Bastille waited beside me, though I could tell she itched to leap forward and join the strike team. Fortunately her primary duty was to protect me, so she restrained herself.
The strike team reached the hole and Kaz waved the runners to jump in. suddenly, something flashed in the hole.
"Rifle fire!" Bastille said.
She was moving a moment later, bolting down the hole. One of our runners collapsed backward, twitching. The others leaped for the ground, taking cover, and two Librarians peeked out of the hole, holding rifles.
Kaz whipped out a pistol and shot one in the face – it let out a blast of light, knocking the Librarian unconscious. Bastille - running inhumanly fast - arrived and kicked the other Librarian in the face.
I blinked. Things happened so quickly in battle. By the time I thought to jog out, the two Librarian guards had been disabled. Unfortunately, one of our runners was down.
"Woodpeckers!" Kaz cursed. "We should have known they'd be smart enough to leave a rear guard." He checked on the runner who'd been shot. He was unconscious. We'd need the antidote to awaken him.
"There will probably be guards at the end of the tunnel as well," one of the Mokians said. “And while we're fast, we're not the best soldiers in the army."
Kaz nodded. "If you fight and make a disturbance, the Librarians will cut off our exit out of the tunnel. Sparrows!"
"Kaz, where did you pick up all that fowl language?" Bastille asked.
"Sorry. Spent two weeks trapped in an ornithologist's convention during my last time lost."
And that is a story all unto itself.
"Well," I said, "we'll just have to hope that . . ." I trailed off as I noticed Bastille and Kaz sharing a look. Then, shockingly, Bastille pulled the bear-containing backpack off of the unconscious runner. She slung it over her shoulder, then looked at me.
"Stay here," she said.
"Bastille, no! You can't go."
"I have the best chance at knocking out guards at the exit of the tunnel quietly. My speed and strength will let me get to those robots faster than the others. I need to go."
"But you're supposed to protect me!"
She pointed upward, at the glass dome. "It's only minutes away from breaking. This is the best way to protect you."
She secured her Warrior's Lenses. "Take care of yourself," she said. "You'd better not die. I'm getting a little fond of you. Besides, if I fall, you’ll need to get me the antidote."
With that, she jumped down into the hole. I scrambled up to the edge, looking down. The drop wasn’t a deep one; it quickly turned to the side as the tunnel pointed out toward the Librarian army. The runners jumped in after her. Kaz patted my arm. "I'll try to get her out, kid,” he said.
He followed the others down into the hole, backpack carried over one arm, a pistol carried warily in the other hand. He disappeared into the darkness.
I stared after them for several heartbeats, trying to sort through my emotions. I had sent a team out on a suicide mission. Me. They were following my orders. And Kaz and Bastille were with them.
Was this what it was to be a king? This terrible guilt?
It felt like someone had slathered all of my internal organs with honey, then let a jar full of ants loose inside there.
It felt like someone had shoved firecrackers up my nose, then set them off with a flamethrower.
It felt like being forced to eat a hundred rotting fish sticks.
In other words, it didn’t feel so good.
I turned and took off at a dash, running as quickly as I could. I passed Aluki and his soldiers fighting a pitched battle with the Librarians who'd left the tunnel. Running with all I had, I eventually reached the steps to the top of the wooden wall. I leaped up them. Then, out of breath, puffing, I slammed up against the front of the wall, looking out.
I arrived just in time to see the strike team erupt out of the other side of the tunnel. Bastille had dealt with the Librarian guards in her characteristically efficient way, and the soldiers outside of the tunnel didn’t hear anything. They stood by stoopidly as the team of six runners poured out of the tunnel and scattered in different directions.
A boulder crashed against the dome. Another chunk of glass broke free and fell inward, crushing a nearby home.
Come on, I thought anxiously, watching the runners. Mokians gathered around me, cheering on the runners. I noticed absently that my three "advisers" were among them.
The six runners seemed so insignificant compared with the Librarian army. I found myself holding my breath, wishing there was something - anything - I could do to help. But I was inside the dome, and they far outside of it, an army between us. I could barely see them . . .
See them.
You're an Oculator, stoopid! Bastille’s voice seemed to scream into my mind. I cursed to myself, fumbling in the pocket of my jacket, pulling out a set of glasses with a purple-and- green tint.
My Bestower's Lenses. Hurriedly, I pulled off my Oculator's Lenses and shoved on the Bestower's Lenses instead. Bastille had said, "They let you give something of yourself to someone else."
Let's see what these babies can do, I thought with determination.
The strike team spread out, one heading for each of the robots. Those robots were distant enough from one another that each runner had to pick one robot and make for it. Fortunately, that put them running away from the bulk of the army, so they had to contend with only the small number of Librarians who were walking about near the back lines.
That was still a lot of Librarians. Hundreds. Bastille shoved one aside as he tried to attack her, then swung her sword into the stomach of a second.
The sword, it should be noted, did not have a magical "stunning" setting like the spears did. Ew.
Bastille continued on, but one of the Mokian runners was quickly getting surrounded. He looked kind of like a running back from American football, galloping down the field with a group of Librarian thugs trying to tackle him, a teddy bear held protectively in the crook of his arm.
I focused on him, channeling strength through my Bestower's Lenses. I suddenly felt weak, and my legs started quivering. But I remained focused, and the Mokian took off in a burst of speed, getting ahead of the Librarians, who stumbled and tripped into a mess of arms and legs.
I quickly sought out the other runners. Kaz dodged to the side of a group of Librarians, neatly using his pistol to pick off the one running at him from the front. But one of the other Mokians had gotten herself into a predicament. A crowd of Librarians was in front of her, shoulder to shoulder. They seemed intent on capturing her, rather than shooting her down, which was good.
She looked desperate, and she crouched down to try a final leap before crashing into the Librarians. I focused on her, then jumped into the air, channeling the leap through my Bestower's Lenses into her. She jumped, and my jump added to hers. She bounded into the air, narrowly leaping over the shocked Librarians' heads, while I jumped only an inch or so.
I hit the ground, smiling. Another of the runners was slamming into a group of Librarians blocking him; with my help, he pushed straight through, knocking them to the ground.
I've been told that I shouldn't have been able to accomplish what I did with those Lenses. Theoretically, I would have added only a little bit of strength - as much as a thirteen-year-old boy could - to the Mokians. My strength added to that of the willowy runner shouldn't have let him knock down three toughened Librarian thugs.
But it did. This time, for once in my narrative, I'm not lying. However, that bit about the giant, enchanted ninja wombat was totally made up.
My heart thumped; I felt like I was down there, running for my life. I jumped back and forth between the six runners, eyes flicking here, then there, granting them whatever I could. At one point, one of the runners was confronted by a group of Librarians leveling guns.
You can do it! I thought at the runner, sending all of the courage I could muster.
The runner suddenly looked ten time
s more confident. He stared down the guns and managed to dodge between them as I granted him extra dexterity, leeching it from myself. He got to the Librarian gunners and leaped over their heads as I enhanced his ability to jump.
The rest of the Librarian armies had noticed what was happening. Hundreds of soldiers charged away from the front lines, yelling. But most were too far away.
Bastille reached her robot. I held my breath as she tossed her grenade bear.
It hit.
I couldn't hear the explosion, but it vaporized the entire section of metal beneath the robot's knee. The robot teetered, holding a rock that it had been about to throw. Then it toppled backward.
Even inside of Tuki Tuki, we felt the vibrations of it hitting the ground. A monstrous, powerful thump. To me, it felt like the fall of Goliath himself. (If Goliath had been felled by a purple teddy bear.)
The Mokians on the wall around me let out a loud cheer of victory. On the far side of the Librarian field, Kaz reached his robot. Though he and Bastille had taken the two robots farthest away on either side, their Warrior's Lenses had let them arrive first.
Kaz tossed his bear into the robot's call then hurried away in a dash as the monstrous creation fell to the ground, crushing trees beneath it with an awful sound. Kaz jumped into the air in pleasure, probably letting out a whoop of joy at felling the biggest big person of them all. I could almost hear him scream out: "Reason number three thousand forty-seven! Little people don't feel the need to build their robots as tall as buildings! Ha!"
He took off at a gallop toward the other runners. I smiled broadly, checking on the others.
And that was when the first Mokian I had helped got shot in the back.
CHAPTER 16
Stoopid, elegant, skinny, odd, extravagant.
These words all share something, something you're not expecting. If you can figure it out, I'll give you a cookie. (Answer is at the beginning of the next chapter.)
I'll give you a hint: It has to do with the meaning of the word awful.
"No!" I said, watching as the Mokian tumbled to the ground, dropping his bear and rolling to a stop. The Librarians rushed up behind him, surrounding him then prodding him with their rifles. He was out cold.
Just like that, the plan fell apart. Another robot dropped as one of the three remaining runners hit their target. Another soon followed, leaving only two robots up. But that was enough. Another rock fell, and a chunk of glass nearby cracked free.
I looked up. There were so many cracks in the dome that I could barely see the sky.
"I'd guess one more rock will drop it," Mink the adviser said from beside me. "Two at the most."
“We can't let that happen!" I said. The two remaining robots were lifting arms to throw. Another of the runners fell - one that had already destroyed her robot – blasted in the side by Librarians.
Guns were firing all over now, flashing in the night like the lights of some insane disco. I guess the Librarians finally realized what we were doing - at first, they likely thought we were just trying to get messengers out.
A Mokian still ran for one of the remaining robots. Gun blasts fell around him. "Run!" I said, focusing on him. Giving him strength, speed, jumping ability, everything I could leech out of myself. He dodged about on fleet feet, inhumanly fast. But a contingent of Librarian riflemen set up just beside him.
"NO!" I screamed even louder, letting out a jolt of something through my Lenses. I could almost see it. A black arrow that streaked through the air, striking the Mokian.
The Librarians pulled triggers. And their guns exploded.
I froze, shocked, as the Mokian runner leaped one final bound over a fallen log then threw his bear. It smacked into the robot's leg, exploding. The robot tried to throw its boulder, but didn’t have the leverage, and the stone fell to the ground out of its grasp. The robot followed, crashing to the ground.
The Mokian skidded to the ground, and a Librarian shot him a moment later, knocking him out.
That was my Talent, I realized. For a brief moment, I used the Lenses to grant that runner my Talent. It broke the guns when they tried to fire on him.
The last remaining robot tossed its boulder. We all held our breath as it flew, then smashed into the dome crashing through it completely and falling into the city. Shards of glass rained down on us. It left a gaping hole in the roof.
Outside, the Librarians cheered. Behind them, I noticed three scrambling forms congregating. Kaz had met up with the two remaining Mokian runners. Kaz hesitated just briefly, but obviously realized that he couldn't wait any longer. A Librarian's rifle shot hit the ground next to them spraying up dirt and smoke, giving Kaz the moment of disorientation he needed to engage his Talent. As the smoke passed, the three of them were gone, carried to safety.
The last robot leaned down to get another boulder. The hole in the ceiling was bad enough; this final boulder would shatter the dome entirely. Around me, the Mokians hushed as the final robot raised the enormous rock. The Librarians below lined up' moving back into their attack lines, preparing to assault Tuki Tuki.
My eyes caught something. Motion. There, rushing across the ground behind the Librarian lines, was a small determined figure with silver hair. Bastille.
There was still hope.
The Mokians noticed her, pointing. Bastille – belligerent Bastille - had ignored safety, choosing to run for that last robot instead of trying to get to Kaz. She charged with sword strapped to her back, Warrior’s Lenses on, dashing with Crystin speed through, around, and sometimes over confused Librarian soldiers.
"She's not going to make it," Aluki said softly. The robot raised its boulder. “It's too late. . . .”
He was right. That robot would throw before Bastille arrived. "She needs more time. I need to get down there.” My heart beating quickly, I moved by instinct, shoving my way through the Mokians and rushing down the steps to the ground. I ran up to the gate out of the city.
"Open the gate!" I cried.
The guards looked at me, dumbfounded. I didn't have time to argue, so I brushed past them and slammed my hands against the gate, sending my Talent into it. The bar holding the gate closed shattered into about a billion splinters, the force of the explosion sending the gate swinging open.
I rushed out the door and realized something important. Something life changing. Something amazing.
I needed a battle cry.
"Rutabaga!" I screamed.
It's the first thing that came to mind, I'm afraid. Anyway, I dashed out across the grassy ground, running to the edge of the glass dome. Outside, the robot snapped its massive arms forward, launching the boulder.
I came right up to the glass of the protective shield. Taking a deep breath, I placed my hands against it and sent a surge of power into it.
The dome in front of me let out a wave of light, a ripple of energy. I closed my eyes, holding my hands to the smooth surface, power surging through me like luminescent blood pumping into the glass.
For a moment, I felt like I was the glass dome protecting the city. I strengthened the dome, giving it an extra boost, like I'd done with the Transporter's Glass months before.
The rock hit.
And it bounced off, the dome unharmed. I opened my eyes to find the entire thing glowing with a brilliant, beautiful light.
Power was flowing through me at an alarming rate. It seemed to be towing bits of me along with it, my strength, my soul even. I could feel the Talent coiled inside, wanting to snap forth and destroy the very thing I was trying to protect. I had to forcibly hold it back.
At no point in my life up to this moment had my dual nature - Oculator and Smedry - been so pointedly manifest to me. In one hand I held the power to save Mokia, and in the other hand the power to destroy it.
I forced myself to release the glass, stumbling backward, exhausted and drained. I felt like I'd just run a marathon while carrying Atlas on my shoulders. And boy, that guy's gained weight over the years. (Due to all those new sta
rs we've discovered in the sky you see.)
I fell backward to the ground, exhausted, Mokians swarming around me. I waved them away, letting Aluki help me back to my feet. The robot was getting another boulder. Where was Bastille?
She'd been caught by a large group of Librarians. She fought desperately, waving her sword around her, fending off the soldiers. She seemed to glance in our direction, then she turned, pulling a bear from her backpack and snapping it into the air.
The maneuver exposed her back to the Librarians.
"Bastille . . ." I said, raising a hand. I tried to send her strength through the Bestower's Lenses, but I was too weak. A dozen different shots from Librarian guns hit her at once.
Bastille dropped.
The bear soared.
I held my breath as the robot raised its rock. I didn't have the strength to protect the city again.
And . . . . .
And . . . .
And . . .
And . .
And .
And . .
And . . .
And . . . .
And . . . . .
The bear hit dead-on. A large section of the robot's leg vaporized and it teetered, then toppled to the side, dropping its rock.
Around me, the Mokians let out relieved breaths. I wasn't paying attention. I was just looking at Bastille, lying unconscious on the ground. The Librarians were raising their guns in excitement, as if they'd just felled some fearsome beast. Which I guess they had.
The Librarians pulled Bastille's jacket off of her and began shooting it over and over with their guns. That confused me until I realized they must have recognized it as glassweave. These soldiers belonged to the order of the Shattered Lens, and they hated glass of all types. They took off her Lenses and shot those a few times too.
Of course, their hatred of glass didn't explain why they felt the need to start kicking Bastille in the stomach as she lay there unconscious. I watched, teeth clenched tightly, seething hatred and anger as they beat on Bastille for a few minutes. I almost ran right out there to go for her but Aluki caught my arm. We both knew that there was no good in it. I'd just get myself captured too.