Dire Destiny of Ours

by John Corwin

  Tense as I was, I knew that we had to get some sleep. I put my phone next to the bed and prayed that nobody called with news of an attack.

  I slept fitfully, but was relieved to wake up and find out that there was still no information on Daelissa's next target. No news might be good news, but it still left a gut full of uncertainty weighing heavily in my abdomen.

  After breakfast and a short talk with Thomas about preparations, I met Rai and the other instructors for more lessons. Everything went much more smoothly, and the replacement candidates mostly proved better than their predecessors. Within a few hours, we were able to take our first solo flights. Rai took our group on a flight over the Dark Forest and had us practice formations. Then he took us down into the trees to learn maneuvers in tight quarters.

  Two students crashed into each other while trying to avoid the same tree, but quick action on Rai's part kept them from falling off their boomsticks. Later, I caught a branch in the face and barely managed to hold onto the limb while my broom glided on without me. It was embarrassing and my nose hurt for a while, but I climbed back on the broom and pressed on. A broken nose was the least of my worries at this point.

  Late in the day, we received word that the enemy had vacated Kobol Prison and Thunder Rock. According to the report, our scouts were unable to get close enough to the Obsidian Arches in either location to determine where the army had gone. That set everyone's nerves on edge.

  There were no sightings of troop movements near Atlanta, or near El Dorado.

  We barely had two days of training, but I felt it was time for us to go to El Dorado so we could be there just in case. I texted Underborn for information on the situation at Science Academy.

  Still assessing the situation, was his reply. We cannot act until all variables are accounted for.

  I almost texted him a terse reply telling him to hurry up, but resisted the impulse. I could practically hear a countdown ticking away in my head toward the next inevitable showdown. Stress swelled like a knot in my stomach. I felt completely blind to Daelissa's intentions.

  "I just wish she'd do something already," I said as Elyssa and I prepared for bed that night.

  She massaged my shoulders. "You know what they say—be careful what you wish for."

  "I know, I know." I dropped into bed and closed my eyes, but my stomach hurt too much to sleep. "I feel like I just ate a little bit of everything on a spicy Indian buffet."

  Elyssa cuddled up to me and kissed my cheek. "Have faith, Justin. After everything we've been through, I actually feel optimistic."

  Optimism wasn't high on my list of feelings right then, but I tried to find the silver lining anyway. It proved as elusive as sleep. "We don't know where her army is, or what she's doing. What if she attacks Atlanta? What if she attacks some other city?"

  Elyssa was quiet for a moment. "There's nothing to be done by worrying about it. She will do what she wants to do, and we'll have to decide how to respond. Until then, we have to prepare the best we can and hope for the future."

  I brushed hair from her face and drank in her beautiful eyes, her full lips, and her creamy skin. "When I look at you, I see our future, Elyssa. More than anything else, I'm scared to death of losing that time with you."

  Her face flushed as a broad smile spread her lips. "Why fear for the future when we have each other right here, right now?" She traced a finger up my bare back and I shivered with pleasure.

  By constantly thinking about what lay ahead, I'd forgotten one thing. There's no time like the present. I pulled her in for a deep kiss.

  She moaned softly and pressed her body against mine. Fire burned in my stomach. I nipped her neck and traced my tongue around her ear. We fell into each other and came up for breath sometime later. As we lay there tangled in each other's arms, I felt the worries of the world slide away. The tempo of her breath against my neck lulled me into a deep sleep.

  When I woke up, I saw Elyssa propped on her elbow watching me. She rewarded me with a beautiful smile.

  "I like watching you sleep." She brushed my cheek with her hand. "You're so peaceful."

  "No demonic snoring?" I asked.

  She giggled. "Not yet. I think you have a few more years before the snoring and hair loss kicks in."

  I made a face and ran a hand through my hair. "It would be awful to lose this magnificent mane."

  "The world would mourn." Her phone buzzed. She rolled over and picked it up. "Since you'll be leading the Skywraiths into battle, my father wants me to be a coordinator on his command platform."

  Knowing she wouldn't be at the front lines warmed me with relief. "That's an excellent idea."

  Elyssa rolled out of bed. "We'd better get moving. It's already six-thirty."

  I groaned. "Whoever invented morning should be locked up."

  "I love getting up early." She headed into the bathroom. "There's nothing more refreshing than waking at the break of day and watching the sun rise."

  "Good luck with that since we're hundreds of feet underground." I forced myself out of bed and joined her for a shower.

  After breakfast, I walked her to the omniarch portal so she could travel to El Dorado.

  "Love you." She smiled, but her eyes looked worried.

  "I love you too." I narrowed my eyes. "Is everything okay?"

  Elyssa nodded. "I don't like knowing that you're flying into battle without me." She bit her lip and frowned. "As a matter of fact, I hate it. Can't you get one of those two-seated boomsticks and let me ride with you?"

  "I've thought about it, believe me, but those are for training. They're nowhere near as fast as the single-seaters." I gave her a reassuring smile. "If anything, the boomsticks will be safer than flying carpets since they're so much faster."

  She shook her head. "I don't care." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, opening them a moment later. "I know this is what's best." Elyssa motioned to the omniarch operator. He opened a portal to reveal a large stone pyramid located near the center of the ancient city of El Dorado.

  I kissed her goodbye and watched her walk away until the portal winked off. The operator opened a portal to the practice field. I stepped through and met with Rai, Bella, and the others. The students, now officially boomstick pilots, stood in their flight group formations, brooms in hand.

  "We need to practice flying while fighting today," I told the instructors. "Once we get the basics down, we'll join the main army at El Dorado."

  "Sounds good," Rai said. "We've organized the strongest flyers into groups, which should help."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Won't that put some of our groups at a serious disadvantage?"

  "Every unit is only as strong as its weakest link," Bella said. "We talked about this quite a bit last night and think it's for the best."

  I gave her a doubtful look. "I hope you're right."

  "The better flyers will be able to stick together more easily but perform more complicated maneuvers," Rai said. "The less-skilled groups will probably fly more conservatively and get into less trouble that way."

  His argument made sense. If I took my group on a dangerous run, I didn't want to lose anyone because they couldn't make a sharp turn, or even worse, slam into someone else and knock them off their broom over the enemy forces.

  "Okay, we'll do it your way." I looked out at the groups. "Which one is mine?"

  Bella pointed to a formation with Mom, Ivy, Flava, and Lanaeia. "You've got the cream of the crop." She sighed. "I wish I could fight with you, but my spells are no match for Seraphim magic."

  "It'd be a bloody trip to fight from a boomstick," Seth, the Mohawk-haired instructor said. "Can you imagine the rush?"

  Rai gave him a fist bump. "It'd be epic." He looked to me. "We have enough brooms for us instructors to fly. Is there any way we can help?"

  I gave it some thought and came up with an answer a moment later. "How would you like to be bombers?"

  Seth whooped. "Hell yeah, mate! Where do I sign up?"

  "Wha
t will we bomb with?" Bella asked.

  I grinned. "Aether crucibles."

  "Ooh, I like the sound of that." Rai gave my hand a firm shake. "We're in."

  One of the female instructors raised a hand. "I'm not that crazy. Count me out."

  "Anyone else?" I asked.

  Three others raised hands, expressions ranging from shame to relief.

  I nodded. "Looks like there are six of you. Once we arrive at El Dorado, I'll inform Thomas of your new assignments." I looked back at our pilots. "In the meantime, let's start practice."

  Rai motioned toward the assembly. "We've done our part and gotten them flying, but we obviously can't teach them the magic bit." He showed me a list of names on his phone. "I've assigned leaders to each group. Coordinate with them from now on."

  It all felt very rushed. Hell, it was rushed, but this entire exercise had been a crash course. I spoke with the group leaders, told them what exercises we'd be doing, and joined my flight group.

  "I can't tell you how glad we are to have you as our captain," Mom said.

  Lanaeia took my hand in hers. "We will not let you down, Justin."

  Ivy pumped a fist in the air. "Yay, Justin!"

  Nightliss offered me a wan smile. "Rai told me that Josh and Otaleon were better than me, but there was only one slot left in your group and they wished to remain together, so he placed me with you."

  I gave her a thumbs-up. "You're gonna do great."

  The others chimed in with their agreement, though Flava seemed lost in her own world. I wanted to take her aside and ask if everything was all right, but now wasn't the time for dealing with personal issues. I took us up in flight formation and led the group over the Dark Forest.

  Once there, I swung around and hovered in front of them. "I don't want you using full power on these exercises. For now, I want you to concentrate on aiming."

  "At what?" Ivy asked.

  I hit a tree with a weak shaft of Brilliance. Dozens of spider bats burst from the foliage, their screeches deafening as they swarmed into the air. With wide, leathery wings and several spindly legs covered in fur, these things lived up to their name.

  Flava shrieked as one swooped over her head. "I do not like these creatures!"

  "They are beautiful in their own way," Lanaeia said in a calm voice.

  Judging from Mom and Nightliss's expressions of disgust, they seemed to lean more toward Flava's point of view.

  "Freaky-deeky." Ivy's eyes shined with delight. "They're so cute!"

  Mom grimaced.

  I spotted a bat with white fur flapping furiously in a wide circle. "That's our target." I gave them a warning look. "Don't hurt it. Just use enough power so it's like hitting it with a beam of light."

  We streaked after the bat. Keeping my left hand on the throttle, I hit the bat with a low-level burst of light. The others each took turns firing at it. Due to the chaos of the swarming bats, most of our shots missed or hit other bats. We flew out of the bat cloud and prepared for another run. Just as we were turning, I saw someone in the practice field waving frantically at me.

  Shelton.

  I nodded toward the ground. "Come with me." Swooping in low, I screeched to a stop in front of Shelton. "What's wrong?"

  He must have been running, because he spoke between gulps of air. "I just got an alert from El Dorado. I think they're under attack."

  Chapter 33

  Using an Arcane spell Shelton had taught me, I shot a flare into the air to signal the other flight groups to come in. Within minutes, they were all hovering nearby.

  I guided my boomstick a little higher so they could all see me. "El Dorado is apparently under attack. We'll depart immediately to aid them."

  Though some people looked at each other with concern, nobody seemed particularly shocked. This was the news we'd all been expecting.

  I turned to Shelton. "Are the doors ready?"

  He nodded. "They're working great. One is set up at El Dorado and another is in Colossus Stadium. It's already open and waiting."

  "What are you doing after we leave?" I asked.

  Shelton shrugged. "I don't know yet. Thomas asked me to wait here for further instructions."

  I drifted lower, got off the broom. "Take care of yourself, Shelton."

  He gripped me in a tight hug. "Justin, be careful. I know we've been through some hairy situations, but I have a bad feeling about this."

  I had to admit I was a little surprised, but returned the hug. "Don't get all emotional on me now, okay?"

  He chuckled. "You know me. I'm Mr. Calm."

  Ivy got off her broom, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed Shelton's cheek. "Just in case we all get blasted, I wanted you to know that I'm glad you're my brother's friend even though he stinks."

  Shelton squeezed her in a hug. "You be careful, okay?"

  Blue eyes shimmering with an inner light, her lips spread into a wicked smile. "Daelissa is the one who'd better be careful." She skipped back to her broom, humming "Ring Around the Rosie."

  Bella parked behind Shelton. "I'll be along shortly," she told me.

  Shelton's forehead wrinkled. "Where do you think you're going?"

  "I'm going to be a bomber, Harry."

  "A what?" Shelton exclaimed.

  I could tell they needed a little time to talk, so I hopped back on the boomstick and lifted off. "Skywraiths, form up!"

  The other pilots guided their brooms into the air and joined their flight groups. Lanaeia and my group formed up behind me.

  I pumped a fist into the air. "Skywraiths, go!"

  We streaked toward the stadium. I couldn't help but look back and feel a sense of awe. Fearful as I was, this was probably one of the coolest things I'd done. I'm leading a squadron of flying brooms into battle!

  Once we cleared the top of the stadium, I spotted the giant door sitting just outside the range of the Obsidian Arch in the center of the field. I swooped low, veered around, and aimed for the open door. A gray stone courtyard waited on the other side. I was glad Shelton hadn't set it up next to a pyramid or other obstacle. When we burst through, humidity hit me in the face like a wet sponge. The sky was overcast with thick clouds, casting the land into a surreal gray twilight.

  I heard explosions and pulled up to gain altitude. An immense tract of flattened jungle lay in smoking ruins, leaving a path at least a mile long into the city. I saw hundreds of enemy troops marching toward us from the north.

  Large stone pyramids, each one with massive mosaics dedicated to the Seraphim who'd enslaved the ancient citizens of El Dorado, lined the edges of the huge stone plaza. Our forces gathered outside the pyramids where we'd clear-cut hundreds of yards of jungle for the perimeter.

  I saw Fjoeruss drifting nearby on a flying carpet and realized Cinder was with him. The seraph spotted me and flew to my position. "I am teaching Cinder all there is about golem making and strategy. He has proven an apt student."

  "It is fascinating," Cinder added, real emotion penetrating his typical deadpan voice. "What do you think of the battle golems?"

  Fjoeruss's Battle golems, five in all, stood in a line before the troops. A static sheen hung in the air before them indicating a camouflage screen masked their presence. The golems stood far taller than the trees around them. Two humanoid versions, constructed of some kind of volcanic rock like basalt, had cylindrical heads lined with white, black, and gray gems. They rivaled the height and size of Daelissa's battle golems though their weaponry seemed less impressive.

  In the middle stood an ornately crafted replica of an Egyptian sphinx, its body gold and shiny. A blue-striped nemes headdress with a striking cobra completed the impressive ensemble. Red gems shimmered in the cobra's eye sockets. The eyes on the human head glowed azure blue. Although the golem stood only waist high to the humanoid versions, it was still nearly two stories tall.

  The last two golems were oddities. Half of a sphere with the flat side facing up perched atop three round legs with massive domed feet. Gray men manned—gol
emed?—shard turrets lining the wide platform. Several large weaponized gems protruded from the front. They were, in essence, walking battle platforms.

  "They look awesome." Despite the threat of imminent death, my inner nerd was awed and excited to see Fjoeruss's monstrous creations. I had to hand it to the seraph—he made golems right. I had a feeling the Brightling soldiers would wet their pants the second we dropped the camo screens. I turned to Fjoeruss. "Will they hold up to Daelissa's goliaths?"

  He shrugged. "The megaliths are the closest ones I have to hers."

  "The humanoid ones?"

  "Yes." Fjoeruss turned his gray eyes toward his monstrous creations. "I believe their offensive capabilities match the goliaths, but since I don't know the specific enchantments Daelissa's golem makers use, all I can offer is pure speculation."

  "They should be sufficient for fighting conventional troops," Cinder said.

  I was glad we didn't have to worry about fighting goliaths this battle, but unless we captured or killed Daelissa this time, we might still have to fight them.

  Our other troops were arrayed similarly to the first battle. The Darkling army formation stood in front of the tripod golems on the right flank while the Templars massed to the left in front of the humanoid golems. Blue Cloaks on flying carpets filled the air, and Arcanes manning catapults filled the back ranks. I couldn't help but notice how much smaller the army seemed. The last battle had taken a tremendous toll on us.

  The lycan and felycan contingents were noticeably diminished. Though the Daemos had summoned fresh hellhounds, their numbers also seemed reduced. I spotted my father and Kassallandra waiting near the front lines, their massive hounds pacing restlessly nearby.

  "We'd better report in," I said.

  Cinder stepped to the edge of the carpet and shook my hand. "Good luck, Justin."

  "Stay safe, friend." I released his hand and offered a nod to Fjoeruss. "Perhaps we can end this today."

  "Perhaps." He gave me a discerning look. "I must admit that your ability to draw together such a diverse array of individuals into one cohesive unit is impressive. Even Underborn and his assassins have joined the fight."