The tide of unmaking, p.39
The Tide of Unmaking, page 39
part #3 of Berinfell Prophesies Series
Laughter.
Johnny grabbed the big black shape and hugged it. “Sam!” he yelled, half laughing, half weeping. “Oh, Sam, where on Earth…or Allyra have you been?”
Autumn threw herself at the black lab and gratefully accepted a few face-licks from her old friend. And, with Mr. and Mrs. Briarman looking on, the three of them rolled happily in the hay-strewn dirt. It was just like old times.
“Migmar, look!” Bengfist pointed. “Now a red light on the other moniterd.”
“Good,” Migmar replied. “Send more Drefids, maybe I will, to a volcano.”
Upon the screen, standing in front of the burning wreckage of a massive truck, stood more than a dozen semitransparent Gwar soldiers. A pair of Drefids stood in front of the Gwar and seemed to be screaming at the screen.
“They don’t look happy,” Jast said. “Should I?”
Migmar and Bengfist nodded, and Jast reached over and tapped the screen.
“…hours overdue!” the Drefid screamed. “Where are our reinforcements?”
“Send them, I will soon,” Migmar said. He’d made his voice more of a screechy-hiss, but that didn’t help.
“Who are you?” the Drefid demanded. “Where is Varlex?”
Migmar looked to Bengfist and shrugged. Bengfist shrugged back.
“Fixing, Varlex is, the western portal,” Migmar said.
The Drefid’s black eyes narrowed. “What western portal?” he asked.
“The…one in…uh, Western Canada,” Migmar said.
The Drefid reached toward the screen and seemed to take it into his gnarled hands. “Listen to me,” he said. “I don’t know who you are or how you infiltrated our command center. But I assure you, you will not leave it alive. We will come for you, Gnome!”
Migmar looked up at Bengfist and Jast. “How he knows I am Gnome?”
Bengfist frowned. “I wonder.”
Migmar turned back to the screen. “Try, you can, all you wish,” he said. “Give you, I won’t, any portal to come back here.”
The Drefid laughed wickedly and said, “Fool. We already have one.”
“Only ten minutes?” Mrs. Simonson said clutching her daughter by the shoulder. “But your father’s at the office. There’s no way he could get home that fast. He has to see you!”
“Mom, I’m so sorry,” Kat said. “But I can’t wait…there’s so much going on. So much to tell.”
Kat’s mom released the embrace and took out her cell phone. “I have to call him, at least let him know. It won’t be the same, but at least he can video chat.” She hit speed dial and waited. “C’mon, pick up.” The phone went to voice mail. “Oh, no. Not today.”
“Mom,” Kat said. “Just text him.”
Mrs. Simonson’s fingers flew across the keypad. “There,” she said. “There, he’ll get this for sure.” She pushed send.
There was a faint tinkling sound. “What was that?” Mrs. Simonson asked.
“I don’t know,” Kat said. “Came from the den, I think.”
Mrs. Simonson raced away without another word. When she returned, she had a second cell phone in her hand. “It’s his,” she said. “He left it on his desk…again.”
Kat stared at the ground. “Mom, I—”
They both froze. The front door of the house opened, and Mr. Simonson walked in. “Hey babe, I just realized I forgot my—” He saw Kat and dropped his briefcase. “Thank you, God,” he whispered and ran to his daughter.
Tears fell, they embraced again and again, and at last, they collapsed onto the plush sofa. There they rested, spoke and listened. But in the end, Kat saw the time.
Her parents saw her expression. “You won’t be able to come back,” Mrs. Simonson said. “Even if you throw out all the invaders?”
Kat shook her head. “I’m Elf-kind,” she said. “I have to stay in Allyra. But I can speak across worlds…I can think messages to you, sometimes.”
Mr. Simonson took his daughter’s hand. “There’s so much of your future,” he said. “So much I always thought I’d see. Graduation…a career…even walking you down the aisle.” He looked down a moment. “But look at you. You’re all grown up. There’s not already someone, is there? Someone special, I mean?”
Kat’s blue skin blushed purple. “Actually there is,” she said. “He just hasn’t figured it out yet.”
The Six Lords returned all at once. It was fortunate for Bengfist, Jast and Migmar who were fighting a losing battle to keep the chamber’s iron door closed.
“What’s going on?” Tommy yelled.
“A pair of Drefids,” Bengfist grumbled. “And a bunch of my estranged kindred.”
“Let them in,” Tommy said.
“No way,” Jimmy said. “Yu’re in no condition to fight hand-to-hand. You stay back, Tommy. Put out their eyes from a distance. Let oos do the dirty stuff up front.”
Tommy was about to argue, but knew Jimmy was right. “Keep them clear of the portal controls!” Tommy warned. “Now, let them in.”
Bengfist, Jast and Migmar stepped backward, letting the door fly open. Bengfist stuck out his foot, and the first Gwar went sprawling to the floor where Jimmy beheaded him with his claymore.
The next two Gwar fell with arrow shafts protruding from their eye sockets. A Drefid’s Dark Arts blast spewed into the room like red, molten stone. Johnny’s flames met it in midair and pushed it back through the door. Both Drefids were caught and seemed to boil in a cauldron of flame. One Gwar made a break for the portal controls. He raised a huge axe, but it never fell. Autumn sped passed him, looping a chain around the Gwar’s neck. Her momentum jerked the chain free but crushed the Gwar’s throat.
The enemy fell quickly. The Lords emerged without so much as a scratch.
“We were fortunate,” Bengfist said. “Those had just returned from battle. They were already half spent and careless. Others will come.”
“Still, we need to hold this chamber,” Tommy said. “You see what power we have from here.”
“You all came back, am I glad, when did you,” Migmar said.
“All?” Tommy asked.
“Jimmy?” Kat said. “Kiri Lee? Did you leave here also?”
“We went back to North Carolina,” Jimmy said. “We have to have Jett back. We have to have a Seventh or—”
Kiri Lee interrupted, “It was my idea. We went back to get Jett to change his mind. I just knew he would, but he didn’t, Tommy. He…no, no, no! It’s all worse now.”
“Worse?” Kat asked. “What happened?”
“When we went to Jett’s parents,” Jimmy said. “The Cragons had torn the place oop, but Jett’s parents…well they put oop a good fight. Lit the Cragons all afire, they did.”
“Did Jett help?” Tommy asked.
“Aw, no,” Jimmy said. “No…he did’na help one bit. When we got there, Jett was already gone.”
“Gone?” Kat blurted out. “What do you…was he, was he dead?”
“Worse,” Kiri Lee said, covering her tear-streaked face with her hands.
There was a moment of stunned silence as the group pondered anything that might be worse than death. And even in their darkest thoughts, they never considered a development so bleak and fearsome as the news Jimmy then spoke:
“After we helped Jett’s parents finish off the Cragons,” Jimmy said, “we had a chance to talk. Jett’s dad told oos that Asp himself came to their property. Mr. Green confronted him, brave man, he is. Asp told him that he was the one who brought Jett back from the dead. Ellos help oos, Tommy. Jett’s working for Asp now.”
39: An Immovable Object
“SO LET ME GET THIS straight,” Tommy said, rolling his head between his shoulders. “Not only has Taeva left us to join Asp, but so has Jett?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Kiri Lee.
“There must be some mistake,” Autumn said. “I mean, this is Jett we’re talking about.”
“Perhaps not the Jett we all remember,” Kat pointed out. She reminded them briefly of the incident at the house.
“Still,” Autumn said, refusing to back down, “the real Jett is still in there. He is. Maybe…maybe Mr. Green misunderstood the situation.”
Kiri Lee shook her head. “There was nothing to misunderstand, Autumn. Jett willingly left with Asp.”
“So we’re fighting Asp, Taeva and Jett,” mumbled Johnny. “Just great.”
“More time grumbling, more time losing,” added Migmar. “Attacking your giant green woman, Asp is.”
“Giant green woman?” Tommy looked at the Gnome. The team gathered around Migmar as he tapped a screen with his stubby finger.
“He’s attacking the Statue of Liberty!” Autumn exclaimed. The arial camera they viewed from, presumably affixed to a military or news network helicopter, circled the giant Statue. While Asp’s forces were still invisible, their destructive intent was not. A series of small explosions fired off in a circle around the wrist of Lady Liberty’s outstretched torch-bearing arm. The team gawked at the monitor as the torch and hand toppled over. The hunk of metal, glass and cables plummeted along the length of the Statue’s body and crashed into the small patch of island at the base.
“He’s taking her apart piece by piece!” Kat protested.
“Aw, see, now that’s just low,” said Johnny.
“We’ve got to stop him,” said Tommy. “Right now. Migmar?”
“Portal you have,” said Migmar, his fast little fingers pecking away at the keyboard. The blue gateway snapped open above the Kevlar pad.
“Wait,” said Bengfist, “what about the command center? The Drefids and my infernal kindred will not give up. More will come.”
“Right,” said Tommy. “Bengfist, will you and Jast stay? Protect Migmar—”
“Not protection Migmar needs,” interrupted the Gnome.
Tommy rephrased his request to Bengfist. “Will you and Jast stay to protect the portal system in case Asp’s forces return?”
“Consider it done,” said Bengfist.
“Johnny,” Tommy added, pointing to the doorway, “care to give them a little insurance?”
“My pleasure,” said Johnny. He stepped away of the computer equipment and spread out his hands. An intense, narrow stream of white fire shot from his palms, a stream that traced the outline of the door, welding the metal and molten rock together.
“That should buy you some time,” Johnny said. “No one will get through that weld.”
“Depends on who Asp sends,” said Bengfist.
“Now that’s comforting,” said Autumn.
Into the thick of it I send you.
That was the last thing Migmar had said before depositing them all on Liberty Island.
“HE WASN’T KIDDING!” yelled Kat as she ducked for cover beneath a half-crushed gazebo. The rest of the Six joined her, surveying the scene around them.
Lady Liberty towered directly above them, the base of the monument about one-hundred feet inland. Asp’s invisible attack had been temporarily slowed by two US DDG51 Class Destroyers that had opened fire with their 57mm Close In Guns (CIG). The fact that the ships hadn’t used any of their larger weapons systems, like the mammoth 155mm deck guns or Vertical Launch Systems, proved they had no idea what they were firing upon, and didn’t want to risk further damage to the population around them.
Though they doubted the ships’ Commanders knew what they’d hit, the Six spotted at least a dozen Warflies thrashing in the water, their invisibility paste washing off.
“There he is!” Jimmy pointed. “On the backside of her head!” The team spotted Asp right where Jimmy’d indicated: Asp clung on the far side of the Statue’s head, out of sight from the destroyers. He was, perhaps, the only assailant not cloaked in invisibility paste.
“He’s bold,” said Johnny.
“Or just arrogant,” replied Autumn. “If he was bold, he’d be flying around those destroyers, not hiding like that.”
The Six looked on as Asp and his Warfly suddenly leaped off the back of Lady Liberty’s head and dove onto the conning tower of the nearest Destroyer.
“Nope, he’s bold,” Johnny stated cheerlessly.
“And he’s bringing a whole mess of those right jolly boogers with him!” exclaimed Jimmy. While they couldn’t make out the forms entirely, the Six were familiar enough with the Gnome’s paste that they could see the subtle transparent change in texture against the sky. The CIG boomed from the Destroyer’s deck again forcing the Six to cover their ears.
“We’ve got to stop him!” yelled Kiri Lee.
“Agreed,” said Tommy. “But we can’t fight what we can’t see.”
“Think the Rainsong would work here on Earth?” asked Kiri Lee.
Tommy shook his head. “We’re only Six.”
Kiri Lee blew a few strands of hair off her face, disgusted by the hopelessness of it all.
“Wait a second,” Johnny said, tapping Tommy’s arm. “Wait a second! I got it!”
“What?” asked Tommy.
“The Destroyers! I built models of them when I was a kid.” He realized that according to Earth time, that was only a few weeks ago. Shrugging off the irony, he went on: “I remember that they had high-pressure water hoses, to fight fires and keep away smaller ships, you know.”
“We could use them to wash the paste off,” concluded Tommy. “The Rainsong revised.”
“Exactly!”
Tommy felt a plan forming. “OK. Kiri Lee, I need you to get Kat and Jimmy onto one of those Destroyers. Kat, it’s your job is to convince the Captain to use those hoses. It won’t be easy, but they’re probably more desperate than we are. Use whatever means necessary. Jimmy, you call the shots as you see them. Johnny, you stay here with me and Autumn; we’ll keep these creatures busy on the island. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” said Jimmy. “Do I get to fire one of those big guns?”
Kiri Lee carried Kat over first. Airwalking was impressive enough as it was; but carrying a person over open water and landing on a moving US Destroyer in the midst of a gunfight topped it all.
More than one Marine leveled an assault rifle on them as they landed on the deck. But it was Kat, still twenty-five hovering feet to the ship, who saved them.
“Stand down,” she said, remembering the term from war movies and hoping it was actually something real soldiers said, not just a Hollywood-ism. She could see the Marines look at each other in bewilderment, more than one of them tapping the communication device in their ear. “They’re friendlies.”
A beat later, the weapons slowly lowered.
“We need to address your captain,” she said as they touched down. “We have critical information about the enemy you’re facing.”
“Begging your pardon, miss, but why are you blue?”
Kat glared at him. She was half-tempted to tell him she was from Mars, but instead she said, “It’s stealth warpaint.”
The other Marine said, “But how did you both do that? You were…like walking in the air. Howzzat?”
“It is ehm, how do you say?” Kiri Lee began, lapsing into a thick French accent, “new technologies from France, n’est-ce pas? No time to explain.”
“This is a matter of national security,” said Kat, using more movie lingo.
The closest Marine took out his sidearm and stepped forward. “I’m sorry, ladies, flying powers or not, no one gets on the bridge. Consider it a miracle you haven’t been shot already.”
“I don’t think you understand what’s happening here, sir,” Kat spoke into his mind, utilizing amplified mental projection.
The Marine with the pistol looked around uncertainly.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Kat went on, “except our enemies, the ones currently assaulting the city. As for you, I’m already inside your head. You don’t have a choice on this issue, unless you want me to get really angry and liquify your internal organs.”
“Right this way, miss,” said the Marine.
“Kat, I will return post haste with Jimmy.”
“Don’t give her any problems,” Kat commanded the remaining Marines. “Please see that she and the young man who arrives are brought to the bridge as well.”
The Marines nodded and Kiri Lee stepped into the air.
Tommy withdrew his bow and looked around the air above them. “Pretty hard to see them,” he said to Johnny and Autumn. The Destroyer’s guns boomed over and over, trying to connect with the elusive enemy. “Or hear them,” Tommy added, his ears ringing.
“Well, no time like the present to light up the sky and see what we get,” said Johnny. “We’ve got to draw some of their attack if we’re going to save Liberty.”
“In more ways than one,” Autumn said.
Tommy looked to her. “Autumn, with your speed, think you could make it up the surface of the Statue?”
“I’ll give it a shot,” she said.
“Great. See what kind of trouble you can stir up. Johnny, you flood the sky with fire and see if you can hold them at bay until Kat and the others get those hoses going. As soon as I begin to see targets, I’ll stick them up with my bow.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Johnny. He leveled his hands with the ground, pushed pulses of flame from his palms, and blasted skyward.
Autumn sped away from the gazebo’s wreckage, and Tommy began searching for the best vantage point from which to snipe the enemy.
Once he’d gained enough altitude and upward momentum, Johnny raised his palms over his head and shot a broad blanket of flames billowing upward. Right away at least three Warflies screeched, climbing away from the expanding bloom of fire. One didn’t make it and was overwhelmed by the flames, its wings disintegrating end to end. Its charred body dropped from the sky like a stone.
