The Outskirts: The Sky Raiders (Jace x OC) BOOK 1

The Sky Raiders: 34

Jace nodded. "We'll head as far away from the Brink as we can. A lifeboat is a bit faster than the big skycraft. We'll veer toward the Eastern Cloudwall. It's almost twice as far from us as the Western Cloudwall, so we'll have more room
to maneuver. Plus, there are more castles that way."
"How many do you count east of us?" Twitch asked.
"Five," Jace replied.
"Six," Twitch said, pointing. "You probably missed that little one down low."
Jace leaned eastward and squinted. "You're right,
missed that one. Not that it matters. It's almost to the Cloudwall. We couldn't get there before it vanishes."
"Do you think we could hide out at one of the castles?" I asked
"Might be worth a try as a last resort," Mira said. "The problem is that any castle safe enough to hide us will probably be easy to attack. We could end up cornered."
"If they have a bunch of skycraft, they might corner us in the air," Cole said. "Maybe one of the castles has defenses, like the catapults at Parona."
"It might be worth checking out," Jace said. "But only because we have so few options."
"This won't be easy," Mira said. "I'm sorry."
"You didn't make us come." Cole said to her. Jace and Twitch nodded in agreement.
"Why'd you stick your neck out for me?" Mira said.
Jace shrugged, looking away from her. "Your like my sister. They had no proof you belonged to them. It made me mad to think of them taking you away."
"It made you mad, so you attacked legionnaires and ran away with us?" Mira said, trying to stifle a laugh.
"I have a bad temper," Jace mumbled. Me and Mira giggled.
"And I had already agreed to go. We just had to leave sooner than expected." I said.
"I knew something was up!" Jace exclaimed and we all laughed. It was silent for a few moments.
"Did you really used to belong to the High Shaper?" Twitch asked.
"Who are you to probe at secrets?" Mira complained.
Twitch gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm one of the guys who ran away with you and might get killed for it. I'm just wondering if their claim is legit."
"The High Shaper knows me," Mira said. "I was never his slave. I shouldn't say more. It could put you in even greater danger."
"Here come the skycraft, " I said, watching as the Vulture, the Borrower, and the even the damaged Domingo glided out of the landing bay openings and away from the cliff.
"We're in hot water already," Jace said. "We'll probably end up captured, falling, or dead. What's the Big Shaper's attachment to you?"
"It's complicated," Mira said. "I'm not really a slave. The mark is real, but it's a cover. Durny was helping me hide. Is that enough?"
"I guess, if it's all you want to spill," Jace said.
"Did you know that guy from Zeropolis? Joe?"
"I've never seen him before," Mira said, glancing at me. "I think he knows who I am."
"I hope so." Jace chuckled. "He probably got himself killed for you." He paused. "The High Shaper sent four hundred legionnaires to track you down. That's the craziest part. Why would he do that for anyone?"
"It was for Carnag, too," Mira reminded him.
"Right, but the Brink is a good distance out of the way," Jace said. "They could have sent a smaller group. But all four hundred came. Why?"
"Good question, "Twitch murmured, biting his thumbnail.
Mira looked at them. "The visit from the legion means I'm in serious trouble. The less you get involved, the better. My secret isn't fun. It would make you targets for the rest of your lives."
"We'll probably get killed, anyway," Jace said. "It would be nice to know why."
Mira sighed. "Okay. Here's the short version. The High Shaper is a monster. I know some things about the death of his five daughters. He planned it. He got away with murder. I even have proof. He would do anything to keep that secret."
"You're serious," Jace said, astonished.
She nodded. "Four-hundred-legionnaires serious."
Jace looked at me suspiciously. "I take it you already knew that?"
"That part, yes." I said. "But I don't know that much more than you. And what I do know, I'm keeping a secret." Jace groaned and I smirked at him.
Everyone kept silent for a long moment.
"The skycraft are spreading out," Twitch reported. "They've deployed all the lifeboats. While heading this way, they're also cutting off any retreat to the Brink."
"Can we just keep flying away from the Brink?" Cole asked. "It looks like it goes forever."
"It might," Jace said darkly. "We can't. If we get far enough from the Brink, the sky won't hold us anymore. The same thing happens if we go too high, too low, or inland. It doesn't change all at once. We'll feel the boat start to slip when we get too far out, beyond where any of the castles go, near where the Cloudwalls end."
"The cloudwalls end?" Cole exclaimed. "Can we fo around them?"
"The skycraft won't work that far out," Twitch said "There's no way over, under, or around them."
I frowned. "So we're boxed in."
"Pretty much." Jace agreed
"Think we can dodge them until dark?" Cole wondered.
Jace stared at the oncoming skycraft. "We're about to find out."
As the sun sunk towards the horizon, Jace tried
to keep the Fair-Weather Friend away from the oncoming swarm of skycraft, which included the three large vessels, along with seven lifeboats. The plan to escape the legion by skycraft looked worse and worse as the persistent armada cut off any attempt to double back, herding them away from the Brink and toward the dead end of the Eastern Cloudwall.
From what I could see, the skycraft mostly contained uniformed legionnaires, with raiders at the controls and also manning some of the weapons on the larger vessels. The pursuing skycraft moved with ruthless coordination, climbing when they rose, dropping when they dived, crowding them toward a corner with no escape. Me and the others had checked the castles they could reach ahead of the other skycraft. One had been crafted out of black metal and looked like a certain death trap. Another had crumbled to ruins, offering scant cover. A third was made of crystal, again leaving nowhere to hide.
With the skycraft hounding them relentessly; there was no time to plan. They could only flee and pray for darkness.
The Fair Weather Friend swerved farther away from the Brink and began to shudder. It dropped jerkily, leaning hard to the right. Jace curved the little craft back toward the distant Brink.
"If we go any farther out, we'll fall." Jace said.
I looked back at where the sun had disappeared behind the Western Cloudwall. That side of the sky remained bright red and orange. It would still be close to an hour before the true darkness of night. I glanced at the other skycraft drawing nearer, leaving no room for evasion.
"They've got us," Cole said. "We don't have enough room to run until it gets dark. We have to try to break through them?
Jace shook his head. "If we charge between them, they'll just close in from all sides. We'll get swarmed. They have grappling hooks and plenty of weapons. We don't stand a chance of getting past them."
"He's right," Twitch said. "Avoiding risk is my specialty. Charging through them won't work."
The Eastern Cloudwall loomed closer than ever.
Impenetrably dark and unnaturally flat, the cloud bank stretched high and low, left and right. Cole squeezed his bow. None of the other skycraft were close enough to hit with an arrow yet, but the nearest weren't out of range by much.
"We've got maybe ten more minutes of running room."
"What else can we try?" Jace said.
"They want Mira," I said. "Maybe we can bluff. If we threaten to fly into the Cloudwall, they might back off."
"Try to stall them until it gets dark?" Mira asked.
"It's worth a shot." Jace said. "Unless anybody has another idea."
I could see no other solution. If they tried to fly
through their pursuers, they wouldn't succeed. If they tried to fight, it would be even worse. The only option was to keep flying toward the cloudwall.
What if they call our bluff?" Cole worried.
Jace frowned. "We'll have no escape. If they ignore the bluff, and we don't fly into the cloudwall, they'll swoop in and take us in seconds."
"It's a pretty weak option if we're not willing to follow through," Twitch said.
"If we fly into the cloudwall, we'll be killed," Cole said. "At least if they capture us, we'll have a chance to live."
"I might live," Mira said. "For a while. As a prisoner. They'll want to question me-try to confirm what I know and who I've told. You guys are runaway slaves. Kendal had the Commander of the legion at arrow point. Jace hurt some soldiers. Cole shot an officer. You all helped me. They know I could have shared my secret. They'll execute you."
"We don't know that going into the cloudwall will kill us," I said slowly. "We just know that no one had returned."
"Now your talking crazy." Jace said to me.
"Am I?" I countered. "They won't follow us in there. We could just go in a little, barely out of sight. It's better than letting them have us."
"We bluff first, though," Cole clarified.
"Of course," Mira said. "But if they keep coming any way, we take cover in the cloudwall. And if we can't get back out, we try to survive it."
Jace chuckled bitterly. "If you're going to die, you might as well be doing something really, really stupid."
I peered over the side of the lifeboat at the infinite drop. None of them had parachutes-
there hadn't been time to grab them. I gazed ahead at the imposing cloud wall. What dangers was it hiding? Would it grind them to atoms? Did it house deadly monsters? Or was there some
other explanation for why people never returned? Could it be a one-way portal to some other place?
As the cloudwall drew near, the other skycraft closed in.