Chapter 78 The Diversion
The spiral staircase up from the Archives felt endless. My legs burned, but fear pushed me forward. We had a plan, but it was a crazy one. We were going to start a war to steal a ride.
When we finally pushed open the heavy doors to the surface, the neon jungle was waiting for us.
The night sky was not dark. It was aglow with the bright white points of the Coalition fleet. Hundreds of ships bobbed above the city, like angry hornets. Searchlights were crisscrossing through the glowing trees, looking for movement.
We crouched behind the thick roots of a mutated oak tree by the library entrance.
"Over there," the Commander whispered, pointing with a motion of his chin toward a ship low above the park some five hundred yards away.
Smaller than the massive carriers, it was sleek and grey, with heavy engines that tilted down.
"That is a Vanguard-Class Frigate," the Commander explained. "It's fast. It has long-range fuel-tanks. It can take us to the Deadlands."
"But it's guarded," Vane pointed out.
He was right. There were no empty landings. A squad of robotic Exterminators were marching on and around the landing zone. And above them circled the fighter jets, like sharks.
"If we step outside," Kael said, adjusting his glasses, "we'll be vaporized in three seconds."
Ryker stepped forward. He didn't bow down; he stood tall.
The violet glow in his eyes was pulsing. It looked like a heartbeat.
"They won't be looking at us," said Ryker. His voice was calm, though it carried an odd echo. "They will be looking at the skies."
Ryker closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply.
I watched him. I could feel the magic rolling off him in heavy waves. It was not the warm white light of the Origin Stone. It was wild, heavy, dark. It felt like a brewing storm.
"Ryker," I whispered. "Be careful. Don't get lost in them."
He did not answer. He was already gone. He was in the network.
The Call
Ryker did not scream. He did not howl. He simply... pushed.
He cast a command into the mind of the city.
"WAKE UP."
I didn't hear it with my ears. I felt it through my teeth. The ground quaked.
For a while, nothing happened. The Coalition ships hovered. The robots marched on.
Then the jungle answered.
SCREEEEEEEE.
It began with one cry from a rooftop, then another, then a thousand.
Eyes came forth from the shadows of the ruined skyscrapers. Glowing blue eyes. Red eyes. Yellow eyes.
The Mana-Beasts—the bears, the tigers, the mutated wolves—stepped out of the forest. They did not fight each other. They looked up at the ships.
Then the sky was darkened.
A cloud of Sky-Terrors rose from the tops of the tallest towers. Hundreds of them. Their four wings beat into the air, producing a sound almost like thunder.
Ryker opened his eyes. They were entirely violet.
"HUNT," he commanded.
The city exploded with violence.
The Sky-Terrors dove in. They ignored the lasers. Like a flock of agitated crows attacking an eagle, they descended onto the Coalition ships.
BOOM.
A Sky-Terror had hit a fighter jet. The jet spun out of control and crashed into a building.
Mana-Beasts were charging from the ground. They were spitting acid at the robot soldiers. They were chewing through metal legs with diamond teeth.
The Coalition fleet was in panic. They had turned their guns from the ground and began firing at the clouds of monsters. Red lasers lit everywhere, making a deafening cacophony.
"Now!" Ryker roared.
He didn't walk like a man. He was running like a beast. He bolted toward the Frigate.
"Move!" I shouted to the others.
We left cover. We crossed the open park. The grass was glowing and slippery. Above us, raining showers of seared metal and dead monsters were descending.
A robot soldier spotted us. Its spinning cannon turned toward me.
Target Acquired, it beeped.
Before it could fire, a gigantic vine rip out of the ground and wrapped around the robot, crushing it.
I looked back. Ryker had not reduced speed; he had flicked his wrist. He was also now controlling the plants.
"He's too strong," Kael panted as we ran. "No single Wolf should have this much power. It’s burning him out."
We reached the landing zone. The Frigate was just about to get airborne. The pilot had seen the chaos and wanted out.
"Don't let it fly!" shouted the Commander.
Ryker jumped.
He jumped twenty feet into the air and landed on the ramp of the ship that was closing.
He lodged his Star-Metal sword into the hydraulic piston.
CRUNCH.
The ramp was jammed. It refused the close.
Ryker stood at the ramp, holding the door open and looking down at us.
"Get on!" he yelled.
Vane scrambled up the ramp first. Then Kael.
I grabbed the Commander's arm. "You get the ship! We'll hold the door!"
We ran up the metal ramp and into the thing.
But the crew wouldn't give up.
There were three human soldiers clad in white armor in the cargo area standing erect, arms up, raising their rifles.
"Intruders!" one of them yelled.
The other mounting thing was what's called said Vane, "Sleep".
He raised his stolen pistol and fired a stun round. The first soldier collapsed on the ground.
The Commander didn't use a stun gun but slammed the second soldier to the wall.
"I outrank you, son!" the Commander barked. "Sit down!"
The third soldier was pointing his gun at Ryker.
Ryker didn't even lift his sword. He just looked at the man, projected a wave of Feeling across.
The soldier stopped. His eyes sort of went out wide. He dropped his gun and sunk to his knees, shaking.
"The bridge is clear!" Kael yelled from the front of the ship. "I hacked the door!"
"Get us out of here!" I cried out.
The ship lurched. The engines sang.
The Commander jumped into the pilot's seat. He grabbed the controls.
"Holding on is advised!" he shouted.
The ship shot up.
We weren't just leaving; this wasn't just flying away. We had to fly through the battle.
Outside the window, it was total war. Monsters were tearing chunks off the giant carrier ships. Lasers were slicing through the air.
A Sky-Terror tried to grab our wing.
Ryker stood in the middle of the bridge.
He shivered a command at the bird.
Let us pass, he commanded silently.
The bird let go instantly and flew away.
We punched through the cloud layer. The noise of the battle faded. We were in the clear night sky, speeding South.
"We did it," Vane breathed, sliding down the wall. "We really stole a warship."
I didn't celebrate. I looked at Ryker.
There he stood, looking back at the burning city, standing by the window.
He was shaking. His hands were gripping the railing so hard that the metal was bending.
"Ryker?" I walked over to him slowly.
He turned around.
Blood was leaking from his nose. His eyes fled between gold and violet. He looked like he was fighting a war inside his own skull.
"I can still hear them," Ryker whispered. "They are dying, Elara. The monsters... they are dying for me. I can feel their pain."
"You have to let them go," I said. "Cut the link, Ryker. Sever it."
"It hurts, gasping for air like severed limb," he said gripping his heart, "they're my pack."
"I am your pack," I said firmly. I placed my hands on his face. "Look at me. Not them. Me."
He focused on my eyes. He took a ragged breath.
He closed his eyes and screamed with frustration.
"RELEASE!"
He shouted the word.
Instantly, he collapsed.
I caught him. We fell to the floor together.
Panting, he lay it off. The violet light faded from his eyes. They were gold again. Dull, tired gold.
"Is it gone?" he asked weakly.
"Yes, I smoothed back his hair. You're back."
"Oh good," Ryker whispered. "Because I don't want to be a King. I just want to be... tired."
He fainted in my arms.
The Commander looked back from the pilot's seat.
"Okay," the Commander said, and his voice was filled with fear and respect. "He controlled an ecosystem. He commanded a legion."
"He did what he had to do," I said, holding Ryker close.
"There is safety in the moment," Kael remarked after glancing at the navigation screen. "Course set for the Deadlands, arriving in approximately four hours."
I looked out of the window at the now dark world below.
We had fled the city. But we were en route to something even worse than that.
The Deadlands. The place where the Twin Stone waited. The place where the "Void Heart" lived.
If the books were right, the Void Heart wasn't just a rock. It was hungry.