joined them.
“We’ve got to do this now!” Darius said. “My soldiers are ready to retreat.”
“Everybody know what they’re doing?” Nalani asked them. Each of them nodded. She looked at Alric. “You’ve got the medallions?”
He felt his pockets. “I do. I’ll be flying high.”
“Good, let’s go.”
The seven of them mounted a sarian of their choice. Nalani found Fury and patted her neck. Alric pulled up beside her on Cole and grabbed her arm.
“I don’t suppose I can talk you out of going up there, can I?”
“Not a chance,” she said.
He looked at her for a long moment. She didn’t really even know when she started to have feelings for Alric, but in that moment, she couldn’t imagine losing him. He had been in her life for such a short period, but somehow he had stolen her heart away.
“I love you,” she told him. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
Alric grinned widely. “I never thought I would say these words again: I love you too.” He leaned over from the top of the sarian and kissed her firmly on the lips. She returned the kiss, grabbing his face with both hands.
The kiss finished too soon and before they knew it, they were in the air, dangerously exposed to the Stühocs and Nestorians who seemed to have incredible range with their arrows.
Dink flew atop Skarret and Emma flew next to him. Coffman, Darius, Daewyn, and Nalani flew in various directions as Alric instructed Cole to fly as high as possible.
The devastation below them was incredible. The craters that the Anwyns had created in their grand entrance had left massive dark holes all around the landscape. Most haunting was the countless number of bodies that lay scattered across the ground. Stühocs, Humans, Erellens, Anwyns, Nestorians; all people groups of Marenon were represented in their own mangled way.
Nalani looked over her left shoulder and up, watching Alric fly farther and farther up into the air. Eventually, he disappeared into the clouds.
*****
The gray and white mist that surrounded Alric felt cool in the hot, dusty climate of Mudavé. For these few moments he was alone in the surreal silence. He grabbed the feathers of Cole. He had never thought he would be in a full-scale battle of the ages for the freedom of Marenon. All he had ever cared about was his own freedom. His independence had never been threatened before, but now he felt like he was doing something honorable; a word he would have never before used to describe himself.
But here he was, about to attempt something that could kill him. For the first time in his life, he was ready to die for something. It felt good.
Looking at the sarian, he thought of Kaden, and was glad that he hadn’t killed him to try and save Coffman and Nalani. If he had gone through with it, he didn’t know where he would be right now. He might have tried to go back to save Nalani and Coffman and only gotten himself killed. Now he was with Nalani and Coffman and was about to be killed alongside them anyway. It seemed the more honorable choice didn’t necessarily provide the best outcome.
He reached to his pockets and felt the medallions. The two items would have fetched him a fair price – a thought that had entered his mind on more than one occasion. But now, all he wanted was to use them to blow up the Sphere.
All he had to do was place them in the correct slots and Silas would take care of the rest from some unknown location. He shook his head at the thought. He hoped Silas was right. He would get up there, fight off the Stühocs, try to kill Marcus and put the medallions in their slots, but that was all he could think to do. He had no words, no thoughts that could make them explode like Silas did. He wished he could do more.
Cole was untiring. Alric had barely made it above the gray clouds when the bright sun blinded him for a moment. Cole flapped to keep them steady, waiting for Alric to give the order to dive.
He scanned the peaceful cloud cover below him for a moment, taking in one last picture of beauty before diving back into battle. He breathed in the fresh air and then snarled.
“Ah, this is boring,” he said to himself. “Come on, Cole.”
At the command from his rider, the sarian dove back into the clouds and Alric felt his stomach