We head down to the city outskirts in the silent shadows. By the time the first hints of light start graying the sky, we have taken up ourpositions behind the piles of steel and wood near the train yard. A smattering of soldiers patrols the area, and the front gates are open, through which a steady stream of workers and guards head back and forth from the train station. Along with them walks a steady line of prisoners. As I look on, they shuffle out from the gates, stumbling as Karensan troops guide them one by one onto one of the train cars. A few of them are still dressed in sapphire coats. Some Strikers are mingled in with the common soldiers. With a sick feeling, I know that these are the ones the Federation has deemedpromising, fighters they will turn over to the Chief Architect once they arrive in Cardinia. Future Skyhunters, perhaps.
Suddenly I’m reminded of my early training days, when I was a young Karensan recruit sent out for the first time on a mission patrolling the streets of a conquered city in Larc. I’d been assigned to follow a tall, gruff warrior, one who had no patience with this scrawny boy tailing her every move.
“Stay here,” she’d told me that afternoon, pointing to the rubble of brick and mortar that had once been a house. “If anyone gets past me and tries to flee, you raise the alarm. Understand?”
I had nodded and stayed back as she then entered a house with several other soldiers behind her. I remember how small I had been then, how easy it was to hide in the shadow of that rubble. Waiting for her felt like an eternity. Then a shout came from the house, followed by several sobs and then the sound of a gunshot. I jumped, tense as a rabbit ready to take flight. But no one emerged, so I stayed where I was. I waited for a long time before she finally reappeared leading several men out, their hands bound tightly, their eyes blindfolded.
Please, I remember thinking.Do not move.
No one did. I do not know what happened to those men, nor why they had been led out. Maybe they were rebels, the same as we are now.Whatever the reason, I lost my nerve and stole away through the rubble, silent and unseen, back to the Karensan base set up at the outskirts of the city. The female soldier I had shadowed didn’t even care about my absence. She must have been relieved for my disappearance.
Now I crouch behind the tracks and will myself to become as small and invisible as I had once been. Some distance away, I can see the outline of Adena, Tomm, and Pira near the train station, while Jeran and Aramin have settled into hiding places around the farther cars of the train. They’ll wait for my diversion before making their move.
In the strengthening light, I can better see exactly what this train is bringing back to Cardinia. What had looked like bits of steel and stone hauled back in cars now take on the recognizable shape of specific types of pillars or stone blocks with letters carved in them. With a start, I realize that these are artifacts of Mara that the Federation must think are worth keeping. They are trophies.
I look on grimly, recognizing one enormous stone strapped into its own car as the stone usually suspended over the Striker arena’s gate. On it is engraved one of their mantras:MAY THERE BE FUTURE DAWNS. Still another car carries two pillars with carvings indicative of the Early Ones’ writing. Finally, there is the car that the others will be targeting, the one loaded with prisoners.
I wait until the light has fully brightened. Somehow, the arrangement of soldiers and workers milling around out here makes me uncomfortable. I see a few teams walking alongside engineers, all inspecting the objects tied to the cars. There’s a woman with them too, and I recognize her as Mayor Elland of Cardinia. She must have come here to Mara to inspect what they’ll be bringing back to her city.
None of it feels right. Usually, if the Premier is headed somewhere, the patrols are more structured, ordered into neat rows to await hisarrival so they can easily and safely usher him to where he needs to go. I’ve seen it plenty in my lifetime.
But they aren’t out here. Neither is the Premier.
Had they changed their minds? Is the Premier not on this train after all? If that’s the case, it will make this mission an easier one for us. Talin won’t be at his side, a weapon we cannot defeat.
The light changes more. I exchange a brief look with Adena and the others near the station. They appear as confused as I am. We stay where we are until steam and smoke finally begin to pour from the train. It is going to move.
I watch as the massive machine yawns and roars, as the soldiers shout to one another and back away from the train. Then I tense for the first detonation of the cylinders hidden under its tracks, ready to move.
It doesn’t come.
Neither does the second.
The explosives don’t work. This is my first thought as I turn my eyes to meet Adena’s stricken ones. But when I look closer at the tracks, I notice that it’s not that the spheres she created do not work.
It’s that they have been removed. Someone has cleared away all of them since we planted them last night.
My blood runs cold at the same time I look up to see General Caitoman emerging from the front gate. Behind him march several patrols of soldiers.
They look unsurprised, ready to attack, and to my horror, I realize that there is an entire ring of soldiers who have been waiting for us already. They appear all along the edges of the train station now, along with the hulking shapes of Ghosts.
This is the moment when it finally dawns on me that they knew we were coming. We’ve walked right into a trap.
Part of what makes you a Skyhunter is the rush of rage that fills you in the seconds before you attack. Now, as I gear up to move, I can feel that same rush coursing through my veins with blinding heat. Talin had told me of how my eyes glow, transforming me from a young man into something monstrous. Along with this fury comes fear.
I hate the rush. I hate the feeling. And yet, every time it appears, I can’t help but want more of it, hoping that if it swallows me completely, I’d never have to know the destruction I’ve created. Better to hide, right? Better to lose yourself.
I close my eyes; the world around me narrows into a funnel of light.
Then I stand and extend my wings. If the others at the station see me now, they should know I am directing every bit of the soldiers’ attention to me. The guard closest to me freezes, her eyes wide in terror at the sight of me. She waves frantically to the team behind her, but it’s all she has a chance to do. I brace myself, then surge toward the train. If there is nothing we have to stop the train with, then I will have to attempt to inflict the damage myself.
Soldiers dart out of my path as I hurtle toward the train’s massive wheels. My bladed feathers clip against their giant metal spokes, and sparks fly. The hit sends ripples of agony through me, but I grit my teeth and saw desperately into the wheels again.
My attack is no explosion—but the force of me throwing all my weight against the train makes the entire structure rock sideways with a loud groan. The wheels’ spokes bend sharply at the impact, scraping hard against the wheels themselves and bringing the train to a halt.
The others seem to sense immediately what I’m doing, because when my attention shifts to them for a moment, they are already out from their hiding places and rushing into battle in an attempt to get to thetrain car. I see the blur of Jeran’s figure. He reaches one of the patrols first and twists, blades flashing through the air. Nearby, Adena leaps against the train station’s shed, scales it in an instant, and launches herself off, gun firing.
I turn to face the Karensan soldiers. All the while, my mind whirls with the same question. They knew. They knew. How did they know?
