Fifteen minutes. She was fifteen minutes late. She hadn’t sensed the danger and no one had called her. Communication was down and someone was interfering with her power. The only reason Amneris had found out was because of an old backup system put in place for in case communications ever went down. Thankfully, the damn thing still worked.
Amneris raced to the Academy on her hoverbike, her Court finding their own ways to get there. She raced across the waves, ignoring the chill of the ocean as she headed toward the north pole. The Academy was in that direction, to the east of Lapide.
A giant ship hovered over the Academy. Amneris revved the engine, moving faster until she came to a stop at the docks. The rest of her Court was already there. They all stared at the sigh of bodies, students and teachers alike who’d made it to the docks to escape, only to be killed. Amneris cursed and ran until she reached the central ring of the Academy, looking around at the damage.
Gunshots came from the Towers – one of them had fallen down. Amneris ran toward the shots. Jay, Sky and several students were pinned down by soldiers wearing Rebel armour. This was wrong. The Rebels were outside the God Worlds. How had they got a ship here? She could worry about that later.
Amneris pulled her staff from her belt, flicking it to its full length. She dashed forward, grasping the staff tightly. Amneris had some sense of Jay calling her name as she flipped over him, over the rubble he was taking shelter behind, and landed in front of the group. She swung her staff. A wave of energy sent the soldiers flying.
“What took you so long?” Jay demanded, coming out from behind the rubble.
“Coms are down and something’s interfering with my senses,” she answered.
Sky said, “I thought it was impossible for ships outside the God Worlds to reach us.”
“Someone must have given permission,” Amneris said. “Where’s Hathy?”
“Vivus. It was the first place to blow up. She and the others went to help.”
“And the rest of your friends?”
He shrugged. “I came to warn the Headmaster.”
Amneris ran a hand through her hair. “Right. Okay. We need to get everyone somewhere easily defendable. Ideas?”
“The mountains?” one of the other students offered. “They have a lot of good hiding places, and all species get access them.”
“There, then.”
Carmin said, “Dan, Zoe and I will go with the kids. We’ll take as many as we can.”
“Good.” Amneris pointed up. “I’m gonna check out the ship. Might get lucky and see the ‘mastermind’. Kay, set up a healing ward and get as much help as you can. We’ll need a lot of Healers. The rest of you, take out as many soldiers as you can, and look out for the students and staff.”
The group nodded and split.
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Hathor stood on the fifth floor of Vivus Dorm, hands on her hips as she surveyed the area. Dex was gone. He’d got out somehow, probably through the fire escape, despite his wounds. It was unlikely he was still in the building. Where would he go?
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It took Colt barely a minute to realise how outmatched the students were. Yes, they were powerful as a group, but controlled classroom learning was very different to the real thing. So many had already been lost. Bodies of students of all species lay unmoving on the ground. The teachers were faring better, but many of them had been lost trying to protect the students. Who would do this? Who attacked children?
A group of students was trapped out in the open, the only thing protecting them a deteriorating energy shield. Why weren’t they running away? Colt’s eyes landed on one of the students. She was injured, a second and third also injured but less so. They were refusing to move without their friend.
Colt jumped in front of the group and raised an energy shield of his own. The student creating the shield let go of her power, panting. “You all okay?” he asked the group.
“Been better,” one of the students, a Star-Weaver girl said. She had her hands over the Naiad’s stomach. She was bleeding heavily, eyes scrunched closed at the pain. “She got shot real bad. I’m doing what I can but healing isn’t my thing.”
And so long as he was working the shield, he couldn’t help the Naiad girl or move the students. Colt needed help. He needed . . . He needed . . .
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One of the soldiers shooting at them cried out, dropping their gun and falling. The others around them soon followed. Leo stood behind the bodies, shielding his swords and hurrying to the group.
He ran through Colt’s shields and knelt beside the Naiad. He placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “What’s your name?”
“Dani,” she girl gasped. “I’m Dani.”
“Okay, Dani,” Leo said, “we’re going to take you to the Healers. They will help, but it’s going to hurt a lot to get you there.” He turned to the rest of the group – a Dragonoid boy (injured), Fallen Angel girl, Terpolite girl (the one who made the shield. Colt questioned how a Terpolite was allowed at the school, but that was a question for another time), Zura boy and the Star-Weaver girl (injured). “We’ll take you all to the Healers—it’s safe there—but it’ll be very painful for your friend. Ready?”
They nodded. The Fallen Angel scooped the Star-Weaver into her arms. The Terpolite and Zura carried to Dragonoid between them. Leo carried Dani who screamed at the motion. Her wounds were worse than they looked. Colt kept the shield around them. The group ran as fast as they could toward the mountains.
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The ship was ancient in design. Well, ancient in the way that things from universes older than her were ancient. Amneris was staring. It was a familiar design, something the Rebels had stolen to use, but she couldn’t place it! Where had she seen that design before?
The bottom of the ship opened up. A ring of soldiers, armed like the others, appeared around her. Amneris sighed. Honestly, it was a wonder people still tried to kill her. Word of her immortality had spread—thanks for nothing, Kek—so Amneris had hoped people would take the hint, yet here they were.
The soldiers fired. Amneris dropped to the ground. Bullets whizzed over her head from every direction—only they hit the soldiers. As they fell, Amneris stood and brushed dust from her jacket. “Idiots. Who shoots in a circle?”
Amneris crouched down, channelled her power into her legs, and leapt into the air. She sawed over the ship, landing on its metal hull with a BANG!
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The second woman jumped to her feet. “Someone is on the roof!”
The first smiled, knife in hand. “I know exactly who that is. Do you want to distract the Queen, or shall I?”
The second woman took the knife from the first. “I have been waiting for aeons for this. You can wait longer.”
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Amneris ran across the ship’s hull, regretting landing in the centre. The ship had been far bigger up close. Her boots clanged on the metal as she moved, each step making her cringe. Metal hulls and heeled boots. Not a good mix.
The end of the ship slowly approached. The cockpit was in sight, along with, hopefully, the leaders behind the attack. Oh, how she was going to enjoy killing them.
Amneris reached the cockpit. She stopped there. Now to get inside. Amneris thrust her hands straight through the hull, ripping away the first layer of metal. Someone tackle led her away. Amneris let out a surprised cry as she tumbled off the top of the ship. She pushed her feet toward the hull, her boots clanging from the metal. Amneris now hung upside down from the base of the ship!
She let out a sigh. “Thank you, Zoe!” Running in her now-magnetised boots, Amneris climbed back to the top of the ship.
A woman stared down at her. A golden woman. Seriously, there was way too much gold. Her long wavy hair was gold, her eyes were gold, her dark skin was covered in gold markings, her armour was black with gold symbols Amneris had never seen before. A golden woman. Why did that sound familiar?
She was missing something obvious, Amneris knew it, but what was it?
Amneris stood tall. “Who the fuck are you and why have you attacked my school?”
Instead of answering, the woman ran forward. Her movements were sloppy at best. Amneris was able to avoid them. She caught the woman’s arm, snatching the knife from her grip. Amneris dropped it immediately, the metal burning her hand. What the fuck? The woman twisted out of her grasp, tossing the surprised Amneris over her shoulder. The knife was reclaimed. The woman slammed down. Amneris rolled away. The knife ripped through the metal she’d been lying on. So much for sloppy.
“Okay, lady,” Amneris said. “I have no idea who you are. I’m assuming you’re someone with a grudge against me, but that doesn’t exactly narrow it down, so you’re gonna have to help me out here.”
The woman remained silent. She twisted the knife in her hand toward the light. Amneris found her gaze drawn to the strange metal – a mix of red, silver and gold. It looked about as old as the ship.
Her eyes snapped up to the woman. An ancient ship, an ancient knife, an ancient power. Amneris almost laughed. ‘Ancient’ wasn’t the right word. This stuff was beyond ancient. They may have called it the Time of the Ancients but it had happened billions upon billions of years ago.
“You’re Aurelia,” Amneris said.
The woman lowered her head in a slight nod. Her voice was weak when she spoke. “I am.”
“And I supposed that would make the knife Oathkeeper.”
“It is.”
“You’re here to kill me for some reason, aren’t you?”
Aurelia’s golden eyes narrowed. “You murdered my mate.”
“Lady, we’ve never met. You’re not even supposed to be alive. You should’ve reached Renyai or KenKai a very long time ago.”
“You have her name, her power, her appearance. You are her!”
Amneris’ eyes widened. “Ah, I think I know what’s going on here—”
“You killed Archeron!” Aurelia surged forward, swiping at Amneris with her knife.
Amneris dodged each strike and said between them, “I’m not A.K.! Well, I am, but not your A.K.! This is the year 771B523M557T246, you’re so far off the mark! My ancestor killed Acheron! Believe me, I’m as surprised to be saying this as you are to hear it, but you’ve got the wrong girl!”
Aurelia’s attack came to a stop. Not because Amneris’ words got through to the woman, but because the sip rolled onto its side. Amneris fell to her hands and knees with a grunt, shoving her hands through the metal to keep grip, ignoring the metal cutting through her skin. Aurelia slammed her knife’s blade through the hull, gripping it with all her might. The two managed to stay abord as the ship rolled back upright.
“Hey!” Amneris yelled as the woman turned away. “Why are you attacking my school?”
Aurelia glanced over her shoulder with a slight smile. “How else could we take your most prized possession?”
“But I don’t have a—” Amneris cut herself off as another explosion came from near the remains of Vivus Dorm. “Hathy!”