The Radiant War

Chapter 27a

     The Brigadier crossed to the window and looked out across the palace grounds. The view was tinted green because of the thickness of the windows, at least four inches as far as he could judge.

     “Those windows don't open,” said the Princess. “I've tried...”

     The Brigadier reached into a pocket and produced a small grenade, the item he’d taken from Blake's arsenal. He thumped it hard against the stone wall to depress the firing pin, then sat it on the windowsill. Darniss and the Princess were already backing away into the bathroom and he joined them there, gesturing for them to move another couple of paces further back so he could shield them with his body. “Hands over ears, mouth open,” he commanded, doing it himself, and the two women obeyed without question.

     The explosion was louder than he’d expected and filled the room with clouds of smoke. The Brigadier leapt out and went to see what effect it had had. The window had broken, but the hole was too small even for the Princess to squeeze through. The rest of the window was riddled with cracks, though, and a couple of stout blows with a marble ornament knocked out a large chunk that fell into the flower bed below, crushing a lavender bush.

     The Brigadier jumped through, then helped the Princess as she followed him. He then pulled her into a run away from the building, leaving Darniss to chase after them. “The whole palace will have heard the explosion,” he said as they ran, hand in hand. “They'll know what we're doing...”

     Even as he spoke, the Radiant rose into view above the palace, and a breeze blew up that moved it in their direction. At the same time, guards poured out of the palace, pausing as they looked around. Then one of them saw them, pointed, and they all started running towards them, some of them firing their weapons. It was broad daylight, there was no cover and the walls of the palace grounds were fifty yards away. Even if they made it that far, the walls were unclimbable and the gates, the nearest of which was two hundred yards away, all had guardposts. The Brigadier simply grimaced and ran harder.

     Bullets whizzed past them, one of them tugging at his sleeve as it tore through. They became aware of the piping of the Radiant as it approached, and the wind it was generating to propel itself also pushed at the three fugitives, their clothes billowing like sails and the Princess’s hair streaming ahead of her except where it was gummed down by drying blood. More gunshots rang out, but this time the Brigadier wasn't aware of them passing him by. Their aim was apparently getting worse, which was strange. There was no time to puzzle it out, though. His mind was full of the knowledge that he no longer had his own gun. He had no way of shooting back, of holding the guards back. He only had his sword now, and the Radiant would probably curse them before it was close enough for him to use it. He thought about dropping the sword so he could run faster, but every fibre of his being rebelled against leaving himself totally weaponless. He gripped the sword tighter therefore, while he felt the Princess’s hand go slippery with sweat. He heard her panting with exertion beside him, but she was having no trouble keeping up.

     The piping diminished, as if they were putting distance between themselves and the Radiant, which was impossible, unless... On an impulse, he slackened his pace enough to glance behind him. He felt the Princess tugging at his hand for a moment, until she also slowed down, her face creased with puzzlement. The Radiant was no longer pursuing them, they saw. The wind was slackening, the air growing calm, and then it started blowing in the other direction, towards the approaching guardsmen who were... They were shooting at the Radiant! The Brigadier was so surprised that he came to a complete halt and stared as their adversaries started fighting amongst themselves.

     “They figured it out!” gasped the Princess with delight. “The Radiants can control the wind, they can control the weather, which means they caused the draught that’s killing their country. This is what we came for, to make them realise this.”