Venturers

  I smiled. “Oh, that’s just what I was coming to do. Well, if you’ve got everything taken care of, I’ll go and make some breakfast. Want to come?”

  Angie shook her head. “I don’t want to leave the controls.”

  “Bashrik?”

  He looked at me shyly. “No, I think I’ll stay here a while longer, make sure Angie knows what all the buttons do.”

  “No worries, just thought I’d check,” I replied brightly. As I turned, I cast a glance back at them, but their gazes were fixed on each other again. “You lovebirds have fun. Keep the hatch closed if you need a little privacy!” I chuckled as the cockpit door whooshed down.

  Now, with no control room to worry about, it was time to get back to my breakfast and my lover.

  Since there was no sunlight to tell the time, it was hard to know when morning had passed into afternoon, and afternoon had passed into night. That day, however, we knew we’d be reaching Vysanthe soon. We’d already paused once at the edge of its solar system, bringing the Vanquish around to the shadow of a nearby moon, towing the Fed ship along with us. Ronad had clambered out to it and docked it safely, putting it into stealth mode before returning to the Vanquish. The last thing we needed was one of the queens discovering a Fed ship in Vysanthean airspace.

  Now, the clock in the cockpit had just ticked past four p.m., and I could see the coldblood planet appearing in the distance. I manned the controls while the others went about their daily business, though Navan and Ronad had kept me company for most of the afternoon. Both of them shared the same distaste for Vysanthe, and I could tell neither of them was looking forward to going home again.

  An hour later, Navan took over the controls. I called over the loudspeaker for everyone to buckle down. We were preparing to enter the atmosphere, and with the ship in its damaged state, it was going to be a bumpy ride.

  Taking my own advice, I clamped myself down in one of the cockpit chairs and watched through the windscreen as we made our descent. For a long while, nothing but flame and fog covered the glass as we forced our way through the layers of atmosphere to the planet below. Judging by the navigation monitor, we were due to come down on Brisha’s side, in a secluded spot near the barrier.

  But when the smoke cleared, we realized we were anything but alone.

  The skies all around us were teeming with ships, and our sudden arrival had brought a lot of unwanted attention. I watched in horror as several warships turned their guns toward us, with Navan and Ronad hurriedly trying to steer us out of the fray.

  A blast tore through the air, clipping the front of the Vanquish.

  “Was that a warning shot?” I asked, gripping the arms of my seat.

  “We’re on Brisha’s side! They shouldn’t be firing at us!” Navan shouted, dodging another volley of cannon fire. Nobody had tried to hail us, to ask who we were, but I knew the Vanquish bore the emblem of Brisha’s fleet, which should’ve been enough to prevent any shots from being fired in our direction. Unless she had somehow found out about Pandora…

  No, there was no way Brisha could’ve known. Getting out of my seat, I raced for the windshield and caught a glimpse of the attacking ships. There, emblazoned on the side, was Gianne’s emblem.

  “We’ve somehow come down on the wrong side of the barrier!” Ronad yelled. “We need to get through!”

  Navan navigated us toward the familiar mountain range up ahead, but Gianne’s ships were already on our tail. Smaller fighter ships tried to cut us off, ramming into the side of our ship, their smaller guns piercing the metal hull of our vessel. Explosions shuddered throughout the Vanquish, but Navan’s path never faltered. His skilled hands weaved the ship in and out of trouble, though we were taking hits on all sides. As we reached the spot where the barrier should have been, I realized what was wrong.

  The barrier had come down. Brisha and Gianne had finally begun their war.

  Something was holding back the bigger warships, and they were unable to follow us through the gap in the mountains. They veered off, as if the barrier were still there. The smaller fighters had the same problem, but it was already too late—their guns had hammered our engines.

  With a sudden lurch, we banked to the right, and a huge blast ricocheted through the core of the Vanquish. Red beacons flashed and sirens blared, the control panel a lightshow of warning signs. We’d been hit, and we’d been hit badly.

  “We’re going down!” Navan bellowed, as I reached for the button that triggered the loudspeakers.

  “Brace yourselves for a rough landing!” I shouted, though the blast, the sirens, and the flashing lights had probably been enough of a giveaway.

  The ship hurtled toward the ground. Navan and Ronad were working overtime at the control panel, but there was nothing they could do. The engines were offline, and we were heading for the ground at breakneck speed.

  Just before we hit, Ronad slammed his hand down on a button to the right of the screen. I didn’t know what it did, but the Vanquish yanked backward for a moment, the pace of our descent slowing enough that we wouldn’t be smashed to pieces on impact.

  “What did you—” I never got to finish my sentence, as Navan grabbed me and shoved me into one of the pilot’s seats, strapping me in. Once I was safely held down, he and Ronad dove for the seats next to me and pulled their straps tight, bracing for the blow.

  With a growing sense of dread, I watched the ground approach, knowing it was going to hurt. At least we were landing on Brisha’s side, although that wouldn’t be much of an advantage during an all-out war.

  We slammed into the ground, the windshield miraculously holding as it hit the dirt. My body jolted so violently I thought my skull had been knocked clean out of my head, and a shooting pain reverberated through my nervous system. The Vanquish skidded along the earth, coming to an abrupt stop in front of an open battlefield.

  Soldiers dressed in the two queens’ colors were fighting one another, both in the skies and on the ground, wielding savage blades and giant guns. Wings were torn, faces were bruised, everyone seemed to be bleeding, and nobody seemed to be winning—not by enough to start claiming victory, anyway. Through the windshield, I watched one coldblood chase after another, launching a boomerang-shaped device at the back of his prey. As the first coldblood took to the sky, wanting the advantage of an aerial assault, the device latched onto his wings, rendering them useless and bringing him back down with a thud. It forced him to fight in hand-to-hand combat, with no way of escaping to the skies.

  I grimaced as the coldblood who’d thrown the boomerang device plunged a spear into the chest of the one who’d fallen, before he took back his boomerang and ran off in search of another victim. He was dressed in Gianne’s colors. It appeared Queen Gianne had been up to many secret endeavors in her engineering and experimentation department. First, deep-space tech. Now, devices that took away a coldblood’s ability to escape through flight. In fact, it seemed like many of her soldiers’ weapons had been adapted in some way, some of them fitted with artillery mechanisms as well as blades, while others had the ability to freeze their opponents for a number of seconds—enough time to gain an advantage over them.

  I hated to say it, but it looked like Gianne’s soldiers were pushing for victory. Soon enough, I knew they would win the fight, taking over this corner of Brisha’s queendom, though Brisha’s soldiers were giving as good as they got. They just lacked the superior technology.

  “We need to get out and fight,” Ronad said, unclipping himself. Soldiers had turned to look at our fallen ship, and though they were otherwise occupied for the time being, they’d probably come for us as soon as they were done beating the hell out of Brisha’s infantry.

  Navan put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Ronad, you can’t. You don’t have your wings.”

  “Doesn’t look like they’d be much good here anyway,” Ronad said wryly, looking toward the weird boomerangs. “I’ve never seen those things before. What are they?”

  Navan shrugged. “I w
as just wondering the same thing.”

  “Looks like Gianne’s been busy while we’ve been away,” I muttered, unclipping my own straps, trying to ignore the pain that permeated down to my very bones. It was all right for the coldbloods, whose bodies were tougher than mine, but I was pretty sure humans weren’t supposed to survive an impact like that.

  Shaking it off, I hurried through to the main space and grabbed my bandolier of knives from the armory box we had tucked away in one of the storage cupboards. My gloves were there too, and I hastily put them on. Navan grabbed his twin blades, while Ronad picked up a large machine gun. Bashrik, Angie, and Lauren appeared a few seconds later, looking disheveled, but no worse for wear.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as they came over to the weapons box.

  Lauren nodded, picking up a gun. “Shaky, but fine.”

  Angie grimaced, selecting a similar gun. “A bit of whiplash, but nothing to cry about.”

  “I’m fine,” Bashrik added, grabbing a double-sided axe.

  I thought about turning back for the vial of Draconian blood, which had been locked away in a storage box, but that didn’t matter now. It was useless, and we had a fight on our hands. If we won, we could always come back for it.

  With everyone armed and dangerous, we headed for the bay doors. The coast was clear as we opened them, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long. A horde of Gianne’s soldiers stood between us and safety, though I had no idea if safety existed on this planet anymore.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  As we skirted around the ship, we reached the main battlefield. All around us, coldbloods clashed in a flurry of blades and blasts, determined to knock each other out of existence. It was going to be a treacherous fight, considering we had no armor and only a small selection of weapons to defend ourselves with. Even so, there was no other choice. Our ship was down, and if we stayed inside it, the soldiers would find a way in. It was better to be out and fighting than trapped inside a metal shell.

  “Do you think the cannons will still work? We could use the ones on the top of the ship!” Lauren suggested, fearfully glancing back at the Vanquish.

  Angie nodded. “Yeah, we could go back inside and fire from there.”

  Navan shook his head. “If we stay inside the ship, they’ll just come for us later. Regardless, I don’t want either of you fighting in this battle. You’re good with the ship’s guns, but this is something entirely different. I’m not going to risk your lives.”

  As if proving his point, a horde of soldiers ran toward us. Soon, they would swarm the fallen ship, and we’d be forced to fight them off. As terrified as I was of that prospect, I had the training that my friends lacked. I didn’t have the strength of a coldblood, but I was pretty good in simulations—good enough to hold my own here.

  “You guys have to go. This is no place for you,” I insisted.

  “We’ve got guns—we can fight!” Angie said, but I could see the overwhelming fear in her eyes.

  Bashrik took Angie’s hand and looked deep into her eyes. “You have to go. If you stay here, you’ll die, and I will not have that happen. I won’t lose you. Not now,” he said softly.

  “I’ll take them to safety, while you three distract the soldiers so we can cut a path to freedom,” Ronad suggested, nodding toward the nearby mountain range.

  Navan gripped his swords. “If we can reach the fighting pits, we can find a place to hide and regroup.”

  “Isn’t that on the wrong side?” I asked, panicked.

  “Technically, but if war has started then the sides are blurred,” Navan replied. “The only place I know of that will be safe right now is those pits.”

  “I’ll see you there,” Ronad said.

  “Stay safe, and stay hidden,” I warned my two best friends, hugging them tightly, though we were running out of time.

  “We will,” they replied, terror in their voices.

  Ronad ushered them around the Vanquish, leading them into the sparse woodland. I just hoped they made it to the fighting pits before someone could stop them. After all, with the tunnel likely closed, they would need to find another way through. If that meant scaling the rocky wall that led over, that would leave them exposed to the gunfire of the ships waiting on the other side.

  Pushing them from my mind, knowing I had to focus, I jumped from my hiding place and hurled knives at the oncoming soldiers. Many of them buckled as they ran, my blades seeking out their most vulnerable points. The knives sailed outward, thudding into their targets, my aim rarely failing. I couldn’t let my qualms about killing get in the way, or else we’d be on the chopping block instead. In fact, if I pictured it as an elaborate simulation, I found it much easier to just let my blades fly, though I’d never had the actual fear of death and injury before.

  As we surged through the masses, with Navan swiping his twin samurai blades with effortless grace and Bashrik bringing his axe down on anyone who got in his way, we managed to cut a path through Gianne’s soldiers. We were heading for the old tunnel opening, trying to forge a safe route that the others might follow, but everywhere we looked, more soldiers seemed to appear.

  “Behind you!” I screamed, as a masked soldier lunged for Navan.

  The soldier held something in their hand, which they seemed to be trying to place on the back of Navan’s neck. Fortunately, Navan heard my call in time and dodged the masked attacker, whirling around to swipe one of his blades at the assailant’s neck. The attacker jerked out of the way, their reflexes just as fast as Navan’s, their movements fluid and agile.

  The assailant only seemed interested in Navan, and they continued their attempts to place the device on Navan’s neck. Behind us, Bashrik was caught in a different fight with two of Gianne’s soldiers, but he was holding his own, his battle-axe a formidable opponent, even against the adapted weaponry of Gianne’s soldiers. Besides, they didn’t have the pent-up fury that Bashrik possessed, which was a frankly terrifying sight. He was like a rhino, charging through the crowds, swinging his axe with more brute force than graceful aim.

  “What are they trying to put on you?” I hissed, as the assailant made another attempt, somersaulting over Navan’s shoulder.

  “They must want to capture me so they can deliver me to Queen Gianne,” Navan growled. “A nice gift, all wrapped up with a bow.”

  “Not on my watch!” I swore, flinging my knives at the attacker.

  As a duo, Navan and I fought the persistent soldier, who seemed to be made out of water, or some impossible substance. Their bones definitely weren’t made of solid material, not from the way they were moving. There was no position this person couldn’t bend in, their body contorting to escape the blows of Navan’s blades and the volley of my knives.

  And then, in a glorious stroke of luck, one of my blades caught the attacker in the leg as they were running. They stumbled and fell to the ground. That moment was all the time I needed. I lunged for them and grasped at the edge of their mask, tearing it off in one clean movement.

  A male coldblood panted up at me, his breath coming in pained rasps through thin, almost colorless lips. Cold gray eyes stared up in blazing fury, his face framed by curly black hair that was frosted with strands of silver. Even so, the coldblood didn’t look old—he could only have been a few years older than Navan.

  “Kill him!” I roared, clamping my body around the assailant, pulling his head back to expose his neck. But Navan was frozen to the spot.

  His eyes narrowed. “Kaido?”

  “Brother,” the coldblood replied, his tone icy.

  “What in Rask’s name are you doing?” Navan growled.

  “I’ve come for you and Bashrik. You won’t escape me.”

  With that, he burst out of my grip, his body far stronger than mine, but Navan was already on him before I could retaliate. He hit the side of Kaido’s head with the flat of his blade, evidently wanting to take his brother out, but not kill him. I wondered how many other brothers I was going to meet in bizarre circumstances. I
hadn’t forgotten my run-in with Sarrask.

  Kaido seemed dazed for a moment, before ducking out of Navan’s reach. He rubbed the side of his head, then launched into another attack, still gripping the strange circular device in his hand. I supposed he thought he could deal with me easily enough, once he had Navan restrained by the device.

  Navan brought the side of his blade down hard on Kaido’s skull again. The crack echoed out, but it barely seemed to bother Kaido, who simply somersaulted out of reach again. He was taller than Navan, but slender in build, with a leanness that the other Idrax brothers didn’t seem to have—none of the ones I’d met, anyway. Where they were muscular and stocky, he was thin and wiry. Even so, he didn’t lack any of their shared strength.

  “If you’re going to be difficult, Brother, then you leave me no choice.” Kaido sighed. Spreading out his vast wings, he took to the skies like a rocket, twirling upward, leaving us with barely a second to catch our breath. He was like a dynamo, with more energy than seemed natural for any creature, however alien. Looking up to the sky, I realized he’d set his course toward the woodland at the back of the clearing.

  “He’s going for the others!” I yelled. Navan gripped me around the waist, and we shot up into the sky. A moment later, however, his body jerked, his flight faltering. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that a boomerang device had latched onto one of his wings, locking it in place, preventing him from flying properly.

  He fought against it for as long as he could, until he was able to set me safely on the ground again. I could tell from the look on his face that the boomerang device was painful. Turning, he slashed his blade across the stomach of the coldblood who’d thrown the device, preventing him from landing his final blow. He fell to the ground, the blood seeping out into the frosted grass, the light going out of his eyes.

  Not knowing how to remove the device without damaging Navan’s wings, we set off after Kaido, sprinting along the ground instead of taking to the air.