by Jamie Davis
“It’s not just us five. The whole Duster army is here. Maria, your mom, and the rest of the chanter elites—they attacked Kane’s forces so we could follow you.”
Winnie processed this new information. If everyone was here, maybe they could do even more damage, make it easier for her to take on Kane when the time came.
“Bullock helped Garraldi seal off the tunnel with a temporary wall of fire,” Victor said without preamble as he came up to join them. “Frannie spotted a narrow pathway that looks like it leads to the surface. We can leave the city as soon as you feel up to it.”
“We’re not leaving the city,” Winnie said, more determined than ever. “We’re here for a reason. We made it. Now let’s take the fight to Kane.”
“We’re not going to let you face Kane all by yourself,” Victor argued. “That’s why we came after you.”
Winnie shook her head. “It’s no use Victor. My mind’s made up. We need to finish this before Kane destroys the world. Call the others. I have an idea.”
Victor opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when he saw her determined eyes. He turned and called for the others to join them. Seelie settled on Winnie’s shoulder. She smiled for the first time in a long while, feeling the tiny arms hugging her neck.
Once everyone was gathered, Winnie outlined her plan.
“We have to contact the others. Victor, can you guys do that?”
“Frannie thinks she can open a small window from here to wherever Parnell is. If that works, then we can speak with Maria, figure out the state of her situation and forces.”
Explosions were renting the air to the east. She licked her lips and looked nervously around, then kept going.
“We’ll need to see if they can help us. If not, then the six of us—seven with Seelie—will proceed on our own and do the best we can.”
Frannie nodded. She closed her eyes, drawing in what little Fae power might still be around her. It had to be difficult so close to the Fell chasm and Kane’s center of power.
After a few minutes of false starts, a small window about a foot and a half wide opened before them. Parnell’s familiar face was peering back. The background was buzzing with people running hither and yon, many shouting.
“Frannie! You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Parnell looked past her to Winnie and the others. “I see you found our errant leader. When are you planning on breaking out? I’ll let Maria know so we can coordinate our attacks to free you.”
“We’re not breaking out, Parnell,” Winnie said, leaning into the view. “I need you all to break in.”
“That won’t be easy,” Parnell said. “We’ve stirred up quite a hornet’s nest here and … well, the bees aren’t happy.”
“Where’s Maria?” Winnie asked.
“Not far. Let’s see what we can do.” Parnell stood and moved through what appeared to be fresh rubble from yet another terrible battle. He kept walking until Winnie saw a familiar group in the distance—command techs who maintained the view screens at Promise Point.
“Winnie?” Elaine called out, running to meet Parnell. “You’re safe!”
“Hi, Mom,” Winnie said, feeling a little like she’d been caught after curfew. “I’m sorry I worried you. We can talk about it later. But right now I need Maria.”
“She’s right over here.” Elaine called to someone off-screen, then a few seconds later, Maria DeSantos’s face appeared in the window.
“Thanks for sending help,” Winnie said. “Turns out I needed it.”
“Don’t thank me. It was all Victor and Danny.”
“We’ve made it to downtown, in the Fell chasm itself if you can see what’s around me. It doesn’t make sense to squander our opportunity. If we can strike hard enough at Kane right here and now, we can end this war for good.”
“That’s a big if,” Maria said.
“Do you think you can get downtown?”
Maria considered, then said, “Maybe. The chanter elites and your mother have all been working overtime but if they’ve any juice left and Cleaver’s volunteers from New Amsterdam are as ready for a fight as he says that they are, then we should be able to break through the cordon.”
“Cleaver’s there?” Winnie couldn’t believe that they’d gathered so many troops in such a short time.
“Cleaver and Colton are here with a contingent of volunteers armed to the teeth. If you can give us an hour, we’ll start the attack. I think we can push through to where you are in two or three hours.”
“That’ll work. I’ll call the remaining dragons to converge on the city, then start fighting to clear the way. That should speed things up. Once you’ve broken the line and your forces are driving through, contact us through Frannie.”
“Got it, boss,” Maria said. Then she turned and started barking orders before the window closed.
She turned to Victor. Her protector was fuming.
“It has to be this way,” she said.
“I’m not arguing that basic fact, Winnie. But why don’t you fill me in on the whole plan. Including the part you didn’t bother to tell Maria.”
“What’s he talking about?” Danny asked.
“No one can take on Kane and his chimeras but me and the dragons,” Winnie said to Victor, ignoring Danny. I realize that now. Only me and Excalibur can win this war. It was always supposed to be that way. Everything else is just a means to bring us together.”
“That’s a fatalistic view of the world,” Victor said.
“Maybe, but it’s true.” Winnie stood, walked to the edge of the chasm, and looked up at the orange, dust-ridden sky. “We’ve been on a collision course since the beginning.”
Danny said, “Don’t you think you’re pressing your luck? This is the third time you’ll be facing him. It might be the time that he finally kills you.”
“Or I kill him. I’m better prepared than I was before. I’ve drawn the sword from the stone. I command the dragons. I’m supposed to restore magic to its rightful balance, and therefore heal the world.”
Victor looked almost hostile. “So we’re supposed to stand by and watch you take all the risks?”
“There’s plenty of risk to go around. I need you to do what the Lady asked you to do, Victor. Be my protector. You’re not supposed to stop me from risking my life as I see fit, you’re supposed to watch my back while I fight.” She met his level gaze. “Can you do that, Victor?”
He paused, then nodded. “I can. We all can.”
She turned to Danny. He was staring off across the chasm again.
What is he doing?
“Danny?” Winnie said, trying to get his attention.
“What?” He seemed more than distracted, Danny seemed like he was barely even there. It took him a moment, but then he cleared his throat and said, “I hate it when you put yourself in danger, but I know better than to try to stop you.”
“Well then,” she said, not knowing what to make of Danny’s mood. “Gather around and I’ll tell you how this is going to work.”
CHAPTER 36
Maria ducked behind a partially collapsed brick wall as a flurry of shots riddled her position. She waited until they stopped, then popped up with a pistol in each hand and fired a series of double taps that took out the government squad attacking from the other side of the alley.
The fighting was house to house.
The Dusters were determined to break through to Winnie and the government troops were equally determined to keep them out of the city.
Maria loaded fresh clips in her twin automatics, spinning around toward the footsteps behind her.
Cleaver York.
The New Amsterdam Sable boss ran up carrying a bat and grinning ear to ear. “This is my kind of fight.”
“Then you’re a madman,” Maria said. “How does it look over on the left flank?”
“We’re pushing them back. Elaine showed some of my more powerful chanters a few of her newest tricks. I think we’re close to breaking through.”
�
�Push half of your forces downtown to rendezvous with Winnie. Use the others to help us clear out the resistance here.”
Cleaver looked around. “Are you alone? Where’s your command staff?”
“Around here somewhere. A counterattack broke through. We were forced to split up. I was about to go find them when you showed up.”
“Bullshit,” Cleaver said, laughing aloud. “You were looking for another fight. You’re tired of running things from behind the lines.”
“That may be true, but I’m looking for my command team. Someone has to coordinate this mess. I don’t know exactly what Winnie has in mind, but I hope she pulls it together soon. We can drive to her, but we’ll be cut off from any means of getting out the way we came.”
“Trust the girl. She has a way of getting through, even when everything looks hopeless.”
“I trust her, Cleaver. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
A squad of Dusters approached their position.
The sergeant saluted. “Captain DeSantos, the command platoon is just over there. They’re sending squads to locate you.”
Maria followed the sergeant’s finger. “Good work, Sergeant. I’ll be right there.” She turned to Cleaver. “You need help getting back?”
Cleaver hefted his bat and held up a hand full of flames. “I’ve got this,” he said. “See you on the other side.”
Cleaver took off to join his volunteers. Maria was about to head back to the command team when a trooper shouted behind her.
“Look!”
The trooper was pointing at a pair of dragons flying over the city.
Then there were five, followed by a dozen.
Dragons multiplied, appearing in clusters and diving to the ground, flames sprouting from their gaping maws.
More of Winnie’s plan was clearly coming together.
———
The beating wings raised a cloud of orange dust from the ledge in the chasm’s western wall. Winnie shielded her eyes until the dragons had landed and the dust swirled away, then she ran toward the creatures.
“Come on. They can lift us to the surface!”
Danny and the others followed Winnie, clamoring aboard the six dragons’ backs — one for each of them. The riders were barely settled before the massive wings were beating again, lifting them from the ledge and into the air.
They soared upwards and cleared the chasm. She tried to get a sense of the city below and the progress of her army. She saw a group of Garbarians, about twenty strong, running to the east. She focused, pointing to the loping beasts below them. Her dragon screamed and dove toward its enemy.
Winnie fired a pair of white hot bolts into the mass, incinerating four before the dragon belched fire.
The horde was swallowed by blue and white flames. Then, on fire, they scattered, leaving a score of charred bodies as the dragon swooped low over the street, passing close enough that the scent of burned hair and flesh was etched into her memory.
More dragons appeared overhead. Winnie could sense their battle lust and the joy that it brought them.
There were one hundred fifty-seven left. The chimeras, their ancient enemy, had accounted for too many losses among them.
Winnie called for the dragons carrying her friends to follow.
A series of trumpeted roars told her they were close behind.
Winnie directed her mount to fly east towards the Dusters.
There was a burst of explosions ahead—a mass of charging Fell creatures were ensnared in a magical fire from a group of chanter elites.
The troopers running behind them fired into the beleaguered beasts, cutting the survivors to nothing.
The dragon flew low over the Dusters. Cheers roared below. Winnie turned to look behind her and saw another mass of demons, beasts, and various scaled creatures coming her way.
But her dragon spotted them, too.
With a bellow of rage, the dragon banked to the right and belched fire into the beasts below. Another dragon passed in the opposite direction, feeding more flames into the packed street.
Victor shouted something as his dragon passed, but she couldn’t hear what.
She waved, then fired another double blast into a group of creatures escaping the flames.
Several fell. Her mount swung its head around to finish the rest.
Winnie looked around to see where Victor was, but her protector had gone missing from the skies.
———
Victor pounded on the dragon’s scaled neck, trying to get it to turn around and follow Winnie.
But it was no use. The dragon had plans of its own, and a target-rich environment below them.
Victor was forced to clutch at the dragon’s neck when it banked to the right, attacking a swarm of enemy beasts clustered in a building’s courtyard below.
He looked around, holding on and searching for Winnie, but he’d lost her.
They needed to link up with Maria and the rest of the Dusters. They had to coordinate with the dragons, but they were flying after every available target.
This wasn’t a coordinated attack.
If Winnie were to gather the dragons long enough to sweep the entire line in front of the Duster advance, it would open the way to Kane.
They had the element of surprise and had to capitalize on it before Kane realized where they were headed and regrouped to counter their efforts.
But they were running out of time.
Victor’s dragon soared higher, giving him a better view.
He finally spotted her nearby and she waved when she saw him.
She was actually smiling, somehow enjoying this.
Victor pointed to the ground, waving her down.
She looked confused, but then she nodded and leaned forward over her dragon’s neck. It dove for the ground, stopping just inches from the pavement with a massive thrust from its wings.
Victor’s dragon lurched beneath him, following Winnie’s onto the street.
He swung his legs over to one side of the dragon’s neck then slid to the ground as its clawed feet touched down.
Winnie crossed the street, laughing in delight, Seelie fluttering by her side. Victor shook his head.
Another four dragons landed nearby. Garraldi, Danny, Bullock and Frannie joined them while the beasts watched for trouble.
“God, I needed that,” Winnie shouted when they all met in the street.
“It’s not the time for that kind of fun,” Victor said. “We have a battle to win and there are still plenty of ways for this to go wrong.”
“I know what’s at stake, Victor,” Winnie said, her eyes suddenly serious. “Don’t mistake my joy as a lack of commitment.”
“We have to join Maria,” Victor said. “It’s only a matter of time until Kane regroups. His next counterattack might be the one we can’t stop. Haven’t you wondered where all the chimeras are?”
“Probably all out in the countryside looking for dragons that aren’t there,” Winnie said. “The chimeras are slower. Remember?”
“They can also kill dragons with sufficient numbers,” Victor argued. “Once Kane realizes that all the dragons are here, he’ll call them back. We don’t have a lot of times before that happens.”
“Victor’s right, Winnie,” Garraldi said. “Now’s the time for a coordinated attack. To end this fight. When are you going to tell us the rest of your plan?”
“Victor’s right,” she said, evading with redirection. “Let’s find Maria and get to Kane.”
Duster troops filled the street.
A young lieutenant ran up to Winnie and saluted. “Commander Durham, Captain DeSantos is a few blocks away requesting your presence.”
“How did she know where to find us?” Winnie asked.
“She saw the dragons and sent several squads to locate you.” The lieutenant grinned. “Looks like I won.”
“Looks like you did,” Winnie said, then she turned to her friends. “Let’s finish this thing.”
CHAPTER 37
Winnie walked into the small park where Maria had set up the command post. The cheers were deafening.
She smiled and waved.
It felt great to be back with the others. She still had work to do, but at least she wasn’t alone. Victor and the others had followed her, but Danny was wandering off toward a stack of supply crates. He was still acting strange, and she didn’t have time to figure it out, or even deal with his mood.
Maria walked over and stood in front of Winnie, her expression settling somewhere between relief and anger. “I’m not sure whether I should shout or hug you.”
Winnie shrugged. “Why don’t we save it all for later. And right now you can tell me the situation.”
Maria went with the hug, then led Winnie to a shady spot under some trees where a series of open comm windows offered multiple views of the battlefront.
Winnie glanced from screen to screen, watching her forces shove the enemy back.
“We’ve been making excellent progress, thanks to the dragons.”
“How much farther to the chasm?” Winnie asked.
“About a half-mile. But it’s a helluva stretch. The streets are widening. There will be less cover and more opportunities for our troops to get caught in the open.”
“We’ll have to coordinate with the dragons. If they join the advance and burn the buildings ahead, that should clear out most of the resistance.”
“You’ll have to stay here,” Maria said. “Right by my side. No running off to join the fun.”
Winnie lowered her voice so that only Maria could hear her. “I can stay here for now, but eventually, I have to end this.”
“I know you think that’s true. But either way, you’ll need help getting there, and if you don’t start letting us in on your end game, it might be too late.”
Winnie couldn’t share her plan, because they’d never let her do it. Victor and Danny would tie her up or lock her away first.
A familiar voice from across the park called her name.