Penult (The Liminality, Part Four)

Chapter 39: Plasma

The young dragonfly, no longer a nymph, had spread its wing buds far beyond the blunt nubbins they had been when it first molted, but it was still in no condition to fly. Viktor and I stood with staff and sword between it and the oncoming condor, though I was seconds away from bailing on this defense and diving into the bog.

I didn’t see what we could do about that weird fibrous and snake-like shrapnel if that bomb dropped on our pad. Yet, I remained frozen to the spot, befuddled more than brave. The vulnerability and innocence of that newly molted bug touched me. It would be a horrible shame to have its life snuffed before it could use its wings for the first time.

And what pretty wings they were, striped like a tiger with broad, coppery bands alternating with membrane as clear and twinkly as diamonds.

The condor loomed, blocking the sun, engulfing us in its shadow. Time slowed. I could see the bombardier in his cage, peering through some kind of sight, adjusting the angle of the talons to find the perfect release point.

It was pretty clear he was aiming for the cluster of huts right beside us, close enough for us to be taken out by that shrapnel. If this one was as skilled as the others, we could expect perfect precision. The other bombs couldn’t have hit the docks and village any more perfectly.

I loosened my will as best I could, again searching for that ball of energy swirling in my gut that would tell whether I had the mojo to summon a potent spell. As usual, all I felt in my stomach was a bit of queasiness. I was pretty sure I was about to shoot a blank.

Without warning and a mite too soon, Viktor let loose a volley of sizzling plasma from his staff. The power of his burst surprised me, but it went zipping harmlessly over the condor’s gunnery cage.

I only had a second to react. But the mojo, it was there! It was now or never.

Two dragonflies came hurtling. I had to hold my fire. But could I? This was way more painful than holding back a sneeze. The force trying to rip free of me was far more powerful than a mere puff of air from my lungs.

The dragonflies converged and slashed into the side of the condor shredding its right wing. It swerved and tumbled into the bog with a huge splash, retaining its payload. The bomb disintegrated on contact with the water, its strands unraveling like a nest of angry snakes, tearing into the condor and its crew before the water rendered them inert, drifting like so many drowned snakes.

I could see Viktor staring at me while I stood there with my sword outstretched, shaking and convulsing like someone transfixed by a lightning bolt. I had no choice but to let loose my blast. Dismayed, I watched a massive bolus of angry plasma go firing into the sky, narrowly missing one of the dragonflies as it scrambled out of the way.

The burst corkscrewed into the sky, leaving a vapor trail behind it. It found a set of wings—a Seraph observing the fray—and tracked him. The Seraph tried to flee but my plasma homed in like a guided missile and scored a direct hit, pulverizing his wings. The Seraph struck the bog like a meteor, piercing a lily pad, disappearing beneath the surface with a kerplunk!

Urszula landed Lalibela hard beside us, rippling the floor of the lily pad like a bouncy house.

“You idiots! You almost hit me.”

“Sorry. I … uh … I was aiming for the condor.”

“Both of you … you are terrible. You really need to practice.”

Viktor was too stunned to speak. I followed his gaze. He was staring out towards the hills at the three falcons and two condors that survived this encounter.

I had another bowling ball of energy winding up deep in my core. I extended my sword, lining it up against the rounded summits of the low mountains that hemmed the bog lands. I matched the point with the lead condor in the formation and let it rip.

The shock wave that erupted sent Viktor stumbling to his knees and caused Urszula to stumble.

I had never conjured anything close to this. A blue ball of cold fire spun into the sky, accelerating like a supersonic fighter. It caught the lead condor just as it was about to disappear over a ridge and engulfed it, shattering its frame to splinters. There was nothing left to fall but a heap of limp membrane with lumps of embedded Hashmallim. It collapsed like a limp kite, draping some tall conifers on the hilltop.

“Wow,” said Urszula. “I stand corrected. Like riding a bicycle. Yes?”

Dusters in sharp-keeled boats swarmed the area where the condor had gone down, extracting what was left of the crew of the condor from the wreckage in the bog. None of them had survived the effects of their bomb, and neither had the lone Seraph that I had brought down. I wondered where souls like them ended up now. I could only hope it was no place good.