Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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Will was in the Hangar Clerk office in a matter of minutes after the call went out, having been on his way to the hangar anyway, and he was hovering over a map in the middle of the office, many people shouting out to him pieces of urgent information.

“Sire,” one of his people turned around. “General Creed has reported Winged Creatures. Winged Creatures in daylight! Swarming around the forcefield.”

“Must have been keeping that one up his sleeve,” Jace said to him.
And then as if on cue the sound of screeching was heard off of all the castle walls, and suddently the entire hangar office was alive with people shouting out information and people running back and forth with papers and people rearranging gemstones all over the place. At the center of the storm was Will, and so Jace and Isabelle became spectators. Standing near the table but saying nothing, both in a sort of awe as to what was happening all around them.
“Golden rider legions are being reporting coming out of Cinowyn and Temel, reported by our outer patrol. They’re trying to engage their progress but they’re covered by the sky fire units, and the winged creatures are overwhelming them! Awaiting orders.”
Will turned and pointed to the one talking about General Creed.
“Tell General Creed to hold fast, keep his forces in a defensive posture around the city, no matter what happens, if the forcefield falls, I defer to his Generalship as to how to proceed, and keep relaying what our pilots are reporting as far as enemy movement.”
“Sire!” he answered turning back to his sapphire and maps and books and things, but he was obviously shaken and nervous, as were the others around him, at the mere mention of the possibility of the forcefield falling. As if they hadn’t contemplated it before.
Now Will looked back at the other one.

“Far as our people with eyes on those golden riders, you tell them to do what they can to slow their progress as long as they can and help is on the way.” Then he turned to someone else, quickly. “Launch absolutely everything we have out of that hangar!” he yelled, and launch them as quick as you can before the golden riders get on it now!”

“How many are there?”

“Uh,” he answered nervous. “Thousands, thousands is all their saying, sire.”

“Just tell them to do what they can!” he yelled and looked back to the map.

“Sire, sire, sire,” seemed to be heard from everywhere all at once, and through the glass you could see all the pilots running frantically through the hangar towards their airships.
In the background, he could hear one of the people saying “All pilots, to your airships. Repeat, all pilots, all airships are to launch and form fighter groups now. Winged Creatures attacking in daylight and multiple golden rider legions coming out of Cinowyn to the North and Temel to the East.

Will was still looking back down to the map. Drawing arrows from the towns of Cinowyn from the North and Temel to the East right towards the capital city where they were.

“Well, it looks like we know where their attack is coming from,” he said, and then at almost that exact moment he looked up and Stellan Fox was looking back at him. Their eyes locked for a moment and then he nodded slowly and at once started out of the door to the hangar and all of the activity, right before he got there, Will reached out and grabbed his arm and Stellan looked back to him. “Good luck,” he added, and there seemed a deeper meaning or weight to those words.

Stellan bowed his head ever so slightly.

“Sire,” he said, and then he was out into the chaos of the hang and Will was turning back to the map.

“I don’t understand it,” Shamblin said. “We scouted those villages countless times and there was nothing there.”

“I wouldn’t take it too personally,” Jace finally spoke up. “They’ve conquered an entire continent with their illusions and deceptions,” he said and he was looking back down to the towns.
“Right, and of course they’re a couple we never sent you to,” and though he must have been terrified he showed absolutely none of it. As if he were more inconvenienced than anything else.
“If only we had more time,” Shamblin was saying. “If only you could have been everywhere at once to see through those illusions.”
Isabelle looked over to Jace, then, as if at that moment still confused or realizing what he had been doing since coming here.
Then Will stood up, as if perceiving Shamblin’s panic was common, and he looked at everyone working around him. “This was all just a matter of time, people,” he said. “Do your jobs and we’ll send them back.”
It was as if he were convinced by his own words, feeling more confident and in control when he turned back down to the map when suddenly a deep grumble was heard and the entire room shook. Then another. Will closed his eyes, hearing the reports in his mind before they even started coming in.
“Air…” one of his men studdered. “Airships!” he repeated. “Airships bearing the squadron mark of the Sun Downers!” one yelled. “They’re firing on the city and their attacks are the same as ours, they’re going through the forcefield.
Will walked over to the person who said that, and once again Jace and Isabelle were back to spectators. Stunned spectators.
“Patch me in to our entire fleet,” he said.
The airman shifted around several different color precious stones and slotted them into different places, and when he did they all started to glow.
“This is your King, everyone any airship with the Sun Downer emblem is an enemy and is to be engaged as such. This is for everything. Your homes, your family, yourself and your oaths. God speed and hang in there.”
When Will started to go back towards the map and look back down to it, he began making notations. Engaged, counteracted by airships.
He turned back to one of the other airman that was sitting at his post, the one who had contact with General Creed.
“Get in contact with General Creed, tell him I want to know what they’re attacking.” He leaned close to the wide window in the hangar and looked straight up at the steady and efficient launching of all his fleet through the roof, thankful for all of the drills and that his people were the best. But there were no comet attacks from enemy airships, and he would have thought the hangar would have been their prime target. “Because it’s not us,” he said with curiosity. Then he turned back to the long panel of airmen that were sitting over to the left, each one responsible for the communication for their own flight team, the cluster assigned to that group of airships to relay to the Clerk, in most cases Shamblin, at the moment their King.
Will was just looking back down to the map when the door opened hard again and Jaden came in, Thean and Foy with her. There wasn’t so much as glance exchanged between anyone but Will.
“Where are they coming from?” she asked.
And all eyes were down on the map as Will explained.
“So far, we have confirmed golden rider legions approaching from the north from Cinowyn,” he circled the town. “And from the East from Temel.”
“How long before they reach us?” Thean asked.
There was another loud bang somewhere.
“I don’t know. My airships are engaging them, but they’re heavily engaged with the winged creatures who can attack in daylight as well, and now with airships. They also have those sky fire units with them which are attacking. The airships’ weapons are getting through our forcefield, but they’re not attacking the hangar.
“Sire,” one of the airman at his panel started, turning around. “General Creed reports that they’re firing at apparently random targets throughout the city.
“Artemus doesn’t do anything randomly,” Foy pointed out.
Then there was a massive explosion that reverberated down to them, and though no one knew what it was, they knew serious damage had been done, somewhere.
“Woah,” Malcolm said, as he ducked a little as he got in, Cleo right behind him, and no one acknowledged his presence or his expression. Instead they were looking at Will.
“What was that?” Will asked, almost as if he were afraird to hear the answer and all with him shared the sentiment.
“The East Tower, sire!”
“The East-” will stopped and closed his eyes, knowing what was coming even before panicked airman pointed up at the diamond precious stone configuration on the wall, the top one having gone out.
For a moment, Will’s eyes closed and then he looked squarely at Jaden, opening them.
“Tell me Artemus doesn’t know the location of the stones that are responsible for keeping up this forcefield,” he said.
Jaden said nothing and her silence was the perfect answer.
Will looked up at the configuration and then he looked back to her.
“How many can we lose before the forcefield goes down?” he asked.
“Three,” Malcolm said, and now everyone did have their attention turned to him. And he looked to Jace, and hesitated a second, as if he was sure that was common knowledge, then he glanced at Jaden. “It’s the same as those sky fire units. Like what happened in the valley. They can fire those comets as long as they have five of those necklaces working. It’s the same kind of power that’s behind the forcefield.”
“Just put two and two together like that, did ya?” Jace asked.
“No,” Jaden said. “I told him. And he’s right. If two more stones are lost, so is the forcefield.”
Will turned back to the airman panel, looking a little nervous for the first time.
“New orders, concentrate defenses around the four locations that hold the stones that have to be placed in very specific locations. Pull them even away in delaying the advance of the golden riders, concentrate on defending those positions.”
“Sire!”
“That’s how they work?” Jace asked, and he looked over to Jaden, speaking to her for the first time since their confrontation the previous night. “You couldn’t have just buried them or something?”
“It doesn’t work that way. It has to be in very specific locations,” she said. “Right now we have to find out where Artemus is launching his fighters from.”
“What do ya say, Shamblin?”
“I’ve narrowed it down to five, sire,” he said, panicky. “But given their illusion tactics, it could be anyone. And they could easily alter their approach so we can’t know what way they’re truly coming from. We have half a dozen abandon remote outposts throughout the land. And if we move the airships to the wrong location, we…”
“Alright, I get the point. Your best guess. We need your best guess.”
“I … sir, I just don’t….”
The door had opened, and they hadn’t noticed yet and Relic walked straight to the giant map, having heard the debate and pointed right down on it.
“Caldrayad,” he said, his finger on the mountain range not far to the west.
There was a pause.
“Hey, Rel,” Jace said, breaking the pause.
With his finger still on the site, he looked up to Jace.
“Jace,” he said.
“How do you know this?” Will asked.
He looked over to Jaden, whose eyes opened.
“Hazel?” she asked, with as much enthusiasm as any had ever seen her. “She’s awake?”
“She was,” Relic said with a nod.
And Jaden looked very conflicted, but emotionally compromised.
“Go to her,” Foy said. “All of your years of preparations, all of your work is done, and in the hands of others now. You’ve done everything you can, and whether Artemus’ betrayal or your work will win out is in others hands now.” She hesitated, and looked around, but hermind was no longer her own. When it came to Hazel, her daughter, she was helpless. “Go to her,” Gabriel said again, and she left.
Will looked to his left, where Jace stood and then all around the table with the map, addressing them all.
“Even assuming the golden rider is not intentionally feeding us false information, I cannot spare a single squadron to Caladrayad. If I do, the forcefield will be down and we’ll lose everything. He’ll still win.”
Now there was loud screeching and the firing of weapons and blazing explosions, and shaking and rumbling, the ferocity of the early battle seeming to punctuate the point.
“It wouldn’t matter anyway,” Jace said. “Even if you sent a squadron he’s no longer hiding with one of those illusions. You’ll need me to break it.”
Isabelle grabbed his arm, hard.
“Jace,” she said, not knowing if she was begging him or what.
He glanced over to her and then back to the King.
“We stick with what’s worked,” he said. “We use my ability to see through the illusions, and sneak in a team of Whistlers. Only this time we can’t spare a team. So we go with one,” he nodded to Malcolm. “The best one.”
“Wait a minute,” Cleo spoke up for the first time. “And this plan has worked before?”
“No,” Thean said, and Jace’s body language visibly changed when he was being addressed by the man, a carryover from the night before. “It hasn’t.” Now he looked away from Cleo back to Jace. “And even if you can get to that mountain pass in all of this, and assuming Artemus is really there launching the airships from there, this is not some small town like you’ve taken before in this fashion. This is a fortress that even if Artemus is there he’s probably there with an entire legion of his golden riders and who the hell knows what else?”
“And besides,” Will added, although there was something in his tone that was obviously intrigued. “You’ve already played the wanderer card that got you into Zarponda. Artemus is sure to know that you haven’t been wandering since coming to these lands. That you’ve reached us by now. If you walk up to the gates of Caladrayad, they’ll cut you to shreds.”
“No,” Jace said. “They won’t.” He glanced to Isabelle and then to Foy. “If Artemus wanted to kill me, or even if he could, I don’t know, he would have done it in the Tunnels of Armageddon. I can get in there.” No whe nodded to Foy. “And something tells me Bryce Valley isn’t the only area you know like the back of your hand.” Foy actually looked surprised that Jace would know that, and surprising Foy, the man who always had seemingly all the answers was no easy feat. Then he looked back to Will. “Artemus won’t have any of the external paths guarded.”
“How do you know that?” Relic asked.
“Because they’re visible from the Sindell Castle western watchtower, and Artemus would know that. If he had people there, he would risk me seeing them and tipping his hand where he is.” He was looking at the king again. “Foy leads our sniper into position, I offer a distraction, Mal you kill Artemus.”
There was a pause and all the screeching and chaos in the hangar and thuds of explosions landing god knows where in the city and around the castle emphasizing the point that there was no time to wait or waste, and Jace spoke again.
“If I’m right, we could cut the head off of the snake. If I’m wrong,” he was looking squarely at Will now. “If I’m wrong, you haven’t compromised the city’s defenses.”
Will nodded to himself, and despite the chaos all around him did not rush the decision. And though he didn’t say it, Jace saw in his eyes he had come to a decision.
“Bold, very bold.” Will looked over to Thean. “What do you think?”
“I’m going with you,” the Constable said, and there was an intensity exchanged between them.
“So am I,” Isabelle said, jumping in.
“We all are,” Relic said, and then he looked to Foy and there seemed to be an understanding there. “We’re all meant to, aren’t we?”
While no one could have understood the exact meaning behind the question that seemed rhetorical anyway, most were waiting for Foy’s response which came with the simple raising of eyebrows.
“What’s the exact distance?” Thean asked.
“Just over a mile,” Shamblin said.
Will looked down to the map, quiet a moment.
“You’re gonna need cover from the air to get there,” he said. All of the airmen seemed to respond to this, Shamblin most of all, but none of the other seemed to register the full impact, none ready for what was coming next or the significance of it.
“Prepare my ship,” he said to Shamblin.
“Yes, sir!” Shamblin said, excited in a significant moment and he walked back over to the panel.
Then the king looked back to the others.
“Go get your gear and hurry. Assemble by the main gate. In a flash, all of them were gone, leaving the Clerk office and running out the door, just as Shamblin was returning. He turned to him. “Prepare to momentarily lower the forcefield on my mark,” he said. “Then afterward patch my sapphire entire the entire fleet. I’m taking command.”
Shamblin was a little emotional, and had to clear his throat.

“Sire,” he managed.

Will put his hand on the clerk’s shoulder.

“You continue on from here. It’s your show, now.”

“It’ll be good to have ya back up there, sire,” Shamblin said.
Will walked out the door and nodded, but as soon as he got out, after taking only two or three steps, Tharod Chapin was standing directly in his path, and much to his credit, despite the circumstances, he did not look afraid, but strong enough so that Will felt surprised. Regardless, he was expecting another talk, a lecture on why the King must not join the fight in this way, and the resolve, the newly found strength in his eyes suggested this one would be particularly intense. And though he knew now, that the parliament, particularly Thardon had been involved with his father and all of the secret dealings that eventually cost him his life and that this was the source of all of his deep concern, it didn’t matter. There was a job that needed to be done.

“I don’t have time for this,” Will said simply, his gaze floating over all of the Parliament before settling once more on Tharod. “I’m late for the sky.”

“Yes, sire,” Tharod said, and this took Will aback. To the point where he was almost stunned when another one of the Parliament members standing behind him took a step forward and handed Tharod Will’s sword, who in turn, handed it to the King. Will took it, hesitating, holding it with two hands, unmoving as this man who heled raise him looked him dead in the eyes. “A throne will burn like anything else,” he said, and this at last drew some subtle reaction from Will.

“Sire, your gear and ship is ready!” one of the engineers was yelling, this drew Will’s attention a moment, while none of his parliament paid any attention, their gaze staying fixed on Will. All ships were now gone from the enormous hangar, only his remained, unused since the deaths of Riller and Thane Grace. When Will’s attention came back to his Prime Minister, he was met with a nod and a confident smile.

“Good luck, your Highness,” he said. “I do believe you’re late for the sky.”

“See ya when I get back, Prime Minister,” he said with a nod. “The city is yours.”

And with that he was running towards his airship.

***

Crouching down and careful to stay hidden and almost jumped out of his boots at the same time his heart was about to jump out of his chest from the moment the small group of golden riders bearing a strange standard on one of them started from the position of the main enemy host straight towards the Fairlawn Thoroughfare, and swore he must have been holding his breath the entire time they were gone.

His men, Sentrys and Whistlers had orders not to attack and stay hidden exactly as planned as the scouts road through. They had been gone inside for what had seemed like ages, and he spent all that time wondering about the things that could go wrong. If the Sentry House was made to look abandon as well as it could have been. If one of the whistlers, after so many missions of taking the shot as soon as they had it on the enemy might have slipped up. If someone had been seen. But then all of those worries faded with the thudding of beating hooves flying past down below, and while he couldn’t see the road from here he could hear it and then saw them as they hit the plain and started back.

It was the first time he had seen the enemy, the first time such a large host had been in Veil’driel. Mostly there had been attacks here and there that mostly the whistlers and outriders had taken care of. But now he and his whistlers were the only thing standing in between this massive enemy host and the cities of the Republic. From what he had read in the startling new herald by Tillian Bren, he had blocked most of the surreal details out, concentrating only on the one aspect. That this force was expecting no resistance, no main force, and whoever was there would no doubt have fled.
Now Adrian had returned, and the energy behind the bright intensity of his eyes outweighed whatever discomfort the physical exertion of climbing the hill the tall soldier might have caused him.

“Bought it, looks like,” he said.

Clive nodded, eyes still fixed on the massive host. All of it glittering gold. There was the sound of a series of eerie horns going from what looked like formation to formation, and then the front divisions started assuming a formation in perfect executed fashion where they would be able to come in and walk straight down the road like water being poured into a funnel.

It was exactly as they planned, and Adrian grabbed Clive’s shoulder and shook him a little.

“Who says luck is hard to come by?” he asked, very excited.

Clive smiled, too. Feeling this little victory, but then quickly moving on as he realized the situation.

“They know not to attack until the first column reaches mile marker twenty-eight,” he looked back to the field and the golden riders. “Not ‘till theyre ten miles in.”

“They know,” Adrian said.

Clive sighed and looked over to Adrian.

“I’m damn glad you got demoted, Adrian, you know that?”

Adrian smiled a little but he too was transfixed on the field.

“Happy to be of service, sir,” he said.

An eerie note rose up into the air, an eerie horn, and then all of the front golden riders started forward with the same amazing efficiency and speed that got them this far, all the way from the coast, to here so fast. And as the column advanced, more fell in behind to the advance just wide enough to go right through the road of the Fairlawn Thoroughfare.

Chapter Seventeen  (E) Chapter Seventeen #2190682 by Dan Hiestand