Dakkonin's Grudge

by C A Ardron

‘Lion is still a young captain even if he is Jaguar’s protégé,’ Dragon cut him off. ‘He can’t place any evidence down other than his word – and neither can the girl for that matter.’

  ‘So…you’re giving up on the idea?’ Gyrfalcon asked.

  Dragon grimaced. ‘I might’ve gone higher and cut a deal with a Predgarian or Unician, but not now. As much use as the empath would be to us, she is still untrained and untested.’

  Gyrfalcon couldn’t help his stare. There was more to this than Dragon was saying. Was it possible the general was backing off because he didn’t want to jeopardise Golden Lion’s career? He must think very highly indeed of the young man if that was the case. Red Dragon never backed down once he’d set his eye on a new recruit.

  ‘You might as well call off your hunt for them,’ Dragon mentioned with a wave of his hand.

  ‘Yes, Sir,’ Gyrfalcon responded. He picked up the phone receiver and looked down to hide his smile. Who would’ve thought such a young captain could halt General Red Dragon in his tracks?

  He wondered if Lion would ever realise he had one of the most powerful men in the world watching his back.

  * * *

  Jackal stepped into the street, taking in the full view of the Predgarian temple further down the road. He glanced up at the sky, noting thick grey clouds were moving in.

  His Sarpiens were nervously awaiting his order to attack. He smiled and brushed at his leather jacket. They thought he was crazy attacking before dark. All major raids took place once the suns had set, when a large portion of the Orders of Light would be at a disadvantage with not having night vision.

  Jackal thought Sarpiens took too much stock in that. It was only Avians that were really affected by that rule.

  Of course the real reason was for just one single Avian. When the attack began and news broke of what was happening, Falcon would come to him. No matter what had happened to her during the day, no matter what injuries she might’ve suffered – she wouldn’t be able to help herself.

  Jackal allowed a hard grin as he caught the whirring of gossamer wings and then the clunk of metal boots on the tarmac of the road.

  ‘Locust,’ he greeted, not bothering to turn around, ‘right on time.’

  She stepped to his side, her short blade drawn. Jackal met her gaze as she looked him up and down.

  Jackal glanced at his thick jeans and black leather shirt. ‘Something wrong with what I’m wearing?’

  ‘Aren’t you a little underdressed?’ Locust demanded.

  ‘Hardly. You wouldn’t dare attack me before I’ve given the Predgarians my little distraction.’

  Jackal didn’t bother to hide his chuckle when he heard the Insecta grinding her teeth.

  ‘What’s the plan?’ she asked. ‘I don’t see how you’re going to distract an entire temple all by yourself.’

  ‘I know what I’m doing. You just worry about finding your targets. They’ll be wanting to find you after your escape this afternoon.’

  ‘How do you know about that?’ She asked, her voice sharp.

  ‘I’m a general, Locust. You don’t keep a position like mine unless you’re aware of everything going on around you. Now, how about your end of our little bargain?’

  ‘I have Falcon. I’ll give her to you after.’

  Jackal sighed at the lie. ‘Don’t take me for a fool, Locust. I know you haven’t captured her yet, your attempt at the warehouse failed miserably.’

  Locust backed a step, poising for attack.

  ‘It doesn’t really matter,’ he told her with a shrug. ‘This still serves my ends. I’m expecting her to put in an appearance anyway. The ring of steel and Sarpiens calling for blood will no doubt entice her into the fray. Go get your vengeance, Locust. It does my heart good to see warriors of the Light turn on one another.’

  She growled and lifted off with a whirr of transparent wings, disappearing over the rooftops.

  Jackal turned his attention back to the Predgarian temple. He placed his fingers over the jackal’s head coin against his chest. He would have to be quick once the attack began. Locust might well try to interfere and prevent him capturing Falcon.

  If she did it would be in vain. All of his Elite knew of his intentions today. The moment Falcon appeared he’d know about it. No bronze, silver or even gold warrior was going to stop him taking her. Falcon had run from this for three and a half years. Today he took her back.

  Jackal clutched his medallion and the magic flared between his fingers. He waited a moment as the blood-red light encased him in his scarlet Canine armour. A grim smile crossed his face within his helmet as he drew his wide, serrated sabre.

  He strode over to the row of houses to his left and gave the nearest door a polite rap.

  After a second or two it opened, revealing a middle-aged lady wearing an apron over an orange dress.

  ‘Y-yes?’ she asked.

  Jackal paused, savouring the moment when her eyes became glued with horror to the green snake spiralling down his bared left arm.

  ‘Nothing in particular,’ he replied and sliced diagonally across her chest, sinking his serrated edge deep. As she crumpled, screaming in her doorway, Jackal slid the blade through her flesh before kicking her off his sword.

  He stopped a moment to listen and grinned as he heard a scream somewhere nearby. His signal had been picked up by one of his Sarpiens, and now the word would spread, becoming a chorus of screams resounding across the Sector. A pity he didn’t have a force big enough to make the song city-wide.

  Jackal entered the house in search of more victims.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ‘Good,’ Dingo said, glancing down at the cockpit controls before him.

  The young Predgarian beamed at him. Dingo fought the grin forming on his lips. He’d thought Gecko was over-enthusiastic, but this teenager was all but bouncing in his seat.

  ‘What next?’

  The pasty-skinned Avian warrior looked at him, his face growing more nervous by the second. He looked about at the hopper controls.

  ‘Uh…the co-ordinates!’

  Dingo’s fingers latched around the boy’s wrist as he reached for the screen. ‘Not until we’re in the air.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Relax,’ Dingo told him, leaning back in the co-pilot’s chair. He scratched at his dark beard. ‘I know you’ve run the simulation for this tons of times in Havelo. Just pretend you’re running it again. There’s no rush, I’ve not got patrol till tomorrow, we’re not going to run out of time.’

  ‘Right,’ he replied, nodding his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes a second, ‘just running another simulation.’

  Dingo smiled and glanced back through the hopper to the open hatch. Hopefully he’d get around to closing it soon, it wasn’t particularly warm outside.

  ‘Seatbelt on,’ the young warrior muttered, ‘engines on.’

  ‘You forgot something,’ Dingo noted.

  The Avian froze, his hand inches from the ignition.

  Dingo sighed, had he ever been this green and clueless? He eyed the warrior’s medallion. Maybe some chatter would relax him.

  ‘Brown Starling, isn’t it?’

  ‘Uh, yes, Sir,’ the teenager rushed, ‘stationed at Havelo.’

  ‘You been wanting a hopper of your own a while?’

  ‘Um, a little, I guess. I mean, I haven’t been a Predgarian for long. I joined last year, I’ve always wanted to travel though, you know?’

  Dingo nodded. ‘Becoming a pilot is a good way to see Courin.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s what my captain said too. I really wanted the transfer though. I saw a spot advertised at the temple a few months ago – for Rajiti.’

  Dingo smiled. ‘It’s a nice place.’

  ‘You’ve been there, Sir?’

  ‘Once or twice. I’m a bit older than I look, I’ve been assigned to a few places over the years. Rajiti’s calmed down a lot, the sclithe there was killed a few years back. Did you get the transfer?’ />
  ‘Yeah – with the condition I learnt to fly a hopper. I’ll be the unit’s designated pilot. I didn’t even know units had a position like that.’

  ‘A lot of units don’t,’ Dingo mentioned, ‘but Rajiti being an island requires it.’

  Starling nodded, ‘that makes sense.’

  ‘So, do you know what you might’ve forgotten?’

  Starling looked down at the controls, his face taut with concentration.

  ‘That’s quite a breeze coming in from outside,’ Dingo hinted.

  ‘Yeah,’ Starling mumbled, his fingers running over the buttons in front of him. ‘It’s got really cold this week.’

  Dingo rolled his eyes, this was going to take a while. Maybe he should just tell him to close the hatch. As long as he started to remember before these lessons finished it would be all right.

  Dingo paused, hearing an odd sound. He listened, trying to make it out. His eyes widened as the faint wail became louder, accompanied by other screams, becoming a multi-voiced howl of death.

  He reached over and ignited the engine and then switched on the hopper radio. ‘This is Blue Dingo in South hopper 2, come in Predgarian Central.’

  ‘I hear you, South Hopper 2, thank you for responding to the situation.’

  ‘What exactly is the situation?’

  ‘A Sarpien raid. The Red Jackal is outside slaughtering people, all available warriors must intercept.’

  ‘Understood.’ Dingo stood and waved a hand at Starling, ‘out my seat.’

  Starling nodded and unbelted himself. ‘I’ll get into the air, I’ve never seen the Red Jackal before, is he as dangerous as the stories say?’

  ‘Sit down,’ Dingo ordered, pointing at the co-pilot’s chair. ‘This is your lucky day,’ he told the boy, flicking the switch to close the hatch. ‘Let me show you what the best pilot in Steiron can do.’

  Starling grinned and strapped into the second chair. Dingo saw him glance back as the hatch finished closing.

  ‘Oh! That’s what I forgot!’

  ‘Yes it is. Try to remember for next time.’

  ‘Yes, Sir.’

  Dingo flicked on the vertical thrust switches and launched up from the platform.

  ‘Whoa,’ Starling exclaimed. ‘That was way faster than in the simulations I’ve run.’

  ‘That’s because we’re out of time,’ Dingo replied. ‘I don’t want you flying half-cocked on manual like this unless you know your way around these controls like the back of your hand.’

  Starling nodded, ‘yes, Sir.’

  Dingo scanned the immediate surroundings around the Predgarian temple as the hopper gained altitude.

  ‘Get the lasers charging,’ Dingo muttered, veering the vehicle to the right now he was well above the surrounding buildings.

  ‘Yes, Sir.’

  ‘Just Dingo. Today’s going to be cumbersome if you’re going to call me “Sir” all day.’

  ‘Yes, Si…Blue Dingo.’

  Dingo rolled his eyes again, at least that was slightly better.

  ‘Should I charge the cannons?’

  ‘No,’ Dingo replied, his mouth tightening as he spotted several armoured warriors leaping across rooftops.

  Starling gasped. ‘They’re Sarpiens! You can see their green snakes!’

  Dingo blew out a breath, ‘armour on.’ He sorely wished for Gecko. The nineteen year-old might be impatient and grumpy on occasion, but at least he didn’t get excited over the appearance of Sarpiens.

  He grabbed the blue coin at his chest and activated, encasing himself in the heavy-plated deep azure armour.

  Starling turned to him after transferring into his light brown armour, his feathery wings folded on his back. ‘But the cannons-’

  ‘We’re in the middle of Central,’ Dingo cut him off. ‘There’s too much chance of hitting civilians, we have to make use of the lasers. We’ll be able to pinpoint individual targets that way.’

  Starling slumped a little. ‘I don’t see why these hoppers even have cannons,’ the youth complained. ‘What’s the point if we can’t use them?’

  ‘Because you never know what’s going to happen,’ Dingo replied. He brought up the targeting screen and flew low over a group of Sarpiens, flaying them with short bursts of red-hot lasers. ‘The war with the Sarpiens has ground to a halt as far as a lot of governments are concerned. They think the Sarpiens are nothing now but pockets of bandits or gangsters.’

  ‘Um, well, aren’t they?’

  Dingo shook his head and piloted the hopper over to another patch of warriors. He noticed this one had Predgarians mixed in with them. He could tell since only Sarpiens had the bared left arm, revealing their loyalty.

  ‘Don’t you believe it,’ Dingo told the young man. ‘This war might be cold now, but it won’t last. The Dakkonin believe the Sarpiens are biding their time, bolstering their numbers ready for a new attack. From what I’ve seen elsewhere I’ve got to agree with them. The Sarpiens are gearing up for a new invasion attempt and when it comes, we’re probably going to need a lot more than lasers to keep on top of them.’

  Dingo seared some of the Sarpiens below with more laser. As he flew over the immediate Sector, looking for more large groups, a flittering movement caught his eye.

  He followed it, the silver armour just for a few seconds visible before being concealed between the buildings. Those hadn’t been Avian wings, they’d beat much faster, like an Insecta’s.

  There were only two silver Insecta’s in the city, and heading for the Predgarian temple, Dingo was pretty sure which one it was.

  He began to turn his hopper around.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Starling asked after a moment. ‘You’re taking us away from the battle.’

  ‘I think we’re needed back at the temple,’ Dingo told him. ‘Brace yourself, we might have one heck of a fight on our hands.

  * * *

  Falcon beat the others into the Sector. She winged her way towards the middle, it was the first place the Sarpiens would head for - more people to kill.

  Her mind reeled from the knowledge itself. Central Sector? At three in the afternoon? What was Jackal thinking?

  Not even the newest and most inexperienced general would do such a thing. Falcon couldn’t help the sinking feeling welling up in her stomach, but it wasn’t because of imminent danger.

  Her eyes narrowed as the squared plaza came into sight. The place was emptying, people fleeing for their lives towards the western streets. Guess that told her where the problem was, but…

  There were no Sarpiens in sight, where were they? Falcon flapped her wings and rose, coming to rest on the broad, flat roof of the Central Sector museum.

  She could hear faint screaming in the distance, over towards the Central high street.

  For a moment longer Falcon paused. Why did this feel so wrong? She knew the way Jackal’s mind worked, his preferences when it came to attacks like this. Why had he done things so differently this time? It couldn’t be because of her, she didn’t even work in this Sector.

  Falcon was put in mind of that morning when she’d tried to take Jay to the Predgarians. Jackal had been acting strange that day too.

  He’d set up a raid in East Sector just to cover what he was trying to achieve with the Power Converter.

  Was this a decoy? Was his intention something completely different, like last time?

  Falcon gritted her teeth, hearing those screams again. It didn’t matter what the reason was, she and every other Predgarian in the city had to make the people their first priority – and Jackal knew that.

  Falcon took to the air and began to fly over the high street. Jackal could use that information against her, just as she had to Predgarians in the past.

  The thought chilled her, she wouldn’t put it past Jackal to try and beat her with one of her own plays.

  She halted her forward momentum, her sharp raptor vision giving her no choice but to see in intimate detail every patch of blood spattered across the paveme
nt.

  The bodies…there was no discrimination. Men, women and children had been slaughtered at random.

  Still Falcon hesitated, despite the mutilation and death her mind was screaming that something was off about the scene.

  Her eyes narrowed upon the shop windows. They were intact, no alarms sounding. This was…

  A growl rose in her throat, recognising Jackal’s tactic for what it was, but she had to check. Falcon flapped furiously, speeding towards the nearby dome and glittering spires of the Predgarian temple.

  She shook her head. No, this wasn’t a raid, Jackal’s intent was different.

  Falcon dithered a second over what to do. She had to tell someone about this. Taking the radio from her belt she landed on the slanted roof of the nearby building, probably a shop, Falcon wasn’t really paying attention.

  This was a terrible breach of authority on her part, but she didn’t have time for word to spread from warrior to warrior. They all had to know now.

  Falcon opened up the broad frequency. It would mean all warriors in the area would hear it, even Dakkonin and Sarpiens. She couldn’t help that, and if Dakkonin picked it up maybe they’d come lend a hand.

  ‘Attention,’ she spoke into her radio. ‘This is Silver Falcon, Predgarian of West Sector. This is not a raid, I repeat, this is not a raid. The Red Jackal is attacking near the temple to draw us out. His targets today are Predgarians, not the public. Stay together, the Sarpiens will single out any they see by themselves.’

  She let out a startled yell, stumbling forwards as something hard launched into her from behind. Falcon heard her radio clattering away across the sloped tiles as she fell off the roof down to ground level.

  Gasping, the wind let out of her, she crashed onto the hard pavement. Falcon screamed, the three sharp blades of a claw stabbing down through her right wing.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  ‘Who’s Silver Falcon?’ Blue Kestrel asked.

  The tall, lean Predgarian parried with his longsword as a Sarpien lunged towards him. Kestrel sidestepped and ran him through before turning, his gleaming blade swinging about.