Ice Phoenix (38 page)

The long, sinewy evacuation ship hovered high in orbit, shifting restlessly as it waited for clearance from the rotating traffic
tower that guided ships in and out of the In-Between. Inside the serpentine ship, the students grew restless; they had been suspended in the same spot for half an hour.

"What
's the hold-up?" Kalindra grumbled, as she looked around at the teachers and other students. "We've been floundering in orbit for ages!"

Lorn glanced at her, but remained quiet
and calmly observed the teachers walking along the aisles; they looked tense and nervous. They were inspecting the students for marks on their bodies with medical scanners. One teacher came up to Master Drummik and stooped down to say something.

"All clean," Lorn overheard him say to Master Drummik.

All clean for what? Lorn wondered. Why were the teachers going around scanning the students? Another teacher walked up to Master Drummik and bent down to whisper in his ear. Lorn could not catch any of the words, but he knew someone who could have. Nipponians were known to have excellent hearing. He leaned forwards and nudged Mikin, who had also been observing quietly.

"Did you catch that?"

Mikin gave him a guilty look and nodded. "He said, 'Minda Yerra's defences have been activated. We can return. It should be safe.'"

Now Lorn was really confused. What was happening? Were they really about to return to Minda Yerra? He caught Master Drummik staring at him
. Squirming, Lorn looked behind him and caught sight of Imeldor Raimus standing a little way behind Terrana's pod. He seemed agitated.

Something stirred next to Lorn, and he glared at the sight of Kazu sprawled out on Terrana
's lap. The kitten had been a right pain throughout the flight, meowing and scratching to be let out of his cage, and in the end Terrana had relented. Kazu sat up, the sleepy look gone from his face. Instead, he looked alert, his ears twitching, and for some reason Terrana was paying more attention to him than to what was happening around them.

Kazu feels bad, Terrana.
Air feels bad.

Which is it?

Terrana, something bad is coming here. Kazu doesn't like it.

Do you
wanna go to the back where Niku is?

Their carriage was the second last one in the serpent ship, right before animal storage where Niku was being kept. In case of attack or serious accidents, the carriages were designed to separate
so their individual autopilots would activate and navigate their passengers to safety. In fact, every carriage was fitted with its own landing and flight systems.

You
're not listening! Something bad is coming!

Terrana pursed her lips and sat up straight. The longer they remained in orbit, the more of a sitting duck they became for the wrails. She wasn
't sure whether the wrails could reach them at this height, but neither did she want to find out. She still believed that the Valpuri had already headed into the Voron Cloud, bent on freeing the Dream Walker.

She could hear her heart beating in her head. In her mind, she pictured a ship rocketing straight for a dark bubble. Inside that bubble, something large and powerful writhed with insurmountable anger, drawing the ship closer to it. Like a needle plunging into human skin, she saw the ship piercing the bubble, releasing the slow, dripping flow of thick red blood. And then
a voice called her name.

"Terrana.
Terrana!"

Someone shook her and Terrana found herself staring into Lorn
's green eyes.

"Are you okay? You
're sweating." He reached out to wipe her forehead and was surprised to find it as cold as ice.

"We are not moving," she said
, trying to hide her fear and stop Lorn from worrying further.

"You are thick, aren
't you?" said Misa, glaring at her. "You'd think after being stuck up here for the past half hour, you could say something other than the most obvious!"

Terrana scowled. Misa scowled back.

Someone moved up ahead and all of them turned to see who it was. Headmistress Marl was striding down the aisle directly towards them, her face cast in a shadow of inexorable sobriety, which set off alarm bells in their heads. All the teachers were now standing and seemed hyper alert. The students could not fail to recognise that something very serious was happening. They found out what it was when the captain's voice rang throughout the ship.

"We apologise for the delay, but due to complications with space traffic and evacuation procedures, we
've been requested to return to ground. We are now heading back to Minda Yerra."

A loud, unified cry vibrated down the ship as students began to panic. "But the wrails are below!" cried a student. "I heard they were
multiplying."

From their area, Lorn, Terrana, Kalindra, Misa, and Mikin glanced at each other. Fear clearly etched their faces. The stark memory of Mikin
's words returned to them.
"If Pa Gumpina cannot clear out the wrails in the next three days, UWIB will vaporise Pa Gumpina!"

Misa looked as though she wanted to blurt out something, but Kalindra sent her a warning glance, shaking her head.

"Not a word," she hissed. "We don't want to create further panic." Misa bit down on her lower lip and nodded. There was a sharp lift in their stomachs as the ship started to descend. It was fast, and the students could discern the first rays of light filtering through the small windows.

"Students, quieten down!" ordered Headmistress Marl. Her voice cut through the ship and quickly
quelled the dissent among her students. Her image was also projected throughout every carriage.

"As you have understood, we are not proceeding to Al-
Kalindrome 77 today. We are returning to Minda Yerra, where you'll be safest. The defence shields around Minda Yerra have been activated, and nothing can pass through alive, including students, without explicit clearance from the school. As soon as we land, you will form efficient lines and assemble immediately at the great hall, where you'll be briefed on emergency precautions. To all prefects, you have the important jobs of ensuring that every student is in line as quickly as possible, and accounted for."

Misa ventured a question, raising her hand. "How long should we expect to remain at Minda Yerra before we evacuate?"

Headmistress Marl gave her a hard look. "Two days. During that time we will organise another —"

Something slammed into the ship, sending Headmistress Marl and the other teachers tumbling down the aisle. There was another violent crash, and the students screamed as they heard the sound of the carriage being pulled apart.

"Activate your suits now!" Master Drummik shouted. Almost immediately, a helmet came up over every student's head, and their suits lit up in certain areas as their life support sensors switched on.

Terrana clung to Kazu as they tumbled violently, and amid the terrified screaming, she heard the screeching sound of metal being pried open. Up ahead, grey light and rain flooded in
, and for a moment she could have sworn she saw electricity race along the sides of the carriage. The sudden change in air pressure created a vacuum inside the carriage, and the students screamed as they saw two teachers being sucked out of the ship.

T
he rip began mending itself before any other passengers were caught in the vacuum. The students slumped into their pods in relief as metal stretched and melded, welding back together. Headmistress Marl had one hand on the wall, and the other on the ceiling, generating heat to repair the hole. The vessel stabilised as the pressure inside equalised; however, their carriage had separated from the rest of the ship. They were hurtling at blood curdling speed towards the city.

The violent thud came again,
and everyone looked up in horror as long steel claws tore through the walls. That was when everyone realised they were being attacked by wrails.

"
Stay back
!" yelled Headmistress Marl. She was slithering towards the claws, intent on destroying the wrails' footholds. With a loud roar, she pounced on the steel claws, bringing her fists down in an earth-shattering punch.

Outside, the wrail screeched in pain and pulled away. Headmistress Marl leapt onto the next one, proving once again that her power punches were stronger than the wrails
' deathly grips.

"Degra!" shouted Master Drummik. "They
've destroyed the air thrusts. We are going to crash!"

"Keep the students in a shield! We are getting out of here!"

"What about the other carriages?" screamed Terrana, holding Kazu tightly.

"They
've already separated, probably heading back to Minda Yerra," said Lorn, trying to keep his voice calm. "It's just us now."

Kalindra bolted into action then. She quickly deactivated her shield, and did the same for the others. "There
's no time to waste! Gather around Master Drummik. I'm going to get the others!"

Being a prefect, it was her duty to guide the other students, and she did just that. Terrana had to admit, she admired the girl
's strength and calmness in such a situation.

"
Everyone
!" Kalindra shouted. "
Get behind Master Drummik
! We are evacuating the carriage. You need to stay inside his shield at all times!"

As the students hurriedly freed themselves from their pods, they were lifted into the air and plonked down unceremoniously behind Master Drummik, courtesy of Imeldor Raimus. Terrana found herself clinging to his back, with Kazu squashed between them.

"They are coming for you, child," Raimus said quietly. "Stay close to me."

Terrana
's fingers dug into his shoulders. "They sent the wrails after me?"

"Not just the wrails. The Valpuri are still here. We need to escape."

Terrana felt the blood drain from her.
They found out who I am. And now all the students are in danger because of me.

Raimus suddenly swerved to the side and Terrana was amazed to see Headmistress Marl running down the carriage with one hand seemingly wedged in the ceiling. Her flame red hair billowed behind her, and there was an awful screeching noise as the ceiling above her tore open. She was ripping it apart with her qi-enhanced claws.

"Children, stay close!" warned Master Drummik. "Activate flight-mode on three."

Terrana panicked. "Do I have to activate mine when I
'm with you?" she asked Raimus.

"No," the Imeldor replied. "I
've got you."

The carriage split open and Master Drummik shouted. Immediately, each student tapped a yellow sensor on their shoulder and they were flung upwards into the sky. An enormous force shield formed around the students and pushed back the surrounding wrails with a loud smack. Large membranous wings sprung from the back of the students
' suits, and every one of them was now in flight-mode. A quick observation of their location showed they were not far from the city. Acting as one, the teachers began guiding the students towards it.

Large creatures they had never seen before collided repeatedly into the shield, and the students screamed as they stared into the gaping jaws of the wrails for the first time. Horribly mutated creatures which were neither reptilian nor mammalian hovered above them, their eyes glinting viciously as they flapped their heavy wings in the rain. Their bodies pulsed strangely and the students were both repulsed and horrified to see short tentacles lined with sharp teeth protruding from their sides.

"Formation!" ordered Master Drummik. "Coordinates zero one five nine x seventeen y! We are heading there now!"

The students
' suits registered the new instructions, and, like a highly trained platoon, they fell into an arrow formation behind Master Drummik. The arrow then blasted towards the city. The wrails followed, intent on destroying the shield, but the teachers were equally bent on preventing them. They surrounded the wrails and like a well-drilled squad led by Headmistress Marl, began attacking.

With her powerful fists, Headmistress Marl pounded her way through the swarm
, and despite the fact that the wrails dwarfed her, her qi-enhanced attacks were sufficient to break their bones, and they fell away like flies.

"Degra!"
One of the teachers flew up to her. He looked terrified. "Something's wrong! The wrails seem to be getting stronger."

Lightning raced across the sky, stretching its fingers down towards the ground, and Headmistress Marl felt her spinal cord
turning to ice. She glanced at both her fists, which had taken down five wrails, and noticed the broken skin on them.

"They are starting to adapt to our qi," she muttered. "Our attacks will soon be useless." A horrifying realisation struck her and she looked towards the fleeing students. "Dartkala, Drummik
's shield won't be able to protect them for much longer! We must get to them immediately!"