Ryan crouched around the corner at the end of the hall as bullets ripped up the wall across the room and shattered the windows on his left. The sound was deafening, like a constant bludgeoning rain of stones. Smoke and debris filled the room, making it hard to see.
Ryan felt the overwhelming power of the Dragon Heart pulsing through him. It had healed his fire-withered arm and had made him stronger and faster. Enhancing his physical adept abilities. He wanted to take on the whole army. He felt invulnerable, though his mind knew that not to be true. The Silent Way taught that stealth was always the best option, but when it failed, Ryan turned to strategy and strength.
Escape was the best strategy right now. But the one exit was blocked by certain death at the hands of the Mystic Crusaders. What was taking Jane so fragging long? Suddenly, tear gas grenades hit the floor and bounced near Ryan and Axler.
An androgynous voice bellowed from amplified speakers. "Cast your weapons down and surrender," it said. "You have ten seconds to comply."
Jane came on the line. "Stay out of the hall!" she yelled through his earphone.
"No drek," Axler called. "They've got miniguns."
"Dhin is about to-"
Ryan saw it-out the window that overlooked the arboretum and the river, the helo in a steady hover, sinking down like an elevator from the floor above. Took some excellent flying to keep it that close to the wall without the blades hitting the concrete.
Ryan leaped out of the way as the circular barrel of the helo's autocannon swung toward them. Axler and Grind
pulled McFaren's limp body into a near corner. In the astral, it seemed as though McFaren and Lethe were still working to close the hole they'd made in the ward that protected the research lab. Ryan didn't understand exactly what they were doing astrally, but he knew they needed to be delicate to prevent an explosion by the ward's powerful mana.
"I hope you're out of the way," came Dhin's voice, " 'cause here I go."
A deafening roar filled the room as a barrage of rounds from the rotary autocannon plowed through the window, blowing it to shards in seconds. The miniguns started to answer, but only one or two sputtered before there was no sound from the hall.
Ryan used his mirror to get a scan of the hallway, but all he could see was a haze of smoke and debris. Limp and fallen bodies, their black and crimson military armor pitted with bleeding holes. There was some movement, shadows in the haze, but nothing he could make out distinctly.
"They're either dead or retreating," Dhin said. "Get in! Now!"
Ryan pulled a smoke grenade and tossed it into the hall, adding to the already low visibility. At the same time, Axler moved to the decimated window, grappling hook in hand. She swung and tossed it through the helo's open door. It caught on the support for one of the seats.
"Perfect," she said. "Let's go. Grind, you first."
Dhin took the bird up and slightly away as Grind scrambled up the rope. No problems so far. Next was McFaren's limp body. Axler tied the rope around the mage's waist and chest in a makeshift harness to keep him balanced. Grind pulled him up.
Two down, two to go.
Jane came on-line, "I placed a smartframe in the Fire Department's host. They think the building's on fire. That means you'll have company soon. It should distract security."
Guns fired through the smoke as Axler climbed the rope. One round caught her thigh, the wound opening up like a red flower. Ryan watched her wince and flinch on the line, falling for a split-second before catching herself again. In obvious pain, she pulled herself toward the hovering helo.
Seeing Axler get hit slotted Ryan off. Energy rushed into
him as he turned toward the hallway. He couldn't see his attackers in the physical world, but he felt their astral presence. He drew from the power of the Dragon Heart as he sent a telekinetic strike out toward them, lifting their bodies into the air. Slamming them into the walls. He struck one, then another until there were six unconscious elves lying in the smoke.
Sirens sounded as if from a great distance. Ryan turned to see two rescue helicopters swooping down next to Dhin's craft. Wanting to see if they could help with the evacuation.
"-can you hear me, Ryan?"
"What?"
"I've been yelling at you." It was Axler's voice. "I'm up. You're the last one. Move! Now, before they get the helo targeted with a missile or something."
Ryan shook his head. He hadn't heard anything. He'd been focused on revenge. The Dragon Heart must be affecting me.
He turned and grabbed the rope.
Lethe appeared next to him in astral space. "Tell them to move the helo!" "What?"
"The ward is going to blow."
Ryan subvocalized, "Dhin, go! Pull up and out. Now! The building's going to explode."
The insane scream of the helo's rotors increased in pitch as it lifted up and away. It pulled Ryan with it, a dangling spider on a narrow thread. He hung on and watched the hallway. He could see a few figures in astral space. More elves in combat armor.
A flash of blue light lit up the sky as the ward exploded. It was shaped in a perfect toroid-a donut of magical power. The front wave caught the unsuspecting elves and obliterated them. Their expanding bodies blew out their armor, their clothes, their skin and muscles. It ripped out walls, blew furniture out through the shattered windows.
Ryan watched the expanding wave in the astral, barreling toward him like a wall of roiling white silk. He ducked his head into his chest to protect his eyes from the hail of broken body armor, atomized flesh, and needles of mana. But the wave dissipated as it rolled outward so that by the time it swept past Ryan, its strength was only enough to cause a
ripple of intense pain. He grit his teeth and held on, swinging beneath the rising helo, hoping Dhin was good enough to weave between the whirling blades of the rescue choppers.
When the rope had steadied, and the Hughes Airstar was clear in the splotchy charcoal sky, Ryan pulled himself up the rope and into the helo. He fell into a seat with a heavy sigh, and Axler closed the hatch. Then they were gone into the night.
Surprisingly, there were no missile attacks and no immediate pursuit. Probably due to the confusion with the fire emergency teams. Lethe monitored the astral while Dhin monitored the radar with Grind's help. Ryan helped Axler patch up her leg. He also tried using the Dragon Heart to heal her like it healed him, but he didn't really know the magic of healing others. That wasn't one of his abilities.
McFaren's meat body remained slumped. Lethe said the mage had died in the blast, his astral form tangled in the fabric of the ward when it had collapsed. Axler didn't want to believe it was true.
Lethe ought to know, Ryan thought. But even if McFaren's astral form had somehow survived, the mage would have to get back to his body soon. Otherwise, his spirit would wander forever.
Jane had been monitoring the Tir border near La Grande so that their crossing back into Salish-Shidhe territory would be perfectly timed and seamless. But the border had tightened all around, and she finally recommended setting the 'copter down in the ash beds just west of John Day. It was a sparsely populated section of the Tir, and they should be safe for a day or so until the border loosened a bit.
The flight to the ash canyon near John Day took several hours. The sun was just coming up as they descended, the helo's wind sending up a fine mist of the loose volcanic ash around them. Turning the sunlight a deep red and burned orange. Ryan felt the fatigue hit as the helicopter's runners touched the flat bottom of the narrow canyon where they would hide out.
He had succeeded. He had the Dragon Heart now. All he needed to do, according to Dunkelzahn, was find the mage Harlequin and deliver the Heart to Thayla at the metaplanar site of the Great Ghost Dance. His fatigue hung on him like
wet clothes. He was too tired to think about the rest of the mission right now.
Besides, why the frag should he give up the Dragon Heart? He was much more powerful with it than without. Much stronger. If he just kept it, he could use it to combat Dunkelzahn's enemies. It didn't make any sense to give it away. It was a part of him now.
I'll keep it, he decided. It was willed to me by Dunkelzahn, and it's mine.