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Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Liv

“ G et to the weapons panel, Liv. Do as I instruct.” Ollo hurried to the captain’s seat.

Maev raced to another panel, braids flying behind her as I ran to where Ollo instructed, finding a slew of buttons and levers in front of me that made no sense.

“The short lever on the far left, with that circular symbol. Get ready for that one,” he shouted.

“The one marked B2?”

“Yes. Ballistic number two. The others are empty. That’s our one shot if we need to get anything out of our path.”

“Great,” I muttered.

The smoke-filled sky made it difficult to see, but in the distance, travelling fast around the outskirts of the smoke cloud, I could make out the Guard’s ship.

Ollo leaned over the control panel. “Those Aspissers stole my fucking ship!”

It was the first time I had heard Ollo swear, seeing his old ship being flown toward us. “We will need to fly into that cloud to lose them. Otherwise, they’ll catch up in no time. Get ready with that lever, Saviour.”

“I thought your ship didn’t have weapons. Why does it matter if they catch up?”

“All they have to do is jump on board, and we are done. If they take us, you become our only defence. Will you kill the Guards to save us?” He shot a knowing look at me as the ship rose in the air.

I didn’t answer. Instead, I asked, “But the magic barrier, won’t that keep them off?”

“Depending on speed.” He was intent on the panel before him. “If it’s an attack, the magic will push back. If they hop on board, the magic won’t push them away. It reacts to speed and force, meaning?—”

“Look out!” I pointed outside just as the Aspis flew past, casting us in its shadow—my earlier question of where he was answered.

Ollo swerved, taking us out of its path. “Blessed Rem,” he said as he got us righted again, aiming for the smoke, pushing the airship faster.

“The Aspis will be able to sense me in that cloud, Ollo,” I warned. “I don’t have control right now. And we won’t be able to see it!”

“I’m going to line us up. One shot to slow it down. Let’s aim for the beast and get in that cloud.”

“You want me to fire at him?”

“It, Saviour. It . There’s no man flying through the sky.”

Was I really going to aim for the beast and fire at it?

Brekt—

We were moments from entering the cover of smoke when I felt the Aspis. It was on our tail. I hadn’t used magic, but it was coming for me. My fear must have triggered it.

Before we reached the cloud, Ollo spun the ship toward the Aspis, piloting the airship in reverse, and I righted myself after being tossed sideways. The move would have impressed me if I weren’t shaking so badly.

The beast was hard to track as it slid through the sky like a snake in water. It was fast, feral, as it zeroed in on us. The sun shone off its long fangs, ready to strike.

“Its movements are too wild,” Ollo shouted. “Scratch that plan. We head for the smoke.”

He turned us again, aiming away from the beast, and I grabbed the panel as the entire ship tilted. We dove into the smoke cloud, the room growing darker, and the time seemed closer to dusk than midmorning. I couldn’t see a thing outside the window except swirls of grey pushing past it.

“My ship has a better navigation system,” Ollo complained. “So the Guards, if any know how to read it, will find us easily in this. The Aspis, however, will be searching for Liv. We need to keep our eyes peeled for shadows, and Liv, keep your inner detector open for the Aspis.”

“It’s behind,” I said. “Gaining on us. I can feel its hunger.”

Could it feel my fear? Was Brekt aware? Did he know what was going on?

“Get ready. When it’s close enough, you need to pull. Tell me when it’s close, and I’ll face us in the right direction.”

“I’m ready.” My trembling hands hovered over the lever as Maev held onto the edge of the panel, watching her brother with tears threatening to spill.

“It’s close, Ollo, real close.” My voice shook with anticipation.

“You tell me when to spin us around, Liv. We are trusting your instincts here.”

“The cloud is thinning. I think we are near the other side!” Maev shouted.

I felt it, the excitement, the killing need.

“It’s here!” I yelled.

Ollo spun us toward the Aspis. “Now, Liv!”

I held onto the panel as the room plummeted into darkness, facing a black shadow that rivalled the night sky. The beast’s jaws opened wide, its yellow eyes brimming with animalistic rage.

I grabbed onto the lever and yanked.

Only I forgot.

Two of my fingers weren’t working because the beast that was aiming for us had torn my arm clean off.

Ice coated the entire panel before me.

My hand slipped off the lever, and the Aspis collided with the ship, sending a rainbow of light waves across the front window when its teeth clashed with the magic barrier.

The crash sent us all flying, and I fell forward onto the frozen panel, my body pushing against the lever, engaging it and sending a projectile into the smoke.

The ship spiralled in the air, and I flew sideways, smashing against the wall.

Ollo had the good sense to hold on to his seat and was now dangling from it, trying to hoist himself back into place as Maev landed on top of me with a loud crunch. Somehow, Ollo got himself back into his seat, grunting with pain. “Maev, Plan B. Get out now.”

“Plan B?” I muttered.

“Now?” Maev screamed, “No. We can still get away.”

Ollo righted the ship, and the grimace on his face told me he was injured. “Get the godsdamned bags, Maev, now.”

“Ollo—”

“Get. The. Bags.” Ollo didn’t look over his shoulder. I had never heard him use such a tone before, and Maev stiffened next to me as he continued, “Shields are gone. You have three minutes. I will level us with the ground. The canyons are within sight. You can get there on foot.”

“Come on.” Maev grabbed my wrist and pulled me along.

“What are we doing?” I got to my feet and followed Maev, who wasn’t answering me. She grabbed a bag that had flown to the back of the room and passed it to me as a tear streaked down her face.

I looked back to Ollo, who was ignoring us, pressing buttons and turning the nose of the ship downward.

Maev slung a pack over her shoulders and marched from the room.

“Maev, what’s Plan B?”

“We go on foot.”

“What about Ollo?”

“Ollo is distracting them while we escape. He knew we would get to this point. They’re desperate because we are about to leave Guardian lands.”

“Isn’t this a little dramatic? Why risk your life, Ollo?” I turned around, rushing into the control room when Maev grabbed my arm, stopping me.

The twins exchanged a look, and Ollo nodded, making Maev turn to me. “Ollo was tasked to bring you back to the Elders to lead their armies to invade Veydes. We hoped to find a different answer to end this, but it’s our people’s last hope. They plan to strike the Guardian City.”

Maev held my stare, waiting to hear my answer.

“You lied to me. You said I wouldn’t have to fight.”

“Argue about it when you’re off this ship!” Ollo shouted.

I searched Maev’s angry gaze. “I’ll follow you.”

What I didn’t say was there was no way I was leading an army to kill any more Guardians.

“I don’t think this is worth you dying over,” I said to Ollo. “Not for me.”

“Don’t worry, Saviour.” Ollo’s mouth pulled tight, and it wasn’t his usual cocky smile. “I’m not bragging when I say I am the best pilot in Rydavas. I will show these Guards what to expect from my people if they plan to attack. I’ll find you on the other side.”

“The other side of what?”

Ollo looked at his sister, and an emotion that I rarely saw flashed across his face—love. Ollo loved his sister, as I had never felt with my own. “I’ll see you at home,” he said, voice shaking.

With that, Ollo turned, and Maev pulled me away from the bridge.

I focused on Maev, and only Maev, as we ran through the halls. She was wiping at her eyes, stumbling around corners. When we reached the hatch, she ripped open the door as the ship approached the ground fast. “We jump when he hovers.” Her voice cracked with pain.

“He’ll be okay, Maev.” I tried to reassure her.

“He will not,” she spat.

A roar came from outside just before the Aspis slammed into the ship, hurling Maev and me through the hatch and into the open air.

My stomach bottomed out as we fell ten feet to the sand.

I landed on the ground, and the wind knocked out of me on impact. Sand burst into a cloud of dust as I choked on dry, hot air.

The ship sped away as Ollo shot straight into the air, aiming for the sun. The Aspis followed, and my braids whipped around me as a smaller ship flew by, following the beast into the sky.

Maev watched Ollo go, climbing high, heading toward the canyons ahead. “Stupid. Idiot. He thinks he’s brave.” Maev was facing away from me, wiping her sleeve across her face. “You’re not brave!” Her voice cracked, breaking from her pain. “You’re just a stupid show-off!”

I didn’t know how to comfort her. I couldn’t lie again and say that he’d be okay. “We need to make use of his plan, Maev. We can do this. The Guards are following him.”

Maev spun, eyes red and glistening. She nodded anyway, and with one last glance at the sky, she rose and removed Nuo’s map from the bag.

“The map shows only the beginnings of the canyons. We have to use luck to make it through. After that, I have a fairly good idea of the road we need to take north.” She stumbled over her words, trying to pretend she wasn’t crying.

“He said he’d find us on the other side.”

Her eyes closed, and she shook her head before opening them again.

“How long will the journey take?”

I brushed the sand from my pants. It was a horrible, scratchy feeling. The air was no better.

“If we don’t find a horse or another airship? On foot, it will take us months.”

“We don’t have time for that.”

“We best get started. We won’t find help on this side of the canyons.”

It was when we began to walk that we heard it.

An explosion, loud and damning, echoed across the open sands, and in the distance, a plume of black smoke rose above the canyons.

Flying away from the explosion was the smaller ship piloted by the Guards.