Can’t shake her, Bree thought, glancing back over her shoulder. The knight matched her movements, right arm stretched out and tracking her. The prism in the knight’s palm glowed blue, and another lance knifed through Bree’s path. Bree pulled upward, screaming against the pain in her back. The sky and ground changed places as she performed a full loop, and on her downward dive she readied her swords to attack the knight...only the woman had mirrored the loop perfectly. Much thinner shards of ice, no bigger than knives, rained down on either side of Bree as she frantically dodged. Several broke against her wings, but luck was with her, and none pierced flesh.
Shit shit shit, Bree thought as her eyes danced left and right. The knight was back on her tail, her ice momentarily halted as she steadily closed the distance between them. Bree spotted two fellow Seraphim chasing after a fleeing theotech, and she altered her path to intersect. Trusting her comrades, she went racing past the theotech, driving the pursuing knight directly into the Seraphs’ path. Sure enough, they saw and immediately switched targets.
Bree slowed the briefest moment while arcing her back, curling up and around to tail the fleeing theotech. Cramming the throttle, she burst after him. He never dodged, too busy firing ice at the other two Seraphs to realize she’d looped about so quickly. Her swords swung, the fire about them bursting to life the moment before impact. She sliced the theotech in half at the waist, both parts tumbling to the ground as the gold wings went lifeless. Meanwhile her original chaser frantically dove and twirled, avoiding the vicious barrage unleashed upon her.
Not so fast, Bree thought as she angled back into the chase. Getting to melee range against someone so skilled was unlikely, so she sheathed her right sword and banished the flame around the left. Bree followed just behind and above the other two Seraphs, watching the fleeing knight dodge, waiting for her to make a desperate maneuver...
The knight cut off her wings, swung her body, and then burst them back to life to make a sharp ninety-degree turn. The two Seraphs shot past, unable to turn in time, but Bree was ready with enough space to react. Her body rotated and, hand outstretched, she released a massive torrent of flame directly into the knight’s path. The woman flew through it, emerged on the other side screaming. Her wings lost their shimmer, and the scream died as the woman passed out from the pain.
Bree collided with her hovering form. Her sword punched through the woman’s breast, putting her out of her misery. A shove and they separated, the knight’s body tumbling to the grass while Bree relaxed and flew away.
The release of flame sapped her breath, and she dipped lower, attempting to avoid any ongoing fight. The battle on the ground flashed beneath her as she flew. So far it seemed their forces were crushing Center’s. Johan crashed through the middle of the conflict, fire exploding out from his gauntlet at a furious pace. None could withstand his assault, and it seemed the entire battle revolved around his presence. Just like her, she realized. Twin demons of war. There would be no defeat so long as they lived. The realization was equally terrifying and intoxicating.
It seemed that only two knights remained, and she chose the nearest and raced after. Two Seraphs weaved in chase, firing the occasional lance of ice or spray of flame. Neither seemed capable of corralling him, his dodges perfectly timed, the tiniest of shifts or twists in direction enough to avoid the attacks. Bree gauged his overall trajectory and then flew to cut it off. She only needed a moment, maybe twenty seconds at most. If the two Weshern Seraphim could keep him fleeing for that much longer...
The knight spun a full rotation, hand lashing out. His aim was incredible, and the two chasers had been on the offensive for so long they’d stopped weaving and dodging. A shot of lightning struck one through the chest, sending her flying off course. Bree prayed it wasn’t lethal as she closed the distance, her fury seeming to give her wings that much more speed. The knight spotted her just before impact, and he fired a shot of lightning that passed over her shoulder, so close she felt the hairs of her neck stand on end. Bree twisted her upper body so she spun, hands lashing out so that both swords could slice through the knight’s armor. One cut through his chest, and the other severed his leg at the knee.
Bree dropped her throttle to a hover as she turned, gasping for air. She watched the body fall to the grass, blood dripping, then a blowing horn stole away her concentration. She whipped about, searching for the source. They’d crushed their aerial foes, so what possible warning could they need? In answer, she saw Olivia flying away from the cathedral and to the north. Dotting the sky were ten red and gold forms racing toward the battle at incredible speed.
Reinforcements from Center. What had happened to their information? Marius wasn’t supposed to have any knights to spare. They were all said to have fled to Center to lick their wounds and recover from the damage the fireborn had wrought.
Marius hates us more than we realized, Bree thought as she clanged her burning swords together. That, or fears us...
Bree angled her body parallel to the ground and punched her throttle, soaring past Olivia to face the coming challenge.
He should be afraid, she thought as the Weshern Seraphim followed her twin trails of fire. And I’ll show them all why.
The knights unleashed their elements, fire and ice, lightning and stone. Bree danced through it all, fiery blades thirsting for blood. They would not be denied.
CHAPTER
29
Kael looped around the backside of the Cathedral, pulling himself around for a straight charge against the approaching knights of Center. Clara flew alongside him, so close she could reach out and touch him if she wished. Amanda Ruth trailed after, treating him like her squad leader. The three leveled out, joining the dozens of other Seraphim facing their enemy. Bree led the way, fire dripping from her blades, and Kael wished he could share her courage. Below them the ground battle waged, the Weshern soldiers now unaided by elemental attacks.
“It’s starting,” Clara shouted as the space between the forces rapidly shrank. Wind whipped across their bodies, and the first volley of stone arced into the air from opposing sides. Kael stared at the knights, ten of them, each one skilled in ways he could barely comprehend. Did it matter that the Seraphim outnumbered them more than four to one?
Kael felt a tug on his arm and he glanced Clara’s way. She flew beside him, waiting for an order. She was frightened yet determined, and he choked down his fear. No, he would not fly near the rear like he had in the previous confrontation, wishing he had his sister’s bravery. He had his own bravery. Time to use it. Phoenix Squad might be disbanded, but Kael had once been a member, and he had two others he trusted to follow him. He knew where he belonged, even if Bree desired otherwise.
“Trust me!” he shouted to Clara, then used his right hand to convey with signals his next command to both Clara and Amanda.
Stay close, and follow.
Stones smashed into one another, pieces ricocheting, dust billowing in the air, and into that carnage they flew. Bree danced and weaved through the knights’ formations, and a barrage of lightning and ice trailed after her. Knights dodged, retaliatory shots fired off with frightening accuracy given how little time they took to aim. Lightning thundered above Kael’s head, and a lance of ice passed between him and Clara. An instinct to peel away filled him, to pick one of the knights lingering near the edges of the battle, but he denied it. He was Phoenix Squad. He had his orders.
Through the very center of it all they flew, wings shrieking, air exploding with fire and boulders. Refusing to be afraid of the chaos, refusing to lose sight of his sister’s twin streaks of flame, he cranked his throttle to its maximum. The tiniest shift of his head and shoulders weaved him left of an ice lance knifing upward; a dip of his back dropped him below a wide, flat wall of stone meant to screen a retreat. He didn’t look to see if Clara and Amanda followed. He couldn’t afford the distraction.
Bree had yet to score a kill, but she’d scattered the knights, none willing to directly engage her. They wa
nted to kill the others, to slowly whittle down the numbers so they could assault her on more favorable terms. This clearly frustrated her, and she raced after them with reckless speed, refusing to be ignored. It should have left her vulnerable, but that was what Kael’s trio was for. He caught sight of a knight disengaging from one duo of Seraphim to flank Bree several hundred yards directly ahead.
“Amanda!” Kael shouted. She wouldn’t hear him, but she didn’t need to. A blast of lightning ripped overhead, passing so close to the knight, Kael thought Amanda had scored a lethal hit. The retaliatory sphere of flame said otherwise. Kael lifted them over it as the ball of flame exploded in a wide ring, rippling through the air with a tremendous roar. The knight turned his attention from Bree to their trio, and Kael felt his nerves spike with adrenaline.
Screen, he signaled, and all three released a torrent of ice and lightning as they curled left, following Bree. The knight twisted and dodged, forced to break off his pursuit long enough for other Weshern Seraphim to spot him and take up chase. Kael continued leading his group after Bree. Amanda released occasional shots at knights in the distance, her lightning the most accurate of the elements. She was such a small thing, more wing than body, but Kael was proud of how well she remained with him in her very first battle. She was performing better than he’d done in his first fight against Galen’s Seraphim, that’s for sure.
Given their interference it was inevitable that they gained another knight’s attention. Directly ahead, a knight looped in a circle, avoiding attacks by two Seraphs in chase. Kael dared not attack for fear of hitting his fellows, but the knight had no such reservations. His arm swung as he flew past, a lance of ice shooting with incredible accuracy directly into Kael’s flight path. He didn’t retreat or try to dodge. In the brief heartbeat of time he had to think, he lifted his shield and braced his arm.
The ice hit his shield, which flared with light. It shattered, Kael hardly feeling the impact beyond a tug on his mind as the light element within spent its power. He heard Clara shout nearby, frightened for his safety, but he glanced over his shoulder and grinned to show her he was fine.
“Let’s go,” he shouted to the two women on his tail as he curled his body and chased after his sister. They followed without hesitation, wings shimmering silver as they knifed through the air.
Bree raced after a knight, steadily closing the distance. Several hundred yards away a knight finished off a Seraph and then looped in chase. Kael judged the angles, and swore as he realized Bree likely had no clue the knight was there. He tried to follow, but two knights fleeing an entire squad of Seraphim flew between, flooding the space with an assault of ice and stone. Clara and Amanda twisted aside on instinct, avoiding the sudden barrage and going on the defensive. Kael refused to follow. Damn his safety. Protecting Bree was his mission. She was the one who could single-handedly turn the tide of war. He rolled through the air, the muscles of his lower back screaming as obstacles whisked by terrifyingly close. The sky and ground traded positions like dance partners, but he focused on his prey and let all other distractions fade. It didn’t matter that he had no clue of his surroundings. It didn’t matter that someone might pick him off. What mattered was that knight closing in on Bree, and how Kael could stop him.
Ice sprayed from his gauntlet. He didn’t try to conserve it. He barely even aimed. Shot after shot of sharp-edged lances flew unending as his body twirled. Kael kept his eyes on the knight, his hand tracking just ahead of his path. His foe appeared just as hell-bent on killing Bree as Kael was on bringing him down, and the knight shifted and weaved, never once turning his attention away from the deadly Phoenix.
Come on, Kael thought as he pushed his wings harder, their thrumming a scream in his ears, the world a spinning nonsense of blue and cloud and fire trails. Come on, come on, come on!
He willed himself faster, begging speed out of his light prism...and then he felt its presence no differently than the ice prism. Something in his mind clicked, he felt a connection made, and then the pressure on his body tightened as his wings pulsed with blinding light. Kael blasted through the air, outflying his sister, outflying everyone as lightning and stone flashed on either side of him, their paths greatly misjudged due to the sudden, tremendous burst of speed.
Bree dove at her target, who’d finally given up fleeing to turn and shoot one last desperate barrage. He missed, and her burning blades sliced through his armor like it were nothing. The temporary slowing of her speed made her an easier target, but Kael was far closer and had a far better angle on her chaser. He fired a single long lance, and he cried out in excitement as it blasted through the knight’s neck, showering blood as his body suddenly twisted and veered wildly.
Heart hammering in his chest, Kael had no chance to dwell on his sudden increase in speed. The moment he tried rotating around to follow his sister his muscles tightened up and he felt the air fighting against him. He eased the throttle, but his momentum carried, and letting out a cry, he realized he was spiraling out of control. The rotation had left him dizzy and disoriented, and as Kael twisted the opposite way to counter his spinning, he saw the Crystal Cathedral above him and closing fast.
Keep calm, he told himself as he shut off his wings, descending in free fall. A few seconds more of panic and he’d die a splatter of gore on the cathedral floor. He had to relax. He had to regain control. Tucking his head to his chest and pulling up his legs, he rotated forward, until his feet were facing the ground, then extended. The remainder of the cathedral’s glass ceiling was so close now, so close, and he wasn’t stopping. No chance to be gentle. He jammed the throttle, screaming as the straps dug into his body.
He tucked his feet and lowered his shield beneath him so that his shield absorbed the bulk of the impact. The glass cracked beneath him, then shattered as he rolled sideways in the air. Kael found himself falling headfirst. Twisting his arms, Kael rotated just enough to reactivate his wings a mere heartbeat before his feet hit the ground.
It didn’t kill him. Didn’t even break any bones in his body. Despite the horrendous pain shooting through his muscles and the throbbing ache of his knees, Kael decided he couldn’t hope for more than that. He groaned as he lay there on the cold floor, waiting for his heartbeat to return to normal. Shards of glass cut into his skin, and he grimaced at their sting. His vision swam, the aerial battle above weirdly muted to his ears.
“Get up,” he muttered to himself. He pulled one knee beneath him, planting a foot, and then the vision hit. It struck his head like a blow, and he gasped in vain for air. All sight left him. The sound of the battle vanished completely. Instead he heard a roaring, saw a darkness gradually growing with light.
You return, a voice spoke in his mind. Come, so we may speak.
“Come where?” Kael asked. He didn’t know with whom he spoke. He didn’t even know where he was. The words slipped off his tongue, but he did not hear them. The voice in the darkness must have heard, for the shadows peeled away, revealing plain tile and dim white light. His eyes lifted, and there before him towered the doors that had haunted his dreams. The gold of its runes pulsed with light, the white marble so bright no light of day could match it. From the other side he felt an aura of calm, of peace. Kael reached out a hand for it, overwhelmed with a desire to enter through. The vision vanished, and his hand brushed the stained wood of a pew.
“Shit,” Kael said as the real world returned with vicious suddenness. He knelt in one of the aisles between the pews. Two soldiers were rushing toward him from the hidden door of the cathedral, spears at ready. Kael pushed off one pew to get to his feet, whipped his gauntlet around to fire. Ice shot out, a trio of poorly aimed lances. Only one hit its mark, colliding with the soldier’s breastplate. The armor held, but the impact sent him stumbling backward.
The other crossed the distance, spear thrusting. Kael pushed his shield in the way, winced at the sound of metal striking metal. As the spear pulled back for a second thrust, Kael flung his free hand forward, and as expe
cted, his foe prepared his shield to block. Except Kael didn’t fire thin lances; it was instead a wide spray. It coated the shield, thickening about the metal, adding to its weight. The soldier struggled to keep it raised, and realizing what was happening, he dropped the shield, clutched his spear with both hands, and desperately lunged.
Kael hopped backward, pushed the throttle so he lifted out of reach and into the air. Another spray of thin, sharp lances flew from Kael’s gauntlet in a rapid flurry, puncturing the vulnerable flesh of the soldier’s neck and abdomen. Kael turned on the second soldier, but only a single, stubby shot of ice flew from his gauntlet to break ineffectually against the knight’s shield. Kael choked down a swear as he glanced at his ice prism through the protective window of his gauntlet. Instead of a soft blue glow, he saw a pale, cracked prism.
With his element drained, Kael had only one other recourse. He drew his sword and readied his shimmering shield. The soldier braced in the center aisle between the pews, peering over the top of his shield with his upraised spear pointed at Kael from the side. He seemed to be daring Kael to charge, a dare he willingly accepted. Kael dove, and just before impact he shut off the element to his shield. It slammed into the man with tremendous weight and force, but he stubbornly held on.
“For the Speaker!” the soldier cried, jamming his spear forward again and again. Kael pulled away and let his shield block two thrusts, sidestepped a third, then reclaimed the offensive. He hit the other man’s shield, parried a thrust from the spear, and then pushed closer. His wings hummed, giving him strength. When his glowing shield struck his foe’s, sparks flew between, and he heard the man scream. He swung again, was blocked, then pulled back for a thrust. When the soldier countered, Kael abandoned the swing to fling his shield in the way. It hit the shimmering surface, spear tip driving harder and harder. Kael felt a painful tug on his mind, and then the spear exploded into splinters.
Fireborn Page 35