Page 20 of Fly to Fury (War of the Alliance #3)
Chapter
Twelve
F ieran strode between the aeroplanes of Flight A, taking in the wire running over the frames. Mak and Pip worked on the final aeroplane, securing the tabs and running the wire.
It was still surprising that Lt. Rothilion had agreed to adding this to his Flight as well. An unexpected show of trust from both the elf lieutenant and his pilots.
“Sandwiches are here!” Lije’s voice called into the large hangar.
The sound of footsteps filled the hangar as mechanics and pilots scrambled from all corners to rush toward the tables against the wall.
Fieran held back, waiting for Pip and Mak to finish. Once they joined him, he wandered in the direction of the food.
The flyboys and elven pilots lined up, picking out sandwiches and just holding them in their hands since no plates were provided.
Even the elves no longer turned their noses up at eating with their fingers, though many of them made a valiant, though likely futile, attempt to clean their fingers by swiping them on the fronts of their trousers before picking up their food.
Lije held a stack of papers, and he was passing them out.
As he reached Pip, Mak, and Fieran, he grinned and held out one of the fliers.
“This was also delivered. Apparently the Escarlish Army has organized a tour for Tenian Daefiel and Margaret Grey, the author of the Star Forest novels, as a morale boost for the troops. And they are stopping here at Fort Defense.”
“Really?” Pip snatched the paper, her eyes flicking as she read it.
Fieran took one, taking in the black words against the crisp white of the paper. His eyebrows rose. “The book publisher is also using this as a launch for the latest Star Forest novel. It will be available to the troops before going into print for general distribution.”
“I will need to purchase one for Kari.” Merrik folded his copy of the paper, tucking it into his pocket. His sister Kariana was only a few years older than Fieran’s sister Ellie, and the two of them shared an interest in novels and the Star Forest books in particular.
“And I’ll need one for Ellie.” Fieran motioned with the paper. “Though, we’ll need to check with our dachas to make sure we don’t double up.”
“Very true.” Merrik reached for one of the sandwiches. “We should do that soon. The books need to be pre-purchased.”
“Remind me tomorrow morning.” Fieran grabbed his own sandwich. Roast beef and provolone cheese. “If our dachas let them know soon, Ellie and Kari might be able to send their collections here to get those books signed too.”
“Or perhaps part of their collection.” Merrik’s smile turned wry. “Their whole sets would be quite the box of books to ship.”
Fieran shuddered, already picturing standing in line, his arms aching from the large stack of books. “Maybe they could pick only their favorites.”
“Just be glad we do not have to be the ones to tell them that.” Merrik shook his head before biting into his sandwich.
Fieran stepped to the side to make room at the table for the next person in line. As Pip joined him and Merrik, her own sandwich in hand, he nudged her. “And what about you? Are you going to get a book signed? Or…perhaps a movie poster of Tenian Daefiel?”
Pip nudged him back, rolling her eyes. “No, of course not.”
Mak laughed as he leaned against the wall, two sandwiches in his hands. “If she were to get any poster signed, it would be that one of your dacha that she has hanging on the wall in her room back home.”
“Mak.” Pip growled his name through clenched teeth.
Fieran probably shouldn’t find her angry growls quite as adorable as he did. He quickly stuffed a bite of sandwich in his mouth.
“She told you about that, didn’t she?” Mak turned to Fieran, a grin on his face and a glint in his eyes.
“Mak…” This time, her brother’s name was stretched out as Pip’s pointed ears flushed bright red.
“Yeah, she did. Blurted it out the first time I met her.” Fieran worked to keep his posture casual. They were just joking around. He was not about to remember how hard he’d started falling for Pip already back then.
Mak nodded, as if he’d expected nothing less.
His gaze swung back to Pip as he smirked.
“Come to think of it, Pip, perhaps you should send home for it. I’m sure someone at the western rail terminal could locate it and send it to you, even if Muka and Dacha are still away.
You wouldn’t want to lose this chance to get it signed by your hero, after all. ”
Pip’s cheeks, too, turned red before she covered her face with one hand. “Mak!”
Fieran choked on a swallow of sandwich and coughed. He could only imagine the utter terror in his dacha’s eyes if Pip presented him with a poster to sign. When he could finally speak, Fieran kept his tone neutral to hide the laughter. “Dacha would sign it, if asked.”
At Fieran’s other side, Merrik gave a little snort as he grinned and ate his sandwich.
The radio in the other bay crackled with shouted but indistinct words a heartbeat before the sirens mounted on the side of the building blared.
Fieran shared a glance with Merrik. Then the two of them raced for their aeroplanes, stuffing the last of their sandwiches in their mouths and reaching for their flight gear as they went.
As Fieran’s aeroplane climbed higher, he could just make out the shapes of aeroplanes dancing through the sky as they wheeled and fought. “Rothilion, report.”
Lt. Rothilion had been in the sky on patrol when the alert sounded.
“This appears to be a large-scale attack.” Lt. Rothilion’s unruffled tone filled the radio. “A few scout aeroplanes are keeping us busy, but several large airships are coming over the foothills.”
Another wave of aeroplanes was likely to follow. Fieran mentally urged his aeroplane higher into the sky. “Have the Alliance airships been alerted?”
“Yes.” Lt. Rothilion’s voice was clipped. One of the aeroplanes executed a loop in the sky before diving at another aeroplane.
Below, Dacha’s magic flared, creating that huge shield that protected the fort below from both bombs and falling debris from the battle in the sky. Pip’s magic, too, shimmered to life, protecting the hangar.
With Fort Defense protected, Fieran gave his order. “Rothilion, fall back. Let’s lure them into our territory.”
Within moments, the four Alliance aeroplanes peeled off from the battle, racing away with their enemies in close pursuit.
A dark cloud of airships filled the horizon. Above them, more aeroplanes swarmed. After their defeat at Fieran’s hands several weeks ago, it seemed they had decided to attack in force.
“E.S. Lewis moving to intercept.” The unfamiliar voice spoke over the radio as the shape of one of the Escarlish airships drifted upward from where it had been docked.
“No.” Fieran didn’t even think before blurting out the word. He glanced around, locating the members of his squadron.
Right now, Fieran had the rare opportunity to face the enemy with only his squadron in the sky. Once the Escarlish airship took to the sky, he would have to worry about incinerating it along with the Mongavarian ones.
“Capt. Laesornysh, you have no authority to give orders to this airship.” The voice on the radio turned stiff and sharp.
“Half-Breed Squadron, spread out. We need to cover the sky above Fort Defense.” Fieran pointed his aeroplane toward the oncoming enemy. “E.S. Lewis , I respectfully request that you stay below the protective barrier. The sky is about to get very dangerous for anyone besides my squadron.”
“Capt. Laesornysh, if we don’t ascend right now, we could be caught on the ground by the enemy’s bombing run.” The airship continued rising, though slowly.
Fieran’s squadron took up positions around him, flying off to the sides until they were spaced widely across the sky. It wasn’t a good formation for engaging the enemy. They’d be vulnerable, easy to pick off one by one.
Yet his pilots followed the orders without question, trusting he had a plan.
Hopefully Pip’s wiring system worked as designed. Or he was about to get in a whole lot of trouble.
Fieran gathered his magic in his chest, letting it build into a churning, burning sensation inside of him.
Ahead, the enemy airships crossed over the Wall. The large doors opened, releasing the black shapes of their bombs.
Dacha’s magic brightened as it gripped the bombs, sending them back through the Wall before they exploded on the Mongavarian side of the border.
“Half-Breed Squadron, hold steady. Things are about to get hot.” Fieran released his magic, sending it over his aeroplane before blasting it outward.
As his magic reached the nearest aeroplanes, it danced over the wires.
Fieran locked on to those aeroplanes, curving his magic into a shield around them before he unleashed even more magic, blasting ever outward from the ring of aeroplanes he already held in his magical grip.
His magic stretched and stretched until he held a network of magic anchored in the sky by the aeroplanes of his squadron.
A few cheers—and muttered oaths—filled the airwaves, but his squadron held steady, despite the fact that most of the squadron had never been this close to his magic before. Sure, they’d seen him use it in battle. They’d flown behind waves of it. But they’d never had it coating them as it was now.
They were mere seconds from encountering the first of the enemy aeroplanes. Fieran gathered even more magic in his chest, drawing upon that deep well of power inside him. The more he unleashed, the more the magic built inside him, begging for release.
Resisting the urge to squeeze his eyes shut, Fieran held his aeroplane’s control column steady and poured his magic into the network of aeroplanes as they approached the enemy flyers, the airships still trailing behind.
The enemy aeroplanes unleashed their machine guns, the bullets filling the sky.