“Thax!” Liria grabbed his arm. “You don't have to go up there. You can work from the ground.”
“But the Sources didn't give me flight so that I could fight from the ground, destra. The Aethari need to see that I am still one of them.” He kissed her cheek and summoned air, rising into the sky before she could stop him.
Thax would have chuckled to see his Liri so annoyed, but a battle was underway. He could laugh later. As he rose, he tracked her out of the corner of his eye. Not that he needed to. With the Star's Kiss complete, he could sense where his destra was, even if she were on the other side of the planet. Liria was always with him. Which was the only reason he could leave her side in the middle of a battle.
The Nethren had attacked their camp while most of it was just waking up. Despite the early hour, the guards on duty had done their jobs and held off the blasts while alerting the rest ofthe camp. Every soldier there was busy fighting the Nethren. But now it was Thaxvarien's turn.
He hovered over the first line, just behind the Medean soldiers who fired up at the Nethren on the wall. People shouted and pointed, especially the Nethren. Those half-machine monsters had pinned him to a wall and tormented him as his feathers fell. His destra had saved his life, but she couldn't save his wings. Losing those appendages had sent Thaxvarien into a death spiral that he wouldn't have survived if not for Liria's steadfast devotion. She saved him not once, but many times. His destra continued to save him daily, just by existing.
Now, he would save her sister for her.
Wind gathered, hearkening to his summons. His hair danced upon the gusts, and his arms opened wide. Everyone on both sides paused as thunder rolled across the sky like a battle cry. Thax lifted a hand.
Lightning shot down onto the fortress with a crackling sound and a blast of light. A second of silence followed, and then came a cacophony of voices—triumphant and amazed cries from his side and shouts of dismay from the Nethren. The Nethren shouted, pointed, and spoke into their little communication devices, probably calling for the ward to be lowered. Thax only had a few minutes to act.
Thax surveyed the scene. From his height, he could see the half-circle of the Paradefense camp curled around the front of the fortress. The camp stopped at the mid-sides, leaving the back empty. Only a few Nethren stood guard on the back walls since there were no Paradefense forces there. Circling the entire fortress took too many soldiers and spread the army thin, so the general pulled them back to a front encampment and assignedregular patrols around the fortress. That benefited him. With most of the Nethren focused on the front, he could land on the airstrip. He headed that way.
As he turned, he glanced over the Paradefense camp and pulled back to hover. There were Nethren scurrying through the camp. Damn it all! They were already past the main line and in the section of camp that was empty. They could turn around and kill his people from behind. Gaze narrowed, Thax pointed at one of the Nethren, and lightning hit him. The man's scream silenced everyone.
“Invaders, retreat now, or you will die!” Thaxvarien's voice rumbled from him to mimic the thunder. He pointed at the next Nethren.
The man ran.
Not one to target a fleeing opponent, Thax turned his attention back to the fortress. With all the attention on him, he needed to strike and then dive for the hangar. He aimed with his will. Summoned the lightning.
A boom sounded.
Thax pulled his wings together and dropped several feet just as a projectile shot over his head. He turned to see it explode in midair. The sound brought the soldiers back to attention, and the battle began anew. On the ground, Nethren soldiers ran for the fortress wall where rope ladders hung. He narrowed his eyes, rethinking letting them go. They had infiltrated the camp for a reason. What did they find? Whatever it was, it was better that they not take it back to their leaders.
Thax aimed his lightning ahead of the fleeing men. It hit the ground, sending them tumbling back. Medean soldierswho'd been chasing the Nethren caught up and apprehended them. Easy enough.
“Thax!” Liria shouted.
He rose instead of dropping this time, and another of the Nethren's projectiles sped under him. Thax nodded his thanks to his destra, and then got back to his attack. If he could clear the way, the Aethari unit might land with him and help him reclaim the fortress.
But once the Nethren scouts were captured, a cry went out among the Nethren. Seconds after lightning struck the primary facility, the ward fell, shimmering out from a central tower to dome over the entire fortress. Aethari who were too close had to launch themselves backwards.
Thaxvarien's face twitched as he stared through the shimmering, transparent ward at the Nethren soldiers. They stared back, their machine parts shining in the sun and their eyes wide. He had surprised them. All of them, including the Paradefense soldiers. Thax had informed General Caden about his special abilities, but the general had been skeptical. As Thax floated back to the ground, General Caden rushed over. He was skeptical no longer.
“Dear convergence!” the general shouted. “You really can control the elements.”
“Yes, General.” Thax held his hand out to Liria without looking her way. He sensed her approach.
Liri took his hand. “Thax, you could have hurt Lena!”
Thax immediately brought his destra into his arms. “I concentrated my attacks on the opposite side of the building.”
Liria shoved him away, her expression furious. “You don't know for certain that she was in that room.”
“What do you mean? We heard her sing, destra. She's there. Do you think they're going to take her out for a stroll?”
“I don't know.” Liri turned to look at the fortress. “But don't do that again, Thax. You could have brought the whole thing down on my sister's head, not to mention the hundreds of Aethari and Medeans who are probably being kept in the stockade.”
“Those soldiers are dead, Liri,” he said gently.
“You don't know that!”
“Mrs. Rennux, I appreciate that you're concerned for your sister.” General Caden stepped up to Liri. “But we cannot hobble our efforts because of her or any other captives. We have to contain this situation and drive the Nethren back underground. That is our priority.”
