“And strip you of this vista?” He laughed.
I snorted but smiled. Fleetingly.
Treth rolled his eyes and teleported onto the roof of the HQ, his legs hanging over the edge.
Brett frowned and slowly pulled me into a hug, balancing his chin on my head. I was tall, but he was taller. Worked. He needed to be able to shoot over my head in the firing line.
He didn’t light his cigarette as he slowly traced his fingers over a scar on my arm. I couldn’t remember how I got that one. It was long. Serpentine. Probably a clawed undead. Maybe a wraith.
I began to lose myself in Brett’s touch and the chill of the night, when he spoke.
“You never told me…” he hesitated. “That your aunt was…that you thought she was dead.”
Moment gone, I moved away and leant up against the railing.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s not.”
“Kat…”
“It wasn’t important. Well, it was. But…with everything else going on. There was too much.”
“You found out then, didn’t you? After the Necro…”
“We don’t need to talk about it.”
Treth appeared behind Brett, frowning. It was the expression he had whenever he was disappointed in me. But what did he know? It wasn’t his aunt. He was just a ghost inside my head.
But Brett’s expression was different. And, in a way, his pitying, sympathetic eyes hurt more than Treth’s judgement.
Brett sighed. “Perhaps we don’t. But I hope you can talk to me about these sorts of things. It helps. For me, at least.”
I felt anger rise. But it soon coalesced into something else. Frustration. Resentment. Not at Brett, but at something else. Perhaps, at myself?
I looked into Brett’s eyes and I saw nothing but sincerity and love.
I couldn’t be angry at him. Not about this. Not when his only crime was caring about me.
But, at the same time, I couldn’t burden him with so much. Especially when he had his own problems to deal with.
I hesitated, and Brett didn’t press, but finally, I spoke.
“I’m nervous, Brett. Flying across the ocean, working for an army, seeing her again after I thought I had gotten over her…”
“Did you?”
“No…but that doesn’t matter. She’s all I have left of my family. I have to do this, but I can’t help but fear what I’m leaving behind.”
“You have allies, Kat. Friends. And, after what we’ve been through, I’d say we’re all family – in a way. Cindy and Guy are more than enough to hold the fort.”
“I promised Guy I’d fight the Blood. But can I really do that? And with the rise of necromancers, my promises to Riaan, the Crusaders…”
Brett embraced me as I realised, I had begun speeding up, not stopping for breath. I froze, tense, but then slowly melted into the moment.
“I’m scared, Brett. Scared that I’ll fail. That I won’t be here when I need to be.”
“You can’t be everywhere. And nobody expects you to be. You’re Kat Drummond, yes. But you’re also human. We all have the right to fail. And, besides, I thought you had learnt already that you can rely on other people. Wasn’t that your entire character arc?”
I snorted. “I thought the lesson was that not all monsters are monstrous.”
“Except vampires.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure there’s a vampire out there who isn’t totally terrible.”
Brett feigned a hiss of displeasure and I laughed.
“I love you, Brett Callahan.”
“Love you too, Katty.”
He winked, as I almost shoved him off the balcony.
Chapter 10.
Travel
“If ye could always fly, why ye only doing it now?” Duer asked, sceptically, as he hovered centimetres from my face. He was accompanied by Brivvy and a flock of other pixies. Brivvy, being his better half, had wished me safe travels and even safer returns. Duer thought we were lying about planes.
“I’ll miss you too, Duer,” I said, smiling faintly.
Duer puffed out his chest, trying to look stoical, before his little face wilted and his golden glow wavered. He charged my face and hugged my nose tightly.
“Be safe, Maddy. Humans weren’t meant to fly.”
I stroked his head with my pinkie.
“I’ll be back before you know it, Duer. And don’t give Cindy any more trouble!”
“Trouble?” he asked, sheepishly, as he flew back.
Cindy ushered him out of the way.
“Don’t worry about me.” She leaned close, whispering. “Brivvy has my back. And she’s the real one in charge.”
“I heard that!” Duer yelled. Cindy ignored him.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” I asked, frowning.
We were in the airport terminal and must have made quite the spectacle.
With Phillip’s dispensation, we were all allowed to carry our weapons onboard as hand-luggage. I wouldn’t have brought any of my enchanted weapons if I had known they would go out of my sight. And I had heard nothing but horror stories about how planes handled luggage in the cargo hold. Other than my weapons, I packed lightly. Armour and clothes. That’s it.
Trudie was a different story. She’d practically brought an entire makeup studio’s worth of cosmetics. I didn’t know why. She only ever wore black.
The weapons were disconcerting to other travellers, of course, but the entire ensemble must have been a novelty. A horde of pixies flying about, Cindy holding my black and white cat, and my coat was eagerly on fire. I didn’t think I would get away with all this if I hadn’t been a celebrity. There were perks, I had to admit.
Cindy must have been thinking the same thing as me as she looked down with a smirk, after examining the confusion of some passers-by.
“We’ll be fine, Kat! I was banishing demons and dealing with Conrad’s nonsense before you were in diapers.”
“You’re not that old!”
“I feel it. But everything will be fine. You have a team now. Don’t have to bear the weight of the world. Not by yourself, at least.”
“Thanks, Cins,” I smiled, and embraced her, Alex purring in between. I gave him a kiss on the forehead and then turned to where the Davisons were bidding farewell to their daughter. Charne was fussing with Trudie’s makeup while Mike was firmly shaking Pranish’s hand. Must be confusing for them. Pranish had always been like an adopted child. Part of the herd of children that they had accepted and loved. But now, Pranish was an almost inevitable son-in-law. I looked at Senegal, off to the side, carrying luggage and saying goodbye to his mom and dad. Brett and Senegal’s dad had shared a look and a nod of respect but did not speak. They had both once been Corps. That meant something. But some wounds were best left unexamined.
“Garkains are native to Australia,” Guy explained to Brett, professionally. Coolly. “Make sure to restrain them before using silver fragmentation from within…”
“I know, Guy. I’ve killed, like, ten of them.”
“Eleven,” Guy countered, smiling, weakly.
“Be safe, my friend,” Brett replied, his smile regretful and sincere. When I had first met him, he had been a joker, an uncouth hunter without a stitch of sincerity. He’d hidden his pain behind a laugh. But now…
Guy’s impassive expression, for one of the few times that I’d ever known him, broke. He embraced his friend and held on tight. It was brief and ended with the men separating and giving a final nod.
As everyone had been consumed by their goodbyes, it seemed I had been the only one left to notice this farewell of comrades. Brett disappeared to check in the cargo hold luggage.
Guy saw me looking and wiped the tears out of his eyes.
“Look after him, Drummond.”
“I always do.”
He nodded. “I know.”
I said my goodbyes to the others, being almost smothered by Charne’s hug, and having to further argue with Conrad about his temporary po
sition. It seemed to last forever yet it was too short a time before a voice sounded:
“Flight 231 from Hope City International to Mauritius is now boarding.”
Teary-eyed but keeping the waterworks at bay for just a bit longer, I gave a final wave to the assorted Crusaders, friends and family members as they saw us off through the departures checkpoint. Much beeping ensued as we set off the metal detectors, and repeatedly flashed our clearance certificates.
“Just another day in Hope City,” one of the security guards commented, bags under his eyes heavy enough to sink ships.
Wordlessly, we proceeded to our plane. It was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with diplomatic tags and all. That wouldn’t do much against a rift-surge, though. Even out of season, we were all concerned about Post-Cataclysm Earth’s most irritating quirk. That was why we were flying to Mauritius first, then we’d island hop from there. At least if we got surged over land, we could possibly use magic or parachutes to get to safety. In the middle of the Indian Ocean, we wouldn’t have such a luxury.
“Can this winged carriage really fly?” Treth asked, curious.
“There’s one taking off right there,” I said, inclining my head to a distant runway.
“Yeah, but that’s not THIS one.”
Observing patterns wasn’t really Treth’s strong suit. Well, at least he was a sceptic.
“Did you bring any weapons, Kyong?” Brett asked, lugging all our hand luggage. He had insisted on being gentlemanly. Couldn’t take that from him.
“Of course,” Kyong replied, and showed his tensed knuckles.
They both laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world.
“Does your ghost want a window seat?” Trudie asked. She also had her hands free as she had split her luggage between Senegal and Pranish. Lazy!
Everyone was chatting now, after the silence following our sombre farewell. There was a definite excitement in the air. But also, that of anxiety. Much of it was mine.
“What’s a window seat?” Treth asked.
“You’ll see. But the window seat is mine. You can sit on my lap.”
Treth blushed while my companions tried to decipher what I was talking about.
I had to hand it to Phillip. This plane was much more luxurious than I had expected. I had expected rows of cattle seating in the cabin but was, instead, greeted by six comfortable seats facing each other and surrounding an island bar and minifridge. There were already cocktails served, causing Trudie to bolt past the pilot and begin swigging.
The pilot, an older man with an Airforce uniform, saluted. I saluted back, awkwardly.
“Ms Drummond! It is an honour to meet you. I’m Captain James Tarantine. I will be your pilot for this flight. My co-pilot, Seras Gaba, is busy doing some last-minute preparation before take-off.”
An airhostess came into view, forcing a smile as she watched Trudie go for another cocktail.
“My name is Linsey McCleod. I will be serving you in the cabin for the flight.”
“Thank you. Both of you. I appreciate it…and apologise for any inconveniences.”
Soon, we were seated. Treth’s anxiety was so palpable that I could cut it with a knife. Actually, some of that was mine. Or was most of it mine?
Despite me claiming the window seat, I argued with Brett. He insisted that he had gotten enough window seats in Corps’ helicopters. Kyong was too busy doing some physics equations to calculate his powers to care.
Surprisingly, Trudie didn’t sit by the window, rather was flanked by Senegal and Pranish. My wizarding friend got the window, but had his nose buried deep into a spell-tome. He muttered the incantations under his breath. Not casting, but memorising. I didn’t know how he could memorise spell-words in these conditions. I had to spend hours going over the text in complete silence. But Pranish made it look easy.
Pranish claimed anyone could be a wizard. But I knew that not everyone had the sheer drive, will and concentration that he did.
“Surely it can’t fly!” Treth insisted, pacing up and down the cabin, inspecting every corner and every window. “I don’t see joints for the wings to flap, and this metal hull is far too heavy.”
I sighed, considering getting one of my smarter friends to explain aviation to my medieval ghost, but I settled on just letting Treth learn with his eyes.
“Please remain seated with your seatbelts secure while we go over the safety guidelines for this trip…”
I zoned out as Linsey proceeded to show us how to buckle seatbelts (who really needs to learn how to do this?!), where to escape in case of a water-landing, and all other tips and tricks on how to survive a plane crash. Despite the danger of surges, I wasn’t worried, though. Even post-Cataclysm, plane travel was statistically safe. Far safer than dodging sea monsters with a ship.
“I don’t like this,” Treth whispered, conspiratorially. Did he really think someone could hear him? “They wouldn’t be going into this much detail if this form of travel was really safe. We should take a ship.”
“Shush. They’re doing this because it’s the law. Remember Mrs Ndlovu? She got us to sign those papers so she wouldn’t be held responsible if something happened.”
“Stuff did happen, though. I thought she was warning us.”
I rolled my eyes but held back a snigger.
Linsey’s briefing ended, eventually, and the plane started to move. A slow, steady pace as it manoeuvred its way onto the runway. I felt Treth’s doubt emanating from him like waves. I was looking forward to it being stripped away.
Senegal and Trudie chattered away about a video game, Pranish memorised spells, while glancing at his girlfriend and the young werewolf at her side. Kyong and Brett discussed the battle ahead. In vague terms, as none of us really knew what we were getting into. Treth paced up and down as if his lack of movement would doom the world.
The plane positioned itself on the runway and then began speeding up. Fast. Faster. Treth froze, and his pale ghostly flesh seemed to go even paler.
Then, we were airborne. I watched out of the window as Hope City shrank underneath us. The airport broke away into the slums, the forests, the city, and then the bay. Smoke rose from parts of the city. Fires? Monsters? My body ached to get into the fight. To do what I knew how to do. To defend my city.
But I couldn’t. Not right now.
“Will you calm down now, Treth?” I finally asked.
He made his way, hesitantly, towards the window, and glued his face to the glass. His mouth froze into an awed “oh”. Perhaps, I should be just as awestruck. We’d both never flown before.
“So…” Trudie said, after the plane settled high above the clouds and there were no more vistas to watch. Despite her lethal levels of alcohol consumption, she wasn’t even slurring. “I know we’re heading to New Zealand, and that we’re gonna thrash some elves and save auntie Mandy, but what’s the deal with this New Sintar anyway? Why do they have Mandy?”
Mercifully, Pranish lowered his spell-tome to answer, allowing me to stay silent. Didn’t feel like talking.
“New Sintar is an elvish kingdom,” he explained. “Named after Sintar, which is allegedly the birth-world of all elves. Much of our magical knowledge actually comes from the elves. The word weylines is inspired by their word for magic. Wey. Allandrea, the queen of New Sintar, is apparently a skilled wizard. I’m not sure what wizards would have done without her and the elves’ teachings.”
“Yeah, yeah. Wizard stuff. But, why are we fighting them? And how do they survive? Australia, New Zealand and all their allies surround them. And humans have to outnumber, them, right?”
“Magic,” I answered, the coldness in my voice surprising even me. Pranish looked about to speak but waited. “Pranish is right. We learnt about a lot of magic from the elves. But they kept a lot of it to themselves. Which meant they could do things we couldn’t. They played nice. Did some trading. Lived among us. But, when they got the chance, they seized land. Kicked humans off their property. And when
humans resisted…then came the purges.”
Trudie’s eyes widened. No flicker of gold. She was shocked. I wasn’t surprised. There was plenty of local news to keep you busy. Most people ignored the little war in the corner of the globe.
“Humans haven’t acted so differently,” Pranish argued. “That land belonged to native humans first, then was taken from them. History is about conquest.”
I snorted. “But they aren’t human. They’re elves. Killing us.”
Imprisoning my family…
My words filled the air, creating a cloying awkwardness. No one spoke. Treth, no longer watching the clouds, considered me with unhidden surprise. He had expressed guilt that his ancestors on Avathor had conquered the elves. And, perhaps it was a tragedy that his people committed such crimes.
I had not realised how I felt about elves until now. I had always found them alien. Uncanny. Too human to be otherworlders, yet too unlike us to be human. It was made only worse when Mandy left to broker peace between them and the humans. I dreaded hearing news about New Zealand and New Sintar, yet I sought it out. Upon re-entering the world after being imprisoned by Candace, one of the first things I did was check the news. It must have been then that my distrust turned to…not quite hatred. But something close.
My rational mind told me that elves weren’t evil. But my instincts compelled me to do more than save my aunt. They told me to avenge what happened to her. To defend MY people.
A warm hand clutching mine woke me from my reverie. Brett gave me a compassionate, reassuring smile.
Had he killed elves in the Corps? And was I asking him to do it again…
The cabin’s lights switched on as the light was rapidly fading, the sun setting behind us. It wouldn’t be too long, only a few hours, until we reached our first stop in Mauritius. My fatigue started to catch up with me, as my head lolled back.
I could afford to close my eyes for a second. Just to rest them. Not like I could do much from up here.
I closed my eyes and felt a profound relief as darkness overtook me and my exhausted mind and body got some much-needed rest.
The Silver Star (Kat Drummond Book 11) Page 9
