Martyr (The Martyr Trilogy) (29 page)

We
turned again, and now we could see the battlefield once again.  Three more of
the armor-cats were weaving in and out of the swarming masses, each occupying
the efforts of at least six or eight combatants at any given time just to keep
them at bay.  The number of dead appeared to have grown, but it was darker now,
the sun low in the sky, and it was difficult to tell how many of those fallen
were friends.  Just then a massive shape soared over the top of the building we
had just passed, all but blotting out the sky.  It was the second dirigible,
and it seemed uninterested in the happenings on the ground, steering instead to
follow the curve of the river upstream – it was headed for the dam!  Maya saw
it too, anticipated my question.  “Nothing we can do about that right now, we
have to help here.”  I nodded, and Maya throttled up, speeding us straight into
the middle of the fray.  One by one, the three cats lifted their heads, shook
them violently as if trying to dislodge something irritating, then began to
lumber away from the field in frustration.  Their riders dismounted
unceremoniously by jumping clear and rolling, and hurried back to the fight. 
Maya steered for the biggest clusters of enemies, and careful not to include
any resistance fighters in their sweep, deployed the blade-wings to great
effect, shattering the shins of several of the dark assassins, cleanly slicing
off the legs of a few.  They were quick to adapt their tactics, however, and
those that remained began to leap over the blades.  Sadly for them, my staff
was ready to dissect most of these in mid-air.  Others tried to stay wide of
our path, and when this failed, took to higher ground, climbing to the tops of
nearby warehouses or into the branches of trees.  These were readily dispatched
by Charr and Mana, if not by Maya’s own crossbow.

“The
tide has turned in our favor,” I said to Maya, “We should get to the dam.”

“Not
yet,” she said.  “One more thing we need to do first.”  Then she accelerated in
the direction the cats had gone.  I saw her reach up and flip the anti-cat
switch the other way.

“Are
you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.

“Normal
armor-cats would be happy to be free of the riders and would return to the
forest,” she said.  “But as long as these have Magus’ machinery strapped to
their backs, they’ll come back.  The riders will be able to mount them again
and continue to harass us.”  The first cat was coming into view, running across
the parking lot of an old pawn shop.  “Because the repellers are off, they’ll
turn on us when we get close,” she said, “but otherwise we wouldn’t be able to
get anywhere near them.   Try to damage the machinery enough to break its
control over them.  If it doesn’t work, we’ll just have to kill them.”  This
clearly wasn’t her preferred option.  She pulled alongside the beast as it ran,
and tried to get close enough to give me a clean slice.  As she did, it veered
toward us, jaws snapping, and Maya hastily retreated out of reach.  “That’s not
going to work,” she said.  “I’ll see what I can do from a distance.”  Steering
with one hand, she aimed her crossbow with the other.  The first couple of
shots glanced harmlessly off the machinery, or the cat’s armor.  “I can’t get a
steady shot this way.  Can you reach past me and take the handlebars?”

“I’ll
try,” I said.  As I did so, she aimed again, steadying the weapon with her
other hand.  She fired, and one of the orange lights went out, sending forth
sparks.  Maya lined up a second shot, but before she could take it, the cat
groaned deeply and went limp, burying its chin in the dust as it skidded to a
halt.  Maya shook her head.

“What
happened?” I asked.

“Horrible
man built in a fail-safe that kills the animal if the machinery is
compromised.”  She took a deep breath.  “We can’t let them kill more of our
people.  It’s unfortunate, but this makes our job easier.”  She sped up again,
and soon the other two beasts appeared ahead, running together.  Maya pulled up
within firing range, handed off the controls again, and lined up her shot.  The
bolt went straight into the creature’s eye, and presumably, its brain.  It
dropped soundlessly.  Maya readied her next lethal shot.

“Wait!”
I shouted.  “I’ve done this before; let me try.”

“Try
what?” Maya asked.

“Just
get me close,” I said.  “Once I’m clear, pull away before it tries for you.”

“Be
careful!” Maya ordered.  She got me close as before, and as before, the cat
snapped at us.  But I was already in the air.  I landed on its back, and
hanging onto the straps that held the machinery fast, I tried to examine the
attachments.  There appeared to be no mechanism that would be triggered by
releasing the straps.  After all, who would have expected someone to try to
commandeer one of the cats?  I slipped the end of my staff under the first set
of straps, turned the weapon, and cleanly sliced through the straps.  I did the
same with the remaining attachments.  Then I simply pushed the still-working
device off one side of the cat and let it fall.  Done!  Now I was just riding a
regular wild giant battle cat.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for it to
figure a way to scrape me off, as Maya was pulling back in.  “Jump!” she said,
and I did, but the cat lurched just as I leapt, and I landed not on the seat
where I had intended, but on one of the blade-wings.  “Hang on!” Maya
screamed.  She steered well away from the armor-cat, which didn’t take up
pursuit, but now ran blissfully to its forest home.  I clung to the wing for
dear life, its bladed edge drawing blood along my forearm, but my enhanced
healing prevented it from doing more than surface damage.  When we were safely
clear, Maya stopped and helped me back onto the seat.  “Nice work!” she said.

Just
then Maya’s humbug flew in.  A second later Maya had its message.  “Charr’s on
her way to the dam,” she informed me.  “The airship released several dark
troopers on gliding wings.  She was able to snipe a couple of them out of the
sky, but two remain airborne, and are circling over the dam.  She’s not sure
what they plan to do, but has ordered us back to the dam for immediate…”  She
was cut off by the sound of another huge explosion, followed shortly by a great
rushing sound.  “They’ve blown the dam!” she screamed.  “We have to get there
fast!” 

Maya
floored it, heading for the dam road by the shortest possible route.  As we
raced alongside the river, we could see that it was already swelling, creeping
over its banks.  Our route soon took us away from its course, but before long
water was coursing along the edges of the streets, their drainage clogged by
decades of silt and debris.  We knew that in no time the streets would be
completely submerged, and passage for a vehicle such as this would be
impossible.  We reached the main thoroughfare, and knew that from here it was
nearly a straight shot to the dam road, and higher elevations.  A thin blanket
of water coated the street, and Maya was beginning to hydroplane now and then,
a frightening thing on a two-wheeler.  She pulled up over a curb onto the
sidewalk, which was so far still dry, but this made for slightly slower
progress, as we had to dodge fallen chunks of building and bump over the
occasional pile of human remains.  We reached the dam road at last, catching up
to a growing number of pedestrians who had already started to evacuate.  So
much for the resettlement.  It looked like the survivors would once again be
camping by the dam. 

When
we arrived at the dam at last, there was a mad flurry of activity as people
bustled about, squabbling over sharing of the now inadequate space and
resources, and whispering anxiously about what was going to happen next.  We
could see to our relief that the entire dam had not been destroyed, but that a
good-sized fissure had been hewn across its top, and there water was rushing through. 
Parts of the dam interior would be flooded as well, I realized.  Charr was
visible, standing on the brink of the dam, and as we watched she let an arrow
fly, and a lone dark form plummeted out of the sky into the river below.  That
seemed to be the last of them. 

Maya
parked the bike near the dam entrance, and we walked together out to where
Charr was standing.  She had no words, shaking her head sadly as we walked back
toward the main encampment.  There we started to see others we knew, gathering
out of the chaos to take stock of the damage and formulate a plan.  Reya stood
in the fore. 

“What
happened in the city?” I asked.  “Are there more of Magus’s men?”

“It
was strange indeed,” said Reya.  “Of those that remained, some fled to the
docked airship, and presumably escaped.  Others made no attempt to avoid the
rising waters, letting it simply overtake them.  It was as though their
prescribed role ended there, and nothing further had been written for them. 
Sad, really.”

“That
many less to kill,” Kaire said.

“In
truth this entire force represented but a tiny fraction of those at Magus’
disposal,” Reya continued.  “And yet they’ve all but crippled us.”

“Only
because they caught us unprepared,” said Knox.

“Yes,
but how did that happen?” Reya asked.  “The traitor was in custody.  And I’m
certain we weren’t tracked when we came here.  Yet Magus knew!”

“Quite
obviously there is still a betrayer about,” said Jager.

“I
managed to get a few words out of Jeyt before he took his own life,” I said. 
There were a couple of startled gasps, as apparently this news had not had time
to make the rounds.  “He implied that it might be someone in our inner circle
of trust.”

“Is
everyone accounted for?” Charr asked. 

“I
spoke with Denkel and several of my officers a few moments ago,” Reya offered. 

“Where’s
Corvus?” I demanded suddenly.

Corvus
stepped up from where he’d been standing behind some other people.  “Right
here, ass,” he said.

Just
then Kuro came out of the door and announced that the sleeping quarters were
flooded and inaccessible.  “I think that’s everyone, now,” said Jager.

Everyone…yes. 
No.  Mana!  “Where’s Mana?” I asked. I turned to Charr.

“She
was with me,” said Charr, “but we got separated during the evacuation.  I
haven’t seen her since.”

“She’s
the traitor!” yelled Corvus.  “That would explain how she just conveniently
appeared, and now has just as conveniently disappeared!”

“Don’t
be stupid!” I retorted.  “What possible motive would she have for betraying us
to Magus?  How would she even have had contact with him?  We should be more
concerned to rule out the possibility that she was either kidnapped by the
assassins or lost in the flood.”

“Justin’s
right,” Reya said.  “We should not rush to judgment at a time like this.  Our
first priority should be to determine what our losses are, and attend to the
wounded.  Second: to rethink our strategy.  When Magus comes again – and he
will – we must be prepared for him.  This attack was undoubtedly meant to
soften us up before the full assault.  He won’t be back tonight, or tomorrow,
but he will be back – in force.  I will ask each of the camps for volunteers to
watch the perimeter throughout the night.  Try to find a place to lay your
heads tonight, as the morning comes quickly, and there will be much to do.”

Maya
and I looked at each other, feeling more than a little unsettled at having been
unexpectedly ousted from our quarters.  But as there was nothing to be done
about it now, we started off to see if we could locate a spare tent.  Reya
caught us by the sleeves.  “Not you two,” she said.  “You’ll stay in the dam.”

“But
our room is flooded,” said Maya.

“You
can use one of the control rooms on the main floor,” she said.  “There are no
beds, so you’ll have to just lie on your clothes, but it will be safer there.” 
Maya made a small sound like she was going to object.  I suspected she wasn’t
happy with the idea of us resting comfortably in the dam while others had to
lie on the cold, damp earth.  But Reya shushed her, saying, “I haven’t
forgotten what’s important.  Justin, you mean everything to the resistance. 
You are our last and greatest hope.  And hope is something we need now more
than ever.  And you Maya…well…you’re my little girl.”  Maya blushed as Reya
added,  “Please do this for me.”  Maya blew out a slow, deep breath and
reluctantly acquiesced.  I was worried about Maya, who seemed shaken by more
than just the change in sleeping arrangements.  I was sure there was something
else on her mind, but she wasn’t voicing it.  We started to walk away and Reya
stopped us once more.  Looking right at me she said, “We have something Magus
doesn’t.  Chaer-Ul is with us, and he has sent you.  We can defeat him.”  Yet
there was fear behind her eyes.  At the time, I wondered if it was really me
she was trying to reassure, or herself.