Page 21 of Scales of Time

“Can you contact that mudding area and get them to evacuate? The mountain is about to lose a lot of dirt right down those creeks.”

“That hasn’t happened in over a century.”

She stared at him. “But it has happened.”

He blinked. “Hells.” He got a com out of his pack and said, “What if they can’t evacuate?”

Kris smiled and turned her bird. “I am a bodyguard. I am going to get down there as fast as I can and divert it for a bit.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Practice. Get me a signal when things are clear.” She moved, and her bird didn’t have a problem leaving the tiny flock. They headed straight down the hillside, no path, no curated areas. Kris cheated. She used a heat wave to crumble and sizzle trees out of her way. Her bird caught her urgency, and they went fast.

“Sweetie, if we do this, you are getting a very impressive name.”

The run continued.

They arrived at a meeting of creeks, and the bird followed instinct and ran into the low river, moving with the water. Kris heated the base of trees, and soon, there was a channel that would keep things from overflowing too badly. It raised the edge of the river by several feet, and they were fused to the ground. Wood bending was something she had researched.

The bird kept running because she told it to, and when Kris saw the expanse of a resort down below, she turned and unstrapped her legs, getting off the bird and saying, “Get up and on the wall. I will be fine. I have done this before... sort of.”

In the distant hills, she saw the wave of dirt and water descending. Kris flexed her hands and focused, catching the first wave of mud and searing it into a shape, and then the second and then the third. She built a wall as fast as she could with a directed point so that it would remain in the channel. It was not a strong dam, but she kept reinforcing it until she got the signal. She hoped it was coming soon.

* * * *

Yorness caught Mori’s message and called Essan. “There is a mud flood heading to the resort. You need to order the evacuation.”

“Already done. Why the concern?”

“Kris is up there until she gets an all-clear signal.”

“What the hell is she doing?”

“Holding back the flood. You have access to her emergency com. Tell her to stand down.”

There was silence, and Yorness said, “Overlord?”

The line was silent. Yorness got a drone and sent it with a message for Kris to stand down. She wasn’t going to get to safety without it. Yorness had seen her friend hold the line before. It was terrifying. Singleminded didn’t begin to cover it.

The drone flew and used the ring to find Kris. The screen in Yorness’s hand showed what she had feared. Kris was standing in the flood path, and fire was creating a thick wall with rising water behind it.

The drone saw the dark speck of Essan streaking toward her, and Yorness called out through the speaker. “Kris! Evacuation is complete. Let it go.”

“Understood.” Kris’s eyes were molten gold. “I just have to get to a point where I can get out of here.”

There was a chirp, and the drone saw a beast with a saddle on it. It was standing on the edge of the very high wall, and its wings were extending in agitation.

Kris glanced at the bird and grinned. “If you think we can.”

Yorness watched as the bird headed toward Kris. Kris cut the fire and quickly mounted the bird, and to her shock, they began to run through the flood path.

While Yorness watched in astonishment, Kris crouched over the animal’s neck as the wings began to flap with each stride, and in a sight that hadn’t been seen in five hundred years, one of the beasts took flight.

Yorness watched them gain altitude and get out of the river bed. Essan was flying over them, and at that point, she learned something new. She could tell that he was irritated by the way he was flying. That was angry flying if she ever saw it.

The bird angled, and Yorness smiled. It was coming home.

Chapter Five

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