sand and straight towards them. It would crush them all in moments.
Sound crashed back into his ears like a tidal wave .
“ Kane, mo ve your ass !” Sol shouted. The criminal hel d Jade ’s arm in one hand and had Maur over his shoulder.
Ronan ran at Kane and tackled him, knocking the wind from his lungs . T hey both roll ed out of the path of the flaming wreckage. He saw an inverted image of the burning ship as it slid and tumbl ed down the dune . Black fire plumed into the air. Drifts of ash came down like snowflakes.
The f liers approached , and t he tank drew within a few hundred yards . C hains dangled from the cannons and tore the sand. S hadowy Razorwings soared in low and nearly touched the ground with their oily black bodies. Kane saw dark armored vampire riders with bladed hand-cannons and serrated swords.
Jade’s spirit was the first to strike. Undulating saws of purple light cut a swath across the sand . The Razorwings avoided the attack with ease , but she bought the team enough time to split and run in different directions.
Her arcane blades kicked up a dust storm that twisted violently into the air . The storm expanded until it enveloped the entire crash site . Kane couldn’t see more than a few yards out , but he knew that meant he couldn’t be seen , either . The sand somehow stayed out of his eyes and throat , which meant Jade shielded them from the storm’s effects .
Kane and Ronan lost sight of the others, but he knew Jade would be able to find them – he felt her telepathic presence at the edge of his mind.
The sound of the tank fa ded as it struggled through the desert storm, and the fliers’ reptilian cries echoed in the distance as they desperately search ed for the ir prey .
Kane and Ronan kept low and used the dunes for cover. They saw the silhouettes of the fliers in the grit -filled sky and heard the metal roar of massive wheels, but the sand mist concealed them , and soon they moved a safe distance away from the crash .
The dunes were steep and difficult to cross . Kane and Ronan ran up and down sand drifts , muscles aching and out of breath, until they found themselves in a shallow stone valley made of blasted stone , either an ancient riverbed or a fault line that cut straight down into the sand like a crack .
They only had to wait a few minutes before the others caught up with them . Miraculously, they hadn’t been followed.
Whirling patterns of blue -and- white rock poked through the sand . Deep shadows flowed like water through the breaks in the milky stone. The ground in the small valley was hard and cold, and they actually discovered traces of black ice.
They hid there in the crevice, concealed in side fissures in the rock. They heard the growl of some great aerial beast – not a Razorwing, and no thing that any of them recognized, but they decided they’ d rather not find out what it was – and huddled together as icy wind scraped past them.
After a while , everything was quiet. Jade’s storm faded to a drift of angry wind. Kane saw how pale and out of breath she was. No doubt she was fatigued from using her magic so much.
They waited another hour before they finally emerged . The afternoon had drawn long , and t he liquid sun hung frozen in the silver sky . Kane felt the chill of the ocean wind as surely as if they stood at the shore , but he guessed they were still a few miles out …and that was when he realized he didn’t actually have a clue where they were.
“Do you know our location , Jade?” he asked. “I completely lost my bearings when we ran away from the crash.”
“With no supplies,” Sol nodded glumly.
“Shit,” Ronan said.
“Damn it,” Kane echoed.
“Maur is not pleased.”
“I’m with Maur,” Ronan said. “Do we even know where the ship is now? We’ve been running around the dunes for a couple of hour s .”
“Jade?” Kane asked quietly. She
Sound crashed back into his ears like a tidal wave .
“ Kane, mo ve your ass !” Sol shouted. The criminal hel d Jade ’s arm in one hand and had Maur over his shoulder.
Ronan ran at Kane and tackled him, knocking the wind from his lungs . T hey both roll ed out of the path of the flaming wreckage. He saw an inverted image of the burning ship as it slid and tumbl ed down the dune . Black fire plumed into the air. Drifts of ash came down like snowflakes.
The f liers approached , and t he tank drew within a few hundred yards . C hains dangled from the cannons and tore the sand. S hadowy Razorwings soared in low and nearly touched the ground with their oily black bodies. Kane saw dark armored vampire riders with bladed hand-cannons and serrated swords.
Jade’s spirit was the first to strike. Undulating saws of purple light cut a swath across the sand . The Razorwings avoided the attack with ease , but she bought the team enough time to split and run in different directions.
Her arcane blades kicked up a dust storm that twisted violently into the air . The storm expanded until it enveloped the entire crash site . Kane couldn’t see more than a few yards out , but he knew that meant he couldn’t be seen , either . The sand somehow stayed out of his eyes and throat , which meant Jade shielded them from the storm’s effects .
Kane and Ronan lost sight of the others, but he knew Jade would be able to find them – he felt her telepathic presence at the edge of his mind.
The sound of the tank fa ded as it struggled through the desert storm, and the fliers’ reptilian cries echoed in the distance as they desperately search ed for the ir prey .
Kane and Ronan kept low and used the dunes for cover. They saw the silhouettes of the fliers in the grit -filled sky and heard the metal roar of massive wheels, but the sand mist concealed them , and soon they moved a safe distance away from the crash .
The dunes were steep and difficult to cross . Kane and Ronan ran up and down sand drifts , muscles aching and out of breath, until they found themselves in a shallow stone valley made of blasted stone , either an ancient riverbed or a fault line that cut straight down into the sand like a crack .
They only had to wait a few minutes before the others caught up with them . Miraculously, they hadn’t been followed.
Whirling patterns of blue -and- white rock poked through the sand . Deep shadows flowed like water through the breaks in the milky stone. The ground in the small valley was hard and cold, and they actually discovered traces of black ice.
They hid there in the crevice, concealed in side fissures in the rock. They heard the growl of some great aerial beast – not a Razorwing, and no thing that any of them recognized, but they decided they’ d rather not find out what it was – and huddled together as icy wind scraped past them.
After a while , everything was quiet. Jade’s storm faded to a drift of angry wind. Kane saw how pale and out of breath she was. No doubt she was fatigued from using her magic so much.
They waited another hour before they finally emerged . The afternoon had drawn long , and t he liquid sun hung frozen in the silver sky . Kane felt the chill of the ocean wind as surely as if they stood at the shore , but he guessed they were still a few miles out …and that was when he realized he didn’t actually have a clue where they were.
“Do you know our location , Jade?” he asked. “I completely lost my bearings when we ran away from the crash.”
“With no supplies,” Sol nodded glumly.
“Shit,” Ronan said.
“Damn it,” Kane echoed.
“Maur is not pleased.”
“I’m with Maur,” Ronan said. “Do we even know where the ship is now? We’ve been running around the dunes for a couple of hour s .”
“Jade?” Kane asked quietly. She
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