D. MacHale - The Pilgrims of Rayne

I wanted to fight.

(CONTINUED)

Alder and I left early the next morning for Tribunal Mountain. We walked through Rayne in the dark. With an hour to go before sunrise, the archers were already taking up their positions. For all I knew, they’d been there all night. The first line was at the edge of the beach. The next line was inside the village itself, using huts for protection. The third line was underground, peering out from the tunnel beneath the sand. The fourth and final line was behind that, halfway to the mountain. We made brief eye contact with some of the archers. I saw fear, but confidence. They weren’t soldiers, but they were ready to fight a war. No words were exchanged, only slight nods of acknowledgment.

The command post was set up inside the firing room that controlled the underwater guns. From there we had a clear view of the bay, the ocean beyond it, and the village below. The battle would play out beneath us. We had the best seats in the house.

The three members of the tribunal were already there, along with Siry and the big guy who arrested me when I first got to Ibara. This guy was our first line of defense. He sat in the gunner’s chair. Also there were three young guys who were runners, to pass along commands to the archers.

I approached the gunner and asked straight out, “How good are you?”

The big guy swiveled his chair toward me and boldly said, “The best there is.”

The guy had total confidence. That made a grand total of exactly one of us.

The map of Ibara hung on the rock wall. Lines were drawn to show where the archers were placed. I stood staring at it, wondering how it would all play out. I could envision the battle, what I couldn’t see was the end game. Of course, I hoped we’d obliterate the dados before they did any real damage, but that didn’t seem likely. I didn’t want to be a pessimist, but the numbers weren’t on our side.

As if reading my thoughts, Genj approached and said, “If this goes badly, will they accept surrender?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to figure that out when the time comes.”

“if the time comes,” Siry corrected.

He was feeling confident too. Now there were exactly two of us.

“Where’s Telleo?” I asked.

Genj answered, “I sent her to be in charge of the villagers who are in hiding.”

Drea asked, “Is there a chance this might not happen at all?”

“We can hope” was the best answer I could give.

I left the map and went to the wide window that was cut into the rock. The sky was beginning to lighten. Soon we would be able to make out detail on the ocean and learn if anything was out there. Alder joined me. We both looked out onto the black sea.

“I do not know if what we are doing is right” he said.”But I do not believe we had a choice.”

I nodded, grateful for the support.

The inky sky slowly turned blue, followed by a thin line of light that appeared on the horizon. Sunlight was minutes away. We all stood at the window, focused intently on the glowing band.

“I don’t see anything,” Siry said hopefully. “Shouldn’t we see them by now?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know.

“This is good news,” Moman proclaimed hopefully. “Perhaps the sinking of the pilgrim ships was all they wanted.”

I had my own hopes. I hoped that you had found Mark, and there was no longer any such thing as dados.

“You may be right about the pilgrims,” Drea added. “They may have felt threatened by our attempt to move off the island and only wanted to make sure we’d stay here and-“

“There,” Alder announced sharply. “Something is out there.”

It was next to impossible to see anything. The water was still black.

“I don’t see anything,” Siry said.

We had to wait a few painful minutes for the sun to throw more light over the horizon. When the first direct rays spilled onto the ocean, it all came clear. Drea gasped. Considering what we were looking at, it was a pretty mild reaction.

Genj said softly, “What manner of evil could have created such a thing?”

I knew the answer, but didn’t think he wanted to hear it. What we saw on the ocean that morning was indeed evil.

There’s no better word to describe it. At that moment I knew how those German soldiers must have felt on the beach in France during World War II when they woke up one morning to see the entire Allied fleet on the horizon.

Out on the open ocean, beyond the break in the beach that led into the bay, were thousands of skimmers. I’ll repeat that. Thousands. They moved slowly, in tight formation, headed directly for us. The first line had about fifty craft. Followed by another. And another and another. Too many to count. It looked as if each skimmer held three passengers. The rising sun made them look like ghostly silhouettes. They were angels of death. The waiting and wondering was over.

We were about to be invaded.

“They have weapons,” Alder announced.

From as far away as we were, we could see that one dado on each craft held a golden rifle. They looked like weapons from Quillan. The gunner stood next to me, staring in wide-eyed wonder.

“You say you’re the best,” I said to him. “Prove it.”

The gunner stiffened with resolve and jumped for his chair. The controls were simple. In front of him was a panel with a series of toggle switches. The chair was high enough for him to look down onto his weapons in the sea below. A series of mirrors were embedded in the stone beneath this window, each giving him the view of a particular gun.

“What kind of ammunition does it fire?” I asked.

“Small projectiles, propelled by water pressure.”

Oh. That didn’t exactly sound like a devastating weapon of mass destruction, but it was a little late to be picky.

“How many shots do you have?”

His answer was a frown that meant “not enough.”

The lines of skimmers tightened up as they drew closer to the opening of the bay. That was good. It made for a smaller target.

“Raise the guns!” Genj ordered, his anxiety growing. “Fire!”

“They aren’t in range,” the gunner replied, concentrating. “Don’t worry. When they get closer, I’ll give them a special welcome.”

I saw a black flash swoop through the sky, flying past the mountain, headed out to sea. It looked like an oversize black bird. I’d never seen anything like it on Ibara, but I’d seen it before.

“Saint Dane,” I whispered to Alder.

Alder added, “It appears he will be viewing his war from above.”

“Yeah, let’s give him a good show.”

My palms were sweating. Out of habit I picked up the black dado-killing wand. It served absolutely no purpose other than to give me something to hold on to. I kept squeezing it while watching the dados approach. More and more lines kept appearing. It looked as if there were an endless number.

“Little closer,” the gunner coaxed. His hand gripped the joystick. “Little closer.”

The dados tightened further. The first line was fifty yards from entering the bay. They were in range. All was silent. That wouldn’t last.

“Welcome to Ibara,” the gunner said, and reached for the control panel, quickly flipping a line of switches.

One by one the guns of Ibara rose up out of the water. Before this I’d only seen one set of guns. Now ten silver dual cannons came out of the depths and locked into position, forming a protective half circle in front of the bay. The dado armada was sailing right into their sights. The battle for Ibara was about to begin. The gunner’s right hand was on the joystick to aim and fire. His left hand was on the control panel to alternate between guns.

“Now, now!” Genj ordered.