Blaze (The High-Born Epic) (49 page)

             
Blaze looked around, calling the fire into his eyes while Aireon knelt and caught her breath.  On the outer perimeter of the city all around them were the signs of more than a dozen gunships.  Rockets began streaking towards them from all angles, and before they could fire any rail spikes and before Aireon could say anything Blaze grabbed her, and they blasted from view just as the entire building top erupted in a massive explosion.

             
They thundered into view several buildings away, and just as quickly, they were gone again.  After two more quick air-burns, they hit the first of the city’s outer ruins.  Blaze and Aireon flashed in and out of sight until, all at once, there was no more sign of them.

             
A whirl of fire appeared in the middle of the forest and there stood Blaze and Aireon.

             
“Are you okay?” Blaze asked holding Aireon’s face between his palms.

             
“Yes,” she answered as she wiped blood from her nose.  “That took a lot out of me...” she leaned over and breathed deeply.  “That was all me... I didn’t have lasers to power me.”

             
Though she was breathing deeply, she still managed to look at him and smile.  He returned her smile and said, “Let’s get out of here.  We got lucky because I had no idea that was going to happen when those lasers hit me.  We would’ve been toast had it not happened.”

             
“Nah,” she said rising up and spitting out some blood.  “We would’ve gotten away, but you’re right, we need to go.”

             
“You gonna’ be able to pilot in your condition?” he asked.

             
“Yeah,” she nodded as she clicked the gunship remote in her pocket.  “I’m almost fine now.”

             
The gunship’s door opened from the seeming nothingness that was there, and they both walked inside.  It shut behind them and, in just a moment, it invisibly lifted from the ground, and they were gone.

Chapter 42

              “How dare this Blaze and Aireon challenge the righteous authority that we are?” the large High-Born shouted, sweeping his hand towards the crowd.  His voice came through a speaker on the side of his visored helmeted, giving it an artificial boost in volume.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!” the crowd of High-Born soldiers before him shouted.

             
As he peered through his visor, his eyes seemed to slightly glow white.

             
“But they have challenged the greatest military power this world has ever known!”

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!” the crowd shouted again.

             
“We have ruled unopposed in days past!  And so shall that day return yet again!  They have taken the lives of your brothers and sisters in New Pylos, and Cyrene!  They have destroyed the works of your hands!  Of our hands!” he paused.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“A few Dragons already comb the skies, and the rest are nearing readiness, and with them leading us, we all will soon unleash righteous vengeance upon them for their unspeakable crimes and their defiance of our might!” he paused.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“Make no mistake... our birthright gives us authority over all Low-Born, and any of their so-called champions!  This Blaze and this Aireon,” he had a mocking tone.  “They are nothing next to the mold from which we are struck!” he paused.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“We must remember the first of the High-Born and what they stood against!” he pumped his fist in the air, and so did the crowd.  “They stood against those who would have subjugated them!  They stood against the greatest warriors this world has ever seen!  And they won!” he paused.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“Now, this world has produced new warriors!” his helmet swept back and forth across the crowd.  “But we have encountered such unknown challenges before!  And we did not falter then... And we shall not falter now!” he paused.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“For they are but two!” he shouted, raising his shaking hands high.  “And we are many!  Make no mistake!... We are the rightful ruler of this world!  Not them!  This Blaze and this Aireon.  These two foolish criminals shall be dragged before all High-Born in shackles!  And then they will kneel before their rightful masters!” he paused.

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“Yes, my brothers and sisters!” he shook his fists.  “We shall make an example of them for all future interlopers!  And then we shall return ourselves to the rightful place of rule above the Low-Born, where they are in service to us!”

             
“For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
“Yes, my brothers and sisters!” he pumped his fists forward.  “For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
The crowd of soldiers all raised their hands out in front of them and shouted, “For we are the High-Born, and we were born to overcome!”

             
Harold jumped up from his blanket, and shook his head.  He looked around and saw that Gabby was sound asleep on her side of the gunship.  He put his head in his hands, and just sat there, letting the dream fade.  After a few minutes, he lay back down, but he could feel that sleep was not going to be easy to come by again.  He checked the sky through the windshield and could see that it was going to be several hours before dawn.  He took a deep breath and as silently as he could, he air-burned...

             
...And appeared just outside.  Gabby had picked a nice spot to camp, and he looked across the small pond.  The crescent moon reflected brilliantly across its surface, and he walked to the edge of the water.  He closed his eyes and breathed in the cool night air.  He heard something splash across the way, and he quickly called fire into his eyes.  A large bass had just jumped out of the water, and he saw it just before it crashed back down below the surface.

             
He knelt down and cupped some water in his hands and took a drink, and then another.  He rose to his feet and began walking around the shoreline.  The night was clear, and cool, but it was not cold enough for him to see his breath.  The stars shone brightly, and he focused on his ears.  The sounds of the night washed over him. 

             
…Crickets, bats, a moth several yards to his right… frogs all over the pond…  He almost lost himself in it, and he nearly felt himself relax, but then... just on the edge of his enhanced hearing, he could perceive the rumblings of something... he wasn’t sure what kind of military equipment it was, but it was definitely of High-Born make.

             
It was too far away to be of any concern and he let himself fall into the music of nature as he stood there, silently.  He just relaxed and let the night flow over him, and time itself faded.  He did not know how long he had been there, but he felt a slight breeze, and he rolled his neck around, letting the air cool his neck and flow down into the back of his armor.  Then he felt something sliding around his neck from behind.

             
“It’s nice out tonight, huh?” Gabby asked, as she put her chin on his shoulder and clasped her hands together on the front of his chest piece.

             
“Hey, Gabby,” Harold said as he reached up and took hold of her arms.

             
He felt her tense as if she did not want to let go, but he just warmly held her wrists.  He felt her relax and her face was so close to his that he could even feel her smile.  Harold tensed for a moment and then closed his eyes, and just let her hold him.

             
“You know, Harold,” she said.  “It’s a really big world out here.  I mean, just sitting in Marksville, I never knew the world was so big.”

             
“Yeah, Foxx Hole and Marksville are really small compared to things we’ve seen,” he answered.

             
“I feel like we haven’t seen anything yet,” she answered.

             
“Yeah, there’s no telling what we’re gonna’ run into,” he said.  “We’re gonna’ have to grow up fast.”

             
“Do you ever feel like you outgrow some things?” Gabby asked.

             
“Like what?” Harold asked.

             
“Well,” Gabby pondered a moment, “I feel like I’m outgrowing Marksville, and the things there.”

             
Harold nodded understandingly.

             
“What about you?” Gabby continued.  “Do you feel like you’re outgrowing the things in Foxx Hole?”

             
“I feel like the High-Born have stunted my growth,” Harold snickered.

Gabby giggled lightly, and said, “Well, maybe it’s time you grew into something

else.”

             
“Like what?” Harold asked.

             
“Like,” Gabby drug the word out.  “Like, maybe you’re becoming what you’re supposed to be.  Look at us... no one can do the things we can do... I mean, it’s like we’re meant for something great... After all... Air makes fire grow...”

             
Harold nodded as he took a deep breath and lightly rubbed her arm, and she nestled her cheek even tighter to his.  He could feel her lips on his cheek...

             
…and her breath against his face...

             
…and he could feel himself turning his lips to hers...

             
Harold opened his eyes and shook his head, and stepped out of her grasp.

             
“Gabby,” he said as he rubbed his face.  “Please don’t.”

             
“Don’t what?” she asked as she stepped back towards him.  “How can we not be right?  We’re made for each other.”

             
“It’s just not right,” Harold answered.  “I’ve loved Sarah for a long time.”

             
Gabby puffed and looked up in the sky as Harold flamed out of sight...

             
...And he appeared in a tree about twenty yards away.  Harold’s emotions raged within him...

             
Gabby was so gorgeous that she was actually hard to look at.  And, other than Gabby, Sarah was the most beautiful young woman he had ever laid eyes on, and he was the envy of the young men in Foxx Hole.  He barely knew Gabby, but he felt like he had known her his entire life.  At the moment, Harold almost wished he was in the middle of battle, because at least then, he would know what to do.

             
Something caught his attention in the sky, and he looked up as he called his fire into his eyes.  He strained at the seemingly new star that had suddenly appeared in the sky.  Something about it didn’t look right.  It was not a complete point of brightness, it seemed to have holes in it, and just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished.  As he studied the spot more closely, another small flash caught his attention against the speckled curtain of the night sky. 

             
This new star seemed to be orange, and as he focused, it too vanished, but he caught a streaking pinpoint of blue out of the corner of his eye.  And, for a moment, another orange star seemed to appear as the blue dot faded.

             
“Gabby,” Harold said as he looked toward the horizon.

             
“What?” she said as she wiped her nose.

             
“Gabby,” Harold said.  “Get up here now.”

             
There was a sudden burst of wind and she was standing beside him, eager eyes locked on him.

             
“Look,” Harold pointed.

             
Gabby wrinkled her nose in disappointment as she turned to the east and then said, “What is that?”

             
“I don’t know,” Harold answered.

             
At what seemed like the edge of the horizon, they both could see dozens of blue pinpoints that formed a near-uniform line rushing up towards the sky.

             
“They’re kinda’ pretty,” Gabby said.

             
“Whatever they are,” Harold said.  “I think they’re moving really fast.”

             
The blue specks resembled slowly falling stars except they were rising against the horizon.  Harold and Gabby watched as they each became a momentary orange-tinted star that rapidly faded from sight.  As one after the other disappeared, they sat there, silently watching the sky for several minutes.  But as soon as it had started, it also ended...

             
…And the night settled back into stillness… 

             
Suddenly, dozens of other blue pinpoints began crawling down from high in the sky.

             
“Those are some kind of aircraft,” Gabby said.  “They’re controlling their descent.”

             
“What is that?” Harold asked and pointed at a bright point high in the sky.

             
“Now that is a falling star,” Gabby replied.

             
Quite some distance off to their left, moving almost parallel to ground, was a bright, burning ball that lit up the sky and ground for miles around.  It was so luminous that a trail of thick, black smoke could be seen fluttering behind it.  They watched it for a few moments before it just seemed to completely burn up. 

             
Then, off some distance to their right, the sky lit up again.  Another furiously burning star was smoldering through the night trailed by boiling smoke darker than the sky.  Just as it burned into nothingness, two more lit up the sky farther south.  Back to the north, one appeared, followed quickly by four more that seemed to cover the entire northern sky.  As those were beginning to fade, dozens of additional fireballs brightened different parts of the night.  Some were close, some were distant, some seemed to be higher than others, but they all burned bright and lasted much longer than they should have.  Harold and Gabby turned and looked behind them. Some were near and some were far, and some were high while others were low, but all over the sky they could see falling fireballs.  Harold was sure that one of them even hit the ground far away.

             
“What’s going on?” Gabby asked as she watched in wonderment.

             
“I don’t know, but one thing is for sure,” Harold said as he watched another one appear in the distance.  “Something big is happening.”

             
Gabby’s eyes lit up with sudden understanding, “Harold, I think those may be satellites falling.”

             
Harold looked at her and then back to the sky that was still filling with fireballs, “Gabby, you may be right.”

Chapter 43

              “Yes, Gabby.  That is the right answer.” Harold said as she pointed at the numbers, letters, and shapes in the sand.

             
“But look, Harold,” Gabby said as she took the stick from him.

             
She used the stick to create a long rectangle that intersected the arced line at two points.

             
“Whoever made this stuff up used rectangles to calculate the area below the arc,” Gabby continued as she made yet another rectangle that again intersected the arc at two points.

             
Harold squinted and cocked his head, “Yeah, they kinda’ look like stairs walking up the arc when you do that.”

             
Gabby’s eyes lit up, “And that’s why we can figure it out!  Because we can use those rectangles.”

             
“Yeah,” Harold replied.  “But it’s not completely accurate because the arc is curved, not straight.”

             
“Well,” Gabby stopped for moment.  “I admit that it is only an approximation, but it’s the best we can do just scratching in the dirt with sticks.”

             
“Well,” Harold put his hand on his chin.  “The closer we put the points together of our small rectangles, the more accurate the answer becomes, but we just end up with a lot of rectangles.”

             
“And calculations for each one,” Gabby said.

             
“But at what point does the approximation become accurate enough?” Harold smiled.

             
“Well,” Gabby replied.  “It’s accurate enough for me right now, because I understand the concept.  And that’s more important anyways.”

             
“True,” Harold answered.  “You ready for the next lesson?”

             
Gabby nodded and smiled as Harold turned the page.  He and Gabby looked over the next lesson and then glanced at each other.

             
“That’s too easy,” she said as she took the book and began flipping through the pages.  “Ah, yes.”

             
She handed the book to Harold and he said, “Okay, so it is ellipses and... semiminor axis and semimajor axis, huh?”

             
“And eccentricity and their nearness to one,” Gabby read from the book.

             
Gabby then held the book while Harold began making a diagram in sand.

             
For the next several hours Harold and Gabby tinkered with the Calculus book and the problems contained within it.  As the morning wore on, they laughed and teased one another about their understanding of the various problems.  Sometimes Harold would clear up Gabby’s understanding, and other times Gabby would clarify a concept for Harold.  As Gabby was working through a particular problem, Harold found himself having difficulty keeping his eyes from just watching her face.  He saw her eyes flick towards him and quickly back to the sand, and then he looked back at the problem.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slight grin on her face as she focused on the sand.

             
It did not take long for the sun to be high in the sky and they returned to the gunship.  They walked to the front and sat in the pilot seats while opening their bags of food.  Harold took a long drink of water and chomped down on a slice of smoked ham and then bit into a piece of stale cornbread.  They both leaned back and ate in companionable silence.  After a few minutes, Harold sat up and looked at Gabby.

             
“What do you think caused that last night?” Harold asked.

             
“That’s been in the back of my mind all morning,” Gabby answered.  “It almost has to be the A.I. Drones or whatever it is that they have become.  According to the stories, they were the only things that could actually stand up to the High-Born Dragons.  I mean, what else could it be?”

             
“I don’t know,” Harold said.  “But why would they attack now?”

             
“Maybe they see an opportunity because of what you and I have done?” she replied with a shrug.

             
“Maybe they want to be allies?” Harold asked.