by John Corwin
Before the megalith could open fire again, three goliaths discharged everything on it. Fjoeruss's creation cracked apart. The gems fired as the golem toppled backward, casting a gray beam up into the sky. I watched in horror as it enveloped Joss and sliced through the flock of flying vampires. Frozen figures plummeted toward the ground.
"No!" Otaleon cried out. He dove for his friend and caught him with strands of Murk. Another Skywraith assisted him, and the two pulled the statue-like body up to them.
"Get him back behind our lines!" I shouted as the surviving vampires surged toward us, eyes filled with fury.
"Is he dead?" Otaleon asked.
"I don't know." Chances were, he was simply frozen for a time and would revive. "Take him to Fjoeruss."
I signaled our formation to fly further out for another pass at the vampires. Below us, Fjoeruss's tripods opened fire on the enemy's left flank. A cutting beam sliced the leg from one goliath. It tumbled to the ground, breaking apart and crushing the jungle around it. Daelissa was down to six of the monstrous things.
A flash of white caught my peripheral vision. I looked left and saw Arturo leading a large group of archangels toward us. We couldn't possibly take them and the vampires at the same time. With the megaliths destroyed, the goliaths turned their focus on the tripods. A very dangerous idea took hold of me. I touched my comm pendant. "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, with me. Everyone else, continue your attacks on the vampires."
Less than half of the remaining Skywraiths broke off from us. The less-skilled pilots had taken heavy casualties. There were only seventeen of us remaining from the first four groups, not including Joss and Otaleon who were effectively out of the battle for the near future. Bella and the bombers were too far away to assist. I counted perhaps thirty-five archangels on an intercept course.
I spoke into the comm pendant. "We're going to fly into the crossfire between the goliaths and the tripods. If you don't think you can cut it, break off now."
Ivy looked with wide eyes at the brilliant lightshow ahead. Sizzling beams of destruction large enough to incinerate elephants crisscrossed the sky as the massive golems tried to destroy each other. She looked at me, eyes full of excitement. "This will be so much fun!"
Mom groaned and Nightliss gasped.
Lanaeia raised an eyebrow. "Alysea, your child has an interesting perspective on life."
"I have never been so frightened in my life," Nightliss said. "This is not fun at all!"
Ivy's face screwed up with confusion. "Grownups just don't understand, do they, bro?"
I snorted. "It's called a sense of self-preservation, sis." I winked at her. "Maybe you'll develop one someday." Despite my light-hearted response, I felt deathly afraid for her and the others. This felt like a no-win scenario and I was all out of cheat codes to win the day.
The archangels adjusted course to come at us from behind the goliath closest to them. We dove beneath a flurry of fire from a goliath as it battled the second tripod. A gray beam from the latter froze the leg of the goliath seconds before a large sphere of Brilliance shattered it. The goliath's massive arm swung out for balance causing a gust of wind to scatter our formation. I spun out of control, desperately pulling left to counter the spin. I recovered, dizzy and disoriented. Someone cried out. I looked back and saw tons of stone falling toward me, massive arms swinging in a downward arc to crush me.
I twisted the throttle to full speed. The instant acceleration dislodged my feet from the stirrups and nearly threw me off. I held on for dear life, feet and body flapping in the breeze. I heard a tremendous roar and saw a shadow displace the meager sunlight that penetrated the dense clouds. A shout of pure fear escaped my throat. I glanced back and saw that I wouldn't make it. There was no way I'd clear the falling goliath in time and with my feet off the stirrups, I couldn't steer or roll to the side.
Something streaked toward me from the left. At the last second, I saw Flava, teeth bared, her face tight with absolute concentration.
"No!" she screamed long and loud. She pulled left at the last second, ramming me in the side. I careened out of harm's way.
The falling goliath's body roared earthward only feet away to my left. A blast of wind knocked me into a spinning roll and I lost sight of Flava. Everything became a gray blur. I felt myself diving to earth, completely out of control. Something wrapped around me. Despite my daze, I realized it was a strand of Murk. I slowed and came to rest atop blasted, barren earth, the broom hovering a few yards away.
"Justin, get back on your broom!" Ivy released the Murk strands she'd used to rescue me. "Hurry, they're almost here!"
I pushed up, stumbled forward, my senses scrambled. Broken limbs from downed trees, broken rock, and clumps of dirt did their best to trip me. I saw a broken broom near mine and heard moaning.
Flava lay nearby, arms and legs twisted. Blood welled from cuts in her skin. I ran over to her. "Lie still, I'll get you to safety."
She sucked in a harsh breath. "No. Go. You must fight."
I knelt down and inspected her wounds. There were too many to count. "You saved me," I said.
Flava managed a weak smile. "You are so strong. So courageous. All I admire in a person." She coughed up blood. "It is…honor to die for—" another cough racked her body.
"Tell me how to heal you." I pressed my hands to the side of her face. "Tell me what to do!"
A tear trickled from the corner of her eye and across my thumb. "I envy Elyssa."
I didn't understand why she was saying that. "Why?"
"Because…I love you." She coughed again and crimson foamed at her mouth.
Grief locked its cruel fist around my heart. I could never return her feelings, but in the short time I'd known her, she'd proven to be selfless and caring. She was the kind of person the world needed more of, and that cruel bitch, Daelissa, was about to take her. I heard shouts overhead and looked up. Arturo and his minions were closing the gap.
I sent a picture to the omniarch controller with an urgent message. Open a portal here now! A split second later, a gateway appeared. More shouts echoed behind me. I looked back and saw Brightling infantry crossing the rugged terrain, eyes fierce, and swords drawn.
Encasing Flava's body in Murk to make her broken bones immobile, I lifted her and set her on the other side of the gateway. I stepped through and saw the Templar controlling the arch. "Get her medical help now!"
He saluted and raced away. I released the Murk from Flava and knelt next to her. "I command you to live! Do that for me!"
She blinked, but seemed unable to reply. I had no time left and raced back through the portal and onto the battlefield. With a thought, I willed the portal to close. Arrows of Brilliance arced toward me. I threw up a barrier to intercept them and hopped on my broom. The wave of destruction crashed against my shield even as they loosed another salvo. Holding firmly to the broom, I twisted the throttle and launched myself toward the still-standing trees.
I twisted through the labyrinth of foliage for a hundred yards and then pulled back on the boomstick. I shot through the canopy and into clear air, aether arrows sizzling into the greenery around me. I saw Mom and the others firing toward the infantry on the ground and jetted toward them.
"Justin!" Mom cried out. "Are you okay?"
Panting for breath, I nodded.
"Flava?" Nightliss asked.
My throat locked with pain, but I managed an answer. "I don't know."
"They are almost upon us," Lanaeia said.
The archangels had moved past the goliath closest to the first tripod and were closing in fast. We were out of time.
Chapter 36
The first tripod listed to the side as two goliaths crippled it. The second tripod turned to assist. I made a quick calculation. "We can still make it." But it'll be close. "Go!"
We launched toward the enemy. I glanced back. The other three goliaths had changed course and were headed toward the tripods. As I was about to turn around I saw the sphinx lunge from a behi
nd one of the massive pyramids in the plaza and race toward a goliath. Its four massive legs pounded like giant sledgehammers as it crashed through the jungle. Three goliaths turned to face it. The huge gems on the sphinx's head blazed to life, blasting the goliath closest to it, but doing little damage. The goliath opened fire but missed its relatively fast prey. The sphinx rammed the battle golem hard enough to rock the air with thunder. The goliath's torso shattered. Its upper body fell onto the sphinx and a huge cloud of black dust rose into the air.
I didn't have time to see what happened and faced forward. The two tripods were in a battle for their unlives. The first had lost a leg and was barely maintaining balance. Huge blackened holes were all that remained where its weapon gems had been. The goliaths were heavily damaged, but still able to move and fire.
Arturo closed within range. He and his archangels extended their swords.
"Well fought, Slade!" He cried. "But we are mightier. We have won this day!" With that pronouncement, he and his comrades fired a massive salvo of Brilliance from their vjaltis.
"Dive!" I shouted.
We dove. One of the Darklings didn't move fast enough. He screamed as the beams burned his body. The archangels dove after us just as the crystal shards on the goliath behind them opened fire on the second tripod.
I veered between the moving legs of the tripod at the moment it responded to the goliath. Arturo, hell-bent on killing us, realized his mistake too late. He cried out a command. A massive gout of Brilliance from the tripod ripped a hole through the center of the archangel formation. The goliath's discharge struck several more Brightlings from behind. The archangels scattered in confusion.
We looped up and over the tripod, rolled, and came at the enemy from above. I balled my right fist and gathered a sphere of Brilliance. "Ready."
The others followed my example.
I targeted Arturo. "Aim."
Everyone picked an archangel.
"Fire!"
We unleashed everything we had. Arturo dodged at the last minute, but other archangels weren't so quick on their feet—um—wings. Seraphs screamed and died. Their comrades returned fire and streaked toward us. Arturo swung his vjaltis as he passed by me. I barrel-rolled beneath the blade, narrowly avoiding the loss of my head and dived out of the way of another attacker. When I spun around, I saw that several Skywraiths had fallen.
Ivy engulfed an archangel in a gout of Brilliance. Pulling up hard and looping backward, she blasted another enemy with a constant beam while flying upside down. I looked back and saw Arturo chasing right behind me, murder blazing in his eyes. I whipped my broom in a one-eighty and reversed course toward him. His eyes flared with surprise, but his warrior's instinct guided his sword in a downward arc to intercept me.
Thanks to Elyssa's training, I'd anticipated his response and jerked the broom right. His sword slashed empty air. My fist impacted his face so hard I felt my bones crunch. Arturo's sword fell from a limp hand and the leader of the archangels dropped like a rock. His subordinates dove after him. Two caught his arms while the others flew interference to keep us from finishing him off.
The high-pitched whine of weapon shards pierced the air. Mom's eyes flew wide. She pulled up hard. Ivy dove. A massive blast of light incinerated three Skywraiths and two archangels. Ivy cried out as the blast singed her hair. I heard a shriek and turned toward the sound in time to see Nightliss falling from a burning broom.
I dove after her. I shot a strand of Murk, but fatigue took me in its grip and my aim faltered. I took aim again and missed. "Nightliss!" I shouted.
She blinked her eyes as if coming out of a daze.
I screamed her name one more time and fired Murk. The strand gripped her leg but snapped. I was running on fumes. I had almost nothing left. Nightliss extended her arm. A strand of ultraviolet shot out and smacked me in the face. I felt all her weight settle on my head and neck. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see.
I didn't care. I was the only thing keeping her alive.
Using all my physical strength to keep my neck from breaking, I pulled up on the broom. The sensation of falling stopped and I managed to level out.
"I've got her," Ivy said.
Vision returned and the weight vanished. I gulped in a breath of humid air and shook my head to clear my senses. What I saw chilled my heart with horror. The tripods were in smoking ruins. Four goliaths remained and were heading for our army, or the scattered remnants of it. The Brightling infantry had taken heavy casualties, but Red Cell and the vampire horde were plugging the gaps and killing our exhausted soldiers.
Fjoeruss's gray men had engaged the Red Cell, but the elite vampire warriors were handling them with ease. The normal vampires weren't especially skilled at fighting, but their numbers made up for it. Some carried swords while others fired automatic weapons. Synod forces flanked our Templars, fighting them from all sides while the Daemos and their hellhounds tried to fight back.
Infernal forms sprang from the earth as Daemos summoned mightier beings to war with their enemies. A four-legged demon with a flaming skull for a head pushed back at the Synod. Other bizarre demon forms sprang up next to it. The Exorcists joined the Synod and began purging the demons.
No matter what we did, Daelissa's army had an answer.
The archangels had retreated, but the remaining goliaths turned in pursuit. We'd claimed minor victories, but we were going to lose the battle.
I felt absolutely sick to my stomach. We'd reached the end game Thomas and I had discussed. Looking behind us, I saw Daelissa on a cloudlet drifting a couple hundred yards behind the goliaths. With my supernatural vision, I saw her gloating face. Saw her laughing with glee. She knew we were on the ropes.
I would use her overconfidence to my advantage.
Nightliss hung unceremoniously beneath Ivy's broom since there was no space for her on the seat. Mom, Lanaeia, and the others looked as exhausted as I felt.
We were done.
"Retreat to the Templar command platform," I told them.
We gained altitude. Ivy's broom struggled with the extra weight. Mom lined up her boomstick so Nightliss could grasp it with her other hand to distribute the burden. We flew high enough to stay out of harm's way from the battle below. Bullets zinged past as vampires took potshots at us with their rifles.
From above, the battle looked like a mosh pit. Bodies and blood hindered the movements of both sides. Many Blue cloaks had abandoned flying carpets to fight on the ground with swords. I assumed they'd exhausted themselves magically and were putting in a last-ditch effort.
Once we reached the back of our lines, Mom and Ivy landed to let Nightliss get off.
I halted the squadron. "We've done all we can. I want you to rest for a few minutes. You're going to need it."
Several Darklings collapsed to the ground. Even Ivy looked ready to drop. I got off the broom and gave my sister a hug. "I'm so proud of you, Ivy." I kissed her forehead. "You were amazing."
She kissed my cheek. "You too, bro." Ivy sighed. "I have so much fun with you. I can't wait to beat Daelissa so we can go get more ice cream."
I mussed her blond locks and forced a grin. "Me either." I turned to Mom and squeezed her tight. "I love you, Mom. Thanks for everything."
She managed a tired smile. "We gave it our best, didn't we son?"
"Yeah." My voice cracked as emotion tried to break through the façade. "We're not done yet. I need to talk to Thomas."
"We will fight to the death," Nightliss said. "We will never give up." She gripped my hands. "Thank you for saving me. I owe you my life once again."
I kissed her forehead. "I could never let someone so cute splat on the ground."
She laughed. "It is a rather undignified way to die."
"I could think of worse," Lanaeia said. "You could end up head-first in a mud bog with your legs protruding in the air like Qualan."
"No less than he deserved," Mom replied.
"Agreed," Lanaeia said, silver eyes flashing bright.
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I wearily got back on my broom and headed toward the Templar command platform. Thomas met me with a grim face when I stepped off. I caught a glance from Elyssa and held up a finger so she wouldn't rush over. I didn't want her to hear this.
I took Thomas aside. "I think it's time."
"Are you certain?" For the first time since I'd known him, he sounded tired, defeated, and unsure.
I nodded. "There's no other choice. I need to go now while I still have the strength."
"You may be no man, Justin, but you are a better man than most." The person who had once been my adversary, the father who once abhorred the thought of me dating his daughter, gripped me in a short but very manly hug and stepped back. "Godspeed, son."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Thank you, sir."
"The malaether crucibles are in the blue container over there." He pointed to the box where it innocently sat next to several other crates on the ground. "You can take one or both."
I looked toward the vicious battle. "You might need to use one on them if it comes to it."
He sighed. "It is what I had planned for that contingency."
"I thought you might have." I looked toward Elyssa and caught her concerned look. "I'm going to say goodbye to Elyssa, just in case."
"She'll know you plan something drastic. She might not let you go alone."
"I can't just leave without saying it."
Elyssa stalked over to us. "What is it? What's going on?" She narrowed her eyes at Thomas. "Justin is about to do something stupid, isn't he?"
I caressed her shoulders. "I have to stop Daelissa."
She threw off my hands. "You are not leaving me, Justin." Tears welled in her eyes. "You are not riding off on a suicide mission." Elyssa gripped my hand painfully tight. "If you go, I'm going with you."