Let go.
When he saw her fingers uncurl, he knew he’d won.
The girl flopped through the air like a fish out of water. She was a rag doll that had been cast aside, headed toward its ultimate demise. If he could not have her knowledge, no one would; he would see her dead. The woman plunged into the clouds a mere hand’s width from grabbing the glider.
To have even a hope of surviving, she’d have to find a way to reach it and then summon the magic, mid-air, to muster a corona. She’d either have to sustain that magic, or fly it again to survive landing.
Yveun cursed aloud.
Had it been anyone else, he would’ve taken them for dead. But not Arianna. He had been trying to kill this woman for years, and yet she persisted.
“Who was that?” Fay asked, caressing his forearm as she pressed her breasts into his triceps.
“The first person you are going to hunt down, kill, and consume.”
The woman on his arm shivered in delight and it was enough to bring a small smile back to his lips. He had tried to hunt Arianna before. But it had always been in half measures. He hadn’t known the girl, not really, to issue a full command. But now they had both seen each other. Now he had a Master Rider worthy of the name, and he would not stop halfway when molding her into the perfect killing machine.
Let the Rivet return to her bleeding world, Yveun thought darkly. Let her know only hopelessness, before her imminent demise.
52.Louie
What a time to be in the organ business. Dragons blowing guilds up. Guilds blowing themselves up. The world had gone crazy and there was only one thing he was certain of: everyone could use a little bit more magic right about now.
“King Louie, we have received reports that a glider has fallen into the remnants of Dortam.”
After the destruction of Mercury Town, Louie had decided it was time to invest a bit in the real estate business. Dortam had always been dangerous, but it was taking a new turn with the past year’s events. He found a comfortable spot down along the main train line out of the city. Close enough that his men could pop into the Revos’ world whenever they needed something, but far enough away that he was well removed. Conveniently, it also positioned him better to run down the line in the opposite direction to Ter.5.2, which opened a whole world of opportunity for exporting.
Business had been going so well that he was considering moving operations permanently in that direction. Or even onto Ter.4 altogether. He’d been contacted by two very interesting Ravens at the behest of a certain girl he once did business with for the infamous White Wraith of Dortam. It almost made him feel bad for selling out young Florence to the Dragons.Almost.
But all was well that ended well. The girl clearly survived and was none the wiser to his decision to trade her for a few organs. Organs he never got.
“Would you like us to investigate?” Ralph asked.
Louie took his eyes away from his personal harvesting operation. “Let’s continue this upstairs. The smell is overwhelming.”
Ralph followed him upward. They switched back in a half dozen flights of stairs up to ground level, and a few more to Louie’s new “throne room”. The depth helped hide the scent of harvesting, so Louie had purchased the building immediately when he had discovered the depth of its underground portion. Bloody cogs, how he loved the Revolvers and their need to build a bunker into everything.
Not to mention, it had an excellent view of the mountains of Ter.5 that turned into a front-row seat to watch Dortam burn days before.
“Has there been word on if it took off again?” he asked.
“No reports of such.”
“Any Dragon activity?”
“None seen.”
Curious, Louie thought to himself. He had good instincts. It was part of what made him so effective for so long. Good instincts, determination, and the proper amount of ruthlessness to tie it all together. They lived in a cold world, no point in rewarding it with warmth.
“I shall go investigate myself, I think.” Louie slipped on a pair of leather gloves, carefully selecting the proper goggles and mask to match. Dortam was a smoking wasteland.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Ralph folded his arms.
“My men work harder when they think I could appear at any moment,” Louie explained. “Furthermore, there’s something odd about this one. A Rider returning alone?”
“Perhaps they were checking to see if the guild was truly destroyed?”
“That explosion rattled the world itself.” Louie chuckled and shook his head. “Even if that were true, why has the glider not left yet?”
