Kael shrugged.
“Well, hate to disappoint the Archon,” he said. “Hopefully he’ll give us a royal decree to sleep for the next twenty-four hours.”
Bree laughed despite her exhaustion.
“I fear it’ll be the opposite,” she said. “Forty-eight hours without a rest, but let’s hope you’re right instead. Since it’s on the way, let’s swing by Selby first. I want to make sure Aunt Bethy’s all right.”
Kael eased his wings back to life.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “Lead on, sis.”
Together they flew southwest, Kael scanning the ground for signs of any remaining fireborn. He saw none, but he did see plenty of the damage they’d caused. Homes throughout every city burned or burning, with civilians scrambling to contain the damage. Worse were the crops forming charred rings around the towns. Sprawling fields of wheat and corn, consumed in a single night. Kael feared the starvation that might follow. If the damage was equally vicious throughout the entire island, then the death toll from the attack might rise long after the last fireborn were hunted down and slain.
Kael had not been to Selby in years, having visited the Briar family only once at their farm. He remembered being taken aback at the sheer chaos of the place. Three families, totaling more than fifteen people, lived in the two-story wood home, which on the bottom floor looked more like a barn, given the mess left by the many animals the Briars kept inside during the harsher winter months. Kael and Bree had been forced to share a “bed” in the corner of the kitchen. The bed had been made up of a collection of pillows and a single blanket not long enough to keep Kael’s feet from poking out the bottom. A blanket that smelled like goats, too. Not exactly his fondest of memories.
“There!” Bree shouted, pointing to the distance. They flew over a huge field, and in the middle was the home Kael remembered. Not far from the house was an impressive barn, built entirely of wood and layered with thick black shingles across the roof. To Kael’s relief, neither was aflame. Less comforting was the thin cloud of smoke coming from the heart of one of their fields, but from what he could tell, it appeared to be dying.
Together they landed before the home, shutting off their wings. A mop-haired young boy Kael didn’t recognize stood before the door, jaw agape and eyes wide.
“Bethy!” he shouted, suddenly springing to life and dashing through the door. “Bethy, your nephew and niece are here!”
In less than a second Aunt Bethy came rushing out. Her face and clothes were smeared with ash, her eyes bloodshot, but she was alive and unharmed.
“Praise God you’re safe,” she said, flinging her arms around Kael’s neck. “I feared the worst when the fire fell from the sky.” He hugged back, too tired to be embarrassed. Bree was next, and she smiled briefly as she embraced their aunt.
“We don’t have much time,” she said. “We just wanted to make sure you were fine.”
“Of course, of course,” Bethy said, stepping away. “Look at you two in your wings, so mature. I’m sure Weshern owes you a great debt for all you’ve done tonight.”
“We did save the life of the Archon,” Kael said, unable to help himself. When she looked his way, disbelief in her eyes, Kael grinned wide. “We did, I swear.”
Aunt Bethy smiled as she shook her head.
“You two are little miracles,” she said. “I wish your parents could see you now. They’d be so proud.”
“How was your night here?” Bree asked. “We saw the fires as we flew over.”
“Ashton was awake when it all began,” Bethy said. “Out in the field with the neighbor’s girl, though he’s shy to admit it. Their little tryst is why we were able to save what we did. He woke up the whole house, and when the fires started we were able to dig a ditch to keep it contained.”
“Did you encounter one of the fireborn?”
Bethy’s face twitched, and she hesitated. Members of the other families were filtering out of the home, all looking equally as tired and disheveled as their aunt. A deeply tanned man, Jared Briar, if Kael’s memory was correct, put his hand around Bethy’s shoulder.
“We did,” he said. “Found it in the field, cackling as it set the corn ablaze. We were lucky enough to have come carrying shovels, so we weren’t defenseless. Burned my boy pretty badly, but we managed to take the damn thing down.”
“How is the rest of Weshern?” asked a woman beside Jared. Her hands were calloused, her hair tied back in a bun. “Is it as bad as here?”
“Worse,” Kael said. “But we’ve slaughtered the fireborn. We’ll be safe now, I’m sure of it.”
Bree glanced his way, not sharing his optimism. Still, the people were tired and frightened. What harm was there in offering them a sliver of hope?
“If the Archon’s safe, then he’ll lead us through,” Aunt Bethy said. “Now go on, you two. I’m sure there’s plenty left for you to do.”
Bree and Kael gave her another hug, then powered up their wings.
“Stay safe,” Kael called to his aunt, then shot into the air, Bree following. Kael’s relief at seeing his aunt safe lasted only as long as it took to reach the nearest town and see the smoldering devastation. He did his best to put it out of his tired mind. A long day lay ahead of them. Worrying about something out of his hands wouldn’t help anyone. Silently they flew to New Galen, to meet up with the rest of the Seraphim. Hopefully there they’d hear what the Archon had in mind, and how they’d respond to last night’s tragedy.
When they landed at Johan’s headquarters it was swarming with both Seraphim and soldiers. Dozens sported burns on their flesh and uniforms, the marks thin, like the claws of the fireborn.
“Where should we go?” Bree asked as she glanced about. The hum of conversation was heavy and tired, and no one appeared to be taking charge.
“I don’t know,” Kael said. “Let’s find Clara.”
Kael led the way, weaving through the group and into the large building. Inside was equally crowded, and occupied mostly with injured. Kael winced at the sight of burnt and peeling flesh. The pain looked unbearable, and based on the cries of many as they pushed through, sounded unbearable, too.
“These poor people,” Bree whispered as they checked inside the rooms they passed, searching for the Archon.
“Better us than the innocent,” Kael said, wishing his trembling insides were as steeled as his words.
At the last room in the hall, Kael found the Archon and his family. Isaac lay on the bed, thick bandages wrapped around his bare chest and left arm. Avila sat beside him on a little stool, holding his uninjured hand. Even after escaping prison and fleeing the fireborn, an air of regal dignity hovered over her. Clara stood in the corner, wings beside her on the floor.
“Are we interrupting?” Kael asked, but Clara immediately waved off the concern.
“Welcome back,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a tired kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt after I was gone.”
“Me, too,” Kael said. He kissed her back, then reluctantly pulled apart.
“The Skyborn twins?” Isaac asked in a heavily drugged voice. He leaned up in his bed and opened his eyes. They poorly focused on Kael. “Th...thank you, both of you.”
“Not now,” Avila said, gently pushing him back onto the bed. He crumpled with minor resistance.
“Thank you,” Isaac continued after grunting in pain. “My wife and I...we’re in your debt.”
“It’s nothing,” Bree said, sounding incredibly awkward.
“It’s not,” Avila said, and she smiled at both of them. “Please, accept our gratitude. If not for your aid, we’d never have survived the night.”
A knock on the door stole their attention. Rebecca Waller stood in the middle of the entrance, brown eyes darting about the room.
“Forgive me, but we must discuss our responses to last night’s chaos,” she said. “Johan is waiting. Would you come with me, Avila?”
The Archon’s wife shook her
head.
“I won’t make decisions for Weshern without Isaac.”
“I was under the impression he is unwell.”
“I am,” Isaac muttered. “But you’ll have it in here anyway.”
Rebecca bowed.
“As you wish,” she said, and then left.
“Should we leave, too?” Kael whispered to Clara.
“No,” she whispered back. “I want you here. Leave only if my father makes you.”
Kael doubted that would happen anytime soon. His eyes were closed, and it seemed he drifted in and out of sleep. As bad as it looked, Kael knew it could have been much worse. That he’d survived his fall at all was incredible.
Bree started removing her wings, and Kael did likewise. The room was already cramped, and their harnesses made it worse. Kael groaned as he stretched his muscles. A tiny part of him envied the Archon. At least he got to sleep. If Rebecca and Johan were discussing responses, Kael had a feeling rest was still many hours away. When both their wings were carefully stacked atop Clara’s, they slumped against the wall. Kael closed his eyes, enjoying what rest he could. Clara sat next to him, arm around his waist and head on his shoulder.
“You’re making me too comfortable,” Kael said. “I’ll be out in minutes.”
“Sleep if you must,” Clara said. “I’ll wake you when Johan arrives.”
Kael cracked a half smile. It surely wouldn’t take that long for Johan and Rebecca to return. He doubted he could fall asleep that quickly, even if it felt so good cuddled up against her, his arm wrapped over her shoulder, her head leaning against him...
Her elbow jarred him awake, and he sucked in air as feeling returned to his limbs.
“The Archon needs his rest,” he heard Johan say. “You should act in his stead until he’s capable of resuming his duties, Avila.”
“I’m here, and I’m alive,” Isaac said as he pushed his blanket off him and struggled to sit up. Avila grabbed his side, helping him slide his back up against the headboard. His upper body shook, but he remained upright. “For now, that’s good enough. So talk.”
The two stood side by side in front of the door. Johan appeared spry and energetic as ever, while Rebecca looked like her mind was in a thousand places. She carried a board with several pieces of paper upon it, and that familiarity seemed to calm her hands from the fidgeting mess they’d been recently. If either was upset by Kael and Bree’s presence, they didn’t show it. Rebecca glanced at Johan, who gestured for her to start.
“From what we can tell, nearly all of the fireborn have been destroyed,” she said. “The damage they’ve done, though, is catastrophic. Preliminary estimates put the loss of this year’s harvest at two-thirds. We’re still counting livestock, but I’d estimate at least a quarter of our total supply killed. We’ll need to begin rationing immediately.”
“The animals,” Isaac said, breathing heavily with every word. “Focus on the dead animals. Get them butchered as soon as possible, before the meat spoils.”
“I’ll spread the order,” Rebecca said, marking something on her paper. “After that...”
“After that is the matter of retaliation,” Johan interrupted. “And we must decide on it quickly, while Center still burns.”
“Retaliation?” Avila asked. “Have you seen the state Weshern is in? How are we to retaliate? And how do we know more fireborn won’t fall from the sky tomorrow night?”
Johan addressed his comments directly to Isaac.
“Center is far larger than Weshern,” he said. “Countless more fireborn landed upon her soil than ours. Take the devastation you’ve seen here and then magnify it tenfold. I doubt they’ve even killed the last of the fireborn like we have. They’ve lost more crops, more lives, and have more mouths to feed. We need to strike now, while they’re still recovering from the chaos. And as for further fireborn attacks,” he glanced at Avila, “the fireborn are incapable of flight. The protective dome about us broke while the fireborn swarmed atop it, hence their fall upon our islands. If there are more, and they wish to attack again, they’ll have to cross ocean waters, and even then, they have no way of ascending the Beam.”
Isaac kept silent a moment, wincing against his pain as he thought.
“If we were to retaliate, what is it you suggest?” he asked.
Johan stepped closer to the Archon, his every action growing more animated.
“We drive them off Weshern, now and forever,” he said. “It won’t be difficult, will it Rebecca?”
The smaller woman seemed to understand Johan’s plan, and she looked thoroughly displeased with it.
“All reports indicate that the forces of Center who didn’t flee the island gathered at the Crystal Cathedral,” she said.
“The Crystal Cathedral,” Johan echoed. “The last theotech stronghold on your soil. If we’re to have any semblance of true freedom we need to wrest control away from pawns of Center. It is there that they control the Beam that keeps your island afloat. It is there they purify your water and control the Fount. Such control cannot remain in their hands.”
“You speak of things only they understand,” Avila said. “Nobody else knows how to control those forces. Taking over may put Weshern at greater risk.”
“Then have the theotechs there swear allegiance,” Johan said. “My disciples can ensure their loyalty. The power they hold is too great. If you’re to be free, that freedom must be ripped from their hands.”
“And what is your opinion on this?” Isaac asked Rebecca.
Rebecca shifted uncomfortably, eyes on her notepad.
“I think our men and women are exhausted and would like to check on their families,” she said. “If Center is as weak as Johan says, then now is the time we should sue for peace. Demand they withdraw all claims of wrongdoing by our island and apologize for Isaac’s and Avila’s imprisonment. Our people are in turmoil, and they’re asking questions about the fireborn and the meaning behind their fall. Center surely suffers even greater, and if they dont give answers, they’ll suffer further riots and chaos. The threat of war is greater now than it ever has been before. I say we use that to end this conflict and begin rebuilding our homes.”
Isaac sighed, and he shifted so that he could rest his elbows on his knees. His gaze stared into nowhere as he thought.
“I cannot ignore the fate Marius almost sentenced us to,” he said. “He disbanded our Seraphim and military guard, stripping us of our wings and elements. When the fireborn fell, Center’s knights abandoned us. Marius tried to deny us our ability to defend ourselves and then left us to burn and die.”
“Left you to burn and die to an enemy I assure you they knew existed,” Johan added. His voice was a solemn whisper. “An enemy that torched the skies overhead every night, praying for the day they might fall upon our cities.”
Isaac looked up, fury burning hot in his eyes.
“If Center is weak, then now is not the time for peace. Now is when we repay them for their centuries of lies. Marius’s knights hid in the Crystal Cathedral while all around them innocent lives burned. Gather our forces. We’ll show them the punishment they deserve for such cowardice.”
“And what of Edwin?” Avila asked. “We still don’t know where he’s being held. If we attack, Marius may execute him as punishment.”
Isaac winced, and he refused to look her way.
“No matter what we do, Edwin may suffer,” he said. “We must act on what is best for Weshern.”
Hardly what Avila wanted to hear, but she did not argue further.
“Your risks are great,” Johan said, bowing low in respect. “You have my gratitude for your bravery. I shall spread the order to my disciples. We’ll assault in tandem with your own military. Our foes won’t stand a chance.”
He left. Rebecca started to follow, then hesitated.
“There will be no going back after this,” she said. “Center won’t view this as the attack of a few angry disbanded Seraphim. This is war. If we fail, all of Weshern will face
Marius’s wrath. Are you sure it’s not wiser to sue for peace?”
It was a sentiment Kael found himself agreeing with, but it seemed Isaac did not.
“Do not fear the coming change,” he said as his wife pulled a blanket over him. “We’re so close. So very close...”
Rebecca bowed low even though Isaac couldn’t see it.
“As you wish, my Archon,” she said. “I will send a flyer to General Cutter with orders that he bring his troops to the cathedral.”
The woman left, and with Isaac already drifting off, Kael felt like an interloper amid the family.
“We should go join the other Seraphim and prepare,” he said, pushing to his feet. Clara stood beside him, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders for another embrace. “Do you want to come with us?”
“I want to stay here, with my parents,” Clara said. “For what little time we have left.”
He kissed her lips, quick, keenly aware of her mother’s watchful eyes.
“We’ll find you before liftoff,” he said. “Keep an eye on our wings until then, all right?”
Clara smiled in acknowledgment, then knelt beside her father’s bed. Kael stared at her a moment longer, part of him wishing to remain, but then Bree nudged his side.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Bree opened the door, and they exited together. Once in the hallway they heard the growing commotion from outside the building. Bree glanced at him, curious, but Kael could only shrug.
“I guess Johan’s already spread the word,” he said.
Bree didn’t look satisfied. Her leading, they crossed the hall and stepped outside. The crowd was mostly soldiers and Seraphim, but Johan’s disciples were also scattered throughout, easily detectable in their plain brown robes. Johan stood on a makeshift platform made up of four crates stacked beside one another. He kept his hood pulled low over his face against the rising sunlight, hiding his many scars.
“You all have now seen the reason for our struggle,” Johan said, his voice thundering through the crowd. “You have now seen the lies Center has woven over your eyes. Let the hope of peace die and a fire of vengeance kindle anew. We have suffered, all of us, suffered deeply for their arrogance and pride, and today we shall let them know the truth of our rage.”
Fireborn Page 33