The tide of unmaking, p.40
The Tide of Unmaking, page 40
part #3 of Berinfell Prophesies Series
The other two Warflies, however, managed to bank away from the fiery plume. That was, until Tommy spotted their retreat and sent arrows into their lower abdomens. The giant insects twisted violently in a vain attempt to dislodge the shafts. One of the Warflies unmounted its rider, the Gwar soldier crushing an information booth below. The last Warfly careened out of control, slammed into Lady Liberty, and knocked its rider unconscious; both Warfly and Gwar fell to their deaths on the island.
Tommy looked skyward and spotted the faint trail of Autumn speeding at an upward angle across the surface of the Statue, slicing through two Drefids who appeared to be planting explosives. They dropped away from the Statue in twin sprays of black blood and, for good measure, Tommy put a shaft in the eye socket of each Drefid as they fell.
His attention on a burning Warspider, Johnny was broadsided by an invisible Warfly, sending him spiraling out of control.
“JOHNNY!” Autumn yelled, halting on the Statue’s shoulder.
Johnny shot out a few blasts in an effort to stabilize himself, but managed only to propel himself sideways. Fortunately, he landed with a splash in the water just off shore.
Autumn had been so distracted by Johnny’s fall that she didn’t anchor herself to the Statue. Something slammed into her shoulders and sent her off the edge. Her quick reflexes saved her, however, at least momentarily. While still in mid air, she spotted a half-visible Gwar and its Warfly mount hovering just below. Autumn stretched out until she felt the untucked, leather thong of the Warfly’s stirrup pass through her hand. She grabbed on and was pulled aloft, floating high above the scene. The Gwar above noticed the unwelcome rider and started jabbing with the butt end of his spear.
Autumn dodged as best she could, blows glancing off her arms and shoulders. But one wayward jab in particular was just the opportunity she needed; the Gwar overcommitted and lunged off balance. Autumn grabbed the spear shaft and pulled down, twisting the Gwar from his saddle and throwing him into open air. The warrior yelled as fell to his death.
Despite the small victory, the Warfly’s bucking wouldn’t allow her to climb up. Instead Autumn decided to make her own way down. She flipped the spear in her free hand and drove it up into the Warfly’s belly. The creature shrieked. Suddenly Autumn was upside down, the Warfly spiraling out of control.
“Oh, bad idea!” Autumn shouted, trying desperately to hold on.
“LET GO!” shouted Johnny, now flying along beside her. “I’LL GET YOU!”
Autumn released her grip, flung wide of the doomed bug. She expected Johnny to catch her straight away.
But he didn’t.
Autumn gained speed, the island’s rocky shore coming up fast.
“JOHNNY?!”
No answer.
She was falling fast. She arched her back, trying to right herself for what would surely be a crippling impact.
“Got’cha!” Johnny grunted, pulling her tight with one arm. He used his left hand to blast the ground with a dizzying, swirling wash of fire, slowing the pair until he could swing Autumn into an open patch of turf. She released, rolled and came to a kneel on the blackened swath of grass, still smoking from the fresh blast.
“Cut that one pretty close,” she said, breathlessly.
“Sorry, you just got all squirrelly up there.”
Tommy came running up. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah,” said Autumn standing. “Seems Asp has a bit more than we can handle up there. And who knows how many arc charges he’s already planted.”
“Or where they are,” Johnny added. “I can wash Lady Liberty with fire, but I’m afraid I’ll melt her or set off arc charges I can’t see.”
“I hear you,” Tommy said. “We need those hoses.”
Just then, there came a thunderous blast overhead. It was followed by an agonizing wrenching of metal. The three lords looked up to see a huge segment of Lady Liberty’s shoulder tumbling down her torso right toward them.
Unexplained creatures of the deep, yes.
Water spouts and tsunamis, sure.
But in over thirty-two years at sea, Admiral Blackburn had never encountered such a being as this: a blue Elven maiden who could cast her thoughts directly into his brain.
It begged military action. But what? He had no earthly idea.
The Admiral realized he’d better honor her strange request. After all, she wasn’t asking to commandeer his ship, kill his crew, steal his nuclear rods, or fire his deck guns. She wanted the boat’s fire hoses.
“Admiral,” she’d pleaded, “there may yet be time to explain all this in the future. But if you’re a man of action, as I think you are, turn the fire hoses on the Statue.”
He’d hesitated at first. But she’d been very persuasive.
“If you’re as tired of not seeing what you’re fighting as I am,” she said, pointing out through the command bridge windows, “do it.”
The Admiral gave the order, and what he saw next made even the blue Elf maiden seem inconsequential.
Johnny shot a two-palm blast at the hunk of greenish copper. It didn’t flash melt or even slow, but it did slightly alter its angle of descent. It was enough.
Autumn took Tommy by the waist and drove him well out of the way. Johnny launched himself backward, and the wreckage crashed just inches away from his feet.
And that’s when it began to rain.
“By Ellos, she did it!” said Tommy as he watched the plumes of water arc out from the destroyers, showering the Statue and most of the island. Then his hopes crashed.
The pump-propelled jets of water seemed to be blasting the right locations, but at first, nothing appeared.
Please tell me, he thought despondently, please tell me they didn’t make the paste waterproof.
For several long moments, nothing appeared. The wounded Liberty Statue had been soaked and glistened, but there were no creatures to be seen, flying or climbing. Nothing.
“I don’t see them,” Autumn said sadly.
“Dang it,” Johnny said. “The Rainsong worked. This should’a worked too.”
“Wait!” Tommy shouted, pointing. “Look!”
At first ten, then twenty, then one-hundred, then more Warflies and Gwar and Drefids appeared out of nowhere. Materializing as if by magic, the sky was suddenly full of giant insects, each carrying its particular rider.
With the invisibility paste washing away, Tommy, Johnny and Autumn had their targets picked and went to work. Jimmy called out shots on board with the Admiral, who tried more than once to convince Jimmy to join the NAVY given his display of talent. Kat communicated to all to make sure their attacks were coordinated…and to make sure Johnny, Tommy and Autumn were never in the line of fire.
Tommy had just dispatched five Warflies and their riders, and was beginning to feel the battle had shifted to their favor, when a massive explosion rocked the nearest destroyer.
It was the same destroyer Kat and Jimmy were on.
Jimmy had been calling out shots as fast as he could. The radio men were translating his target descriptions and finger pointing into coordinates relaying the numbers to gunmen along the ship. But when Jimmy went mute, the gunnery officer didn’t know what to do.
“Sir, where—?”
Jimmy had seen the events before they happened, but it was so sudden and so unexpected, he’d not had the ability to shout out a warning. He watched in horror as a dark being swung up onto one of the massive barrels and began squeezing the steel barrel shut.
The order was given to fire.
The trigger pull on the control handle sent the computerized system into action, slamming home the firing hammer on the massive brass casing, which in turn initiated the near instantaneous combustion of the gun powder. The rapid pressure buildup sent the explosive round rifling down the now closed-off barrel. With nowhere left for the gasses to expand, the barrel flared open like a metallic flower. The back pressure tore a gaping hole into the gun deck and killed at least four sailors.
The explosion cracked the glass in the bridge. Jimmy was knocked off of his feet and lay sprawled and dazed for several moments. Finally he gained his feet and stared down at the bow.
I can’na believe it, he thought hard in Kat’s direction. It’s Jett.
There, standing with his hands on his hips, was the unmistakable Seventh Lord of Berinfell, gloating over the chaos he’d just caused.
“Uhm, Tommy, Kiri Lee, Autumn, Johnny,” Kat called with all her projecting might, “we need you here…now!”
Tommy was about to loose an arrow when Kat’s thought came to him. Can it wait a few? I’ve got a pesky Warfly in my sights, he replied, never quite sure how well she could pick up his thoughts over distance.
“Jett’s here, Tommy.”
Tommy let the arrow fly, but it sailed well wide of its intended target. Send Kiri Lee for me; Johnny will take Autumn, he said. We’re coming.
Johnny and Autumn touched down midship, as did Kiri Lee and Tommy. Kat and Jimmy raced down to join them, with Admiral Blackburn leading the way.
Jett remained where he was, practically daring everyone to attack him. Dozens of sailors and heavily armed Marines had filled the decks and trained their weapons on him.
“Hold your fire,” Kat voiced to all of them. To the Admiral she added: “I hope that’s okay.”
“You’d better have a good reason, young lady,” said Admiral Blackburn. Kat smiled thinly.
“This is complicated, Sir,” Tommy said. “And it could get ugly.”
“Well, whatever you have planned, might I suggest you do it now,” replied the Admiral.
“Right,” Tommy nodded. “I’ll go.”
“We all go,” said Jimmy. “We don’na stand a chance, noone of oos do alone.”
“Fair enough,” said Tommy.
The Six strode out toward the bow, the Admiral raising his hand to stay his men.
Jett spotted his companions making their way toward him. Kat was sure she saw something register in his eyes, even if very slight. “Jett, you need to stop this,” she said. “No one wants you to get hurt.”
“Stay where you are!” Jett yelled from the bow.
The Six stopped momentarily, but Tommy took another step forward.
“I said STOP!” Jett cried.
“Jett, I don’t want to have to do this,” Tommy withdrew his bow and nocked and arrow, keeping both low.
Johnny took his cue and put his hands on the ready.
“Tommy, no,” said Kat. “Not until we’ve got no other option.” Tommy looked to her, as did Johnny. “We must reason with him…if we can.”
Tommy thought about it. Jett seemed far from reasonable. Still, trusting Kat had always proven to be a blessing, even when he didn’t agree. Tommy sighed, then took the arrow from the bow.
Jett put a hand up to his ear. “Yes, Lord Asp,” he said. “I will delay them at the very least. It will be safe to proceed.”
“Dear Ellos,” Kiri Lee said. “He’s talking to Asp.”
“Kat,” Tommy said. “What’s Asp saying? What’s Jett thinking?”
But Jett cut the connection. “Not that easy, Elven kind,” Jett said.
“We’re not stopping, Jett,” Tommy said finally. “You’re our friend, and you’ll always be.”
“I have no friends!” Jett roared from up front, and with that, he hammer-fisted the solid steel deck. Jimmy warned everyone but his voice was lost amid the bone-jarring noise of bending steel. The metal buckled in front of Jett, then a wave of energy rippled through the ship. Kiri Lee stepped aloft, avoiding the tremor, but the others weren’t so lucky; Elves, sailors and Marines alike toppled over like bowling pins.
“He’s getting away!” Kiri Lee pointed as Jett whistled for a Warfly.
“Not on my watch!” yelled the Admiral from his side. “OPEN FIRE!” But the shower of gunfire was delayed as his Marines were still trying to find their feet.
Jett leaped off the boat for the hovering Warfly.
“I got this,” said Johnny. He focused two thin streams of fire at Jett’s body, blasting him in the shoulder. The sheer force sent Jett head over heels, toppling down into the sea.
“YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM!” Autumn shrieked.
“I didn’t!” said Johnny, shielding himself from her barrage of blows.
“Easy there,” said Tommy. He yanked Autumn off Johnny and pulled her toward the rail. “Look.”
Jett was thrashing in the water, the Warfly buzzing down to pull him out. Jett climbed on. Johnny’s flames had been extinguished, but the damage had been done: Jett’s entire left side had been charred with the puckered flesh of third degree burns.
“FIRE!” came the Admiral’s voice again. The Six covered their ears as automatic weapons fire burst to life, drilling the water’s surface with hundreds of bullet holes.
“NOOOO!” screamed Autumn. Johnny held her from diving off the boat. She beat his chest, willing him to let her go, but Johnny’s grip held.
To the Six’s amazement—and to the Admiral’s—Jett’s Warfly darted into the sky and avoided the withering assault from the ship.
“After him!” said the Admiral.
“We’ll see to Jett,” Tommy said. “You just finish off the force on Lady Liberty. Shouldn’t be a problem now that you can see your targets.”
Admiral Blackburn hesitated, but knew he couldn’t argue with forces he couldn’t explain. He decided to stick with what he could explain, and pulverizing a visible enemy attack was much more his style, even if that force was a fleet of bizarre creatures flying around on giant insects.
“Where do you think he’s going?” Kiri Lee asked.
“Asp,” answered Kat. “I heard him think it.”
“And where do you think Asp is?” asked Autumn.
“Only one way to find out,” Tommy replied. He puled out a small video handset Migmar had given him before they left. Ironically, he thanked Ellos that Asp had managed to create some kind of Dark Arts coating to allow the device to pass through portals. But he shuddered to think what more Asp could do with the coating if given more time…what he could do with Earth weapons on Allyra. We won’t give him the opportunity, Tommy concluded. “Migmar, you there?”
The small video screen sparked alive; Migmar’s pudgy face filled it up. “Here is Migmar,” the Gnome said.
“Migmar, do you have a fix on Asp?” asked Tommy.
“Migmar fix Asp good, he will.”
“No, Migmar, do you know where he is?”
The Gnome smiled. “Always know where he is, Migmar does.”
“Then we need a portal there, fast!”
Migmar’s face withdrew from the screen for a moment and Tommy could here the clicking of the keyboard. After a few seconds, Migmar grumbled.
“What is it, Migmar?” Tommy asked.
“Hmph. Like prevented me before with Asp, something did. Same it does now. Very close, I can’t get you.”
“As close as you can is fine,” Tommy replied. “Hurry.”
“Very well,” said Migmar. Just then a blue portal popped to life on the Destroyer’s deck. “Go fix Asp, you will.”
“Thanks, Migmar,” Tommy said. “We’re going in.” The team was just about to walk through when Kat stopped them.
“Hey, Tommy, there was something different about Jett this time.”
“What?”
“Before he was…well, adamant,” she said. “Completely resolved…and angry. There’s something different now. He’s powerful and knows what he’s capable of, but he’s also…he’s hesitant.”
“Begging your pardon, but he didn’t seem too hesitant about destroying my ship,” said the Admiral.
“I know, I know,” Kat waved off the comment. “But inside, he’s aching. It’s like the kid who takes pleasure in bullying because that’s the only way he can feel in control of his life.”
“You heard him think all that?” asked Tommy.
“No, not all of it,” Kat answered honestly. “But reading minds has helped me to recognize mental emotional patterns in people. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a hunch.”
“Think we can change him?” Autumn asked.
“No,” Jimmy said, “but Ellos can.”
“If Jett doesn’t die of those wounds you gave him, Johnny,” Kiri Lee muttered.
“Hey now,” Tommy said, “we don’t need any sarcasm among us. Kiri Lee, relax. Jett will heal those burns easily.” Tommy winced and put and arm gingerly to his side. “I just wish he’d have healed my ribs.”
Tommy was the last through the portal, hesitating before he made the leap. He knew that, somewhere on the other side of that shimmering sea of Dark Arts technology, the Lords of Berinfell would have to face Asp. But somehow, the possibility that they would face Jett again…was worse.
40: The Confrontation
TAEVA SNARLED, RACING UP THE city street jammed with humans and their impossibly slow-moving wheeled vehicles. The yellow ones were the most vexing. She took to climbing on top of them, running and leaping from their roofs. She snarled again, mentally chastising herself for not watching more closely when Tommy and the Gnome worked the portal controls.
When she first arrived, she’d thought she’d missed New York City altogether. She’d found herself in a massive forest. But after wasting precious minutes combing the area, she discovered that she was indeed in the city, just a wooded area called Central Park. A reluctant human had told her there was fighting somewhere up a road called 7th Avenue.
But thus far, she hadn’t seen any warfare. Still, she sprinted through the city, listening for explosions and searching for destruction. If she found that, Asp certainly wouldn’t be far away.
Taeva leaped from the roof of a yellow vehicle and crashed onto the hood of another. Just then, something buzzed by Taeva’s ear. Then something clipped her shoulder. Searing hot pain lanced down her arm and up her neck.
