Page 62 of Wings of War

Pip nodded, and the metallic taste of her magic winked out. Fieran couldn’t see it, but he could sense the tug of it on his magic disappear.

Another bomb—a smaller one, this time—struck his magic. He felt like his mind was stretching in opposite directions, as he tried to wield his magic with part of his mind while thinking enough to give orders with the rest.

Right now, Fort Linder needed a Laesornysh, and Fieran’s dacha wasn’t here.

That left only Fieran.

“We need to get in the air.” Fieran stared at one of the aeroplanes as it was wheeled past them. What would they need once they were in the sky? How could they take on an airship while in what was essentially an unarmed wooden box with wings, a propeller, and a tail stuck onto it?

“Merrik, Pip, Lije, see what you can do about arming the flyers.” Fieran refocused on his friends around him, his stomach churning even as his voice remained almost bizarrely steady. “Pretty Face, start getting the others into aeroplanes. Tiny, grab whatever water you can find to take with you. Stickyfingers, help Tiny.”

His friends nodded and scattered.

Fieran lifted his chin and marched toward Capt. Arfeld. Maybe Fieran was about to get himself court-marshaled for insubordination, but someone had to give Capt. Arfeld a good shake.

Fieran halted before the captain and saluted. “Capt. Arfeld, sir.”

“Laesornysh.” Capt. Arfeld returned his salute with a shaky, sloppy gesture that would have made a true military man cringe. The captain pointed upward. “Is that you?”

“Yes, sir.” Fieran braced himself. It was now or never. He might end up in the stockade for this, but the consequences likely wouldn’t be too dire, given the protection his high-ranking relatives gave him. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Capt. Arfeld’s eyes were slightly wide and unfocused. The man had nerves of steel to do what he’d done as a pioneer of aeronautics. But now, facing battle, his lack of military training showed through. “Of course.”

“The squadron needs their captain to lead them.” Fieran held Capt. Arfeld’s eyes, not letting his own panic slip through. “You need to get up there. You’ve at least flown at night before.”

Everyone knew aeroplanes didn’t fly at night. Even airships were considered risky to navigate in the dark, and instead often chose to descend into an anchorage for the night rather than risk losing their way. Lacking the instruments and gauges of an airship, aeroplanes were downright dangerous to fly at night. It was pitch black, with nothing to tell up from down. At night, one could fly straight down into the earth and never know it until it was too late. Only a few of the early pilots, like Capt. Arfeld, had flown at night as a stunt.

If only the military and political leadership had listened to Uncle Julien more. Then maybe instead of so much money being poured into building large airships, more energy would have been directed toward designing a flyer capable of taking on an airship. Perhaps someone would have figured out a way to mount a big enough gun or give them gauges to help them fly at night.

After tonight, perhaps the mindset would shift. But it would be too late to save them now.

Yet they had to go up. Never mind the danger. Never mind the fact that their training flyers weren’t even armed, unless Pip, Merrik, and Lije could come up with something in the next five minutes. All they could do was take pot shots at the airships with their rifles and pistols.

And they were going to do it anyway. Because their kingdom was under attack, and it was their duty to fight back.

Capt. Arfeld gave himself a shake, his eyes finally sharpening. “What are the limits of your magic? Can you continue to protect the fort once you take off?”

Fieran hesitated, weighing his own capabilities. Despite his training in splitting his attention and magic, flight took too much focus. “No. Once I’m in the air, I won’t be able to hold an effective shield over the fort any longer. Pip, one of the mechanics, can create a shield, but I don’t know how large her shield is nor how it will hold up under bombardment.”

Capt. Arfeld nodded as he absorbed that information. Around them, the chaos of before was slowly being tamed. Pip and Merrik stood next to a flyer, doing something to the side with their magic, while Lije and some of the mechanics hefted guns and ammunition rounds. Pretty Face had organized the other pilots so that each flyer now had a pilot either sitting inside or standing next to it as he hurriedly donned goggles and the leather outer gear.

The captain gestured to the waiting aeroplanes. “Can you shield our flyers as they take off?”

“Yes, sir. At least for most of their run.” Fieran paused, not sure how to word this next part without sounding like he was just as dangerous as the airships dropping bombs. “They won’t be able to fly through my magic any more than the bombs can penetrate through. I should be able to tell the difference between our flyers and the airships, but this far away and with this much of my magic unleashed, it would be best if I opened a gap in the magic instead.”

“Understood.” Capt. Arfeld nodded, his jaw set. “And in the air?”

“I can take down the airships.” After spending several days on an Escarlish airship, Fieran had no doubts about that. But…Fieran shifted, something inside him twisting into knots. “I don’t know how long it will take. I’ve never used my magic in the air like that. Always on the ground.”

And never in a true battle, though he didn’t say that out loud. Would he panic? Would he remember his training once he was in the sky? Would he even be able to focus enough to use his magic while also flying an aeroplane? He didn’t even have enough solo hours in the cockpit to be fully certified. None of them did.

Capt. Arfeld nodded, his eyes going unfocused again as he weighed the options.

As much as Fieran had taken charge earlier, he was glad to leave this particular situation in the hands of his commanding officer.

If he went up first, he’d have the best chance of anyone to take down the airships. But it would leave the fort vulnerable until he’d taken all the airships down.

If he went up last and protected the fort as long as possible, Capt. Arfeld and the other pilots would be at greater risk trying to face the airships by themselves.

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