Part 11 (2/2)
It was easier for me, since I was in front, to keep my words from getting swallowed up somewhere just a ways behind us. aIntroducing you to my particular lifestyle,a I snapped back. Adrenaline was working its magic on me even as we spoke.
It was always like this, when I got close enough to the mountains to see the little Ke-Han lights dotting the desert in the nighttimea”like a miniature sky flipped onto its belly.
aYouare crazy,a I heard him mutter, though it must have been louder than that or I wouldnat have heard a thing.
aThat isnat any kind of a thing to be saying to a man in my position, professor,a I said, real easy, like it didnat bother me in the slightesta”which it didnat, not really. There wasnat much that could bother me once Have and I were in the air, which was how come I would be able to stand being close to the professor for any length of time.
He fell silent, and as far as I could tell that meant he was thinking it over. With that big brain of his, I was sure head come to the right conclusion, which was not to insult me on my own f.u.c.king dragon when no one even knew he was here except me and Havemercy, and her with no loyalty to anyone but herself and me.
Ghislainas Compa.s.sus rose huge and terrifying at my right. The professoras reaction was real sweet; I could hear him swear the way I was sure they didnat ever teach in the aVersity, and after that he nearly pushed the air from my lungs with his skinny arms.
I remembered what head said about never having seen a dragon up close before. Now he was face-to-face with two in one night. Let no one say I never did the kid any favors.
aItas three for a raid,a I said, loud over the wind as we were climbing now, and the higher up we got the more it whipped around us sudden and fierce. aUnless the fightingas hot, then we got no need for recon because the Ke-Han are barreling out from the hills every which way and we just got to plug them up no matter what.a aAh.a I felt him nod, sharp, into my shoulder. He was paying attention, I realized, and let loose a snort of amus.e.m.e.nt. The little freak was paying attention like this was some cla.s.s, where head be tested later, and then graded on his memory of everything head learned.
If head known to bring a notebook, head probably be taking notes in that, too.
Whatever. If the kid wanted to treat me like one of the Nellies who taught at the aVersity and didnat ever once figure on going out to learn things for themselves, that was fine.
aWhoas the kid?a Havead been pretty quiet for her usual quick self up until now, but that was only because she was smart, trying to get the lay of the situation before she said anything. She was deadly, my girl, and wicked sharp in a tight situation just the same as I was.
I hadnat told her about the professor, least not in as many words.
aDida”Did you say something?a He was yelling practically into my ear, which I didnat appreciate, and I let him know by shrugging my shoulder so that it bounced his jaw. aBastion,a he swore again, as if head bit his tongue something painful.
aIam not deaf,a I told him. To Have, real close to her neck, I said, aThis is the man whoas been teaching me all manner of speaking pretty and not treadina on the feelings of others.a Havemercy made the sound Iad come to think of as her laugh, all machinery and metallic amus.e.m.e.nt. aThe one you said you were going to slit open like an envelope from end to end?a aIa”What?a The professor was speaking quiet again, Iad give him that. aDid you . . . I could have sworn you said something.a aThat was just Have,a I said, not because I took pity on him or nothing but because I could see his questions getting really old really fast, and for a clever sort of brat he didnat seem any closer to figuring it out.
aHave?a he asked, proving me right. aHave what? Do you mean . . . oh, Ia”I didnat realize . . .a It was almost painful, keeping my laugh in, but then I knew Ghislain would want to know what I was laughing at, and chances were that up until this point he hadnat even seen the professor hitching a ride with Havemercy and me. The darkas pretty good for keeping secrets.
I knew Balfour would see him, though, because Balfour saw everything. It was what head been trained to do. But he also wouldnat be likely to go running to Adamo on me, mainly acause he didnat want p.i.s.s in his boots anytime soon, whereas that kind of retribution wouldnat be weighing too much on Ghislainas minda”stony b.a.s.t.a.r.d that he was.
aShe talks?a The way the professor said it, I could tell exactly what kind of a look head have on his face: the exact same dumb, incredulous expression he wore when he woke up with beetles in his hair or missing all his clothes.
aYou bet your sweet a.s.s she talks,a said my girl. aNow be quiet, would you? Weave got important matters to look after. And stop all your f.u.c.king cursing. Havenat you seen a proper dragon before?a aI canat say that I have,a the professor said, and maybe more that the wind swallowed.
Balfour had come up on our left from the rear, Anastasia sleek and hidden behind the clouds. Even if he had girl parts, Balfour was still good for recon, had a mind for understanding that, when it was important to stay in one place, he should d.a.m.n well stay there. Thatas harderan most think, especially when youave got a fight happening around you on all sides. But, as Adamo was fond of reminding us at full pitch, someone has to keep their heads when the battleas going on.
I knew sure as dragonfire it wasnat ever going to be me.
We picked up speed with the cresting slope of the Cobaltsa”theyare real smooth and easy for a while, tricking you into thinking theyare all pretty and welcoming, until they get jagged as alligator teeth and you know the truth. Once we crossed over those mountains Iad go in fast and hard, hammer the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds first and give aem a bit of a show, something to chase. Ghislainad be right behind me, crus.h.i.+ng the sons-of so thoroughly theyad never get up again.
The idea was that Balfour would use this distraction to get close, fly in deep over the Ke-Han city territory, and see if there was anything thaEsar needed to be worrying about; then wead all go scurrying back to the rendezvous point and make it back to base before the sun came up over the rangeas edge.
Wead tried it the other way round, recon first and us guns coming in later if the swift got into trouble, but I was too d.a.m.n impatient to be put into the sky for any kind of a waiting game, and after several instances of Adamo trying to explain the way of things to me yet again, we all just figured itad be for the best that we changed the plan around so as it suited us rather than trying to fit us to the plan.
aCourse what had helped my case was Balfouras brother getting into the trouble he did, and us not knowing anything about it until it was too late. We almost lost Anastasia in that one, and then wead have all been n.o.bly f.u.c.ked harder than the chambermaids in thaEsaras palace. We only had two swifts. Recon was dangerous flying: the point of being small was to get close, and if you got too close, there was always a chance you wouldnat get out again.
It was funnya”not so funny that I was laughinga”but I could hear the professor breathing in my ear, p.i.s.s-terrified no matter what he said and holding tight to me like a kid hiding under his bed from monsters.
aYou want to ease off so I can say this,a I said. I heard the quiet oh before I felt the vise around my waist loosen marginally. aItas going to get loud real soon. Real fast, too, and real messy. Nothingall get in your eyes with those goggles on, but donat look directly at nothing that seems too bright, and donat f.u.c.king scream or Iall throw you to the Ke-Han and let them sort out the pieces. You got that?a He nodded mutely, fingers worrying dedicatedly at a b.u.t.ton on my coat.
Well. It was better than screaming, I supposed.
aWhat about you, sweetheart?a I twitched Haveas harness fondly, knew what the answerad be before I even asked it, but it was a politeness I knew she liked. It was probably the only one.
Most of the guys talked to their dragons like they were real ladies, so it wasnat out of the ordinary. If the professor knew what was good for him, head forget he ever heard it.
aJust donat spin around so hard this time,a she said. aYouall break my neck.a I laughed, feeling the air all around us as she began to plummet. aI wonat.a I didnat warn the professor or tell him to hold on, so as we made our descent I felt his hands scrabbling for a safer purchase, like he wasnat so sure just holding on to me would be safe enough. I really hoped he wasnat going to tear the b.u.t.tons off my coat or nothing, acause then Iad have to make him sew them back on.
I bet he knew how to do it, too.
Finally, his arms locked tight around my ribs again, like he figured we werenat going to be doing much more talking anyway, and I wouldnat speak up to complain. He was at least right about that.
The wind hit us like a bucket of cold water, sharp and freezing and all at once, which meant that it wasnat real wind at all but the work of those f.u.c.king magicians. I held our course, steering Have right through because I knew that if there were anything stronger they could have hit us with, theyad have done so right up front. Wead caught them unawares, the lazy c.u.n.ts, and in the time itad take to cook up anything really threatening, Ghislain and Compa.s.sus would have them flattened to the ground.
I let out a war whoop, wild as any of the Ke-Hanas breathless, ululating screams, and took out a guard tower on the far wall. The trick to getting Have to breathe fire was a different kind of jerking the harness, pulling against the mechanism just behind her tongue; and then the gasoline caught the fuse and she was screaming fire. The guard tower burst into flamesa”orange and the faint soul of green that was the dragonmagic. These were fires that couldnat be easily quenched with sand or water.
The tower lit up our section like a beacon, and below us the tiny scrambling silhouettes of Ke-Han warriors came pouring out from behind the wall, as though there were anything they could possibly do against three f.u.c.king dragons.
aThat seems aa”a rather showy way of announcing our presence, doesnat it?a It took me a full minute to figure out one, why someone was talking to me, and two, why that someone wasnat Havemercy. The thing with flying is, youave got to get your head into an almost completely separate mind-set, deep focus, and you canat be taking breaks to ask yourself: Gee, I wonder if there are families down there, or: Hey, I havenat seen Ghislain and Balfour in a while, because thatas the kind of thinking that can get you killed. The first thing you learn is how not to get all distracted like that.
aNot trying to hide,a I gritted out, twisting with Have to one side as a sudden push of wind beckoned us closer to die on the rocks.
aThose look like catapults,a he said, in a voice that meant head been shocked calm, or was a little bit of a sociopath, our professor.
aSo they are,a I said. Then, just for revenge, I added, aTrebuchets, actually.a We took off like a streak of lightning, wind howling in my ears as Havemercy let out a screech to make sure everyone on the ground knew just who was the G.o.d of fire around here. Something molten crashed against the mountains behind, where wead just been.
aI donat understand,a the professor said, loud as he could over the boom of the catapult. aThey donat even seem to be trying!a I wanted to tell him no, professor, that we were just that good, but the trouble was that I didnat quite understand it, either.
Catapults were inelegant, a clunking technology the Ke-Han had given up on years ago when it became evident that they werenat quick enough to hit us even flying half-blind and on one wing. They hid behind their magicians when it came to matching us, and if Iad been in any kind of a charitable mood while dealing with the Ke-Han, Iad have said they did all right. Not well, because when you were pitting anything against the Dragon Corps it was just a sad inevitability that wead send aem screaming, but all right.
Now things almost seemed too easy. I was suspicious of easiness from anything, excepting women, and thought I might make a point of saying as much to Adamo when we made it back to the Airman after we were finished.
It was like the Ke-Han emperor had gone on a holiday and left his fourteen-year-old nephew in charge.
They were lining the catapult up to us again when a long, earth-shattering groan pierced the skies, and Ghislain came roaring down on Compa.s.sus like he didnat have a care in the world for the little breezes the Ke-Han magicians threw at him.
Ghislain said the Ke-Han called Compa.s.sus the sky-shaker. f.u.c.kers were apt, if nothing else.
The catapult creaked and swung loose, and we soared wide of the mark, Havemercyas long, gorgeous framework glinting silver in the arc light.
The sound of screaming was louder now that the sky-shaker had arrived and was mowing down everything they sent forward. In moments, the catapults were no longer a threat, and neither was the second guard tower, resolutely pealing its alarm to all that could heara”as if they couldnat already hear from the screaming and our dragons, gnas.h.i.+ng and roaring their pleasure to the skies.
aOh,a said the professor. I felt his hands go slack as interest got the better of him and he tried to sit up, presumably to get a better look while still holding on.
A twister of a spell hit Havemercy square in the jaw left of nowhere, so that I had to turn us hard like shead told me not to, and for one sick moment I felt the professoras hands slip against my stomach.
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