THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM, solid lances of flame bigger than one of Dayne’s legs rocketed past overhead as El cut right along the outskirts of the town.

  “Stay low!” El shouted into her communicator. “Our armor won’t do a burning thing to stop one of those.”

  She raced just inches above the ground, Laze, Nidina, and Dayne spread behind her, artillery fire from both sides filling the sky, explosions cratering the land, and debris falling from above like rain.

  “This is ridiculous, expecting Firestorm to maneuver with all this cannon fire,” Laze said.

  “Cut the chatter,” El snapped. “Anybody have eyes on a controller?”

  “Just golems,” Nidina said. “These new models are monsters.”

  “All the more reason we need to find the controllers,” El said.

  “I can’t see anything from this angle,” Laze said. “We need a better vantage point.”

  “I know, but going any higher would be suicide,” El replied. What were her options? Where could they go that they wouldn’t be right in the line of fire between the two heavily armed sides? Between, that was her problem.

  “We’re heading for the mountains,” El said. “We’ll kick up behind the city from there. Stay with me.”

  “Roger,” the three behind her replied, and El poured power into her wings, streaking toward the mountains less than a mile away. The cannon fire was practically nonexistent there, with everybody focused in the other direction. They could do this!

  “Just a little…” El cut off as a building ahead and to her left exploded outward, wall-sized chunks of debris and a cloud of dust filling the air. What the Blaze?

  A shape within the dust. A large shape. Six glowing, head-sized orbs.

  “Scatter!” El shouted and arched her back, pulling up with all her might while not letting up on speed.

  THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM echoed below her, the sheer heat of the shots consuming the oxygen all around and creating vacuums in their wake. Did the others avoid in time?

  El cut her wings and spun in the air, flipping upside down to get a better look.

  The golem below her was massive, easily thirty-feet tall and built like a castle-wall. Three-barreled cannons sat where its arms should be, layered steel reinforced its head and chest, and wide treads rumbled along the ground in place of legs.

  If she’d ever thought to defeat a golem in single combat like her brother had, even if that was the old-style golem, those dreams fled her mind in a heartbeat. That wasn’t something a person could beat.

  But, where was her wing?

  Laze had cut wide and to the right, while Dayne, like El, had gone up. Both were fine. Where was Nidina?

  The golem’s torso pivoted to its right.

  There! Nidina was on the ground, slowly getting to her feet, a scar of melted rock behind her. She must’ve caught the ground with her wing while avoiding the golem’s opening salvo. And she didn’t see it taking aim again. Even one of those flaming lances would obliterate her.

  Not if El had anything to say about it! She may not be able to beat one, but maybe she could at least distract it.

  Out came an electrum hilt in both hands as she flared her wings, the torque compressing her body against her momentum in the opposite direction for less than a heartbeat. Then she was hurtling straight down toward the golem.

  The top-right barrel glowed fiercely, ready to spit its deadly payload.

  GOOOOOOOOOO!

  El ignited her weapon in both hands behind her head as her flare ended, and swung with all her might.

  Her hammer came around to slam into the tip of the barrel with enough force to warp the steel. And to send her careening off course, end over end.

  El hit the ground and skidded along, her flame armor mercifully absorbing most of the impact and turning the energy into heat. Still, it knocked the wind right out of her, and sent her head spinning. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, eyes searching for the golem. Had she done enough?

  The glow from the barrel intensified… and then exploded.

  The concussive wave threw El into the air, only to smack to the ground a second time. What little air she’d managed to suck into her lungs whooshed out, and she rolled to her side, coughing and wheezing.

  Still, she was in better shape than the golem. Its entire right arm-cannon gone, its side scorched and scarred, and the treads on its right legs shredded.

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  “That’ll show…” El started between coughs, but stuttered to a stop when the golem’s torso twisted in her direction. The left arm-cannon was still intact.

  Oh, burn it. She didn’t have the strength to dodge.

  “Hold on, Corporal,” Dayne said, landing beside her and scooping her up in one fluid motion.

  “Covering fire,” Laze said, and streaks of flaming arrows peppered the golem from both sides as she and Nidina circled it.

  If they did any damage, the golem didn’t show it, and its cannon tracked Dayne as he hauled El away.

  “Faster,” El told him.

  Dayne didn’t reply, but burst up to full speed, pulling ahead of the angle of the barrels just as they ejected their fiery missiles. The three bolts of flame zipped off into the distance, missing Dayne and El by scant feet.

  Behind them, the golem twisted to follow, the steel of its body groaning like a frustrated scream, but it didn’t pursue. Whether the damage to its leg was just too much to catch up, or it had other places to be, it limped back into the city warzone.

  “We’re good,” El said. “I need a short breather. Can you set us down over there?” she asked and pointed toward a large pile of rubble.

  “Roger,” Dayne said, and did just that.

  “That’s twice you’ve pulled me out of the fryer, Dayne. Thanks,” El said, and patted the big man on the shoulder.

  “And twice your overdramatic heroics have saved my ass,” Nidina said, joining them on the ground, and gave El a respectful nod.

  “I wouldn’t call it overdramatic,” El said and returned the nod. “What happened to the golem anyway? Why did it… explode like that?”

  Laze was the last to land, and threw her arms around El in a tight hug. “Glad you’re okay,” she whispered, then let go. Louder, she said, “From what I saw, you bent the barrel. When the golem tried to fire, well, the blast didn’t have anywhere to go. Kaboom,” Laze said, and made a little exploding gesture with her fingers.

  “Think we can use that to take down a few more golems?” Nidina asked.

  El rolled her shoulders, grimacing at the pain. “Almost tore my arms out of my sockets when I hit.”

  “Didn’t exactly stick the landing either,” Laze said, and playfully punched El in the arm.

  “And there’s that,” El agreed. “I think it’s good to take note of as a weakness, but I don’t know how we can reliably capitalize on it.”

  “Not all the golems are the same, either,” Dayne pointed out. “I’ve seen at least six distinct constructs, and there might be more.”

  “They literally broke the mold for these guys,” Laze said. “Weren’t the old ones all the same? Generally human shaped? Shoulder-mounted long-range weapons?”

  “From everything I’ve read, yeah,” El said.

  “Also half the size,” Nidina said. “One of these things is easily strong enough to take on an entire wing.”

  “Or one Anella,” Laze said, with a second playful punch to El’s shoulder.

  A trio of massive explosions lit up the sky with flames and hurled wreckage in all directions.

  “Cover,” El ordered, and all four of them pressed up against the rubble as debris rained around them. Bricks, scorched shards of metal, and a Firestorm boot clattered to the ground before it finally stopped.

  “We need to get back out there,” El said, her eyes on the boot. “People are dying. We need to find those controllers and get some of those golems shut down.”

  “Still heading for the mountains?” Laze asked.

  “I think it’s our best bet,” El said with a nod. “Dayne, any sign of Oril or his wing?”

  “Nothing,” Dayne said.

  “Good. Guess he has bigger things to worry about too. Let’s get moving,” El said and ignited her wings. The others followed suit, and all four lifted into the air to look over the rubble.

  The battle raged within the city, the artillery more subdued after whatever caused those deafening explosions before.

  “Ground troops are engaging now,” Dayne said.

  “Must be why the artillery slowed down,” Laze agreed.

  “And… burn it, I don’t think that’s the only reason,” Nidina said. “Look at the smoke.”

  “The range on those golems… they destroyed our most advanced artillery batteries?” El asked.

  Nobody had an answer.

  “Right,” she said. “Just makes what we’re doing all the more important. Laze, Nidina, find us those controllers.”

  “Sure, as long as you handle the golems,” Laze said with a wink.

  El just shook her head. The mountains were still half a mile off, but they’d steer wider of the city this time. Maybe nobody would notice them?

  Without another word, she glided in that direction until the others followed, then streaked off. Faster targets were harder to hit.

  But, no more lances of compressed flame shot their way, and they reached the foot of the mountainous wall without incident.

  “Everybody is focused on the main force,” El said. “Let’s find a good vantage point where we can land. Our wings will stand out.”

  “How about up there?” Nidina asked, and pointed toward a small outcropping a few hundred feet up.

  “Perfect,” El said, and led the other three up. As soon as she landed, she doused her wings and turned to the battle. The city, what was left of it, sprawled out below, with grounds troops swarming the streets like ants. Firestorm whipped through the sky, their flaming wings streaking like comets as they raced to engage the mammoth golems prowling the streets.

  Battle swirled around the golems like a vortex, the dozens visible each single-handedly taking on hundreds of opponents. Just how lucky had El gotten? From the looks of things really, really lucky.

  “One way or another, this battle won’t last till nightfall,” Dayne said. “Everything’s being deployed. The brass isn’t holding anything back.”

  “This isn’t a fight we can win with brute force,” El said. “Look at those things.”

  “We’ve managed to take down a few. There, and there,” Laze said, pointing at the broken husks of a pair of golems.

  “But at what cost?” El asked, the sheer loss of life simply overwhelming. It wasn’t just the golem corpses littering the ground. Firestorm and ground troops practically blanketed the area around the fallen monstrosities.

  “I don’t see any controllers,” Nidina said. “Not a one. Where are they hiding?”

  “This is a good spot,” Laze said. “Maybe there are others, and the controllers are there?”

  El walked to the edge of the outcropping and surveyed the carnage below. Even if they won this battle, would anybody be left? Was the Ember really worth this?

  Doubt wormed its way back into her heart, replacing the utter certainty she’d set out with in the morning. Somebody needed to put a stop to this.

  “Laze, east. Nidina, west,” she said, without looking back. “You two scout the wall. If you find a controller, send word back and we’ll move as a group. Dayne and I will stay here for now to assist as need be.”

  No response.

  “Questions?” she asked.

  Still no response.

  El turned to the other three who stood looking at her.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked.

  Laze’s lips moved, but no sound reached El’s ears.

  Oh, burn it, no. Not now.

  El pointed at her ear as she jogged back to them, but all three shook their heads.

  “You couldn’t hear me?” El shouted to be heard over the constant, drum-like explosions behind her.

  “No,” Laze shouted back, then looked to Dayne and Nidina for confirmation.

  They both shook their heads again, understanding washing over their faces.

  “There’s a storm close,” El said, then turned back to the battle. “The newts are coming.”

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