⫸ [ TIME: 16:05 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: SECTOR 4 – THE THERMAL VENT ]
⫸ [ STATUS: AERIAL ASSAULT ]
The sky above the volcanic ridge was bleeding.
Three streaks of golden light tore through the ash clouds. They were Solar Gliders. They were crescent-shaped crafts made of polished brass and burning crystal. They did not use engines. They rode the thermal currents of the volcano like birds of prey.
On each glider stood a cultivator in robes of red and gold. They wore masks fashioned like screaming crows.
"HERETICS," the lead rider screamed. His voice was amplified by Aether. "YOU STEAL THE EARTH'S BLOOD."
He raised a staff. The ruby at the tip glowed with the intensity of a dying star.
WHOOSH.
A sphere of condensed plasma erupted from the staff. It wasn't fire. It was ionized gas hot enough to melt tank armor.
"Incoming!" Elian shouted.
He tackled Disciple Lin. They hit the obsidian ground just as the fireball struck.
BOOM.
The impact site turned into a crater of molten glass. The heat wave washed over them.
Elian's HUD screamed red warnings.
◤ THERMAL ALERT ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ External Temp: 1,200°C
⬢ Suit Integrity: 85%
⬢ Lattice Saturation: 40%
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
His Thermal-Lattice Epidermis flared. The hexagonal scales absorbed the energy. They glowed cherry-red. Elian felt the heat sink into his bones but he did not burn.
He rolled to his feet.
"Grom! Shield wall!"
The Giants raised their scrap-metal shields. They huddled over the Fabricator. They were terrified. They were creatures of the dark jungle. Fire was their primal fear.
The Gliders circled for another pass. They moved with impossible agility. They defied inertia.
"A.R.C.," Elian yelled. "Target lock!"
[ Negative. Target velocity is erratic. They are riding chaotic thermal updrafts. ]
[ Probability of hit with kinetic round: 12%. ]
"They are fast," Elian noted. "But they are light."
He watched the Gliders. They didn't have thrusters. They had heating elements on the underside of the wings. They created their own lift by superheating the air beneath them.
"They surf on heat," Elian realized. "If I take away the heat, they fall."
He looked at the geothermal vent. It was spewing steam at high pressure.
"Physics lesson number six," Elian gritted out. "Fluid Dynamics."
He sprinted toward the vent.
The lead Glider saw him. The rider laughed.
"YOU RUN TO THE FIRE, MOTH? BURN."
The rider dived. He aimed his staff at Elian.
Elian didn't shoot the rider. He slid on his knees next to the vent. He aimed The Arbiter Mark-III at the base of the rock cone that funneled the steam.
"A.R.C., calculate the fracture point. I want to turn this vent into a cannon."
[ Calculating... Aim 3 degrees left. ]
Elian pulled the trigger.
BOOM.
The massive tungsten slug hit the rock. It didn't just crack it. It shattered the structural integrity of the cone.
The pressure inside the vent was released instantly.
A column of superheated steam exploded outward. It wasn't a gentle puff. It was a white geyser moving at the speed of sound.
It hit the diving Glider dead on.
The steam stripped the thermal envelope from the wings. It created a massive turbulent pocket. The lift vanished.
The Glider stalled. It tumbled out of the sky.
CRASH.
It slammed into the canyon wall. The rider was thrown clear. He hit the rocks with a sickening crunch. His golden robes did not save him from gravity.
"One down," Elian shouted.
The other two Gliders broke formation. They realized the grey demon was dangerous. They pulled up high.
"They are staying out of range," Elian cursed. "Cowards."
"KILL THE GIANT," one of the riders commanded. "BREAK THEIR SHIELDS."
Both riders aimed at Grom. They began to channel a combined spell. A massive ball of fire formed between their staves.
Grom looked up. He raised his shield. He knew it wouldn't be enough.
Elian looked around. He needed a distraction. He saw the Deep-Kin.
The Dwarves were hiding in the rocks. They watched the battle with wide eyes.
"Gha-Kull!" Elian roared. "You want freedom? Prove it!"
The Dwarf Leader looked at the Gliders. He looked at the chains on his kin. He looked at the dead rider broken on the rocks.
Gha-Kull grabbed a rock. A heavy chunk of basalt.
He didn't throw it. He slammed it against his own chest armor.
"EARTH-KIN!" Gha-Kull bellowed. "THE SKY-DEVILS BLEED!"
The Dwarves roared. They grabbed rocks. They grabbed ore.
They were Earth-Mages. They didn't need guns.
Gha-Kull slammed his foot down.
A tremor rippled through the cliff side.
Loose boulders dislodged from the peak above the Gliders.
The riders looked up. They saw a landslide coming down on them.
They broke the spell. They scattered to avoid the falling rocks.
"Good shot," Elian whispered.
He raised The Arbiter. He tracked the second Glider as it swerved to avoid a boulder. The pilot was distracted. His flight path was linear.
[ Target Lock Acquired. ]
Elian exhaled. He felt the world slow down. The numbness in his fingers didn't matter. The gun was part of his arm.
He squeezed.
BOOM.
The railgun slug hit the Glider's power core.
The machine disintegrated in a flash of blue light. The rider fell screaming into the ash flats.
The third rider panicked. He saw two of his brothers dead in thirty seconds. He saw the Giants. He saw the Earth-Kin rebelling.
He turned his Glider. He fled toward the peaks.
"Let him go," Elian ordered. "We need a messenger. Let him tell the Patriarch that the mountain belongs to us now."
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 16:30 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ STATUS: SALVAGE ]
The battle was over. The silence returned to the vent.
Elian walked over to the wreckage of the first Glider.
The machine was bent and broken, but the central propulsion unit was intact.
It was a flat disc of gold etched with complex runes. In the center pulsed a red crystal.
◤ TECH ANALYSIS ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Subject: Solar-Drive Array
⬢ Mechanism: Thermal-Aetheric Conversion
⬢ Output: Anti-Gravity Lift (Variable)
⬢ Status: Salvageable
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Anti-gravity," Elian murmured. "They use heat to cancel mass."
He ripped the disc free from the wreckage. It was hot to the touch, but his scales ignored it.
"A.R.C., scan this. If we can reverse-engineer this, we don't need sleds. We can make the Fabricator float."
[ Schematic added to queue. ]
Elian turned to the group.
Grom was checking the Giants. They were shaken but alive. The shields were warped by the heat but they had held.
Gha-Kull walked up to Elian. The Dwarf looked at the dead Cultivator. He kicked the body with a heavy iron boot.
"YOU KILLED A CROW," Gha-Kull said. There was awe in his voice. "FOR A HUNDRED YEARS, WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GODS."
"They are just men with better tools," Elian said. "And now we have their tools."
He pointed to the Fabricator.
"The battery is at 40%. That is enough. We need to move before they send an army."
Gha-Kull nodded. He shouted a command to his kin.
The Deep-Kin rushed forward. They didn't attack. They surrounded the sled.
They grabbed the ropes. They were short, but they were dense with muscle. They pulled.
The sled moved effortlessly.
"WE SHOW YOU THE WAY," Gha-Kull said. "WE SHOW YOU THE HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN."
Elian looked at Lin. She was staring at the dead Cultivator.
"Are you okay?" Elian asked.
Lin looked up. Her eyes were hard.
"That man," she pointed to the corpse. "He was the one who put the collar on my mother. He killed her when she couldn't work."
She walked over to the body. She spat on it.
"I am okay," she said.
Elian nodded. He understood vengeance.
"Let's go," Elian commanded. "Into the dark."
They moved past the vent. Gha-Kull led them to a crack in the canyon wall. It looked like a shadow, but as they got closer, Elian saw it was a tunnel. A massive, ancient tunnel bored by lava and widened by picks.
They entered the domain of the Deep-Kin.
[END OF CHAPTER 22]