Vir’s stomach sank.
Maiya commanded their Acira to fly faster, and the beast beat its wings heavily against the wind, buffeting its riders.
Vir leaned forward to Maiya’s ear. “How many?” he asked, scanning the horizon.
“Just the one.”
It was too far to tell who exactly was on it, but Vir hardly had to guess.
“No, Maiya. Not just one.”
One by one, Aciras appeared from the clouds behind them, accelerating hard. They numbered six in all.
How did they find us? Had they been tracking them since they left the Pagan Order? Or did they have scouts patrolling the skies?
Why now? Why couldn’t they have come later? Just when he’d decided to stay back with Maiya. Vir cursed Fate.
“Can you outrun them?” he asked.
“I’m going as fast as I can. Frumpy’s trained for long-distance flight, not speed!”
Frumpy? Vir thought, cringing at the name she’d given the sleek, elegant beast.
He glanced nervously at their pursuers, searching for a way out. Up here in the air, he had preciously few options. None of his ground prana Talents worked.
That left him with Prana Vision, Toughen, Prana Blade, and Parai’s cycling technique. Dance, Leap, Empower, and High Jump were all unavailable.
Then again, the same was true for their pursuers. Only magic would function, and Maiya had plenty of her own.
What the enemy didn’t have was Kalari training and supreme agility.
“Maiya! Let them catch up to us! We can’t outrun them, anyway.”
“You got a plan?” Maiya shouted over the wind.
Vir flashed a grin. “I’m gonna board them.”
“You what!”
“Just get us as close as you can! Like, touching close.”
“They forbid us from flying like this, y’know?” Maiya muttered too softly for Vir to hear. “Good thing I like breaking the rules.”
Maiya tugged on the Acira’s reins, slowing the beast. The Acira that had been so far away closed the distance in seconds, slowing as it approached.
“Hang on tight!” Maiya flipped the Acira upside down and charged right at them.
“Uh, Maiya? I can’t jump if we’re upside down!”
“I know! Hold on.”
Just when the two Acira were about to collide, Maiya violently juked their beast, righting itself.
Fire magic flew at them, but Maiya was ready for it. She dodged, returning Fire with Wind and Ice magic of her own, all while flying the beast.
“That’s what you get for trying to attack a Kin’jal Acira!” she shouted.
“Badrak’s Balls, Maiya! Where’d you learn to fly like that?”
Maiya flashed a grin.
Continuing her display of extreme skill, she ordered their Acira to bash their pursuers, temporarily tangling their wings, and sending them both into a spiraling dive.
If done improperly, it’d have doomed them both, but Maiya broke off at exactly the right time, freeing them from their enemy’s clutches.
The close encounter purged all doubts about their attackers’ identity. Their enemy bore no country markings, and they’d attacked a Kin’jal Acira in Kin’jal territory, which meant they didn’t care about political ramifications.
Unhooking the tether that bound him to the beast, Vir jumped just before Maiya broke off, fleeing another Acira.
The other Acira’s pilot jerked away, but not soon enough. Vir sailed through the air, smashing into the mejai riding behind and severing his tether in one smooth movement. In less than a second, the mejai was falling to his death, far below.
Vir brought his blade to the pilot’s throat. He contemplated killing the man but concluded that doing so would doom him as well. He didn’t know how to fly an Acira, and while he was confident in his learning speed, he doubted he’d be able to master the skill in the few seconds before the beast crashed.
“Maiya!”
On command, Maiya’s Acira swooped in, and only then did Vir slip his katar through the man’s back and into his heart, ending his life.
Vir timed his jump perfectly, soaring back to Maiya’s Acira as the pilot slumped forth on the reins, sending the enemy Acira into a perilous dive.
The beast’s self-preservation instinct kicked in far too late, and it crashed into the fields far below.
“One down, five to go!” Maiya shouted.
“Let’s just do the same thing for the—!”
“What’s wrong? What’s the—oh. Oh, no.”
When Vir spied the riders pursuing them, his blood froze. Atop their closest pursuer was a mejai holding a melon-sized orb in both hands and, towering over him was a four-armed, half-naked, giant demon covered in dark blue tribal tattoos.
Rudvik’s voice echoed in Vir’s ears, telling the tale of the one who’d brought him to Brij as a baby.
The descriptions were similar, yes, but there was no reason to believe they were the same person. He’d seen both giants and four-armed demons at Balindam. There was, however, every reason to believe that the being in pursuit was one of the strongest beings in the Known World.
They drew closer. Fifty paces. Thirty. Twenty.
Vir didn’t need Lord Reth’s intelligence to know that. Prana Vision blazed in his eyes. The demon was bursting with Earth, Life, and Fire affinities. In fact, he’d never seen a being with so much Earth prana in his life.
“Apex Earth. Greater Life. Greater Fire,” he told Maiya.
“That’s impossible. The more affinities you have, the weaker they are. There are exceptions, but a triple with Apex Earth and two Greaters? That’s unheard of!”
“It isn’t just him. I think the mejai next to him’s a Mejai of Realms, too. He’s got Apex Lightning.”
“No. No, no, no. Grak!” Maiya shrieked. “Vir, Apex Affinity means he can use A Grade orbs!”
“Are they really that strong?” Vir asked, thinking back to Tanya’s demonstration of the A Grade Blizzard. It was certainly an impressive spell, but quite slow to cast.
“They are. And Lightning’s the worst of them all. Locution Field is a death sentence. It’s impossible to avoid. Just one hit and you’re dead. We can’t get anywhere near them!”
Vir nodded. “Then we flee—wait. Enemy reinforcements!”
Maiya wordlessly threw their Acira into a dive.
A half dozen new Acira descended from clouds above, merging with their allies.
“Grakking chal, Vir. This is bad! We don’t stand a chance against that many!”
I know! Vir’s mind raced for options. If they landed, he’d have more options, but would their pursuers let them? Landing was slow and dangerous unless they abandoned Frumpy and relied on Light Step to break their fall.
Vir’s thought process ground to a halt.
Because instead of falling into formation, the new Acira dug their talons into their pursuers. Blindsided by the attack, two pursuing Acira fell to the ground, while the others tussled in a midair dogfight.
“What the… Do you think…” Maiya asked, trailing off.
“It’s the Pagan Order!” Vir shouted. “Those crazy chals actually came to help!”
“Which means they’ve tailed us ever since we left,” Maiya shouted over the wind. “And we never even noticed. So did our pursuers, apparently. So much for covering our tracks.”
Vir didn’t know how they’d been followed. He’d only been on an Acira a handful of times. There were likely tactics and strategies he wasn’t aware of. Both for avoiding detection, and for following stealthily.
The Order forces engaged with all but one Acira, preventing them from pursuing. Unfortunately, the one that did pursue had the four-armed demon and the Mejai of Realms onboard.