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twenty, maybe fifty miles, before we even reach the walls where the power of the Heart can be brought
to bear in its full strength. Even if we breach the walls and knock out her heavy crystals, we'll still have to
fight our way over and into the palace, cut our way through, and then finally smash the portal down--a
position which will be swarming with Gorgon's denizens."
The room was silent again as everyone in the chamber considered his words.
"Then we'll have to try from another direction," Tulana said quietly.
"I figured we'd get around to this sooner or later, and I didn't feel like wasting my breath first," he went
on. With a snap of his fingers, one of his sorcerers stepped forward and unrolled a chart on the table
before the Heart Crystal.
"My forces are already moving. Just remember I'm the one who thought it up when it comes to reward
time later."
Chapter 15
"This is Red Team calling in," Walker said, breaking comm link silence. "I've got many, many bandits
coming up at twelve o'clock."
"Fifty at least," Kraut shouted, winging up alongside Walker. "No, make that seventy-five plus."
"Seventy-five plus," Walker repeated into his crystal.
"What are bandits?" a voice crackled through the interference that Patrice's defensive teams were putting
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down.
Walker looked over at Kraut and shook his head.
"The guys in the black hats. The enemy!"
"Acknowledged," came the curt reply.
"They're coming up through the cloud layer," Kraut shouted, pointing forward and below.
Several miles ahead, Walker could clearly see the first specks, flying in a loose weaving formation. More
and more appeared, coming up on an intersect path with Walker, Kraut, and their thirty companions.
"Christ, will you look at those demons," Walker yelled.
Behind the first wave of enemy sorcerers, half a hundred forms appeared, black and red against the
early morning clouds, their mighty wings slashing through the air.
"Magic users all, I bet," Walker said coldly.
"White or Black leader?" the comm link asked.
"Negative on that," Walker replied. There was no sign yet of either Patrice or Gorgon, at least.
The two groups continued to close.
"I'm sensing more coming up out of the city," Kraut announced. "Maybe fifty--more like sixty, atleast. "
"They must have picked up the main van of our attack group," Walker shouted. Looking back over his
shoulder, he tried to pick out where Leti and the other one hundred and fifty sorcerers were keeping to
the upper cloud bank ten thousand feet above him. He focused his attention for a moment, scanning.
There--he could barely sense them. Leti was cloaking the group well, but at this range they might be
noticed.
"Let's keep acting like the bait that we are," Walker said, avoiding the comm link. The enemy would
know that this small formation was a forward recon and bait--thirty sorcerers approaching Patrice's city
could be nothing else. The trick was to make the bait so enticing that they'd make a stab nevertheless,
and then get jumped from above.
"They're breaking into two groups." Kraut pointed forward.
The range had closed to less than two miles, and Walker could now see that the demons were spiraling
upward in tight circles, going for the upper cloud bank, while sixty sorcerers were banking out in a wide
circle, holding the same altitude as the "bait."
One of Jartan's elderly sorcerers came up to hover by Walker's side, giving him a nervous glance.
Walker smiled. "Let's get closer in."
The sorcerer said nothing, but it was obvious that he wasn't happy.
"Come on," Walker shouted. "It's gonna be a good scrimmage!"
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Judging carefully, he watched as the sixty sorcerers continued a wide banking turn, positioning
themselves to come in on Walker's right, while the demons continued to spiral up.
"Something on our left--they're coming straight up from the ground below," Kraut yelled.
Walker looked down. A quarter mile below, he saw scores of demons breaking through the scattering
of clouds and ground fog.
"Imada, how you doing?" Walker looked at the boy beside him. He would have preferred if the lad had
stayed with Ikawa, but he had insisted upon being in the front of the action, and Ikawa had finally
relented.
Imada said nothing, but his eyes were cold, as if eager for contact. There was something about him that
gave Walker the chills.
He looked forward again. A couple more seconds, just a couple more, and then break and head straight
back out, pulling the attackers in under Leti, who could hit them from above.
"Contact--we have contact!"
Stunned, Walker looked back over his shoulder.
A ripple of fire slashed through the clouds above.
"Damn it, they were in the clouds, shielded and waiting for us," the voice over the comm link screamed.
"We're getting hit on..." The channel went dead.
Several bodies came tumbling out of the clouds, trailing fire and smoke.
"Break, left and down!" Walker screamed. Winging over, he started into a near vertical dive. When he
looked back, the rest of the group was following, and Kraut was closing in alongside. Farther back he
could see the demons who had been spiraling up now cutting over, knifing through the air, while the
group that had been circling to the right started to dive as well, coming in behind them.
"Stick to me like glue," Walker shouted to his group.
Damn them, if only his own people were around him, he wouldn't be so worried, but there was only
Kraut, Imada, and the rest were aging warriors from Jartan's and Storm's courts. The outlanders had
introduced a whole new level to aerial warfare here on Haven, flying in tight formation, jumping, slashing
through, and then pulling out as a team. They had won Allic and his warriors over to this system, but few
others understood the tactics, and he feared that once combat was joined they'd follow their old instinct
to break apart and engage in individual combat.
"Don't mix it up. Hit them, then go for the clouds and fog bank!"
The range closed with frightening speed. Walker lined up his shot on a demon who, roaring with battle
lust, was winging up to meet him.
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