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

The Sky Raiders: 35

Me and Mira had our swords out, and Cole kept his bow ready. The Vulture was probably within range now, as were two of the lifeboats. But many of the legionnaires had bows. If everyone started shooting, I doubted whether me and my friends would survive.
Mira stood up. "Back away from us!" she shouted. "Leave us alone or we'll enter the cloudwall!"
A man on the Vulture raised his voice to answer. He had gray hair and a prominent nose.
"We would rather take you alive, child, but we can't help it if you destroy yourself. Do what you must."
"Take us in," Mira muttered. "Hurry."
"You sure?" Jace whispered back. "Even if they kill the rest of us, you might still live."
"I'm not so sure," Mira said, "I'll take my chances with the cloudwall. Don't let them get too close. Go for it."
I glanced over at the Cloudwall. It was less than a minute away. The closer they got to the foggy barrier, the clearer it became that the wall
wasn't perfectly flat—some indistinct mistiness on the surface caught the glow of the sunset. Did that mean there might be a hazy space before the true cloudwall began, a place where they could hide?
"Don't be fools!" the man from the Vulture cried.
"You don't want to suffer a horrible death in that darkness. Mira, if you come to me, I will spare the four slaves who aided you."
"I don't believe you!" Mira yelled back.
"I am Commander Rainier, highest-ranked officer of the legion," the man replied loudly. "It is well within my power to make this deal. I swear by my office and by my good name,
before all witnesses present, that your four companions will be returned to their master unharmed if you end this folly
and turn yourself in."
Arms hugging her chest, Mira glanced down at the others.
"Don't give in for me," Jace said, still guiding the lifeboat at full speed toward the cloudwall.
"Me either," I said.
"Not me either." Cole said.
"Up to you." Twitch said.
Mira scrunched her eyebrows and stared down.
"I'm willing to chance it, but it's not fair to force you guys into this."
"He's pulling your strings," Jace said. "Don't let him use us against you. If you give up because of me, I swear I'll jump. Plus, he could be lying. Who knows? Maybe we'll survive the cloudwall. Forget about us. Do what you want."
"No thanks!" Mira called
"Stop them!" Commander Rainier roared. "Stop them at all costs!"
Grappling hooks came flying through the air, three from the Vulture, one from a lifeboat. One grapnel missed. Jace kicked another that would have landed in the stern, knocking it away. Two fell inside the lifeboat and pulled tight against
the side, instantly slowing us down. I drew my Jumping Sword, and severed one of the lines attached to the grapnel. Mira cut the other one.
All the vessels converged at top speed. More grappling hooks came flying. Cole batted one out of the air with his sword. Twitch nimbly caught another and tossed it aside. A few fell short. When one caught hold of the lifeboat again,
Mira promptly slashed the line.
"Fools!" Commander Rainier shouted.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the murky surface of the cloudwall perhaps five seconds away. Was this how we would die? Would it hurt? Would we even know we had been killed? We had to hope that they could duck out of sight and lurk at the edge of the cloudbank until nightfall.
I looked back at the Vulture, where Commander
Rainier had a hand extended toward them, face distorted with panic and anger. I realized that with my Jumping Sword, the Vulture was comfortably within range. What if I took my
chances with the legionnaires? No, that wouldn't end well. Having lost Mira, they would make an example of us. Mira and Twitch pulled me down. Only then did realize I that the others were no longer standing. They were bracing themselves. Sheathing my sword, I followed their example.
"Hold on!" Jace yelled. "Here we go!"
The prow of the Fair-Weather Friend nosed into the mist. Everything became hazy. I could hardly see Mira beside me. A moment later, damp darkness completely enveloped them. Looking back, I  could no longer see outside the
cloudwall. I couldn't even see my own hands.
"Turn!" Twitch urged in the darkness. "Slow down! We mustn't go in too far."
"I'm trying," Jace replied, voice strained. "It won't respond."
Their speed was increasing. Damp air whistled by them. The lifeboat lurched and shuddered.
"Hang on!" Mira said.
Gripping the side of the lifeboat, I stayed low and
wedged myself into the most secure position I could manage. The wind became a moist gale, roaring in my ears. The lifeboat rattled, jerked, and jolted. I was on a nightmare bobsled ride without a track or a finish line.
What if we fell? Would we tumble through damp darkness until we starved? Would our fate be any different if I held on?
The lifeboat whooshed onward. It didn't feel like they were turning much. I  only saw black. My clothes and hair became soaked by the mist. I thought i heard Jace shouting, but the words were lost in gale.
The Fair-Weather Friend quaked and groaned.
And then the cloudy darkness lifted, though the Lifeboat did not slow down. Eyes squinted against the damp wind, I glimpsed a distant castle in the twilight, surrounded by wide grounds with walls and fences, fountains and statues, lawns and trees. My eyes registered the encouraging sight in a flash before the nose of the lifeboat dipped down toward a swirling funnel that yawned larger than a football stadium. It was like beholding the inside of a tornado- the howling suction whirled down, down, down into infinite darkness. Wispy streams of vapor from the rear of the cloudwall flowed into the chaotic funnel, along with the Fair-Weather Friend.
Jace was on his feet, wrenching at the controls. "It wont budge!" he yelled in frustration, face flushed with effort. I got up and went to help him, but he was right. The controls wouldn't move.
Rocketing faster than ever, the lifeboat reached the rim of the funnel and began circling down into the enormous mouth. Looking around frantically, I saw no escape. We were already too low to view the castle. With each revolution, the lifeboat sank deeper into the funnel. Despite
the immense size of their circular path, we streaked fast enough to feel the mighty G forces of the constant turn. Mira yelled something, and Jace shouted something else, all words lost in the cacophony of swirling air and water. I clung to Jace like he was my lifeline. Other objects descended with us, hugging the blurred walls of the endless vortex a damaged wagon, an embroidered carpet, a stuffed tiger, an irregular jumble of timbers, a copper birdbath. Some of the debris seemed to hold steady or even rise, but the lifeboat was definitely in a downward spiral.
With no warning, the Fair-Weather Friend rammed into a huge church bell, which crumpled the prow and produced a mellow gong. The impact sent me and Jace over the side of the lifeboat, tumbling into the gloomy throat of the funnel.
I'm pretty sure I screamed. But it was to loud to know. I managed to grab Jaces arm while we were falling and clung to him. I looked up and saw Twitch leaping from the boat, with wings on his back.
What the—Twitch has wings?! Is that his special item? I thought.
Twitch reached us just before we joined the frenetic wall of the vortex. Wings fluttering, gradually losing altitude, Twitch toted us toward the center of the funnel. The lifeboat rapidly left us behind as it continued with the wild swirl of the maelstrom. We were there long enough to see the Fair-Weather Friend split down the middle, the two halves flying apart. For a moment, Mira and Cole glided through the air, Cole with his bow hovering in front of him.
He grabbed it and yelled something that couldn't heard.
Suddenly I found myself entangled in a net.