Valkyria (18 page)

“
Yes, sir,” said Nate as he
span on his ankles and ran toward the door.

“
Wait,” said Charles. “I
will come too. You will need a gunner to keep those things at
bay.”

Nate nodded. His heart was racing so
fast it felt as though it was going to tear his chest apart.
Creatures? Why did it have to be Creatures?

He and Charles ran from the bridge as
Irving picked up a microphone.

“
Stay there,” he said, his
voice booming and echoing outside of the Valkyria. “We will pick
you up in a minute.”

*~*~*

30

NATE

The Seadawn’s engines rumbled as the
propeller blades begin to spin, the cockpit vibrating violent. Nate
gripped the handle of the navigation control, whilst Charles
checked over the ammunition feed for the cannon. They both pulled
their goggles over their faces and Nate signaled to the launch bay
crew to remove the shackles holding the Seadawn in
place.

The airship rolled forward. Nate moved
the handle to the left so that the Seadawn turned toward the hangar
bay doors. Giant cogs on each side of the huge metal doors creaked
as they started to turn, opening the hangar bay to the night
sky.

“
Seadawn, your flight path
is clear,” said the flight crew. Nate gave a salute and pushed the
handle forward. The Seadawn’s engines roared as it began to move
forward, gaining speed with every second. The hangar bay doors shot
pass the cockpit’s windows, being replaced with darkness, stars and
the open sky.

As the Seadawn turned, Nate saw the
fires below them, and the search lights dancing around the
courtyard.

“
They are distracting the
Creatures,” said Charles. “Hurry up and get us down
there!”

Nate pushed the nose the Seadawn
downward, taking the airship into a near vertical dive. The ground
seemed to rush closer toward them, as if ready to punch them with
all its might. At the last minute, Nate pulled back on the handle,
the Seadawn groaning as it forced itself horizontal again, inches
from the ground.

“
Haha! What did I tell you,
boy? This girl’s the best airship in Rhythlan!”

Nate laughed, relieved that the
maneuver had worked so well. The trees sped past them as he darted
the Seadawn along the dirt track toward the compound.

“
We are almost there,” he
said. “Get ready with the cannon!”

“
Aye aye! Those damnable
Creatures won’t know what hit them!”

The Seadawn burst through the remains
of the compound’s front gate, the noise drawing the attention of
the Creatures. Nate span the airship around and brought it to a
stop, landing in the middle of the courtyard, a few steps away from
the civilians.

“
Fire!”

“
No need to tell me twice,”
said Charles as he squeezed the cannon’s trigger. The barrel began
to spin round, the ammunition feed replacing the bullets fired
almost instantly.

Charles span the cannon around from
left to right, clearing out as many creatures as he could. Nate
opened the loading hatch for the bomb bay.

“
Come on,” he said to the
civilians. “Get in before more come!”

He watched as the man pulled the woman
along, running toward the Seadawn, but the Creatures were gathering
behind them, coming out of the buildings. More and more spilled
out, flooding the courtyard in seconds.

“
Hurry it up,” shouted
Charles as he continued to fire the cannon. “There are a lot of
them back here!”

The two civilians were getting closer,
but the Creatures were gaining on them.

“
Nate! You are going to
have to take off as soon as they are on board! Do not
wait!”

Nate’s hands were dripping with sweat,
his grip tight around the handle of the airship. The civilians were
close.

“
Get off of me!”

Nate turned his head around to see a
Creature had smashed through the glass of the cockpit and was
trying to reach Charles. Nate reached for his pistol, but it was
too late. The Creature bit deep into Charles’ arm as Charles shot
it point blank in the face with his own pistol.

“
Damn you,” Charles
screamed as he span the cannon around and continued to mow down the
other Creatures. In the middle of the Seadawn, between Charles and
Nate, the two civilians jumped on board.

“
Now,” screamed Charles,
and Nate pulled back hard on the handle. The Seadawn rose, Charles
continuing to fire the cannon as they rose into the air. Nate
turned the airship toward the Valkyria, landing it as fast as he
could, the Seadawn scrapping across the hangar bay’s floor until it
finally stopped.

Crew men and armed guards quickly
surrounded the airship as Nate opened the bomb bay. He leapt from
his seat and ran past the two civilians to Charles’ side. He was
bleeding profusely, covering the gaping wound in his
arm.

“
Charles!”

“
Well that certainly was
not what I had planned,” said Charles, a hollow laugh escaping him.
Charles looked over at the civilians, as did Nate.

They were looking around in every
direction until the guards came and told them to get out of the
airship.

“
At least we got them out
of that hell hole,” said Charles.

Nate turned back to his friend and saw
a tear fall from his eye. He had never seen Charles cry before; not
truly. Charles placed a hand on his shoulder.

“
You did well, my boy. That
was great flying.”

His voice was empty, but sincere. More
tears began to escape him as he pulled Nate close and put an arm
around him.

“
You have been my greatest
friend, boy. But you know what happens if a Creature does not kill
you.”

If they do not kill you, they take you.
Everyone knew the way the Creatures were. If they hurt you but you
managed to get away, in the end you become one of them.

“
I do not want to be one of
those things,” said Charles. “Living in a pack, running around and
eating people? That is not the way I want to live.”

Charles let go of Nate and reached down
to the side of his seat, picking up his pistol. He never took his
eyes away from Nate’s.

“
The Seadawn,” he said, “is
yours now. Keep her safe, and do not let anyone take you for a
fool.”

Nate could feel the warmth of his own
tears streaming down his face as his body began to shake. Charles
lifted the pistol toward his head, but his arm dropped to his lap
before he could take aim. His head slumped forward, sweat dripping
from his face.

“
It would seem I do not
have the strength left in me,” he said, as he turned to look at
Nate. “I am sorry my boy, but you are going to have to do
it.”

Nate shook his head, unable to find any
words to speak. His hands were trembling. Charles gave a weak
smile.

“
I know you do not want to,
but please do this Nate. You will be saving me. You know
that.”

Nate did know that, but it did not make
the act any easier. After a few moments, he grasped the pistol and
lifted it to Charles’ head.

“
Good boy. You truly are my
best friend.”

“
As are you Charles,” said
Nate. “And you always will be.”

Nate squeezed the trigger, the blast
echoing throughout the hangar bay. Charles slumped forward, Nate
catching him in his arms.

“
You always will be,” he
said.

*~*~*

31

SERAN

It seemed to have taken less time to
row back to Esterland, Seran tying the row boat to the docks behind
a large cargo ship so that he would not be seen. The town had come
to life once again, bustling with the consistent sound of a crowd,
like bees buzzing around their hive.

He made his way through the town,
avoiding the inn he had previously stayed in, instead strolling
through the tall stone buildings into the center of the town.
However, there seemed to be a higher number of Inquisition soldiers
patrolling the streets than before. Seran located his steamcar and
climbed inside, relaxing in the driver’s seat as he examined the
town.

The liveliness of Argent seemed to have
been sucked dry, replaced by an overbearing sense of dread. The men
and women of the town seemed to hurry from place to place, avoiding
eye contact with the Inquisition’s guards. Even the horses that
pulled some of the hansom cabs seemed to look at the floor rather
than where they were headed. Rain clouds filled the sky, covering
the town in a shade of grey, only adding to the somber mood that
seemed to envelope the citizens.

“
They say the entire
compound was overrun,” said a young man to his friend as they
passed by the car.

“
I heard,” replied his
friend. “Apparently there were no survivors…”

“
Mary’s brother was
stationed there,” said the first man, “was he not?”

“
I believe so. We should
see how she is coping.”

Seran listened carefully, trying to
piece together what had happened to fill the town with such a sense
of sadness. Another group of people walked past the steamcar, an
older lady speaking with a very agitated voice.

“
If they cannot even
protect their own men, what would happen if those things ever came
here?”

“
Honestly,” said a man in a
suit, “I do not think the Creatures will ever be able to break
through Argent’s walls, mother.”

Seran shivered, his legs suddenly
feeling weak. In his head, images of Eerhart’s manor began to
repeat once again. Very few people had come face to face with
Creatures and lived to tell the tale, and after the events of the
manor, he never wanted to see those faces again.

No matter how much training he had been
given as a Dragoon, the sight of those monsters was far worse that
he had ever imagined.

As he continued to watch the citizens
of Argent gossip and mope, he noticed a group of Inquisition
soldiers walk down the street. They seemed to march in formation,
with two people in the middle of the group; the cloaked man and the
young lady that had been with them.

Seran sat up in the driver’s seat and
watched carefully as the two were lead to a steamcar. It was a long
model of steamcar, with a golden trim. A driver sat in the car,
awaiting his passengers.

They climbed in and the cloaked man
spoke to the driver before the steamcar drove away toward the
eastern gate of the town. Seran waited for the Inquisition soldiers
to disperse before starting the engine of his own steamcar, turning
down the same road.

“
Where are you two going
now?”

They were a few streets ahead of him,
and reached the gate quickly. The large sheets of metal parted to
allow their car to exit, and Seran followed them out of the
town.

“
Let us see what else I can
learn from you…”

*~*~*

32

EINAR

Einar rubbed the dust and dirt from his
face as he watched Haze sleeping on a bed that folded out of the
wall. Tears slowly fell from his eyes. I just wanted to find
Alexia, and now I’ve gotten both Haze and myself stuck in this
mess.

After they had landed on the airship,
and one of their saviors had shot the other, they had been trundled
into yet another cell by the armed guards. It was a nicer cell than
the Inquisition had provided, but they were still prisoners. So
much for my idea of getting us to freedom.

The cell itself was cold; the walls
were plain steel, although the floor was laminated. There were two
beds, but the mattresses were almost as thin as paper. The only
light in the room came from a single light bulb in the center of
the ceiling; there were no windows. Einar felt like an animal,
being transported to some unknown place where he would be paraded
for the joy of others, moved from cage to cage every few
days.

They had been told they were being held
there as a safety precaution, as the crew did not know who they
were. However, Einar had tried to explain their situation over and
over since then, to anyone who would listen. The trouble was, not
many of the crew seemed interested in listening.

He looked up from the floor to see Haze
staring at him, a smile on her face. How can she be
smiling?

“
Einar,” she said, her
voice quiet and soft. “I wanted to thank you.”

“
Thank me? For what? All I
have done is ruin your life,” he said as he looked at the ground
again.

“
That’s not true,” she
continued. “If it weren’t for you, those two soldiers would have
killed me, or worse.

Then, after that, you tried to save
both myself and my mother, and through all of that you saved me
again. And then you saved my life yet again in that
compound!

If it weren’t for you, I would not even
be here. So I want to thank you.”

Haze swung her legs around and rose
from the bed before walking over to Einar. She placed a hand on his
face and wiped away the tears, lifting his face so that he was
looking straight into her eyes.