The Ethereal Squadron: A Wartime Fantasy (The Sorcerers of Verdun)

by Shami Stovall

  Geist gripped the seat. “He’ll destroy the motorcar.”

  “We’ll see.”

  To her surprise, Blick angled the car straight for the prince—straight through the fire. Vergess positioned himself in between her and the worst of the flame, shielding her as best he could as the temperature drastically increased with each passing second.

  Although flames wiped around the side of the front window, Vergess soldiered through the heat. Blick increased speed. He lifted his pistol and, with his golden-eyed sorcery, aimed in a fraction of a second and fired.

  The bullet pierced Leopold’s left eye, shaking the man and disrupting his focus. The firestorm waned, but didn’t disappear. When they charged Leopold, his eyebrows lifted and he dodged the vehicle as if by animal instinct. And as motorcar passed, Geist watched her former fiancé whiz by, her gaze meeting his for a fraction of a second.

  His dark eyes were alight with passion. His lips twisted up in a cruel grin.

  Leopold was enjoying himself.

  Even his eye was stitching itself back together—so fast and so smoothly that Geist figured it would be completely intact the moment their vehicle cleared the southern gate.

  He’ll remember this, all right.

  The motorcar slammed through the wood of the southern gate, splintering the oak across the road as Blick kept his foot heavy on the gas pedal. Soldiers fired at them from afar, but Blick took the first turn around a building as soon as he could, breaking their line of sight. Geist exhaled, not even aware she had been holding her breath the entire time.

  “Where are we heading?” Blick asked.

  “To the border,” Geist said.

  Heinrich sat up in his seat. “We’ll never make it. There’s the Wire—it’ll kill us if we even try to ram through!”

  “Magi-tech?”

  “Of course,” he said.

  But they had no choice. They had to get back to Major Reese. Paris was in danger, and he had to know about the plan to use the gas on Ethereal Squadron sorcerers. If they waited—if they slowed or hesitated, even for a moment—they would never make it back in time.

  We’re not out of the woods yet.

  “Head to the border,” Geist repeated. “We’ll get past the Wire. I’ll think of something.”

  The motorcar continued forward at ridiculous speed. The vehicle shook and tilted when it hit dirt roads, threatening to shake itself apart. Still, their velocity impressed Geist. She could imagine them crossing all of Belgium in a few short hours.

  Blick turned the vehicle on the first western road. The empty battle-torn fields that surrounded them were left covered in the dirt kicked up by their vehicle as the winds came in from the east. Geist swore under her breath as ran her hand down the side of her calf. It didn’t bleed much, but the pain came in slow amounts as her body relaxed. She bound the injury with shreds of her stolen gown.

  So many enemies, Geist thought, trying to focus. My father, the prince, the abominations, the gas…

  And Amalgam. Wherever he is now.

  They’ll come after us for sure. We won’t be safe until we’re back in France.

  The bumpy roads north didn’t offer much comfort. For brief moments the ride would be smooth enough to sleep, but when the vehicle jerked and jostled, Geist snapped awake, sweat coating every inch of her skin.

  I need to stay awake, anyway, she thought, fighting the weight of her eyelids. I need to master apex sorcery. Then I could recover from these injuries on my own.

  Every second they took getting home was another second the enemy had to prepare and plan their attack. No matter how fast Blick drove, she still felt they weren’t making good enough time. Once, while younger, she had met a sorcerer who could speak to people in their minds, even at great distances. Geist wished she knew such sorcery now.

  Hell, even a messenger pigeon would do. Anything to warn the others.

  The ride passed in relative silence. Besides Blick asking for directions every once in a while, no one spoke. The evening winds and dark skies made it hard to see much, but Geist could sense the tension in the car, even if she couldn’t see her teammates’ faces. Dreamer re-cast his incredible illusions over his own body, becoming an Englishman once more.

  “Thank you,” he said, leaning towards her in the dark.

  Geist lifted an eyebrow. “Me?”

  “Yes. Thank you. Victory and I were searching out the OHL grounds when we were spotted by an Abomination Soldier. I apologize if my illusions failing caused you any trouble.”

  “Don’t think about it. We’re a team. I would never leave you behind—not if there’s still air in my lungs and blood in my veins.”

  The others in the car nodded. The conversation died out again.

  Heinrich sat up in his seat and reached up to his ear with a shaky hand. Although he didn’t have any glasses in his spectacles, he hadn’t removed them. He lightly tugged at the frames and flinched. A rivulet of blood ran from Heinrich’s ear down onto the vest of his disheveled gray suit. The hook at the end of the earpiece—a thin metal wire—had twisted when Amalgam struck him and punctured the earlobe. Geist was surprised the frame remained intact.

  Heinrich left his broken spectacles alone.

  “So,” he said in German. “You’re actually a woman in charge of this military unit? Or are you just some nancy confused about his station?”

  Vergess grabbed Heinrich by the vest and slammed him back in the seat. Everyone else in the vehicle flinched at the sudden act of violence. Everyone except for Battery.

  Battery turned around and glowered. “Never mention that again, if you know what’s good for you. Do you understand me? Never.”

  Both their reactions took Geist by surprise. What had Battery told the others? Had he forgiven her? Would Vergess continue to go out of his way to protect her secret, even though so many people now knew? And what did Dreamer, Victory, and Blick think? Her chest tightened just thinking about it all.

  Heinrich, trembling, took a moment to regain his composure.

  “Let him go,” Geist said. “He’s not our enemy.”

  Vergess released Heinrich with a dissatisfied grunt. Heinrich took the moment to dust himself off and straighten his soiled clothing, regardless of how damaged they already were.

  “I have another matter to deal with,” Dreamer said. “If we don’t all make it back to the base, would one of you please request that my belongings be sent to one-sixty-one New Bond Street in London?”

  “Does Major Reese know about this?” Victory asked.

  “No… I never told him. I’ve never told anyone.”

  Geist committed the address to memory, but shook her head. “You’ll see your home in London again, I swear to you.”

  Dreamer closed his eyes and smiled. “Oh, I’ve never seen London. And at the rate this war goes, I doubt I ever shall.”

  “Don’t say that,” Geist said, her voice strained.

  “A kingdom eternal awaits me once I’m finished. I have no need to fear.”

  “Then why have your belongings sent to New Bond Street?”

  Dreamer took in another long breath. Then he slumped down into his seat, the pain of his words etched into the furrows of his brow. “They caught me, once” he said. “When I ran from my masters. They caught me.”

  Geist waited and listened, picturing the harsh suns of the Arabian deserts. Where would slaves run to escape their masters? The vast wastelands around the plateau of the Najd were virtually uninhabitable.

  “They knew I would run forever,” Dreamer continued, “so they flayed my flesh and left me to the death of the desert. But instead of dying, a man by the name of Oliver Evans pulled me from the maw of hell.”

  Vergess, Battery, and Victory turned their attention to Dreamer, all looking at Dreamer as if they had never seen their teammate before. Blick focused on the road, and Heinrich watched with narrowed eyes. Even though Dreamer spoke English, it was clear Heinrich understood in the way he nodded along with the words.
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br />   Dreamer paused, regaining what little strength he had, and then resumed his story. “There are some men in this world who are angels in disguise. Evan and I became good friends. He saved me in more ways than one. But, when death came for him… I wasn’t able to repay his kindness.”

  Even the clouds wept. Rain spotted the cloth cover of the motorcar. Geist huddled close, shivering involuntarily, though not from the cold.

  “They told me slaves cannot hold debts or honor,” Dreamer murmured. “That slaves do not understand what it means to fulfill a duty greater than the orders given to them. But a free man… his duty and honor are his alone. So when Oliver died, I swore I would protect the two things he cared about most in life. I made an oath as a free man, and that’s why… that’s why you must send my belongings to his wife.”

  “What’s the second thing you’re going to protect?” Blick asked.

  “The United Kingdom, of course,” Dreamer replied with a weary smile.

  Geist said nothing for a long moment. There was one part of Dreamer’s story that didn’t figure.

  “In Verdun…” she whispered. “In Verdun, you said your name was Oliver Evans.”

  Dreamer continued to smile. “I asked him… I asked Oliver to give me a new name. A different name than the one my old masters had given me. He said, as my own man, I should pick a name for myself. A strong name. A name to remind me why I forged my own destiny. After he died… I knew then what my new name should be.”

  The rain pounded. Geist allowed it drown out her thoughts.

  “What’s that?” Battery called out.

  Heinrich didn’t have his glasses, but he stared out across the rain and darkness regardless. “It’s the Wire,” he said.

  The storm couldn’t hide the ten-foot tall wall of barbed wire that separated Belgium and the Netherlands. Once the motorcar got close, Geist could hear the hum of electricity and feel the aura of magical power. It was magi-tech of the worst kind, and she knew every rumor she’d ever heard had to be true.

  If they attempted to climb the fence, they would die, just like the thousands of Belgians who had come before them.

  Blick stopped the vehicle five feet away.

  “Where are the German soldiers?” she asked.

  “Down the road in guard posts,” Heinrich replied. “There aren’t any gates around here. We’d have to travel ten miles east before we found anything.”

  Battery, Victory, Dreamer, Blick, and Vergess turned to face Geist. She stared back at them, weighing their limited options. She stepped out into the rain, curious to get a better look at the fence before deciding what they would do.

  Battery and Vergess joined her, all three soaked by the time they reached the barrier. The droplets that hit the electrified barbed wire popped and turned to steam. The whole fence seemed to bleed mist, half-shrouded from view.

  “Can you destroy this?” Geist asked, motioning to the thick wood post the barbed wires were circled around.

  Vergess reached out to touch the wooden post, but Victory shouted, “Don’t! You’ll be shocked.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Vergess asked. “By what, the wood?”

  “That’s right. In every one of my visions, you’re hurt if you touch the fence. And the electricity breaks your focus. You never destroy it.”

  “Then what should we do, soothsayer?”

  Victory didn’t reply.

  Battery turned his attention to Geist. She stared at him and narrowed her eyes, water dripping over her eyelashes. “What makes you think I can handle this problem? I’ve never seen a fence like this. No one has.”

  “You’re in charge,” he muttered. “You said you’d have a plan.”

  “I’m—” she stopped herself with a deep breath. “I won’t be in charge once we make it back to the commander. One of you one can make the call.”

  “Because you’re a woman?”

  Geist let her gaze fall to the dirt. “Because I’m not who I said I was.”

  She couldn’t look at Battery, fearing the expression she would see.

  He said nothing, allowing their unspoken words to hang between them. The howl of the wind worsened their condition, dropping the temperature even further.

  She gritted her teeth. “Look, I’m sorry. I should’ve… I mean, if I could do everything over again—”

  A host of unspoken words hung between them. He must hate me.

  Battery stepped closer, closing the distance between them to half a foot. “If you could go back in time and do everything over again, you should have told me.”

  She nodded.

  “No. You’re not listening. You should have told me the moment we landed behind enemy lines, on the very first mission we were together.” He glared, but his lower lip also quavered. “I mean, I can’t believe you trusted Vergess over me!”

  Geist snapped her gaze up to meet his.

  “We went through everything together,” Battery continued, his hands balled into fists. “You gave me my codename. You saved me from the falling zeppelin. You always had my back, no matter what happened. I trusted you—why couldn’t you trust me?” Then he motioned to Vergess with a flick of his hand. “What does he have that I don’t? Why tell him?”

  Vergess gave him a sidelong glance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You know what it means.” Battery shook his head. “And you lied to me about having the operation. That was the worst part. I know why now, but I wish it had never happened. I don’t want you to think you can’t trust me. I… I don’t think I could stand that.”

  “It’s not just that I’m a woman,” Geist whispered, the rain almost drowning out her words.

  “You’re a member of House Cavell,” Blick said from the car.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t care,” Battery declared. “You’ve obviously proven your dedication to the Ethereal Squadron. More than once. More than a hundred times.”

  “But that’s why you let that enemy live, isn’t it?” Blick asked as he leaned forward on the steering wheel.

  Geist nodded. “Yes. That was… my brother. I made a mistake in the heat of the moment. I’m sorry.”

  “Younger or older?”

  “Younger.”

  Blick shrugged. “Well, then I can sympathize.”

  She rubbed at her face, clearing away the water. “You… forgive me? You would trust me after everything I’ve done?”

  “I’m with Battery. You’ve proved yourself a hundred times. And you’ve protected Battery at every turn. I won’t reveal your secret.”

  Geist glanced over to Victory and Dreamer.

  “You know my secret,” Dreamer said. “And I’ve technically always known yours.” He tapped at his temple. “I’m a master spy, after all. Your simple disguise didn’t fool me.”

  “You always knew?” Blick asked with a chortle.

  “The conversations we had the train were very amusing. It took all my strength not to laugh.”

  Heinrich lifted an eyebrow, left out as everyone else chuckled.

  “I won’t betray your secret, either,” Victory said. “I had a vision, while you were inside the OHL. Things went bad, and you threw yourself on a grenade to save us. We all lived because of you. You’re one of us.”

  “We’re a team,” Battery said. “Nothing will ever change what we’ve overcome together.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured. When she turned to Vergess, he replied with a smile and a nod. Had he known what the others would say?

  Blick rubbed at the back of his neck. Then he cleared his throat. “I, uh, want to apologize. I never knew you were woman, ya know, when I was spouting off and making an arse of myself. Especially on the train.” He shot Dreamer a dirty look.

  “It’s fine,” Geist said with a smile. “And you shouldn’t change your ways now. I don’t want anyone else finding out.” Too many people know already.

  Battery wiped his face. “We won’t tell Major Reese. So please, stay in the Ethereal Squadron. We need you.�
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  “Of course.”

  Battery motioned to the wire and Geist looked it over as if seeing it for the first time. She had almost forgotten why she exited the vehicle in the first place.

  “What’re we going to do?” Battery asked. “We have to make it back before the enemies launch their assault on Paris. We don’t have time to drive around.”

  I know. Time is our enemy as much as the Central Powers.

  Geist held out her hand. “Help me,” she said.

  The solution came to her in a moment of clarity. With Battery, her specter sorcery reached new heights. If she could make her clothing incorporeal, perhaps she could extend that power to other objects she touched. She would ghost the fence and allow them to drive into the Netherlands.

  Battery took her hand. The feeling Geist had when they worked together reminded her of everything being a part of a team was. She felt confident with his strength at her command, and appreciated the trust on his part—on everyone’s part. She would get the job done.

  She was their commander, after all.

  “Blick, get ready to drive through,” she said. “Don’t stop until you’re on the other side.”

  “All right,” he called back as he started the vehicle.

  Battery hustled back to the motorcar, a spring in his step that hadn’t been there before. Vergess placed a hand on her shoulder before returning to the car as well.

  She walked up to wooden fence post, ignoring the popping and humming, and instead lifted her hand and got it as close to the wire as possible without touching it. An arch of power stung her palm, but she gritted her teeth and worked through it.

  Focus.

  Channeling her sorcery, Geist stared at the fence. The raindrops still hit the metal, colliding with the fence and proving it to be solid. She bit her lip and tried again, but the fence remained stubbornly intact.

  Is it the magi-tech? Is it preventing me from doing this?

  Geist could almost hear her father’s voice berating her, but she pushed the memories from her mind before ever hearing a word. She closed her eyes, envisioning him at the OHL. He could become invisible and incorporeal without Battery’s aid. Could he ghost the fence? There was no doubt in her mind that he could.