ass-whoopings."
"I thought we agreed to harm the fliers as little as possible," Nailan said.
I shrugged. "Just a figure of speech. Hopefully, Cephus will call most of them to guard the other crystoid."
We reached the staging area, a building shaped like a nightmare-sized tornado. I didn't see how it remained standing with such a narrow base and wide top. We were less than a block from the western buildings flattened by the crystoid, and about ten blocks from the crystoid itself, though measuring in blocks seemed pointless since only rubble remained ahead.
Nailan conferred with his scouts, concern etched in his forehead. Not the word "concern", but the facial expression.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"We expected more patrols," he said. "We avoided only four ground and three air patrols."
I hadn't seen any ground patrols since the scouts expertly led us safely past them, but I had seen the fliers. "We zigzagged a lot. Maybe we just got lucky."
He didn't look convinced. "It's likely they've concentrated most of their troops at the crystoid." Nailan whispered commands to two seraphs and they melted away into the night.
Elyssa checked the time. "Fifteen minutes," she whispered.
Those fifteen minutes stretched into eternity. Seconds after the clock hit three A.M., my super hearing picked up the low rumble of explosions echoing across the city. The others exchanged tense glances. I switched to incubus vision and found the crystoid's aether beam. It seemed massive this close to it—far larger, in fact, than the ones I'd neutralized in Eden.
"There they go," Elyssa whispered excitedly and pointed to ultraviolet wings streaking across the sky and to the east.
"I count at least forty," Nailan said.
I tried to count, but even with my enhanced vision, they were too far away and moving too fast for me to clearly pick out each flier.
Nailan noticed me squinting. "Approximating the number of enemies is a talent every scout must cultivate."
"I'm glad we have you," I admitted.
Nailan's scouts flowed from the darkness several minutes later. "Thirty Void soldiers and ten Void fliers remain," one reported.
"Now the odds are in our favor," Flava said.
Elyssa gazed at the twinkling lights vanishing into the horizon. "The fliers need another few minutes to get far enough away."
I turned to Nailan. "Is stealth an option for taking down any of the remaining guards?"
One of the scouts answered. "They are too tightly spaced around the impact crater and there are no lone patrols."
"Why is it always like that?" I muttered. In the movies, there were tons of stupid bad guys who patrolled all by themselves, only to be taken down one by one. "Just one time, I'd like to take out the guy at the back of a patrol and jerk him out of sight so fast, the others don't even realize he's gone."
Elyssa patted my shoulder. "Justin, you're an incubus, not a ninja."
"One day, Ninjette," I replied, using the nickname her brother Michael preferred for her. "One day."
She checked the sky, and the time on her phone. "It's time. Justin, get ready."
I unsheathed the rocket stick and flicked out the seat and fins. Nailan tied the webbing holding the crucibles to the bottom.
"Remember to hurl the crucibles as hard as you can," he said. "They look fragile, but they require sufficient velocity to break on impact."
"I'm familiar with them," I assured him. "Good luck."
"May the Creator see you through, Destroyer," Nailan replied.
"That's something I never expected to hear," I murmured to myself.
Elyssa pulled me in for a long kiss. "I love you. Be careful."
I pecked her nose. "Love you too, honey-boo bear."
She sighed. "I'm so happy no one else here understands that."
Chuckling, I hopped on the rocket stick. "I'll be sure to include affectionate lingo in their next English lesson." With a twist of the handle, I guided the rocket stick up along the side of the vortex building until I crested the top. There was no roof, only a dark hole through the center.
"I thought we agreed to harm the fliers as little as possible," Nailan said.
I shrugged. "Just a figure of speech. Hopefully, Cephus will call most of them to guard the other crystoid."
We reached the staging area, a building shaped like a nightmare-sized tornado. I didn't see how it remained standing with such a narrow base and wide top. We were less than a block from the western buildings flattened by the crystoid, and about ten blocks from the crystoid itself, though measuring in blocks seemed pointless since only rubble remained ahead.
Nailan conferred with his scouts, concern etched in his forehead. Not the word "concern", but the facial expression.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"We expected more patrols," he said. "We avoided only four ground and three air patrols."
I hadn't seen any ground patrols since the scouts expertly led us safely past them, but I had seen the fliers. "We zigzagged a lot. Maybe we just got lucky."
He didn't look convinced. "It's likely they've concentrated most of their troops at the crystoid." Nailan whispered commands to two seraphs and they melted away into the night.
Elyssa checked the time. "Fifteen minutes," she whispered.
Those fifteen minutes stretched into eternity. Seconds after the clock hit three A.M., my super hearing picked up the low rumble of explosions echoing across the city. The others exchanged tense glances. I switched to incubus vision and found the crystoid's aether beam. It seemed massive this close to it—far larger, in fact, than the ones I'd neutralized in Eden.
"There they go," Elyssa whispered excitedly and pointed to ultraviolet wings streaking across the sky and to the east.
"I count at least forty," Nailan said.
I tried to count, but even with my enhanced vision, they were too far away and moving too fast for me to clearly pick out each flier.
Nailan noticed me squinting. "Approximating the number of enemies is a talent every scout must cultivate."
"I'm glad we have you," I admitted.
Nailan's scouts flowed from the darkness several minutes later. "Thirty Void soldiers and ten Void fliers remain," one reported.
"Now the odds are in our favor," Flava said.
Elyssa gazed at the twinkling lights vanishing into the horizon. "The fliers need another few minutes to get far enough away."
I turned to Nailan. "Is stealth an option for taking down any of the remaining guards?"
One of the scouts answered. "They are too tightly spaced around the impact crater and there are no lone patrols."
"Why is it always like that?" I muttered. In the movies, there were tons of stupid bad guys who patrolled all by themselves, only to be taken down one by one. "Just one time, I'd like to take out the guy at the back of a patrol and jerk him out of sight so fast, the others don't even realize he's gone."
Elyssa patted my shoulder. "Justin, you're an incubus, not a ninja."
"One day, Ninjette," I replied, using the nickname her brother Michael preferred for her. "One day."
She checked the sky, and the time on her phone. "It's time. Justin, get ready."
I unsheathed the rocket stick and flicked out the seat and fins. Nailan tied the webbing holding the crucibles to the bottom.
"Remember to hurl the crucibles as hard as you can," he said. "They look fragile, but they require sufficient velocity to break on impact."
"I'm familiar with them," I assured him. "Good luck."
"May the Creator see you through, Destroyer," Nailan replied.
"That's something I never expected to hear," I murmured to myself.
Elyssa pulled me in for a long kiss. "I love you. Be careful."
I pecked her nose. "Love you too, honey-boo bear."
She sighed. "I'm so happy no one else here understands that."
Chuckling, I hopped on the rocket stick. "I'll be sure to include affectionate lingo in their next English lesson." With a twist of the handle, I guided the rocket stick up along the side of the vortex building until I crested the top. There was no roof, only a dark hole through the center.
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