Chapter 267
Very Important TestsAlexander dove into the valley.
Trees closed overhead. Snow-laden branches whipped past as he threaded between trunks, Droney tucked firmly under his right arm, the little drone beeping its displeasure into the crook of his elbow. Behind and above, the two ships followed. They were fast, even in atmosphere.
There was no way he could outrun the ships. Maybe if he had his OACS and enough of a head start, but he had neither. And while fighting them was a real option, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that more Tier 2 wizards might reinforce the ships via teleportation.
They fired. Beams of light punched through the canopy, some of the spells vaporizing branches and gouging the earth in smoking lines. Unlike the capture vessel, these ships were playing for real. At this range and angle, though, it was suppressive rather than accurate.
Alexander juked between the impacts without slowing.
The tree cover thickened ahead. Old growth. Trunks wide enough that two men couldn’t link arms around them. The canopy merged into a dense ceiling of interlocking branches and heavy snow.
Alexander cut into it and stopped. He had no idea what sensory capabilities the wizards or the ships had.
So, hovering in the shadows beneath the canopy, he withdrew his Will and reduced his presence to its smallest. But he kept Electrokinesis cycling hard through the Core, pushing his reaction time to its peak. His physical senses sharpened until he could hear everything around him. He watched the canopy above, tracking the two ships through small gaps as they decelerated.
The first ship overshot. Its momentum carried it past his position before the crew corrected, the hull sliding through the air above the treeline.
The second slowed early, drifting into position above the forest. Close to where he was. Close enough that he couldn’t be sure.
Alexander held still. If they couldn’t detect him through the trees, he had options.
A whisper brushed his ear. “This is unnecessary. Surrender yourself, and I give you my word that no harm will come to you or the simple folk who sheltered you.”
Alexander said nothing. Scam callers only gave up if you didn’t answer.
“Silence, then. A pity.”
The second ship’s loading bay opened. Six figures dropped from the hull in tight formation, staves held vertically against their chests, wands holstered. They fell downward in a coordinated descent.
All six of them were Tier 1s.
Alexander watched them descend for a moment. Six wizards meant six staves for his new friends. If he could convince them that a revolution was in their futures.
He grinned.
Droney beeped once from under his arm.
“Relax. This’ll be quick.”
Alexander burst upward through the canopy. Branches and snow exploded around him, erupting into the open air alongside him like a geyser of wood and a cloud of white.
Six panicked faces looked down at the eruption.
Alexander threw himself into a spin, flipping inverted so his boots pointed skyward as he corkscrewed up through the center of their formation.
“Domain: Lightning Storm!”
The sphere of electricity erupted outward from his body. Lightning rippled outward in expanding waves, swallowing one wizard after another. Desperately cast shields flickered and cracked beneath the current. Bodies seized. Screams ground through clenched teeth.
Alexander hit the peak of his ascent. He reached down toward the six convulsing figures below him, clenched his fist, and pulled.
His Will crushed their defenses at the same time and every piece of metal on their bodies answered. Belt buckles. Boot reinforcements. Wands in holsters. Clasps. Six wizards hurtled inward and collided in a tangle of skulls and limbs. The crack of heads meeting heads echoed across the treetops.
Alexander dropped, rotating upright as he descended, and came to a stop beside the groaning knot of bodies, keeping them between himself and the ship. One wizard was still conscious, fingers white-knuckled around his staff, trying to shove his way free of the pile.
Alexander grabbed the staff and yanked it free of the wizard’s grip. Then he sent it into the ring with a thought.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, and this time there was a powerful spike of resistance.
System resistance.
The soulbinding. The staff belonged to the wizard still attached to it. And the System refused to let him take it.
Alexander hesitated for a moment. He was certain he could cut through it with enough time.
He didn’t have it though.
Above, the second ship’s turrets were already locked into position.
Stolen novel; please report.
Alexander’s eyes widened. The ship was targeting him through the cluster of bodies he was still holding in place.
The turrets fired.
Alexander threw himself sideways.
The beams carved through the wizards. Flesh, bone, and blood rained from the sky in chunks.
The ship continued firing as Alexander dove. At the last second he slowed, and erupted with the sphere of lightning once more, intentionally catching the edge of one of the blasts against it. The barrier screamed, and the drain pulled at his Core hard.
But it worked.
He dropped back below the trees and raced through the forest. A thought sent the staff into the ring without any resistance, now that its owner was in pieces.
Droney beeped. Indignant.
“I know, buddy. But we gotta move fast.”
Another beep. Disdain.
Alexander blinked at Droney. “What? I’m not playing around. These are very important tests.”
A third beep, longer than the others.