I heard a laugh and turned toward Richard who clamped a hand over his mouth. I met his eyes with a withering stare and continued. “You think this is hubris? You think I’m crazy? Well, let’s see what you think once the Vimana gets here. Listen well and know that whichever side I am on will be the winner. I’m going to give everything I have to destroying the Iron Horsemen and preventing their world from emerging. Everyone I care about will be in this fight, my father, my friends, Genevieve. They all might die. But I am going to harness the power of Mother Nature herself to defeat them. You can try and stand in my way, but that would be foolish.” I started to walk away but I stopped, and turned to face the Duke again. “I’m going to win this battle, and then I’m coming to find you!” I stormed off as the Duke let out a choked up noise I’d never heard before.
As I reached the hallway, I heard Genevieve. “Don’t you get it? This isn’t about the Templars and the Golden Circle, this is about freedom and tyranny.” I heard the Duke, but couldn’t understand him. Genevieve replied, “No. I will be at Alexander’s side. I will be in my Bronze Knight, and there is nothing you can do to stop us from saving you all.”
She burst out of the room, and I held out my arms as she ran up to me. “We have to get back to the workshop before they try to take the armors.”
I gave her a quick hug and we stepped outside to find a different carriage waiting. The driver sitting atop the perch was a familiar red-headed Irishman.
Genevieve stopped in her tracks. “Finn? What are you doing here?”
“No time for lovely reunions. Get in! Your father sent me. Had a feeling you wouldn’t take kindly to the Templars and Freemasons telling you what to do.” As we climbed in, he grumbled. “It’s not the steamcarriage, stupid thing has actual horses—ugh!—but I’ll manage, now let’s get you out of here.”
He snapped the reins just as I pulled the door closed and saw Revere rushing out of the lodge with several men behind him. He pointed at us and shouted, but we were already on our way.
CHAPTER 49
THE BATTLE BEGINS
We arrived back at the Tinkerer’s workshop. Finn jumped off and let us out of the carriage. We all ran into the shed and I called out, “Tinkerer, are you in here?”
“In the back,” a Scottish drawl called out from behind the armors.
“We need your help,” Genevieve said. “They’re coming for the Bronze Knight and all the rest of your inventions.”
“Who?”
“Sinclair, Revere, and the Duke.” I pushed my two front locks off my forehead, “They want to use the Iron Armors instead of us.”
“But I customized them for each of you.” The Tinkerer looked at the two of us. “They’ll probably arrest me for this, but... grab those spiky things in the corner and follow me.”
In the corner of the shed we found long iron spikes with coils wrapped around the top. I picked up two, Genevieve grabbed a couple, and she asked Finn to bring the last two. We met the Tinkerer outside the shed.
He turned to us. “Place those at the four corners of the property, an extra one at the road, and the last one by the shed.”
“What are they?” I asked.
“A little something I was making to trap the Iron Horsemen. I designed it off the electromagnet they used in London. It will create an electromagnetic barrier that will keep anyone out of here.”
“Perfect,” Genevieve said.
Once we’d placed the coils around the house, I linked them with a cable, and the Tinkerer threw a large switch. Each coil sparked and arched electricity between them. A low hum surrounded us. I couldn’t see anything, but the hair on my arms stood on end as I approached one of the coils. We were surrounded by an electromagnetic field.
I walked over to the Tinkerer. and said, “That is so cool.”
“You want to see cool?” He took a wrench and threw it at the coil. About three feet from the spike, the wrench bounced off an invisible wall and fell into the dirt at the Tinkerer’s boots. He bent down and picked it up. “We’re protected.”
“Fascinating,” I said, raising my thumbs.
“We’re not done yet; I need you to load the Iron Armors while I finish the Iron Lotus.”
“Done; we’ll all pitch in to get everything ready.” I turned to Owethu and Genevieve, “Let’s get to work.” They nodded in agreement.
My father stepped out of the house. “What is going on? I just tried to step out the front door and was knocked back to the kitchen.”
We all laughed, and I said, “Sorry, an electromagnetic barrier around the house, the Templars and Masons are coming to take the Iron Armors.”
“Alexander, what did you do?” He put his hands on his hips.
“The Duke and Richard are not the ones who will defeat the Iron Horsemen. I won’t let the world be destroyed because of their egos.”
He pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose and nodded. “I agree with that. Anything I can do to help?”
I smiled and was overcome with joy. He was on my side. For the first time, he’d chosen me over the Templars. “The Tinkerer might need some help with the new armor he’s creating.”
We dove in and did everything the Tinkerer asked. I carried shells to each of the armors, and then loaded some into the Black Knight as Owethu and Genevieve did the same. I opened the chest plate of my armor and stared inside. The Tinkerer wasn’t kidding. He’d made it a proper armor. He’d cushioned the bicycle seat, and given me a padded back and headrest. I climbed inside and reached into the arms. The Tinkerer had even wrapped the handles so they didn’t bite into my skin anymore. Gauges stacked one on top of the other, told me the steam pressure, the oil pressure, and how many rounds were left in the guns.
I looked up and saw the Tinkerer standing in front of the Black Knight. His large grin matched mine. He chuckled and I said, “I don’t know what to say but thank you! He’s great. I love what you did to him.”
“You’re most welcome. I figured it was time to upgrade them. These armors have been through a rough couple of years. They needed some love.” He came up and pointed to a chain up by my head. “I added a steam whistle, like a train. I figure, in a noisy battle, you can use it to alert, or call, the other armors.”
“Brilliant.”
“Thanks. Each of them has one.” His eyebrows popped up, “Which reminds me I’d better add that to the new armor.” He motioned for me to follow. “There’s something else I should show you. I created a tornado machine. I need to show you how to use it.”
“Definitely.” I was about to climb out when we heard electricity sparking, and a low thrumming noise from the barrier. “What was that?”
“Someone’s trying to break my barrier.”
“I’ve got this.” I fired up the Black Knight, and he churned to life. As the heater built up the steam pressure, I closed the hatch and lowered the helmet’s visor. Once the steam had brought the armor to life, which took much less time than before, I rolled out of the shed to the end of the driveway.
Two armored steam-carriages, with Gatling guns mounted on top, sat on the other side of the barrier. Several soldiers stood in a line with guns at the ready. Behind them, three carriages had pulled up. Sinclair and a couple of Templar I didn’t recognize were in the one with the open top. The next one I recognized as the Duke’s closed-top carriage, and Mr. Revere was in a buggy.
The Duke shouted something, and the soldiers raised their rifles. I didn’t make a move. They fired. The bullets bounced off the barrier and flew back at the soldiers. Two were hit but one bullet struck the Duke’s carriage and he fell back from the window.
“I’m not your enemy!” I rolled the Black Knight to edge of the barrier. “Do not make me one!”
Sinclair stood in his carriage, leaning on his cane. “Let’s talk about this, Alexander. We’re all on the same side.”
“Are we?” As the soldiers formed back into a line I lowered my cannon. “As the Duke said, I am not a Templar. Nor am I a Mason. You
have rejected my help, yet I hold the key to defeating the enemy. If you truly wanted to defeat them, you would use all your resources. You would listen to Genevieve and me. But you refuse. If it’s up to us to save the world, we’ll do it without you!”
“Alexander,” Sinclair said, “we need to talk...”
“Fire!” The Duke yelled from inside his carriage. The soldiers fired and once again their bullets bounced off the barrier. “You idiots, aim at those coils.” They fired again and the bullets shot in every direction hitting a soldier in the leg. “Steam-carriages at the ready!”
Sinclair turned toward the Duke. “Calm down, Your Grace! You’ll only end up hurting yourself and all our men.”
Rage nearly overwhelmed me, I wanted to rip the barrier down and charge the Duke. My cannon was already aimed at his carriage. I could blast him with both barrels and follow through with my sword. This whole mess would be over in a moment. I reaffirmed my grip on the controls, but the Black Knight seemed to hold me back. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to end this.
“I am taking command!” The Duke pointed out the window. “Fire!”
A Gatling gun roared to life and lead rained down on one of the steam-carriages. A shadow cast over the ground, and I pushed the visor up. Leaning forward, I looked up and saw the Sparrowhawk hovering above and the soldiers on the ground scattering and taking cover.
Sinclair yelled, “Get these men out of here, before something worse happens.”
The Sparrowhawk fired a grappling line and it struck the ground beside me. Mr. Singh slid down, and Lianhua followed. Kō’ilā swooped down from above. As Mr. Singh landed, he looked at me. “What in the world is going on?”
“I’ll explain later, but I am so glad to see you!”
They ran toward Genevieve, who stood with the Tinkerer outside the workshop. I turned back to Sinclair who still stood in his carriage. The soldiers climbed onto the armored carriages and began rolling down the street, but Sinclair didn’t move. He stared at me and nodded his head.
“We need to work together,” I said. “We can stop them. I know it.” I climbed out onto the shoulder of the Black Knight. “Have faith in that.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing. I promise I’ll get every soldier I can to the White House and Capitol Building!” Sinclair saluted with the tip of his cane, and sat back in his carriage as it started down the street.
“We’ll be there!”
CHAPTER 50
THE BATTLE FOR WASHINGTON
The Sparrowhawk landed beside the workshop outside the barrier, but I turned off one of the coil-spikes to let them in. I hugged Captain Baldarich. My heart soared seeing the crew again. I was so glad they’d made it safely out of China. Plus, they had contacted the Templars, which was the only reason anyone in Washington D.C. was ready for the Golden Circle at all.
“Great to see you, kid, but we’ll have to save the pleasantries for later. The Vimana and Dragonship are right behind us.” Captain Baldarich let me go and bear-hugged Genevieve.
“We’re ready for them,” she said, muffled by his embrace.
“I have a plan, but would you be willing to cut some holes in the underside of the Sparrowhawk?” He eyed me with a raised eyebrow and I added, “To carry the armors into battle. Two of them.”
He stroked his mustache. “This’d better be good.” He waved to the Sparrowhawk and walked over to the barrier.
I turned to Lianhua. “I told you I didn’t think our meeting was coincidence—the girl with the owl from my dreams. The Tinkerer has made you something, and if you want to fight with us, we’d be honored to have you.”
Mr. Singh looked at me and then around the workshop. “He made her an armor?”
I nodded. “He did. Customized it for her, too.”
She eyed both of us. “I thought I was fighting with you already. And what is this... armor?”
“You are,” Genevieve said with a smile. “You’ve been invaluable, but this is something special.”
Mr. Singh took her hand. “I know we helped you with The Spice Merchant, but that doesn’t make you indebted to our cause. You’ve helped your people and the people of Tibet, and if you want to sit this part out, no one would think less of you. But we’d be honored to have you on our side against this great evil.”
“I would fight for you, but that is not why I will fight this day. I know what a life in chains means. I’ve lived it. I know what life is like without choice, where others make the decisions for you. Now that I am free, I would not see the whole world fall into chains.”
“Then follow me. There is someone I want to introduce you to.” We walked into the shed and the Tinkerer pulled the tarp off an armor.
“I call her the Iron Lotus!” the Tinkerer said with a bow.
The outer iron plates, painted red and decorated with a couple of lotus flowers, looked like robes around the dark metallic warrior. A metal spike rose off the helmet and a long plume of red hair spilled down the back. A round shield with a golden lotus flower in the center covered twin cannons. Instead of the large sword like my armor, he’d used the various blades in the shed to make knives. Like the other armors, it stood on two tracked oversized feet, and towered about twice as tall as we were. Similar to the Black Knight, twin smoke stacks extended off the steam tank and engine on the back.
“She’s got the cannons mounted underneath the shield,” the Tinkerer said. “Grapplers on the hips for stabilizing if the need arises. Two knives on each side and six on the back. Alexander said you liked knives. He also mentioned your owl, so I put a stand in the armor and the arm is padded on the forearm.” He opened the chest plate and Lianhua looked inside. Her face lit up and she climbed inside.
“Tiny pedals for my feet!”
“Like I said, the Tinkerer customized it for you.”
She locked eyes with me. “Thank you for this new life, Alexander.” Kō’ilā landed on her perch inside the armor. “We will be honored to fight at your side.”
“Thank you, but it is I who am honored to have all of you at my side.” I looked around at the Sikh, my crewmate, who always gave more of himself than he asked of others; the Zulu warrior, who fought for family and honor and showed me what true nobility meant; the Chinese maiden, who guided me through darkness and taught me the truth of freedom—that it was as essential to life as air and water; and lastly, I locked eyes with Genevieve. She’d been by my side since the beginning, in the good times of Paris and bad times of battle. I didn’t want to travel through life with anyone else. She’d taught me who I truly was, who I was meant to be. The emotion nearly choked me, but I managed to say, “I couldn’t face this tyranny without all of you.”
The Tinkerer stepped forward, tears in his eyes that he kept loudly snuffling back to keep them from falling. “Remember, they might have oil for blood and iron for bones, but it is you, their drivers, that are their souls. Though each of you alone is only a soldier, together, working as one you are a force of nature.”
With his words still lingering in the air, we each climbed into our armors. “There isn’t enough time for a last meal together,” I said. “We’ll have to share that after the battle. I hope to see you all.” Everyone nodded, the excitement faded from the shed. The tension thickened as each of us thought about what was to come. I worried about each of my friends as they climbed inside their Iron Armors. I prayed, if anyone here couldn’t make the meal, to let it be me.
I slipped down onto the seat inside of the Black Knight. The armor still chugged from my run in with the Duke earlier. I took a deep breath and looked over at the Bronze Knight. Genevieve pulled her hair back and tied it in a knot at the nape of her neck, and Rodin sat on her shoulder. I wanted to say something, I wanted to kiss her for luck, but it wasn’t the time. As I reached up to close my visor, she looked over and her sweet smile washed over me.
I pulled the five of us together. All the armors in a circle. The sight was intimidating, and I couldn’t help but smile. I explained my plan.
If they didn’t like it, they didn’t say anything. Once I was done, I raised my cannons to salute them. They returned the gesture, and, after the Tinkerer shut down the barrier, we raced off. I stopped and opened my visor. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Wait, Alexander.” The Tinkerer held up two of the coil-spikes. “Here take these, you might need them.” He attached them to the back of the Black Knight, and I rushed over to the Sparrowhawk.
The crew was hard at work modifying the underside. The Bronze Knight and my Black Knight waited as the other three, the Iron Zulu, Iron Templar, and Iron Lotus rolled off toward the White House.
The Sparrowhawk lifted off and hovered above us. Once we were attached by thick chains, it lifted off. The aerodirigible struggled to gain altitude but was able to take us up into the clouds. Dangling underneath, we swayed in the wind. Fear rippled through me and bile burned the back of my throat. I held my hand out and pressed my palm against the chest plate. “Let’s do this, and let’s survive, okay Black Knight?”
Then my hand drifted down to my leather bag. I reached in and felt the sharp angled lines of the amethyst crystal and the cool silver wire coiled around it, and my thoughts drifted to the power I’d seen. I could claim it as my own and defeat these enemies easily. I took a deep breath, opened the bag and looked down at the Horsemen’s Heart. I was about to pull it out when Hunter knocked on the Black Knight’s helmet. I quickly closed the flap and opened the visor.
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