried out in pain and slid from Landry’s back. Barely standing, she clung to Landry. He dragged her out of the connector and into a side hall out of sight of the Dragumon.

  You have to run. Landry’s shield sputtered off. He barely glanced at Talia’s blackened shirt and arm, before pulling her into a run again.

  Two doors down, he opened the door to the stairwell. After closing it behind him, he smashed the electric control box. “Maybe that will give us some time. Down, fast.”

  They ran and stumbled down one flight and entered the lobby of the history museum. The lights were out, but Landry pulled her along with confidence. A loud crash let them know the Dragumon were not giving up.

  “We need the elevator back of the solar system room. This way,” Landry said.

  Three rooms later, they saw the red emergency light by the elevators. The doors opened immediately, and they both sagged against the back wall. Talia got a good look at her shoulder in the shiny metal walls. There was a hole in the shirt and she could see the bright red skin blistering. At least she was familiar with this pain.

  Landry glanced at it. “Does it hurt?”

  “I’ve had this same burn after the dreams. If we live, I can heal it.” Tal
ia nodded to the numbers counting down the floors. “How far down does this building go?”

  Landry grinned. “Six floors if you know the secret.”

  The doors opened three levels down, but Landry didn’t move to leave. “Wait.”

  He pushed the top and bottom buttons at the same time. The elevator screeched as metal ground against metal and moved sideways several feet before continuing down.

  “Guess no one’s used it in a while,” he said.

  The doors opened onto a dark hall. The light from the elevator revealed stark white walls filled with pipes and conduits. No doors, at least not close to the elevator. And no emergency lights.

  “There’s a false wall further down the hallway. Behind that wall is a corridor leading into the tunnels. From there we can walk right out of the city.”

  A loud explosion from above shook the building, followed by another that sounded closer. “Here they come,” Talia said. “Sounds like they aren’t bothering with the elevator.”

  “Come on.” Landry grabbed her hand and pulled her into the darkness.

  When the doors closed, all light vanished. The world ceased to exist, the darkness was so complete. Talia automatically slowed and reached out to keep from bumping into anything, but Landry pulled her back into motion. The only sounds were their labored breathing and heels on the floor. The only hint she wasn’t alone was the hand in hers. She gripped it tighter until they stopped. A click and a hiss and stale air blew past her.

  Jaron worked his way through the maze of underground tunnels heading toward the forest edge. As he entered a dark hallway, he sensed the presence of magic. He stopped and expanded his mind in search of the source—recognizing the woman and the soldier from the tram. Somehow, they had survived.

  “It’s destiny. She will become my true ally on this planet.”

  What about me? the demon hissed through Jaron’s mind.

  “You’re not much of an ally. Don’t worry, you know as well as I do I can’t last much longer. Be patient.” Jaron continued through another door, sensing the tremors in the building above. Someone headed in his direction, but the woman moved away from him.