Page 80 of Of Blood and Fire
Won’t, Kaia said.Plenty space.
Logically, I knew that, but I nevertheless appreciated her reassurance.
We crossed the peaks. Ezu lay before us, a sea of sun-kissed golden birds and silver tents sitting in the blackened remains of what had once been forests and a vibrant if small seaport.
The Stymphalian birds hadn’t noticed us yet—most remained hooded and were still stirring from their daytime slumbers. Riders were few and far between, and those who were visible had their arms raised to the setting sun, as if in some sort of welcome ritual.
Kaia, ask Yara and Lura to tell their kin to grab the chain and get ready to release on my signal.
I unhooked the chain attached to the bin between Taitia and us and gripped it fiercely. The chain snaked out across Kaia’s wing, gleaming a bloody silver in the last few rays of the fading day. I hoped it was an omen of what lay waiting for the riders and their birds rather than us.
We swept down the slope, soaring silently over a burned and broken landscape; just as we neared the edges of the encampment, I gave the release order and hauled, as hard as I could, on the chain. For a second, nothing happened. I hauled on it again and, with a clank that was audible above the wind of our approach, the feeder door at the bottom of the bin opened. I twisted around. The liquid was surprisingly dark and fell at a shallower angle than I’d expected—probably something to do with our flight speed and the bin’s angle—but it nevertheless rained down, covering everything in its path. The birds reacted, rising on their claws, their beaks open and their wings flapping; none could rise, however, as they were still leashed and hooded. Riders were scrambling out of their tents en masse, somerunning for their birds, others for weapons. Arrows and long bolts bit through the air, forcing the drakkons to dip and weave in unison.
We’d covered nearly half of the encampment with our acid rain when I unleashed Cansu and Rua.
They swept down the mountain behind us hard and fast, spaced far enough apart that their flames only crossed over a fraction, giving them the widest spread possible. Even under normal circumstances the ferocity of their fire would have instantly melted at least the first few lines of bird and riders, but we wanted more than a couple. We wanted the whole fucking lot.
The minute the flames hit the liquid-drenched birds, men, and tents, the whole lot exploded, filling the air with heat and a gruesome blanket of cindered, ashen remains. The ground caught fire, and the flames chased the spray, burning whatever bloody remnants remained.
Ahead of us, birds were now rising, many of their riders not even fully dressed but still bearing tubes they aimed our way. As one, the six drakkons flamed, their fire exploding through the liquid and hitting rider and bird, cindering half and sending the rest crashing to the ground.
As they hit, more rose. Again, our drakkons flamed. Again, they prevailed.
The rain of arrows and spears intensified. Kaia bellowed as several tore through wing membrane, but the sound was more fury than pain, and she didn’t slow. I called to my inner flames and swept them down and around her body in an effort to cinder the next wave before they hit and got most. Several still got through; two bounced harmlessly off her scales, but one hit me, slicing through my clothing and lodging in the fleshy part of my right arm. I swore, burned the fletched end off, then pushed the arrowhead all the way through and pulled it out. I knew the danger of doing so well enough, but the last thing I needed rightnow was for my sword arm to be restricted. Unless we went down, I wouldn’t actually need to draw my sword, but I might yet have to use Mom’s bow.
I raised enough fire to cauterize and seal the wound, prayed to Túxn I wasn’t causing further damage, and twisted around once again. The bin’s deadly rain was finally easing. If we were lucky, we’d have enough to reach the harbor. If we weren’t, then we’d be using regular drakkon flame to destroy what remained.
Cansu and Rua continued to rain fiery destruction on the ground below, though they no longer flew in one line, instead soaring and weaving over the campsite, sweeping up the few riders and birds who’d escaped the explosive liquid with their claws, crushing their bodies, and dropping them back to the ground.
It was a dangerous play, given not all the riders were dead yet.
Kaia, tell them to rise. We need to be careful until the liquid has been fully deployed and most of the riders’ weapons taken down.
She did so. They obeyed, but the tension in me was rising.
There were still too many birds remaining. Too many armed riders remaining.
We were approaching the harbor at speed. One boat lay at anchor, and all the buildings that had once stood here had been replaced by large metal constructions that were no doubt hubs catering to the needs of all the riders camped here. But there were men on several of the rooftops, and they were racing toward large tube-like cannons.
Kaia—
See. She snapped an order, and the drakkons on either side of us flamed, blanketing the buildings with fire. Men were crisped, and the cannons exploded.
But if they had cannons on those rooftops, they’d have them elsewhere. I just couldn’t see where.
I twisted around again. The stream of dark liquid coming from the bins had all but ended, but it didn’t matter. We were close to the shoreline now, with only the buildings and the harbor itself left.Kaia, order the bins dropped on the buildings, and then we’ll sweep around and do a fire run.
Boat?
We’ll burn that on the way through.
The drakkons released the chains. As the bins tumbled toward the buildings, the drakkons on either side of us arced left and right and flew back to the heart of the destruction, adding their flames to the chaos Cansu and Rua were causing. Kaia and I flew on to the boat. It looked to me like the sailors were desperately attempting to haul up the anchor and leave, but they never got the chance. Kaia’s fire swept over them, setting the boat alight and ashing the men who manned her.
Hold, she said, and immediately belly rolled up and over.
As she straightened, I spotted the cannon to our left and, behind it, the rise of at least a dozen birds. Birds we’d missed. Birds we hadn’t even seen.
Control birds.
