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The radio crackled and blared with the shouts of his squadron in battle.

“Sticky, watch your tail!”

“Great shot!”

“Below! Below!”

“Watch out!”

“Got him!”

All the normal sounds. No screams of anyone in trouble. The Half-Breed Squadron was holding their own, even without the benefit of Fieran’s magic.

Well, they had some of his magic. Certainly some of the magical power cells fueling the protective shields were filled with Fieran’s magic. Along with Uncle Farrendel’s, Adry’s, and Louise’s.

Merrik had his shield switched off for the moment. The shields used so much magic that they only had about fifteen minutes of shielding time stored within a magical power cell. That wasn’t enough to leave it on for a full dogfight, just as they didn’t have enough ammunition to constantly hold down the trigger of their machine guns. Both had to be used strategically.

The enemy aeroplane juked, trying to shake Lije. Merrik matched the move before he gripped the trigger on his control column. Bullets slammed into the enemy’s fuselage, and the aeroplane swerved abruptly before rolling onto its side.

A pair of Mongavarian aeroplanes dove from above, coming out of the sun.

“Lije!” Merrik yanked his aeroplane’s nose skyward.

“See ’em!” Lije swerved and dove, his wings skimming past Merrik’s by only a couple of feet. Once he was behind Merrik, he went into a loop to come back around.

With the superior magically-powered engine, Merrik’s aeroplane rushed toward the oncoming Mongavarians, even though he was ascending and they were diving. He counted down the seconds, judging the distance.

When the Mongavarians were in machine gun range, he flipped the switch. A hum sounded a moment before the crackle of magic raced over the protective wires.

Not a moment too soon. The Mongavarian machine guns blasted, and the bullets sparked in the magical shield around him, incinerated by the Laesornysh magic before they could touch his aeroplane.

He triggered his own machine gun, and the bullets streamed upward at the oncoming enemy.

He stared at them as he and they bore down on each other. Someone would have to flinch, otherwise they’d all be destroyed in a midair collision.

Merrik glared at the Mongavarian pilot in the lead aeroplane, the man’s expression obscured by his cap and goggles. Merrik felt something of a savage smile curve his own mouth. Someone would flinch, and it wouldn’t be him.

The Mongavarians parted, going different ways.

“Right.” Merrik yanked his control stick to the right even as he shoved on the rudder bar. His aeroplane tipped on its side, his body pressing into the scant leather padding of his seat even as the wings strained with the forces.

“I’ve got left.” Lije’s voice cut through the other chatter filling the airwaves.

Flipping off the protective shield, Merrik triggered his machine gun again, stitching a line across the enemy’s fuselage.

The Mongavarian tried to swerve again, but Merrik turned even sharper. His next burst of machine gun fire pummeled into the Mongavarian’s nose. A plume of black smoke belched from the enemy’s engine, and the biplane made a steep dive toward the ground. It didn’t go into a spiral, so the man had some hope of landing safely.

Merrik kept his aeroplane in its sharp turn, wheeling all the way around to search the sky for Lije.

Lije had pursued his enemy, ending up well below where Merrik was now. His enemy was also headed for the ground, though the aeroplane was spiraling in a way that showed the pilot wouldn’t make it, if the man was even still alive.

Merrik cast about, taking in the fighting, whirling warbirds. The Mongavarians had fielded the largest squadron he’d seen since his return to the fighting. Despite the many black smoke trails of enemy aeroplanes plummeting from the sky, there were plenty of Mongavarians still airborne.

Two more of them were diving toward Lije, far closer to him than Merrik was.

“Lije, two enemy headed your way.” Merrik pushed his aeroplane into as steep a dive as he dared. “I am out of position.”

“Don’t worry. We’ve got you.” Sticky’s voice rang over the radio a moment before he and Nellie Blair roared in from the side, machine guns blasting.