The Veil (72 page)

I heard a noise from above and looked down the bare cargo hold to see dozens more Quiet Ones running down a set of metal steps. Ducking a hand inside my uniform jacket, I pulled the Biomote out of my pocket. The screen was flashing with two missed vocal-link communications from Scarlett.
Don’t really have time to call back,
I thought as the storm of fury continued to hit from every direction, with more on the horizon. I absorbed the punches and knife blows as I switched screens and activated the self-destruct setting.

I hope you’re okay, Scarlett.

The unit started bleeping, slowly at first and then faster and higher in pitch. I grabbed the metal plates of a Lamiae’s armour and ripped it open, stuffing the Biomote inside. Seizing him by the horns, I threw him back into the new arrivals and then broke away from the pack. The Quiet Ones scrambled at the Lamiae’s uniform, trying to get at the unit.

I sprinted through the hold, towards the hatch. The unit exploded behind me, and I felt a wall of heat and intense pressure as I dove out of the opening. I cut through the air like a knife, falling the hundred feet down onto Buttercup’s deck. Below me I saw that a Succubus was locked in battle with Danny. As I darted towards the deck, I altered my angle so that when I landed, I collided with the Succubus. Umbra bones broke as I rugby tackled the Quiet One, driving the back of her head hard into the floor. When I stood up, I saw that she was dead, her eyes staring blankly upwards and rear of her head split open on the deck.

“Thanks,” breathed Danny, and then his eyes went wide. “Oh crap!”

Snapping my head around, I saw the flaming Skyship I had blown up bank down towards Concavious.

Right towards the statue.

The aircraft rammed into the adamantine structure and exploded in a blinding ball of flame. There was a groan of metal and then Danny and I watched as from within the thick pillar of smoke, the entire top section of the statue broke free from the rest, tilting slowly and then thundering down into the stormy sea.

All of the anchored ships lurched forward, smashing into one another and the platform. Everyone – including me – was thrown from their feet as the ships smashed together like conkers. Zero was sliding the last section of the chain when the statue broke free. He was tossed up into the air and landed on his back on Buttercup’s tilted deck. Snapping out his revolver, he popped three Quiet Ones in the skull and then jumped to his feet, staggering as he tried to stay upright. He shouted as loudly as he could over the roar of the storm and gunfire.  

“Detach the anchors and go!”

The message was passed between mercenaries like a screaming version of Chinese whispers and then all of the smaller ships unlatched their anchors. Immediately they found themselves at the mercy of the gigantic, thrashing waves. They were tossed into other vessels with loud crunches and those on deck were scattered like marbles with each devastating collision.

I fought through Quiet Ones with Danny, as we rushed down the steep slope towards the bolting system that secured the bucking warship to the sinking statue. Lokar and another Incubus mercenary were already there, struggling to remove the chain, which had ripped into the mechanism and was lodged within the metal. They were gritting their teeth and growling with effort as they tried to prize the chain out, all the while trying to stay on two feet as Buttercup was dragged nose-first down into the ocean.

There were a series of rumbles as the surrounding mercenary ships activated their motors and started to fight against the heaving waves, carving a path out of the chaos. I turned my attention back to Buttercup, which was still well and truly at the mercy of the sinking statue.

As we neared the securing mechanism, a hulking Devil ran into out path, his goat-like muzzle blistered and pink where his mouth had been sealed. He raised an automatic rifle and unleashed a rattle of gunfire towards Danny. I shoved the Guardian out of harm’s way and felt my shoulder jerk backwards as a dozen bullets hit.

Bastard.

Narrowing my eyes, I rushed forward and grabbed the side of the creature’s head, feeling the intense energy pulse down my arms and into my hands. He tried to bat me away but I held fast, and a moment later his head had exploded in a burst of black mist.

“Jesus, Alex!” cried Danny as he re-joined me in time to watch the Devil’s decapitated body fall to the deck and roll away towards the bow.

“Come on.”

We carried on running over to the struggling mercenaries. No matter what they did, they couldn’t free the snagged chain from the mechanism, and Buttercup was tilting at a deepening angle as the statue sank down towards the seabed. “Move!” I shouted as I rushed towards Lokar and the other Incubus mercenary. They looked up at me and then Lokar grabbed his comrade’s arm and yanked him out of the way. I kept sprinting, keeping my body low, and then shoulder barged into the mechanism with all of my strength. There was a scream of twisting metal as the entire structure ripped out of the deck. It scraped across the floor with the speed of a retracting tape measure, before ripping through the front barrier of the ship and disappearing into the water with a resounding splash. A second later the bow of Buttercup smashed back down into the water, creating a shockwave that spread through the entire ship.

The Quiet Ones rushed us at the same time the ship’s motor was activated. The hulking vessel shuddered and released a sound that drowned everything else out – like a thousand motorbikes hitting the throttle at the same time – and then powered away from Concavious. Hollie and Delagio broke a path through to Danny and me, and we grouped together with the two mercenaries, fighting against a constant stream of Umbra. Incubi, Imps, Oni, Bloodseekers and Devils all poured towards us, attacking with an array of deadly weapons, and for each one that we killed, several more jumped down onto the deck from the hovering Skyships. In every direction I looked, Lilith’s soldiers were locked in battle with mercenaries. But as much as I scanned for their leader, I never laid eyes on the Scorched Knight herself.

The warship started to power forward through the mass of colliding ships – some of which were already sinking from the massive damage they had sustained – smashing them out of its path like a battering ram. The waves thundered against the side of the ship and it felt like we were on a nautical version of a rollercoaster as Buttercup rose and fell on the turbulent sea. As we pulled away from the destruction, the streaking Skyjets and hovering Skyships gave chase.

The battle of Concavious raged on.

Guardians and mercenaries fought with everything they had against the seemingly endless waves of Quiet Ones. Hollie fired arrows into their heads and then ripped them back out of their fallen bodies and re-nocked them, firing out over and over. Delagio shot out marbles with one hand and blasted enemies with a gun held in the other, swapping on the fly between magazines to account for their species. Danny swiped out with Penance, severing heads and limbs as he deflected attacks coming from every direction. I rushed across the deck, gritting my teeth as I stabbed and sliced our enemies with Crimson.

There was a cry from behind me and I turned to see – with utter horror – Danny covering his right eye, which was seeping blood. A Yokai was carrying the blade that had blinded him and was about to deliver the final blow.

“Danny!” screamed Hollie. She turned to fire at the Yokai but was knocked to the ground by a Succubus. I rushed back, but before I could reach him, a bullet opened up the back of the Yokai’s head and Zero stormed towards my friend, grabbing the collar of his uniform and dragged the howling Chosen away from the fight. Zero’s mercenaries provided suppressing fire as the mercenary leader yanked open a door leading into the depths of the warship and shoved the wounded Guardian inside.

Anger pounded through my chest as I rushed back to the Guardians. A large group of Quiet Ones had gathered around my friends and they were struggling to hold them back. I smashed into the nearest ones, flipping them right up and over the side of the ship into the water below. Hollie took an adamantine knife to the shoulder and I ripped it out, stabbing it into the throat of the Incubus attacking her. I pulled the blade out again and thrust it down hard into the crown of a Bloodseeker’s head. Then finally I ripped it out once more and used it to drive it into the heart of an Ifrit that was locked in battle with Delagio. All three Quiet Ones were dead by the time they hit the deck.

Zero re-joined the fight, reloading Princess and firing out in rapid succession, snapping back the heads of the advancing forces as his bullets hit with pinpoint accuracy. I ducked as a Bloodseeker sliced a blade towards my head. Jumping up, I kicked him so hard in the throat that I felt his windpipe crush under my boot. I landed and rushed around the Quiet Ones with furious speed, slashing and gorging them with Crimson, until they were all gone. 

Around us, the mercenaries tried to stay upright on the careening ship as it navigated the tsunami waves, continuing to fire the mortar shells and heavy artillery guns at the four Skyjets and two Skyships that remained. All the while they had to defend themselves from the attacking Quiet Ones. But the violent waves were too unpredictable and the shells kept missing. Even the machine gun blasts went wide as the mercenaries struggled to aim at the moving targets. At the same time, the streaking Skyships alternated between fighting the Gargoyles and bombarding the sister ships with gunfire.

If this carries on then we’re not going to make it. I need to take out the commanding Skyships.

I broke away from the Guardians and sprinted the length of Buttercup. As I ran, I placed my fingers into my mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle that caught the Protectors’ attention.

“One of you, come here!” I shouted.

The pair broke apart – one of them peeling away from the Skyjet it had been attacking and sinking low until it was flying parallel to me. I ran alongside the Gargoyle and then dove onto its back, grabbing hold of a rain-slicked wing with one hand and clutching Crimson in the other.

“Climb!” I shouted.

The Protector arched upwards, soaring away from the ship. We darted straight towards the nearest Skyship, which hovered towards us on a backdrop of stormy clouds. It loomed over us as we drew close – the letterbox windscreen alone was longer than three buses. A series of gigantic chain guns attached to its sides released a mist of devastating bullets down onto the mercenary ships below. I rose up on the Gargoyle’s back as it continued to thunder right towards the Skyship in a deadly game of chicken. We flew so close, I could see the faces of the Quiet Ones that sat in the cockpit. I scanned and located the Umbra that had the controls.

“When I say, bank downwards to the right side of the Skyship!” I ordered the Gargoyle and it gave a guttural sound of compliance. We continued to rush towards the massive aircraft until we were almost at the point of no return. I stretched one hand out to balance myself and then drew back the other arm that held Crimson, waiting for the perfect moment.

Now.

I threw my sword like a javelin.

Crimson smashed through the windscreen, skewering into the chest of the Djinn at the controls. The Quiet One slumped forward over the console and the ship lurched downwards.

“Now!” I shouted.

The Protector banked down and right and I jumped from its back, landing on the Skyship’s windscreen only long enough to rip the weapon back into my hands. Then I jumped off at an angle, falling onto the Protector’s back. I turned and watched with satisfaction as the Skyship arched downwards and smashed into the ocean like a gigantic rock.

One to go.

Narrowing my eyes in determination, I ordered the Gargoyle to fly towards the final Skyship so I could take it out.

The Skyship had other ideas.

A barrage of bullets blistered out from its huge guns, tearing the Protector to pieces beneath me. Chunks of stone broke away from its face and body and before I could do anything to save it, the Gargoyle let out a dreadful roar and exploded in a storm of rubble. I flailed through the air for a few seconds, before plummeting down towards the ocean.

Something grey rushed underneath me and I landed hard on the back of the second Gargoyle.
It acted without a command.
The Protector let out a roar of fury and then spun around like a corkscrew – forcing me to clutch with all my strength to its neck – weaving and ducking through the barrage of gunfire that the Skyship unleashed. The Gargoyle stamped down onto the aircraft’s windscreen with enough force that it shattered from the impact. Still acting on its own, the stone beast arched its head backwards and then unleashed a furious storm of fire into the cockpit, reducing everything and everyone inside to carbon.

The Protector launched back off the crashing Skyship and carried me back to Buttercup. “Good boy!” I said, patting its back, and then jumped off, landing on the deck of Buttercup. I turned to see the Protector staring at me, smoke still pouring from between its large jaws and something very close to anger in its red eyes.

I nodded. “Go get ‘em.”

The Gargoyle vaulted up into the sky and then rushed between the ships, ripping the Quiet Ones limb from limb, and bathing them in furious fire. The remaining Skyjets tore over our heads and I braced myself, expecting a bomb attack, but they kept going, shrinking until they had vanished in the distance. I let my sword-wielding hand drop to my side.