The Rift War (26 page)

"There is no Warhawk!"

"Turn your ships around now and go home before we are forced to defend
ourselves."

"I claim all this land in the name of the government of Goarlotte-Welcairn," Kayn
snarled. Emrillian could almost hear the spit hitting his microphone. "You are a traitor, Cavvon.
You and everyone with you."

"He just won't listen." Grego looked at the three women and shrugged.

"What is he doing?" Asandra said, pointing to the prow of the closer ship.

A concave dish five meters wide, which had been pointed up at the sky, turned now,
pivoting downward so the spike in the middle of the dish pointed directly at Wynystrys.
Blue-black sparks streaked down the ridges in the dish, from the outer rim to the spike.

"He's turned it on!" Grego staggered to the water's edge. "Kayn, stop before it's too late.
You don't know what you're doing!"

"He believes," Meghianna said. "He believes in magic enough to feel threatened by us.
Why else would he turn on the device to steal our power, unless he believed?"

Emrillian reached through the illusion spell to find the flotilla of defenders. The effort
made her head throb, right behind her eyes. She staggered forward a step, feeling as if the island
had tipped, shoving her off balance. Was the power siphon doing that? Pulling the
imbrose
out of her?

She pulled hard on the Threads around her, resisting the sensation of being dragged to
the water's edge. A handful of boats bobbed against the sides of both ships. Her vision wanted to
blur, and she couldn't tell if the attackers were still in the boats or they had climbed aboard.
Nentor let out a bellow and darted forward with amazing grace and speed for such a bulky man.
He caught Asandra as she went to her knees in the sand.

"Grego, do something," Emrillian called as she reached to help the elderly scholar
woman. She let go of the illusion web, and some of the ache vanished, but not the unsteady
sensation that would pitch her into the water at any moment. The attackers who hadn't reached
the ships yet would have to take their chances, without her help.

"Kayn! Turn that thing off now. You are tampering with things you could never
understand," Grego shouted, standing now up to his ankles in water.

Emrillian staggered backwards a few steps and looked frantically up and down the
shore. "Aunt Meggi, what happens if all the power leaves the Threads? Will Wynystrys
sink?"

"I don't want to find out," Nentor snapped, and scooped up Asandra to cradle her against
his chest.

"Put me down, you behemoth," his wife said, slapping at his broad chest. "I'm fine."

"You'll be fine when I say you're fine. Girl, watch your warriors, not us." He winked at
Emrillian, bringing a bubble of laughter up in her throat to choke her.

She linked arms with Meghianna and watched the ships. It encouraged her to see red
flares of attacking magic on both ships. Dark shapes raced up and down the main decks, and on
the upper decks where the control cabins perched. Enough activity that she couldn't keep track of
it all. The tipped sensation grew stronger and she took deep breaths to fight the lightheadedness
that tried to wash over her.

A dark shape stumbled out of the control cabin of the ship that had turned its power
siphon toward them, and then tumbled over the side of the ship. She prayed it was a scientist.
She prayed it was Kayn.

A shriek escaped her when a burst of flame erupted from the cabin doorway and
exploded out the front windows. She staggered backwards, as if a cord pulling her forward had
snapped.

"They did it." Meghianna flung an arm around Emrillian's shoulders. "Your modern
friends are amazing."

"They don't know when something is impossible," she retorted, and hugged her
aunt.

"That's because we don't know all the rules," Grego said. "Emmi, any way you can blast
that thing from here, to make sure it can't be repaired?"

Take everyone prisoner,
Meghianna called through the Threads. "No, I don't
think we should destroy what might well be a useful weapon against Edrout." She stepped back
and raised her hands, grasping the Threads, making them flash a deep, vivid blue that enclosed
the two captured ships. "There. Now we can all talk the same language. It's irritating listening
through someone else's ears."

Wynystrys went back to its previous spot along the shore, close to where it had
originally been before it broke loose centuries ago. The conquering scholars and warriors
brought the two Moertan ships close to shore. They were only twenty meters long, with a
shallow draft, and were easily moored to the shore without scraping bottom. Emrillian reflected
that advanced technology had its advantages, in that only four people were needed to actually
maneuver and maintain the ships, and only a handful of scientists for the equipment on each
ship.

Within an hour of their defeating the Science Directorate's people, all of them had been
transferred to shore. Someone had insisted on setting up yet another makeshift throne for her. To
counter that irritation, however, she was delighted to learn that Sevron Kayn had indeed been the
one who had gone overboard.

He glared at her as he approached, drenched and steaming in the hot afternoon sunshine.
The left side of his face was bruised from the impact of hitting the water. Emrillian looked over
the Science Directorate people as they were guided to stand before her throne. For effect she
stayed standing, letting the sun shine off her armor, with nothing to block the cascade of light,
only a cloak hanging from her shoulders.

"Highness." Karstis bowed low, saluting her with his sword. "All prisoners are present
and accounted for."

"Thank you, my friend. You have earned your spurs as a Valor of Quenlaque twice over.
All of you have," Emrillian said, turning to the rest of the warriors. "In the name of my father,
Athrar Warhawk, I salute you." She drew her sword and held it up straight before her. Fighting a
smirk, she released a little of her control over her armor. A deep, rich corona of royal blue and
emerald light rose from the metal and stayed with her as she bowed to her warriors and sheathed
her sword back in its usual spot, now that Braenlicach was gone.

Kayn had lost his disgruntled look and his mouth hung open in evident awe by the time
she sat down. He took a step closer to her, holding out a portable scanner. Emrillian wondered
who had let him keep his equipment. She considered using Mrillis' spell that killed all
technology, and then thought of Meghianna's words. As long as the power siphon was disabled,
what harm would it do to let Kayn have his toys and gather his data? It might help their cause to
let the scientists have proof that the power displayed before them was real. The man swallowed
audibly and checked his readings again.

"That's--that's all star-metal," Kayn said.

"Kneel before Emrillian Warhawk and beg for her mercy," Baedrix snapped. He
gestured to his friends when the scientist didn't respond immediately.

Kayn let Pellen and Taran push him to his knees, still intent on the readings from his
scanner. Emrillian didn't know whether to be exasperated or amused by Baedrix's words. When
had he become a stickler for protocol? Then his gaze met hers and his lips twitched, fighting a
grin.

"Where did you get that?" Kayn said, finally looking up from his scanner. "Why did you
waste all that star-metal, making armor?"

"In a war, armor is not wasteful," Emrillian said. She silently groaned at how pompous
she sounded.

"I demand--"

"You're in no position to make demands," Grego said from his place at her left
hand.

"In the name of the Science Directorate, I demand you turn it over for study." He barely
spared a scowl for Grego, all his attention focused on the star-metal armor.

"Not when I need it for battle." Emrillian wondered if Kayn had hit his head when he
fell overboard. She would have to ask Grego later if the man was always this obtuse.

"You have no right to be wearing so much star-metal. Whoever made that armor for you
should be arrested."

"I made it." Emrillian nearly laughed when Kayn gaped at her. "And since I am queen
here, I won't have myself arrested, because I heartily approve of the wisdom of making this
armor."

Chuckles and muttered comments arose from the warriors, who surrounded the
prisoners. She suspected several besides Shalara and Karstis had had dealings with Kayn in the
past.

"In fact," he continued as if she hadn't spoken, "report to my ship right now and explain
to my team how you refined that much star-metal without incinerating everything around you for
fifty kilometers."

"No." Emrillian stood again and took a step toward him. She made the light shimmering
over her take on a purple hue, with red streaks.

"Now see here, if you know what's good for you, you'll do what I tell you."

It was almost funny to realize she had been right. Kayn did spit when he was flustered
and upset.

"You're facing multiple charges of treason." He waved the scanner in her face.
"Cooperate with my team, and you'll be forgiven quite a bit. I'll put in a good word for you with
the authorities."

"I
am
the authorities, you blithering idiot," she said, fighting for calm in her
voice. She slapped her flat hand against Kayn's chest, stopping him when he lunged toward her.
Raising her other hand, she halted the warriors, Baedrix first among them, who leaped forward to
stop Kayn. The deep purple light enveloped the man and his eyes went wide as she paralyzed
him with just a tiny yank on the Threads.

Emrillian reflected that she could get drunk on the power now available to her.

"I am queen until my father, Athrar Warhawk, High King, returns to claim his throne. In
fact,
you
face charges of treason. I am the granddaughter of King Pirkin, ruler of
Goarlotte. I am niece to King Pol, his son, who held the throne of Goarlotte after him. I am the
granddaughter of Queen Glyssani of Welcairn. I am the niece of King Markas, ruler of Welcairn.
I am your sovereign, and my patience with your petty demands ends now!" She shoved him hard,
releasing him from the grasp of her magic, ending his paralysis. He stumbled backwards,
dropping his scanner. It hit the pebbly shore with a satisfying
crack.

A single pair of hands clapping, encased in metal and leather gauntlets, broke the silence
that spilled across the shore, as if every person held their breaths, and the wind itself waited to
see what Emrillian would do.

She turned, following her ears, and tipped her head back to see the top of the bluff. Her
knees tried to buckle for a moment, when she saw Mrillis and Graddon looking down on them.
Standing between the two enchanters were Ynfara and Athrar, dressed in royal clothes as she had
always seen them in her memories. Athrar wore black armor trimmed in silver, and Braenlicach
burned blinding bright, light spilling from the scabbard at his hip. Ynfara wore silver and blue,
and her crown of star-metal set with sapphires sent out a corona of blue light that cascaded down
over her like a cloak.

Emrillian wanted to say something heroic and grand, for history to record. Her throat
closed up and tears pressed at her eyes.

"Hail Athrar Warhawk!" Baedrix shouted, and went down on one knee, facing the
bluff.

His friends followed suit immediately, and only a heartbeat later, the Archaics echoed
them. Not a single prisoner tried to flee. Several went to their knees, wonder making their eyes
wide. Emrillian wrapped her arms around herself, fighting tears and laughter mixed. Ynfara blew
her a kiss and opened her arms wide, beckoning her to join them. She felt like a little girl as she
ran to the pathway that led up to the top of the bluff.

A warbling, discordant wail pierced the silence after the shouts of acclaim died away.
Shalara snarled something under her breath, and from a pile of equipment confiscated from both
ships, she snatched up a heavy-looking pack with multiple straps that looked like it was made to
wear on the back. She braced it against her hip and caught up with Emrillian.

"What is that?" she demanded, as her friend accompanied her up the sloping path.

"It helps to have dated someone who knows how to jury-rig remotes. The controls of
both ships are slaved to this," Shalara said. She stumbled and concentrated on the path until they
reached the bluff. "I overheard someone gabbling about needing to get their data and get out
before they were attacked by some other ships heading our way, so I linked in the sensors."

"We have company coming?" Emrillian guessed. "Grandfather, we're being invaded!"
she called, and sprinted the last few steps to the top.

"Not quite yet," Athrar said, meeting them at the top of the path. "My little Emmi--not
so little now, are you?" He laughed and enfolded her in his arms and pressed kisses on her
cheeks and forehead. She clung to him, fighting not to cry, as he spun her off her feet, circling
once before setting her down. Then Ynfara was there and the three pressed tight in an embrace.
Emrillian was sure that everyone on the shore could see them, but she didn't care.

"I'm sorry, lad," Mrillis said. He grasped Athrar's shoulder with one hand, Emrillian's
with the other.

"Give us a moment." Athrar stepped back, holding Emrillian at arm's length. "My little
bird, so tall and strong. So fierce!" He tried to laugh, and the sound caught in his throat. "What
need do you have for me? You made me so proud, to stand there and watch you deal with our
enemies."

"The Science Directorate isn't our enemy, Papa." Emrillian gestured for Shalara to step
up to join them. "How many ships? Does it show weaponry?" She helped her friend turn the pack
over and hold it flat so they could look at the display.

"Don't worry, Emmi." Athrar bowed his head over the screen that had expanded to fill
the entire face of the pack. "Amazing, to see what we have been listening to all this time." He let
his hand hover over and follow the movements of the images of ships displayed on the screen,
with color coding and insignias for six different enemy nations.