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64 - No Sky Above

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Theo

“Keeping going, damnit!” I cursed, then helped the fallen prisoners back to their feet. Senesio had taken the easy job; had sprinted ahead to secure the Needlethroat and left me with the task of getting the stumbling, bumbling herd of our people over to it.

Problem was, all tied together like they were, if one fell, they dragged the whole group down. Ancestors above, it’d have been easier if we’d cut them each free. But there just wasn’t time to get all twenty of them loose. Even with all of us going at it at once. We couldn’t afford to let the Needlethroat get airborne and, of course, there were the soldiers that were chasing us. Near a dozen Bospurians—these more hardened than the fresh-faced recruits we’d run into earlier—had spotted us as we’d left the pen. They’d been sprinting our way ever since and, thanks to our staggering, tripping, dragging mess of rescued prisoners, they were just about on us.

“On your feet, come on. Come on!” I pulled up the last of those that’d fallen, then urged them forward. “Toward that skyship. Don’t stare at the bloody komodo. Just run!”

I spun just as the first soldier reached us. He’d been expecting an easy shot at my back but I’d caught him by surprise. Before he could react, I hacked my blade down into the soft spot between his shoulder and neck. He screamed, then stumbled backward, blood spurting. I kicked him in the chest and toppled him back into the rest of his squad.

The foremost of the soldiers looked down at his mortally wounded comrade, then up at me. He opened his mouth to hurl some insult, but I was already gone, spinning on my heel and sprinting away.

Maritza was bringing up the rear of the prisoners and I joined her, flicking glances backward so I’d be ready when the soldiers got too close again.

Around us, the camp was chaos. The komodo had been over at the Drossomer earlier, but now it was right up on us. Thankfully, it was distracted by the Dreadbore, which was bombarding it from above with javelin-charges and arrows. Or, it had been.

I slowed to a jog as I took in the sight. The komodo was up on its hind legs and it had the Dreadbore in its mouth. Was pulling the damned thing out of the sky.

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It wrestled it downward. And toward us.

“Go, go, go!” I urged the closest prisoners on, lowering a shoulder and pushing them forward with everything I had. Still, the shadow of the Dreadbore slipped over us.

“To the side!” I shouted.

The ship and the komodo attached to it were falling on us from behind. If we kept running straight, we’d be doing ourselves no favors. If we turned, we’d slip out of the danger zone more quickly.

But the ship was coming down, and quick. Right on top of us. Was going to crush us to paste.

The day darkened, and then there was no sky above. Just the hull of the Dreadbore, plummeting down.

“Run!” I shoved the last prisoners to the side, praying they made it out, then turned. Maritza was beside me and I tackled her, driving the both of us in the opposite direction to the prisoners.

The Dreadbore came crashing down. Right between us and the others.

The ground shook like a meteor had hit as the ship flattened itself in a crushing rush of dirt and wood and roaring noise. I toppled over backward, hands up to protect my face as debris and falling bodies flew past.

An explosion of dust and dirt blasted outward; left me choking and coughing and cursing at the stinging in my eyes.

“Too close. Too close. Too close,” someone was stuttering next to me. Maritza. I could just make her form out through the haze and the dirt in my eyes. She was frozen in place, laying on her back and staring at the wreckage of the Dreadbore. It’d come to a stop less than a pace ahead of her. Had nearly taken the lower half of her body beneath it.

She was staring at the spot we’d last seen the others.

“They didn’t make it,” she said, eyes wide.

“They got clear, I saw it.” I stumbled to my feet, found my balance, then pulled her up as well. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if the others had made it, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it. We still had to save ourselves.

As if to drive the point home, a great, deafening roar tore through the air. The komodo, atop the Dreadbore’s remains and trumpeting its victory. Men were scurrying in all directions, fleeing the wreckage. Even as I watched, the closest was snapped up in the jaws of the beast.

And through it all, the soldiers who’d been chasing us before appeared.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

They were waving away the dust, swords in hand. Their eyes found mine and their leader shouted something. They all broke into a sprint.

“Gotta go, gotta go!” I told Maritza, urging her into a run. The wreckage of the Drossomer and the feasting komodo stood between us and the path to the Needlethroat. We’d have to wrap around. It’d take longer, but it was the only way. And then we’d have to catch up to the others, somehow. Assuming there was anything left of them. And outrun the suicidally focused idiots on our tails.

“Go, go!”