by Vance Moore
Alexi was with the column below, and she began the attack. Her power instantly created five spinning tops that darted into the entrance. They exploded into showers of blue knives that cut living flesh to ribbons. Steel ants followed the tops and mounted internal barricades manned by dying Keldons, falling upon warriors rushing to reinforce. Barrin's mind could follow the attack, and he watched as Keldons fell to pieces under metal mandibles. Shouting raiders rallied their men and charged the machines with swords and axes that smashed metal armor and removed mechanical limbs. Marines poured in and firmed the League lines. The mantises moved to attack the Keldon leaders, and the core of the defense broke as long steel arms darted out, lopping off limbs and heads of those opposing the war machines.
Barrin felt the rush of power as the Keldon mage acted to turn the attack. Barrin submerged the mage in a sea of stillness. The enemy mage drew more power but could initiate no spell against Barrin's might. Alexi was inside now, and her spells lanced into the Keldon line. Knives of light cut a bloody swath into the building. Barrin could feel the Keldon mage trying to cast a spell-any spell- but the power he had called to him had no outlet. The enemy wizard fell to his knees and clutched at his face, his eyes rolling back into his head. Smoke began to rise from the man's shoulders and limbs, and the Keldon magic user burst into brilliant red flames. Alexi and the other League forces gave the burning pile a wide berth as they closed on the remaining raiders. Then, just as suddenly as they had ignited, the brilliant fire went out, leaving only a huge black scorch mark on the floor.
Barrin rose and looked with his mortal eyes into the street and through the open doorway and shutters of the warehouse. Bodies lay everywhere with streams of blood connecting the corpses. The League had won but at a ruinous cost to the marines and the town. Now, more than ever, Barrin was determined to stop the Keldons at sea. He already knew the first thing he would requisition from this town. He went to inform Alexi that she would now be serving under his command.
Chapter 9
"Keldon coming in-about twenty miles south of your position," came the call.
"Finally!" Alexi exclaimed and ran from her bunk to the detector station. It had been nearly a month since the pitched battle at Kitani, and today's was the first enemy detected off the coast since then. Barrin had acted quickly in the aftermath of the battle and began patrols to intercept the Keldon raiders at sea. Shipments of materials to the airbase construction site were increased. No League supply ships had been sunk for the past month, but now the Keldons were renewing their attack as Barrin worked to reestablish command over coastal waters.
Alexi and Barrin were out on patrol in a Kashan blimp screening a supply fleet hauling the last loads of vital construction supplies. The Keldons had chosen the perfect time to attack.
Barrin stood at the blimp detection equipment, casting a spell into a shallow bowl of seawater. His eyes looked out on a vast expanse of sea, and he could feel Alexi pushing her senses into the magic.
"Tell Yarbo we have the target and he is to search for supporting units," Barrin said to the communications officer.
Alexi ran from her bunk to the detection gear. Now that a battle was close at hand, she showed the streak of fastidiousness that Barrin had found endearing. It reminded him of his daughter, Hannah, when she was very young.
"How long till they're in range, Barrin?" she asked.
"If they don't try to shear off, ten minutes. Though they might not see us at all until it's too late." Barrin had worked with the crew in altering the natural color scheme of the envelope until it was harder to see against the sky. The Avenging Cloud was easy to lose against its namesakes.
"There it is," Barrin said and pointed down. Alexi regarded the images conjured up by Barrin. A tiny fleet of Keldon ships appeared to float in the bowl. Several ships were accelerating toward the League convoy. The ships began to spread out and hazy smoke began to rise from fires burning in great kettles on the decks. The bowl of water that Barrin held between his hands clouded and only glimpses of ships could be seen.
"They are spreading out to fall on the supplies," Barrin said to Alexi. "Tell the pilot to head northwest. We will take them on one at a time." Alexi ran forward to relay the order.
Barrin began calling for League reinforcements via magic, but the Keldons' spells of deceit were spreading everywhere. There was serious power aboard those ships, and Barrin decided that his power was better saved for combat than used to call for help that might not arrive. He directed the communications officer to send out a distress call, and the old wizard went forward and sat down in temporary seats close to the pilot.
"I'm taking her in a circle to come around the target," the pilot announced, and he cut the gas makers. There was a definite tilt, and the pilot let the machine rise a few hundred feet before the blimp stabilized. The copilot began the slow and steady dance to keep the blimp at the current level through small releases of gas and adjustments to the throttles. That dance would become frenzy once battle began.
Barrin closed his eyes, tapping the power of his home on Tolaria, and directed a hurricane of magic toward the rising smokescreen around the Keldon vessel. The deceitful smoke thinned as the enemy mages redirected their magical efforts. "I don't see any signs of panic at all down there." Alexi was staring down onto the ship's deck.
Long and narrow, the vessel was crowded with warriors. Three masts rose, but no sails were raised even though the ship cut through the water, sending spray high into the air. Two concentrations of machines were at the bow and amidships. The men surrounding them fed fires with unnatural fuels and the blood of a slave. A body went over the side as a Keldon mage twisted the last drop of magic from a slave's corpse.
"They are heading straight for us. I don't like this. Widen the circle," Alexi ordered. The pilot obeyed. The gondola swayed as it went into a turn.
Barrin was aware of what was happening, but his mind searched for the rest of the enemy fleet. He was confident that Alexi and the crew of the Kashan blimp could handle one attacker.
"I don't suppose there are any pets you can throw at them," the pilot asked, hinting that Alexi could introduce a sea monster into the fight.
"No-and too strong a call might endanger the convoy." The blimp was swinging wider, and sailors began to move more rapidly on the Keldon ship as it began its own turn to bear on the blimp.
"They could care less about the convoy. We're the one they want," said the pilot. Suddenly a catapult on the ship below discharged, throwing an arc of fire into the sky. "Someone got a little too eager," the pilot guessed as the arc peaked well below their altitude and turned into racing ribbons of fire, spiraling down to the ocean's surface. The pilot smiled and altered his course to bear on the ship. Gas began emptying out of the bag as the area below entered the range of the rockets the pilot controlled.
"Firing," he called. From under their feet came a rapid series of thumps, and the nose began to pitch up. A deluge of rocket-driven darts rained down and emptied into the water and against the ship.
"You got something!" Alexi crowed, and the tattered ship began losing way. One of the smoking machines on the ship's deck was on its side, and crewmembers sluiced a spreading fire with seawater from pumps.
The copilot was checking trim and preparing to deal with the loss of four bombs. Barrin was easing his efforts to bolster the ship's defensive system, while Alexi was concentrating on sweeping the area for additional attackers. All the people in the control cabin prepared to savor a masterful attack run. The doomed ship below sent up another arc of racing streamers, but the pilot ignored the futile attempt to distract him. He was about to release the bombs when the copilot dumped ballast in a rush. The shock tripped the already primed bombing system, and four heavy bombs fell toward the ocean. The crewmembers watched in disbelief as the bombs went off in close proximity to the ship but did not strike a crippling blow.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Alexi cursed as she watched their only remaining offensive weapons
expending themselves uselessly against the sea. The copilot only pointed to a fire streamer in the distance.
"It skipped." The meaning of the confusing statement became clear as the Keldon fire streamer gathered into a closed ball of flame that pulsed and expanded and then rose steeply into the air. Even after dumping the bombs and the ballast, the flaming ball was still dangerously close to the blimp. If the copilot had not acted, the flames from the Keldon weapon would be spraying over them now. The pilot, Alexi, and Barrin had all succumbed to target fixation, and only the copilot remembered to check around for other dangers. Barrin reminded himself to recommend the man for a commendation.
The Keldon ship was cutting through the water again and closing with the League supply fleet. Its bow once more sent up a wave of spray, and sailors swept bodies and debris into the sea. Flares began to rise into the air, and Barrin wondered if the ship was relaying orders or just trying to confuse its attackers.
"Whoever is commanding the ship is completely crazy," Alexi said as they raced to interpose themselves between the ship and the convoy. "He invited a rocket attack, and if we hadn't acted at the last second to save ourselves the ship would have broken up under the bombs."
"He may be crazy, but he came uncomfortably close to hitting us," Barrin replied, computing the distance to the convoy and how much time before the Keldons could attack. There were only minutes to act, and Barrin didn't like the situation. He had many direct magical strikes that would destroy the opposing ship, but he might need those spells later to deal with the other Keldon ships. Barrin needed to sink this vessel quickly and cheaply.
"Alexi, begin calling whatever you can. If you call up a kraken or a leviathan, I won't mind. Just send something against that ship," the old wizard directed.
Alexi began concentrating, and crystal spheres formed. The crystals began vibrating, singing to attract the creatures of the deep, but the violence of the battle made success unlikely. The Keldon ship worsened the situation by launching several skipping streamers of fire into the sky. The transforming balls of flame drove the blimp off and made it harder for Barrin and Alexi to act. Now the League convoy appeared on the horizon, and the Keldon ship launched three more streamers of flame high into the sky. The fire raced in the direction of Barrin's supply ships, and he acted to protect them. The clouds that laced the sky seemed to darken as if soaking up ink. A wind blew from the land out to sea. Barrin threw out pulses of power in short bursts, accelerating the process. If he couldn't find the Keldon fleet, he would clear the seas surrounding the League supply ships. The wind and clouds circled over the fleet, and waves mounted and shifted directions as the sea went mad. The League ships continued on in the eye of a growing storm. No more fire streams flew toward the heavens as the Keldons tried to preserve their ship and enter the calm of the eye.
"Keep us between the Keldons and the convoy, even if you dump us in the sea to do it," Barrin ordered the pilot. The wizard continued to pound and shape the forces of the air with his will.
The battle was a strange one. The Avenging Cloud kept station and moved only in response to the Keldon ship, which became increasingly hard to track. The Keldons' attempts to conceal themselves were amplified by the rain and wind that Barrin kept roaring over the sea. Alexi sent out magic sentinels to track the ship, but the violence of the wind shattered their crystalline structure. She was blind until the violence of the storm abated.
Barrin paused in his assault when he felt Alexi's efforts. "I think I detected another ship beyond the wind." Barrin battled with the storm, not the Keldons. The winds and waves seemed hungry for the ships that sailed in the eye. Barrin could not reply to another Keldon attack for some minutes. The blimp and the entire convoy were in a dangerous position.
"We have to sink at least one of the Keldons right now." Alexi stated the obvious.
"Can you call up anything?" Barrin asked hopefully.
"Right now, I couldn't command a goldfish," Alexi said with disgust.
"Then we will have to get as close as possible and attack the ship directly," Barrin declared. "Have the pilot take us down to just a few hundred feet above the water."
The storm Barrin had conjured was making the pilot's job much harder than the man was prepared to deal with. He was constantly adjusting the throttles and was green with nausea. The blimp flexed and rose with the vagaries of the wind, and the pilot retched over the controls as he fought airsickness. The pilot listened to Alexi convey the old wizard's orders as he fought a downdraft.
"He wants us just over the sea?" the pilot exclaimed. "With this wind, he wants us just over the water?"
"It's the only way to attack the Keldons. We need to stay low," Alexi ordered, visibly gagging from the odor of vomit. She returned to Barrin.
"I will support the defenses, and you must take the offense." Barrin was winded from his constant struggle with the storm. He needed a few moments to collect himself. "Hit them with a massive power strike the second you can see the ship," Barrin directed.
"You have more power than I ever will," Alexi confessed. "You'd have a greater range."
"If I thought you could juggle several spells at once I would switch places. Now get up with the pilot before some other disaster happens." Barrin's words came out all at once, as if he couldn't spare the time or energy to sustain a longer conversation. The old mage locked his arms to the side of the cabin, bracing himself for a long fight and against the gyrations of the blimp in the storm.
Alexi went forward. The pilot was empty, and his stomach contractions brought up nothing as the violence seemed to increase. Now each surge of wind induced storms of cursing as the pilot wrestled with the controls. The water jumped closer, and then the engines fought their way up.
"There!" the pilot shouted as a ship appeared less than a hundred yards away.
Alexi closed her eyes and let fly her attack. She formed her spell just outside the blimp. Her surge of power shattered the gondola's windows as energy speared the enemy ship. The concussion reverberated throughout the cabin. Alexi's strike split the masts on the Keldon raider and crushed many of the sailors fighting to keep it afloat.
The pilot tried to climb, but deafened and confused, he turned the craft and caught the wind. The Avenging Cloud began to retreat at a high speed, but not high enough to escape a counterattack. Alexi dumbly wondered how they kept the ammunition for the catapult ready in such heavy seas as a fire streamer covered the blimp. Fire ran like water over the envelope. The crew waited for the explosion, but Barrin powered the blimp's defenses against fire, and the Keldon flames washed over the gondola into the sea. Alexi sealed the shattered window with planes of magic glass, but she hissed in agony as a stray lick of flame played over her skin.
All of Barrin's energy focused on keeping the blimp whole, and the magical storm began to break up. Three battered enemy ships lay revealed less than a thousand yards away. Mysteriously, the Keldons didn't fire, and then Barrin heard the communications man shouting behind him.
"It's the Hunter!" he yelled. "They finally made it here!"
Teferi's blimp was thousands of feet up and behind the Keldon fleet. Even as Barrin watched warriors running to load catapults, the Hunter dropped four large objects that accelerated sharply and seemed to fly down to an enemy ship. Explosions smashed the Keldons to pieces, and the ship instantly sank beneath the waves.
Barrin could feel Teferi aboard the other craft creating walls of protective energy over the League supply fleet. A desperate attack from a Keldon caster hit Teferi's spell as a ribbon of flame, but it transformed into an explosion of cinders drifting down into the ocean. Barrin latched onto the dissipating storm and spun it into another of the Keldon ships. A twist of wind dipped into the sea and formed a great waterspout that moved over the ship and tore it apart. Flames from enemy spells filled the watery column and were sucked up into the clouds, exploding into sheet lightning. The concussion weakened the storm, and Barrin's blimp rose as the pilot aimed for a clearing sky. The f
inal Keldon ship tried to withdraw, its casters throwing a huge display of fiery streams and cloaking smoke into the air. Barrin felt the planeswalker turn the smoke into an acidic rain that fell onto the fleeing Keldon ship. The liquid ate through the sailors and into the holds.
Barrin expanded the blimp defenses against fire, and the last few streamers sputtered and lost momentum long before they closed with the blimp. Alexi's bloodthirst demanded satisfaction, and she hurled exploding crystalline lances of energy at the retreating ship.
"Die, die, die!" she screamed as her attack penetrated below decks and started fires. The raider had fought heavy seas all day and was stressed beyond endurance. The sharp detonations of Alexi's lances began to break up the ship. It was already doomed when a great whirlpool called by Teferi dragged it beneath the waves.
*****
The airbase would be completed within days. After the supply fleet docked, the final pieces of the tufa refinery were quickly set into place. The warehouses behind protective berms were now filled with munitions. While Willum oversaw the final touches before transferring back to the west, Barrin and Teferi retreated to discuss where to direct the League's growing strength.
It was hours later that an aide interrupted them at the map table. Teferi frowned with annoyance as the aide handed him a note and withdrew. The planeswalker suddenly grinned and rose from his chair.
