There was no more argument. Mordell helped his mom and Lisa get to their feet, and then the three of them sprinted back down the passageway, heading for some place Tick hoped would protect them. Maybe the Great Hall. He turned back to the Voids in time to see another stream of fire erupting from a creature’s mouth. The lava shot forward in a violent burst, as if the thing wanted it to reach the three fleeing women.
Tick acted without thinking. He triggered something in his heart, deep within his chest, and pulled something out with his mind and soul. A spinning cloud of orange sparkles ignited into existence around his body, and he threw some of it at the flying barrage of fire and lava. They met in midair and erupted into a fireworks show, sparks dropping and dancing on the ground. But it had worked, and Lisa and his mom disappeared around the bend, with Mordell on their heels.
It was Jane and Tick now. They exchanged a glance that somehow said, Here we go again. Enemies working as allies.
They stood side by side and faced the army of gray men, the Voids from another dimension. Tick wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut and waited for the battle to begin.
Sato had pulled back his men and women, funneling them through the broken door and onto the flattened grasses outside the castle. Three of the gray men had fired spouts of flame and lava at his army, and one of the attacks had hit home, enveloping a giant woman named Erthell in fire. Two of her companions had thrown her into the river to put out the flames, and then stayed to help her back onto the bank.
Sato wasn’t running away either. Without any kind of shield to protect themselves, he wanted to fight back from cover. He and several other soldiers lined up against the wall outside the entrance to the castle, Shurrics at the ready. Even more soldiers stood right behind them, ready to jump out and throw Ragers and Squeezers—the nasty little grenades with metal hooks that contracted into whatever they hit—at the enemy to cause distraction and pain.
“Ready the volley!” Sato shouted. “As soon as they fly and ignite, we start pounding them with sound. Ready?”
“Ready!” came the roar of their reply. Tollaseat was on the other side of the broken door, and he flashed Sato a wild grin.
“Now!” Sato commanded.
Little balls full of dancing electricity and dozens of Squeezer grenades flew out of his soldiers’ hands, catapulting through the air toward the lines of gray men. At the sight of the volley, the creatures started shooting bursts of lava and fire from their mouths, squirting pure heat in all directions. Some of them hit home, incinerating the Realitant weapons on contact. But some of the weapons got through and exploded, working their magic.
A couple of Ragers hit the ground several feet in front of the first of the creatures, cracking into the rock and collecting debris like shavings to a magnet. It happened so fast, but the process never stopped wowing Sato. The little balls rolled forward in a burst until they weren’t little anymore, becoming great mounds of earth and stone that crashed into the unsuspecting gray men, throwing several to the ground and rolling over them. The ones that died seemed to explode into gray mist and were whisked up into the air, forming a small cloud. Jagged bolts of lightning crackled through the gray masses.
A few of the Squeezers made it through as well, exploding when they hit anything solid, their little metal clips flying in all directions. When they made contact with the gray skin of the creatures, the grenades’ sharp, needlelike ends contracted and squeezed. The monsters roared with pain, flames leaping out of their mouths. The entire castle rumbled from the awful sound of it. One of the creatures was hurt badly enough that it dissolved into mist and flew toward the circling cloud like its companions had done. Several clouds hovered above the castle now.
“Fire the Shurrics!” Sato yelled.
He and his fellow soldiers aimed and obeyed, shooting out blasts of pure sound waves at the creatures. The leading edges of the waves, heavy thumps that were felt instead of heard, flew forward until they slammed into a few bodies of the gray men. Most of them erupted into mist and rose to join the other lightning-laced clouds. But there were still plenty more creatures to fight, and Sato kept shooting.
He caught a glimpse of the battle raging on the other side. Streaks of sparkling orange and thick, gray bodies flew in all directions. Their screams were like the roars of a blacksmith’s forge.
Sato fired his Shurric at the enemy.
Chapter 27
Beams of Fire
The battle had begun slowly once Tick’s mom and the others were gone. The few shots of fire and lava from the mouths of the Voids were easily blocked by Jane or Tick, taking turns as if they’d done this for years. There seemed to be more action on the other side of the creatures, where Sato and his army had obviously started attacking with some of the Realitant weapons. Tick recognized the sounds of Ragers and Squeezers and that skull-rattling thump of a Shurric. And there were weird cloud shapes of gray mist hovering near the ceiling above—tiny bolts of lightning dancing within.