“We have to go,”I yelled. “Now!”
The Flighters were already gingerly poking around the damage. They were headed our way, probably to find proof that we were finished.
Siry was nearly in tears. He had lost two of his trusted Jakills. Loque was his friend. Probably his best friend. The chances of rescuing Twig were remote, but at least it was a possibility. Not so with Loque. I didn’t want to think of what shape he was in under that massive, crushing load of glass. I realized that the sandal might be the only recognizable thing left of the blond thief. I had to shake that image, fast.
“Now, Siry.” I said softly, but with force.
Siry took a shaky breath, looked up at the oncoming Flighters, then turned and ran back the way we had first entered the cathedral. I was right behind him. I had to force the horrifying memories of the past few minutes out of my head. I’ll never forget the images of Twig being dragged away and Loque dying under the waterfall of glass. They’ll be with me forever. We couldn’t let those memories crush us. We could mourn later. We could try and rescue Twig later. But not if the Flighters got to us first. It was about our survival. I hoped Siry was thinking the same way.
I didn’t know which was more important: speed or secrecy. The longer we were in that city, the better the chances the Flighters would find us. Getting back to the ship was crucial, but if we weren’t careful, we could easily run right into another bunch of those rats. There was no telling where they were. The city suddenly felt like an old house that was infested with termites. You couldn’t see them, but you knew they were there. By the thousands. They could have been watching our every move. Siry and I left the cathedral, running back along the route we had first come through. I hoped the Flighters wouldn’t expect that. After dodging through the labyrinth of rooms, I stopped at the doorway out to the street, on the far side of the building. I didn’t want to jump right back into another ambush. We crouched down to rest and make a plan.
“I hope they think we’re dead,” I said, gulping air. “It might give us enough time to get back to the ship and shove off.”
Siry’s eyes were glassy and vacant, as if he were in shock. “They killed him. They killed my best friend. Why did they have to kill him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about them.”
“Was it revenge?” Siry continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “All we ever did was protect our home from them. They’re the ones who attacked. Not us.”
I grabbed Siry and gave him a rough shake. He focused on me, surprised.
“Stop!” I seethed. “Keep it together. If we stay here, we’re dead too.”
“I’m starting not to care,” he said quietly.
“What about the other Jakills?” I snapped. “Do you care about them? They’ll come looking for us, you know. Unless we get back to warn them, they’ll walk right into the same trap we did.”
My words hit home. Siry focused, fast.
“We should keep close to the buildings,” he said, back in charge. “Less chance of them seeing us.”
“No,” I said quickly. “These buildings are full of Flighters. If we stay close, they’d be on us before we had a chance to react.”
“So what do we do?”
“Run. Fast as we can, right down the middle of the street, as far away from the buildings as possible. That way we can see them coming.”
“And what if they see us coming?”
“They will. But if we’re in the middle of the street, we’ll have a few seconds to react.”
I could sense the wheels in his head turning, calculating the possibilities. Slowly his head bobbed in agreement, and continued to bob as he got himself psyched up. “One… two… three… GO!” He jumped up and blasted out the doorway.
I was right behind him. Together we sprinted away from the derelict skyscraper, toward the center of the wide street. From there we turned left and kept on running. The large buildings loomed over us as we tore down the center of the street, headed for the ocean. We kept scanning ahead, looking for signs of movement that would say the Flighters had seen us. Every time we passed another pile of rubble, I mentally braced myself for a group of Flighters to leap out and attack.
We were almost to the end of the final block before hitting the wide expanse between the buildings and the pier. My legs burned. I had a stitch in my side. I had trouble getting enough air, but we kept going. Only two days before I had been lying in bed, recovering from a massive bee attack. Now I was sprinting for my life. The run didn’t seem to test Siry at all. He didn’t even breathe hard. We ran past the final buildings and into the hot sunshine. It was so bright I was nearly blinded. It didn’t stop us from running. We were away from the buildings and the dangers they held. My confidence rose. We were going to make it. I was so confident that my thoughts shot ahead to our next move. Getting the ship away from the pier was the most important. Once out to sea, we had to decide on what to do about Twig. I knew that Siry would be all about that, and the other Jakills would surely agree. I wanted to find Twig as well, but there was more in it for me. I needed to learn about Rubic City, and what had happened to Veelox. I’d yet to find Saint Dane. I felt his presence in everything around me. One way or another, I knew I’d be back in Rubic City.
There were several large mounds of debris between us and the pier. They were so high that they blocked our view of the ship. But we were almost there, so I thought it was okay to ease up. We’d been sprinting for a mile in tropical heat. Once the adrenaline wore off, the fatigue set in.
“Let’s slow down,” I gasped.
Siry didn’t argue. He was finally tired out. The two of us slowed to a jog and then a quick walk. We didn’t say anything. We were too busy gulping air. All I could think about was getting onto that ship and getting away before anything else happened.
Siry was the first to see the smoke. “Look!” he gasped, pointing.
Over the top of the large mound in front of us, in roughly the direction of the pier, was a billowing cloud of black smoke. We stopped to stare for a quick moment, then looked at each other. Rest time was over. We broke into a dead-on sprint. Suddenly we didn’t feel so tired. Siry and I dashed toward the last large mound and skirted around it to see the pier… and the horror.
Our yellow ship was in flames. Floating offshore were two gunboats with Flighters aboard. We watched in stunned silence as both boats fired their cannons at our doomed ship, point-blank, blasting away at the already burning hull. Another shot was fired that hit the forward mast at its base. I heard a sick, wrenching sound as the mast toppled forward, crashing onto the deck, sending up a shower of sparks. The boat listed to its side. It would only be a matter of minutes before it was on the bottom with all the other wrecks.
“Where are they?” Siry croaked, barely able to get the words out.
I didn’t have that answer. The Jakills were nowhere in sight. Had they gotten off before the attack? Or were they consumed by the flames? All I could do was stare at the doomed ship.
“Why would the Flighters do this?” Siry asked. “They’re… animals.”
I had a theory. Or at least an idea. Everything about these Flighters made me believe that somehow, someway, they were being influenced by Saint Dane. I still didn’t know why. I didn’t know who they were or what they thought they were going to get by targeting the people of Rayne. But I would find out. I had to. It was my job.
“We’re trapped,” Siry said. “My friends are gone and we’re trapped.” He looked at me and added, “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to stay safe,” I said. “And get answers.”
“How?” Siry asked.
“We’re going to be Travelers. It’s time you accepted that. It’s the only hope you have.”
(CONTINUED)
IBARA
Our number-one priority was to get to someplace safe. There weren’t a lot of choices. Running back into
