Chapter 10

Having indestructible shields, the teens no longer used wooden swords and shields when they practiced with each other but instead fought with their amazing silver swords. They’d gotten much better under Adhira’s tutelage. There were a few times he even talked Mordeth into showing them a few things.

“At last, someone understands,” the sword master said to Neviah as he had them practicing their sword art. “I should have chosen you for a pupil instead.” Neviah smiled at the praise.

She looked over at Adhira, who appeared unaffected by the comment. He was used to it. Mordeth was always pointing out how the others did everything better than the Indian. She knew the compliment was meant to make Adhira try harder, but it still felt good to be told she was doing good.

“Faster, boy,” Mordeth said to Adhira. “You are still too slow.”

They were standing in small circles carved by their swords into the ground. They were spinning in circles, focusing on one “enemy,” which was nothing more than a stick in the ground, before spinning to focus on another. From her days of self-taught dancing, Neviah was good at it.

“Your neck is faster than your feet,” he reminded the group. “Find the target with your eyes as fast as possible so you will know what’s coming before your body has caught up. I must get back to the city. Keep practicing.” He picked up his sword and scabbard before heading back.

Victoria fell to the ground, dizzy. “Like this,” Neviah said and demonstrated a perfect ballerina spin, pausing to look at one enemy, then the other.

Behind them, there was a loud thump that brought their attention that way. A sack of grain lay fifty feet to the south. Rafal landed and picked it up, looking at them sheepishly before springing back into the air.

Neviah watched the Chayyoth for a moment. Corban had them practicing their catching skills. They would give the sack to him, and he’d fly up high and toss it. Their goal was to grab it before it hit the ground. Neviah looked at Asa and swallowed big to show her consternation.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll be fifty times higher than they are now.” Was that supposed to be comforting? “They’ll have longer to catch us,” he explained to her raised eyebrow. “As long as we’re not going too fast,” he finished more to himself.

“What do you mean by going too fast?” Neviah asked.

“Oh, that’s right. You missed the class on falling.”

She had missed a bunch of classes with Corban having to attend meeting after meeting. He had been put in charge of the task force focused on how to use the teens and their weapons most effectively should war come.

“The longer you fall, the faster you go. If you fall too long and reach terminal velocity, even if your Chayya catches you, he won’t be able to pull up in time.”

“Couldn’t they just flap their wings?” she asked, trying not to picture her death.

“Not at those speeds. The best they can hope for is to hold their wings perpendicular to the ground and slowly bank out of it. The faster they’re moving, the longer they need to pull up.”

They looked up again as Corban tossed the sack. It was Enya’s turn. She quickly dove after the bag and grabbed it between her paws. She then smoothed out of her nosedive and glided until the force of the fall was spent, and she could flap her wings again. From the air, Rafal pointed to something in the east. Neviah followed his direction and saw a single gray-winged Shedim walking down the main highway toward Uru.

“Victoria,” Neviah said. “Can you make the shot from here?” It was several hundred yards, but she knew her friend could easily make the shot. The question was more to see if she was up to it.

“Yes,” she said, letting her sword turn into a bow and her shield retract to watch size. She pulled back the string with a silver arrow notched.

“Stay your weapon!” Corban called as he landed in front of them. Victoria lowered her bow. “It is the emissary from Chaldea. It has been a month, and he is here to talk to the Patriarchate.”

That evening found Neviah and Corban standing beside the king of the Chayyoth. Adhira and Mordeth were there too. They were on a balcony that overlooked the elders below. There was no talking as one of the Patriarchate rose and moved to stand in front of the Shedim.

The Shedim spoke first. “High King Tanas requires your answer. Will you join him in ushering in a new world order, or will you oppose him?”

“We have spoken with our people and will vote now to settle this matter.” Turning to the Patriarchate, the man said, “Vote yay if you wish to submit to the rule of King Tanas or nay if you wish to remain a sovereign nation.”

Starting with the first person, the Patriarchate began their vote. The first five were nays, but the next person voted yay. Hushed conversations sprang up all over the chamber. Neviah wondered why someone would vote to ally with Tanas. Then again, she’d once been fooled by him, too. Or perhaps they voted out of fear.

In the end, there were thirty-one for the allegiance but thirty-nine against it. Neviah relaxed from the death grip she had on the railing. The majority of the elders weren’t fooled by Tanas’ lies.

“We do not wish war,” the orchestrating Patriarchate stated seriously. “But we will not support this Tanas as king of the world.”

The Shedim nodded, showing no outward sign that the decision mattered to him. “Tanas also wishes there to be no war but the survival of man; yes, even the survival of all intelligent beings depends on a united world. Ba’altose killed many thousands until Tanas united the kingdoms and defeated him. The rest must join us or stand against us.”

He stepped closer to the railing separating him from the elders. While he spoke, he looked at them each in turn while walking down the railing. “Many of you see the wisdom in the words I speak. This is evident from the way you vote. I know you see strength in this form of government, how your once warring tribes were united by the notion of equal representation. Do you not now see the flaw? Half of you would embrace us as allies, while the other half would have us be enemies. Yet the difference of a few votes decides everyone’s fate. It is nothing but the tyranny of the majority.

“Therefore, Tanas, King of Princes, has one last offer. A dragon will be sent to each of your cities at the head of his armies. If you do not agree with the decision your countrymen have made for you here today, you will have one last opportunity to join us.” He spun away from the silent elders, making his cloak flap around behind him. He quickly exited the hall.

“He sure knows how to make an exit,” Adhira said as they made their way out of the building, surrounded by arguments.

Outside, the city was in turmoil. Knowledge of the decision had already spread through the packed streets. Some people were openly praising the vote, while others were dangerously close to rioting. Neviah mounted Corban, and they took off into the air just as a fistfight broke out between two men near them.

Corban didn’t take them to the School of Flight but stopped at the Spring of Life to get a drink. It was a magnificent pond as large as an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The water was over a hundred feet deep but was so clear that Neviah could see all the way to the sandy bottom.

She knelt beside Corban and brought some to her mouth with a cupped hand. It was the best-tasting water she’d ever had. When she’d had her fill, she leaned against a large rock.

“How can so many people be willing to follow Tanas?”

“Because Tanas is the great deceiver, Iblis.”

“Iblis?” she asked. Asa had said Tanas was a dragon in disguise named Iblis, but that was all she knew.

“Iblis is how he is known in dragon form,” Corban said. “He’s one of the Ancients and has been weaving this web for centuries.”

“I just don’t understand how people don’t see it. He’s allied with dragons and Shedim. Even if they don’t think Tanas is a dragon, they should still know he’s up to no good. Do you think any of the Patriarchate will break away from the others?”

Corban motioned with his head for them to start walking. “I don’t know. Some voted to join Tanas because they believe he is genuinely the savior of the world. Others want to join him because they believe no one can stand against such an army as he’s assembled.”

They walked in silence for a while. She liked that they still did a lot of walking. It made everything feel less rushed, which she needed since it felt like the world was hurtling toward chaos.

“When Tanas has been killed, then they’ll know he’s not their savior,” she said with as much confidence as she could manage. Corban remained silent. “You do think he can be killed, don’t you?”

He was slow to answer like he was tasting each word before he spoke it. “Yes. With the Sword of Re’u, anything is possible.”

“What is it?” she prodded. He was holding something back, she was sure.

“There is nothing in vision or prophecy that says he dies.”

She thought about all the prophecies she’d seen and read. There was nothing that told her Tanas’ fate.

It was evening before they arrived at the school. Word had already gotten to the students that they were at war. Their excitement ebbed when they caught sight of Corban.

“Form up,” he said.

Within a minute, everyone was rounded up and standing in formation at attention.

“At ease,” he began, and everyone relaxed, continuing to look at him, Neviah by his side. “We have accelerated your training as much as possible, but there was only so much we could teach you in one month. With the exceptions of Asa, Rafal, Victoria, Enya, Neviah, and myself, you will not be participating in the early days of this war.”

Complaints sprung from humans and Chayyoth alike.

“Not fair?” Corban said, picking one of the complaints. “Am I to put you with units that have trained together for years? You wouldn’t know a single one of their standard operating procedures. They can respond to each other’s movements with such precision that it is as if they are separate parts of the same body. You would slow them down, cause confusion, and get companions killed.”

“Sir, could we form our own unit?” one of the humans asked.

Corban shook his head. “You don’t know anything yet. You are missing eleven months of training and have absolutely no experience in aerial combat.”

“Why do they get to go?” one of the Chayyoth whined.

Neviah was shocked at how undisciplined they’d all suddenly become, even more so at Corban allowing it. If the other instructors heard them, they’d be doing pushups until their arms fell off. Still, Corban was humoring them, trying to convince them they weren’t ready.

“Asa, show them why you have been chosen.”

Asa looked around for a second before pulling out the Sword of Re’u and walking over to a large stone that lay next to a tree. He effortlessly cut through the stone, which fell apart into halves.

“Neviah, show them why you have been chosen.”

She wondered for a moment if she should do the same thing as Asa but decided to use the bow. She shot an arrow that passed through Asa’s stone, then continued until it had passed through a tree and a fence post and disappeared into the woods.

“And Victoria, show them why you have been chosen.”

She looked around for a moment, her shyness threatening to win out. Then she took a deep breath and pointed to a tree. A small fire appeared on one of the branches, spreading quickly until much of the tree was alight. Then, a small cloud appeared above the tree, and rain fell on it until the fire was gone, leaving the branches smoking in the failing light of the sun. It was the largest display of her gift Neviah had ever seen.

“Any more questions?” Silence. “Get your rest. There is much training still ahead.”

Without further complaint, the recruits went their way.

Corban called together those who would see combat. “You will continue with your regular training, but you will receive additional flight lessons with me.”

“Will we be assigned to a unit, sir?” Rafal asked.

“No, we are our own unit. King Hayrik has given me full discretion in training you and on how to utilize your unique abilities and weapons. And besides, what I said to the other recruits is also true about you. Your inexperience in aerial combat can get companions killed if they are expecting something of you that you’re not ready to give.”

The next day, it was obvious any progress Neviah and her friends had made socially with the other recruits was gone. No one approached their now ostracized group.

“They’re just disappointed they don’t get to go fight,” Asa said between classes. “They will come around eventually.”

Neviah wasn’t so sure, but the whole situation with them seemed almost childish.

Their flight class was as scary as usual. Neviah knew she had to fly and didn’t run from it anymore, but it was still terrifying. It was a walk in the park compared to Corban’s private lesson.

“You want us to do what?” Neviah exclaimed at her companion.

“You need to learn how to fall,” Corban insisted. “I want you to jump from your companions’ back.” They were already a couple of miles above the ground, the Chayyoth flapping their wings to keep them in a circle. “Face the ground and open your arms to make yourself as wind-resistant as possible.”

“Like this?” Asa said and rolled off of Rafal. Neviah and Victoria screamed as he tumbled away from them. Rafal darted after him, closing the distance quickly. As he neared Asa, the Chayya slowed, dipped his head, and scooped up his companion so Asa was where he needed to be. It took them a minute to return to the group.

“Not bad,” Corban said. “Now, Victoria, it’s your turn.”

With a nervous look at her friends, she jumped from Enya’s back. Her Chayya caught her in seconds, grabbing her arms and letting Victoria climb onto her back.

“Now you, Neviah,” he said.

“You must be crazy if you think I’m going to…” her words were cut off by Corban’s sudden barrel roll. She’d had her arms crossed and flew from his back without a chance of grabbing on.

She didn’t scream. She couldn’t. Her eyes were fixed on the world below as it rushed to meet her. Was this it? Her death? She felt something nudge her legs, and as quickly as she was dumped off, she was back on her companion, soaring through the air. She grabbed around Corban’s neck as tight as she could. So relieved to be alive that she forgot to be mad at him.

“Not bad for your first fall,” he said over his shoulder. “Open your arms to slow your fall more next time. You’ll get better.”

“Next time? I’m not doing that again!” Anything else she was going to say disappeared from her mind when he dumped her off a second time.