Affinity for War

by Frank Morin

  Jean said, "We don't have much time, and I can't think of a weapon that will help against water."

  Crowds of people were now visible, scrambling from the many exits of the Builder compound, milling about and looking for a path to safety. Many wailed with terror at the growing wall of angry water surrounding the compound, and some began running toward the last remaining gap. Jean was tempted to follow them, but what if the barrier failed? The thought of getting caught between those arms of churning waters terrified her.

  She glanced again to where Dierk was setting down his first load of passengers safely on the first hills at the edge of the valley. Weighed down by so many people, Dierk could not fly as fast as normal. There was just no way he'd have time to save everyone.

  She hated to feel helpless, and refused to admit that so many people were going to die because she could do nothing to help. Then with a surge of renewed hope, Jean realized there was something she could do.

  "Come on! I have an idea."

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  "The path to victory is fraught with danger not yet imagined. Hold fast to truth most cherished and soon to be discovered, and the fires of your tribulation may yet purify instead of destroy."

  ~Evander

  Jean rushed into the workroom, and the fearful villagers followed. She gestured toward the huge sliding door.

  "Bruno, Artur, get that thing open. The rest of you come help me with this wagon."

  As the blacksmith and the carpenter started hauling mightily on the chains that hoisted the giant door overhead, Jean raced to the workbench where she had left the keystone. Snatching it up, she scrambled into the high pilot bench at the front of the windrider.

  "I thought you told us you weren't successful flying that thing," Carolin said.

  "I wasn't. But this time I'm not trying to do anything complicated. All I have to do is climb high enough to clear that water blocking our way. I can do that."

  Hopefully.

  "How?" Asked a portly fellow who oversaw the weaver's guild.

  "When I get this thing to hover, push the front around so I'm pointing at those doors."

  Jean refused to acknowledge the fear clawing at her innards. Her first attempt at flying had been a disaster, and this time all of their lives would depend upon her non-existent flying skill.

  Hamish and Verena couldn't save them if she failed. The alternative was worse though, and she decided that dying while trying to save people was better than waiting to die as a helpless spectator.

  Placing the keystone against the top of the fourth lever, she made sure the power symbol faced her in the neutral position. That should be the lever that controlled the main lift thrusters under the wagon, and she reminded herself they really needed labels.

  In tense moments, it was too easy to forget. Holding her breath, she very gently turned the keystone to the right. She had learned enough in her first attempt to know the importance of small movements.

  The huge lift-force thrusters under the wagon growled and came to life, spewing a stream of air through the giant workroom and tearing at the clothes of the milling locals. The wagon shuddered, but did not lift off the floor.

  She risked another fraction of a turn, and the roaring wind intensified. The wagon began to shudder more heavily, and to bounce against the floor.

  She did not dare turn the keystone any farther while they were still inside, lest she accidentally drive herself into the ceiling and end the flight before it started. She forced confidence into her voice.

  "That should be enough. Push the front around."

  Most of the weight was being held by the thrusters, so the villagers easily turned it. The scraping and bouncing of the runners against the floor grated in Jean's ears. It was as if the wagon was screeching in fear, begging her not to try the insane plan.

  "Hush," she muttered to it. "And behave yourself this time."

  Talking to it helped her rein in her terror. Outside the open doors, the still-building waters surrounding the compound had grown to over twenty feet, and the barrier seemed to be bowing inward under the weight. She looked away. Watching would only freeze her with terror.

  "That's great. Right there."

  Jean moved the keystone to the next lever, then turned it a fraction. The huge rear push-force thrusters came to life and blasting wind scattered papers and any small items not secured in the cabinets. The huge wagon began to slide across the smooth floor, so she risked turning the keystone another fraction.

  The wagon picked up speed, the metal runners shrieking against the smooth stone floor. The villagers cheered and gave chase. As soon as Jean cleared the doors to the courtyard, she turned the keystone back the other way to cut the push-force.

  Her feeling of jubilant victory at getting that far alive faded when she realized that in the moment it had taken to get the wagon out of the workroom, the elfonnel had crossed half the valley. Dierk was already returning for a second load, driving the huge transport wagon through the air with remarkable speed. When he saw her emerge in the other Windrider, he banked down to land nearby.

  While Jean had been inside, the crowd of terrified residents had grown to over two hundred. They cheered at the sight of Dierk descending and rushed to meet him, clamoring for a spot on the wagon.

  "Climb on board, as many as can fit," he shouted.

  Within seconds, the enormous wagon was overflowing with desperate people, and Jean wondered that it didn't collapse under all that weight. The villagers who had helped get her wagon outside had already climbed on board her windrider, and people who could not fit on Dierk's wagon rushed to join her.

  Dierk shouted, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

  Jean pointed at the fast-approaching elfonnel. "Unless you have a mechanical that can stop that thing."

  "There's one Last Word bomb," Dierk said, pointing toward the next workroom. "But I can't drop that until everyone's out, or it'll kill us all."

  "Then let's get everyone out," Jean shouted.

  She pointed at the encircling, angry water still churning and building, beating on the invisible barrier. "Do you have any more of those barriers?"

  "I have no idea what that is. Sometimes Verena doesn't tell me everything. When you lift off, don't try anything fancy. These wagons are pretty stable, but watch the balance, and focus on lift and push thrusters."

  "Thanks!"

  She was grateful for the advice. Hamish loved to tease Dierk about not being a very good flyer, but he was an expert compared to her.

  All the extra weight drove the wagon down solidly against the smooth stone of the courtyard. Jean felt a growing concern as more and more people piled on board. If she messed up, their deaths would be her fault. She had dedicated her life to healing, and the thought of killing so many horrified her.

  With an almighty roar that sent the remaining crowds scrambling away, Dierk's wagon lifted slowly into the air, already pivoting toward Faulenrost. It sounded like he had maxed the lift thrusters, but it barely climbed. He had to wait precious seconds to ascend well above the raging, circling waves that sometimes erupted more than forty feet into the air.

  "Is many good time leave now," Bruno said.

  The burly blacksmith was squeezed onto the pilot bench with Jean and Artur. The two of them protected her from the crush of people behind.

  Artur gave her a reassuring smile. "Luck of plenty."

  Carolin, barely visible under a pile of women all trying to share the same seat with her said, "May the Tallan bless us."

  Jean decided not to point out that Tallan had only been a man. She'd take help from either faith or fact at the moment.

  She moved the keystone to the lift-force lever and turned it farther. The thrusters roared louder, the wagon shook harder, and many people shouted encouragement. With another quarter turn, the wagon slowly started to lift.

  It immediately tipped to the right.

  Trying to manage the lean-over thrusters in addition to the lift and push thrusters wo
uld guarantee disaster, so Jean shouted, "Everyone lean left."

  Everyone obeyed, so of course they shifted too far, and the wagon started tipping the other way.

  "Too much! Go back half way."

  "You focus fly. I make balance," Bruno told her.

  Standing on the bench, he started bellowing orders in Grandurian to individual people along the outer flanks of the wagon, getting them to lean either in or out. In a remarkably short time, he got the wagon onto an even keel. "Now no move, or all die!"

  Someone started to sob, but Jean forced herself to ignore the fear that clung to the wagon like a palpable cloud. As soon as it seemed they weren't about to roll over, she increased lift, pushing the howling thrusters to the max. The wagon rose sluggishly into the air.

  Jean shifted to the push-force thrusters, but forced herself to wait while she judged their height against the waves of blocking water. Dierk was just passing over those churning waters, with barely twenty feet separating him from one of the explosive geysers.

  Then the waters seemed to coil and leap upward toward the huge windrider. Jean screamed a useless warning, even though he could never hear her.

  Dierk must have seen the danger, because gouts of fire blasted out of the bottom of his windrider, driving it higher and flashing the top three feet of the water reaching toward him into hissing steam. Jean had no idea if her wagon was equipped with marble defenses, or how to activate them if it was.

  "Go!" People started shouting, but she forced herself to wait precious seconds until the wagon clawed up to over fifty feet. With a glance at the fast-approaching elfonnel that was shredding the ground and spraying trees and rocks hundreds of yards, Jean finally turned the keystone.

  The huge push thrusters ignited, but the wagon hung motionless. With so much weight, partial thrust would never accomplish anything. So Jean twisted the keystone all the way. The thrusters roared, the wagon shook, and it began to accelerate slowly toward the deadly water barrier.

  Jean wanted to whoop with exhilaration. It was working!

  They had ascended to over sixty feet, and she felt no desire to reduce the lift thrusters. She didn't want to go too high, but would have gladly ascended to a mile before crossing those dangerous waters, if there had been time.

  The wagon slowly picked up speed, aiming a little bit east of northeast. They would miss Faulenrost, but their direction was close enough, and she did not dare messing with the slip-spin thrusters. They passed over the boiling waters, and she tensed helplessly against the feared attack that would rip them out of the air.

  In that second, the invisible barrier holding the waters back collapsed, and instead of erupting into the air to snatch them, the waters boiled forward toward the compound and the people still trapped there.

  "No!" Jean shouted, twisting to look. Many others echoed her cries of horror, and the wagon tipped dangerously to the left as people turned to watch.

  Bruno barked new commands in Grandurian and the wagon righted itself, but Jean barely heard. Her eyes were glued on those deadly waters racing toward the compound and the crowd still clustered outside of the buildings. It had continued to grow and looked as big as it had before she and Dierk filled their wagons. She didn't want to witness all those people die, but she couldn't look away.

  Barely fifty yards from the screaming people, the water rebounded again off a second barrier, then erupted high into the air, as if infuriated at being denied its prize. The elfonnel screamed, and Jean twisted back around to look at it.

  It had raised its arms into the air, and its face had darkened into an ugly scowl. Its scream was like the crashing of giant waves against rocks in a mighty tempest, and the air grew noticeably colder.

  "We're going to make it," Jean told Bruno, who nodded grimly. Artur gave her an encouraging smile, then the two of them turned back to watch the tight-packed passengers.

  No one moved. Several people seemed afraid to breathe. Dierk passed them with a third load of passengers. Jean hadn't even noticed him return from his last trip. He waved to her, and she raised one hand, but didn't dare wave back for fear of upsetting the delicate balance.

  Dierk was already descending, although they'd barely soared a quarter mile past the deadly, encircling arms of water. The people he'd dropped off on his first trip were already fleeing toward distant Faulenrost and the dubious safety it offered.

  At least they had a chance.

  Gisela didn't.

  Jean realized with a horrified sense of dread that she had forgotten all about her. She could be anywhere.

  With tears of fear for her friend clouding her vision, Jean reduced lift and aimed the wagon for a flat section of hillside. She cut the power a little too soon and they crashed to the ground with a huge jolt, nearly tipping the wagon over entirely as it slid forward under the power of the still-howling push thrusters until Jean managed to turn them off.

  People scrambled from the wagon, shouting their thanks as they sprinted for the hills. Carolin took her leave and rushed to check on her girls. Bruno and Artur alone lingered with her to inspect the damage.

  Bruno reported, "Lift good live. Beat a second time kill for sure."

  "Good enough for now," Jean said, twisting the keystone on the lever to activate lift force. "Push the wagon around for me, please."

  The men followed her orders, but Artur said, "You good hero girl. But time no friend."

  The elfonnel had drawn dangerously close to the Builder compound and was picking up speed. It seemed to be focused on the long warehouses along the outskirts of the main cluster of buildings. That might give her a little extra time.

  The inner barrier was still holding the waters back, but she doubted it would withstand the arrival of the elfonnel. Dierk had already landed and begun taking on another horde of people, but there were still too many.

  Jean pointed at the crowd of desperate people. "Point me in that direction. I have to try."

  They pushed her around as she increased lift. Bruno jumped aboard beside her. "You fly girl. I make sure no wagon lean."

  As she increased lift, then applied push-force, Jean gave him a warm smile. "You're insane, you realize that, right?"

  "No do alone. You good girl. I have daughter too."

  The return trip went significantly faster in the empty wagon, and they passed Dierk leaving with another enormous load of people.

  Dierk saluted and shouted, "Make it fast! While we were loading this group, I activated the bomb. I’ll drop it as soon as I get back, so make sure you’re well away!"

  “We will!” she shouted back.

  As they approached the compound, flying high above the deadly waters, she almost couldn't make herself reduce lift thrust and descend toward the much smaller crowd. Her heart was racing and fear made it hard to breathe.

  Jean wasn’t sure they could take everyone, but they had no choice. Dierk’s warning rang in her ears. Anyone still lingering when he returned would share the monster’s fate.

  Hopefully they had time to make this second trip. The waters beating on the inner barrier had grown far more quickly than they had against the first.

  Jean wasn't sure if the elfonnel had committed more water to the assault, or if the smaller circumference of the inner defensive barrier allowed the waters to pile up more. It didn't matter. The barrier was already bending under the weight of the raging torrent.

  Everyone needed to leave. Now.

  It would be tight, but maybe if everyone held their breath to make themselves seem a little lighter, they might convince the wagon to give it a try. Bruno bellowed at the crowds in his mighty Grandurian voice, calling for space to land.

  Jean glanced toward the elfonnel, visible around the corner of the last workroom. The elemental woman had nearly reached the long warehouses, barely fifty yards away.

  In that moment, the elfonnel lunged, transforming into a tidal wave that smashed into the first warehouse and shattered it. Timber and stones exploded in every direction amid a frothing spray
of foam. Without dispersing, the central wave tore into the second building. At this rate, it would destroy the entire Builder compound in minutes.

  "Be many careful," the blacksmith warned. "No land hard or break lift."

  He was right. She needed to focus. If she came in too hard, she'd destroy the lift thrusters and they'd all die.

  Jean cut the push force and the wagon immediately began to slow. She hoped it would stop before they crashed into the building, but there was nothing she could do about it either way, so she decided not to look. Instead she focused on carefully reducing the lift thrust, descending slowly toward the ground.

  The desperate people below shouted for her to hurry, but that was the last thing she could do. It seemed to take forever, and in those seconds, the elfonnel shifted directions and charged the dining hall. It struck the inner defensive barrier on the opposite side of the compound, and burst through in a spray of water and foam that erupted over a hundred feet into the air.

  "Oh, no," Jean breathed as waters rushed through the gap and the elfonnel flowed over the ground toward the defenseless buildings. The rest of the barrier still held, but Jean doubted it would for long.

  She lost sight of the elfonnel behind the building as she descended, but seconds later, it exploded through the distant roof of the dining hall, again formed into the shape of a beautiful woman. It gleefully lay waste to that central structure. Timbers howled as they shattered, and the air felt heavy with water. The humidity increased until it felt like Jean was breathing as much liquid as air.

  As the elfonnel smashed through the dining hall, Jean caught a whiff of bacon. Had the cooks already started the midday meal? She hoped they had escaped and not chosen to die among their pots and pans.

  Although Jean wished with all her heart for Hamish to show up and help her again, she was happy he didn't have to see the dining hall die. He would have had a hard time witnessing the senseless destruction of so much food. The thought of him helped ease some of her fear, and she brought the wagon to within a foot of the ground.