The Breach

The Vlaniqk ships swarmed the small vessel, grapples firing and snaring like spider-webs. Rand winked at Kitty and drew his sword. The first wave of the Vlaniqk commandoes, in their sleek black and red armour, leapt from the railings of the battleships and dove towards the deck of the battered star-skiff. 

Below-decks Drake dropped the key Kitty had stolen into a glowing case and snapped it shut. In case the plan failed. 

Kitty grinned back at Rand and sprung into space, directly toward the nearest commando, arcing her body past his spear-blade. Crashing into him, sending him off-course and away from their ship. Ricocheting toward another commando, thrusting her own blade out to impale him. Pivoting off his corpse to kick another in the jaw, stunning him so that as he neared the deck Rand easily cut him down. Kitty yanked her weapon free of the body, floating in the space between the Vlaniqk fleet and the escape ship. More commandoes descending around her, cannons being trained on her. She had decided months ago, deep into the undercover mission that would eventually lure Vixx off course, draw him out of the shadows, that when the final battle came she would fight it as if it was her last.

Suddenly, a line tightened around her waist and she was being pulled back toward her team's vessel. Drake called out to her as he reeled her in, over the whispering etheric winds, "Don't you go showing off until the rest of the Guard get here!" Beside him Rand slashed at a Vlaniqk; the bard was singing softly as he swung his blade, the melody lending his attacks and parries and lethal rhythm.

As Kitty touched down on the deck, ducking the spear of a commando, her eyes widened. "That would be now then." 

For a moment everyone paused. Kitty, Rand, Drake. The commandoes. The captains and crews of Vixx's fleet. Staring in shock as all the stars and swirling etheric clouds above the battle began to churn, spin, melt away. A spectral cloak on a scale unheard of, an enchantment against the senses and against all the known scrying and divining spells. It had drained almost all of the Battery Mages' power; a last desperate ploy to force a battle with Vixx. The illusion of empty space falling away, revealing the gathered fleet of Citadel, the Nexus Wave at the head. And behind the dozens of ships, Citadel itself.

Like Pawns on a Board

"Now?" Torvel asked. 

Chem had his hand held up in the air, unmoving. His eyes closed and counting away seconds in his mind. He was visualizing the battle and what was unfolding. Vlad stood off to one side and glanced out the window; his suit seemed to shimmer like distant stars in a twilight sky. 

"This has got to look good," Chem whispered. "Too soon and the jig is up."

"What if we get there too late?" Torvel inquired. He was restless, his huge frame huddled over the wheel of the Nexus Wave. He lived for the battle and he seemed to be missing it. 

"We won't be," Vlad said. He turned around and looked at Chem. "Let's do it."

Rockin' the Boat

The little ship rocked violently as a cannonball hit the side. Chunks of wood ripped off like a scab and floated away from the ship. Kitty cursed under her breath as she hit the deck and grabbed onto a line; her arm automatically reached to her scabbard and took out the dagger as well. It wouldn't be too long before the pursuit ships were on them and boarding and she wanted to be ready. 

Inside the pilot's room Rand returned from below-deck. 

"Where the hell are they?" Drake inquired of Rand. He knew this little ship was faster than the pursuing vessels. "Why aren't they here now, they should be here." 

"Playing by the book," Rand replied. "We have to make this look good."

Blind Anger

Vixx slammed a metal fist onto his desk. 

"The vile wench," he said. "How could we be so blind?" 

Lt. Aske stood there with his hands behind his back and replied calmly, "She is just a child, milord, and her thoughts are still in a chaotic state. It's hard to read them when they are that young. Wisdom and experience set the patterns which entrenches them in the mind, and they are easier to read." 

"Spare me your mumble jumble crap," Vixx said as he spun around. "You of all people should have read her deeply." 

"Well, there were fleeting thoughts," Aske replied. "But she was trained well. Too well in fact." 

"What do you mean?" Vixx whirled about and faced Aske. "Do you mean that we have a traitor in our midst?" 

"No," Aske replied. "Just that she had inside knowledge." 

"Tear this ship apart," Vixx stated. "I want everyone questioned. I want to know exactly what everyone else knows." 

Aske nodded and left with a smile.

Ramming Speed

Kitty stepped into the cockpit and looked at Drake. She glanced at the charts on the wall and then looked up at the stars. Drake was spinning the wheel about, trying to evade the incoming cannons that the pursuing ships had volleyed. 

"Can't you make this bucket of nails and wood go any faster?" she asked. 

Drake looked at her and flashed a smile and a wink. "Any faster and she'll fall apart." 

"I hate to rain on your parade but one more hit from the pursuing ships and we will be falling apart," she replied.  

"Always the optimist," Drake said to her. "They should be here any second now."

Compasses

Vlad hunched to fit his wide shoulders through the small door below-decks on the Nexus Wave. The candlelight shimmered over the smooth, fitted silver of the warrior's enchanted armour. He frowned when he straightened inside the quarters. 

"What are you doing?" he asked his old friend. 

Chem looked up from the stack of parchment. Notes and diagrams scrawled in different inks, corners torn and crumpled, stains from wax and drinks. Chem shrugged and looked back to the writings. 

Vlad took a deep breath. His voice had an edge to it, a mix of anger and concern. "Every member of The Guard has been working towards this day for over a year. All of our spying and hunting and fighting... The discovery that the Vlaniqk were behind the troubles plaguing Citadel, the discovery of Vixx's plans... We wait now for Kitty's return and the beginning of the final strike against our most dreaded enemies..." 

Chem sighed, interrupting Vlad. "And yes, I'm here reading old journals about memories that may not even be true." 

Vlad sat on the bunk beside the smaller, leaner man. Once Chem had been a rogue adventurer and Vlad his barbarian ally, wandering between the walled cities of an untamed world, seeking risk and reward. Over the years they had somehow become so much more. Champions of a mighty fortress in the dark beyond the sky. Heroes of a hundred worlds. The Commanders of The Guard. Yet whenever peace dawned on the horizon Vlad would leave on one of his nomadic walkabouts, returning as he did almost two years ago when the horns sounded the call. And whenever that call went out, when it was time again to become saviours, Chem would always return to these journals.  

Vlad could not judge him; they each had their own quests and their own questions. "Do they yield any more clues?" he asked. 

Chem shook his head. "They never do." 

A call came from above-decks. "Flares sighted!" 

The two friends climbed quickly and joined the others. Dakk was perched on the shoulder of his Golem, Bekki, giving her a final polish before suiting up. Torvel, the captain, strode over to meet Vlad and Chem.  

Torvel was a minotaur, huge and hoofed and horned, but only a few inches taller than the massive Vlad. "It's Drake's vessel, on course. Carrying both Kitty and the key." 

Vlad grinned. "She did it." He looked down at Chem. "We will have battle soon."

Child's Play

The wood of the wheel was rough under his slender fingers. He let it remind him of tree-bark. The feeling of climbing trees in the forests of his homeworld. He let the memories of the movement echo through his arms, his chest. 

Rand watched as the elf slipped into trance. He looked over his shoulder to check the sail; it was taught, slicing and dragging through the invisible etheric winds. The rudder on the arcanium drive twitched back and forth as Drake's hands gently shifted the wheel one way then another. 

Drake's memories carried him back through battles against goblins, perched in the trees, firing arrows down upon the savage enemies. The tension of draw and release rippling through his arms.  

Rand saw the rudder shake, the ship tilting slightly. He glanced at his long-time partner and friend, hoping the trance took him where he needed to get to soon. 

Farther back still, the long years and years of an elfin life, the swirling fugue of memories, ebbing and flowing in his mind and his body, streaming from the feel of his hands on the wood. Before the battles, play. Childhood games in the treetops with his kin. Running along branches and throwing... yes, the movement surging in his arms... throwing and catching a dagger... A game, a test of skill.

The right memory of balance and precision and focus. 

Rand saw Drake's eyes snap open.  

In the vast sky of stars and darkness and shimmering waves, Drake focused on the three bright stars, shining like the glint of a blade spinning through the air. He grasped the wheel and let the memories of ancient movements run through his arms. And steered the ship towards the place she should be falling...

Cosmic Queen

She drifted into the air, arms open to guide her. She was free like a bird in the sky but she had no control. She moved her arms to guide her like a swimmer in a vast sea. Trying to gain as much distance as her momentum could carry her. Kitty was glad to be free and out in the solitude of space. She had spent thirteen months working her way around the Vlaniqk's command ship and gaining the trust of its captain and crew. 

She kicked with her legs, wishing now that she had brought the flippers with her. An alarm began to echo in her ears; she didn't glance back at all since that would only slow down her pace and she wanted to get as far away from the ship as possible.

Star Swimming

Kitty twisted her waist and slipped through the narrow bars of the vent, one arm hooked through, holding tight. The hull of the massive ship was dented and scorch-marked, the crimson paint chipped and scratched. There was a cannon bay to her left and to her right the hull curved upwards to the foredeck. She had kept her grey tabard on; if anyone saw her she might be able to keep her cover for a few moments. If her timing was right, Drake would be sailing the small escape vessel into position right now. Out there in the softly glowing dark of space. 

Kitty got her bearings, found the three bright stars that marked her route. Vixx would be discovering his missing belongings any moment. She listened back through the vent for sounds of alarm. 

The ether tickled her throat and lungs as she tried to keep her breathing steady, like Maus had taught her when they were little... She was doing this for Citadel, for the Lady Serisia, and for Chem and the kindness he had shown her; but the deepest reason she was risking her life, the real reason she did everything, was for her sister.  

Kitty heard shouting echo down the vent. She checked the three stars once more, hoping that the elf was still as good a pilot as he once was. 

And then she pushed off the hull of the ship and into the sky.

The Stain

Kitty stood in the hallway looking up at the ceiling as Vixx came walking past. Vixx stopped and looked to the ceiling where Kitty was looking. 

"What do you see?" Vixx asked. 

"Ummm," Kitty replied. "Don't you see it?" 

Vixx stared harder at the ceiling trying to locate what she was looking at. A crack or a hole or even a stain. Nothing. 

"What is it?" Vixx inquired, hinting that he had seen it. 

"You're the expert," Kitty said. "You tell me." 

Vixx straightened up and looked at Kitty. "Maybe we should get maintenance down here and look into it." 

Kitty nodded and smiled. "Glad to be of service." 

Vixx smiled and winked at the girl. "Nice work kid!" He turned and continued down the corridor. 

As Vixx disappeared around the corner, Kitty brought her hands out from behind her. In one of them she had snatched Vixx's key and in the other she had taken his money pouch. She smiled a wicked smile because she hadn't lost her touch.

Citadel Book Two

Citadel

The Nexus Wave

Taking the Stand

Serisia listened as the voices in the Council Chamber began to rise, to overlap, then to shout and clash. The fear over the Batteries, the concerns over Lt. Stryker, ongoing complaints from the greedy Merchant houses, word of increased crime within the fortress, and now the reports of Chtakan forces mustering on at least seven worlds. They hadn't even addressed the issue of the Prophecy yet. And all the while the cries of her daughter echoed in her mind; the poor child was sick this morning. 

She rose from her seat. Her white-feathered wings snapped open. The debate ceased. 

"Our first response to these growing troubles," she said, her voice both stern and soothing, "will be to reform The Guard."

Encounter at Turncoat

Chem clenched his teeth. He maintained his breathing. He was in a lot of pain but years of battle had taught him not to cry out. Even though the pain felt white hot, he did not dare let any sound escape through his lips. There would be time to curse and swear later, but now wasn't the time nor the place to be doing so. Sweat poured down from his forehead and he wiped his brow with his left arm. His right arm was useless at the moment until he found a cleric. 

His ears picked up the sound of a crunching leaf. So they weren't as stealthy as everyone thought they were. 

He blended in the shrubs and lay there trying to become one with the woods. Like an elf hiding in plain sight as the Chtaka predatory party passed. He knew his chances were pretty slim, but he figured he would try and blend with the surroundings before going out in a blaze of glory. It might work.