Page 20 of Fly to Fury
Once the propeller whipped into a whirling blur, the ground crew removed the chocks from Fieran’s wheels, ducking as they raced away from the aeroplane. The aeroplane rolled forward, bouncing over the hummocks of earth.
Fieran pointed his flyer’s nose at the airfield. When he risked a glance over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse ofMerrik in his aeroplane, lining up behind and to the side so that they could take off together.
As his aeroplane gathered speed down the airfield, the wind whipped faster against the exposed skin of his face, even though it was too hot to cool him down.
The aeroplane grew light around him, the air firming beneath the wings. The wheels skimmed over the ground, briefly lifting before setting down again. As the wheels lifted again, Fieran pulled back on the control stick and turned the nose of his aeroplane to the sky.
His heart lifted along with his aeroplane, that familiar thrill going through him. No matter how many times he flew, he’d never get past the exhilaration of the wind against his face, the earth growing small beneath him.
His aeroplane clawed into the sky, the air cooling the higher it climbed. Fieran breathed deeply at the relief from the heat of down below.
As he reached the patrol height, he leveled his aeroplane out. The extensive fortifications of Fort Defense lay below, a patchwork of buildings and network of roads and tram lines. The Hydalla River winked in the brilliant sunlight, reflecting the deep green of the Tarenhieli trees on the far side.
Two aeroplanes—piloted by human flyboys of Flight B—buzzed past Fieran and Merrik, tipping their wings in salute before they headed for the airfield.
The remaining two aeroplanes circled over the far side of Fort Defense. Those were two elven pilots of Flight A.
When discussing how to set up the rotation, Fieran had decided to have the incoming new pilots take to the sky before the pilots ending their shift in the sky landed. This way, there would be temporarily six aeroplanes in the air rather than risk only two pilots in the sky at a time. Beyond that, he’d staggered every other pair of pilots between thetwo Flights. It would help build full unit cohesion, forcing the elves and humans to fly together.
Fieran led the way over Fort Defense in the circling pattern they’d agreed on earlier. After sweeping over the hills where the troll army encamped, he turned his aeroplane so that he skimmed just to the inside of his dacha’s Wall, the water of the Chibo River sparkling in the sunlight.
On the other side of the Wall and river, the Mongavarian encampment stretched into the distance. One of their airships and several aeroplanes circled over their defenses, though they stayed farther away from the Wall than Fieran and Merrik flew.
As they reached the Hydalla River, they turned again and headed back west. Little Aldon, then the train station and docks, flashed below.
Fieran struggled to remain alert through the repetitive circling. With his layers of warm clothing, the pleasantly cool temperatures here in the sky, and the brightness of the day, his body relaxed, tempted to fall asleep.
As he and Merrik approached the Wall again, a dark shape roared perilously close to where the Wall delineated the border. The biplane was high enough to be safe from the Wall, and the pilot would have a view at Fort Defense spreading out to one side.
“Looks like we need to scare him off.” After toggling the radio button, Fieran poured on more power to speed up from the lazy circling of earlier.
“Will you use your magic?” Merrik’s aeroplane kept up with his increase in speed.
“No, not unless he forces my hand.” Fieran flexed his fingers on the control column, letting his magic buzz through his veins without releasing it.
Colonel Dentley hadn’t given any particular ordersregarding Fieran’s magic, but Fieran well-remembered Commander Druindar at Dar Goranth telling him to refrain from using his magic until necessary. It was a surprise he’d only be able to use once, and he wasn’t going to waste it on a mere scout aeroplane.
The enemy aeroplane turned to face them, firing first.
Fieran sent his aeroplane onto its side, then upright, and finally dipped to the left to make his aeroplane a harder target to hit. The maneuvers slowed his airspeed, but not enough that it would be a problem, considering he and the enemy were headed toward each other.
Fieran reached up and pulled the trigger of the machine gun mounted on the nose of his aeroplane. The gun chattered, the occasional bullet slamming into his propeller instead of streaming forward. The rest of the bullets whizzed toward the enemy aeroplane, chewing through its wing.
More bullets arced from over Fieran’s head as Merrik shot as well, his bullets shredding the enemy’s tail.
The Mongavarian aeroplane swiveled and raced away, heading back for the Mongavarian lines.
“That sent him running.” Fieran tilted his aeroplane to parallel the Wall once again rather than cross the border. “Didn’t even need my magic.”
After he wielded his magic in the air for the first time, the Mongavarians would know he was here at Fort Defense. They’d plan for it.
Merrik’s voice crackled over the radio as he kept his aeroplane behind and a littler higher than Fieran’s. “They might still guess. The artwork on our aeroplanes is rather distinctive.”
“Depends how much the word has traveled from those who fought at Dar Goranth.” Fieran looped around, doing a smaller circle over the Hydalla River to make sure the enemyflyer was still fleeing before he continued on to the west. “At the very least, the Mongavarians will know there’s a new squadron flying over Fort Defense.”
Before too long, Fieran would likely give the Mongavarians a reason to fear the new squadron ruling the skies.
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