Page 45 of Capture of Capricorn

Zora could only imagine the scream as the moat monster yanked the guy from the tethered line and dragged him under. His buddy, who’d emerged to watch, also wearing strangegoggles, waited his turn to cross, understandably shook his head and returned to sit in the safety of the tank.

Ha. Looked like the bad guys weren’t invading after?—

Boom! Tower shuddered.

She’d mentally celebrated too soon. The muzzle of the cannon smoked. Fuckers were shooting at Tower.

The tank fired again.

The impact once more brought a shiver to the stone all around. Not good. Those bastards were going to bring Tower down with Zora and Sage inside. She had to find the seer. Forget the library. They should think about fleeing before…

Zora abruptly halted that train of thought. Was she really going to leave Tower alone to defend itself? She might not be some bad-ass warrior with superpowers, but she wasn’t some wilting lily, yellow-bellied coward either. Think. Surely, she could think of some kind of defense.

Which was when it hit her. She was inside a building that could do magical things.

“Tower, I don’t suppose you have a missile launcher?” Because not much else would destroy an armored vessel.

One didn’t appear, but suddenly huge ballistae fired from the very walls of Tower, giant metal harpoons that struck the tank, piercing its metal shell. While they didn’t destroy, one of the embedded lances knocked the tank’s cannon askew, and even better, it couldn’t swivel back to fire.

“Nice shot! Good thinking.”

The air around her warmed for a second as if expressing Tower’s pleasure.

“Guess I should go find Sage now and tell her we foiled the attack.” If the people in the tank couldn’t cross the moat or fire on Tower, then they should be safe.

A siren went off, and she could have groaned. “I spoke too soon, didn’t I? What’s happening now?”

Tower, of course, didn’t reply, but Zora, still standing by the window, noticed approaching dark specks in the sky. Birds? Nope. As they neared, she realized some assholes now attempted to paraglide over the moat.

“Holy shit. Take ’em down,” she hollered.

Tower tried. Arrows shot from the walls with unerring accuracy, tearing into the parasail fabric, sending those clinging to the contraption plummeting to the ground on the side near the tower, narrowly missing the deadly moat.

Even worse, most of those who landed rose immediately, unclipping from their harnesses and unstrapping guns.

“Oh fuck me. It’s a fucking invasion.” And they’d come prepared.

Luckily, Tower still had more tricks up its stone sleeves. Arrows continued to fire and would have nullified the threat if they’d managed to penetrate the body armor. However, most struck and fell harmlessly to the ground. A bullet might have done it, but Tower couldn’t wield technology.

“I don’t suppose you can open pits under their feet?” she suggested.

A second later, the ground did split open, swallowing those who’d landed, but this time, Zora didn’t cheer as quickly. Would there be a third wave?

The answer came in the form of a dust cloud that turned into a couple of revving UTVs aiming for the moat. They didn’t appear to notice—or care—about the tank rendered useless. They’d soon learn the peril.

“Get ’em, Tower.”

A few ballistae launched, falling slightly short. The arrows barely made it past the moat. The ground beyond the liquid line remained intact, out of Tower’s reach. The men in the UTVs, all wearing the bulky goggles that must have been what allowed them to see Tower, began disembarking, and Zora couldn’thelp but watch despite the fact Sage waited for her and surely worried. However, locking herself away meant she couldn’t support Tower and give it suggestions for defense.

Someone holding a box and dressed in tan khaki clambered out of a vehicle. He spoke to one of the thicker guys, who nodded before pulling something from a pouch hanging from his utility belt. The man pulled back his arm and threw something, not a large object, for it barely made a splash in the moat. However, the effect? The fluid suddenly frothed, churning and bubbling before going completely still.

The man wearing khaki waved his hand, and the baddie who’d thrown the object strode to the edge of the moat and knelt. The crazy bastard stuck his hand in it, and she waited for him to get snatched.

Nothing happened.

“What the fuck? Where’s the moat monster?” she murmured. Obviously incapacitated. The flung item must have been some kind of bomb. The baddies began pulling what looked like ladders from the UTVs and snapped them together to create a bridge, not only over the moat but the ground as well. So much for reusing the pit trick.

The invaders began to cross, and Zora pursed her lips. “Might be time to make sure all the doors are locked.”

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