Attack on Phoenix (17 page)

Rell writhed in pain as the lava ate away at her skin. Tiny bites ripped at her flesh, muscle, and veins until there was nothing left to pick at. Scorching liquid permeated her bones with fire. Somehow she was still aware. Not dead. Undead?

Holding up a hand, she was surprised to see it looked human, not molten like the one her dragzhi father had laid upon her skin. Rell floated through the lava, emerging at the top, as if she was simply coming up from a swim. She had been baptized in fire.

"You are one of us now," her father said, his voice swirling around her. "You can lead us where we could not walk, protect us as we emerge from hiding to fight our dragzhi brothers and sisters. Your power gives us strength."

Rell felt the lava lifting her, carrying her up to the edge of the volcano. She reached out, her fingers scrabbling at the edge for purchase. Rocks scraped at her fingertips, but she didn't struggle long. The lava pushed her over the edge.

Rolling, Rell came to rest not far from the volcano.

"Rell!"

"Don't touch me," she managed to squeak out.

But it was too late. Torsten had already pulled her up to sitting and was cradling her in his lap. "I know you don't want me to touch you. I know. I won't do anything inappropriate. But, Rell, you fell in the volcano. Somehow you pulled yourself back up before we could get to you. I thought you were dead. Again!" His face was buried in her hair.

Rell held her breath until she realized she wasn't on fire. She wouldn't burn Torsten. Whatever had been given to her was inside. It wouldn't harm him. Relief spread through her body.

She pulled away, touched by the tears at the corners of Torsten’s eyes. Rell reached a hand up, resting it on his cheek. "I'm okay. I'm sorry I scared you."

"Do you want me to let you go?" Torsten asked.

"No." Rell snuggled into his chest, wrapping her arms around his back.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, but was only moments.

Rutger cleared his throat, jerking Rell and Torsten back to reality.

Rell slipped off Torsten’s lap. "I can get us to a dragzhi ship now, but I have something else I need to do first." Rell gazed back at the volcano. "I'm going to guide the lava up to the ground. They will help us fight the rock dragzhi. Once they're up there, I'll take us to a dragzhi ship. We'll capture it and fight our way out of this."

Rutger laughed. "I knew I was getting into something I didn't understand when I went to Torsten's room. But this? How will you control the volcano? How will it fight the dragzhi?"

Malia seemed confused, too. Torsten was the only one who seemed to trust Rell's words, no matter how ridiculous they sounded.

"I didn't fall in the volcano," Rell said. "I jumped in. And I became one with the beings living in it. They are also dragzhi. Their brothers, the rock dragzhi, and sisters, the liquid dragzhi, came here looking for them. But they wish to remain in peace. They don’t want to reunite with their evil brethren. They are going to help us fight them off. Oh, and there’s one other thing…" Rell hesitated. “I’m part fire dragzhi, and, um, the Key? It’s me.”

The other three were speechless. Even Torsten's jaw dropped.

"Trust me," Rell said. "Please."

Malia shrugged. "Why not? It's not as if we have a better way of winning against these aliens. I'm willing to let you try." She cocked her shotgun.

"If Malia's on board, I am, too." Rutger turned a switch on his plasma rifle. It lit up bright blue and hummed.

“Rell, I want to know more later.” Torsten twirled his sword in his hand, then sheathed it on his hip. “For now, let’s kick some alien ass."

Rell pushed up the sleeves of her robe. Facing the volcano, she opened her mouth and let out a hiss, imitating the sounds her father of fire had made when he'd first spoken to her. She knew how to speak their language now.

Lava poured out of the volcano, slowly at first, picking up speed with each passing second. Figures took form from the river, taking on human shape, weapons blazing.

"This way!" Rell called to the lava. She waved on Torsten, Malia, and Rutger, who brought up the rear, careful to avoid the lava.

Rell made a sharp left outside the cavern. The lava couldn't go out through the waterfall. It would diminish their power, and even a momentary loss could hurt their chances of winning. Instead, Rell headed toward a part of the tunnels running close to the outside. She called for Rutger. "Aim your weapon there. Blast a hole large enough for us and the lava to pass through."

Rutger aimed, holding on tight to his plasma rifle as it shot bands of silver into the wall. Dirt flew in all directions as the hole grew larger and larger. When it was big enough, Rutger holstered his gun. Malia and Rutger ran through, followed by Torsten and Rell. The lava poured out behind them, singeing the ground and turning the grass black.

Rell was about to direct the fire dragzhi, but they blasted past the four humans, spilling over the battlefield. Wasting no time, the fire dragzhi engaged the rock dragzhi.

Mouth agape, Rell watched as the lava grew, enshrouding their brothers in fire. Dark rock arms burst forth from the lava but were quickly swallowed again. Choking the rocks, the lava held tight until the rocks crumbled underneath it in a lifeless pile.

At first the human warriors screamed, running from the lava and the rocks. But they regrouped once they realized the lava was helping them. The defenders roared back to life, attacking the remaining rock dragzhi with every weapon at their disposal. Lights flickered blue, orange, and yellow, as their weapons discharged. The smell of gunpowder and spent electrical weapon residue hung in the air.

"There's too many rocks," Rutger yelled over the din.

"Then let's steal a dragzhi ship!" Rell yelled. Her long braid had come undone and her hair whipped around her face. She felt free. Powerful. "Take my hands. It'll work this time. I can feel it!"

Torsten grabbed Rell's hand and Malia took the other. Rutger held on to the other two.

"Let's do this!" Rell closed her eyes, concentrating hard on the dragzhi ship she'd been on earlier. She began to spin. She cracked an eye, pleased to see the air wasn't just whirling around her, but also around her comrades. A light flashed, and they blinked off the planet and onto the ship.

Rell let go of their hands as they collapsed on the bright, metallic floor.

Torsten jumped to his feet, his sword at the ready.

"What does that do?" Rell asked. "You just swing it around? Poke stuff with it?"

Torsten shrugged and grinned. "I'm not sure yet. Leila said she had it tweaked just for me. I haven't used it yet. I have a feeling it's not just a normal sword."

"Good." Malia stood, shaking her head. "An ancient weapon isn't going to do us much good here. You okay, Rutger?"

He sat up slowly. "What was that?"

"Some kind of tech we don't understand," Rell said. "You need to be dragzhi to activate it. I don't know if it's inside me or if it's something my mind can trigger from far away."

"Maybe next time you can make the ride a little less bumpy?" Rutger asked as he struggled to stand. He swayed to the side, steadying himself on Malia's shoulder.

"I'll try," Rell said with a laugh. "First, we need to find the bridge on this ship. I have a feeling we're going to have to fight our way through. The dragzhi on this ship, they're different than the other two. They are some kind of cool liquid metal."

"How do we kill them?" Rutger asked.

"I don't know," Rell admitted.

Malia gripped her shotgun. Rutger kept his finger on the trigger of his rifle, his imbalance corrected. Torsten grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands.

"Stay behind us, Rell," Malia said. "We'll protect you since you don't have a weapon."

Rell held her hands out, palms up. "Oh, I have a weapon." Fire sprang forth from her skin, hovering over her. This was real fire. A weapon unlike one any human had ever wielded. It was her dragzhi side: a gift from her biological father.

She stepped in front of the other three. "Follow me."

Rell knew exactly where to go. Something deep inside her directed her movements through the ship, telling her when to turn right or veer left. The ship was eerily quiet, almost as if it were abandoned. Lights flickered on and off as they traversed the passageways, adding to the unease.

Rell came to a stop outside a solid metal door. "This is it."

"Should we knock, or is there a doorbell?" Rutger asked, sarcasm lacing his words.

Waving a hand over the wall, Rell looked for the mechanism that would trigger the lock. A blue light glowed, then the door opened. Rell stepped in the room, the others close behind her.

Her eyes swept the bridge. An expansive window curved around three quarters of the room, giving them a clear view of space, the two moons, and their planet far below. There were no other dragzhi ships to be seen. A control panel stood in the center of the room. It, too, appeared to be unmanned.

"Where are they?" Torsten asked, in an uneasy tone. "The ship can't be empty, can it?"

"I've been on two," Rell said, cautious. "Neither was empty."

The door closed behind them. Rell spun around. The four of them drew into a tight circle, their backs to each other.

"I don't like this," Rutger said.

"Hold steady, defender." Malia stiffened, her military training taking over. She hoisted her shotgun into position, eyes alert.

Rell scanned the bridge, her senses heightened. She'd known how to guide the fire dragzhi to the surface. She'd managed to get them on the ship and to the bridge. It had all been inside, waiting for her to access it. She closed her eyes.

Then it came to her.

"Above us!" Rell snapped her chin up, shooting fire at the ceiling.

A silver liquid snaked down toward them, lashing out with whips of water. Rell fought back, her fire the opposite of its cool liquid. Malia and Rutger blasted it with electric bullets and plasma. Torsten waved his sword around in the air. She noticed his movements out of the corner of his eye. It was clear he'd trained, yet his sword did nothing to stop the onslaught of water.

Rell's hands shook as flames streamed out of her hands. With a thrust of her arms, the flames burst out faster, holding back the water, but not stopping it.

"What does the jewel do?" Rell yelled, jerking her head at a sapphire inlaid in the sword's cross guard.

"Nothing. It's just decoration!" Torsten's thumb ran over the gem as he responded.

His sword crackled with blue lasers, sizzling up the blade, and shooting out the tip at the dragzhi. The liquid dragzhi exploded, falling to the floor in green globs.

Torsten laughed, uneasy. "What did Mellok do to this sword?" He held it up in the air, turning it around and gazing at it.

"Whoa. Disgusting." Malia poked the dead dragzhi with the tip of her shotgun.

Rutger stalked over to the control board. "Anyone know how to fly this thing?"

"I think I do." Torsten stepped up next to Rutger, his fingers running over the touchscreen as if he was playing a keyboard. "I read about it in the archives. There was a similar board on the ship our people found buried in the desert fifty ago. This is more advanced, but it seems to be based on the same basic principles.

The ship jerked. Rell grabbed onto Malia, who steadied herself against the wall until the ship settled.

"Like I said," Torsten said with a nervous laugh, "I think I know."

"Better you than me." Rutger walked over to a panel near the window. "This is weapons. I understand this. It's very similar to the tech we developed from their ship. Malia," he called over his shoulder. "Join me, my sweet."

Malia winked at Rell and bounded up to Rutger, eager to test it out.

Rell wandered over to Torsten. Nothing inside her gave her any clue how to fly the ship or use its weapons. "There isn't much I can do," she said. “I’m not familiar with any of this.”

Torsten stopped fiddling with the touchscreen and turned to her. "Rell, let us take it from here. There's another battle ahead. This one could be more deadly. The dragzhi on Phoenix may have already overwhelmed our troops. We don't know what's coming next. You've been through so much. Rest."

Rell gazed into Torsten's brown eyes. "I know. I think everything up until now has been easy compared to what we're about to face."

"We may not make it out alive," Torsten said, his voice low.

"Which is why I need to do this now, just in case." Rell stood on her tiptoes, grabbed Torsten's collar, and pulled him down so their noses were almost touching. She planted her lips on his in a kiss.

Torsten still couldn't believe she'd kissed him. It couldn't have come at a worse time. Rell walked away after she broke off the kiss, and Torsten had to force himself to focus on the control board in front of him.

All he wanted was to chase her across the bridge and beg for another kiss, but first he had to figure out how to fly the damn dragzhi ship down the surface of Phoenix. Theory was one thing. Actually making it work would be a miracle.

"Everyone ready?" Torsten asked.

He rested his fingers on the cool screen. Depressing lightly, he moved the first two fingers of his left hand up, bringing the engines to full power. He spread the fingers of his right hand. The middle finger controlled speed. The ring finger controlled altitude. The pointer and pinky controlled movement from side to side. Moving them all together without jerking the ship around would be a challenge. It was probably much easier controlled by a flexible liquid dragzhi. Still, it was better than waiting to die.

“Punch it, Torsten," Malia said.

The engines roared to life. Torsten couldn't help smiling. He'd never craved a life outside of his books. But flying was something he'd dreamed about as a little boy. Though his dreams dealt more with exploration than annihilation. Still, maybe capturing this ship would lead to tech advances his people had only dreamed of.

The ship lurched forward, Torsten attempting to control the bumpy ride with tiny alterations of his fingers. Too much pressure there. Too far to the right there. The ship made its way closer to the planet's atmosphere.

"It's a good thing no one can see us," Rutger shouted. "It probably looks like a three-year-old is flying this bird."

"You want to try?" Torsten asked.

Rutger laughed. "No way! I don't know anything about it. As long as you get us down there alive, I promise I won't make another crack."

The ship quaked as they entered the atmosphere. Torsten gritted his teeth, attempting to keep it steady. Only moments later and the view out the window was blue sky instead of black space.

Torsten let out a whoop.

"We're not there yet, flyboy," Rutger warned him. "Pay attention. You need to keep this bird steady while Malia and I shoot the dragzhi."

"It's not far now." Rell sat down at a screen with a map of the planet below. Her finger rested on an image of the tower.

"What is that?" Torsten asked. "Does the ship have a camera, too?"

"No." Rell shook her head, biting her lip. "It's an illustrated map. There are missing parts, but they do have the tower and some of the parts of the city drawn. There are large black splotches over the parts they razed a few days ago. The dragzhi have been mapping Phoenix.”

Torsten’s attention snapped back to the window. The map could wait. "Just tell me where to go, Rell." He wished he sounded more confident. Torsten had avoided ship tours as much as possible to hole up in the tower and study. He didn't even know most of the technical terms of the ship.

"I see them!" Malia yelled over the rumble of the engines. "Permission to fire, sir."

No one answered.

"Torsten, I think she's talking to you," Rutger said.

"Oh yeah, of course. Fire away, Malia. You too, Rutger." Torsten groaned inside. He was the worst leader, possibly in the history of humanity, to command a ship and its crew. Especially since the ship wasn't his and he'd just met most of the crew a few days ago.

Torsten banked right, too hard, then left to compensate. Adrenaline pumped through him as he watched their ship’s fire hit a dragzhi, rock exploding in all directions.

Humans scrambled for cover. All, except one. She stood out, her blond hair streaming in the wind as she stood steady, ready to fire at dragzhi who was bearing down on her.

"Leila!" Torsten yelled. He banked left again to avoid her and came about, hovering, until they could see both Leila and the dragzhi once more.

She fired, the blast from her gun knocking her backward onto her butt. The dragzhi staggered to the left, then the right, quickly regaining his balance. He lumbered toward Torsten's sister, his lithic arm outstretched, ready to pound her into the ground with a fist.

The dragzhi ship jerked as Malia sent off a volley of shots toward it. The beast looked up at them, its eyes wide and surprisingly sad, before it exploded into a million pieces, raining rock on Leila.

Torsten held the ship steady, waiting to see if his sister climbed out of the rubble.

"Torsten!" Rutger yelled. "We need to kill the others. Move this baby. Now! Come on!"

Torsten swung the ship around, surveying the rubble. There was no movement. His heart sank into his stomach. He forced his focus back to destroying the rest of the aliens. He wanted Leila to live, but not at the expense of every other human struggling to survive.

Fire dragzhi undulated over the grass, dancing just above the blades. Torsten wondered if they would set fire to the earth if they walked on it. Maybe that was why they'd hidden underground in the volcano. He shook his head, marveling at the stark difference between them and the other dragzhi.

Malia and Torsten continued to shoot at the rock dragzhi while Torsten maneuvered the ship over the battlefield. Where their shots fell short, the fire dragzhi closed in. Humans fired their weapons, aiming for the charkas. Death reigned over the battle, with casualties on all sides. Next to rock dragzhi bodies, there were broken humans, their limbs askew, holes in their chests, or their necks broken.

The dragzhi didn't take prisoners. All they wanted was death. Torsten hated reciprocating their violence, but it was kill or be killed, and he would be damned if he'd let them win. Not after what they'd done to their city, Hadar. So many dead. And for what?

Torsten's fingers flew over the console. With every passing second, he felt more comfortable at the helm, darting in and out of the battle with ease. Rell didn't even need to shout directions to him anymore. Torsten blocked out all but the scene through the window before him. He would take down every last rock dragzhi.

The faster they killed the rocks, the sooner he could find Leila.

Torsten swung around again, heading for the main fray. His heart pounded. He swallowed hard. If they were too far away from the action, their shots might go wild and hit humans. Torsten needed to get close enough for Malia and Rutger to aim true.

He hit the thrusters and pulled in closer. Out the window, the battle raged on. Humans ducked while shooting, trying desperately to defeat the rock dragzhi. They darted left and right, stumbling over each other.

They were too tightly knit together. Torsten didn't know how to get a clearer shot for Malia and Rutger.

The ship rocked to the side.

"Steady, Torsten!" Rutger said, angry.

"It wasn't me," Torsten said.

"I'll check it out." Rell stood.

The ship heaved again. Something pounded on it from underneath.

Torsten backed away from the battle as the thumping continued. Then he saw it. A bunch of rock dragzhi had piled upon one another until they stood four times higher than normal. They were hitting the underbelly of the ship.

"Get us out of here," Rutger yelled.

Torsten's fingers danced over the console, jerking back and forth. Panic stole his rhythm. The pounding continued until a wretched screech replaced it. The ship bounced around, the air playing with it like a child tossing a ball into the wind.

"We're going down," Torsten yelled. He reached out for Rell, who hadn’t made it off the bridge.

Her hand slipped into his, her fingers gripping his hand tightly. Rutger fell to the side, landing in Malia's strong arms. They held each other, grasping onto a bar on the wall. The ship quivered as it ripped apart at the seams.

Torsten cursed himself. Of course the rock dragzhi would have known exactly where to hit the ship. They had traveled to Phoenix in it. Torsten felt the fool for pulling up so close and allowing them to get near him.

Rell's eyes were wide. For the first time, after everything they'd been through, Torsten saw fear in her eyes. He held her close, bracing against the console. Up until recently, she'd weathered every unknown moment through her faith. Holding it close, she'd known no matter what happened, she'd be in the arms of her gods at the end. But now? She no longer seemed sure of herself.

Torsten wished he could help her, somehow restore some of the calm to her demeanor. He knew how horrible life could be. He also knew if they lived, there would be joy again on the other side. He wanted to give that gift to Rell, but in the final moments of the crash, he could do nothing more than hold her close and try to protect her head when the ship drove into the ground.

Torsten tumbled to the floor, his arms around Rell like a vice. He would never let her go. Not until the last breath escaped from his lips.

They ricocheted from one wall to another, their bodies slamming against the metal. Something popped. Torsten’s eyes were sewn shut from the force of the impact. He only knew Rell lived because her grip around his waist was as tight as his.

The ship jerked one last time, coming to rest in its grave. Torsten opened his eyes. The nose of the ship jutted into the earth. He and Rell were braced against the console, the floor no longer under them, but next to them like a wall.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

Rell nodded. A small stream of blood dripped down her face. Torsten wiped it away with his thumb. "I don't see a wound."

Rell reached up, her hand trembling. "It's coming from your head. Your hair, it's soaked."

Torsten smiled. "It's okay. Head wounds bleed profusely. I feel okay."

Rell nodded again, as if she'd lost the ability to say any more.

"Rutger? Malia?" Torsten called out.

"Here," a weak Malia responded. "We're on the window. The glass has shattered. I don't know how long it'll hold. Torsten, if we move, it might break, and then we'll fall out of the ship. I can't reach anything from where we are. I don't know how to get us out of this. Rutger is out cold." Her voice shook.

"I'll get you out of there," Torsten yelled back. "Stay here. Don't move," he said to Rell.

Again, she nodded, her body quivering against the console.

"I'll get them to safety, and I'll come back for you." He leaned down, his lips close to hers and hesitated. Maybe she'd only kissed him by accident. Maybe she wouldn't want to again.

Rell lifted her head, pecking Torsten on the lips. She settled back down with a small smile. "Go. I'll be fine."

Torsten pulled himself up and looked over the console. Malia had assessed their situation well. Malia and Rutger lay, their arms tangled around each other, in the middle of a spider web of broken glass. Worse, Torsten could see a pool of blood underneath Rutger. Malia had said he was unconscious. Torsten just hoped his new friend was still alive.

He decided to rescue Malia first, then Rutger.

"Malia, you need to carefully move your arm out from under Rutger. Slowly. If the glass cracks further, stop."

Malia nodded. Her shoulder moved ever so slightly as she pulled her arm out from underneath Rutger. The man stirred.

"Stop!" Torsten was relieved to see proof that Rutger was alive. If he moved too much, the glass could shatter. "Tell Rutger not to move."

Malia whispered in Rutger's ear. Torsten saw Rutger's lips move in assent.

"Change of plans," Malia called up. "You're taking Rutger first. He's too hurt to help himself if the glass shatters. I'm alert enough to have a chance.” Malia slipped her belt out of her belt loop, then did the same to Rutger's. She tied them together, tossing them up to Torsten with a practiced arm.

He reached out, catching them on the first try. Then he removed his own belt and attached it to theirs. He dangled it down, but it wasn't nearly close enough to reach his friends. He watched helplessly as the glass creaked underneath them. Torsten was out of ideas.