Sky Raiders

by Michelle Diener

  The pilot had just managed to fasten his helmet when Garek got it right. The door was still open, and Garek levered up, grabbing the pilot and throwing him out.

  The sky raider managed to grab hold of the side, and Garek leant over him, unclasped the helmet and pulled it off.

  Shock flashed across the pilot's face, and then Garek swung the helmet and struck him with it.

  Blood flew, a strange, dark brown blood, and then the pilot fell.

  Garek looked out over the landing area, saw the other four sky raiders were surrounded by Illy and Kardanx. The one he'd thrown earlier seemed to be favoring his leg.

  He couldn't see Taya at all, and hoped that Kas had managed to keep her back.

  Then he closed the door, used his pin to start the engine, and lifted the transporter out of the sky raiders' reach.

  As he banked over the river, he saw a flash of white lightning, saw it again. It seemed to be originating from one of the sky raiders, and as he turned the transporter to keep the window of the pilot's cabin facing the landing area, he saw Eli fall.

  He looked desperately below for a flat place to land, and then, just when he found something, he saw the sky raiders were edging away from the attack team from the camp, moving toward the other transporter.

  He'd known that was a possibility, had discussed it with Aidan, Kas, and Luci, so there were people under the transporter, ready to step forward and cut off the sky raiders' route, but as he landed, before the swirling dust obscured his vision, he saw the flash of white lightning again, and wondered if they had a chance.

  He was only four hundred meters from the landing area at most, but it would have to be enough, as he compromised between getting back quickly to protect the other transporter, and making it difficult for the sky raiders to take this one.

  He leaped out of the craft, running as fast as he could toward the camp.

  He had wondered if the sky raiders would bring any weapons to investigate what was happening at the camp.

  Now he had his answer.

  Chapter 41

  Taya watched Kas, Luci, Eli, and six others from both villages who'd once been guards move forward after Garek had run behind the newly landed transporter. There were at least ten Kardanx as well, all big.

  Aidan toppled over in the mechanical guard and then opened the dome and crawl out.

  She saw the sky raiders react to that. Their faces were hard to see through the helmets, but they all stiffened, their focus on Aidan as he climbed to his feet.

  She gripped the shadow ore shards a little tighter, started moving forward, feeling the cold slow her down a little.

  She hadn't been able to find her coat when she'd woken, remembered she'd taken it off last night when she'd been so close to the forge fires.

  There hadn't been time to go look for it.

  She was still crouched down, and she moved closer, keeping low, as their team spread out, wooden planks and shovels gripped two-handed in front of them.

  “What is happening here?” The hiss of the translation was clear in the silence. “You.” The sky raider pointed to Kas. “Tell me. The rest, return to your sleeping quarters.”

  Kas pointed to himself, as if confused who they meant, and stepped in closer.

  Then he must have called the Change because dirt puffed up at the feet of the sky raider who'd spoken to him, and he ran forward, shovel raised, and swung it in an arc. It connected with the sky raider's shoulder, and he stumbled back, hands up in surprise.

  One of them turned and ran back to the transporter, and Taya stood, stepping forward to stop them, but a Kardanx was already after them.

  She'd been told to stay back, to only use the shards if and when they were really needed, and so she hesitated.

  “Taya.”

  The soft call came from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder, saw Noor, standing with Taya's coat held in one hand.

  She reached for it, grateful, and then frowned as it seemed to tinkle.

  “I sewed the circles on it for you,” Noor said, dark circles under her eyes. She looked pale with fatigue. “We'll have to take them off before you can get in the transporter, but I woke early, and Quardi told me what you intended to do with them.”

  Quardi probably talked her into this, thinking it would protect her, Taya decided, but she slipped it on, sighed as warmth enveloped her. “Thanks.”

  Noor nodded, and it was only then Taya saw she was holding one of the picks Quardi had been working on in her other hand.

  Taya turned back to the fight, saw Garek push the sky raider off the side of the transporter, and saw the Kardanx who stood below slam a piece of wood into him as he lay on the ground.

  Kas swung his shovel again, drawing her eye, but the sky raider he was aiming at moved out of the way and then the one who Garek had pushed off the side of the transporter rolled to his feet, moving a little slower after his fall and the hit the Kardanx had gotten in, but without panic or obvious distress.

  They were behaving strangely, and she leaned forward, dread curling in the pit of her stomach.

  They didn't look worried enough by this attack.

  “Is Min in place by the river?” Taya hadn't seen Min this morning, but that had been the plan. For her to call the water Change and use it against the sky raiders anyway she could, if they made it that far.

  Noor nodded. “Everyone's in place. This is what we've been waiting for for so long. Pilar wanted me to stay back, he's there just near Eli, but it's everyone's duty to fight now. Everyone's.”

  More of the camp came out of the shadows into the light cast by the high, angled lights around the landing area, all of them with crude weapons raised, and still the sky raiders looked more curious than afraid.

  “Something's wrong,” Taya said, and stood. As she did, the limp body of a sky raider without his helmet fell from the pilot's door and then it closed. A moment later dust blasted out from under the transporter, and it lifted off.

  The sky raiders looked back and up briefly, and for the first time, they seemed to be paying attention.

  Eli advanced on one, and suddenly white lightning lit up the night, enveloping him, and everyone froze as he toppled to the ground.

  Not one of them had forgotten the white lightning. The terrible pain of it.

  Taya saw everyone go still, and some take a step back.

  She couldn't blame them.

  The sky raiders started moving toward the other transporter, and dread grabbed her in its cold, hoary claws.

  “No.”

  They needed both transporters. The sky raiders could not get the second one.

  She saw Kas dodge a blast of white lightning, then Luci went down as she was caught in a stream of it.

  And the four sky raiders moved closer and closer to the transporter.

  Taya ran, ignoring the cry from Noor behind her, ignoring everything. She ran in an arc that would get her to the transporter before the sky raiders, to block them off, although she reminded herself she couldn't get too close, covered in shadow ore as she was.

  They noticed her, and one of them swung her way as she sprinted the last few meters to get herself in front of the ship.

  He shot her before she could let her shards loose, and as the lightning hit, she felt the burn of nausea at the back of her throat at the memory of the pain.

  But there was no pain. Not this time.

  The lightning hit her coat and seemed to leap back toward the small black device held in the sky raider's hand.

  The sky raider gave a cry, high-pitched and terrible, and went down.

  For a long moment, the other sky raiders were absolutely still.

  Taya looked down at herself, saw the shadow ore circles sway with her movement, and looked up again, eyes fierce.

  She took a step toward them. Let go of three of her shards. She embedded them in the closest sky raider's suit, two in the center of his body, one just under his helmet.

  He staggered back, trying to pull them out.<
br />
  She let go of the other seven shards and as they found their mark, Garek leaped out of the darkness, screaming a wordless battle cry like a garpal from the shadow pits of Dethbarelle.

  He was on the sky raider closest to her before she could take another step, ripping off his helmet.

  Kas grabbed another, now also immobilized by the shards, and she saw the new Kardanx leader, Jona, fiddle at the neck of the third, work it out, and rip it off with a triumphant cry.

  Garek let his sky raider fall, choking and gasping, and made his way to her without looking back.

  She put her hands on his arms, saw blood smeared on his chest and looked up at him, eyes wide.

  “Just a few scratches,” he said, his expression so blank it was frightening. “You?”

  “Nothing at all. Thanks to Noor's sewing. And your father.” She lifted an arm, let the circles jingle, hoping to snap him out of the terrible cold in his eyes.

  He traced a finger over one of them and forced a smile. “The old man just keeps redeeming himself over and over, doesn't he? Soon, I won't be able to hold a single grudge against him.”

  She laughed, low and huskier than she'd meant to. Let him dip his head and kiss her lightly on the lips, although she could feel him holding back, reining himself in with massive control.

  He drew back and looked to the side, at the sky raider who had tried to hit her with white lightning, his face a mask of such pitiless loathing, she swallowed.

  “They used that same light to capture us,” Taya said, and bent down, picked up the black device carefully. “I suppose it works as well on them as it does on us.” She handed it to Garek. “And now I know one reason why they want the shadow ore so badly.”

  Garek lifted his gaze from the device resting on his palm to her face. “The shadow ore deflects the lightning?”

  “It bounces it straight back.”

  “Which means they want to use it against people shooting it at them.”

  “They're in a war?” Taya frowned. “A war with themselves?”

  Garek shrugged. “Same as we often are.”

  Oh. That made so much sense.

  Garek slipped the device into the pocket of his coat, crouched beside the sky raider and took his helmet off. “He's dead, but it could be because the suit stopped creating the right kind of air for him, not the lightning.”

  “Eli.” Taya suddenly remembered. She looked around desperately, saw Jerilia was kneeling beside him and ran over.

  “He's alive.” Jerilia looked up. “It's just like when they took us.”

  Taya nodded, felt the relief drain her of all energy.

  “What now?” Jerilia angled her head up as Garek joined Taya, pulled her close to him with an arm around her shoulders.

  “Now we put the shadow ore in their water boxes, and we go. As fast as we can.”

  Chapter 42

  They slipped off Shadow like thieves in the night, with Garek flying them over the horizon and then up, up, up, and right, toward Barit.

  Kas, Taya and Aidan stood watch at the window that encircled the pilot's cabin, searching for any sign they were being pursued.

  Garek had found a way to open the pilot's area to the rear, so they could switch out the watch with others when they got tired. Dom kept the second transporter slightly to the right and back a little, allowing Garek to take the lead.

  Taya felt her heart flutter in her chest as Barit got closer. She had planned and plotted for this, but hadn't truly believed she would achieve it.

  She thought she would die trying, and that had been enough.

  She turned to look over at Garek, sitting at the controls, and their gazes clashed.

  She shivered.

  She'd loved him for a long time, but the Garek she'd fallen for was gone. The new Garek was harder, more focused, and fortunately loved her just as fiercely.

  “Come here,” he said, and she walked over to him.

  He put an arm around her waist and lifted her onto his lap, and she curled into him, breathing in the scent of him, letting it fill her lungs and settle on her skin, letting the heat of him seep into her bones.

  “I was too far away, when the sky raider shot you,” he murmured into her ear, his hand smoothing her hair over and over. “I was running flat out, but I was still too far. And I saw them bring Eli down earlier. I thought he was dead, and that I was watching them kill you in front of my eyes.” His hold on her tightened.

  “I couldn't let them get the transporter,” she whispered back.

  “I know.” He buried his nose in her hair. “But I never want to be in that place again. Too far away, and helpless. Like when they took you the first time.”

  They sat that way for a long time, until Taya slid off his lap and went to find Noor and check on Min, who was watching the containers to make sure the water didn't leak out.

  Jerilia was keeping watch over Eli, and one of Luci's family sat beside her, but neither had moved since they'd been shot, although both had a steady pulse.

  She, Pilar, and Noor put together a meal, and persuaded Kas and Aidan to let others take the watch. They sat on the floor at Garek's feet and ate quietly, no one in the mood for laughter or the light banter they'd used at the camp.

  Hour after hour slid by, and she knew it wasn't her imagination that everyone grew more and more tense as they got closer to Barit.

  No one slept. No one felt safe enough, relaxed enough, to close their eyes.

  They had been flying for half a day at least when Aidan, who was back on watch, straightened.

  “They're coming.” His voice was steady.

  She moved to the window, saw the lights of three sky craft to the left.

  The word spread through to the back, and Taya could hear the murmurs of worry.

  “Do you think they'll be able to catch up with us?” she asked.

  Garek shrugged. He hadn't moved from the pilot's seat since they'd taken off, and his face looked drawn. Tired.

  “They have a dilemma,” Kas said, and there was satisfaction in his voice. “They can't afford to lose either us or the transporters.”

  “But they won't do nothing,” Min argued from the connecting door.

  “No. They won't do nothing.” Taya agreed. “But let's hope they wait until we land before they act. So that we don't crash.”

  “And they may not understand how I brought down that sky craft I used to reach you, but as soon as we land, they'll find out soon enough.” Garek smiled. “I'll be back on Barit, and I'll be able to call the Change better.”

  “So will I,” Kas agreed. “So will the other Changed with us.”

  The words seemed to bolster everyone, but as Taya looked back out at the lights converging on them, she wondered if it would be enough.

  They had her spears. They had their Changed. They had the brave men and women who'd fought for their freedom at the camp, but there was no question who had the upper hand.

  She shivered at the thought of the white lightning. The sky craft following them seemed to get closer, but so did Barit.

  The ships following them were the small ones, the ones that shot the white lightning when they'd been taken back in Pan Nuk.

  So they'd be facing that again when they landed.

  “We can't bring what's following us to the Harven capital,” Kas said, as if his mind was working along the same lines as her own. “We know they'll use their white lightning. It won't be safe.”

  Taya looked over at Garek, saw him nod.

  “We'll have to pick a place that's far from anywhere. Fight them off, and then carry on with the victory lap Aidan wants us to make in the name of West Lathor.”

  Aidan grunted from the window, still keeping track of the sky craft. “Something tells me it won't be that simple.”

  “No. It never is.” Garek laughed, but there was no bitterness in it. Despite the shadows under his eyes, he looked like he was genuinely looking forward to the confrontation.

  It scared her more than anythi
ng else could.

  They'd made better time than Garek thought they would. He knew which way he was going this time, of course. Barit was hard to miss.

  And the sky craft were still behind them, not quite caught up yet, which was another thing he'd never dared hope for.

  He angled the transporter in a shallow trajectory as they came into Barit's atmosphere, and had Kas check that Dom was doing the same on his right wing.

  Not that he could do anything about it if Dom tried to come in too hard. There might be a way to communicate with him, transporter to transporter, but Garek hadn't found it.

  Oceans flashed far below them as they hit a layer of cloud and then broke through into blue sky.

  He had no idea where they could be, no landmarks to use to orientate himself, and most of the landmarks would have been meaningless to him, anyway.

  When it came to Barit, he had never left West Lathor.

  Someone came through, Zek, the merchant who'd accompanied Luci to their planning sessions, and Kas made room for him at the very center of the window.

  “Looks like Baltar,” he said, pointing to the jagged coast line below them, and Aidan drew in a sharp breath.

  “My sister's in Baltar,” he said, looking down as well. “West Lathor is northwest of here.”

  Zek gave a nod. “We could come down on the Endless Escarpment, if you're looking for someplace uninhabited.”

  He stood beside Garek, showed him which direction he needed to head, and Garek adjusted, banking them left and going even lower.

  “What a way to travel, eh?” Zek looked around the pilot's cabin. “Imagine the possibilities if we all had access to something like this. The Endless Escarpment wouldn't feel endless any more.”

  Garek grinned. “No. I would agree this is better than walking or going by cart.”

  It was a pity that in time, the transporter would fall to pieces in the Barit air.

  He swooped even lower, and now he could see the wide road that wound through the natural undulations of the escarpment.

  Far in the distance he could see dust rising from a caravan of travelers, but a few kilometers ahead there was a flat, straight stretch of road and no one to be seen.