The Outskirts: The Sky Raiders (Jace x OC)

Part 41 *

The nearest of a ragged mob of skeletons approached from only a few paces away. The instant my feet hit the ground again, I drew my sword, pointed it toward a bare spot on a nearby slope, and shouted, "Away!" I soared over the rattling gang of skeletons and landed on my knees into some tall brush beside a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich that was the length of a bed. I was near enough to feel the cold radiating from it despite the warmth of the sun. We would do what we had trained to do at times like this. We would run. And who knew? Maybe we would make it.
Looking back, I saw Mira pointing at the Tyrannosaurus. I pointed my sword and shouted the command. I landed by Mira.
The Shaper's Fail hurtled through the air in a tangle of sturdy chains and iron balls, and wrapped around its legs. The gigantic plastic T-Rex pitched forward, carving a trench in the ground just shy of the road.
Having changed course, the stegosaurus now chased Cole, who was using his sword, and Twitch, who hopped ahead of it with tremendous leaps assisted by his wings. Jace made his way toward me and Mira, lashing skeletons with his golden rope and flinging them into one another.
A rustling behind me warned me just in time to dodge the downswing of an ax wielded by a skeleton in a conquistador's helmet. While the skeleton tried to pull the ax from the ground, I hacked off its head. Bony hands grasping, the
headless conquistador staggered toward me, and I kicked it to the ground.
Mira recalled the Shaper's Flail and sent it into a vicious circle around herself, me, and Jace.
The whirling iron balls blasted bones into fragments, and the chains clotheslined dozens of skeletons, hurling them to the ground.
I turned and spotted Cole and Twitch on top of a giant cheesecake.
"There!" I yelled to Mira and Jace. Mira called off the Flail, and I ran toward the cheesecake and shouted the command. I curved down toward the cheesecake, and when I landed, I sunk up to my knees. Cole yanked me out of it, and if I stepped lightly, I could walk on top of it.
Mira came bounding across the field below and sprang to the top of the cheesecake. Jace's rope fell into numerous spirals at his feet, then uncoiled like a giant spring, propelling him to the top of the cheesecake as well.
"They don't care about the autocoach anymore,"
Mira noted.
I saw the trotting brick still on the road, disappearing into the trees. I noticed Cole had left his bow inside.
"No fun for them without us in it," Jace said. He crouched and scooped up some cheesecake in his palm. "At least we get to try this." He took a bite. "Wow, not bad!"
Below, the Tyrannosaurus came raging over to the cheesecake. It wasn't tall enough to reach us, but it came close enough to make it scary. Roaring and snapping, it leaped in vicious frustration, scattering many of the climbing skeletons.
"Flail, attack," Mira said, pointing downward.
The Shaper's Flail stormed by, battering skeletons away from the cheesecake wall with a spray of shattered bone.
"With the flail, maybe we can hold out up here," Cole said.
"Not for long," Twitch said. "See how big the lizard on four legs is chewing away the base?
They'll tear the cake right out from under us."
"He's right," Mira said. "The Flail doesn't seem to hurt the huge lizards. It just knocks them down and scuffs them up a little."
"They're not lizards." I said laughing. "They're plastic dinosaurs. Giant toys."
"They seem really fun," Mira said sarcastically.
"No," Cole tried to explain. "Normally, they're little and plastic, and kids make them attack other toys. These ones are the size of the real things."
"Those are dinosaurs?" Jace asked. "I've never seen one. You have them in your world?"
"Had them," I corrected. "They're extinct. We only know about them from fossils. These are big toy versions. Which might be worse than the real thing. Actual dinosaurs had bones and could bleed."
"Guys! Focus! You can give us a history lecture later!" Twitch called.
The cheesecake shuddered as the Tyrannosaurus stopped leaping upward and ripped directly into it, biting and clawing. The stegosaurus had burrowed partially out of sight, tunneling furiously into the base of the enormous slice.
Mango fluttered down and landed on Mira's shoulder.
"I found the route with the least enemies. At least for the moment. I'll scout as we go. If you're fast enough, I might be able to guide you out of here."
"The bird is our best chance," Jace said.
I looked down. Skeletal hordes besieged the cheesecake, backed by an endless flow of reinforcements.
I didn't want to go down among all those fearsome creatures. It was pandemonium.
Anything could happen, almost all of it bad.
Right now the battle felt paused. But if they sat still, the cheesecake would be eroded, and we'd be toast. Although a big part of me wanted to stay put, because it made the monsters seem farther away, I also understood that our only chance was to keep running.
"You're right," I said.
"I agree," Twitch added. "Mango's our new best friend."
Cole turned to Mira. "How good are the swords at jumping from a high place to a low place?"
"Not bad," she said. "They'll brake you at the end, like with any jump. Leaping down looks worse than jumping up, and kind of feels worse, but you'll survive."
"Skeletons!" Twitch shouted.
Several were scrambling over the top of the back of the cheesecake slice. Mira directed the flail at them and sent them flying, but more replaced them.
"Time to bail," Jace said. "Mango?"
"Follow me," the cockatiel said, flapping to the opposite side of the cheesecake from the dinosaurs and perching on the edge. "Looks good. Ready?"
"Go," Mira ordered.
The bird took flight. Mira pointed her Jumping Sword at a downward angle, shouted the command word, and then whooshed toward a fairly empty clearing screened by trees.
I aimed my sword at the same destination. It felt like jumping off a building. Instead of falling straight down, the sword tugged me forward in a long, sloping descent. My legs brushed the treetops at the edge of the clearing, and I landed hard, but managed to stay on my feet.
Twitch landed near me, as did Jace, who swung down with his rope connected to tree branches.
Mira pointed at Mango and jumped again, this time low and far. Cole imitated our jumps and stumbled to a halt against a tree.
Skeletons dressed as pirates hustled my way.
Some wore scarves on their skulls. One had a captain's hat and a peg leg from the knee down.
Most were armed with knives and cutlasses.
Jace passed me, his rope ensnaring distant tree trunks, then shortening and carrying him along.
Twitch buzzed by overhead. I extended my sword and jumped again, slicing along a narrow line between the trees.
Another jump and we reached a field filled with the most expansive playground equipment
I had ever seen.
The complicated arrangement of slides, ladders, tunnels, climbing walls, tire swings, poles, knotted ropes, trampolines, monkey bars, and balance beams would have filled a city block, and it had to be ten stories high, all linking together to form a soaring maze. It would be the ultimate setting for an epic game of tag, but skeletons trying to tag us to death limits the fun.
Mira jumped high onto the playset, landing on a bouncy bridge made from rope and wood planks. The Shaper's Flail followed her unobtrusively. I joined her, grateful for the gentler landing that came with heading upward.
"Hey!" a voice called.
I whirled around, surprised. The broad face of a freckled girl with auburn hair in braids poked out at me from the mouth of a tube slide. She looked a couple years older than me, maybe sixteen or so.
"Who are you?" Mira asked.
"I can help," the girl said. "But you have to come now." She didn't sound scared. If anything, she seemed a bit bossy.
"Who are you?" Mira repeated.
"It's not a trick," she said. "I'm Amanda, Brady's sitter."
"His babysitter?" Cole verified.
"Not actually," Amanda said. "He modeled me after her. I helped protect him. I saw you
getting chased and thought you could use a hand. The whole place will join the hunt soon."
The bridge suddenly swayed, and I turned to see Jace close behind me, looking skeptical.
"Who's this?" He asked.
Amanda's eyes widened slightly as she glanced over my shoulder at him. I rolled my eyes. I mean obviously he was attractive, but for whatever weird reason, it made me annoyed that she had noticed it too.
"Brady's babysitter," I said, glancing back at him.
"Now or never," Amanda said, glancing out of the tube slide.
"She says she can help us," Mira said.
"Only if you hurry," Amanda said.
"Would you put on this shawl?" Cole asked, fingering the clasp at his throat.
"Why?" Amanda snorted. "What's it going to do to me?"
Without a good answer, Cole shrugged.
Amanda huffed. "Not interested. I was just trying to do you a favor. The worst of them aren't on your trail yet—the mud people, the Blind Ones, the flying squid-faced monsters. It would be a shame for you guys to die. Especially you." She said pointing at Jace.
He just looked away, but I knew that he knew what she was implying.
"We'll come," Mira said.
Amanda started sliding.
"You sure?" Jace asked me.
"Sure enough," I said. Mira swung herself into the slide and disappeared. The Shaper's Flail slithered in after her. I shrugged at Jace, who still looked uncertain, then swung myself down after her.
The metal tunnel circled down, down, down, until I suddenly fell into a ball pit in underground room lit by a blue bulb. Mira was already there.
Mira helped me out, and I had barely gotten out of the way when Jace came flying down the slide, way faster than I had. He landed in the ball pit with a big 'oof", and he was half upside down. Me and Mira burst out laughing, even Amanda laughed a little.
"A little fast, don't you think?" I asked, laughing as he struggled to flip himself right side up.
"Not a word." Jace warned.
I held out a hand to help him up, and he took it, with a sly grin on his face. Suddenly, he pulled me in the pit in top of him. Our faces were inches apart. Had we not had company, I probably would have kissed him then and there.
But, Mira was watching us with an amused expression, and Amanda was glaring, which made me smile. Mira pulled me out of the pit, laughing.
"Let me help you." Amanda said, shoving past us and holding a hand out to Jace.
"Uhm, sure." He said, taking her hand and climbing out.
"So, who are you?" Amanda said to him, with a flip of her hair.
I exchanged a glance with Mira, trying my best to cover a laugh. Jace's expression was hilarious. He looked like he would rather be fighting plastic T-Rex's then talking to her.
"This is great," I said with a small laugh.
She smirked. "He is so not interested."
"You know who he likes?" I asked, trying to hide my disappointment.
"Yep. He's head over heels." She said.
"Oh." I was less than excited to hear this, but I pushed any thoughts about it out of my head.
Twitch came next, slower than Jace, Then Cole.
"Electricity?" Cole asked, looking at the bulb.
"He faked it." Amanda said. "The bulb doesn't have wires. But it never goes out. This way."
She led us through an obstacle course of cramped tunnels, funhouse mirrors, and pivoting panels. All of it was underground. She kept scolding us to go faster.
I fell in step with Jace. "Looks like you have an admirer."
He grinned. "You don't sound surprised."
I snorted. "Are you kidding? I'm not. You shouldn't be either."
A smirk grew on his face. "And why's that?"
"Because you're . . ." I didn't know what to say. "You're . . . you."
He hummed, looking amused. "Are you implying that I'm good looking?"
I glared at him. "I'm implying that you aren't bad looking."
"And what about me makes me 'not bad looking'?" He asked, slowing his pace.
I could've started naming off every single one of his traits, but I didn't, because he couldn't know I liked him. "You're tall." I started.
He nodded with fake seriousness. "Go on."
"You're funny. You have that messy hair look that girls love. Your eyes are . . ." I wasn't sure how to word it. "Intense."
"Intense?" He repeated with a smirk. "Is that why you never look me in the eyes?"
That surprised me. "I do."
His dark gaze settled on me, gleaming with mischievousness. My face flushed, and I glanced away.
He grinned. "See? You get all blushy."
I groaned, and I was certain my face was on fire. "Like I said. Your eyes are intense."
He hummed, and I knew he didn't believe me.
"Shut up." I mumbled, and he laughed.
We kept walking, and occasionally we would see where other slides from the playground above gave access. At last, we reached a wide empty sandbox. Amanda stood in the corner and started sinking.
"Quicksand box," she explained before her head disappeared.
Mira stepped forward, but Jace pushed ahead.
"Let me check it out."
He sank as quickly as Amanda. "I think its okay."
Jace said when he was down to his chest. "No pain. I can feel space beneath me."
The sand was at his neck, and then he was gone.
Mira went next, followed by Twitch. I heard clattering on the slides and in the tunnels behind us. It had to be skeletons.
Then it was my turn. I took a deep breath, then stepped into the sand, and sunk just as fast as everyone else. It was only a few moments before I rejoined my friends on the other side.
I reached up to get the sand out of my hair, but I was surprised to find none.
"Don't bother," Twitch told me. "We came through clean."
Gymnastics pads covered the floor and walls of the otherwise bare room. Light came from glowing cubes in the corners. A smooth square of sand in the ceiling showed how we had entered the room.
Cole came down a few moments later, and Amanda immediately started walking.
"Come on," she said, showing that one of the pads in the wall swiveled when pressed. "Stop wasting time."
I decided I didn't like her.
We kept walking until we reached a bright room full of couches, stuffed animals, and beanbag chairs. "We're safe here." Amanda said.
I sunk into one of the beanbag chairs and curled my knees to my chest. Everyone else sat down as well.
"Do you hide here all the time?" Mira asked.
"I move around," Amanda said. "It gets boring without Brady."
"What happened to him?" Twitch wondered.
A flash of grief distorted Amanda's features, but she shook it off. "They got him. He couldn't stop making up bad guys. I tried to help him. He made me to help him."
"How old was he?" Cole asked.
"Six," Amanda said. "He was so good at making things here in Dreamland."
"You think this is a dream?" Mira asked.
"He did," Amanda said. "He said he got here by dreaming. He was always waiting to wake up. I thought he must be right until they got him and the dream kept going."
"He was making real things," Mira said. "We call it shaping. The living things are semblances and the nonliving are renderings."
"Whatever," Amanda said, apparently not too interested. "I've been here alone a long time.
Nothing changes. I don't get older. I can't leave.
I've tried. So I just hide out. I've learned how to survive pretty good. Much better than when Brady was with me."
"Did he slow you down?" Cole asked.
"Not really," Amanda said. "We would find ways to avoid the bad stuff he made, but then he'd dream up new creatures that were smarter or had new skills. He couldn't help it. Once he was gone, the monsters stopped improving, and my job got easier."
"Are there others like you here?" Mira asked.
"Good semblances?"
"He made a few heroes, but they eventually got killed." Amanda said. "They were too bold.
There's nobody left on my side. But it looked like you guys necded help, and he made me to watch over little kids."
Jace rolled his eyes. "We aren't little."
"Play along," Twitch murmured softly.
"No kids think they're little," Amanda said. "I'm sixteen. That's when you're finally big. You guys are what? Twelve?"
Jace shook his head. "Yeah, hate to break it to you, but most of us are only a year younger than you. So cut the crap."
That seemed to catch her off guard. She huffed and turned away. I could barely hold back a laugh. Something about seeing Jace stick it to her was oddly satisfying.
"Are we stuck here?" Mira asked.
"I am," Amanda said. "I can't cross the border of Dreamland. You guys aren't. I'll teach you a trick that'll let you walk right out of here. But first, anybody want some popcorn?"
"Some what now?" Twitch asked.
"Yes," I said. "Popcorn is good."
Amanda walked into a neighboring room. "You five came from outside Dreamland?"
"Yeah," Cole said.
"What's out there?"
"Other weird stuff," Cole said.
Amanda returned with four bowls, two in her hands, two on her forearms.
"You don't think we're part of a dream?"
"Feels that way sometimes," Mira said.
"Especially this place. But it's all real."
"Don't all dream people think they're real?"
Amanda asked.
"How can characters in a dream tell how real they are? Brady thought he was the dreamer. I couldn't argue with him since he made me. He used lots of good details. I can remember what it was like to be awake, even though I've never woken. I started to wonder if he was dreaming inside of somebody else's dream. That would make me a dream of a dream."
"You're hurting my brain," Twitch said.
Amanda gave a brash laugh. "I know how you feel! Don't worry, if you think you're real, who am I to contradict you? I don't care how real you are. It's nice to find anyone that isn't trying to kill me."
"You mentioned we could walk out of here," Mira said. "Were you serious?"
Amanda narrowed her eyes. "You're not spies, are you? Did the bad guys send you to learn my secrets?"
"You said there haven't been new enemies here since Brady left," Cole reminded her.
"True," Amanda said. "After Brady left, this place stopped changing. Maybe you are real! The only other people who've come from outside were grown-ups. If they can't outsmart a dinosaur, that's their problem."
"How can we walk out of here?" Mira asked.
"Easy," Amanda said, leaving the room for a moment. She returned with plastic skeleton masks. "Wear these."
"Are you kidding?" Cole exclaimed. "They followed us when we were in our autocoach.
That hid us way better than a mask!"
"If you're so smart, maybe I'm wrong," Amanda said. "Maybe these masks haven't worked perfectly for years and years."
"You're a semblance," Twitch pointed out. "They probably don't chase you whether or not you have a mask."
"They didn't chase Bertram," Cole added.
"I don't know Bertram," Amanda said. "Maybe Brady didn't make him. Brady made me as a companion. His nightmares always chased me.
They still chase me if I don't wear a mask. But when I have a mask on, they do nothing. None of them. We came up with the idea right before the Blind ones got Brady. He thought it would work,
so it did. It's his Dreamland after all. And then he wasn't around to make any of the bad guys outsmart the trick."
"We just wear plastic skull masks and walk out of here?" Cole checked.
"Yep," Amanda said. "But first try some popcorn."