Aetherial Annihilation (32 page)

"When can you portal into position?" he asked.

"About fifteen minutes," I told him. "I'll text you when we go through."

"Good luck, Justin."

"Same to you, sir." I ended the call and rounded up the group on the ground in the middle of Colossus Stadium. "We leave in fifteen minutes. Head back to the portal we came through and I'll meet you there in a moment." I pointed to Delectra. "I'd like a word with you first."

"A woo-woo!" Ivy jabbed a finger at Delectra. "Someone's in big trouble."

"Ivy, get on your broom and follow me," Mom said in a stern voice.

My sister looked down. "Aw, okay."

Despite the curious looks on the others' faces, everyone left, leaving me and Delectra standing on the muddy war-torn earth.

"I have done all you asked," Delectra said. "What more do you want of me?"

I shook my head slowly. "You're obviously an excellent boomstick pilot, and judging from the boulder you destroyed, you have plenty of power." I stepped closer and gave her a pitying look. "But you're arrogant, pompous, and just unpleasant to be around."

Her pale face shaded pink.

I held up a finger. "I'm not finished yet, so kindly keep your mouth shut."

The pink turned to crimson.

"I've heard you weren't always this way." I shrugged. "Maybe you were once a nice person. The worst part is I can't really be mad at you."

She raised an eyebrow, but kept silent.

"The reason I can't is because all your misbehavior boils down to one thing." I sighed. "You're insecure."

Her eyes flared. "I am not."

"Yes you are."

Her wand flicked toward me. Not knowing if she intended to hit me with a spell, I blurred forward, gripped her shoulders, and pinned her against a boulder. Her wand clattered to the ground.

Delectra's eyes softened. "Please no—I can take no more."

Her sudden change reminded me of what I'd witnessed earlier. "Can't take what?"

Her lips curled into a snarl. "Why did you attack me?"

"You aimed your wand at me."

She took a deep breath. "I only meant to point it. I was not casting a spell."

I released her and backed away. "I just don't think you're a good fit, Delectra."

"But I'm the best at this. I can prove it."

I shook my head. "That's not my point. I don't care if you're the best, I just care if you're part of the team." I threw up my hands. "Don't you get it?"

For a moment, she looked genuinely troubled, and I wondered if maybe she couldn't comprehend what I was telling her. Delectra nodded slowly. "I will follow your orders precisely. I will not deviate."

I almost turned her down and told her to go away, but the Skywraiths needed every ounce of firepower we could muster. "Do you swear it?"

She knelt on one knee and bowed. "I swear it, my liege."

I jerked back, completely caught off-guard by this display. "A simply 'yes' would have been fine."

Delectra rose, her lips a flat line, but she looked somehow less defiant.
She'd give Kassallandra a run for her money in an ice queen competition.

"May we go?" Delectra asked.

I hopped on my broom. "Yup." We returned to the portal and took it back to the Queens Gate way station.

The Skywraiths were ready for action.

Chapter 27

Concentrating on an image of the airship fleet given to me by Thomas, I opened a window into the great blue yonder. The Skywraiths lined up behind me, brooms at the ready. I activated a stealth charm to hide us from radar, mounted my broom, and glided through the rift, going from North America all the way to the bottom of the world in the space of a heartbeat.

No matter how many times I used a portal, it still seemed like the coolest thing in the world.

The southern reaches of the Indian Ocean glittered far below. I flashed the signal for single file formation. So long as everyone remained directly behind me, the stealth charm should keep them hidden.

The flotilla of airships hung in the distance in two neat rows of six like a still portrait, fluffy white clouds forming a deceptively serene backdrop. It was a magnificent sight, despite their deadly intent. I counted seven robot pods swaying beneath the vessels, each one capable of carrying at least twenty battle-bots. Frankenberg had to be throwing everything he had at Australia.

Freezing cold air whistled across my face and burned my lungs. I hurriedly extended the Nightingale armor over my head, and the temperature became bearable. Though the mask completely covered my face, I could easily see through the material as if it weren't even there. I looked back and saw the others had already extended theirs. The internal HUD—heads-up-display—flickered on. It was nice having fully functional armor again.

I left off most of the features except for the FFI—friend or foe identifier. When I looked at the others in my group, a green bracket highlighted them along with their name. Even though they had on their hoods, the HUD allowed me to see their faces as clearly as if they weren't concealed and the communication system allowed us to speak freely.

We were still about a half-mile out from the flotilla, and I needed to figure out the best place to attack them. Unfortunately, there were no airships lagging behind that we could easily harass. Attacking from above might be safest, but we were already at such an altitude that even the Nightingale armor was having trouble supplying extra oxygen to support our lungs.

That left us with one option—attack the lowest airships. Each of those on the bottom tier towed the massive robot pods, making them high-value targets.

"We'll swing wide and attack the airship on the lower left of the formation," I told the others through the comm system. "Aim for the cables supporting the cargo container. Maybe we can make it fall."

"May I make a suggestion?" Delectra asked.

"Go ahead," I replied.

"The cables are likely diamond fiber," she said. "I suggest we target the cable module attached to the bottom of the cockpit."

I magnified my view using the HUD and spotted the hump containing the winch. The cables themselves glittered like black ice—a clear indicator they were indestructible diamond fiber. "The winch might be just as hard to destroy due to the ablative armor," I replied after a moment of contemplation. I turned my view to the cargo container itself. It looked like plain metal with a handle on the outside. "Will seawater destroy the robots, Delectra?"

"Not immediately no," she replied. "But if the ocean is deep enough here, the pressure might crush them. Most battle-bots are waterproof, but not seaworthy."

"New plan," I announced. "Go for the doors on the crates. Let's see if we can dump at least one load."

Ivy giggled. "Dump a load. I like the sound of that."

We still faced the problem of remaining undetected, especially if we went for the outmost airship since there'd only been one stealth charm available. I held up a fist and the formation halted. Twisting my wrist gave everyone the order to rotate in place. The following hand forward signal told them to proceed in the current formation. We were still far enough away that moving laterally in a row should keep us out of radar longer.

"Justin, I have a suggestion," Pri said through the squadron comm link. "As we move farther to the left of the airship flotilla, we should angle our formation to keep it behind the stealth charm."

"Sounds good," I said. "Adjust your positions accordingly."

I imagined the charm like a wall several feet long to my side, and the radar like a light trying to peek around the edge. For several tense minutes we flew in an arc, those furthest in the back adjusting their angle until we finally reached the side of the airship formation. We spun in place, realigning again, and headed for the lowest airship.

"What if we opened the container in the blimp above the other one?" Ivy said, pointing to the single upper-tier airship towing a pod. "Then all the robots would fall on top of the bottom one."

"I don't think it would damage the airship," Mom said. "And then the robots might stand on the airship and fire at us."

Ivy sighed. "Oh, okay."

We closed to within a couple hundred yards, our formation as tight as possible. Still no reaction from the airships to indicate they knew about our presence.

I called a halt. "They'll probably detect us soon, so let's swoop in at full speed. Use the target as a shield from the laser fire from the other airships."

"Affirmative," came the replies.

I flicked my hand forward and we were off. The boomsticks were made for speed, and we closed on the target quickly. The laser turrets on the airship swiveled our way and opened fire once we closed to within a hundred yards. I channeled a thick beam of Murk to intercept. The laser beam exploded against it. A volley of five missiles burst from the launcher on the belly of the airship.

I signaled for V formation, and we spread out. Ivy blasted a missile with a beam of Brilliance. Mom and Nightliss met two more missiles with attacks of their own. The last two missiles zipped straight for the Arcanes.

Pri barrel rolled to the side, and the missile flew past, trailing thick smoke. Delectra thrust out her staff. Brilliant red light erupted from the end and ensnared the last rocket. With another flick of the staff, the missile flipped around and launched back at the airship above our target. It slammed into the cargo container beneath it with a tremendous boom. Fire exploded and silvery battle-bots poured from a large breach in the metal, tumbling across the nacelle of the target and toward the ocean far below.

"Wow," Pri said. "That was awesome."

The missile she dodged had turned around and was coming from our rear. Ivy pulled into a steep climb and zipped over the rocket. Brilliance burst from her fist and detonated the projectile before it could reach us.

Seconds later, we reached the target container.

Mom and Nightliss unleashed torrents of Brilliance into the door as we zipped past. It melted to slag. I channeled a beam of Murk and hammered it into the end of the container, sending it swaying forward. It tilted lazily, and bots spilled from the opening and fell toward the water.

I glanced up and saw the entire flotilla rotating toward us. "I think we got their attention. Retreat!"

Delectra fired another beam of translucent red into the turbine on the side of the target airship. The energy fizzed and popped. Propeller blades burst from the housing. Black smoke filled the air, and the airship listed to the side. She rotated toward the opposite side of the airship.

She's going to get someone killed.
"I said retreat, Delectra!"

She slid to a halt, spun and returned to formation. "As you command."

Laser fire exploded from the other airships. "Dive!" I commanded.

Still in a V formation, we dove to put the crippled airship between us and the incoming fire. A laser narrowly missed Pri, and Tasha rolled sideways to avoid being toasted by another deadly spear of light. We were several hundred yards out when more missiles burst into flight. I lost count of the smoke trails winding their way toward us.

"Oh, crap," Ivy said. "I think they're mad."

Think, Justin, think!
I willed the HUD to highlight the incoming missiles. Red brackets appeared all over the place, indicators steadily counting down the distance before impact. The brooms were fast, but the missiles were steadily gaining and we'd never reach the safety of the portal in time. We had less than a minute to do something.

I reached a decision. "We're going to stop and throw up a barrier of Murk. I want the Arcanes behind me. Ivy, Alysea, and Nightliss help me with the shield. Hopefully we can make it thick enough."

"Justin, there are far too many missiles," Mom said. "We can't possibly shield against them all."

"I agree," Nightliss said. "A shield might not work, but what about Stasis?"

I slapped my forehead. "Of course!" I looked back at the missiles and calculated how quickly they'd reach us once we stopped. "Start channeling now. When I give the word, spin around and channel the biggest cloud you can."

The others summoned spheres of Murk and Brilliance and threaded them into orbs of Stasis. I followed suit, fighting to maintain the energy, while keeping my broom straight with my knees.

"Uh, Justin, how are we supposed to turn around while holding the channel?" Ivy asked. "I can steer with my legs, but I can't stop or steer the broom."

"Boris, Pixie, Tasha, do an inverted roll and steer their brooms from below," Pri shouted. "I'll take Justin."

"You would choose the cute guy," Pixie said with a laugh.

Pri drifted close, rolled upside down, and hung beneath me, her broom pacing mine. With a free hand, she reached up and gripped the throttle of my broom. Boris, Pixie, and Tasha did the same with Ivy, Nightliss, and Mom.

"Neato!" Ivy shouted.

"Everyone ready?" I said.

"Ready," came the replies.

"Stop and turn!"

Pri pulled back on my throttle and pulled my broom handle to the side, performing the same action simultaneously on her broom. Like mirror images, we spun in place and hung before the frightening volley of missiles.

"Channel!" I shouted.

We projected clouds of Stasis into the air. Ivy's thread dwarfed ours, like a great gray snake, coiling into the air before her. Our clouds merged, growing into a thick dark fog bank blotting out the sky on the other side.

"Will this stop the forward momentum of the missiles?" Delectra asked.

"I don't know," I muttered between clenched teeth as the strain began to take a toll.

Delectra spun her staff in a wide circle, chanting. The air itself seemed to coalesce into a shimmering wall. Seconds later, dozens of inert missiles clanked against the barrier and tumbled like giant matchsticks toward the ocean.

"Apparently, the Stasis didn't completely stop them," Delectra said in a satisfied voice.

"Good work." I released the channel as more rockets clanged harmlessly off the barrier and fell away. "Now fall back."

Delectra released the shield and we spun around, putting distance between us and the Stasis cloud. In the distance, I saw the airships slowly coming after us. We'd done our job, but the main battle lay ahead.