The crabs advanced now, and their heavy arms crushed the helpless foe. The Keldons were held in place, and Alexi called to Barrin.
"I'm in position, and you're well out of the weapons' path," she said.
"Fire on the barges!" Barrin ordered, and he sent two pulses to Rayne's crystal. Soon he would relay a single pulse, sending forces in to attack the Keldons from the rear. Victory tasted so sweet.
Rayne was separated from the rest of scouts. Shalanda and Jolreal had prepared a device for detecting concentrations of the blight and disease. Rayne had insisted that she be able to identify concentrations when separated from the other two. Back along the Keldons' path she had identified a trace. Like a lodestone to iron, she could feel the needle pulling her forward away from the other scouts. The trail of dead bodies behind the Keldon army showed traces, but the strongest concentration beckoned her farther and farther on. She slowed as she neared the parked barges. She wouldn't follow the trace any farther. In fact, she began a slow retreat, for the battle was too close. She needed to return to the scouts off to her right. The barge guards looked toward her, and she turned her machine. A warrior surprised her from behind, and he swung his sword, missing her by inches as she jumped her machine to the side.
"A wonderful dodge, lady!" the warrior yelled, and rushed forward, a wide grin lighting up his face. Rayne triggered her wings and opened his abdomen as she maneuvered her runner. Something like intestines poured from the wound, but the warrior did not buckle, he laughed. Huge guffaws burst from his gaping mouth as Rayne stared. The warrior hugged his sides but from the force of his laughter, not the pain of his wound. She still gripped the needle on the string. It was pointed toward the warrior, pulling at her hand.
"You're thick with the disease," she said under her breath as she unleashed her bolts at the enemy.
The warrior dodged too fast, and her shots buried themselves in the ground. He stumbled as he came at her, and she triggered her wings once more before retreating a few yards back. She ducked down as a thrown knife came at her head. It clipped her temple as she dodged, and she was stunned for the moment. Blood poured down the side of her face and then dripped down her chin, spattering on the runner controls as she tried to stay conscious.
"My name is Greel, pet," the monster said. Another knife was in his hands, but instead of throwing it, he used it to cut the tubes of flesh still hanging from his body. "First you cut me with blades then you cut me with words. You really can't expect me to ignore that bad behavior."
He stalked toward her, and she shook her head, hoping the pain would burn through the fog in her brain. She needed to live through this. Her hand grasped the stock of her launcher as she backed and turned her machine. If she ran, the bestial creature in front of her would put a knife in her back. End this now and get back to your friends, she thought. Then she felt the crystal in her pocket vibrate twice. Barrin was ordering Alexi to attack. The blimps would drop their bombs any second and she might still be in the path of destruction. More barge crew guards were coming, and time was running out. Then Barrin's crystal pulsed once more.
"It appears playtime is almost over, darling," Greel said. "If I don't kill you now you might say something embarrassing about me. My feelings are far too tender for that." He looked quickly to see how close the Keldons were, and in that instant Rayne charged.
Every bolt she had left snapped through the air as the runner closed. Two caught Greel's legs, and he fell as his limbs gave way. Rayne drew her launcher, determined to put a rocket into the monster. Then there was a great explosion, and her runner seemed to fall away underneath her. Rayne flew from the saddle as her mount lost all control. At high speed Rayne approached the ground, turning in midair. She came down on her side. Her arm and ribs shattered as they contacted the soil, and her body flipped over and hit once more. Her pelvis and legs broke as she slid to a stop. The pain hit her like a sledgehammer, and she gasped. She was facing Greel, and the monster was still smiling, his flesh remolding itself on his legs.
"I do believe I am going to win the race to get up first," Greel said in a jolly tone. "I think broken toys are the most fun, but don't worry. With an audience I am always quick."
Rayne couldn't move. She felt cold and knew shock was killing her. Her opponent vanished from her thoughts as she tried to move. Nothing seemed to work, and the enemy was closing too fast. She was going to die. She thought of her daughter and the decades she had been with Barrin. So many years of happiness and love.
"It was a good life," she whispered, and closed her eyes.
The discharge of the Keldon weapon was sudden and without warning. Barrin watched for signs of the fire swallows, but he never detected Latulla's weapon. She had developed it on Keld after gaining access to captured League machines.
A wave of disruption spread in all directions from the Keldon barges. It battered artifacts and power drained from crystals in a sudden surge. Barrin was deaf and blind as energy flared all around him and drowned his senses.
Yarbo cursed as the ornithopter lost power but managed to coax the machine into a glide. On the ground, the power discharge was far more deadly. The League machines stopped. The crabs stopped swinging their arms, the ants fell in heaps, and the mantises teetered in place. Alexi had begun her attack run with bloodthirsty anticipation, but her bombs fell straight to the ground instead of gliding toward the land barges. They impacted with dull thuds, breaking into pieces, unnoticed by anyone except the incredulous crews that had hoped to win a battle.
As war machines lost power on the battlefield, the Keldons fell on the League forces, but these were not the same soldiers who had routed before at turns of fortune.
"Fire and close!" screamed Mageta as warriors tried to cut him down. The soldiers emptied launchers, and the front ranks swarmed over their opponents with short swords and knives. The war manikins were slow as the magical attack affected them. Soldiers trampled them to reach the warriors powering the Keldon artifacts. A bloody line of battle swayed back and forth as Mageta continued to cut down the enemy, favoring his injured arm but still gutting the warriors who closed with him.
Yarbo regained power in a sudden rush. The more advanced Tolarian technology recovered faster, and they were farther from the generator. He climbed as other machines on the plain below twitched. Barrin remembered that Rayne was to attack just before power was lost, and he pushed Yarbo aside from the controls. He sent the machine into a steep dive over the battlefield.
He spotted her runner as he flared over the mass of men and machines. The land barge crews had charged toward the main battle, but several dozen were still behind the main battle. Barrin saw Rayne's machine sprawled from a fall.
Barrin flew the ornithopter into the ground. Yarbo was knocked unconscious, but Barrin ignored him as he kicked his way free of the cabin. The Keldons ran at him yelling. Barrin raised his hands but not in surrender. Like a scythe, lightning poured from the wizard's hands, spearing into the helmets of the enemy. The continuous flare of power waved from side to side. Heads exploded, sundering flash-heated helmets. Warriors ducked but still charged forward. Barrin had aimed high to avoid hitting his wife, but now slow arcs of flame fluttered through the air and settled on the charging warriors. They turned to fiery pillars as Barrin hurried toward his wife's machine, still hoping to be in time. The warriors between him and the runner were piles of ash. He reached the fallen machine and saw Rayne's body. It was deformed, nearly crushed. Barrin slowed to a crawl. His eyes took in her broken legs and the pool of blood from her torso-her headless torso. He dropped to his knees and screamed. They had taken his beloved's head. They had destroyed her body.