05 Dragon Blood: The Blade's Memory (38 page)

“Ms. Terushan,” he said gravely, “if you go up there with them and by some miracle of the seven gods find a way to keep the Cofah from leveling the city, you’ll always have a place here in Pinoth. Down the hall from me in the castle if that’s what it takes to keep people from bothering you.” A tic in his cheek was the only indication that he might be thinking of the queen’s death—and what she had been doing when she had been alive.

That sounds much nicer than Ridge’s cabin
, Jaxi said.
The castle even has that fancy indoor plumbing
.

Sardelle would gladly accept the king’s protection, but she would prefer to stay with Ridge, wherever that might end up being.

Don’t tell me you would miss the cat soaps.

Maybe we can get his mom to make some shaped like swords for you.

“Thank you, Sire,” Sardelle said, realizing he was waiting for an answer. She accepted his handclasp. “I would certainly like to be able to live in the city without anyone trying to blow me up.” She wondered if he had heard about the archives building.

Alarms continued to wail outside, and the earth shuddered slightly as an artillery gun fired from the nearby tower. Angulus nodded to her, released her hand, and turned toward the door. He paused to let Tolemek run past, a smaller but still bulging bag thrown over his shoulder. Kaika followed, carrying a bulging bag of her own. She could barely see over it. A big, double-barreled rifle hung across her back and four pistols were jammed into her belt.

“Did you pack enough explosives, Captain?” Angulus asked.

Kaika winked at him, then jerked her chin toward Tolemek’s back. “Can’t let
his
bag be bigger than mine, Sire.”

“Good luck,” he said softly as she continued past.

“Sardelle,” Ridge called from his cockpit. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, coming.”

Tolemek and Kaika were already climbing into the backs of Cas’s and Duck’s fliers. All of the pilots had boarded and were starting their propellers. In addition to those carrying the small incursion team, twelve craft were lined up, ready to harry the enemy. Sardelle hoped Tolemek’s plan worked, because without it, all the brilliant flying in the world wasn’t going to keep them alive against the force out there.

I’m more worried about the sorceress and her blade
, Jaxi said as Sardelle pulled herself into the seat behind Ridge.

As usual, his flier was at the head of the formation. When she sat down, she had to share her foot space with a bag that had already been strapped in. More of Tolemek’s explosives, she presumed. There was also a coil of rope tied to an eyelet. Her stomach fluttered as she anticipated carrying that bag and sliding down into the waiting arms of the enemy—and their sorceress.

She hasn’t communicated with me yet,
she responded to Jaxi.
For which Sardelle was glad. She’d rarely had encouraging conversations when talking to enemy magic users. That first shaman she had met in this time period had offered to breed with her to make powerful babies. She still shuddered at the thought.

I’m guessing this woman won’t make you that offer.
After a second, Jaxi added,
She might make it to Ridge. To make powerful pilot babies.

Thanks. That’s exactly what I want to think about now.

Oblivious to her thoughts, Ridge turned around and thrust something toward her. His wooden dragon figurine.

“For luck?” His eyes crinkled behind his goggles.

She always felt silly doing so, but she rubbed the thing’s head. He looked pleased as he returned it to his pocket and ordered Wolf Squadron to roll out. Apparently, even those pilots who came from other squadrons had been recruited into his. Even the one flying the craft with the nude women dancing on the hull. Nobody objected.

A pilot with dragon blood could be an impressive sight,
Jaxi said.
Imagine if Ridge could fling fireballs while chasing down enemies. And just imagine the ability to sense enemies all around you.

He seems to have a knack for that already.

Yes, but a flying sorceress would be amazing. Makes me think about how it must have been back in the dragon-rider days.

Figure out how to take human form, and you can marry one of Ridge’s pilots and try to make that happen. I hear Pimples is available.

The moist, noisy snort Sardelle heard in her mind was impressively realistic for a sword.

Wind beat at Sardelle’s cheeks as they rolled out of the hangar and picked up speed. Ridge pulled up on the flight stick, and the flier soared into the air, the sea breeze buffeting them. He compensated easily and streaked inland to gain altitude and wait for the rest of his team to join him before attacking.

The fortress had floated closer in the time they had been in the hangar. The dirigibles, three of them now, lurked farther back, but the Cofah fliers were taking off. Ten already buzzed through the air around the fortress. In addition to machine guns, each craft had two of those awful rockets mounted under the nose.

“Why didn’t they fly themselves across the sea?” someone wondered over the communication crystal. “Why did they need a ride on that thing?”

“Maybe the flying fortress has lavatories inside,” the one female pilot here besides Cas said, sounding wishful. Lieutenant Solk, that was her name.

“Actually,” came Tolemek’s voice, distant and barely audible as he leaned toward the crystal from the back seat, “my research has shown that the dragon blood, despite being so powerful, actually is burned as fuel when the Cofah use it in their rockets, unmanned fliers, and fliers. An infinitesimal amount goes a long way, yes, but they would have realized by now that a vial does eventually run out. It’s probably more efficient for them to carry all of the aircraft that way than to have them fly across the ocean individually.”

“Thank you for the science lesson, Tee,” Ridge said. “Everyone ready to take it to them? Crash, you’ll take point on the first run. I’ll lead the incursion team plus Solk and Pimples, and we’ll see if we can wreak some havoc on that fortress while finding a spot to drop off our passengers without anyone noticing. Anyone who can make smoke to cover their landing, do so. I’ll try to find something to shoot that can blow up and make that smoke seem realistic.”

A dozen yes-sirs came back to him over the crystal, and one of the fliers streaked into the lead, its nose pointed toward the fortress. As the others fell into a V-formation behind it, the guns boomed from the artillery towers below. The fortress must have flown into their range. Yes, a massive black shell arced across the sky and slammed into one of the front walls of the flying castle. Sardelle expected it to do damage, but it simply bounced off.

Several of the pilots cursed.

“Is Cofah metal really hard, or is that… magicked?” another asked.

“Cut the chatter,” Ridge said. “We’re going in. Do as much damage as you can on this first run, before they have all their fliers in the sky. And don’t get hit.”

Someone snorted, but he got another round of yes-sirs.

The sorceress has reinforced the walls
, Jaxi said.
That’s probably why they were waiting for her to arrive.

Are we going to be able to get to the platform and jump on?
Sardelle imagined a big invisible bubble protecting the fortress, and the Iskandian fliers bouncing off as they tried to approach.

I don’t sense anything like that. They wouldn’t be able to fire through a barrier, if it were up, and it looks like they’re planning to do that.

Yes, as if the fliers filling the sky like angry wasps driven from a nest weren’t enough, giant rotating shell guns squatted on each of the fortress’s towers. Even as Sardelle watched, the first one launched toward the north side of the city. Toward the castle?

She grimaced, picturing the damage that had already happened to the ancient structure. As the shell streaked toward its target, she located the gunpowder-like substance packed inside of it and lit a spark. The projectile exploded several hundred feet above the castle.

That might not have been the best idea
, Jaxi said.
The sorceress is going to have an eye on us now, and we’re trying to sneak in.

If we felt her and knew where she was, I’m sure she already felt us.
Sardelle bristled at the idea of letting the city take damage if she could stop it.

She might have been aware of us, but not worried about us. Now we’ll represent a problem she has to deal with, and we’re up here in this flimsy little flier at the moment.

Several arguments floated into her mind, but the fortress was firing more artillery weapons, and the Iskandian fliers had reached gun range of the Cofah fliers. Ridge was already swooping to stay out of the sights of the oncoming enemies. There were so many of them that Sardelle couldn’t help but feel the inevitability of being struck. She and Jaxi could shield their flier, but what of the others in the group?

She forced herself to concentrate on what she
could
do and blew up another shell arcing toward the city. The sounds of firing guns and explosives filled her ears, drowning out the roar of the ocean. Just as she detonated a third shell, she felt a presence sweep over her.

Yup, she noticed us
, Jaxi said.
And her sword too. Wreltad.

Wreltad? You recognized it? Him?

No, he introduced himself.

That was polite.

He said he eagerly looked forward to engaging in battle with me and cleaving my blade from my hilt.
Jaxi sounded like she was ready to cleave something of her own.

Perhaps not so polite, after all.

He also used the word forsooth. If I can’t melt him down, I’m at least going to mock him.

Forsooth? Sardelle thought of Jaxi’s argument that this sorceress and her sword had come from the past.

“Incursion team,” Ridge said, “they’re not patrolling the air beneath the fortress. We’ll do a run under it, doing any damage we can to the bottom, then come up on the other side and drop off the team. Follow my lead. Crash, keep the rest of their fliers busy.”

“Doing my best, sir.” Crash already sounded tense.

I’m trying to burn bullets before they strike our people’s fliers
, Jaxi said,
but there are hundreds of them streaking through the sky. It feels like millions.

I’m sure they appreciate your help.
Though Sardelle did not want to abandon the city, she shifted her own focus to shielding Ridge and the others whenever she could. She left cutting down bullets to Jaxi, who had much faster reflexes. She also tried to ignite some of the vials of dragon blood powering the Cofah craft. As with the fliers they had encountered earlier in the day, the vials were metal and resistant to her attacks. Had the new sorceress been the one to imbue the containers with protective power? If so, she had been busy over there.

As Ridge weaved and dove on his way to his target, Sardelle focused on the engine of a craft following them. She poured heat into the workings, hoping to melt something important. To her surprise, at a certain temperature, the oil lubricating the pistons turned to vapor, and her heated air caused the vapor to explode.

That’s delightful
, Jaxi said as smoked poured out of the flier dogging them. It veered off Ridge’s tail and headed for the fortress platform. An explosion came from within the engine, and the craft didn’t make it. It spiraled downward, heading for the rocks of the harbor far below.

Look out!
Jaxi barked at the same time as several other pilots cried the same warning over the crystal.

Ridge swerved so hard that Sardelle was thrown against the side of the flier. If not for her harness, she would have been thrown
out
of the flier.

A massive ball of crackling white energy streaked toward them from one of the towers. It filled the air with the intensity of the sun, scorching the air around it as it drew closer.

Aware of Jaxi throwing her power up in a shield in front of it, Sardelle struggled to regain her equilibrium and add her energy to the shield. Their combined forces only slowed down the ball, stealing some but not all of its power. Fortunately, Ridge had reacted quickly enough and steered them out of the energy ball’s path. Even so, its heat seared their cheeks and crinkled the paint on the flier’s wing as it soared past.

Seven gods, she’s strong
, Sardelle thought.

At least we know exactly where she is now,
Jaxi responded.

That’s a good thing?

Well, she’s up on a tower instead of down on the platform that we want to land on.

I haven’t checked closely, but she probably has legs.

“You all right, Colonel?” Cas asked. She and Duck were keeping their fliers close to Ridge’s with the other two pilots he had selected flanking them.

“Yeah, just got some nose hairs singed.” Ridge led the team under the platform. That had been his plan all along, but Sardelle sensed that he hoped the sorceress wouldn’t be able to target him if she couldn’t see him. She wouldn’t count on that. “It’s a little alarming when the
other
side has a sorceress,” Ridge added.

His alarm didn’t keep him from flying close to the banks of thrusters lining the bottom of the platform. All manner of pipes and conduits snaked around under there. He fired indiscriminately. Sardelle would have even less of a guess as to what might be critical to the operation of the massive craft.

A dozen Cofah fliers cruised under the platform in pursuit. They were a ways behind, so Sardelle let her senses stretch up through the layers of metal and machinery, trying to get a sense of what awaited them and also where the dragon blood was located. A large amount of it powered the flying fortress, so she found it quickly. The power it emitted sang to her, as it would to anyone sensitive enough to feel its energy. It sloshed in a hollow metal sphere that was about two-thirds of the way full. If Tolemek’s hypothesis was correct, that the Cofah were burning the blood as fuel, perhaps that indicated that they had already spent a third of their reserve in flying across the ocean to reach Iskandia. That could mean that they would have to turn around and fly back once they used up another third. Even if Tolemek was only partially successful in destroying that sphere, it might be enough to halt the attack. But even if they could avoid the Cofah soldiers, getting to the sphere would be a challenge. She sensed the maze of metal and conduits, bulkheads and pipes, and had no idea how to reach the blood. Logic suggested there must be an access panel somewhere, but she would have to get closer to have a hope of finding it.