Sky Forever

Chapter 23: Fire

The city was now in sight. The mammoth of a tower was shadowing the rest of the city as usual. We were now so close we could see the walls and the gate.

"Surely they're going to see us coming." I said.

"Of course they are." Amber said, "But they won't be prepared."

We pushed on. I was starting to feel a little buzz of adrenaline brewing within me. I'd never been in a battle before.

We reached the city.

"Men! Climb!" Woodlock ordered.

The soldiers in the front lines started clambering up the side of the gates. Suddenly, something orange flew through the air from the tower. As it got closer, I realised it was a flaming arrow. It struck one of the men. He instantly went up in flames, screaming, and fell from the wall. Then, more arrows started flying from within the city towards us all. Flames engulfed the front lines.

The war was on.

Hundreds upon hundreds of arrows were fired. Woodlock was barking orders but he was barely heard over the screams of agony and the crackling of the flames. The entire gate was now ablaze. I had no idea what to do.

Then the unthinkable happened.

There was an explosion behind us. I looked back. The System Uncontrollable was on fire and it was descending fast. It had been hit.

"NO!" Amber yelled.

Boooom!

The flaming ship collided with the ground with a huge crash. Parts flew out everywhere. Amber rushed in its direction. I followed. As we got there, we saw Ryder crawling out from the ruined entrance hatch.

"Help!" He coughed.

Amber and I each grabbed a hand and pulled, but he was buried under something. He cried out in pain as we tugged.

"He's stuck!" I yelled. I could feel the heat of the flames on my face.

From behind us, there was a shout. I looked back to see Janey lumbering towards us.

"What's happening?!" She shouted.

"Ryder's trapped!" Amber shouted back, "We need your help!"

Without any reply, Janey threw herself against the metal surrounding Ryder. It broke with a clang, allowing Ryder to scramble out of the wreckage. He coughed and spluttered as we dragged him to his feet.

I looked back at the gate. Some of our men were making it over the top into the city, but some were still falling and being shot down. Then I noticed some men who weren't in the same uniform coming back over the wall. Instead, they were in all black and had a wasp emblem on their chests. Homunculus' men. They clambered over, brandishing swords, striking people down.

 Amber gave Ryder the sword she'd picked out and unsheathed her dagger.

"It's time to fight." She said.

"Don't die!" I said.

"Wasn't planning on it." She replied, "As long as you don't die either!"

She smirked at me and ran off to join the battle. I grabbed my bow and slipped an arrow out of the quiver on my back. It had been ages since I'd fired an arrow, quite possibly over a year. I had lost my last bow in the Madwoods and hadn't been able to find a new one since.

I inserted the arrow, took aim towards one of the Wasp Men, and shot. It whistled through the air and struck him between the eyes. He fell back over the wall.

"That was impressive!" Ryder said, clutching his side.

I looked around to see that he, Janey and Lonely Soul had been watching me. Janey picked up her club and stomped towards the violence.

"Are you okay to fight?" I asked Ryder.

"Yeah..." He said.

He picked up the sword.

"I've never actually used a sword before." He admitted.

"It's not that hard." I said. That was a lie. Sword fighting was quite challenging.

Another explosion sounded. We all looked and watched as part of the wall next to the gate collapsed and our men started flooding into the city. I spotted Amber running with the crowd and without hesitation I ran after her.

I wasn't going to lose her.