Page 148

30

The Pegasus Knight

The pegasus rider was not alone in the sky. Over twenty pilots in old-style, one-person planes were chasing her in a scene that looked like it had been ripped right out of history. Well, at least if planes at the dawn of the flight era had shot highly-charged magic explosives at a woman in knightly armor who was riding a pegasus.

The planes’ magic shots lit up the sky like fireworks. The pilots had the advantage of greater numbers, but the pegasus rider was quicker, more agile. She zipped around the lead plane and split it in half with a powerful swipe of her insanely long scythe.

The plane’s engine choked, and the two severed pieces split apart like a banana peel. The pilot hopped out of his falling plane and landed on the deck of my airship in a single huge, inhuman leap. My guards rushed forward to intercept him as he ran toward the doors that led into the Court Chamber, his gun drawn.

In the meantime, more pilots were abandoning their planes and jumping onto the airship. They looked like locusts falling out of the sky. More planes kept coming. Twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five. Luckily, the pilots weren’t shooting at us. They were too busy with the pegasus knight, who was ripping open the planes like a highly-efficient can opener.

One of the jumpers made it past my guards. He stopped for a moment, looked around, then made a beeline straight for Gin. I blasted him away before he reached my sister.

Another jumper made it into the Court Chamber. He, too, went straight for Gin. What the hell?

I drew my sword. Flames roared to life on the blade. I jumped in front of Gin, swinging the sword. Her assailant jumped out of the flaming sword’s path. Annoyance—and fear—flashed in his eyes, peeking out from behind a full-face wrap. His whole body was wrapped actually, like a ninja. These guys were dressed just like the ninjas who’d attacked my family twice in Purgatory.

“You weren’t aiming for Bella. Or for Zane.” I parried the strike of his sword. “You were after Gin all along. Why?”

He didn’t answer, but I knew I was right. Gin had been there both times the ninjas had attacked. And the single-minded determination with which these guys kept going for her now was unmistakable. They were after Gin. And they were fighting to kill.

There was a loud thump as the pegasus’s knight heavy boots—and her steed’s hooves—hit the floor. She darted around the deck, slashing through all the ninjas that remained there. Then she pushed open the doors to enter the court chamber. She marched toward me.

My guards rushed forward, surrounding her. Covered in blood, his dark eyes alight with delight, Punch looked like he was having the time of his life.

“I am here to petition for the Legion’s protection,” the pegasus knight declared.

“Who are you?” I asked her.

“My name is Indira. I sent you a message that I’d be coming.” She pulled off her helmet, revealing her face. The woman looked just like Gertrude and Inali.

“So you’re another one of the eight.”

Indira. That was one of the names Gertrude had given me, the name of one of her sisters.

“I am,” Indira said. “Leda Pandora, you must accept my petition. You must let me in. You must hear what I have to say. More planes are headed this way. They have come here to kill your sister.”

I looked at Gin, then back at Indira. “Why? Why Gin?”

“It is a long story.”

“Why do you care about what happens to any of us?” I asked her, suspicious. “Why do you care about what happens to Gin?”

“She is my daughter,” Indira declared.