“I don’t know, but one thing is for sure,” Harold said as he watched another one appear in the distance. “Something big is happening.”
Gabby’s eyes lit up with sudden understanding, “Harold, I think those may be satellites falling.”
Harold looked at her and then back to the sky that was still filling with fireballs, “Gabby, you may be right.”
Chapter 43
“Yes, Gabby. That is the right answer.” Harold said as she pointed at the numbers, letters, and shapes in the sand.
“But look, Harold,” Gabby said as she took the stick from him.
She used the stick to create a long rectangle that intersected the arced line at two points.
“Whoever made this stuff up used rectangles to calculate the area below the arc,” Gabby continued as she made yet another rectangle that again intersected the arc at two points.
Harold squinted and cocked his head, “Yeah, they kinda’ look like stairs walking up the arc when you do that.”
Gabby’s eyes lit up, “And that’s why we can figure it out! Because we can use those rectangles.”
“Yeah,” Harold replied. “But it’s not completely accurate because the arc is curved, not straight.”
“Well,” Gabby stopped for moment. “I admit that it is only an approximation, but it’s the best we can do just scratching in the dirt with sticks.”
“Well,” Harold put his hand on his chin. “The closer we put the points together of our small rectangles, the more accurate the answer becomes, but we just end up with a lot of rectangles.”
“And calculations for each one,” Gabby said.
“But at what point does the approximation become accurate enough?” Harold smiled.
“Well,” Gabby replied. “It’s accurate enough for me right now, because I understand the concept. And that’s more important anyways.”
“True,” Harold answered. “You ready for the next lesson?”
Gabby nodded and smiled as Harold turned the page. He and Gabby looked over the next lesson and then glanced at each other.
“That’s too easy,” she said as she took the book and began flipping through the pages. “Ah, yes.”
She handed the book to Harold and he said, “Okay, so it is ellipses and... semiminor axis and semimajor axis, huh?”
“And eccentricity and their nearness to one,” Gabby read from the book.
Gabby then held the book while Harold began making a diagram in sand.
For the next several hours Harold and Gabby tinkered with the Calculus book and the problems contained within it. As the morning wore on, they laughed and teased one another about their understanding of the various problems. Sometimes Harold would clear up Gabby’s understanding, and other times Gabby would clarify a concept for Harold. As Gabby was working through a particular problem, Harold found himself having difficulty keeping his eyes from just watching her face. He saw her eyes flick towards him and quickly back to the sand, and then he looked back at the problem. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slight grin on her face as she focused on the sand.
It did not take long for the sun to be high in the sky and they returned to the gunship. They walked to the front and sat in the pilot seats while opening their bags of food. Harold took a long drink of water and chomped down on a slice of smoked ham and then bit into a piece of stale cornbread. They both leaned back and ate in companionable silence. After a few minutes, Harold sat up and looked at Gabby.
“What do you think caused that last night?” Harold asked.
“That’s been in the back of my mind all morning,” Gabby answered. “It almost has to be the A.I. Drones or whatever it is that they have become. According to the stories, they were the only things that could actually stand up to the High-Born Dragons. I mean, what else could it be?”
“I don’t know,” Harold said. “But why would they attack now?”
“Maybe they see an opportunity because of what you and I have done?” she replied with a shrug.
“Maybe they want to be allies?” Harold asked.
“Maybe,” Gabby said. “But, they turned on humanity once. It would just be trading one evil for another, and they would probably turn on us as soon as we beat the High-Born.”
“We’re between a rock and hard place, Gabby,” Harold answered. “What are we going to do? We’re all alone... and there’s no one to help us.”
“I don’t know, hottie,” she said as she ran her hands through her hair and closed her eyes. “But we have each other.”
She opened her eyes and reached for Harold’s hand. He regarded her for a moment, and then took it. Then they sat like that for quite a while, just looking out across the small pond in front of them.
“You know, Gabby,” Harold said. “An idea came to me this morning while we were studying.”
“What was it?” she asked.
“You ready for a little bit of fun?” Harold asked.
Gabby cocked her head and smiled, “I’m always ready for that. But what do you have in mind?”
Harold smiled and they disappeared in a flash of flame...
...And flickered into sight just outside the gunship.
“Okay,” Harold said as he took a step away from Gabby. “How far can you extend your air-shield?”
Gabby pondered for a moment, “I guess I could make a small dome around us.”
Harold gestured and raised his eyebrows.
“Oh,” Gabby shook her head. “Here goes.”
A white glow filled her eyes and a gust of wind puffed out from her. Harold looked around and just a few feet in front of him he could see the air shimmering. Aireon looked at him and gestured. He smiled as his eyes filled with orange light, and Blaze stretched out his arms. Fire flashed around the outer edges of the air dome. It rippled back and forth across the perimeter giving a visible shape and awe inspiring color of bluish-white. Aireon looked at him.
“Whoa,” she said. “Can you feel that?”
“Yes I can,” he answered with a bright grin. “The High-Born will have a lot of trouble busting through this. I bet that we can stop energy weapons and projectiles like this.”
“I don’t know if I want to stop them from using energy weapons on you,” Aireon replied. “It only makes you worse.”
“I know,” Blaze answered. “But the High-Born are smart. I doubt they’ll attack me like that again. Remember, something used missiles to cut the power to the lasers last time. I think they’ve figured it out.”
“You’ve got a good point there,” Aireon answered, as she looked at her fire-enhanced air-shield. “You know something... the drain that using my air-shield takes isn’t as severe with you adding your fire.”
“I feel what you’re saying too,” Blaze added. “It’s like... like– ”
“– Like the load has been lightened,” they both said at the same time.
“Told you we were made for each other,” Aireon said with a lift of her chin.
Blaze released his flames and she let go of her hold on the air.
“Maybe you’re right,” Harold said as he regarded her longing eyes.
She lightly grinned as he turned and began walking toward the pond, and she started following him.
“Gabby,” Harold said without turning to look at her. “I need some time to myself right now.”
“Okay,” she said. “Just holler if you need anything.”
As Harold walked on the shore, he looked across the pond. He could see ripples here and there of fish swimming beneath it. Dragonflies and butterflies swarmed above the surface of the water, and the buzz of mosquitoes drifted around him. Off to his left was a patch of white and purple flowers, and he studied them more closely.
The day at the river that had changed his life suddenly washed over him. Sarah and her garland and his bouquet pushed its way into his thoughts. He tightened his grip on his sword and ran his hands across the dents in his armor. He looked at the boots that Willie had given him and he felt the clo
thes against his skin. Even the two bent nails found their way into mind’s eye. He gave a sad smile to himself as he thought about all the nails he had in buckets back in Foxx Hole. He thought about how they all used to dance around the bonfire, and the way Sarah was always so kind to Cooper and Ollie. His head went back in anguish as he thought about how much Aunt Nean liked Sarah.
Harold sighed as he shook his head.
He saw a stick on the ground and picked it up. He stood there a moment, feeling the weight and balance of it. Then he threw it and watched it sail end over end through the air and crash into the water. Fish scattered in all directions out from it, and a couple of dragonflies quickly buzzed away from the splash. He looked back across the pond, and could see that Gabby was scratching in the dirt with their stick.
He turned and walked farther into the woods and let the sounds of the forest cascade over him. Everything was so simple in the forest. The squirrels just simply knew what to do and he could hear several chattering and running through the trees. The leaves crackled under his feet as he kept walking, and he focused on the songs of the birds as he sauntered about. He walked for several more minutes and found a tree that looked like a good tree for sitting. He slid to his rear and leaned against it.
He closed his eyes, and hoped that sleep would soon come to relieve his mind of the many conflicts within it.
All he could see was flames covering a night sky and a sparkling ocean beneath it. He marveled at how brilliantly it reflected the fire. Then, the bearded giant rose up out of the ocean and grabbed the fiery sky. He shouted and shook it, and large pieces of the flames fell all around him as he stomped the buildings of a large city.
As Harold stirred to life, he could see that the falling sky was setting the buildings aflame. He stood and wiped his face. He looked at the sun and realized that he could not have been asleep for much more than fifteen or twenty minutes. He loosened up his legs and then walked back towards camp to find Gabby.
Chapter 44
The next morning, Harold watched as Gabby went through her pre-flight checklist. As she went about her business, he looked out of the windshield at the sun. It was just cresting above the treetops and the morning was still young.
“I can’t wait to see everyone in Foxx Hole,” Harold said.
“I can’t believe that it’s already time for another town meeting,” Gabby replied.
“I wonder what they’re going to say about us?” Harold asked.
“They might not say anything about us,” Gabby answered. “But I’ll drop you off and then I’m headed back to Marksville, but I honestly can’t wait to see how they react to everything.”
“Me too,” Harold answered.
It was not long before Gabby pulled on the controls and they were in the sky. Harold looked at the grid and could see that it was going to be close to an hour before they would arrive at Foxx Hole. So, he just leaned back in his chair, and took in the new morning scenery as he chewed on some breakfast.
As they flew, Harold pulled fire into his eyes and studied the sky all around them. Off to their left were several ripples moving across his field of vision. He slowly looked all the way back to his right, and could see the evidence of many patrols there as well. He looked up high, but nothing up there caught his attention.
“Looks like we’ve really stirred them up,” Gabby said.
“Yep,” he answered. “We sure have.”
As they traveled across the countryside, he paid close attention to the many wheel-shaped communities scattered about. He looked over them for signs of High-Born activity, but everything seemed to be normal in them. Low-Born looked to be walking about much like they always did. The villages seemed intact and he even caught glimpses of children playing in many of the communities.
“At least it looks like they’ve left the villages out of it,” Harold said.
“For now anyways,” Gabby replied.
Harold looked at the grid and noticed that the icon representing Foxx Hole was getting closer and he looked out in front of them. There was a large black column coming into view far to the south.
“What is that?” Harold said, leaning forward and pulling more fire into his eyes.
It did not take him long to realize that something was massively wrong with the city south of Foxx Hole. Harold swept the horizon, and they were still too far away even with his enhanced vision to see exactly what had happened. The only thing he could be sure of was that the entire city seemed to be smoking.
“Something attacked the city,” Gabby said as her eyes lightly glowed white.
Harold had come to that conclusion and was already scanning Foxx Hole. Only part of town was visible from the angle he was looking. But nothing seemed out of place. Though it was on the edge of being too far for him to see, he could see it well enough to know that the houses were still there, and that they were not smoking. There also didn’t seem to be any fires.
“Harold,” Gabby said with tenderness in her voice. “Foxx Hole looks okay.”
Harold nodded and then refocused his attention on the city.
“I wish we could use that com,” Harold said. “It’d be nice to hear what the High-Born are saying.”
“Yeah,” Gabby replied. “It would be nice.”
Then they flew for several minutes in silence, both pulling on their powers to enhance their vision. Slowly but steadily the city grew in their vision. Whatever had happened to it had completely devastated it. Smoke towered high into the sky, and was being blown in a southerly direction.
As they got closer, they could see that none of the larger buildings had escaped damage. In fact, many of them had collapsed, and all of manner of High-Born air-taxis, gunships, and aircrafts that had to be medical in nature were flying all around the city. Harold could see the evidence of many fires still burning.
“Serves them right,” Gabby said.
“Yeah,” Harold answered. “It does, and I can’t say that I’m sorry it happened to them. I just hope they don’t take it out on all of the Low-Born.”
Gabby raised her eyebrows, “What did this?”
“It’s probably some of the A.I. Drones,” Harold said.
“But those things would have to be over a 100 years old now,” Gabby answered. “There’s no way they could still be active.”
Harold nodded, “They got really smart before... maybe some of them lived and got even smarter and began making themselves.”
“Maybe,” Gabby said as she cocked her head. “It’s about the only thing that makes sense.”
As they neared Foxx Hole, Harold looked up in the sky. Amongst the clouds and blue sky, he could see the outlines of something flying there, but could not quite make it out. He motioned to Gabby, and she looked up as well. Whatever the things were, they were moving extremely fast because they were easily outpacing their gunship.
“That has got to be a High-Born fighter jet,” Gabby said.
“The ‘saviors’ of us all, huh?” Harold mocked.
“Tell me about it,” Gabby replied. “They make me so sick.”
As they continued their southerly flight path, they met High-Born medical transports, gunships, and one-man vehicles of all shape and size. Gabby had to dip back and forth many times to avoid them, but thanks to her piloting skill and her ability to make them totally invisible, they had no problem circumventing potential encounters. Soon, they arrived at the outskirts of Foxx Hole and Harold could see that the town seemed unusually empty. He could not see anyone in the town circle. But then he thought about the city, and realized that everyone was probably indoors because of the fiery spectacle to the south. Gabby soon found a nice landing spot with Harold’s help that was not too far from Aunt Nean’s house.
“All right,” Harold said. “You ready?”
Gabby nodded and he touched her shoulder and they flamed out of sight...
...And appeared in the woods just behind Aunt Nean’s house. He checked for onlookers, and they blasted from view...
&n
bsp; ...And they were in the barn, looking at his mule. The mule glared at him and pushed her head into the side of the barn.
“You’ll never change, will you?” Harold said as he gave her a pat on the neck.
As he and Gabby walked to the house, the smell of cooking turnips wafted in the air. Harold opened the door and stopped in his tracks when he saw Sarah standing at the stove. She was stirring a boiling pot and tending to a baker of cornbread. He looked at the table and Scott and Cooper were sitting there drawing in Aunt Nean’s sand box. Sarah had only a moment to give Gabby a sharp glance before Scott jumped up, and ran to him. Harold squatted as the little boy ran into his arms and gave him a hug.
“You shoulda’ seen it, Harold!” Scott shouted as he stepped back and held his hands up high. “It was like a whole ‘nother sun up in the sky!”
“Yeah,” Cooper interrupted. “And you could see all of these things shootin’ at each other over the city!”
“Whoa, guys,” Harold said. “Slow down. Another sun in the sky?”
“Yes,” Sarah answered. “It was right above the city, and I don’t know what it was but it turned the entire sky orange and made the night almost as bright as day.”
“What could you see?” Harold asked.
“Well, some of ‘em was those High-Born gunships,” Scott held out his arms and began making shooting noises. “And some of ‘em was like...” Scott scrambled for a word. “Like... like... these... big flying knights! They had these guns stuck to their arms and ever’thing!”
“And they was tearin’ those High-Born up!” Cooper said.
“Really?” Harold asked.
“Yeah,” Sarah added. “And there were also some fighter jets that I’ve never seen before.”
“They were fighting against the High-Born?” Gabby asked.
Sarah gave her a look, “Yes, they were.”
“And they were winning?” Harold asked.
“They were givin’ as much as they were gettin’,” Sarah replied.
“Yeah,” Scott said, holding out his arms and making shooting sounds. “And some of those knights even flew over Foxx Hole fightin’ against some of those High-Born gunships! And there was some other knights too! They weren’t as big as the flying knights, but they were runnin’ all over Foxx Hole! And they had guns like the High-Born! And they were fast like you!”
Blaze (The High-Born Epic) Page 33