The Dark Sky Collection: The Dark Sky Collection

by Amy Braun

  And he was damn effective. Rifles cracked with smoky blasts, glowing blue bullets streaking through the darkness of Hellnore. They peppered the skiffs, shooting sparks from the metal. Three more Hellions went down. Nowhere near enough.

  Three skiffs hovered over our heads while two more hung back. Ropes dropped over the sides of the Hellion skiffs hovering above us. Small, black boxes were thrown onto the deck. Right into the middle of the heavy crowd.

  “Take cover,” I bellowed, grabbing the lid from the crate I’d gotten the grenade from and using it as a shield.

  The boxes exploded. Screams of agony rang out. Shards of metal thunked against the crate lid. They nicked my lower legs. Blood polluted the air.

  Hoping the worst of the blast was over, I lowered my shield and tried to see what the damage was. I found myself staring directly at a Hellion.

  It snarled and punched down at my head. I raised the shield again. The Hellion’s fist slammed through the wood, sending a fine spray of wooden splinters against my face. I grabbed its wrist and twisted, hoping to snap the bone–

  Pain exploded in the left side of my head. I lost my balance and ended up on the ground again, my skull throbbing. I blinked until my vision cleared. The Hellion hissed and leaped for me, claws outstretched. I bunched my knees to my chest, letting the beast hit them instead of my stomach. Its claws still grazed the sides of my head. Grinding my teeth together, I pushed the Hellion with all the strength in my legs. It tumbled onto the ground. I twisted and snapped a kick into its face. I felt its jaw dislocate.

  I grabbed my cutlass from its scabbard on my hip and spun around again. The blade sliced through the thick flesh of the Hellion’s neck. Blood sprayed onto my clothes. I got to my feet and drove the cutlass down like a hammer. It crunched through bone and gristly muscle, killing the monster instantly.

  Standing again, I glanced at the spot where I thought Nash and Gemma were.

  Only to see they weren’t there anymore.

  I spun around, searching frantically for them. My heart skipped with relief when I saw them standing side by side, each of them fighting a Hellion. Nash swung a vicious right cross that smashed into the Hellion’s cheek, following it up with a bone-jarring uppercut. Gemma roared as she lunged at her enemy, driving her blade into its chest in rapid motions, and swatting its hands away when it tried to grab her.

  Seeing them gave me confidence. But the sensation didn’t last. While my friends had experience fighting the monsters, the fight was far from simple. Sprays of blood and streaks of blue light crisscrossed as Hellions slashed their claws and humans shot with their ultraviolet guns. Howls and screams were a whirlwind around me. The Hellions didn’t let themselves be surrounded, ending fights with one or two quick slashes, sending down their human opponent and moving onto their next target.

  Hoping that my friends could hang on a little longer, I looked at the other two Hellion ships. They hadn’t moved. Just as I started to wonder why, four of the shrapnel-boxes were hurled in our direction. I shouted warnings to anyone who would listen, then dove for cover behind a collection of barrels and covered my ears. I didn’t hear the boxes hit the deck. But I heard the screams when they exploded. I took my hands from my head and looked at the damage.

  Nearly half the crew was down, bleeding from some kind of wound. Blood slicked the floorboards. Everyone was screaming.

  Past the madness, I saw the dome of the mace-ship rotating. A spray of spikes lunged across the deck, spearing a few more of the crew. The spikes went straight through them, killing them before they could even scream.

  The Hellion’s plan was working. On two violent fronts like this, with boxes of shrapnel on one side, spikes on the other, it would be easy for the Hellions to massacre us.

  Unless we drastically changed the tables.

  Looking at the mace-ship again, thinking about the bombers behind us, the Hellions that the Sky Guard were struggling to hold, a very reckless plan formed in my head.

  I got up and sprinted toward Beck. He jumped when I brushed his shoulder, eyes wild with battlefield adrenaline. He didn’t relax when he saw me, but he didn’t shoot me either.

  “Give me five men and tell the rest to cover us,” I shouted.

  Beck narrowed his eyes, but didn’t ask what I was doing. Smart man. While he was barking orders and picking out the five soldiers I needed, I was racing for Gemma and Nash. I grabbed their arms to get their attention.

  “You up for some sabotage?” I asked.

  Nash looked at me curiously. Gemma smiled, wild and excited. “Where?”

  I grinned and looked at the mace-ship. They followed my line of sight. Nash’s eyes widened a little more. He looked at me.

  “You’re planning something insane, aren’t you?”

  My smile turned dangerous. “Come on, Nash. Tell me you never wanted to play with a Hellion toy.”

  He tried not to smile, but didn’t succeed.

  When the five Sky Guards arrived, I didn’t tell them what I planned to do. The last thing I wanted was to scare them off. I told them to trust me, and follow my commands exactly. Honestly, I doubted they would listen to me. So I was surprised and pleased when I didn’t get any pointed glares or backtalk.

  Everyone raised their guns and steeled their confidence. I gripped my gun and sword, and ran.

  My boots hammered on the gore-streaked floorboards. Even when I felt them slipping, I didn’t slow down. I weaved my way through the crew. I hated how easy it was now that so many had fallen. Cries for mercy and help hooked into my ears and ripped at my heart, but I couldn’t stop to see the chaos and pain. I had to take a risk for all of them. They would never be the same after this day. Most of them would abandon the Dauntless and curse me. Some might even try to take revenge and kill me.

  But they would be alive to do so.

  The dome of the mace-ship twisted and cranked again, drawing down a new section of spikes. They rotated and shot straight toward us.

  “Down,” I yelled.

  Not slowing down to make sure my crew followed my command– I trusted their survival instincts, after all– I dove onto the deck, feeling the spike zip over my back. I barrel-rolled across the hard wood, blood slicking onto my clothes and hands. I got to my feet and fought the vertigo from the head rush, and continued sprinting toward the railing.

  During the battle, the mace-ship had been edging closer to the side of the Dauntless. Their spiked weapons were dangerous, but it was clear they couldn’t target anything specific. There must have been Hellions aboard the ship, eager to join in the bloodshed. For whatever reason, they chose to hover and shoot at us from the safety of their obscene vessel.

  Their mistake.

  As I closed in on the railing, I tucked my sword into its scabbard and scooped up one of the grappling hooks from the siding then launched it over to the deck of the mace-ship. The hook snagged on the mace-ship’s railing, giving me the chance to leap from the Dauntless and swing over the side. My heart raced as I crossed the distance before landing hard against the mace-ship’s metal hull. I grunted from the impact, but didn’t bother to think about the bruises. I climbed as fast as I could.

  Just as I was reaching the top, I heard Hellion snarls. I climbed faster.

  My fingers curled around the cold metal railing of the ship, but I didn’t pull myself up. Two Hellions raced for the side. I set my pistol between the metal bars, thumbed back the hammer, and fired.

  The ultraviolet bullet streaked with sharp blue light into the shin of the right-most Hellion. It howled and lost its footing, crashing onto the ground and exposing its monstrous face. I re-cocked the gun and fired another round. The Hellion’s head exploded in a burst of blood before the rest of its body dissolved into ash.

  The second Hellion either didn’t notice or didn’t care that its friend was dead. It still rushed toward me. Knowing it might try to toss me over the edge, I grabbed the metal railing and pulled myself over and onto the deck. The Hellion slammed into me the momen
t my boots hit the surface.

  Pain burst along my back as my spine collided with the cold metal. It gripped my arms away from my body and aimed its jaws at my throat. Thinking quickly, I kicked the inside of its leg. The fangs missed my neck, but ripped down my shoulder. I grimaced and twisted my left arm free. I snapped it down, then wrenched it back up to drive my elbow into the Hellion’s chin.

  I lifted my pistol as it staggered back, but its palm batted my wrist before I could fire a round into its chest. I ignored the sting in my wrist and blocked its next punch to my head. Holding its arm up, I kicked the Hellion in the ribs. It roared with fury and lunged again. I twisted my hand and pushed the pistol into its opposite side, digging the barrel at an upward angle on its ribs. The Hellion was lunging for my throat when I squeezed the trigger.

  It jumped when the ultraviolet bullet rammed into its heart. Dust exploded over me as it disintegrated. I stepped back and let my eyes do a quick sweep of the deck. There didn’t seem to be any other Hellions coming up and out of the ship, but I was willing to bet we would encounter more of them soon enough.

  By the time the ashes of the dead Hellion had dispersed onto the deck and into the air, my crew was with me. From my quick glance, there didn’t seem to be a cabin or trap door that would lead to the gut of the ship. The only door was on the dome, noticeable only because it was a small rectangle near the bottom of the only section that didn’t contain spikes.

  I glanced over my shoulder, relieved that Gemma, Nash, and the five other soldiers had made it across thanks to grappling hooks. They waited for my orders, their bodies tense and ready to fight.

  “Three of you stay out here and watch for Hellions,” I commanded. “Everyone else, come with me.”

  After giving the order, I didn’t think twice about running for the dome. I heard sharp curses and shouts for patience, but I ignored them both. I didn’t stop moving until I was at the door. It was made of thick, bolted iron, just like the rest of the dome. I grabbed the exterior latch and pushed down. It put up some resistance, but I felt it give. I set my shoulder against the metal frame and pushed. It hardly moved.

  I clenched my teeth and kept pushing. Nash appeared with two other Sky Guards to help. Gemma stood on the opposite side of the door, ultraviolet pistol in her hand.

  We finally felt the door lurch and swing inward. Gemma turned inside, snapping her arms down and pointing the pistol in front of her chest. Gunfire erupted instantly, followed by angry, rasping screams.

  Nash darted away from my side, rushing to stand with Gemma. He smashed his boot into the chest of a Hellion charging Gemma from the left. It staggered one step, then launched forward again. Nash swung a punch that crashed into its jaw. The brass knuckles shining on his fingers ripped open a gash on its sickly skin, spraying blood onto the floor. A bullet tore through its throat, the shot coming from one of the Sky Guards.

  I raced to the right, aiming my ultraviolet pistol at another Hellion running for us. A single shot collided with the center of its skull. Blood sprayed out the back of its head before the Hellion was reduced to cinders.

  We stood there and surveyed the room, waiting for more Hellions to burst from the shadows. But none appeared.

  The entire dome was a circular operating room. A black console wrapped around the iron walls. Red lights flashed over lines of switches, dials, and small levers. In the middle of the room were cases of thick metal spikes and a cramped elevator. That was probably how they reloaded, a lift that activated and pulled Hellions up to insert the spikes into the slots when they were emptied. Nothing was truly automated in here, and I was grateful for that.

  Beside the elevator was a helm made of cold black metal. There was nothing to indicate that the helmsman would be able to see.

  Then I looked up. The top section was cleared of any spike barrels. When I squinted my eyes, I could see a latch. The elevator must have been used as an improvised crow’s nest as well.

  Dropping my head, I stalked through the room to one of the consoles, trying to figure out how the mace-ship was able to see and target us.

  I stopped in front of it and looked at the station, frowning. There were strange symbols scratched into the control panel, what I assumed was Hellion writing. I had no idea what button or lever activated what. The last thing I wanted to do was press a button and send another round of spikes into my ship.

  Feeling eyes on me, I glanced over my shoulder at the crew that came with me. I looked at the Sky Guards.

  “You two watch the door,” I said.

  They gave me a questioning look, but did as they were told. I looked at the control panel and waited for Gemma and Nash to join me. I didn’t have to wait long.

  “I almost wish we hadn’t shot all those Hellions when we came in,” I said.

  Gemma stifled a laugh. “Right. Because they would be so eager to explain how to operate the mechanics of the weapon that’s pummeling our ship.”

  I shot her a glare. She blinked in return. Shaking my head, I returned to the console. My mind replayed the motions of the mace-ship as it prepared to fire. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was willing to bet that the movement of the sections and the turning of spikes were connected.

  Taking a hunch, I reached for a dial and began to twist it. Echoing clanks resounded overhead, making me think I was inside a grandfather clock. We looked up and watched the dome rotate into a new position. The closest section clunked toward me, dropping into position with another metallic echo.

  I looked at Gemma with a wicked smile. “Not bad for guessing.”

  She crossed her arms. “Finish the rest of your plan, and then I’ll be impressed.”

  Me too, I thought. The next part would be the trickiest: Firing the spikes at the remaining Hellion skiffs.

  Glancing at the control panel again, I reached for the dial. I turned it left, and met resistance. I turned it right, and listened to the spikes grinding beyond the metal slats, as if coiling back to spring. I glanced up, but still couldn’t see through the iron wall. Keeping my hand on the dial, I turned my gaze between the level and a button under a red light. One of those had to reveal some kind of visual, and the other had to release the spikes. I didn’t want to make the wrong choice, but every second I spent trying to decide was another second my crew was left to bleed.

  It only took one of those seconds for a life to end.

  Holding my breath, I reached for the lever. I pulled it down.

  The section’s iron wall dropped, revealing a sheet of tinted glass that showed me the battle. The crew of the Dauntless continued to fight. Most of the Hellions were still alive, engaged in combat with the tiring Sky Guard. The other two Hellion ships hovered on the starboard side, hurling shrapnel-boxes onto the deck. The razor shards of metal burst from the box and shredded through flesh. More of my men and women screamed.

  Holding back my anger, I studied the angle the opened slat was positioned in. The spikes seemed to be hovering overhead. I needed them to be higher.

  “Nash, take the helm. Move when I tell you to.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Gemma,” I said as Nash hurried to obey my orders. “Get in the elevator. It should take you to the top and give you a better idea of our angle. I need you to be our eyes. I won’t be able to see any further from the section I’m firing in.”

  She glanced at the elevator and the forty foot height to the hatch at the ceiling. “Good thing I’m not afraid of heights.”

  She ran to the elevator and jumped inside. She punched some buttons, and was soon ascending. The empty section over her head grinded open. I listened to the gears and pulleys grinding together as she reached the top, and heard her shout when she was in position.

  “Angle us up ten degrees, Nash,” I shouted.