“Hold your fire!” Pickett called, his voice strained. “You might hit the girl. Block their escape!”
To Cole’s horror, he saw Martin slumped against the wall, pierced by three arrows. Mouth open, head lolling, the raider looked up at them blankly, one of his hands twitching. The lifeboat had almost reached the exit! The hatch hadn’t been raised very much, and many legionnaires were charging their way. It would be close.
“Heads down,” Jace ordered as the lifeboat rasped through the gap, the keel scraping the landing bay door.
After ducking, Cole looked back to see legionnaires appear in the cliffside opening. As the Fair-Weather Friend climbed away from the landing bay at full speed, Cole released arrow after arrow back at the opening, forcing the soldiers to stand aside. They got off a few arrows, but none hit the lifeboat.
“We’re leveling off?” Cole asked.
“If we climb too fast, the cavalry will use us for target practice,” Jace replied. “We’ll go higher once we’re farther from the Brink.”
“Of course today has to be clear,” Twitch grumbled.
Cole looked around. The sun was dropping toward the dark mass of the Western Cloudwall. The only normal clouds were high and wispy. The castles were few and distant. “Not many places to hide.”
“How long before they come after us?” Mira asked.
“They’ll demand skycraft,” Jace said. “Adam is in no position to deny them. He’ll stall a little, but not for long. Situation Spoiled doesn’t call for direct resistance.”
“They’ll also track us from the cliff top,” Twitch said. “Even at top speed, a lifeboat can’t outpace a horse.”
“Maybe not at full gallop,” Jace said, “but a horse can’t gallop forever.”
“The legion has good horses,” Twitch said. “They can probably gallop long enough to keep us from landing on the Brink before they have the skycraft after us. Even if we get ahead of them, on a day like today they’ll see where we return to the cliff and track us down.”
“If we’re doomed, why’d you come?” Jace snapped in frustration.
Twitch gave a little shrug. “I’m done with Skyport. We risk our lives on every mission. This seemed dangerous, but I’ll take one big risk over all the missions I have left. If we can stay free until nightfall, we might slip away into the darkness.”
The lifeboat was climbing again. Skyport shrank behind them, the horses and the legionnaires becoming an army of ants. With the fresh breeze in his face and the warm sun about to set, Cole could almost forget they were still in danger.
“What are our assets?” Jace asked. “I have my rope. Mira and Cole have their Jumping Swords. Where’d you score the bow, Cole?”
“On our last mission,” Cole said. “I stashed it away in case I needed it.”
Jace whistled. “That could have gotten you in deep trouble. I won’t complain, though. How long until it runs out of arrows?”
“Supposedly, never.”
“That’ll be useful if they get close,” Jace said. “You have rotten aim, but you can make up for it with volume. By the way, when a guy is coming for you, don’t shoot at his legs. If it’s worth shooting him, it’s worth shooting him dead. Aim for the middle of his chest. Trying to wing an enemy will get you killed.”
“I didn’t want to kill the guy just for doing his job,” Cole said, a little embarrassed by the reprimand.
“His job was to kill you,” Jace said. “They obviously want Mira alive, but they’d take out the rest of us without losing any sleep.”
“He’s right, Cole,” Twitch said. “The legion plays for keeps.”
“How about you, Twitch?” Jace asked. “What do you have that might help us?”
“Nice try,” Twitch said.
“It’s not a game anymore,” Jace insisted. “Tell us.”
“It was never a game,” Twitch replied, wringing his fingers. “I kept my special item secret before, and I’ll keep it secret now. Knowing what it is won’t affect our plans. You’ll find out if I have to use it.”
“Can it camouflage us?” Jace asked. “Make us invisible? Knock a skycraft out of the air?”
“If I could do something like that, I’d tell you. My secret won’t affect our strategy.”
“What is our strategy?” Mira asked. “Try to evade them until it gets dark? Hope for a moonless night?”
“The landing bay is opening up,” Cole said, eyes on the cliff. “All three of the big entrances.”
Jace nodded. “We’ll head as far away from the Brink as we can. A lifeboat is a bit faster than the big skycraft. We’ll veer toward the Eastern Cloudwall. It’s almost twice as far from us as the Western Cloudwall, so we’ll have more room to maneuver. Plus, there are more castles that way.”
“How many do you count east of us?” Twitch asked.
“Five,” Jace replied.
“Six,” Twitch said, pointing. “You probably missed that little one down low.”
Jace leaned eastward and squinted. “You’re right, I missed that one. Not that it matters. It’s almost to the cloudwall. We couldn’t get there before it vanishes.”
“Do you think we could hide out at one of the castles?” Cole asked.
“Might be worth a try as a last resort,” Mira said. “The problem is that any castle safe enough to hide us will probably be easy to attack. We could end up cornered.”
“If they have a bunch of skycraft, they might corner us in the air,” Cole said. “Maybe one of the castles has defenses, like the catapults at Parona.”
“It might be worth checking out,” Jace said. “But only because we have so few options.”
“This won’t be easy,” Mira said. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t make us come,” Jace said.
“Why’d you stick your neck out for me?” Mira asked.
Jace shrugged, looking away from her. “They had no proof you belonged to them. It made me mad to think of them taking you away.”
Cole wondered if Mira really didn’t get how much Jace liked her. She seemed oblivious.
“It made you mad, so you attacked legionnaires and ran away with us?” Mira asked.
“I have a bad temper,” Jace mumbled.
“Did you really used to belong to the High Shaper?” Twitch asked.
“Who are you to probe at secrets?” Mira complained.
Blinking rapidly, Twitch gave a nervous chuckle. “I’m one of the guys who ran away with you and might get killed for it. I’m just wondering if their claim is legit.”
“The High Shaper knows me,” Mira said. “I was never his slave. I shouldn’t say more. It could put you in even greater danger.”
“Here come the skycraft,” Cole said, watching as the Vulture, the Borrower, and the even the damaged Domingo glided out of the landing bay openings and away from the cliff.
“We’re in hot water already,” Jace said. “We’ll probably end up captured, falling, or dead. What’s the Big Shaper’s attachment to you?”
“It’s complicated,” Mira said. “I’m not really a slave. The mark is real, but it’s a cover. Durny was helping me hide. Is that enough?”
“I guess, if it’s all you want to spill,” Jace said. “Did you know that guy from Zeropolis? Joe?”
“I’ve never seen him before,” Mira said, glancing at Cole. “I think he knows who I am.”
“I hope so.” Jace chuckled. “He probably got himself killed for you.” He paused. “The High Shaper sent four hundred legionnaires to track you down. That’s the craziest part. Why would he do that for anyone?”
“It was for Carnag, too,” Mira reminded him.
“Right, but the Brink is a good distance out of the way,” Jace said. “They could have sent a smaller group. But all four hundred came. Why?”
“Good question,” Twitch murmured, biting his thumbnail.
Mira looked at them. “The visit from the legion means I’m in serious trouble. The less you get involved, the better. My secret isn’
t fun. It would make you targets for the rest of your lives.”
“We’ll probably get killed, anyway,” Jace said. “It would be nice to know why.”
Mira sighed. “Okay. Here’s the short version. The High Shaper is a monster. I know some things about the death of his five daughters. He planned it. He got away with murder. I even have proof. He would do anything to keep that secret.”
“You’re serious,” Jace said, astonished.
She nodded. “Four-hundred-legionnaires serious.”
Everyone kept silent for a long moment.
“The skycraft are spreading out,” Twitch reported. “They’ve deployed all the lifeboats. While heading this way, they’re also cutting off any retreat to the Brink.”
“Can we just keep flying away from the Brink?” Cole asked. “It looks like it goes forever.”
“It might,” Jace said darkly. “We can’t. If we get far enough from the Brink, the sky won’t hold us anymore. The same thing happens if we go too high, too low, or inland. It doesn’t change all at once. We’ll feel the boat start to slip when we get too far out, beyond where any of the castles go, near where the cloudwalls end.”
“The cloudwalls end?” Cole exclaimed. “Can we go around them?”
“The skycraft won’t work that far out,” Twitch said. “There’s no way over, under, or around them.”
Cole frowned. “We’re boxed in.”
“Pretty much,” Jace agreed.
“Think we can dodge them until dark?” Cole wondered.
Jace stared at the oncoming skycraft. “We’re about to find out.”
CHAPTER
18
CLOUDWALL
As the sun sank into the Western Cloudwall, Jace tried to keep the Fair-Weather Friend away from the oncoming swarm of skycraft, which included the three large vessels, along with seven lifeboats. The plan to escape the legion by skycraft looked worse and worse as the persistent armada cut off any attempt to double back, herding them away from the Brink and toward the dead end of the Eastern Cloudwall.
From what Cole could see, the skycraft mostly contained uniformed legionnaires, with raiders at the controls and also manning some of the weapons on the larger vessels. The pursuing skycraft moved with ruthless coordination, climbing when they rose, dropping when they dived, crowding them toward a corner with no escape.
Cole and the others had checked the castles they could reach ahead of the other skycraft. One had been crafted out of black metal and looked like a certain death trap. Another had crumbled to ruins, offering scant cover. A third was made of crystal, again leaving nowhere to hide. With the skycraft hounding them relentlessly, there was no time to plan. They could only flee and pray for darkness.
The Fair-Weather Friend swerved farther away from the Brink and began to shudder. It dropped jerkily, leaning hard to the right. Jace curved the little craft back toward the distant Brink. “If we go any farther out, we’ll fall.”
Cole looked back at where the sun had disappeared behind the Western Cloudwall. That side of the sky remained bright red and orange. It would still be close to an hour before the true darkness of night. He glanced at the other skycraft drawing nearer, leaving no room for evasion.
“They’ve got us,” Cole said. “We don’t have enough room to run until it gets dark. We have to try to break through them.”
Jace shook his head. “If we charge between them, they’ll just close in from all sides. We’ll get swarmed. They have grappling hooks and plenty of weapons. We don’t stand a chance of getting past them.”
“He’s right,” Twitch said, licking his lips. “Avoiding risk is my specialty. Charging through them won’t work.”
The Eastern Cloudwall loomed closer than ever. Impenetrably dark and unnaturally flat, the cloudbank stretched high and low, left and right. Cole squeezed his bow. None of the other skycraft were close enough to hit with an arrow yet, but the nearest weren’t out of range by much. “We’ve got maybe ten more minutes of running room.”
“Twitch,” Jace said. “What else can we try?”
“They want Mira,” Twitch said, tapping his fingers rapidly against his knee. “Maybe we can bluff. If we threaten to fly into the cloudwall, they might back off.”
“Try to stall them until it gets dark?” Mira asked.
“It’s worth a shot,” Jace said. “Unless anybody has another idea.”
Cole could see no other solution. If they tried to fly through their pursuers, they wouldn’t succeed. If they tried to fight, it would be even worse. The only option was to keep flying toward the cloudwall.
“What if they call our bluff?” Cole worried.
Jace frowned. “We’ll have no escape. If they ignore the bluff, and we don’t fly into the cloudwall, they’ll swoop in and take us in seconds.”
“It’s a pretty weak option if we’re not willing to follow through,” Twitch said.
“If we fly into the cloudwall, we’ll be killed,” Cole said. “At least if they capture us, we’ll have a chance to live.”
“I might live,” Mira said. “For a while. As a prisoner. They’ll want to question me—try to confirm what I know and who I’ve told. You guys are runaway slaves. Jace hurt some soldiers. Cole shot an officer. You all helped me. They know I could have shared my secret. They’ll execute you.”
“We don’t know that going into the cloudwall will kill us,” Twitch said slowly. “We just know that nobody has returned.”
“Now you’re talking crazy,” Jace said.
“Am I?” Twitch replied, tapping his knuckles together. “They won’t follow us in there. We could just go in a little, barely out of sight. My instincts feel better about that than letting them have us.”
“We bluff first, though,” Cole clarified.
“Of course,” Mira said. “But if they keep coming anyway, we take cover in the cloudwall. And if we can’t get back out, we try to survive it.”
Jace chuckled bitterly. “If you’re going to die, you might as well be doing something really, really stupid.”
Cole peered over the side of the lifeboat at the infinite drop. None of them had parachutes—there hadn’t been time to grab them. He gazed ahead at the imposing cloud-wall. What dangers was it hiding? Would it grind them to atoms? Did it house deadly monsters? Or was there some other explanation for why people never returned? Could it be a one-way portal to some other place?
As the cloudwall drew near, the other skycraft closed in. Cole kept his bow ready. The Vulture was probably within range now, as were two of the lifeboats. But many of the legionnaires had bows. If everyone started shooting, Cole doubted whether he and his friends would survive.
Mira stood up. “Back away from us!” she shouted. “Leave us alone or we’ll enter the cloudwall!”
A man on the Vulture raised his voice to answer. He had gray hair and a prominent nose. “We would rather take you alive, child, but we can’t help it if you destroy yourself. Do what you must.”
“Take us in,” Mira muttered. “Hurry.”
“You sure?” Jace whispered back. “Even if they kill the rest of us, you might still live.”
“I’m not so sure,” Mira said. “I’ll take my chances with the cloudwall. Don’t let them get too close. Go for it.”
Fingers tight on his bow, Cole glanced over at the cloudwall. It was less than a minute away. The closer they got to the foggy barrier, the clearer it became that the wall wasn’t perfectly flat—some indistinct mistiness on the surface caught the glow of the sunset. Did that mean there might be a hazy space before the true cloudwall began, a place where they could hide?
“Don’t be fools!” the man from the Vulture cried. “You don’t want to suffer a horrible death in that darkness. Mira, if you come to me, I will spare the three slaves who aided you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Mira yelled back.
“I am Commander Rainier, highest-ranked officer of the legion,” the man replied loudly. “It is well within my power to make thi
s deal. I swear by my office and by my good name, before all witnesses present, that your three companions will be returned to their master unharmed if you end this folly and turn yourself in.”
Arms hugging her chest, Mira glanced down at the others.
“Don’t give in for me,” Jace said, still guiding the lifeboat at full speed toward the cloudwall.
“Me either,” Cole said, unsure whether he fully meant it.
“Up to you,” Twitch said.
Mira scrunched her eyebrows and stared down. “I’m willing to chance it, but it’s not fair to force you three into this.”
“He’s pulling your strings,” Jace said. “Don’t let him use us against you. If you give up because of me, I swear I’ll jump. Plus, he could be lying. Who knows? Maybe we’ll survive the cloudwall. Forget about us. Do what you want to do.”
“No thanks!” Mira called.
“Stop them!” Commander Rainier roared. “Stop them at all costs!”
Grappling hooks came flying through the air, three from the Vulture, one from a lifeboat. One grapnel missed. Jace kicked another that would have landed in the stern, knocking it away. Two fell inside the lifeboat and pulled tight against the side, instantly slowing them and causing them to turn.
Dropping his bow and drawing his Jumping Sword, Cole severed one of the lines attached to the grapnel. Mira cut the other one.
All the vessels converged at top speed. More grappling hooks came flying. Cole batted one out of the air with his sword. Twitch nimbly caught another and tossed it aside. A few fell short. When one caught hold of the lifeboat again, Mira promptly slashed the line.
“Fools!” Commander Rainier shouted.
Glancing over his shoulder, Cole saw the murky surface of the cloudwall perhaps five seconds away. Was this how he would die? Would it hurt? Would he even know he had been killed? He had to hope that they could duck out of sight and lurk at the edge of the cloudbank until nightfall.