Page 56 of The Falconer

‘Sluagh.’

‘That’s impossible,’ he says. ‘Thesluaghhaven’t been spotted for—’

‘More than two thousand years,’ I finish for him. ‘There’s something else I might have kept from you.’

‘Really?’ he drawls. ‘I’m shocked.’

One of thesluaghshrieks and speeds towards the ornithopter, flapping its translucent dragonfly-like wings so fast they blur. The others flank the leader on both sides. As they draw closer, a cold, slick, heaviness slides along my tongue.

Gavin says, ‘We should run this time. We really, really should—’

The middlesluaghopens its mouth and a breath of pale white mist bursts towards me with surprising speed. I grab the rain visor, throwing it up just in time to block thesluagh’s vapour. The heat of the blast is powerful, hot enough to incinerate flesh, and the metal visor burns my fingertips. Only after thesluaghflies past do I drop the visor, biting my tongue against the pain.

‘What the hell was that?’ Gavin says.

I pull myself to my feet, hands shaking. ‘I should have mentioned they breathe burning mist, shouldn’t I?’

‘Your ability to communicate is atrocious, did you know that?’

I ignore him and sit in the front seat again, flipping the switch to increase speed. As the wings flap faster and faster, the machine begins to strain with the effort it takes to fly this quickly. I have never tested the ornithopter under such extreme conditions, but the engine should hold. The ornithopter shudders under my feet a little more than usual but continues to fly smoothly.

The acceleration puts us slightly ahead of thesluagh, but we’re still not moving fast enough to outrun them. I shove the pedals to the floor with my toes. The machine jolts and the wings flap harder.

‘Here,’ I say, standing. ‘Take the helm.’

Gavin slides into the driver’s seat behind me. ‘A few words of instruction might help.’

Thesluaghare so close now. My heart slams against my ribs. I have to do something before they overwhelm the ship.

‘Make us harder to hit and keep us over the water.’ I spare him a fleeting glance. ‘And I’ll make sure you don’t die.’

‘Very considerate of you. A woman after my own heart.’

I kick a lever near my feet. The central compartment swings open and I pull out a massive crossbow. It’s fixed to a swivel-stand, so I can pivot the heavy weapon freely and hold it more steadily than if I had to support its full weight. I’ve also added handles with a quick trigger mechanism. The inner chamber has the same reloading feature as my smaller design, only it shoots quarrels twice the size.

‘So,’ Gavin says, ‘I take it we’re not running, then?’

‘Correct.’

I line up my eye with the sight, but just as I pull back the handles, the ornithopter dips. The crossbow’s gears tick and the quarrel fires. A miss.Hell and blast. I’ve practised with the crossbow before, but never in these conditions.

‘Steady, Gavin,’ I say.

‘I’mtrying. Do you realise how long it’s been since I’ve flown one of these?’

I smile grimly and focus my gaze through the sight again. The ornithopter shudders and swings, but I move with it. I breathe deep. On the exhale, I release another quarrel. It hits thesluaghright in the neck. A perfect shot.

Thesluaghscreams and explodes in a burst of light. The resulting mist surrounds the flying machine, swirling and coating everything in a blast so frigid that the raindrops on my arms freeze.

Thesluaghlet out angered, deafening squawks and begin to circle the machine in a frenzy, lustrous eyes bright and glowing now. There are so many of them. I swivel my crossbow to aim, but they’re too fast. They clamour around the machine and I duck as one tries to claw at me with its talons.

Suddenly, they dive at us.

‘Hard left!’ I scream to Gavin.

The ornithopter lurches and I almost lose my balance. Thesluaghscream again and swoop towards us for a second pass. They are agile, swift. One of them blows more mist at me, and I barely duck in time.

I struggle to stay on my feet to stare down the crossbow’s sight, aiming for thesluaghthat tried to claw me.Breathe, I tell myself.Steady. I pull the handles again. The quarrel flies into the air, lightning-quick, and strikes thesluagh. The faery explodes and cold mist blows into me.

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