Crown of Ash (Blood Skies, Book 4) (11 page)

“Do you see that?” Jade asked. 

Kane stared.

“Yeah.  I do.”

The ships – there were three of them – had clearly seen
the
m
, as well
.  The vessels had been
headed
south,
but
suddenly
they
veered east
on an intercept
course
. 
T
here would be no avoiding
the ships
,
not with how fast they moved,
so Kane readied his weapon and
signaled
for
everyone to
move
. 

As the skiffs drew
within a few hundred yards
, Kane saw
that
they were shaped like bladed planks
.  They had
low-dragging rudders that nearly scraped the ground
.  L
arge chainguns
and recoilless rifles
were
mounted on the
forward hulls
. 
A
handful of
human-sized silhouettes stood
on the decks of each vessel. 

“Those aren’t vampire ships,” Ronan
said
, and
Sol
nodded in agreement. 

They took
cover
behind a
sharply curved dune
and
watch
ed
as
the vessels approach
ed
. 

Not
like
this dune
will
give us much cover
against those chain guns
, Kane thought. 
If they decide to
start shooting
, we’re screwed
,
no matter where we’re standing.

The ships
accelerated and
spread out.  Their turbine engines were quiet
.  S
torms of dust trailed in their wake. 

The vessels were about
300 yards
away when a blast tore through the air
.  T
he lead ship exploded. 

Hot wind flashed over Kane, and he had to
shiel
d his eyes
against
the
light of the
flames.  Smoking metal and chunks of steel
fell to
the ground. 

The vampire tank roared over the dunes to the north.  The two Razorwings
accompanied it
, slavering razor jaws and armored wings blocking out the
sky
.
They
flew in fast and low and
mov
ed
with the grace of swimmers. 

“Ronan, right flank!” Kane shouted.  “I’ll take left! 
Sol
, straight up the middle!”

“That’s what she said!”
Sol
laughed, and Kane actually had to restrain himself from turning and shooting
the man
.

The skiffs turned, caught unawares.  Kane was close enough now to see
that
the crewmen weren’t
of
any race he recognized – they
were
humanoid
in
size and shape, but the
ir
gre
asy grey skin was covered in scales.  They
wore haphazard scraps of
armor
, aviation hats and steel shoulder plates,
and they were equipped with
crude and archaic weapons
.  Every one of them wore a gasmask
. 

The
chainguns
roared
with pulsing steel noise as they opened up on the tank.

The Razorwings came in fast
.  T
he chainguns
couldn’t
track
them
.  The first
one
swooped in
low
over
a
skiff and
snatched
two crewmen off the deck, leaving a spray of blood and screams
in
it
s wake
as it flew past
.  The
creatures
still on deck
fired at
the flying reptile
with small arms, but the rounds ricocheted
off
its scaly hide.  The second Razorwing dove beneath the other skiff and swiped at the lower rudders,
which
crack
ed
and fell
to the ground.

Sol
hammered the nearest Razorwing with his M78.  The steady stream of bullets
echoed
like a quiet storm.  Jade and Maur retreated back behind the
dunes
,
while
Kane, Ronan and
Sol
moved
within a hundred
yards
of the nearest
skiff
. 

The air was thick with exhaust and the smell of fuel. 
The vampire tank released another shot,
which
flew past the skiffs and tore
into the desert
.  Sand exploded like a dry geyser
.  Kane and the others charged through clouds of dust. 

The Razorwing turned towards them.  Kane fired
at
the beast
as it
charged
at
Sol
.  The trio of vampires on
the Razorwing’s
back fired hand-cannons and a needle rifle, but the speed of their mount threw off their aim.  The
beast
flew
in
a straight line towards
Sol
so it could
swallow him up in its sizeable jaws. 

Kane ducked as the beast
flew past him
,
and he
barely
d
odged
the
metal-plated wing.  He fired a
s he
rolled
and
managed to
hit
one of the vampires, who tumbled off the deck
.  A
mooring wire
was
wrapped around
the vampire’s
leg
,
and
he was
dragged
across the sand behind the Razorwing.
 

T
he bladed tail
swooped at Kane, and
he barely
jumped
clear of the scythed limb
. 
He threw
himself forward and flung
a grenade
with all his strength
before he
landed face first in the sand. 

The grenade
exploded
in the air next to the
flying lizard
.  Blood sprayed
from
a gaping hole in its
flesh
.  S
hattered ribs
jutted out
be
neath
its damaged wing.  The
beast
fell
to the ground with a thunderous
crash
.
Sol
and Ronan take
position and he
ld their ground
while
they
hammer
ed
the
dying
reptile with
gun
fire
. 

The damaged skiff went down
behind them
.  Metal cracked and flew away
as
the s
ails snapped.  The remaining crewmen had secured themselves
to the deck
with rope
s
and chain
s.  S
econds after
the skiff noisily
touched
down
, the vampire tank destroyed it with another roaring blast
. 
Steel and smoke ripped away as the vehicle exploded.

Kane
stumbled
backwards.  Hot wind
scoured
his face. 
A
shockwave hit him with the force of a hammer and
knocked him to the ground
. 
 

M
ore
explosions
.  Kane rubbed grit and sweat
from
his eyes
.  Ronan and Sol were on top of the dead Razorwing, where they battled its vampire riders in a blur of blades, claws and gunfire. 

Kane
saw t
he second skiff t
a
k
e
aim at the advancing tank with its recoilless rifle. 
Heavy
clouds of
dust and
shadow
trailed
the vampire vehicle. 

“Jade!” he shouted.  He looked back and saw
her
and Maur peek over the dune.  “Get that tank’s attention!”

Jade’s spirit
spun
forward
in
a
lance
of ice-blue fire.  Frost vapor
s
scorched the ground white.  The
spirit
tore through the sand and caused an eruption of frozen
dust
. 

“Now get down!” he shou
ted.  Kane ran towards the tank and
bank
ed
right,
firing his M
1
4
as he ran
.  T
he turret turned his way. 

“C
over
!” he shouted
.  H
e dove down as the t
ank
fired
.  The blast cracked
open
the sky.  Grisly charcoal smoke poured
out of
the bladed turret. 

The shell landed somewhere
behind him
. 
A cyclonic storm of debris
pelted his body
with splinters of shattered stone and sand
.  Kane folded himsel
f
and
shield
ed
his
head and neck
. 

Kane
was dizzy as he stood
up.  He
felt almost drunk
.
H
e saw the dark shadow
of the tank
through the unnatural fog.  Black steam curled into the air, and even with his ears ringing
Kane
still heard ghastly incorporeal
defenses
circle round the tank, a choir of banshees fused
into
a shield.  They only discorporated when the
weapons
fired, and
Kane
hope
d
the skiff would
get a shot off before the shield
fully reformed. 

The
shrill
blast
of the
recoilless rifle howled through the air and squeeze
d
through th
e
undead shielding just in time
. 
Kane heard armor crack. 
The tank
tumbled
out of the smog of undead vapor
.
S
teel and bone
s
and chain
s
scattered
across
the pale sand.  The roar of the crash
was deafening.
 

The tank
ro
ll
ed
to
a stop
.  One wheel was gone
,
two more
had
shattered, and the gun turret had snapped off.  Kane heard
combat behind him
and felt the air turn cold from Jade’s spirit, but when he looked back
over his shoulder
all he saw were drifts o
f
dark
smoke
.

H
e hesitated,
and
moved
towards the
crashed
tank
.  His body was wracked with fatigue, and
the sharp pain in his knee gave him pause.

Cowboy up, dude.