Dire Destiny of Ours (43 page)

"Daelissa is not the brightest strategist, but if Arturo knows anything about nom military capabilities, he might advise against attacking the city if we don't respond." Thomas grunted. "The noms far outnumber us. In an all-out war scenario, they would likely win. This world is far different than the one Daelissa ruled thousands of years ago."

"There's a reason the Overworld Conclave didn't want to stir the bee hive."

"Precisely. A smart strategist would advise her to win the magical war first, and then use subversion to take over the nom governments. After decimating us, they could take control of the Alabaster Arches again and bring through more troops." Thomas's voice sounded unsure. "We just have to hope Arturo respects how dangerous the noms could be if attacked."

"Let's hope so." I told him about Shelton's doors. "Once we confirm they work, we'll move Fjoeruss's battle golems into position at El Dorado."

"That's good news, at least. I'll keep you apprised of further developments. In the meantime, I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow could be the day."

My stomach knotted. "You too." I ended the call.

Elyssa put her arms around my neck and leaned on my chest. "We're not ready, are we?"

"Ready as we'll ever be." My words sounded hollow. Even without the battle golems, Daelissa's Brightling army would be extremely hard to beat.

Tense as I was, I knew that we had to get some sleep. I put my phone next to the bed and prayed that nobody called with news of an attack.

I slept fitfully, but was relieved to wake up and find out that there was still no information on Daelissa's next target. No news might be good news, but it still left a gut full of uncertainty weighing heavily in my abdomen.

After breakfast and a short talk with Thomas about preparations, I met Rai and the other instructors for more lessons. Everything went much more smoothly, and the replacement candidates mostly proved better than their predecessors. Within a few hours, we were able to take our first solo flights. Rai took our group on a flight over the Dark Forest and had us practice formations. Then he took us down into the trees to learn maneuvers in tight quarters.

Two students crashed into each other while trying to avoid the same tree, but quick action on Rai's part kept them from falling off their boomsticks. Later, I caught a branch in the face and barely managed to hold onto the limb while my broom glided on without me. It was embarrassing and my nose hurt for a while, but I climbed back on the broom and pressed on. A broken nose was the least of my worries at this point.

Late in the day, we received word that the enemy had vacated Kobol Prison and Thunder Rock. According to the report, our scouts were unable to get close enough to the Obsidian Arches in either location to determine where the army had gone. That set everyone's nerves on edge.

There were no sightings of troop movements near Atlanta, or near El Dorado.

We barely had two days of training, but I felt it was time for us to go to El Dorado so we could be there just in case. I texted Underborn for information on the situation at Science Academy.

Still assessing the situation
, was his reply.
We cannot act until all variables are accounted for.

I almost texted him a terse reply telling him to hurry up, but resisted the impulse. I could practically hear a countdown ticking away in my head toward the next inevitable showdown. Stress swelled like a knot in my stomach. I felt completely blind to Daelissa's intentions.

"I just wish she'd do something already," I said as Elyssa and I prepared for bed that night.

She massaged my shoulders. "You know what they say—be careful what you wish for."

"I know, I know." I dropped into bed and closed my eyes, but my stomach hurt too much to sleep. "I feel like I just ate a little bit of everything on a spicy Indian buffet."

Elyssa cuddled up to me and kissed my cheek. "Have faith, Justin. After everything we've been through, I actually feel optimistic."

Optimism wasn't high on my list of feelings right then, but I tried to find the silver lining anyway. It proved as elusive as sleep. "We don't know where her army is, or what she's doing. What if she attacks Atlanta? What if she attacks some other city?"

Elyssa was quiet for a moment. "There's nothing to be done by worrying about it. She will do what she wants to do, and we'll have to decide how to respond. Until then, we have to prepare the best we can and hope for the future."

I brushed hair from her face and drank in her beautiful eyes, her full lips, and her creamy skin. "When I look at you, I see our future, Elyssa. More than anything else, I'm scared to death of losing that time with you."

Her face flushed as a broad smile spread her lips. "Why fear for the future when we have each other right here, right now?" She traced a finger up my bare back and I shivered with pleasure.

By constantly thinking about what lay ahead, I'd forgotten one thing.
There's no time like the present.
I pulled her in for a deep kiss.

She moaned softly and pressed her body against mine. Fire burned in my stomach. I nipped her neck and traced my tongue around her ear. We fell into each other and came up for breath sometime later. As we lay there tangled in each other's arms, I felt the worries of the world slide away. The tempo of her breath against my neck lulled me into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, I saw Elyssa propped on her elbow watching me. She rewarded me with a beautiful smile.

"I like watching you sleep." She brushed my cheek with her hand. "You're so peaceful."

"No demonic snoring?" I asked.

She giggled. "Not yet. I think you have a few more years before the snoring and hair loss kicks in."

I made a face and ran a hand through my hair. "It would be awful to lose this magnificent mane."

"The world would mourn." Her phone buzzed. She rolled over and picked it up. "Since you'll be leading the Skywraiths into battle, my father wants me to be a coordinator on his command platform."

Knowing she wouldn't be at the front lines warmed me with relief. "That's an excellent idea."

Elyssa rolled out of bed. "We'd better get moving. It's already six-thirty."

I groaned. "Whoever invented morning should be locked up."

"I love getting up early." She headed into the bathroom. "There's nothing more refreshing than waking at the break of day and watching the sun rise."

"Good luck with that since we're hundreds of feet underground." I forced myself out of bed and joined her for a shower.

After breakfast, I walked her to the omniarch portal so she could travel to El Dorado.

"Love you." She smiled, but her eyes looked worried.

"I love you too." I narrowed my eyes. "Is everything okay?"

Elyssa nodded. "I don't like knowing that you're flying into battle without me." She bit her lip and frowned. "As a matter of fact, I hate it. Can't you get one of those two-seated boomsticks and let me ride with you?"

"I've thought about it, believe me, but those are for training. They're nowhere near as fast as the single-seaters." I gave her a reassuring smile. "If anything, the boomsticks will be safer than flying carpets since they're so much faster."

She shook her head. "I don't care." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, opening them a moment later. "I know this is what's best." Elyssa motioned to the omniarch operator. He opened a portal to reveal a large stone pyramid located near the center of the ancient city of El Dorado.

I kissed her goodbye and watched her walk away until the portal winked off. The operator opened a portal to the practice field. I stepped through and met with Rai, Bella, and the others. The students, now officially boomstick pilots, stood in their flight group formations, brooms in hand.

"We need to practice flying while fighting today," I told the instructors. "Once we get the basics down, we'll join the main army at El Dorado."

"Sounds good," Rai said. "We've organized the strongest flyers into groups, which should help."

I raised an eyebrow. "Won't that put some of our groups at a serious disadvantage?"

"Every unit is only as strong as its weakest link," Bella said. "We talked about this quite a bit last night and think it's for the best."

I gave her a doubtful look. "I hope you're right."

"The better flyers will be able to stick together more easily but perform more complicated maneuvers," Rai said. "The less-skilled groups will probably fly more conservatively and get into less trouble that way."

His argument made sense. If I took my group on a dangerous run, I didn't want to lose anyone because they couldn't make a sharp turn, or even worse, slam into someone else and knock them off their broom over the enemy forces.

"Okay, we'll do it your way." I looked out at the groups. "Which one is mine?"

Bella pointed to a formation with Mom, Ivy, Flava, and Lanaeia. "You've got the cream of the crop." She sighed. "I wish I could fight with you, but my spells are no match for Seraphim magic."

"It'd be a bloody trip to fight from a boomstick," Seth, the Mohawk-haired instructor said. "Can you imagine the rush?"

Rai gave him a fist bump. "It'd be epic." He looked to me. "We have enough brooms for us instructors to fly. Is there any way we can help?"

I gave it some thought and came up with an answer a moment later. "How would you like to be bombers?"

Seth whooped. "Hell yeah, mate! Where do I sign up?"

"What will we bomb with?" Bella asked.

I grinned. "Aether crucibles."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that." Rai gave my hand a firm shake. "We're in."

One of the female instructors raised a hand. "I'm not that crazy. Count me out."

"Anyone else?" I asked.

Three others raised hands, expressions ranging from shame to relief.

I nodded. "Looks like there are six of you. Once we arrive at El Dorado, I'll inform Thomas of your new assignments." I looked back at our pilots. "In the meantime, let's start practice."

Rai motioned toward the assembly. "We've done our part and gotten them flying, but we obviously can't teach them the magic bit." He showed me a list of names on his phone. "I've assigned leaders to each group. Coordinate with them from now on."

It all felt very rushed. Hell, it
was
rushed, but this entire exercise had been a crash course. I spoke with the group leaders, told them what exercises we'd be doing, and joined my flight group.

"I can't tell you how glad we are to have you as our captain," Mom said.

Lanaeia took my hand in hers. "We will not let you down, Justin."

Ivy pumped a fist in the air. "Yay, Justin!"

Nightliss offered me a wan smile. "Rai told me that Josh and Otaleon were better than me, but there was only one slot left in your group and they wished to remain together, so he placed me with you."

I gave her a thumbs-up. "You're gonna do great."

The others chimed in with their agreement, though Flava seemed lost in her own world. I wanted to take her aside and ask if everything was all right, but now wasn't the time for dealing with personal issues. I took us up in flight formation and led the group over the Dark Forest.

Once there, I swung around and hovered in front of them. "I don't want you using full power on these exercises. For now, I want you to concentrate on aiming."

"At what?" Ivy asked.

I hit a tree with a weak shaft of Brilliance. Dozens of spider bats burst from the foliage, their screeches deafening as they swarmed into the air. With wide, leathery wings and several spindly legs covered in fur, these things lived up to their name.

Flava shrieked as one swooped over her head. "I do not like these creatures!"

"They are beautiful in their own way," Lanaeia said in a calm voice.

Judging from Mom and Nightliss's expressions of disgust, they seemed to lean more toward Flava's point of view.

"Freaky-deeky." Ivy's eyes shined with delight. "They're so cute!"

Mom grimaced.

I spotted a bat with white fur flapping furiously in a wide circle. "That's our target." I gave them a warning look. "Don't hurt it. Just use enough power so it's like hitting it with a beam of light."