Thread Skein (Golden Threads Trilogy Book 3)

by Leeland Artra

  “HA! You’re not so tough on the inside.” Lebuin ran around it, heading for Illa. She was unconscious on the ground. He picked her up and ran with her to where Nigan was pushing himself up to a sitting position. Malla was sitting next to him, looking him over.

  He laid Illa down, so Nigan could hold her. “Take care of her.”

  Lebuin grabbed Malla’s arm, and squeezed to get her attention. He pointed to Risy. Malla tapped Nigan’s shoulder, grabbing her medical supplies, and launched towards Risy.

  Motioning towards the fight, Nigan said, “I’ve got her. Go help.”

  As he turned and ran back towards the fighting, Lebuin saw that the rest of the group was trading off, pestering the second creature. As the first one stood there, vibrating, the second one was fighting the team effectively with its three large pincers. Its dual stingers were only missing the Daggers as they dodged by an inch.

  Lebuin threw more lightning at its back, but the attacks dispersed across its armor plating. It snapped at Ticca, but she managed to leap over the pincer. The beast seemed to be learning, because it appeared to be anticipating her moves. Its stinger was already shooting down the length of its arm, right at Ticca.

  Lebuin’s mind blazed, and in an instant, he’d reached out with his telekinetic incantation and shoved Ticca out of the way. The stinger slammed into the ground, but a part of Ticca’s ripped shirt and a little of her skin were on its serrated edges.

  Ticca, caught off-guard, slipped and fell. But she turned that into a roll, coming up directly in front of another pincer. The creature snapped out, and Ticca bent back as the pincer closed over the top of her.

  Ditani raced in with Ticca’s black sword, and when he struck, the sword bit through its armor. The thing stepped backwards, away from Ditani, as he swung the sword in a swirling pattern. Carda and Persa were trying to kill off the first one, stabbing it with their swords. Still, it stood there, shivering.

  The second monster noticed their attacks on its partner and turned, rushing towards them. Lebuin’s heart pounded, and he felt a tingle of elation when a clear view of the mouth area on the second one came. He threw his power at it. The lightning didn’t hit precisely where he wanted. His attack didn’t stop the creature, which literally ran over the top of the first one. Carda and Persa saw it coming and dodged. Carda almost made it, but the claw slammed into her, and she flew backwards on impact.

  Still, she fared better than Persa, whose dodge was a fraction of a second too slow. It grabbed her in its claw.

  A guttural scream came from Ticca as Persa was sliced in half.

  Lebuin ran, trying to find another clear shot. As he moved, the thing sensed him and turned, covering its mouth area with one claw as it swung its pincers at him. He saw that one of the stingers was lining up on Ditani. With a brush of his telekinetic incantation, he pushed Ditani clear of any attack. The creature paused, and swung its huge pincers sideways, both half-open. The lower edges scraped the sand, and the upper edges were beyond his ability to jump over. He could only backpedal, but he couldn’t move fast enough.

  The impact sent stars shooting through his head. The world spun, and he felt the air rushing past him. He didn’t know which way was up, and none of that mattered. He knew that all their lives depended on his being able to stay in the fight, but all the willpower in the world couldn’t clear his mind or vision fast enough to land in anything other than a jumbled heap. The last thing he heard was Ticca shouting something that sounded like what he imagined a Karakian war cry would be.

  Chapter 12

  Ancient Artifacts

  Eshra-Zunia

  Warlord Eshra-Zunia glared at the glistening wave of things between her and her goal in the Llino palace. Things she’d never imagined in her whole life — she didn’t even have a name for.

  These are not in any report we have! They must be part of the original city’s construction.

  She kept her face neutral as her mind raced over possible actions. Nothing she’d studied had prepared her for facing thousands of ancient war artifacts.

  “The palace has sealed itself. Electra, what is happening?” Regent Ellua’s voice came from dozens of locations around her.

  The regents don’t know what’s happening either.

  She tried to guess at what the things were. They flew in tight formations; it appeared their flight was provided by three smooth rounded holes mounted inside of fixed fin-like wings, two towards the front, and one on the fixed upright tail. She could see dust swirling down from the disks. She assumed the buzzing had to do with whatever mechanics were used in those circular holes. The things also had a series of at least seven holes that expelled fire in small bursts.

  The artifacts were narrow-bodied like sharks, and their fins were swept back, contributing to that shark-like impression. They had a rounded section mounted across the front. She recalled the drawings of sharks found in the Rhonian island chain called hammerhead sharks. The artifacts looked like that; they were even about the same size as those sharks. But the shape and smooth body were where the similarities ended. These were painted with red and black stripes, and bristled with tubes mounted on the bottom and on each side.

  For a second, she let herself laugh as she recalled her fear at facing Duke, remembering Llino had been Duke’s original home on Niya-Yur.

  I knew it was going to be difficult, with many surprises. But this? Why here? Why now? No other ancient city had anything like these.

  She used the power of her odassi to enhance her vision. There were far more of the flying things than was possible to count. The front portion of the wave cleared the dusty air, and she began to get a good look at them as they rushed outward from the palace and across the city, in all directions at once. The volume of dirt that accompanied them as they flew, or were thrown out into the air, blurred the palace behind them.

  Through the dust filled air, she could make out the glowing palace. Its walls had brightened behind the silver wall of flying combat artifacts. It glowed a gentle white, adding more contrast to the scene. The shields that already encased it brightened, as well. Behind the shields new steel plates had appeared sealing the windows and doors.

  None of it could be good in any way.

  The flying artifacts were coming out of the ground, surrounding the palace in what she hoped was not an infinite flow. A strange buzzing sound, along with the regular rattle of metal on metal, emanated from them.

  Sharks. They buzz like bees, but they move together like a school of sharks, and there are so many. Might as well call them airsharks. I need a name for them.

  Powerful exploding arrow-like weapons shot from the airsharks, filling the air with the bodies of her warriors. Shouts near her drew her attention. Eleven of her warriors had just exploded.

  Urdu! We were so distracted by those airsharks that we didn’t pay attention to what else could be happening.

  The six mages with her were putting up additional shielding. She had over 300 of the best warriors with her. They all knew how to use their odassi. Two loud explosions happened above a few of the remaining warriors, who, like the mages, had adjusted their shields from their blades to cover them overhead, as well as around.

  Looking up, she saw hundreds of the Imperial enforcer sentinels flying in.

  We have defeated these easily in all of the other cities. Does Llino have special ones?

  The man-sized chrome steel enforcers, with their long thoraxes, and flexible segmented bodies, looked like a child’s oversimplified drawing of a hornet. She examined them more closely, using the enhanced vision from her odassi. All of the sentinels had opened a series of six panels along their heads, each panel revealing three circular tubes that varied in size and color. What the tubes did was still a mystery to her. They’d all grown spikes or stinger tails, and their thoraxes were pulled under to direct the stingers f
orward.

  As she watched, dozens of sentinels bulged, and through their skin, like something emerging from water, appeared a long tube with an arrowhead and things that looked like fletching. Fire erupted from the tail of each of the tubes, and they flew with a speed and bending flight path that shocked her, to slam into the shields of her warriors. They looked similar to what the airsharks were shooting at her other squads around the city. On impact, the things exploded with so much force that many warriors were knocked down or killed, even through the shields.

  Grabbing her odassi, she opened communications. ‘All mages, concentrate on shielding the warriors. Be sure you can hold against these new threats before attempting anything else. Pull together into full regiments! No one fights alone. The things coming from the palace are designated airsharks. Find a way to deal with them. All majors to coordinate their brigade communications.’

  The warriors around the city moved with odassi and, she suspected, a healthy dose of real fear, fueling their speed to comply with her orders. They fought hard, and they fought with honor. She maneuvered her group through the streets, every step getting closer to the palace.

  That woman’s voice came again. “Attention! This is an Imperial military action. Hostile forces in violation of Imperial Law have breached the city and have been identified. All citizens are to proceed in a calm and orderly fashion to the closest designated emergency evacuation site or emergency bunker. Imperial guards, all hostiles are to be detained or destroyed.”

  The voice never deviated from the same tonal quality. The precise nature of that voice sent more chills down to her gut than anything else.

  This was supposed to be easy! We had the mages and more than enough warriors to take this city. Throwing out the silly worries about non-combatants made the initial strikes highly effective. This should be just about over.

  “Warlord Eshra-Zunia, you may surrender now if you wish. Order your warriors to lay down their weapons. You cannot win this.” That was a young woman’s voice, and the accent screamed Gracian. Eshra-Zunia was sure it was Countess Electra.

  If she wasn’t a primary target, I’d love to take her head back. She brought knowledge from Gracia about the defenses. She’s responsible for this sudden change.

  She kept her warriors moving and dodging as they rushed towards the palace. Around her, the sounds of battles raging kept the adrenaline flowing.

  Two women’s voices had been tracking her movements everywhere she went. The other was constantly reporting on all the Nhia-Samri activities. Eshra-Zunia had enjoyed the other woman’s voice. It kept her updated better than her own officers on all her warriors’ activities. She was sure that woman was Regent Ellua, especially considering how much she’d screamed when they captured Regent Bayion.

  Ignoring the voices seemed prudent. She was sure they could hear her perfectly and probably see her just as well. The regents hadn’t wasted time in learning to use the power of their ancient city.

  The wave of airsharks was almost to her position.

  We need to stand and figure out their weakness. I doubt we’ll get any closer until we know how.

  She ordered her own regiment to form up around her. The warriors and mages lined up almost instantly. Blades out, they braced for the coming wave of artifacts.

  More explosions vibrated the ground. She looked up just in time to see at least fifty sentinels twist together, spitting a strange ray of light from those front panels. The fifty individual rays combined in the air and slammed down on the ground, melting the dirt into lava instantly. The ray moved with a speed no one could match and mowed down a line of her warriors, the mage and odassi shields having no effect on the attack. As the ray brushed over her warriors, they blew up like a pot left sealed on the stove too long. The remains touched by the ray vanished into a black smoke.

  The deadly ray of light swept down a line of warriors, killing twenty in less than a second before it stopped.

  Her heart rate leapt to an uncontrollable level, and her blood boiled.

  To face us and fight is one thing. But to sit safe in your palace while we’re defeated by a bright light! I will make you pay, even if it violates my orders.

  Without another thought, Eshra-Zunia leapt with all her speed, knowing full well she was a primary target. A white ray of energy brushed past where she’d just stood, burning and exploding the mage that had been next to her.

  She rolled back through the gore to grab the mage’s odassi. Whirling, she pushed herself into a forward roll, coming with as much force as she could muster. She threw the odassi at the group of sentinels firing the ray at her warriors. The blades flew hard and true. They went clean through one sentinel and embedded in another.

  The first sentinel exploded a fraction of a second later. The force of that explosion threw her to the ground. But better, it took out at least half of the other group. The remaining sentinels in that group, their wings broken, spun out of control, crashing into buildings and the street with great force.

  “The artifacts’ armor is not proof against our odassi!” she yelled to her troops.

  The remaining mages had combined shields, and were holding off the ray attack of another group of enforcers and their exploding arrows. She rolled to her feet. She felt her face going red, burning with anger.

  The mages all looked strained, their power channel amulets burning brighter than Eshra-Zunia had ever seen before.

  The airsharks had already engaged five of her regiments. She could hear the commanders calling out, trying to coordinate. Two regiments had lost too many mages, and were being wiped out. She ordered them to break and reform with the remaining units.

  A large wave of the airsharks was heading her way. Drawing her own blades, she pulled power like she’d never tried before.

  If the enforcer armor isn’t proof against an odassi, maybe those airsharks are susceptible, too.

  “We must take the palace!”

  She ran at a low building and, screaming a warrior’s raging battle cry, leapt to its roof. Using that as a springboard, she pushed off in a different direction at a thick-walled building made from the same strong white stone as the city’s walls. From that wall, she launched herself into the air like an arrow, aimed straight at a new group of sentinels that had started to form together the same way as the first group.

  She turned in the air, catching the wing of one sentinel, and twisted herself over to land on top of it. She swung her swords so fast that even she could barely tell where they were in time to adjust them to come back in for another attack. The power flowed through her, and she loved it.

  Her sword bit and cut the sentinels so fast, they didn’t even have time to change their course. As the one she stood on began to fall, she pushed off from it and swung at another. Her warriors, witnessing her display, all broke and ran to jump into the air, cutting at sentinels and airsharks.

  The airsharks had weapons similar to the enforcers, plus something new. Four of them would hover together into a diamond formation. Once in position, their skins would sparkle, and a ball of lightning formed around them. Once that weapon was fully lit, fire erupted from their tails just like the exploding fire arrows the enforcers used. As a unit, they ducked and swerved, racing at a speed unmatchable. If the ball of lightning brushed the edge of a sword, armor, hand, leg, or head, lightning would instantly blaze around the warrior. Even though the touch was only for a fraction of a second, the warrior would be covered in lightning, burning them to a blackened husk.

  Landing, she dodged such a ball. It missed her by a hair’s width, and at that moment, she knew she was lucky to still be alive. Rolling, she dodged more of the exploding fire arrows. The lightning-ball attack was only good for a few seconds. The group that missed her broke apart, and went back to shooting other missiles. She brought her odassi up, creating a firm shield around and above her, as a
dozen of the airsharks swerved gracefully towards her.

  As soon as they were pointing right at her, she heard dozens of pops, and minute smoke puffs blew away from some of the narrow barrels mounted on the side of the airsharks. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of sling bullets slammed into her shields with far more force than a sling could produce.

  She rolled to get out of the line of fire. She could hear all her warriors reporting in on types of weapons, effect ranges, and deadliness. The casualty reports were coming in so fast, there was little else.

  She muted all the other communications and broadcast to all the warriors, ‘Stop all casualty reports, unless requested. Report weapon strengths and enemy activities. All units, continue to palace. Capture the throne room, and remember your orders!’

  A group of airsharks was heading for her remaining mages. She ran and leapt, intercepting them as they swung into alignment, aiming their weapons at the group. She allowed herself to smile as her odassi sliced them into halves. One exploded as her blade cut through it, throwing her to the side.

  She landed on her side. Wounded and bleeding she pushed to get up. Her wounds were not serious enough to stop her. Her blades were already healing her. As she finished getting her feet under her a battle cry came from behind. Spinning in time to parry the swords of a group of city guards, rushing her position. She quickly dispatched the seven guards.

  I don’t have time for this. She thought as she wiped blood from her face, some of it her own.

  She ordered her regiment to regroup in a small open courtyard. The remaining 134 warriors formed up with her. She gasped at their number.

  I’ve lost over a hundred warriors in five minutes! We’re taking too many casualties.