We walked for two more days, keeping a very good pace with the Entombed in their armor, Nix being a skilled undertaker, and myself able to have walked for days at a ti without stopping, but in less of a rush considering what was waiting for . The conversation had died down a bit after my brief discussion the first night, and everyones guard was up more because of it, but I found that to be more of a positive than anything. With a lack of conversation and being forced to rest at night by everyone elses pace, I wound up having an unusual amount of ti for myself. Once Id utterly exhausted myself thinking of every possibility of what could be waiting for in Potts, I had nothing left to do, but read.
I was finally able to turn my attention to Gavain and the Immortal Empire. In the course of the trip I read it cover to cover on the first night after finishing off the skewers Daisy had made. Then I read it a second ti the next night, and twice more the night after that, this ti focusing on certain sections more heavily and skimming through the rest. After all of my re-reads I ca to a conclusion I almost couldnt believe. Gavain and the Immortal Empire was the worst piece of shit book to ever exist on the face of Earth. Everyone who read it, was almost certainly poorer for the experience, and perhaps dumber and of worse character than they had been prior to reading it. Favorite characters that had existed since book one were killed off, their roles replaced with two dinsional stand-ins that could be described in such original terms as, elf with a bow, dwarf with an axe, or halfling that steals. Old plots were left to rot, and new plots introduced and resolved out of nowhere, romance featured heavily in a way that made no sense for Gavain, and worst of all, at the end of the book, in spite of what the cover implied, Gavain whod been born and lived as a lizard man, was made human and he was happy about it. That went against the the, character, and overall point of the books.
It was so terrible, that in a way, the failure of it, was in and of itself, incredibly fascinating. Between reads I wondered what could have possibly led to such a decline in quality and storytelling. It was truly amazing, and in a way all of the negatives about it made it impossible to put down. At the end of my last readthrough before making it back to Potts, I simply slipped it into my pack. I had been searching for that book since Id first left Potts to be on my own. It was, in many ways, the only true ambition Id had beyond survival before Id beco a Marshal. Had I gotten it before, it wouldve been devastating, now it was deeply unfortunate, but livable.
The Entombed were talking excitedly about the upcoming presidential debate when the Dos of Potts began to co into view. I slled sothing strange. The sll of deadn, mint, bloodmanes, was there as usual, but there was sothing else. I slled humans, and exhaust. It wasnt coming from Potts, but rather from behind us, and it was approaching quickly. I whipped around to see three shrikes flying low and fast directly toward Potts.
Nix! Behind us, in the air! I yelled.
She whipped around to look in the direction Id indicated. Without my sense of sll, and with the silence in which the Shrikes flew, it took her longer to pinpoint them than Id like, and by the ti she saw them, it was almost too late.
Entombed, draw weapons and fire! she said, pointing at the oncoming vehicles.
They listened and followed their orders with as much speed and discipline as they could muster. They opened fire with their weapons, and sent blasts of red light in the direction of the oncoming vehicles.
I watched in frustration, weaponless and unable to see the pilots and use my Freeze ability, as the Entombed fired, the shrikes taking evasive action, two of them avoiding damage, while one of them began to make its way quickly toward the ground after it was clipped by a hydra blast.
As they flew over us, I realized why they were flying so low. Slung to their underside, were what looked to be massive cannons, weighing them down, or perhaps they needed to be low to be within an effective range to use them.
We began running after the vehicles, the Entombed still firing at them. Our actions must have roused the citys defenders as well, because our own las-fire was joined shortly after by fire coming from the city itself. They managed a few hits on the Shrikes, but didnt manage to bring them down before they reached the city.
I saw, felt, and slled the activation of the Shrikes weapons. Burning ozone, white hot beams of light, and enough power to make the ground tremble hit all at once. I pushed myself to run further as I watched their beams of light cut straight lines through Potts as they reached it. Screams rang out from the city, and I found myself running with such speed that only Daisy, her power armor groaning with the effort, was barely keeping up with . I noticed the Shrikes turning for another pass, and quickly scrambled onto the nearest do, gesturing for Daisy to follow .
I turned to her. Throw ! I yelled.
She regarded with a silent stare from behind her floral facemask, then she kneeled, making a foothold with her gauntlets.
The Shrike was nearly at us when she threw . Her timing was perfect, and the front of the shrike slamd into the front of with the force of a train. I kept just enough of my consciousness to grip the edges of the glass just in ti for the shrikes pilot to begin weaving madly in an attempt to remove . Once I had a grip, I activated my Handle with Care ability to stay in place until I healed and regained enough focus to see the pilot, just in ti for him to jerk his flight control upward and start sending us hurtling into the sky.
I smashed my hand into the glass in front of the cockpit. It was reinforced, capable of withstanding bullets, or even small explosions. It took three hits for to break it completely. I could feel the oxygen thinning around as I reached into the cockpit and tore the pilot from his seat, throwing him out and hearing him scream as he plunged downward at a rapid clip. I fell into the cockpit, the Shrike still climbing into the air and pushed the controls vaguely downward. I had no idea what I was doing, but at least that control seed vaguely intuitive.
There was a terrible mont of weightlessness, then I was moving down toward the ground, fast. Potts went from vaguely city shaped to well detailed in monts, and I started to pull up the stick, hearing the machinery involved creak in the first sounds Id ever heard in a Shrike. I saw the last one doing another pass with its laser below , and I jerked the flight stick one last ti. I could swear I saw the last pilot look up and scream, after that everything was a blur of fire, and tal as we collided and everything spun in my vision.
I blacked out, but only for a mont, then I opened my eyes and tried to get my bearings. There was a large piece of tal impaling my leg to the ground, and my arm to what remained of soones ho. I saw a few deadn approach , one of them, a woman, ca closer than the others.
Dont move. We have help on the way, Ill divert them to you.
Her voice was breaking a bit as she spoke. I pegged her as soone who likely hadnt left Potts before. I respected that shed tried to comfort in spite of her obvious fear. She probably just thought I was a random resident.
I shook my head at her. Dont waste their ti with . I yanked my hand downward, feeling my arm tear open deeply. It re-knitted itself shortly after, and I sat up to rip the tal in my leg out with a grunt. It hurt worse than Id expected, but I didnt want any help to go to when it could assist a deadman or woman that actually needed it. I stood up as my leg healed and wiped so of the blood from my hands while a small crowd gathered around .
I looked left and right at them. What are you doing!? Theres fires to put out, and people to help. Get the fuck out of here!
They all scurried away quickly, surprised at my volu. With them gone I took a deep inhale, trying to scent blood, and followed the trail to see who I could help. Wouldnt do any good just standing there myself either.
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