“Get down!” Jace yelled. More bright, magenta flashes shot off the roof of the skytower, and he ducked down behind the rear seat of the repeller-car. Lessa did the same. A blast scored the vehicle’s hull, and another shattered the front windscreen.

But Jace couldn’t cower for long. The repeller-car headed toward the coast, but without its pilot, it was already dipping towards the buildings below. It was going to crash.

He sheathed the Whistling Blade and crawled between the two front seats. Once he was close enough, he pushed the dryad’s dead body out the door, then slipped into the pilot's seat and wrapped his fingers around the steering column. It was only a half-circle, but it had to be a little bit like the trucks they had on the farm—even if an obnoxious hologram blocked half of the windshield.

But turning the wheel moved them side-to-side. It didn’t level them out.

“Pull back on it!” Lessa yelled. “Pull back!”

Jace leaned back as far as he could in the seat without exposing himself, and he tugged the thin steering wheel back with him. The engines stuttered and whined.

“Shift down!” Lessa called. “Shift!”

Did she want to come up and drive? Jace found the gearshift—a knob just behind the wheel—and tugged on it. The thrusters choked and sputtered and the blue flames died out.

Right. The clutch. He bent down and located the two pedals on the floor. The pedal furthest to the left had to be the clutch pedal. He pressed it down and shifted gears. The propellers inside the thrusters whirred back to life, this time at a higher pitch. Then, he pressed down on the gas pedal—or the equivalent. Blue flames roared out of the thrusters, and they took off.

Jace pulled back up and guided the repeller-car into a lane of sky traffic. He stayed low in his seat, until Lessa said, “They’re out of range. Plasma-Aes doesn’t go that far in the atmosphere.”

She was right. The plasma bolts were falling short of the repeller-car’s stern or dissipating into the air before they could do any damage.

Next problem: where were they going? They needed to get back to the Luna Wrath, that much was certain. But where was it?

“Jace!”

It was Kinfild’s voice, but it was distant.

Jace looked back over his shoulder, hunting for the Wielder. A dark shadow ran across the top of a bulky starship, jumping between colourful crates. The man’s top hat fell off as he leapt from the cargo hauler onto a different repeller-car.

As the Wielder leapt through the air, he didn’t seem affected by gravity the same as any other object would be. He fell slowly and his clothes fluttered, as an updraft was buoying him. Orange sparks gathered beneath his coattails. He landed on another repeller-car, then leapt onto a flat-topped transport with vibrant purple fruit, crushing a technique-car mid-air.

The Wielder’s next leap carried him to Jace and Lessa. He pressed his staff down on the repeller-car’s trunk, making a thud. “Next time, you can ask me to jump—I do not need a push.”

“Sorry,” Jace muttered.

“Oh, I am getting too old for this.” Kinfild lowered himself down into the body of the car, groaning as he bent over. “Would you like me to drive? I will take us back to the Luna Wrath.”

“Yes, please!” both Jace and Lessa cried. Jace shifted over to the passenger seat, and Kinfild crawled into the driver’s seat.

They soared high above the city for a few kilometers. Jace had nothing he wanted to say, and Kinfild stayed silent. The Wielder's face was still pale, though whenever Jace glanced directly at him, he offered a forced smile. Lessa beamed, and that, Jace figured, was genuine.

A faint but high-pitched roar chased them—different from all of the other traffic. It came from all around him. He glanced back.

Four repeller-bikes were chasing them. The small vehicles wove in and out of traffic, faster than the repeller-car and more nimble. Each of the spindly, airborne devices carried a Koedor-Terginian soldier with a plumed helmet and a curved saber at their hip. One of the riders flicked his saber out of its sheath, and the edge lit up with blue shield-Aes. Another drew a pistol. [Level 13 Koedor-Terginian Cavalry] read the tags above their heads.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Guys…” Jace warned. “Do you—”

“I see them,” said Kinfild. “Hold on.” He forced the repeller-car’s nose down again. They dove down into a valley of buildings and colourful lights. Plasma coursed past, and when one of their pursuer’s blasts connected with one of the countless neon signs, a cascade of sparks blocked Jace’s vision. The nose of the repeller-car clipped a powerline stretched across the gap between the buildings, which shook and snagged one of the cavalrymen.

Lessa pointed her pistol back and fired another two shots at the nearest rider. The man fired back with his own pistol. Plasmafire collided with the buildings ahead and behind, but nothing hit.

“Can you slow down?” Lessa complained. “My aim’s—”

Kinfild turned the wheel to the right, guiding the repeller-car between a pair of cargo-haulers. He asked, “Do you want them to catch us?”

“Not really!” Lessa yelled back.

Jace drew the Whistling Blade and swung at the nearest rider. This tip of the blade drew close, but it didn’t hit. The rider pointed his pistol at Kinfild and fired a shot, but Kinfild leaned back. The blast of plasma flew just past his face.

Jace jumped up on the gunwale of the repeller-car. Before he could convince himself not to, he leapt across and landed on the back of the repeller-bike, then drove the Whistling Blade through the rider’s back and threw him off the bike’s side.

He grabbed the handlebars with one hand, like he was holding a horse’s reins, and tightened his legs against its saddle—just to check if the controls were the same as the other repeller-bike he’d rode. It sped up.

This, he knew how to fly. He loosened his legs and clamped his fingers down on the brake handle. The bike slowed.

When the two remaining cavalrymen passed him, he urged the bike back to full speed and chased after them. He gained on them. As soon as he was within reach, he slashed through the steering vanes of his foe’s bike with the Whistling Blade. It cut clean through, leaving only glowing orange stumps. The bike spun out of control.

Before Jace could reach the last rider, the man turned his saber over and stabbed it into one of the repeller-car’s thrusters. The shield-Aes strengthened the blade enough that it tore through the steel.

Lessa smashed the cavalryman in the side of the head with her pistol, making him release his grip on the saber, but the damage was done. The repeller-car’s thruster sputtered and the blue flames shooting out it dimmed—so much that Jace could see the silhouette of the propeller spinning behind them.

Jace scowled, then pulled up beside the last rider. The man threw a punch, but Jace leaned away. He tried to swipe with the Whistling Blade, but the man had leaned too far away, and the blade’s tip missed.

The cavalryman drew a pistol and fired. Jace ducked as soon as he saw the weapon. The first blast soared over him—where his head would have been. The second shot blasted into Jace’s bike’s starcoal furnace, and the bike sputtered.

Jace swerved back to the soldier. As soon as he was in range, he cut the man’s gun-hand off. His bike dipped, slowly losing altitude, but he reached up and impaled the enemy rider through the gut.

His own bike was too low, now. He couldn’t jump with his feet, but a hyperspace jump would work. It had been long enough, and the card was off-cooldown. He set his sights on the repeller-car, then executed the dash.

He flashed through the air and emerged just ahead of the car. As it shot past, he grabbed onto the passenger side door. Lessa offered him a hand. He grabbed onto her wrist, and with her help, hauled himself up into the back seat of the repeller-car.

“We won’t make it much longer!” Kinfild shouted. The thruster was churning, and a fluttering noise thrummed through the whole vehicle. “We’re almost there!”

“Can we make it back to the Wrath?” Lessa asked.

“We can!”

Jace leaned forward in the seat. They were approaching a large, round building with fifty-or-so circular landing bays. In one, the tail fin and wire rigging of the Luna Wrath reached up over a patinated marble ridge. They could make it, but they might not be in one piece. He pulled a crash harness over his shoulder and buckled it into the bench. Lessa did the same.

Behind them, more repeller-bike riders emerged from the city—and they were closing in. A larger transport flew between them, encased in silver armour. A Koedor-Terginian flag had been painted on its flank.

As the repeller-car fell lower and lower, it began to shake and list towards the side whose thruster was failing. Jace clenched his hands tight against the seat. He wasn’t in control of the vehicle, and he couldn’t get himself out—and both of his technique cards were on cooldown.

They skimmed over the edge of one of the circular landing bays, then passed through a cloud of starcoal smoke. Jace coughed and choked, and he nearly bit off his own tongue when the repeller-car smashed through the rim of the Wrath’s landing bay.

They skidded along the marble floor, bowling through equipment and machinery (and at least one kyborg). On the opposite side, they crashed into the steep wall. The nose of the repeller-car crumpled and the windshield shattered. Jace lurched forwards. The crash harness bit into his shoulder so hard he was certain it would bruise his flesh and score his skin.

Everything stopped. His ears rang, but the thrusters had gone out. A wire sparked. Dazed, Jace focussed on the light to keep himself from blacking out.

Once his head stopped swimming, he could hear the distant roar of thrusters. The repeller-bike riders were drawing near. They passed through plumes of starship smoke, floodlights glaring. On the opposite side of the landing bay, they set down, armed with sabers and plasma rifles.

Jace unbuckled his crash harness and threw it off his shoulder. He had to move. He had to fight them off.

He rose to his feet, regardless of the black specks swirling in front of his eyes, and stumbled out of the repeller-car’s wreck. Before the soldiers could take aim, he drew the Whistling Blade and charged.