Page 41 of Storm to Victory
“I agree. That one will work well.” Merrik swerved the aeroplane’s tilt into a turn. “Half-Breed, we’re making a low pass over the airships to the south for our drop-off.”
The flyboys and flygirls acknowledged, and the squadron closed into a tighter formation around the two-seaters.
Something both painful and somehow fiercely warm filled Fieran’s chest, watching the way his squadron skillfully flew between the crashing airships and bursts of explosions. They’d come such a long way since those first days of training at Fort Linder.
And now he was going to have to leave them behind.
The lead aeroplanes of his squadron dove among the docked airships, firing their machine guns at the dirigibles.
Under the cover of the distraction of the whole squadron flying low and close, Aylia swung toward their chosen airship. She must have cut out her engine because her aeroplane slowed. At the last moment, she flipped the aeroplane on its side as it drifted almost lazily up and over the top of the airship.
A figure dropped from the rear seat, landing in a crouch as lightly as a cat, despite the pack on his back.
Aylia’s aeroplane put on a burst of speed as she likely turned her engine back on. She regained control just before it would have plummeted toward the airship. As she sped away, she triggered her machine gun a couple of times, shooting well away from the target airship, so that it wasn’t so obvious that this particular airship wasn’t being shot at.
Even as Dacha headed for the hatch, Stickyfingers pulled the same maneuver as Aylia, cutting out his engine and drifting over the top of the airship. Uncle Edmund dropped from the second seat, landing more heavily than Dacha had, but he still came up from his roll and got to his feet without issues.
As Dacha cut off his magic, the aeroplanes that had been protected by it switched on their built-in shields. The blue glow surrounding them disappeared for only a heartbeat before reappearing. While the individual shields didn’t provide the network through the sky that the direct power from Fieran or Dacha did, the Mongavarians likely wouldn’t be able to tell that Fieran and Dacha were no longer with the squadron.
It would soon be Fieran’s turn. He pushed the talk button for the radio. “Happy flying, Half-Breed Squadron. I look forward to toasting to victory with all of you in a few weeks.”
“Take care of yourself and Pip.” Lije’s voice had a hitch to it.
“And bring back Pretty Face.” Sticky’s voice wobbled even more than Lije’s had.
Fieran’s throat closed. He wasn’t sure how he was going to leap from this aeroplane and leave all of them to fight this war without him.
But then Merrik was nearing the airship and turning off the engine.
Fieran thought about muttering a last farewell into the radio, but everything had already been said. He unplugged the cord and crouched on the seat, bracing himself with a hand on either side of the fuselage.
The two-seater bore down on the airship, even with its engine off. As they neared, Merrik skimmed within feet of the airship, then tilted the aeroplane’s nose upward, stalling the aeroplane only yards above the airship so that Fieran could make his leap.
There was only time for a brief clasp to Merrik’s shoulder. Then Fieran leapt from the aeroplane. He fell for a heartbeat before his feet touched the surface of the dirigible. He immediately turned his momentum into a roll, made awkward by the packs strapped on both his chest and back.
He came up onto one knee, glancing skyward just as the aeroplane engine roared back to life. Merrik poured on the power, one of his wings clearing the side of the dirigible by mere inches before his aeroplane regained enough control for him to pull up.
And then he was disappearing into the clouds of smoke and fire wreathing the aerodrome, one aeroplane among the many buzzing around the airships, leaving Fieran standing alone on the top of the airship.
Pip’s hearthammered so hard it throbbed through her whole body from her temple to her throat to her wrists.
How in all the dwarven kingdoms was she going to leap out of a moving aeroplane? Sure, Lije was going to all but stall it so that it would be briefly stationary above the airship, but still. This was absolutely insane.
And she didn’t even have a pack weighing her down. Fieran had offered to take both of their packs so that she could jump unhindered.
Merrik’s voice crackled over the radio. “Fieran is away.”
Pip swallowed, her heart somehow racketing up. Was it possible for a heart to pound right out of one’s chest?
Lije twisted in his seat. “Look after our major for us, will you?”
“Yeah. Don’t let him do anything too crazy,” Stickyfingers piped up over the radio as he piloted his aeroplane to fly above theirs.
“I’ll try. But you know Fieran.” The radio banter helped ease the pounding in her chest somewhat, even as emotion gripped her throat in a stranglehold. How was she going to leave her flyboys?
She reached up to touch the wrench necklace Fieran had given her, only to find the space empty. Right. She’d left behind both the necklace from Fieran and the wooden train from Mak, pressing them into Mak’s hand as they’d said their goodbyes. She hadn’t wanted to risk losing either of those items while in Mongavaria.
Still, her fingers felt empty without that necklace to fiddle with.
