"You need us here," Lee yelled, glancing at the approaching boggarts.
Before Alex ripped a strip from his ass, Martinez grabbed the young man and dragged him down the stairs, yelling to Alex: "We got it. Do what you have to do!"
Only a handful of Russians were still fighting, including Valentin, Dimmi, and Dominika. Leela kept the gateway open, with Ylra standing beside her. When Alex surveyed the battle from atop the walls, his heart sank. The boggarts shuffled through the waist-high waters. They're trying to avoid the eggs, he realized. But there were too many boggarts coming from too many directions and, every minute, fewer defenders to hold them back. The dark-elf Storm Guard warriors had mustered near the bridge, waiting to surge across. They'll come when the boggarts reach us. They're going to let the boggarts take our fire first—no matter how many die. The boggarts have no choice. They never did.
He looked over his shoulder. The courtyard was almost empty as Lee and Martinez carried the last of the wounded through the gateway. Only Leela, Veraxia, and Ylra remained. We need to go now!
He was about to give the order to Valentin when his vision fell upon the suitcase nuke set against a wall of the courtyard. His throat constricted, and time slowed. He looked from the bomb to the boggarts moving so slowly, so carefully around their eggs, risking death to avoid damaging the eggs. An image flashed through his mind of the grisly boggart corpses following his use of Sarin on their camps. He remembered the agonized face of the wounded boggart in Hudson's Hope before he drove his sword through its heart. He had convinced himself he had done these things for Noah, but that was a lie. Every evil deed had been for himself.
He bent over, heaving huge gasps as guilt wracked him. "What am I doing?" he gasped, burning with shame. "What have I become?" He stumbled to Valentin and grasped at his arm. "The bomb? How do I deactivate it?"
Valentin stared at him in confusion for a moment before his gaze flicked to the advancing boggarts. Strangely, he didn't ask Alex why he wanted to disarm the bomb. Instead, he nodded. "Get the others through the gateway and cover me while I reset the arming switch."
"We're staying?" Dimmi asked, looking over the stock of his rifle.
Alex shook his head. "No, you're not. You're going through to your families. All of you. Tell me what to do."
For what felt like an eternity, Valentin stared at him. Then he lifted a large black plastic key from a cord around his neck and handed it to Alex. "Look for the arming switch. You can't miss the slot. The key only fits one way. Shove it in, then turn it as far as it will go to the left. You'll hear a click."
"Left until click, got it."
"You'll see a red lever marked Activirovat. It's in Cyrillic."
"I'll manage."
"Pull the red lever all the way down. That is the most dangerous part. We've done what maintenance we could, replaced or repaired what we could, but the arming switch electronics have always been… touchy."
Alex sighed. "Good to know, but there's not much I can do if it's defective."
"I didn't say defective, just touchy. At any rate, after you throw the switch—"
"If I'm still alive."
"And if you're still alive, turn the key to the right—two full rotations. If the lights go off, you've done it. If not…"
"Got it—left, click, push red lever down, turn right two rotations." Alex turned away.
Valentin reached out and stopped him. "One last thing. Attached to the inside of the lid is a Thermite grenade. When you've disarmed it, pull the pin and close the lid. There should be enough oxygen to burn through the internals. It won't stop the radiation, but the case is an inch of lead—that's why it's so damned heavy. It'll be lethal if anyone ever opens the case again, but it will damage the bomb beyond any hope of repair."
"Got it. But the three of you need to go right goddamned now."
Valentin surged forward and hugged Alex. "God keep you safe, Alex Benoit. Bless you for my family."
Valentin ushered Dimmi, Dominika, and the last of the Russian soldiers from the wall to the courtyard. Alex took one last look at the advancing boggarts then followed as Valentin shoved Dimmi and Dominika through the gateway. He turned and saluted Alex before following them. Only Alex, Ylra, Veraxia, and Leela remained.
"Go!" Alex yelled at the women.
"What are you doing?" Leela demanded.
"I'm deactivating the bomb. I'm not committing genocide just to kill that dark-elf bitch. Go. I'll catch up."
For once Leela didn't argue.
"Hurry," yelled Ylra, dashing through the open gateway.
Alex ran to the bomb, dropped on his knees, and undid the hasps, exposing the internal workings of the suitcase nuke. A shiver ran down his spine. A three-foot-long stainless-steel cylinder six inches wide sat across the suitcase, with rusting metal brackets holding it in place. Painted upon the cylinder were the black-and-yellow triangles denoting nuclear material, but the paint was so old it had peeled away. A foot-long block of plastic explosive, so old it looked as if mold were growing on it, was wedged into the top corner of the case. Twisted wires from the high explosive ran to what looked like an old car battery affixed with a control console with flashing numbers counting down. Less than fifteen minutes to boom. The control console had both a slot for the key and the red lever with Cyrillic markings he imagined read Activirovat.
Valentin's arming switch.
As Valentin had promised, someone had taped a Russian Thermite grenade to the inner lid of the case. Like most members of Task Force Devil, Alex had trained on explosives… a bit. He had learned how to disassemble grenades, set plastic explosives and mines, and build or disable improvised explosive devices, but nuclear bombs had never been on the curriculum. How much harder can it be?
And am I inhaling a lethal dose of radiation at this moment?
Someone fired, and he spun to see Veraxia, holding a belt-fed Russian heavy machine gun in each hand as she stood in the gateway to the keep, shooting. He shook his head in wonder. There wasn't a man alive who could accurately engage targets while holding a weapon that heavy in one hand, let alone two, but her fire was controlled and effective. Clearly, she had been paying attention to the Russians. Whatever she is, thank God she's on our side.
His heart leaped into his throat when he saw Leela, still in her rig, join Veraxia at the gatehouse. Bright white-hot bolts of chain lightning arced from the hand upon which she wore the Brace. The gateway was gone.
He was angry but not surprised Leela had remained with him. He just prayed she'd have time to open another gateway once he turned off the bomb. But why had Veraxia remained?
55
Terlissandia, still cloaked in her invisibility spell, climbed dripping wet from the crèche. She used finger hooks to help her grip the keep's wall and scaled its side. When she reached the top, she pulled herself onto the battlements. Although invisible, she stayed low, creeping along the wall. She very much doubted any manling mage could detect her, but there was a reason she was alive when so many other mage-scouts had died during the long civil war.
The manlings had abandoned the walls, taking even their dead with them. Empty metal cylinders no larger than her finger lay scattered everywhere, and smoke hung in the air, mingling with the stench of burned flesh from the battle spells the queen's mage-wardens had cast. But where are the manlings? Have they escaped?
Then the thunderous cacophony of their fire weapons ripped through the air, and the fiery darts sprayed out from somewherewithin the gatehouse, near the inner courtyard. The fire weapons savaged the boggarts, who were creeping forward—the fools. They should have rushed the keep long ago. Stupid, she mused, very stupid.
That's why boggarts are slaves.
She slid along the battlements, making her way to the inner courtyard. A manling mage near the gatehouse but out of her sight cast a powerful bolt of chain lightning that killed a half dozen boggarts. In response, the queen's mages directed their spells at her, sending four fireballs crashing in on her at on
ce. But the fireballs struck an invisible barrier and careened away to explode in the air.
Terlissandia knew in a moment it had to be the same dark-haired manling mage with the wondrous glove talisman she had seen battle the skrells in the swamp. Excitement coursed through her, setting her nerves tingling.
She had two objectives now—to assassinate the manling leader, as the queen commanded—but the second, more important goal, was to kill the mage and claim the talisman for herself. With such a weapon, anything became possible. Even regicide.
"Hurry, Alex!" Leela yelled and cast another lightning bolt.
Beside her, Veraxia let loose with more bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire. The belts of ammo feeding the weapons were almost out.
"Just give me another minute," he yelled. "Be ready to open another gateway."
"Hurry."
"I know."
"I mean it." She cast more lightning.
"I know."
He inserted Valentin's key into the slot. It fit perfectly, and he turned the key to the left and heard it click. He gripped the red lever but hesitated, his heart a pounding drum. What if the arming switch malfunctioned? He wished one of the combat engineers were here. Hell, if he were wishing for things, he wished he'd had the foresight to take more explosives ordinance training when he was in the army. He wished the Russians built better bombs. He wished…
"If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride," he whispered as he pulled the switch down.
It was several moments before he realized he was holding his breath, then he let it out and grinned. "Still alive. How about that?" In a few seconds, he'd finish, and they could get out of here.
Terlissandia crept close enough to see down into the inner courtyard and gatehouse. The foul black-haired mage, now wearing one of those hideous armor suits, stood at the gateway—and she wore the glove-talisman.
A fae-seelie warrior in silver chain mail stood beside her, firing two of the large manling weapons, one in each hand. Anger flared within her. That traitor would die as well, but she focused her attention on the male manling, the one bent over a large metal box, who had been yelling orders to the other two. He must be the leader.
She dropped into the courtyard, landing lithely and drawing her fighting dagger. A delicious premonition of her future warmed her as she moved in for the kill. First the leader, then the mage. The traitor, she'd take alive for torture.
Leela threw up another shield as two more fireballs came crashing at the gatehouse. As before, the fireballs rebounded from her shield, smashing back, and exploded against a knot of boggarts. The resulting firestorm shattered the boggarts and sent several spinning away, burning like torches. Their eerily human screams sent a shudder down her spine, and she looked away in horror—just in time to see the dark elf materialize behind Alex, only several feet away. His back was to her as he bent over the bomb, and she realized in a heart-stopping moment that the mage must have used an invisibility spell to get this close but had entered Witch-Bane's anti-magic range, canceling her spell. "Alex, look out!" she screamed, releasing a bolt of lightning at the dark-elf mage.
When Leela screamed, Alex reacted by instinct, throwing himself to the side. He saw a flash of movement behind him and felt a white-hot stab of pain in the back of his neck. Just for a second, he saw a dark-elf mage in black leather, a blade in her hand, rage on her features—but his vision exploded with light, blinding him, as lightning struck the mage, spinning her. A tendril of the electricity arced out, lashing at the open bomb.
Blind, Alex jumped to his feet and drew Witch-Bane. A woman screamed in pain before him, and he lashed out with the sword, swinging from right to left, feeling the impact of hitting something solid ring up his arm. He staggered off balance as a heavy object hit the ground with a thump, followed by another smaller thump a moment later.
He waved at the air before him with Witch-Bane, his breathing wild. No further attack came.
Seconds later, he heard Leela's pounding boot steps in the rig as she ran to him. "Don't move!" she yelled.
"Can't see." He ripped the helmet from his head and discarded it, but he still only saw bright spots before his eyes.
"Stand still." He felt her hold the Brace against his face.
A surge of warmth spread through his head, and his vision came back, as did his other senses. The air stank of ozone and the acrid stench of blood. The dark-elf mage was dead, her severed head sitting several feet from her, the yellow eyes glaring at Alex.
The bomb! He bolted to it, fear snaking through his gut. The timer was flashing—twelve, eleven, ten… Leela's lightning had sped it up.
"Now!" yelled Tuatha to Kendrassia. "Finish them."
The boggarts had finally reached the keep, but the fools had taken too long. Her commander gave the order to prepare, and all of her remaining Storm Guard warriors mustered for their charge.
Alex tried to turn the key to the right, but the electricity had fused it in place. The timer showed nine seconds. With no other choice, he ripped the block of plastic explosive and the timing mechanism from the case, tearing out the wires with it.
Against all odds, the bomb didn't detonate, but the timer kept counting down. He spun, looking for somewhere to throw it. But there was nowhere safe that wouldn't kill them or destroy the boggart eggs. Then he remembered Veraxia said the ocean was on the other side of the dwarven flood mechanism. He thrust the explosive and timer into Leela's hands. "There." He pointed at the waterfall. "Like with the Sarin canister. Levitate it into the pipe."
The timer was at three seconds.
She threw the explosive into the air, holding her hand with the Brace before her. The block of plastic explosive soared away, moving like a missile with unerring accuracy, disappearing into the pipe. Alex heard the war cries of the charging enemy and saw Veraxia throw both machine guns to the ground and draw her fighting knives.
The explosive detonated with an ear-splitting boom, throwing Alex into Leela.
Water gushed from the damaged pipe and cavern wall, jetting into the cavern, with shattered stones and pieces of metal piping cascading from the opening. A torrent of seawater began to fill the cavern.
56
Tuatha stumbled into a boggart, bowling him over as the explosion rocked the crèche. When she regained her balance, she saw what looked like the entire sea jetting into the cavern from where the dwarven pipe had been. The boggarts, terrified, ran from the keep, leaving the manlings alive. Her panic surged, but then she forced herself to be calm. The cavern would flood. She couldn't stop that, but the eggs weren't going anywhere. She still had time to kill the manlings and move as many eggs as she could from the crèche. She'd have to start over, but she'd survive. She always survived.
Now, she needed to take charge. It was time for battle. She stormed forward, not caring whom she hurt, and reached Kendrassia, who was trying to regain control over her Storm Guards on the bridge in the explosion's aftermath.
A single fae-seelie warrior in brightly burnished silver chain mail still stood in the keep's gatehouse. Armed only with two knives, she walked purposely across the bridge. The fool must want to die! Yet a tremor of uncertainty coursed through Tuatha.
She tore her gaze from the suicidal fae-seelie woman, grabbed her commander's arm, and shook her like a doll. "What are you waiting for? Kill her. Finish them!"
Kendrassia drew her sword, her eyes hardening. "Yes, my queen. Charge!" she yelled at her warriors as she ran out onto the bridge.
A moment later, all of her remaining Storm Guard warriors cried out and followed her, their rage directed at the sole fae-seelie woman in silver chain mail who stood before them.
In horror, Alex watched as Veraxia strode across the bridge toward the onrushing horde of dark-elf warriors. "No, don't!" he yelled.
If she heard him, she ignored him. He had seen enough warriors sacrifice themselves to understand what she was doing—buying him and Leela time to escape.
His guilt for ever doubting her shame
d him.
"What now?" Leela asked.
"Open a gateway to the mesa." He looked about but didn't see his Tac rifle, leaving him only Witch-Bane. His eyes fell on the Thermite grenade taped to the inner lid of the suitcase bomb, and he ripped it loose, thinking he might use it to burn through the portcullis chain, dropping the gate while they escaped. With the chamber flooding and the plastic explosive detonator gone, there was no longer any need to destroy the bomb. He shoved the grenade under his load-bearing vest as he bolted for the keep's entrance then skidded to a stop just as the dark-elf warriors were about to overwhelm Veraxia on the bridge.
They didn't. She breathed a torrent of blue fire onto the dark elves, incinerating all of them, a hundred or more warriors, in a single heart-stopping moment. The heat stole his breath, and he fell, landing on his ass as Veraxia calmly turned away, leaving nothing behind but burning ash.
Leela joined Alex and helped him up. He leaned on her, staring in disbelief as Veraxia returned to the keep, her eyes now bright crimson.
She nodded in respect. "Thank you for teaching me about your race, Alex the Ranger and Leela the Mage. Now I understand how even one as mighty as Bale-Fire fell to your kind. I also thank you for the gift of manling power. In return, I give you your lives. I think it best we never meet again."
His terror paralyzed him as she strode past. This… thing had walked beside them since almost the moment of their arrival on this world, and he had never suspected.
Veraxia entered the inner courtyard, going straight for the suitcase. She closed the lid, held the huge trunk effortlessly under one arm, then leaped onto the battlements on the far side of the keep, a hundred meters away. Then she dove into the rising waters of the crèche—still holding the nuclear bomb. Alex and Leela gripped one another as, seconds later, a massive winged form burst from the waters, flying at the damaged pipe system.
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