Crystal Doors #3: Sky Realm (No. 3) (12 page)

Hundreds upon hundreds of the terodax descended, beating their taut, leathery wings, looking like a greenish-black swarm in the sky. Tiaret was reminded of vultures circling over a fat carcass out on the Veldt. The people in the bazaar ran for shelter. An entire family of vendors ducked through the low doorway of a tan stone house, leaving their pottery and painted tiles unattended.

One of the terodax flew low, slashing with its saw-edged sword, and ripped apart an emerald-green awning over a food merchant’s stall. Stumbling backward, the man shouted curses at the enemy. The vendor’s brazier tipped over, spilling his skewers of spiced meat to the ground. The fire in the cooking dish caught the tattered awning and flames began to lick upward.

A handful of terodax swooped low, ripping through tents and awnings, knocking down a wooden framework built against the side of a stone tower, so that the frame fell apart, leaving only a few scraps dangling from the tower wall.

From the high windows, archers launched a volley of arrows, and four of the brash terodax fighters dropped squawking out of the sky. When the winged creatures struck the streets, two were dead and broken. Other wounded monsters flailed about while angry citizens ran forward with their clubs to batter the enemy until all of the fallen terodax lay bloody and dead on the streets. Angry merchants hurled stones and sharp objects at the attackers above them, but the terodax seemed to taunt them, flapping their wings and easily dodging the projectiles. Now that the people of Irrakesh had begun to fight back, the terodax truly became cruel.

Three more flew in low, as if targeting Tiaret and her friends. Sharif dove under a table just as one of the winged warriors clattered down after him, splintering the surface, knocking glittering bits of beaten metal jewelry all over the street. Vic held up a polished rock that some vendor had been trying to sell as an ornament. He squinted his eyes, concentrated, and hurled the projectile. It struck one of the terodax directly beneath the bony headplate, blinding it. “Whoa — bull’s-eye!” he called.

The disoriented terodax reeled dizzily, dipping downward, and as soon as it came within range, Tiaret lunged forward and swung her quarterstaff with all her might. The iron tip smashed the opposite side of the creature’s head, knocking it unconscious. Still twitching, it crashed to the ground. She did not hesitate as she slammed the staff down again, breaking its skull.

Converging on their true target now, the swarm of terodax dropped lower, their wings flapping with sounds like hollow drumbeats. Gwen ducked, and Vic knocked her the rest of the way to the ground, barely avoiding the attack of the winged creature. The cousins reacted swiftly, using moves they had learned in their intense
zy’oah
training. Tiaret swung with her staff and thrust it so hard into the ribs of the terodax that it punctured the thick hide. The creature flew upward, shrieking, panting, and obviously in pain. A rain of its blood spilled down, and the creature wove drunkenly through the air before finally slumping motionless onto a rooftop. The Irrakesh archers launched more arrows, but they could only pluck the terodax out of the sky a few at a time, and increasing numbers of the winged creatures seemed to swoop in from nowhere.

“This is the largest attack I have ever seen,” Sharif cried. “The terodax normally prey upon a few unsuspecting people at a time, snatch babies or livestock, steal any supplies they can find, and then fly away.”

“This is not a skirmish,” Tiaret said. “This is a war.”

One plump, white-bearded merchant who sold lanterns shouted defiantly at the attacking creatures. Two terodax dropped down, selecting him on purpose. Though he tried to scuttle out of the way, one grabbed the fat man by the shoulders, while the other grasped his ankles. Digging their talons into his skin, they flapped their broad wings and lifted him up into the air. He screamed and thrashed, flailing his arms, but he could not break their hold. Tiaret watched, feeling a sickness in the pit of her stomach but knowing she could do nothing. The terodax flew with their captive out beyond the edge of the flying island city — and released him. The lantern seller’s screams quickly disappeared into the winds as he fell thousands of feet to the cracked ground below.

“Come. This way,” Sharif said, leading them through the winding streets. “I know the nearest armory.”

“Shouldn’t you get to safety instead?” Gwen said. “First, the odds don’t look good here. Second, you’re part of the Ring of Might. Third, you’re the next Sultan, and you can’t risk leaving your people leaderless.”

“I cannot leave my people to fight without me,” Sharif said.

The terodax operated now in a furious concerted attack, snatching up their victims and dropping them off the edge of the city. Tiaret felt a cold fury building as she watched dozens of innocent citizens plunge to their deaths. The terodax dove repeatedly, trying to seize the apprentices, but Tiaret defended them. The five friends ran, letting Sharif guide them through the maze of streets. Lyssandra threw a few objects up at the winged creatures, while the cousins improvised, using
zy’oah
fighting techniques.

“Sheesh, we just barely got the hang of fighting merlons,” Vic muttered grabbing a heavy copper pot and banging a terodax on the head with it.

Sharif led them doggedly onward. Reaching the small, barred armory alcove, Sharif found that the city guards had already been there. “Here. This is all that is left.” He took a spear and a dagger for himself and handed out long, bronze-tipped weapons to Gwen, Vic, and Lyssandra. Tiaret declined. She gave her quarterstaff a twirl overhead. “This is sufficient.”

With a flurry, the pedal-glider-sized creatures came down, circling over the friends. The terodax slashed with their jagged swords, trying to drive the companions into a dead end in the tangled alleyways. People rushed in all directions.

Gwen and Vic took their spears and jabbed upward in unison, stabbing the thighs and stomachs of two attacking terodax. Another winged creature thrashed with its forked tail, smashing marks into the brick walls of the alley. Lyssandra reacted swiftly, swinging her spear sideways and using the long, sharp-edged blade to chop off the creature’s tail. With a shriek that warbled up beyond her range of hearing, the monster flew away, thrashing and bleeding.

“They hope to corner us,” Sharif said.

An old woman tried to make her way uphill, seeking shelter. She was exposed in the alley. Tiaret ran toward her, hoping to protect her, since the old woman could not move swiftly. She looked up into the sky, her wrinkled face filled with fear. Then one of the terodax seized her, tangling its foot talons in her shawl and pulling her into the air as if she were no more than a toy. Tiaret could do nothing to help. The terodax flew away over the rooftops, and she knew that the old woman was doomed.

Furious at what she had just seen, Gwen hurled her spear. The long weapon flew true and stuck one of the flying warriors in the back. It flapped and thrashed. Frantic in its efforts to escape, it did not look where it was going, crashed into the side of a tower, and fell to the ground, dead. Seeing the wooden scaffolding up the side of another tall minaret, Tiaret sprinted toward it. She used one hand to pull herself up, scrambling higher and higher until she stood on the rickety platform. Terodax swept toward her, and she swung the quarterstaff like a club, bashing one and then another out of the sky.

As the flying creatures fell stunned, Sharif and her other friends dispatched them before they could do further harm. Tiaret’s arms were already sore, muscles aching from the strenuous fight. She tossed her head to clear her vision and shake off the sweat that dripped down her forehead. She could still see countless numbers of the winged enemy coming in waves. This attack seemed to go on and on, and she knew that from where they were, the people of Irrakesh could not defend themselves. Although the city guard continued to launch arrows, killing more of the enemy, their efforts would never be enough.

Suddenly, though, Tiaret heard shrieking whistles, birdlike cries, and a loud brassy tone like bugles. From the other side of the sky, sweeping out of the fuzzy white clouds came a second winged army. These, however, were much more humanlike. Their broad wings were covered with brown feathers that resembled those of a gigantic eagle. The bugle sounded again.

“It is the aeglors!” Sharif shouted.

Vic whooped, and Gwen started jumping and applauding.

Lyssandra stared with her mouth partially open. “The aeglors have come.”

Tiaret twirled her quarterstaff in the air, and the second group of winged beings flew in, a full-fledged airborne army — exactly the alliance the Sultan had requested. She swung the quarterstaff, almost offhandedly now, and smashed another opponent. Irrakesh was saved!

15

THE SIGHT OF THE terodax attacking and killing the good citizens of Irrakesh infuriated Sharif. Whether or not he had wanted the task, he was to be their Sultan, their leader.

The broken and bloodied bodies of the winged creatures lay in the steep streets of Irrakesh, many of them studded with arrows, others knocked out of the sky or clubbed down by Tiaret, who still stood like a dervish on the scaffolding, swinging her quarterstaff at any creature that came in range. These monsters had taken a terrible toll on the city.

All across the city, amidst the shrill cries of the horde of terodax, he heard an uproar of cheers from the people, who had seen the aeglors. Sharif now understood the many reasons why his father had been willing to break tradition and form this unprecedented alliance with the eagle-winged people.

Vic straightened, lifted his chin, and grinned as the cloud of aeglors flew forward, ready to crash into the terodax. “This should be good.”

In the vanguard of the terodax, Sharif had identified their leader, the creature with the widest wingspan and the longest curled horns, as well as a scarlet, bony headcrest. The leader let out a loud, howling shriek that seemed more like a monster’s roar than any sort of language. But the terodax understood the strange warbling words, and they began to pull upward. Sharif could tell they were forming ranks, ready to stand against the oncoming aeglor army.

With a fiery look on his face, Vic hurled his spear at one of the last terodax, whose talons and fangs dripped with the blood of two more helpless merchants. The spear skewered it in the stomach and the terodax fell thrashing and shrieking. Sharif knew that Vic had been appalled when he’d killed a merlon who threatened to murder Tiaret under the water. Though the terodax looked even less human than the merlons did, he could see that the young man from Earth was still bothered by so much bloodletting, but he clearly had no choice. So many of the flying creatures were still attacking Irrakesh.

Now that the aeglors were here to drive back the winged predators, he doubted that anyone on Irrakesh — even the most vengeful of the old noble families — would complain about the alliance the Sultan had made. He kept his gaze on the bearded and muscular King Raathun, who led the charge, bellowing in his deep voice. Flapping their wings, the aeglors approached the massed terodax like a gathering thunderstorm. With a long, sharp sword in one hand and a spiked club in the other King Raathun looked like a harbinger of destruction just waiting to be released.

But the titanic clash in the air did not occur.

The aeglors flew in amongst the winged predators without striking a blow, without fighting or snarling, and joined with them into a single much larger flock. The sounds became a raucous cantata of shrieks, caws, bellows, and high-pitched squeals. Then the combined group of flyers dove down to begin a second assault on Irrakesh.

“What is happening?” Lyssandra said.

“We have been betrayed!” Sharif said. He remembered an important saying of Irrakesh, that deeds proved friendship more faithfully than words. King Raathun, who had signed a pact and made promises, now showed his true intentions. The aeglors were in league with the horrific terodax.

A roar of dismay rose and fell among the panicked population of the city. The guards of Irrakesh poked their heads out of the towers, nocked their arrows to their bows, and prepared to make their last stand. They launched volley after volley into the sky.

Fighting side by side, the aeglors and terodax crashed down in at utterly overwhelming force. The enemies of Irrakesh had literally doubled.

Sharif’s heart sank. He knew there was no chance whatsoever his people could win. As the battle was engaged, Sharif called to his friends, and they tried to run back to the armory alcove to get more weapons, while Tiaret stood defiant on the scaffolding. Her dark face was set with a determination to fight until the very last moment. Sharif couldn’t see how any of them would survive.

But, while the terodax had been like wild dogs attacking anything and anyone, dropping their victims off the edge of the flying city or tearing them apart with their talons, teeth, and saw-edged blades, the aeglors had another plan entirely. King Raathun bellowed orders and his winged soldiers flew in pairs, holding webbed netting between them.

Sharif saw the aeglors winging toward them, holding their nets ready, and suddenly realized their plan. “We must find shelter.” He shouted up at the scaffolding, “Tiaret, come down!”

“The fight is unfinished,” she said.

“You will be captured. They want us. They want hostages.” He turned. Lyssandra was already pulling Vic into a narrow, crowded alley where she didn’t think the aeglors could go.