Capture (The Machinists Book 4)

by Craig Andrews

  “What are you going to do?” Michael asked.

  “I don’t know yet,” Jaxon said honestly. But I’ll do whatever it takes.

  Chapter 29

  “Let me guess,” Sedric said, holding up a finger. “You’re looking for the Blood Wand.” He laughed when he saw Allyn’s blank expression. “Come now, boy, I know you educated types like to think us military boys are slow, but that’s just rude.”

  Sedric stepped deeper into the room, trailed by four fully armed Knights with their guns trained on Allyn and Canary. Two more Knights appeared in the hall behind them, dragging Ren and Leira with them. Each was bound and wore a pained expression. Blood matted the back of Ren’s short hair and streaked down the back of her neck. Leira didn’t look much better.

  “Where is it?” Allyn growled, his eyes returning to the Knight Commander.

  “Safe.”

  “And my people?”

  Sedric paused beside Allyn’s shoulder, his face making an expression Allyn couldn’t place. “They’re safe, too.”

  “You’re lying,” Allyn said.

  “The Lord detests lying lips, and mine speak true. But enough about me. Tell me, who’s this?”

  Sedric made for Canary, his eyes going up and down her body like a man leering at a beautiful woman. “You’re not as feisty as that one over there.” He pointed at Ren, who was still woozy from the blow to her head. “You’re not one of them healing types, are you? That would be something. That would really be something.” He pushed her toward one of the nearby Knights. “Bind them.”

  “Bind us?” The words were out of Allyn’s mouth before he had a chance to reel them back in. If I get out of this, I really need to work on thinking before I talk.

  “Did you think we were going to kill you?” Sedric smiled playfully. “Believe me, Allyn, nothing would give me more satisfaction. Lucky for you, I have other orders.” His smile disappeared, his expression turning dark. “Of course, people fall in battle all the time. It’s the nature of war.”

  Sedric tapped his fingers against his lips as if contemplating the idea while his Knights yanked Allyn’s hands behind his back, cuffing him.

  “No,” Sedric said finally. “Again, lucky for you, I follow my orders. You’ll get what’s coming to you, though. That, I know for sure.”

  “What are your orders?” Allyn asked.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Sedric turned to the Knights who had bound Allyn and Canary. “Ready?”

  “Ready, sir,” they said.

  “Good,” Sedric said. “Let’s go.” Then as if it were an afterthought, he added, “And be careful. Just because they’re bound don’t mean they can’t wield. They’re still dangerous. Remember that.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Apparently satisfied that his men understood the danger, the Knight Commander strode from the room, his Knights and the magi prisoners in tow. He led them to the first level then down another stairwell leading to the basement. There, he pulled open a secret hatch on the floor, exposing a set of concrete stairs.

  “Down you go,” Sedric said, waving the group on.

  Once the group was at the bottom, yellow lights flickered on, lighting a long corridor complete with concrete walls and ceiling. The corridor itself was wide enough that a vehicle could drive through.

  Of course, Allyn realized. This is how they did it.

  It made too much sense, and he kicked himself for not realizing it sooner. Of course an old military base would have tunnels linking the buildings together. In the event of an attack, command would have to be able to move soldiers and equipment without the enemy being aware.

  Did they use these against our other forces too?

  Fear spread through his veins like ice water, leaving a helpless anger in its wake. He felt like an animal being led to its slaughter. He should be fighting, should be saving the magi around him and the others above, but with Ren’s and Leira’s injuries, the odds of successfully freeing them were too great. His only choice was to be patient and wait for an opening.

  Sedric set off down the corridor, the Knights pushing the magi after him until the tunnel opened into a larger chamber. It looked like some sort of underground garage, and in it was a trio of parked BearCats.

  “Inside.” Sedric held open the door as his Knights shoved Allyn and Canary into the first vehicle. One of the Knights climbed into the rear hatch with them and shoved Allyn onto the bench before closing the hatch behind them. Two more climbed in the front, and the driver wasted no time before firing up the vehicle.

  Sedric shoved Ren and Leira into the second BearCat, and within moments, they were all moving. The concrete walls amplified the BearCats’ engine noise, making them sound almost like a pair of airplanes getting ready to take off. Then they were moving upward, and a moment later, the BearCats’ engine volume was cut in half.

  We’re out of the tunnels.

  Allyn tried to look out of the small windows, earning him a blow to the side of the head.

  “Eyes forward,” the Knight in the back said. He stood between Allyn and Canary, one hand holding onto a bar mounted to the roof of the vehicle.

  “Where are you taking us?” Allyn said.

  The Knight hit him again, and Allyn tasted copper. He spit at the Knight, and a thick glob of blood stuck to his chest.

  “You little fucker,” the Knight said. “You think this is a game? I’ll show—”

  “What the hell is going on back there?” one of the Knights in front bellowed.

  “This fucker thinks we’re playing. I’m going to—”

  “You’re going to do nothing. No one touches him. Commander’s orders.”

  “But—”

  “No ‘buts,’ Livingston. Understood?”

  The first Knight growled but didn’t push the issue. Allyn gave him a bloody smile.

  Livingston leaned in close, his breath thick with the smell of alcohol. “I’m going to gut you.”

  “Your breath stinks,” Allyn said.

  The Knight puckered his lips together and blew out long and slow as if he were blowing smoke into Allyn’s face, then he laughed and pulled back, a humorless sneer on his face.

  Allyn had no idea how long they drove or in what direction they were headed, but the sun eventually rose high enough for him to see through the windows behind Canary. The forested landscape gave way to rolling hills and small towns, and once again, his thoughts returned to escape.

  However, as the miles ticked by, he wasn’t sure escaping was the best move. He couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t think their forces had found any of the abducted magi at the Knights’ base. Did that mean Allyn and the rest of his squad were being taken to where the others were being held? If so, he wasn’t sure he could give up that opportunity. But what would happen when they arrived? Allyn would be a prisoner himself. Then again, if he broke free now, the whereabouts of their kin would remain a mystery.

  Unless… unless there’s a third option.

  He smiled as the thought materialized. It had been so obvious he’d almost missed it.

  Chapter 30

  Jaxon and Nolan made it back to the forest in good time, the sounds of the battle growing closer with every step. Jaxon cut through the tree line, moving through the thick foliage, treasuring speed over silence, and it didn’t take them long to arrive. What they found was complete chaos.

  The location—a small rise with sparse trees, which had provided the magi quick access to the road and a clear path to the barracks—was no longer working in their favor. The sparseness of the forest offered less cover, especially against a force that stuck to the forest shadows and harassed the magi from a distance.

  The magi had formed a ring around the arch mage and several of the more prominent grand mages, including Jaxon’s father. The Knig
hts numbered roughly the same as the magi—maybe thirty in all—but were more concentrated and were conducting a focused assault.

  “They’re going after the arch mage,” Nolan said quietly. “What do we do? We can’t take them on all at once.”

  Jaxon was barely listening, his mind working out the beginnings of a plan. “Wait here.”

  “Wait here?” Nolan said, incredulous. “For how long?”

  “You’ll know.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to nip at their heels.”

  “What does that mean?”

  But Jaxon was already moving. He left Nolan behind, trusting the other man would enter the fray when the time was right. Part of him thought he’d made a mistake in bringing Nolan, that the man would have been better suited for the battle within the barracks, but there was nothing he could do about that now. And any lingering doubt disappeared as the Knight force came into view—Jaxon would need all the firepower he could get.

  The Knights were pressing their advantage, and already, the magi lines showed signs of breaking. If he didn’t act fast, the reserve unit would be forced to retreat, putting the lives of the arch mage and much of the magi leadership in even greater danger.

  Moving softly and sticking to the shadows, Jaxon encased his fists in air and made for a human-shaped shadow hidden behind a tree. He had fought the Knights enough to understand their vulnerabilities, primarily the weak spot in their tactical armor.

  Using the sounds of battle as his cover, Jaxon snuck up behind the Knight and drove an air-aided fist into his side. The blow landed with a miniature explosion of air, striking with several times the force of a normal punch. Jaxon felt ribs crack as the Knight stiffened and collapsed to the ground.

  Already wielding again, Jaxon drove a lance of ice between the Knight’s breastplate and helmet, into his throat, silencing the cry of alarm before it could make it out of his chest.

  Leaving the ice shard in the Knight’s throat, Jaxon moved toward his next target. He found the Knight only ten paces away and neutralized him in much the same way before moving on again, carving his way through the edge of the Rakkaran line. It wasn’t until he eliminated the fifth Knight that he was spotted.

  Jaxon rolled through the underbrush, ducking behind a large tree as the Knight opened fire. Bullets ravaged the landscape, tearing through ferns and splintering the thick tree trunk that Jaxon hid behind. Keeping his breathing calm and steady, Jaxon readied another attack.

  The rest of the Knight force was still too preoccupied with the magi reserves to have noticed one of their own engaged in a battle with a rogue magi. Knowing he couldn’t afford to draw the ire of the full force, Jaxon sprang into action.

  The air cracked as he propelled another ice blast forward with a concussion of air. It shattered against the attacking Knight’s battle armor and sent him cascading backward. Jaxon rushed toward him, doubting the ice had punctured the armor, and found the Knight splayed on the ground, his helmet gone. The Knight tried to bring up his gun, but Jaxon landed on him, burying his knees into the biceps of each arm, and drove a lance of ice through his eye.

  Jaxon tore his eyes away from the dead Knight just in time to see three more breaking away from the main unit, their guns already trained on him. Apparently, his one-on-one battle hadn’t gone as unnoticed as he’d first thought.

  He cursed, diving away as gunfire tore through the forest. Sailing through the air, he knew the maneuver was useless. He was dead. It was only a matter of time.

  Except when he landed, rolled, and readied himself to spring away again, he realized the three Knights were on the ground. Confused, Jaxon spun, his eyes searching the forest until he found Nolan, carrying a gun of his own.

  “You were right,” Nolan said, approaching. “I knew when the time was right.”

  “I’ll say.” Jaxon raised an eyebrow at the sight of the gun.

  “It’s more subtle than magic,” Nolan said with a shrug. “With this crowd, anyway.”

  “Speaking of which,” Jaxon said, “it looks like we’ve made a dent in their line. Keep it up, and we might give our people a chance.”

  Nolan pulled the magazine from his assault rifle, checking his remaining rounds, then dropped and grabbed two more from the fallen Knights. “Let’s get to it.”

  “One last thing,” Jaxon said.

  “Yeah?”

  “The time for subtlety is over. Make our two feel like twenty. Let our magi know we’re out here.”

  Nolan smiled. “All right then.”

  Jaxon moved before either said anything more. The magi force had to know there was a weakness in the Knights’ line—and that they weren’t alone. And there was only one way to do that.

  Wielding balls of fire in each hand, Jaxon strode toward the enemy. The world slowed as he fell into the deep concentration that the Mahari had taught him. He could almost see individual bullets as they were spit out of gun barrels, smell the sweat and fear of the Knights, taste the desperation of his fellow magi.

  The first fireball exploded against the side of a Knight’s helmet, bathing a small section of the forest in an orange light. The Knight next to him spun, turning to face Jaxon, but Jaxon’s second fireball took him in the center of his chest.

  Continuing down the line, Jaxon hurled fireball after fireball, maximizing the element of surprise. He carved through the enemy lines like a rock through water, and it didn’t take long for the magi to take notice.

  Without a word, or at least words that Jaxon could hear, the magi force swelled toward him. At their head was Rohn Agerland, the Spark of Arch Mage Westarra’s Elemental Guard. His long hair tied into a tail behind him, he surged forward, wielding with a ferocity Jaxon could only dream of matching.

  Jaxon made for the magi, noticing as he drew closer that their faces contorted with the pained expressions of overexertion. They kept fighting, though, hurling fireballs and ice blasts into the trees where the enemy hid.

  “Jaxon!” his father called out. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with the main force.”

  “I heard the battle,” Jaxon said. “We came to protect the arch mage.”

  “We?”

  “Nolan is with me,” Jaxon said, his words punctuated by a flash of white light as Nolan continued to harrow the enemy lines. “Where did the Knights come from?”

  “I don’t know,” his father said. “And we don’t have time to talk about it now. We need to protect the arch mage.”

  “Agreed,” Jaxon said, moving again.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Protecting him the only way I know how. By killing them before they kill us.”

  His father obviously didn’t agree with the decision but didn’t say anything more. Jaxon melded in with the rest of the advancing magi force. When a scream punctuated the battle, he spun, finding a small knot of magi crowding around a white mass. Most had their backs to it, attacking a knot of Knights who had opened fire, while a few others were on their knees attending to the fallen.

  “No,” Jaxon said, rushing toward the group of magi. He knew what he would find before he got there, but his heart still sank when he arrived.

  Blood pooled under the arch mage’s white battle dress, soaking into the forest floor. His face had gone ashen, his eyes cold as the clerics continued their work. But Jaxon already knew the truth, even if the rest refused to see it.

  Arch Mage Westarra, the leader of the magi Order, was dead.

  Chapter 31

  Allyn bided his time. His plan was audacious, damn near suicidal, but given the circumstances, it was the best he could come up with.

  “Hey,” Allyn whispered when the Knight who had been riding in the rear compartment with them strode toward the cab.

  Canary looked at
him.

  “How are you doing?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Are they… are they on the radio with each other?”

  She looked toward the front of the vehicle then back at Allyn.

  “Yeah, them. Are they talking to the people in the other vehicle?”

  She shook her head.

  “Good,” Allyn said. “Can you block any transmissions from going out?”

  She nodded.

  “Perfect. I need you to do that. You can do that, right?” It was less a question of her abilities, and more a question ensuring she was mentally up for the task. Unlike the others, Canary had never experienced battle, let alone been taken prisoner by the enemy.

  She nodded again, this time with a little more vigor.

  “Good,” Allyn said again. “I’m going to get us out of here.”

  Her eyes went wide as Allyn climbed to his feet. There were no seatbelts in the back of the BearCat, and the Knight hadn’t bothered to secure them to the bench.

  Livingston’s back was still to him as Allyn snuck forward. The BearCat shifted and swayed under his feet, its stiff suspension making it difficult to keep his balance. Allyn kept his knees bent, weathering the movement, then with a burst of speed, charged forward and drove his shoulder into the center of Livingston’s back.

  The Knight flew forward. His face, which was no longer protected by his helmet, slammed into the front windshield, leaving behind a bloody streak.

  The driver shouted and reached for Allyn but couldn’t do anything lest he take his eyes off the road. Allyn ignored him, already engaging the passenger. He wielded, feeling the coils of electricity more than he saw them, and with his hands still bound behind his back, he reached blindly for the second Knight. When his fingers found flesh, he grasped, and the coils leaped from him to the Knight like hungry snakes. The smell of burning flesh filled the cab.