Skyborn

by David Dalglish

  “Give me your arms,” said one Seraph to Kael once they were outside the building, and the other requested the same of Bree. The two stretched out their arms, the Seraphim grabbed them by the wrists, and without any warning, they rose into the air. Hanging beneath them, Bree suppressed a surprised shout as she flew backward across the academy. Moments later they set them down at the gear sheds. Sara and Bartow were already waiting outside, Bree’s and Kael’s wings in their arms.

  “Suit up,” they told them.

  “What’s going on?” Kael asked as he slid an arm through the harness.

  “Now is not the time to discuss it,” was the Seraph’s answer.

  Bree strapped on her wings, her mouth dry and her heart starting to race. A lot of things could be happening, but she knew what this was, what it had to be. Air starting to feel thin around her, she tightened the buckles and gritted her teeth to ignore the sudden discomfort. Before she could finish, she saw the third Seraph fly in from the mess hall, Saul hanging by the wrists. When they set him down, he nodded to Kael and Bree, an unspoken message traveling between them. They were the three chosen for combat. The horns had not sounded warning of an attack, but they wouldn’t if Weshern was the one going on the offensive…

  “Where to now?” Bree asked as she tightened the last of her buckles and did a quick check of her elements. Both fire and light shone brightly underneath their protective shields.

  “The armory.”

  The Seraphim led the way, the twins following. At the armory, the entire Seraphim forces gathered, every one of them in their silver wings and combat uniform. Sunlight glinted off the metal of the wings and the decorated points of the sheaths belted to their waists. As her feet touched down and she shut off her wings, Bree offered a silent prayer that her brother would endure the day even if she did not.

  The men and women gathered in loose groups, and Bree scanned their faces wishing to see someone familiar. She saw several from the swordplay group Dean had invited her into, but they were scattered about, and for some reason it felt wrong to bother them. Sasha noticed her, however, and she gave her a soft smile.

  You’ll be fine, the woman mouthed.

  I hope so, Bree mouthed back.

  Feeling a little better, she stayed beside Kael, arms crossed over chest as she waited. She didn’t have to wait long. Like a comet flying across the sky came a man with black stripes on his silver wings, and he barely slowed down before slamming into the ground at their center.

  “Seraphim of Weshern,” said Argus Summers as he stood to his full height. “Your Archon made the formal request, and Center has given us our permission. This morning, we fly to the island of Galen. This morning, we bring justice for their aggressions. They have stirred their people against us and done all within their power to break the peace our five islands have known for a decade. Good men and women, our friends, our family, have died because of their pride and recklessness.”

  Argus put a fist upon his breast in a salute, and he turned so he could look upon them all.

  “Such evil bears a price,” he said, voice quieter yet somehow easier to hear in that crowded gathering. “This beautiful morning, we will make them pay.”

  The hundred gathered men and women lifted their arms in a cheer. Bree mimicked the action, wishing she were as confident and excited as the bellow escaping her lips. Act it until you make it real, she told herself, one of the things Instructor Kime had told her in an effort to master her fire element.

  “My Wolf Squadron will maintain point,” Argus continued. “I want Scorpion on our left, Hawk on our right. The rest of you, follow your squad leaders. Trust them to choose the proper paths of battle. Nothing fancy or experimental today, my friends. Surprise is on our side, as are skill and bravery. I trust those qualities alone to lead us to victory.”

  Another cheer, and then everyone began to rise into the air, drifting toward their squad leaders as they formed up. While Saul was in Coyote Squad, Kael and Bree were together in Fox. Their leader was an experienced woman named Olivia West, the most beautiful of all the Seraphim Bree had met. Just being around her made her feel awkward and uncomfortable, but Olivia’s attitude seemed strict and professional at all times. In terms of learning how to fly in formation, Olivia was about as good a teacher as Bree could hope for. Even better, Sasha was also a member, giving Bree another friendly face besides her brother’s to whom she could ask questions when necessary.

  “We’ll be hanging back for a counterpunch,” Olivia said as the nine grouped together. “Ideally a formation that thinks they can get the jump on Argus’s Wolves. Garrick, try to scatter them downward, and I’ll do the same with my own stone. The rest of you, stay in formation, and pick your shots wisely. As for the newbies…” She spun to face Kael and Bree. “Kael, use your ice defensively. Unleash Hell on any group you think is about to draw a bead on us. As for you, Bree… stay close. Maybe if we get into the thick of things, you can get off at least one good shot.”

  Bree nodded, feeling embarrassed by such condescension. It was deserved, of course, but it still stung knowing how unreliable she was in the grand scheme of things. One good shot. Despite the tiny progress she’d made in shaping the initial blast of fire, she still drained her prism within moments. Her increased daily allotment only helped reinforce that fact as she tried in vain to rein it in.

  “Form up!” Olivia shouted as other squads did the same. Olivia kept point, Seraphim on either side flying in matching lines. The farther back, the less experienced and skilled you were considered, for the closer you were to the front, the less time you had to react to your squad leader’s maneuvers. Unsurprisingly, Kael and Bree were the very last two in the formation. Wolf Squad spun once around the academy, then streaked west, and the rest of the squadrons followed. Fox remained near the back and above the others, so much so that they had to pierce through occasional tufts of clouds. The island of Weshern passed beneath them, little more than a distant blur as her Seraphim flew to war.

  Given their location, Bree had ample view of the others gathered before her, and she imagined the chaos she’d witnessed earlier when Galen had attacked in an attempt to win her over for execution. Her imagination lit up the formations with balls of flame and lances of ice, and she felt her stomach suddenly tighten. She coughed twice, dry and painful, and before she could stop herself she tilted her head down and vomited up what little breakfast she’d eaten.

  Please don’t land on someone, Bree thought as the vomit sprayed out beneath her to the island below. In front of her, Sasha lessened her speed until they were nearly side by side.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she shouted, her red ponytail flapping behind her head. “Nearly everyone throws up the first time, either before or after.”

  “Did you?” Bree asked.

  Sasha bit her lower lip, and she grinned.

  “Well, I said nearly everyone.”

  Bree laughed, and she caught Kael grinning at her as well. A bit of her nerves lessened, and she did her best to breathe normally. Sasha’s wings flared brighter as she pushed herself back into formation. Spitting out the last foul taste of bile from her mouth, she focused on the task at hand. Her actions in battle would be close to the games Instructor Dohn had them play, where they chased after one of their classmates. Bree would keep an eye on Olivia at all times, doing her best to remain in formation whenever she turned, dove, or climbed. There were a few signals Olivia could make with her arms, particularly for the more difficult maneuvers, but for the most part they had to trust one another and have a feel for their squad leader’s reactions. All the hours of drills and mock combat helped, but Bree felt certain true combat was going to put all of that to the test.

  The ocean passed beneath them, Weshern a steadily fading image behind. The five outer islands created a semicircle around Center, their positions drifting only minuscule amounts each year. Weshern was the farthest east, and nearest to it was her ally, Sothren. Even at their rapid pace, it took an agonizing a
mount of time, fifteen to twenty minutes by Bree’s estimate, to reach Sothren’s edge. Argus guided them alongside the island, using it as a screen of sorts against the much more distant Galen. Just before they might fly over, they banked right, and suddenly Wolf Squad gained speed, causing the rest to follow suit. As Bree pushed her throttle, she saw they were at nearly ninety percent.

  Argus really wants surprise on our side, she thought.

  Sothren passed to her left, and Bree spared what glances she could. Just as Weshern had the most lakes and indigenous fish that could not live within the ocean’s waters, Sothren’s pride was its great orchards of fruit. They had multiple types of apples, some even green and yellow, while the soft red type were the only ones that grew on Weshern. She’d heard of the other fruits, of their bitter pears and juicy oranges, even melons that were so enormous they grew out of the ground instead of from a branch, but she’d never had the chance to try any of them. One day, she decided, she’d take a trip to Sothren just to eat all the different fruit it offered. Assuming she lived, of course.

  Once Sothren was beyond them, and Center far to their right, they bypassed the nearer Elern to the south and took aim for Galen. Seeing the distant green and brown island, its Fount a slender line of pale blue barely distinguishable from the clouds, reawakened every bit of her stomach’s discomfort. This was it. Battle was coming. Bree thought of her single-mindedness when she attacked Eric Drae, of how it’d felt so instinctual, and she prayed that feeling would return. She couldn’t fight like this. She couldn’t fight afraid, and doubting, and worrying over every little detail. That wasn’t how she flew. Minute after minute clocked along as they crossed the miles, until at last Olivia shouted something at the front. Two Seraphim halfway down the formation repeated it so all could hear.

  “Galen forces approaching!”

  Even if she never heard, Bree would have understood. Tiny red and gold dots swarmed up from Galen’s edge like gnats, quickly falling into V-shape formations, each seven strong. As always, a cluster of theotechs hovered nearby, watching, waiting. Terror clawed at Bree’s heart with thin, hooked nails. There was no turning back, no escaping this. A year of training, of flying, of flailing with her element and twisting through each ring of the obstacle course, had led her to this. She looked to Kael, and she saw he’d already turned her way. He knew her too well, and he also knew exactly what to say.

  “Bet I kill more than you,” he shouted, shifting closer to ensure she heard him.

  Bree shook her head, fighting off a smile as her competitive spirit took over.

  “You wish,” she shouted back.

  “We’ll compare afterward then!”

  Because they would, Bree told herself. They would both endure. They would survive.

  Wolf Squad began to weave side to side, just gentle enough that the nearing army could not fully ascertain their angle of approach. Olivia lifted a fist, then opened it, their signal to spread out. Bree fell back farther as their formation elongated. With the increased space, they would be less vulnerable to the incoming projectiles, though it’d be harder to also hide behind their defensive countermeasures of stone and ice. Given their role in the far back, the evasive formation made sense. Wolf, Scorpion, and Hawk, however, kept tight formations as they led the way, trusting their leaders as well as their fellow Seraphim to provide adequate defense.

  For a long moment, the only sound was of the whooshing of the wind and the thrum of their wings. The white noise was comfortable, another form of silence to Bree, but that silence was broken when enormous boulders shot upward from both sides. As they fell, they crashed into one another, shattering into pieces, and that sound seemed to awaken a chaotic chorus. Lances of ice slammed into more stone, these wide and flat and lofted in protection. Fire crackled as it burst into the center of their formations, punctuated by blasts of lightning streaking through each side’s numbers. Bree watched the opening salvos crash and burn into one another while striking down Seraphim wearing both black and red jackets. So far in the back, she had the briefest moment to take it all in, the sudden fury and splendor of all four elements unleashed, before Olivia curled downward and to the right, leading them into the battle.

  Twin streaks of lightning flashed above Bree, but she was too focused to wince despite her terror. A barrage of ice lances whirled before them, unleashed by a Galen squadron chasing after Wolf Squad, and then Olivia led Fox Squad right onto their tail. Wide flat stones lashed out, Bree heard a crack as one Galen Seraph had his wings ripped off his back, and then their foes dove, exactly as Olivia had said she’d try to force them. Fire and lightning erupted into their path, catching two more and sending their bodies plummeting to the ocean. Bree started to twist, expecting Olivia to have them follow as the battered squad banked a hard left, but instead she began a near vertical climb. Bree obeyed despite her confusion, which lasted only a second before a trio of fireballs exploded directly in the path they’d have taken if keeping chase.

  There were no clear sides now as the battle erupted into a whirling, vicious dance. Olivia had them continue to climb as elements shot through the air all around them. It seemed she was trying to gain them some separation so they might make another ambush, but two different Galen squads chased after, one from either side. Olivia banked side to side, and Bree mimicked the evasive maneuver. The two Galen squads opened with a salvo of stone, and despite her best efforts, Bree closed her eyes as she juked to one side. She felt the distortion of the air as the stones flew past, heard a loud nearby crack. When she opened her eyes, she saw one of their squad dropping, his body struck with a bolt of lightning on the way down to ensure his death.

  Her panic lasted only a moment before she looked right and saw Kael still with her. A lance of ice knifed a few feet to his right, and he turned around, bracing with his gauntlet. True to Olivia’s command, he unleashed more than a dozen lances right back, six to either side. The act had him falling behind, and Bree screamed his name as the chasing Seraphim returned fire. Kael flew as fast as his silver wings could carry him, fire and stone hurtling through the air about him. Before she could realize what had happened, thin shards of stone flew past Bree on each side, and she winced in surprise. Olivia had turned Fox Squad about-face, diving straight down toward the ocean and their pursuers, and she’d not seen it due to her attention being on her brother. Several others flew past her, and Bree turned and dove, punching her throttle to full so she might rejoin the formation.

  Such a head-on meeting was considered the most dangerous possible attack, but it was better than letting the two groups slowly pick them apart. At least gravity was on their side, giving them far greater speed, and Olivia used it for all it was worth, extending her gauntlet and creating a dizzying layer of five boulders careening at different angles and speeds. Bree clenched her gauntlet, thinking maybe to use her fire, but then the Seraphim they attacked pulled into a hover. Two died, their bodies crushed by Olivia’s stone, but the survivors lifted their right arms and unleashed all they had. Olivia banked left, but Bree noticed far too late. Seven lances of ice, each thicker than her torso, shot up into the air. On instinct she twisted her body and veered right, barely avoiding their aim. Sasha in front of her wasn’t so fast, nor so lucky.

  “Sasha!” Bree screamed, trying to crane her neck to see as she spun wildly away from their formation. The woman plummeted headfirst toward the water, showing no control over her wings. She’d been struck right in the chest, and a stream of blood trickled after her as she fell. Telling herself not to cry, Bree weaved side to side as the cacophony of battle overwhelmed her ears. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know where her squadron had gone, what she should do. Fighting off panic, she swooped low and away from the battle, hoping she might have some chance to recover.

  After a few moments she turned to see if anyone chased. No one did. The battle raged on in front of her as she hovered in place, silver and gold wings curling and twisting as elements filled the air between them.


  “Where are you?” Bree whispered, searching. Her eyes lit up when she finally spotted Fox Squad. Their numbers were down to five, but Kael was still one of them. That joy immediately faded when she realized where they were. Olivia had them curling at the very edge of the battle, seeking another target. Beneath them, though, was one of Galen’s snipers. He’d been lurking close to the ocean, waiting for an opportune time to strike, and it seemed he’d found it. In less than a minute, he’d be in position to attack.

  “No,” Bree whispered. She’d seen the damage a sniper could cause at the last battle, but what could she do? Bree lifted her hands, and she hated herself for her total lack of control. All around her elements raged against each other, and she could only dodge and weave, praying to survive. Her brother was in danger, but at such speeds and distance, what would one reckless blast of flame accomplish? Nothing. Her fire was her own enemy, uncontrollable and wild. When she tapped into its fury, nothing kept it restrained and focused. All she had were her swords. Having now experienced the chaos of battle, its air filled with powerful elements and her foes racing at incredible speeds, she understood how worthless her blades truly were. She’d be lucky not to have her arm taken off should she ever connect a single swing.

  Worthless. Was that what she was? All her training, all her skill in flight? Worthless?

  Bree stared at the encroaching sniper, and she felt rage overwhelm her mind. She jammed her wrists down, connecting the sword hilts to her gauntlets, and then drew them from her scabbards. So tightly she clenched them, it seemed her vision went red. No, she would not be worthless. She would not watch her brother die.