Sky Raiders (16 page)

“Ah,” Lyrus said weightily. He walked forward and dipped the torch into the bowl. Crimson flames rose up, red as blood. “Harano the Lion. I should have known this would be my trial. It will be a good fight. Be ready to flee. I will get no second chance against this opponent.”

Lyrus led Cole to a large empty square surrounded by eight buildings. Looking up, Cole saw the
Okie Dokie
following at a distance. He cupped a hand beside his mouth. “If he loses, I’ll need to get out of here fast!”

Eli gave a thumbs-up.

Lyrus directed Cole with a gesture. “Wait on the perimeter.” He proceeded to the middle of the square, drew his sword, and raised his voice. “Harano, come forth! Slay me if you can.”

From one of the buildings surrounding the square, there emerged a huge lion with red-gold fur and a mane that matched the bloodred flames in the bowl. Cole felt an instinctive terror. No fences divided him from this alpha predator. He drew his Jumping Sword.

Head high, advancing with lazy grace, the lion ambled into the square on large paws. The tufted tail swished. On all fours, Harano stood as tall as Lyrus. As the giant cat drew near, the soldier coiled into a fighting stance, sword held ready.

The lion roared, the mighty challenge echoing across Parona. Cole felt the hair on his neck and arms stand up. He glanced at the lifeboat. It hovered just within jumping distance.

Lyrus didn’t waver. “Come, Harano,” he invited. “Measure yourself against me.”

The lion rushed Lyrus with sudden speed. Cole flinched. Harano sprang. Lyrus stepped forward, crouching, and thrust his blade upward. The oversized lion slammed into the soldier, hurling him backward. Both flopped to the ground. Cole heard armor scraping against paving stones.

Man and beast lay still for a few heartbeats. Then Lyrus arose. Bracing one foot against the lion’s shaggy head, he removed his sword, yanking it out from under the jaw.

As Lyrus cleaned the sword by wiping it against the luxurious mane, Cole approached cautiously. “Are you all right?”

Lyrus turned and flashed a wide smile. “Now I have a memory worth owning.”

“That was incredible.”

“I felt alive for the first time. Thank you for that gift. The trial has been won. Our defenses are no longer engaged. You and your comrades are welcome to off-load our treasures.”

All three lifeboats shuttled workers down from the
Domingo
. Still wearing the shawl, Lyrus showed them where they could find the armaments, the artwork, and the treasure. While the lifeboats waited in the square where Lyrus had defeated Harano, the raiders began collecting valuables.

Helped by his cane, Durny approached Cole with Mira at his side. “Fine work, Cole. I take it the shawl helped convince that soldier to fight for you?”

“It made him obey me,” Cole said. “But I didn’t trick him. He wanted me to have control. He wanted to fight. He wanted to prove himself.”

“Did you know the shawl could do that?”

“Not until he told me,” Cole said. “Lyrus thought he was an expert on heroes. As we spoke, he realized he was a semblance and that he hadn’t ever done anything heroic. He hinted about the shawl so he could have his chance.”

Durny clapped Cole on the shoulder. “Impressive job. Much better to fight with your head than with your hands. Would you care to help us seek out floatstones?”

“Sure. What can I do?”

“Go get my tools from Rowly. That should include a mattock, a pry bar, a hammer, a chisel, and two spades. Bring them and catch up with us.”

“Good job, Cole,” Mira said.

“Thanks.” As Cole turned to find Rowly, his cheeks felt hot. He suspected he was blushing.

A pair of men slowly descended the steps from one of the buildings, holding a huge silver harp between them. Setting it down, they paused to rest. Another man clutched a jeweled scepter in one hand and an ornately framed mirror in the other. A fourth man struggled to carry a stone bust.

Cole spotted Rowly over by the lifeboat called the
Charmer
. He was a round, balding man who wore spectacles. Beyond Rowly, Cole noticed Lyrus climbing the steps to the building where they had lit Harano’s flame.

Why would Lyrus go there?

Frowning, Cole trotted past Rowly, then increased his pace to a jog to catch up to Lyrus. As he hurried up the broad, shallow steps, Cole told himself that he was probably worrying about nothing. At the top of the steps, he looked through the columns to where Lyrus stood across the room, torch in hand, lighting a fourth bowl.

“What are you doing?” Cole yelled, racing into the room.

Lyrus turned. The bowl that had held the red flame was empty. The other four bowls burned green, blue, gray, and black.

“You granted me the right to remain a protector of Parona,” he said.

“You promised to defend me!”

“I will. To the death, if necessary.”

“You promised the guardians wouldn’t attack us if we came for the treasure!”

“Only the dishonorable would break a vow. I pledged they would not attack you for coming here or for taking anything. And they won’t. They’ll attack because, in my role as protector of Parona, I have begun four trials. True to my word, I will strive to defend you. This proving ground deserves to fulfill its purpose.” He grinned. “And I deserve a final chance to test my skills.”

Lyrus started running for the square.

“I command you to stop!” Cole called.

“You pledged I could act in my role of protector,” Lyrus called back. “I do not release you from that promise.”

Cole felt sick and horrified. He had been played! Lyrus was getting everything he wanted—another chance to fight for glory while making sure Parona tested any visitors. The soldier was running toward the square. Where the lifeboats were. Where the creatures would emerge.

Cole ran hard, yelling at the top of his voice. “Watch out! Emergency! Get to the boats! Take off!”

Some of the raiders moved toward Lyrus as the soldier dashed into the square, shawl flapping behind him. The warrior paid them no mind, calling in a mighty voice, “Skelock, Rulad, Nimbia, and Gromar, come forth!”

Creatures emerged from buildings on three sides of the square: a black rhino, horn lowered, charging hard; a spider bigger than a lifeboat, gray and hairy; a huge green serpent with a head the size of a barrel; and a muscular cyclops that
was more than twice the height of a man. Lyrus held his sword high. “Come, Rulad; come, Skelock; come, Nimbia and Gromar! Defeat me if you can!”

The creatures converged on Lyrus. The rhino reached him first, but the soldier sprang aside and brought his sword down in a vicious sweep, nearly decapitating the beast. The enormous serpent came next, rearing up high above Lyrus, staying beyond the reach of his sword.

The discordant clang of a dropped harp roused Cole from watching the fight. The men with the harp had abandoned the instrument and were now climbing inside a lifeboat. Two of the boats lifted off the ground. Other empty-handed raiders came racing from a couple of the buildings. A few of them jumped into the last boat as it took off.

When Cole looked back to the fight, the towering cyclops was ignoring Lyrus and charging toward the lifeboats, as was the supersized tarantula. The snake shifted sinuously, head jerking from one position to another, trying to strike, but Lyrus kept his sword in the way. The warrior tried to press forward, but the snake kept sliding back, giving him ground.

An oversized arrow streaked down from above, piercing the center of the tarantula and poking out its other side. The hairy spider clenched into a quivering ball.

An instant after the javelin skewered the spider, catapults appeared all around Parona, rising as hatches opened on rooftops and patios. Without anyone apparently operating them, the catapults launched balls of flaming pitch at the
Domingo
. The skycraft lurched up and away from Parona, but not before a pair of fires started on the hull.

Club raised to strike, the cyclops closed in on the lifeboats. A few arrows from the boats flew at the brute, lodging in its hairy clothes. One sank into its shoulder. The cyclops didn’t seem to mind.

As all three lifeboats banked up and away, the catapults swiveled to target them. The cyclops jumped and swung its club, just missing the lowest boat. Two men who had been dashing for the boats tried to reverse their direction and make for the buildings, but the cyclops chased them down, crushing one with a downward blow and then swatting the other man a ridiculous distance through the air, his body landing in a crumpled heap.

Lyrus sprinted at the snake. Its mouth gaped wide, showing slender fangs bigger than bananas. While gliding away on writhing coils, the serpent struck at the soldier repeatedly and got slashed with every attack. Then the tail whipped around the warrior’s legs, and the massive snake encircled him, closing from all directions, wrapping him up while striking furiously.

The cyclops ran toward Cole, and he realized that his moment as a bystander was over. It was all happening so quickly, and he felt so much responsibility, that he had nearly forgotten he needed to escape as well.

Raising his sword toward the nearest lifeboat, Cole shouted, “Away!” He soared upward at the same time as many spheres of flaming pitch. One fireball passed close enough for him to feel its hot backwash. The fiery projectiles missed the boat, and Cole landed neatly inside. The boat contained Jed, Eli, and two others, along with a few treasures.

“They’ll skin us if we leave Durny!” Eli yelled.

Jed turned the boat and swooped lower. “We’re going to get roasted,” he grumbled.

“Give him one chance,” Eli insisted.

Cole leaned over the side, peering ahead. He had nearly forgotten Durny and Mira! They had gone off on their own.

Mira and the older man were running away from the lifeboat down a paved lane between two buildings. Durny moved as best he could on his bad leg, stabbing the ground with his cane. The spider was chasing them, the ballista’s arrow protruding from its body. Cole thought it had been a lethal shot. Apparently not.

The speedy tarantula gained rapidly. Durny was a poor sprinter. Mira stayed near him, urging him on. He waved for her to run ahead.

Another volley of fiery pitch blazed into the air. Jed dipped the lifeboat down and to the side as several blistering projectiles roared past. One of the lifeboats that had managed to climb high took a direct hit and burst apart. Cole glimpsed burning bodies falling amid shattered wood. The boat had passed beyond the borders of Parona, so none of the people or debris hit the ground.

The
Okie Dokie
was gaining on Durny and Mira. Cole’s attention returned to them in time to see the tarantula leap forward. It landed on Durny, and a furry leg clipped Mira as well, sending her to the ground, the Jumping Sword clattering from her grasp. The tarantula tilted down, as if biting Durny.

The shaper cried out, and the tarantula tore in half, black
gore erupting in all directions. Advancing faster than Cole had ever seen a lifeboat move, Jed brought the boat in low. Eli leaned over the side and reached a hand for Durny. Their fingers brushed, and Eli shouted in frustration.

Cole looked back at Mira and Durny, both of them drenched in spider juice. Club held high, the cyclops was charging at them. Mira crawled toward her Jumping Sword, but it was clear the cyclops would reach her first.

“Go,” Eli growled. “They’re lost.”

The cyclops was only a few paces away from Mira and Durny. They were going to be pulverized.

Without time to think or plan, Cole aimed his sword at the head of the cyclops. “Away!”

Cole sprang from the lifeboat and sailed toward the one-eyed giant. Air rushed over him as he rocketed toward his target. Oblivious to the incoming threat, the cyclops glared down at Mira and Durny. The sword slowed Cole a little as he neared the brutish head. Straining forward, he stabbed the center of the cyclops’s big blue eye, the momentum of the jump adding considerable power to his thrust. The sword disappeared, and so did his arm—all the way up to the elbow. It felt as if he had punched a deep bowl of warm pudding.

The cyclops collapsed beneath him, landing on its back. Cole kept hold of the sword through the jolting impact. Stunned, he lay atop the fallen giant, watching thick blood well from the ruined eye. He was alive. The cyclops was not.

13