The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (41 page)

Eight escort
?
Really
?
They
must really want to keep him
, Shade replied and took another
long pull from the bottle. He had guessed three, and then six shown
up, and now there were eight. If he didn’t act soon there would be
a bloody armada. He swallowed the gulp of wine and took another
quickly.
No problem
, he assured Charm and grinned to
himself. Leaning over to a compartment on the passenger side he
pulled a small crystal from inside. With a hushed word he activated
its magic and smiled as the fast drum beats of Firym music filled
the ship.

“We got the music sweetheart, now let’s teach
these bastards to dance,” he said with a grin and ran a hand
affectionately along his ship’s panel. Placing his hands firmly on
the controls he sent magic coursing through the ship. A soft
vibration echoed through his fingers and into the ship as he
connected fully with
The Shade
. His eyes rose to the view
screen as it flickered to life showing him a full span of the rocky
ravine he was hiding in.

“You thought I disappointed you before Daddy,
you ain’t seen nothing yet.” He grinned wider as he spoke the words
and pulled back on the controls bringing his ship from hiding.
There was no doubt in his mind that any survivors from today would
know his ship.
The Shade
was the only one of her kind. The
structure of the ship was sleeker than the typical spell hawk and
it was the only ship in the air without elaborate paint. Word would
most certainly get back to Myth about this. His only regret was
that he wouldn’t be there to flip him off as he heard it.

* * *

His adrenaline rose as the first of the enemy
ships came into view. He was flying well above them using the cloud
cover to mask his approach. If they had been watching closely, they
likely would have spotted him, but with eight in the escort they
could hardly expect to be ambushed.

“Maybe Charm is right, maybe I am insane,” he
mused as he eyed the fighters below him. He had never actually been
in an aerial combat before and he was getting ready to take on
eight seasoned fighters. Well, at least he assumed they were
seasoned. There was a possibility they were as green as he was, a
slim possibility. “This must be what comes from years of
oppression,” he muttered and flicked his gaze down below the ships
to the sparkling waters of the Midland Sea. It was now or never. If
he delayed the ambush much longer they would be over land and that
would eliminate his chance of escape if he needed one.

He flexed his fingers on the controls and
took a deep breath. “Hold on gobbies,” he called back to the cargo
bay and dropped into a steep dive aimed at the last two fighters in
the escort. He actually felt a bit sorry for the goblins trapped in
the cage, even though he hated the creatures. They were in for a
rather rough ride.

The pilots of the two spell hawks spotted him
too late and his opening fire ripped through their ships sending
both plummeting toward the water. “Six,” he mumbled as the next two
in line broke away from the transport ship and turned back to meet
him. He pulled out of the dive and circled his own ship. Screams
and howls erupted from the cargo bay as the ship tilted with the
turn and Shade nodded in response.

“I know, I know,” he muttered, pulling back
on the controls and forcing the nose of his ship almost vertical.
“And it’s only going to get worse,” he added as he dodged the first
shots from the Rivasan ship behind him and pulled out of the climb
to return fire. He had gained distance on the Avanti ship with the
maneuver but the Rivasan pilot was obviously more skilled.

His fingers traced a path over the gun
controls and he selected two at random as he turned
The
Shade
directly at the Rivasan ship. More gunfire erupted from
the enemy as he approached. Cranking the controls he barely managed
to dodge the worst of it and heard the screech of metal as one of
the rounds grazed the side of his ship.

“Oh you are going to fucking die for that,”
he growled and poured on more speed. The Rivasan ship faltered as
he continued his headlong rush straight at it and at the last
moment it tried to turn away. “Sucker,” Shade chuckled and
activated the runes on the selected guns. The shots hit the Rivasan
ship broad side punching holes through the thin metal from the view
screen back to the wing. He pulled his ship off the headlong course
and began another climb. The cloud cover would be an asset as long
as he was still outnumbered.

“Five,” he said quietly. He didn’t bother
watching to make sure the ship went down. He didn’t need to. Those
shots had been acid and gas rounds, the pilot would be choking up
his own lungs as the acid spilled out of its casing and began
eating through the ship. The casings for those rounds had been
experimental and he felt himself relax at the sight of them
working. He hadn’t been sure they would be solid enough to actually
break through a spell hawk hull.

A red light began to flash on his view screen
and he flicked the control for the rear view screen. The Avanti
ship had managed to gain ground on him and looked to be preparing
to fire. “Alright then,” he said eyes locked on the view screen.
Pulling back hard on the controls he brought the ship into a
vertical roll. More goblin screams rose in the back as well as the
clangor of items that hadn’t been properly secured. He blocked out
the noise as well as the seat harness that was biting painfully
into his chest. A mild flash of vertigo struck him as he brought
his ship in behind the slower Avanti vessel and opened fire. The
bullets tore through the back panels and one wing broke loose.

“Shit,” Shade gasped as the torn metal flew
straight back toward his ship. He cranked hard to the right and
barely dodged the wing. Ahead of him the Avanti ship was dropping
like a stone toward the unforgiving sea. It was doubtful the pilot
would be able to escape. It was standard protocol to have wards
against teleportation on spell hawks. Supposedly it was to prevent
them from being hijacked. All it really did was guarantee the pilot
died with his ship. “Four,” Shade said and turned his attention
back to the remaining fighters.

They were sticking close with the transport
now and seemed to be gaining speed. Apparently they thought they
could outrun him. He chuckled at the thought and selected his next
target. “Bye bye, Rivasa,” he mumbled.

What the hell are you doing
? Charm
demanded sounding a bit frantic.

Glad you contacted me. Which side of the
ship are you on right now and is Remedy with you. This is very
important, Charm
, Shade replied.

The right side near the center and yes,
I’m right beside him. Why
? Charm replied, sounding even more
frantic.

Just needed to know where to put the door.
You are going to have to jump, by the way. So what I really need to
know now is, can you teleport
? Shade answered calmly as he dove
once again toward the enemy ships and opened fire on the Rivasan
vessel. Plumes of smoke rose from the ship as it began to spiral
away from the transport.

Yes I have a ring that will allow me to.
Is this really your plan, Shade
?
Blow a hole in the side of
the ship and I jump
!

Got a better one
? Shade asked with a
chuckle.

I think I might hate you
, Charm
replied and cut the mental link off between them.

He was about to begin another climb when the
cargo hatch of the falling ship opened. “What the hell,” he mumbled
as he watched a figure brace itself on the door frame. Golden blond
hair whipped around her as she threw herself out of the ship and
into open air. Long dark skirts tore at the wind as the ship fell
away from the woman. “What are you doing lady?” he muttered shaking
his head in confusion.

He pulled his ship into a climb, but kept the
falling woman in the rear view screen. Her form rippled in the air
as she fell and the fabric of the dress shredded as massive red
wings unfurled. Her back arched and her arms drew out from her
sides as her skin tore away revealing red scales. Her wings beat
frantically as her form grew. A loud scream of triumph sounded
sending the metal of his ship shivering as the dragon shed the last
of its human guise. With powerful beats of its wings it began to
climb toward his ship quickly. The speed it was gaining on him was
unreal. He had never realized before how rapidly the creatures
could fly.

“And a dragon, of course,” he grumbled and
poured more magic into his ship to increase her speed. The scream
of the dragon split the air again and he felt his controls quiver
under his hand. His gaze flicked back to the rear view screen once
more and his heart stopped for a breath. There was no sign of the
sky behind him, only enormous ivory teeth and the very large gaping
mouth they were contained in. A flicker of light at the back of the
creature’s throat drew his attention and he watched in horror as
the billowing flames grew. Dragon fire could melt anything. He knew
that well enough from his lessons.
The Shade
had no chance
of surviving that attack if he allowed it to succeed. Cursing
loudly he hit the panel for the cargo hatch and cast a quick spell.
The loud snap of the chains securing the cage rang through the ship
accompanied by the frenzied screams of the goblins. He watched the
view screen long enough to ensure the cage was indeed falling
toward the dragon and then veered hard to the left. The explosion
behind him rocked the ship hard and he fought to regain
control.

That wasn’t a trump card he had wanted to
play, but at least now he knew the alchemical mixture he had fed
the goblins worked. Fighting hard to slow his heart he brought the
ship back around for another sweep at the transport. He had to make
a door for Charm now. He knew he was running out of time and
luck.

“Fortune I do love you,” he whispered as he
watched the headless corpse of the dragon plummet past the ships.
Its tail tore through one of the fighters as it fell sending the
ship spiraling into another Avanti ship. Both spell hawks careened
toward the water below still hopelessly tangled together at the
wings. “One,” he added and prepared to fire on the transport
itself.

Moving his fingers along the controls
slightly he selected the two guns he had prepared for this purpose.
If everything went as planned the ammunition would do most of the
damage to the ship and not the occupants inside. With a quick
prayer for luck he opened fire and watched the rounds splatter
against the side of the ship. “Hmm not what I had planned,” he
grumbled pulling his ship back to the right for another sweep at
the transport. The flash of flames in the rear view caught his
attention and his eyes widened with alarm as he saw the side of the
transport ignite fully into blazing flames. “Shit,” he gasped and
leaned forward to look at the gun controls he had used. “Oh shit,”
he gasped again, he had selected the wrong guns.

Charm take cover behind something solid
now. Don’t question. Don’t argue. Just do it, now
!” He tried to
keep the panic out of his voice as he sent the mental command to
the rogue. “Twenty, nineteen, eighteen …” His voice trailed off as
he dove away from the transport. He had to get clear before the
second part of that ammo hit.

We are protected, what did you do
?
Charm’s question came right as the explosion did.

Shade’s ship rocked once again and he looked
up to see debris flying in all directions from the transport ship.
The last unfortunate fighter hadn’t realized what the flames had
meant and had suffered the brunt of the blast.
Making a really
big door. Umm. Are you still alive
? he answered as he watched
flaming pieces of metal fall from the sky.

If I wasn’t, you couldn’t make a mental
link with me, idiot
, Charm snapped, the panic completely gone
from his voice, replaced with what sounded like fury.
Get out of
there. I’ve teleported us to last camp site before Rivana. Meet us
here.

I didn’t see you jump, Shade
protested.

We didn’t have to Shade, your damn
explosion destroyed the wards preventing us from leaving,
Charm
explained in a tone that suggested it would be a long while before
he forgot this particular adventure.

Shade nodded slowly and watched the Avanti
transport as it too crashed into the sea below. “Eight fighters,
one transport, and a dragon,” he muttered and pulled a cigarette
from his coat pocket. Placing it in his mouth numbly he stared down
at the wreckage strewn water below. With a slightly trembling hand
he lit the cigarette and shook his head slowly. “And to think, I
used to be a pacifist,” he whispered.

Sanctuary

Morning light filtered through the pale green
curtains. Jala shifted on the couch and brushed a strand of hair
from her face as she stared at the window. Her head rested on
Neph’s leg while her feet were draped across Jail. Marrow and Wisp
were curled on the floor near the couch sleeping soundly. Of all of
them, she was the only one that hadn’t drifted off while they
waited on Finn and Valor. Emily hadn’t returned yet either. No
matter how many times she tried, Jala couldn’t form a mental link
with any of her missing friends.

There had been riots in the city last night.
They had seen the flames from the warehouse. Twice, Jail and Neph
had gone out to calm the crowds and put out fires. She chewed on
her lower lip and continued to stare at the window praying she
would hear the sound of horses soon.

The faint scuffle of movement from the hall
drew her attention and she turned her head just enough to see
Sovann emerge from his room. He padded barefoot to the window and
pulled the curtains back just enough to peak out. She watched his
shoulders slump as he realized his brother still hadn’t
returned.