The Iron Altar Series Box Set One: Books 1 to 3

by Casey Lea

  Malik hesitated, before smiling mockingly, and then he was gone.

  Darsey let her arms fall in despair. She was such a trusting fool. “He was selling us. Selling his help to both sides.”

  “Ye,” Wing agreed bleakly. “And now we’re creditless.” He shrugged, then gestured to the rocks above their shelter before climbing toward them. He clambered higher, searching for the most useful, while Darsey stood below, struggling to come to terms with Malik’s double dealing.

  “But, you hadn’t paid him everything yet. If those t’ssaa in the vent tunnel had killed us, he would have missed out.”

  “Certain-sure,” Wing called down. “Which means that Payiss paid Malik more than I still owed him. He just got lucky with a double dip.”

  Darsey closed her eyes and cursed her own stupidity. “How could I be so naïve over a few blond curls?” A horrible thought occurred to her and her eyes flew open. “Wing, how do we know he delivered Harrier safely? What say he gave her up?”

  “It’s kay,” he grunted distractedly. “Harry knew to tag Malik once she was safe. She marked his cheek with an infrared strip that my fronds saw when he returned. We’re close friends and we served together. She used to be a Fleet medic, so she knew what to do. I also sent Malik to a dock three away from the ch't'kar, so he has no knowledge of her where-as to sell. Harry knew where to go, because I sent her true details through our coms. She’s safe now.’

  Darsey took a deep breath and then moved to join Wing. “Well done,” she said tightly when she reached him. “The two of you clearly had that all thought out. Thanks for telling me, but good for you. It looks like Harry is better off than us.”

  Wing looked at her strangely and she didn’t blame him. What on earth was wrong with her? She gulped a breath, but it didn’t help at all. “I realize we can’t trust Malik, but we could have used him some more. We could have told him we were onto him and made him lead the way out of here. Or something,” she snapped and Wing’s brow furrowed.

  Darsey was abruptly embarrassed, but her shame somehow combined with his confused expression to drive her deeper into anger. “We should have been able to keep Malik with us, outbid the t’ssaa and get away. What the hell happened? I thought you were rich,” she accused, and Wing’s frown deepened at her tone.

  “I was.”

  “Well, what did you spend it all on?”

  “You,” Wing said simply, and stopped Darsey in her indignant tracks.

  Her eyebrows shot up, but that was the only part of her to respond. His answer made no sense to her. None at all. “Me?”

  “Truly. Fifty million credits.”

  Darsey’s mouth dropped open, detached from its usual close association with the rest of her face by sheer astonishment. Her opinion of Wing was in freefall while she struggled to digest such a sacrifice. Her brain belatedly understood the contradictions in his recent behaviour, but she had no idea what she was feeling in return. Her mouth snapped shut, only to open again and force out words.

  “You… you bought me. Twice?”

  “Ye. First time was a bargain, though. It’s the second that cut deep-”

  Darsey’s anger snapped back into focus and she was suddenly on safe ground again. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” she raged, but Wing’s response was calm.

  “Why the hail would you have believed me?” he asked reasonably. “I would have said before, truly, but it needed your trust. I felt I’d had my worth of trust from you.”

  Darsey’s mouth opened again, but she had no words ready and had to close it. She shook her head, still unsure if she could believe what she was hearing. Wing shifted his balance on the rubble, as if he was about to move closer and she lifted a warning hand. “Wait. Just wait. I was bought by a desiccated Tetrark, not you. Explain.”

  “Certain-sure,” Wing answered earnestly, and took a second to gather his thoughts. “I realized soon-as that we had no escape from the auction pit. There was no chance to reach the market as planned. So I left you. I’m sorry for that, Darse. I knew they’d be ungentle.” Nightwing paused as Darsey made a derisive noise at his understatement. He dipped his head in further apology and she gestured impatiently for him to continue. “Fortunately I thought to contact Crest.”

  “Tetrark Crest BackBeak.”

  “No,” he corrected at once. “Crest Pinion, my family’s lead retainer. I don’t know how long he’s been with us, forever I think, but he raised Free and me after our parents... Well, he’s most like a father to me. He would have seen you safe. Any-all, I told him to use all of my fortune, everything he’d saved from the Arck, to buy you.”

  “Oh,” Darsey breathed, and could hardly hear herself over the strange roaring in her ears. “He must have loved that order.”

  “He was shocked, but I surely looked desperate, because he agreed.”

  “Fifty million credits,” Darsey repeated through stiff lips, her face now as frozen as her hearing. “Exactly fifty?”

  “Not quite,” Wing admitted. “Somewhat past forty-nine million was my share. Crest lent me the plus and promised enough extra to pay Greon when he delivered you safe.”

  Darsey looked at Wing in bewilderment and tried to ignore the rubble that seemed to be tilting under her. “Why? Why fifty million? It was so much. The bidding wasn’t even close to that.”

  “I had to be sure,” he said, as though it was an obvious decision. “I couldn't let you be sold, but I was against bidders with many times more credit than me. So I told Crest to bid once, as high as possible. That jump shocked everyone and pushed the auctioneer to seal. He was scared the bidder might retract and so the sale ended full fast. Those who might have matched me were given little chance to recalculate. If it had built slow, they would have thought about your rarity and they would have built with it. My bid had to be high, sudden and a round figure. I needed fifty million, not forty-nine, to avoid looking like a desperate, only bid that could go no higher.”

  Wing finished his explanation and looked at Darsey expectantly, but she simply stared at him. Her brain was far too busy reprocessing all of their interactions to manage anything as distracting as speech. Wing’s behaviour finally made sense. Most of it anyway. She even understood his anger at seeing her on Gratuity.

  He spent his entire family fortune to make sure I’d be safe and instead of staying where he’d put me, I blew it, she realized. Just threw it away. Darsey cleared her throat, but, before she could speak, she was interrupted by something much more urgent.

  A single, high-pitched shriek echoed from the control panels of the energy fans. It was followed by sparks and then lightning arced across the room. Darsey and Wing slid down the debris slope, scrabbling for cover behind their incomplete wall.

  “What’s happening?” she demanded, and he grimaced in response.

  “Complete reprogramme. The t’ssaa are forcing a safety reset. In a minute, they’ll think it’s done. We’ve little time. Are you ready?”

  Darsey looked at him helplessly. “Do I have a choice?”

  “We need to twin target,” Wing answered with a distracted smile. “A single com blast can’t break through a defense field. The power levels of most coms are too close. But if we hit the same shield together, our shots will get through.”

  Darsey took a deep breath. “Okay. I can see that. A wrist com can only channel a finite amount of energy, so we need to combine our firepower to breach their shields. But how come that first t’ssaa attack against the three of us was so bad? They shot right though the dock.”

  “That was the ship’s gun and a sign of full commitment for the t’ssaa to use it against the station. They’ll not dare such again. We’re safe from all except a com attack, so we can use these blocks for cover. When they shatter, shift full power to your shield. Try to avoid getting multi-targeted when you hand fight the t’ssaa. Stay in their midst and move often.”

  “Hmmm,” Darsey murmured while her mind raced. “What will you do when you have to use all your power on a de
fense field?”

  “Run a lot. Squirm much. Try not to be taken or shot.”

  “Why can’t you strike though their fields the way you did with Greon?”

  “No Jileea,” Wing explained tersely. “She hooked me into the ship’s power, so I had a shield that was stable enough to hold exotic matter and keep it clear of my flesh. Just a touch of ExM ruins cells. Most cells,” he amended, with a quizzical glance at Darsey, but she was oblivious to his curiosity.

  Her expression was distant and her mental activity so frenzied that her vision darkened. “I’m having an idea,” Darsey murmured, and Wing grimaced in response, while his fronds tucked behind his ears.

  “I noted.” However, before he could ask, her eyes re-focused and she gripped his wrist in sudden excitement.

  “Your sword, Wing. Wouldn’t your sword tolerate ExM?”

  He blinked and then frowned as he considered the question. “My Honor Blade? Its molecule structure would stay stable, but it couldn't cut through an energy field. Matter alone can’t be forced past such. The ExM needs to inform an energy field to passage. Like the metabolic field in your cells or the support field now around them.” He looked at Darsey apologetically, but she never noticed. Her eyes blazed with excitement and she tapped at his com impatiently.

  “Decompress your sword and an energy charge. You can set up a field around your sword, right? The hilt can provide an energy anchor and the blade can give structure to the energy sleeve, and the metal won’t be damaged when you add ExM.” Darsey’s rapid explanation rose to a stop and she flicked Wing’s com expectantly. “Right? So get moving.”

  However, the kres was frozen and staring at Darsey as if he’d never seen her before.

  “Are you okay?” she wondered. LDo you get what I mean? Wing? Make the sword the core of an energy field, then add exotic matter. The two will interact, like they do in me, to cut straight though defense fields. You’ll be giving the ExM exactly the same combination of matter and energy that I do, right? And the direction, where to passage to, will come from momentum. Your muscles power the blade in one direction and that’ll be where it goes.”

  There was no response from Wing, but another shriek shattered the silence. White light filled their refuge and then strobed wildly, pulsing in time to a series of tortured screeches. The energy vents became maelstroms, releasing sparks and lightning, along with banshee wails.

  “What’s happening?” Darsey yelled, but Wing’s answer was so quiet she could hardly hear it.

  “T’ssaa are trying to pass the vents,” he said mildly, his eyes unfocused. “The attack is on.”

  “Wing!” Darsey screamed into Wing’s face, and he belatedly looked up.

  “They’ll be coming through the under maze soon,” he stated more clearly, even as he accessed his com. There was a flash of silver and his sword slipped into his hand. “Darsey…” He paused and shook his head. “Your idea is simple-as and utterly brilliant. I don’t know why it’s never been done before. I guess the best inventions always seem easy looking back.” His hands flew over his com and his sword while he talked, racing to turn Darsey’s vision into something real.

  There was a sudden slither of debris and then stones scattered when t’ssaa leapt from the maze of foundations. The lizards struck with frightening speed, flickering over open ground to find cover in the rubble. Dozens poured into the narrow space, vanishing behind chunks of rock, and more kept coming. They were impossibly outnumbered.

  41

  Quick Thinking

  Darsey’s jaw set and she spun to duck close to their makeshift defenses. Her com built blast power in an instant and she looked to Wing for support. However, the kres was still engrossed in his efforts to transform the sword. He answered Darsey’s unspoken appeal without looking up.

  “Change in plan. Hold fire. Draw them in. Close-as. In a com fight, they have every advantage, but now we can try something new. We need to make this a sword fight, with these blocks for cover, so they have to come close. I don’t want our shelter shot to naught while the t’ssaa are still distant.”

  Wing glanced up, raising an eyebrow, and Darsey nodded. She must have looked as sick as she felt, because he spared her a quick grin before returning to his work. “Snug down while the reptiles try to think this through and keep full power in your shield.”

  “I’ll just relax then,” Darsey answered brightly, and made a successful effort to swallow her nausea. She fervently hoped that Wing had no idea how scared she was and checked her com in an effort to ignore the faint noise of shifting scree. Beyond the wall, the t’ssaa were clearly making a stealthy approach.

  Twenty-five t’ssaa, she clarified after checking the count displayed above her wrist. Her heart sank at the number. She and Wing were likely to be swamped. Darsey knew that she was only just as fast as a striking t’ssaa and Wing had never matched her speed in their practice bouts. They were horribly outclassed.

  She looked across at the kres, but he was still struggling to make her invention work. He seemed unaware of the crest appearing around the edge of the block beside him. Golden scales stretched tightly between sharp spines darted forward, but Darsey was already moving as the attack came.

  She launched herself and Wing ducked without looking up, so that she could hurdle him and slam into the t’ssaa. There was a satisfying crunch when she hit and her fear disappeared. She was fighting for her life and there was no more time for thought.

  The t’ssaa went down under Darsey and collapsed. She used its face as a launching pad and dove forward when another lizard appeared. This one reacted faster and ducked, so that Darsey slid over its back. It twisted and threw out an arm to fire after her, but the shot never landed. She kicked backwards as she flew past and hit her enemy hard in the chest. She felt the t’ssaa’s ribs give, but had no time to be horrified. She landed face first in the rubble and skidded to a halt, cushioned by her arms and her com’s defense field. Energy bolts exploded around her when she slid beyond the barricade and the t’ssaa scrambled to land at least two good shots.

  Darsey was on her feet and moving in an instant. Going back to the shelter was impossible. The air behind her was thick with fire. The edge of one protective block exploded and shrapnel screamed past Darsey and into the advancing t’ssaa.

  She charged forward to meet those still upright and their crests flared in renewed challenge. The nearest launched itself at her and she leapt to meet it. She ducked into her enemy’s embrace, pulling the t’ssaa close while a new salvo of fire raked the room. She twisted her fists in her opponent’s leather baldric and the trapped fighter shuddered against her when multiple shots hit and then its crest fell, collapsing limply around her head.

  Darsey continued to hold the dead t’ssaa as a shield and started a rapid retreat. However, its fellow warriors were too fast. She heard footfalls on all sides and then the corpse was roughly jerked away. Wide-eyed t’ssaa closed in with their coms ready, and she realized there was no escape. There were simply too many to avoid, but Darsey’s jaw set against such a fate and she stopped retreating.

  She threw herself into their massed ranks instead and the creatures writhed around her, trying to find room for a clear shot. A pulse of energy heated one half of her protective field and another hit the far side straight afterwards. It was only a matter of seconds before two shots arrived together and killed her.

  Darsey dropped to the ground and more bolts exploded over her head. She kicked out at the nearest scaled ankle and a t’ssaa fell to join her. She tried to roll under it, but three of its fellows converged on her, coms outstretched. She kicked out again, but this time her opponent was ready and jumped to safety. She tensed helplessly and gritted her teeth, waiting to be shot from all sides.

  Instead, a silver streak linked the t’ssaa surrounding her. A shining ribbon cut though the group, leaping from one lizard to the next. It slashed across at waist height, moving so fast that its after image briefly formed a single line. There was a second of stilln
ess and Darsey gaped at the frozen reptiles. Then motion returned to the universe and they collapsed, their body parts tumbling randomly over her.

  “Yurk,” she choked, and curled into a ball, with her hands clenched. There was a long moment of confusion while Darsey lay hidden and helpless beneath falling t’ssaa. A moment filled by unseen thuds and glancing collisions, before silence belatedly returned.

  And it was silence, Darsey realized when she cautiously started to straighten. Everything was quiet, as peaceful as if there had never been a fight. She reached up awkwardly to push aside… something. It moved heavily and she struggled to rise, kicking a further weight off her legs as she pushed herself into a crouch. She looked around the chamber and froze.

  Darsey stopped trying to stand and instead sat down hard, tucking her knees up to her chin. Around her was a scene of carnage. The only remaining t’ssaa were dead, cut to pieces. Cauterised body parts were strewn across the rubble and Wing stood perfectly still in the midst of destruction. He was the only person still upright.

  “Oh, God,” Darsey whispered, and the kres jerked, then turned awkwardly to face her.

  “Your energy blade kills extremely well,” Wing husked. He started to shake and the sword trailing from his left hand reflected jerky flashes of light.

  His distress galvanised Darsey and she somehow found herself on her feet. She lurched downhill and into a stumbling run. She fell straight into her companion, while his free arm swept up to catch her so that they clung together. She could feel his heart thudding even faster than hers. They held each other, sharing wordless distress, but the instant Wing stopped shaking, he pulled away.

  “We needs must go,” he reminded Darsey, and she stepped back too, only to stand on something softer than rubble. She jumped forward again and he steadied her while they exchanged another shaken look. “You kay?”