by Jeff Kish
In that moment, the target of Di’s hatred shifts. Opal’s enthusiastic acceptance of his identity is exactly what she has been resisting since first being bound, and it is infuriating that this resistance makes her inferior to someone like him. She locks her sights onto her target, and so focused is she that it’s only her runic subconscious that hears and recognizes Graff’s command to attack. She charges her opponent with a burst of speed, her fist encased in the most compressed and most solidified air she can manage. A gleam is in her eye as she barrels down on her victim.
Happy that Di is so willing to shorten the gap between them, Opal swings the charged metallic rod to intercept, but Di backhands the weapon aside without penalty and slams Opal across the side of the head with all her might. The youth stumbles as Di launches herself into the air, planting her bare feet on an invisible floor, and she flips over the lightning runic and mercilessly slams her air-protected feet into his chest to send him reeling to the ground.
Graff watches Di carefully. Despite her completed mission, there is no change in facial expression as her mentality is restored. She shows no regret or emotional reaction as she approaches the general.
Opal groans as he gets to one knee. “That was… How did you…?”
“That should shut you up,” she scolds.
“That was brilliant, Diamond,” Graff boasts. “Where did you get such a burst of power?”
Di glances back at her victim, unsure how to answer. “I just… I wanted to beat him down with everything I had. To silence him and-” She cuts herself off, and her heart sinks as she realizes the truth.
“Always remember how strong we are together, Diamond,” Graff says as he turns and leaves the room. “You may be peerless on the battlefield yet.”
Opal caresses his injury and, after shooting his rival a dirty look, follows after his master.
Her breath trembling, Di finds herself in awe of the sweeping change in her shaping abilities compared to their last conflict. Though she tries to resist, a slight curl appears at her lips.
* * *
“That’s the truth!” Pearl exclaims while tugging at her restraints.
Sreya isn’t convinced. “It sounds to me like a business arrangement.”
Her captive’s eyes fall to the train’s floor. “I mean, sure it is, but he’s still my father.”
“Legally speaking, he’s your father. I get that,” the guild officer says as she paces the rickety train car. “What I’m asking is how you see him. Do you respect him as your father? Do you love him as a father?”
Pearl bites her lip as she longs to know the intent behind this interrogation. “Perhaps I don’t love him like a father, but I don’t view him as my boss. Instead of money, he provides me with a home and a purpose.”
“He doesn’t pay you?” Sreya cackles. “What a wily devil! To have you so wrapped around his little finger, making you think he’s given you a purpose.” She sneers, “You’re a sky boat pilot. You risk your life on a daily basis, and you’re supposed to be well paid. What kind of father would let his daughter do that?”
“It’s not like that!” Pearl insists. “I’m an air maker, so I can safely descend if I experience a rune failure. I can-”
“Is there zero risk for you?” Sreya interrupts. “Is your job safe?”
Pearl’s brow furrows. “Well, I suppose not… I mean, if I waited too long to abandon the freight, I might not have time to-”
“And have you abandoned freight before?”
“Yes, once.”
“And how did your father react?”
Pearl’s eyes get big. “Oh, he was furious!”
“Furious?” she slyly asks. “Why would he be furious that his daughter survived?”
Frustrated, Pearl says, “Look, I’m not pretending that he and I have a true father-daughter relationship, but he has never treated me like an employee or slave or anything condescending. For crying out loud, he was about to fight you to protect me!” She groans and asks, “Why are you asking these questions, anyway? What does it matter to you?”
Sreya crosses her arms and sets her amusement aside. “We received some fascinating intelligence, and I need to validate it. What do you remember from two years ago?”
“Two years ago?” Pearl asks in confusion. “Well, that was around the time I joined a traveling act. It was where my father discovered me.”
“And before that?”
“Before that I was part of other acts. I’ve been moving around like that for most my life.”
Sreya frowns. “What were the names of these acts?”
“Ugh, what is it you really want to know?” Pearl asks in anger.
“The intelligence says you’re tied to some great, ancient weapon,” she flatly states. “As you might suspect, the Smith’s Hammer is intensely interested in such a relic.”
Era and Di immediately jump into Pearl’s mind, and she wonders how Sreya managed to learn of her involvement with them.
Her expression fails to escape Sreya’s notice. “So you do know something.”
“Of course not!” she maintains. “An ancient weapon? That you would be stupid enough to kidnap me over something so ludicrous is-”
Sreya grabs Pearl by the hair and yanks her head back. “Listen up, pilot girl. You’re nothing more than a worm. If our intelligence is wrong, you’ll thank me for sparing your life and go back to your meaningless existence of smuggling weapons for Rohe until the day you go down with your flying coffin.” She releases her and says, “Either way, you’re a tool of the guild. Nothing more.”
Pearl clenches her teeth. “You’re wrong about that.”
“We’ll see,” Sreya says in amusement as the train’s brakes squeal.
Pearl looks out the window to find the sky still illuminated by the setting sun. The land is desolate and barren, with a dusty wind whipping around the rock formations dotting the landscape. As the train comes to a stop, Sreya unsheathes a knife and ushers her captive out onto the boarding platform.
To Pearl’s horror, she steps directly into the aftermath of a vicious battle, and she averts her eyes from the sight of so many fallen warriors. A sign lies broken at her feet, and Pearl whispers the town name to herself. “Grasis?”
Sreya turns her attention to an approaching ally. “I take it all went well?”
“We lost more men than expected, but we have our beachhead,” he replies. “We’ve rounded up the townsfolk and assured them they will be safe. We are currently searching the homes for any hiding soldiers.”
“Then all that remains is the embankment at the target?”
“Correct, ma’am,” he replies. “Several soldiers escaped during the conflict. The camp is certainly aware of our presence and entrenched in anticipation.”
“No matter,” she says with a wave of her hand. “We brought heavy artillery. Have your men continue their search. We’ll handle the remaining troops.”
Pearl is prodded along as the group leaves the station, and she can no longer stop herself from staring at all the fallen soldiers littering the path. Until her landing on the military barracks to save Era, she had never seen a dead body, and, even then, she only witnessed Fire’s feats by the light of the moon. Seeing a corpse like this in the red light of sunset causes her to shiver.
Sreya barks her orders to a small assembly of guild mercenaries, and they follow their leader with bulky, leather cases in hand. The sky darkens as they march deep into the desert, and the combatants eventually cross over a ridge to find their opponents firmly encamped on the opposing hillside. Dozens of soldiers stand ready to face the small troop of guild members, yet Sreya marches forward, undeterred.
The guild members pull their weapons from their cases once within range of engagement, and their small numbers elicit perplexed murmurs among the soldiers, yet they hold their ground. “Not coming to us, eh?” Sreya softly chides as she signals to her men. One plants a thick rod into the ground behind the group and taps it to bring the rune to life, b
lasting the twilight atmosphere with a fierce light which blinds the troops.
Two of Sreya’s men use a small contraption to launch searing fireballs into the embankment, scattering the troops until they recklessly charge into the blinding light. With the trap sprung, the next attack comes in the form of marble-like runes. The guild soldier throws them into the midst of the approaching soldiers, and the small stones douse the area like a fountain. The heavy flows soak the earth at the soldiers’ feet, making a slick mud that slows their advance and takes many to the ground.
Finally, the last of Sreya’s men heaves a staff into the air. Even as it twirls, sparks of electricity form at its tips. The moment it impacts the wet ground, it unleashes the full capacity of its charge into the soldiers. In a flash, each one is electrocuted where he or she stands.
Pearl shrieks and plants her hands on her head. “How cruel…” she whispers as the guild troops mercilessly pick off the remaining soldiers with their inaccurate but effective elemental launchers.
Suddenly, fireballs crash into two of the guild members from behind the light rune. Pearl watches in terror as the two burning soldiers flail helplessly, and Sreya shields her eyes as their light rune has now turned against them. The rune’s operator rushes to disable it, but as the light fades he is also hit in the chest with a searing blast.
With the light gone, a figure can now be made out as he advances. He aims his next barrage at Sreya, who dodges and dives onto a thin, unopened container. Her two remaining troops turn their flaming projectile launchers on him, but the fire maker skillfully picks them off with his naturally crafted blasts.
Sreya carefully selects a sword from the case and stands to engage, but her eye catches Pearl sneaking away. The guild leader tackles her and digs her elbow into her captive’s calf. Pearl writhes as Sreya stands and delivers a sharp kick to her side to knock the wind out of her. “Stay put!”
A cry echoes out, forcing Sreya to turn her attention back to her opponent, who has deftly dispatched her remaining help. She brandishes her choice weapon while her enemy illuminates the field with a continuous flamethrower that envelops his sword. His face revealed, Sreya is surprised at the relatively young age of the brown-haired warrior before her. Even more surprising is the ranking designated by his uniform. “A lieutenant commander?”
“Yes, and I’d advise you to surrender,” he demands with unflinching resolve. “Throw away your weapon and tell me who you are.”
Sreya sneers in defiance. “It will be none of your concern soon enough.”
“You will not win this fight,” he warns while maintaining the blast of fire. “My name is Bowen, direct report to one of the four commanders. I have already disposed of the troops you left in town, and reinforcements on en route. You two are alone.”
“N-No, she kidnapped me!” Pearl cries while trying to stand, but her calf gives out as she falls in agony.
Bowen’s brow furrows as he looks back at Sreya. “Surrender!”
“I’ll surrender when I die,” she growls.
“If that is your wish.” The fire maker aims his open palm at his opponent’s head and fires off a sizzling ball of heat. Sreya has no time to dodge the fatal projectile, but its trajectory takes an unexpected swerve and instead impacts her blade, where the fireball is erased upon impact.
The sight is enough to make Bowen pause. “Negation?” he mumbles to himself in awe. Undeterred, he launches three more fireballs, each aimed at different parts of Sreya’s body, and yet they veer into her blade as if being suctioned in. “How is a rune capable of negation?”
“You think you’re at the apex of rune research?” she jeers. “The Academy has nothing on us.”
The lieutenant commander gives a glance to Pearl. Piecing things together, he faces his opponent and responds, “So, you’re Sreya of the Smith’s Hammer guild. To think that Rohe would end his alliance with the military like this…”
Sreya is taken aback. “You have a file on me?”
He points his sword at Pearl. “And that girl… Is she a runic?” At this, the guild lieutenant holds her tongue. “The guild will pay for this atrocity. Rohe has the blood of good men on his hands.”
“Seems you’re the only one around who can report us,” she observes with a devilish grin. Instantly, she flings small runes at him, which Bowen narrowly dodges, and the runes freeze the ground where they land. Seeing Sreya taking aim with another rune, he flings a fireball that intercepts the rock before it can activate.
Frustrated, Sreya flings one last rune at Bowen’s feet, and the earth below him disappears in an instant. The young officer falls into the gaping pit and becomes entangled in a network of exposed roots well below ground level. He hurriedly creates a flame to survey the depths of the trap, but it might well be bottomless. The roots snap and drop Bowen, but he manages to grasp the end of the thickest of the branches, which holds his weight. “Why is Rohe attacking his own military?” he grunts as he dangles.
Sreya perches herself at the hole’s edge. “We will become the new military, the new protectors of those whose trust you have betrayed.” With that, she slashes the root with her blade, severing Bowen’s lifeline and plunging him into the abyss.
Suddenly, a blast of wind crashes into Sreya from behind, making her drop her sword and teeter toward the edge, and she has no choice but to take a flying leap to the other side of the pit. She narrowly grabs the other side and pulls herself up, then hurries back to her weapons case.
“STAY BACK!” Pearl screams as she continues her assault.
Now brandishing a new blade, Sreya approaches Pearl with ease as the winds are negated by the rune-embedded weapon. Once close enough, she grabs Pearl by the hair and forces her to her knees. “Foolish pilot, you really thought you could kill me? Try that again and I’ll take out an eye.”
“I’m not who you think I am,” she insists.
“Let’s just find out, shall we?” She shoves Pearl forward and barks, “Now get moving!”
Chapter 8
The drizzling rain fails to squelch the buzzing excitement among the passengers as their ship approaches its final destination. Era wishes his mantle had a hood, but, even as the cloaked expeditioner shivers, his anticipation for the great unknown outweighs any discomfort. The darkness of the rainy night hides the coastline lying on the horizon, but the gleam from the lighthouse cuts through the precipitation and guides the way to its harbor.
Era breathes in the damp, salty air of the ocean, hoping this is the last time he’ll have to do so. Granted, this trip was less eventful than his last such voyage, but the sheer boredom from three days of sailing had just about severed his last nerve.
His thoughts are interrupted by a tap on his shoulder, and he turns to find Jem boasting an eager expression. “You seem to be doing alright,” he notes. “Weren’t you fiercely opposed to this trip?”
“Hey, I came of my own volition,” she contends. “Besides, I want off this stinky ship. We’re here now, whether we’re happy about it or not.”
“And I am entirely unhappy about it,” Ospif’s whining voice rings out as he approaches, holding his hands above his head in a bid to shield himself from the light rain.
Era rolls his eyes. “Just who was it who boarded this craft and forced us to pay an extra one-fifty?”
“That was to escape the brigands who were after your life, and mine by extension!” he shouts. “You owe me for this.”
“We owe you?” Era asks incredulously.
“Relax, Era,” Jem eases as she eyes Ospif. “Just go tell the nice Allerians that you’re Valvoran royalty. I’m certain they’ll offer you a free trip back across the border.”
Ospif cringes and frantically surveys the deck to see if anyone heard her. “S-Silence, Allerian! I have somehow maintained secrecy for the duration of this trip. Would you now invite the ruffians on this grimy vessel to take me for ransom?” Disdainfully, he scolds, “You should be begging my forgiveness and providing me with a voyage back to
Valvoren.”
She waves him off. “Find your own way home.”
“Are you mad? The smuggling fare would take me forty years to save! Is your tiny Allerian brain even unable to understand basic mathematics?”
“Just shut up already,” Jem stresses, her good mood rapidly fading. “I’m not any happier to be here than you are, and I’m not any less stuck. So take your pompous, arrogant hide and throw it overboard for all I care! I’m sick of you and your constant bellyaching.”
“Dirty, filthy Allerian,” Ospif growls as he turns away.
Jem aggressively moves to chase after, but Era grabs her by the shoulder. “Hey, now. Weren’t you trying to calm me down?”
“You can shut up, too,” she says as she pulls herself from his grasp. “This has been the longest, most boring trip of my life. You and that assassin friend of yours had better be right about this. What’s our first step when we land?”
“I’m sure Fire has a plan,” Era assures her.
Jem gives him a cold stare. “Era, we’ve been on this floating prison for three days. Did you never think to ask her for her plan?”
“Why me?” he argues. “If you wanted to know, why not ask her yourself?”
“Because I hate her.”
He shrugs. “She’s been keeping to herself. I haven’t seen her since a couple nights ago.”
Jem slaps her forehead. “We need to make sure she’s thought this through.”
“We know what we’re doing,” Era counters. “That Luk guy is an Academy professor over here, so we head to the Academy.”
“And what about food? Money?”
“Fire still has some good coin left over.” Era grins and speaks slowly. “We can use money to buy ourselves food.”
“You think so, Era? You think the Allerians will take our venni?”
His confidence wanes. “Will they not?”