The Sky Above the Delta
The world was spinning.
Five thousand feet above the Rufiji Delta, the stolen Ornithopter—painted black with a red shark nose—was doing a barrel roll that defied the laws of aerodynamics.
Upepo screamed with a mixture of terror and pure, unadulterated joy.
"YEE-HAW!"
He wasn't flying the machine with the stick. He had let go of the controls entirely. He was standing in the open cockpit, his feet hooked under the dashboard, spinning his metal staff. He was manipulating the air currents directly, forcing the heavy canvas wings to beat faster than the engine allowed.
"Level out!" Bahari screamed from the rear gunner seat, clutching his stomach. "I can't aim if we're upside down!"
"Details!" Upepo laughed.
He snapped the staff, and the Ornithopter leveled out with a bone-jarring thud.
Behind them, the sky was filled with green tracers. Three enemy Ornithopters were on their tail, their propellers buzzing like angry hornets.
"Sia!" Upepo shouted over the wind. "Status!"
Sia was clinging to the landing strut on the left wing. The wind whipped her braids back, tearing at her clothes. She looked down at the dark water miles below, then back at the pursuing planes.
"Three bogies," Sia yelled, her voice snatched away by the gale. "They are forming an attack wedge. They're trying to box us in!"
"Imani!" Upepo called back. "Do you have any seeds left?"
Imani, squeezed into the tiny space behind Upepo's seat, checked her pouch. Her face was pale from the altitude.
"I have Strangler Figs!" Imani shouted. "But I can't throw them that far!"
"You don't have to," Upepo grinned, his eyes sparking with electricity. "Just drop them when I say!"
Upepo slammed his foot onto the air-brake.
The Ornithopter stopped in mid-air, hovering on a cushion of magical wind.
The three enemy planes, moving at full speed, shot past them, unable to stop in time.
"NOW!" Upepo screamed.
Imani threw a handful of seeds out of the cockpit. Upepo caught them with a gust of wind and blasted them forward, right into the open engine intakes of the passing bombers.
"Kua!" (Grow!) Imani chanted.
The effect was instantaneous and catastrophic.
Inside the hot engines of the enemy planes, the Strangler Fig seeds exploded into life. Thick, woody vines erupted from the exhaust pipes, shattering the propellers and clogging the gears.
CRUNCH. BANG.
Two of the enemy planes burst into flames as their engines seized. They spiraled down toward the swamp, trailing black smoke.
"That's two!" Bahari cheered, swinging the rear machine gun around. "One left!"
The last enemy pilot, seeing his wingmen go down, peeled off. But he didn't retreat. He turned his nose toward the coast. Toward Zanzibar.
"He's making a run for the refugees!" Sia shouted, climbing back into the cockpit as the plane banked. "He still has his payload!"
"Not on my watch," Upepo growled.
He gripped his staff. "Bahari, hold on. We're going supersonic."
The Tower of Silence
While the sky burned, the Command Tower was freezing cold.
Amani and Chacha stood in the lobby of the tower. They had ripped the door off, expecting an army.
Instead, they found a library.
The ground floor of the tower was lined with bookshelves made of dark mahogany. Old navigation charts, books on naval history, and glass cases containing sextants filled the room. The floor was polished black and white marble—a chessboard.
It was quiet. The roar of the battle outside was muffled by thick, soundproof walls.
"I don't like this," Chacha rumbled, his voice echoing too loudly. He raised his Obsidian Shield. "It's a trap."
"It's not a trap," Amani said, walking to the center of the room. He felt the gravity here. It was heavy, precise, ordered. "It's a waiting room."
CLICK.
A spotlight turned on at the top of a spiral staircase.
A voice descended.
"The Anchor and the Shield. I have read your files."
A single figure stood at the top of the stairs.
He was an Iron Marine, but twice the size of the ones on the deck. His armor was polished chrome. He held a massive, double-bladed vibro-axe.
"I am Captain Kusi," the marine announced. "The Admiral is busy directing the bombardment. You will go no further."
Chacha stepped forward. He cracked his neck.
"Amani," Chacha said calmly. "Go up. I will handle the tin can."
"He's big, Chacha," Amani warned.
"I'm bigger," Chacha grinned behind his wolf cloak.
Amani nodded. He didn't waste time. He sprinted for the stairs.
Captain Kusi moved to intercept, swinging the vibro-axe.
CLANG.
Chacha met the axe with his shield. The impact sent sparks flying, illuminating the dark library.
"Go!" Chacha roared, shoving the Captain back.
Amani vaulted over the railing and ran up the stairs, leaving the clash of titans behind him.
The Admiral's Quarters
Amani ran up ten flights of stairs. His lungs burned, but his mind was clear.
He reached the top. A set of double doors made of heavy brass, engraved with sea monsters, blocked the way.
Amani didn't knock. He placed his palm on the lock.
"Gravity Well: Breaching Charge."
He focused intense gravity on the locking mechanism until the metal sheared. The doors swung open.
Amani stepped into the Admiral's Quarters.
It was the bridge of the ship, but it looked like a palace. The walls were glass, offering a 360-degree view of the battle. Below, the deck was chaotic. Above, the sky was filled with dogfights.
Standing at the main window, his back to Amani, was the Admiral.
He wore his white uniform. His mechanical claw rested on a cane made of whale bone.
"You are late, boy," the Admiral said. He didn't turn around. "I expected you ten minutes ago."
Amani stopped. He sensed the man's center of gravity. It was strange. It felt… liquid. Shifting.
"Call off the bombers," Amani commanded, his voice steady. "The fleet is grounded. Your crocodile is dead. It's over."
The Admiral turned slowly.
His face, half-covered by the brass breathing mask, was calm. His human eye was blue and cold as a glacier.
"Over?" The Admiral chuckled—a wet, wheezing sound. "This is not a brawl, boy. This is war. War is not about winning fights. It is about logistics. It is about will."
He tapped his cane on the floor.
"Zuka wanted to crush the world with a hammer," the Admiral said, walking toward Amani. "He was a fool. A brute. I do not wish to crush the world. I wish to drown it."
He gestured to the ocean outside.
"The ocean is perfect order. It washes away the weak. It cleanses the filth. My fleet will wash Africa clean of its chaotic magic, and replace it with the purity of Iron and Salt."
"You talk too much," Amani said.
He dropped into a combat stance.
"Gravity… Crush!"
Amani clapped his hands. He attempted to crush the Admiral with a gravity well.
The air shimmered around the Admiral.
But the Admiral didn't buckle. He didn't even flinch.
He raised his mechanical claw.
WHOOSH.
A jet of water—pressurized to 40,000 PSI—shot from the center of the claw. It sliced through the air faster than a bullet.
Amani dodged barely in time.
The water jet hit the brass door behind him. It sliced the thick metal in half like paper.
Amani rolled to his feet, eyes wide.
"A Hydromancer?" Amani gasped.
"Science, boy," the Admiral corrected. "Hydro-cutting technology. I can slice a diamond in half from fifty paces."
The Admiral pointed his claw again.
"Now," the Admiral said. "Let us see if you are as hard as a diamond."
The Falling Sky
High above, the chase was ending.
The last enemy bomber was fast. It was diving toward the clouds, heading for the open sea to reach Zanzibar.
"I can't catch him!" Upepo yelled, pushing the throttle to the max. "He dumped his heavy armor! He's too light!"
"He's getting away!" Bahari cried.
Sia climbed from the strut to the nose of the Ornithopter. She sat on the cowling of the engine, the wind tearing at her.
"Get me closer!" Sia yelled.
"I can't!"
"Then get me higher!"
Upepo pulled up. The Ornithopter climbed above the fleeing bomber.
"What are you doing?" Imani screamed.
Sia stood up on the nose of the plane. She wasn't holding her bow. She was holding a harpoon she had scavenged from the deck. A heavy, rusted iron harpoon attached to a coil of rope.
"I'm going fishing!" Sia shouted.
She looked down. The enemy bomber was fifty feet below them.
She jumped.
"SIA!" Upepo screamed.
Sia fell through the air. She angled her body like a hawk diving for prey.
She slammed onto the top wing of the enemy bomber.
The impact knocked the breath out of her. She scrambled for a grip on the canvas. The enemy pilot looked up through the canopy, terrified. He tried to shake her off, rolling the plane.
Sia jammed the harpoon into the fuselage, anchoring herself.
She crawled forward to the engine cowling. She pulled a Sonic Arrow from her quiver. She didn't use her bow. She stabbed the arrow directly into the engine intake by hand.
SCREEEEEEECH.
The sonic pulse detonated inside the engine. The propeller shattered. The engine exploded.
The bomber lurched, smoke pouring from the nose. It began to dive uncontrollably toward the ocean.
Sia looked up. Upepo was diving the shark-nosed Ornithopter toward her.
"Jump!" Upepo yelled, extending his hand.
Sia let go of the dying bomber. She leaped into the void.
Upepo swooped down. He leaned out of the cockpit.
His hand caught hers.
SNAP.
The force nearly dislocated Upepo's shoulder, but he held on. He swung Sia into the backseat, right into Imani's lap.
Below them, the enemy bomber crashed into the waves with a massive splash. The payload sank harmlessly.
"Did you get him?" Bahari asked, looking over the side.
Sia sat up, panting, her hair wild.
"Target neutralized," Sia said.
"You are insane!" Imani laughed, hugging her. "Completely insane!"
"We have to go back," Upepo said, turning the plane around. "Amani and Chacha are still in the Tower."
The Duel of the Bridge
Inside the Tower, the library was a wreck.
Bookshelves were smashed. Papers filled the air like confetti.
Chacha was on one knee, breathing hard. His Obsidian Shield had a deep gash in it.
Captain Kusi stood over him. The chrome giant was dented, but still standing. His vibro-axe hummed with lethal energy.
"You are strong, Savage," Kusi droned. "But your shield is cracking. Iron is stronger than stone."
Chacha looked at his shield. The obsidian glass layer was fractured.
He looked at Kusi.
"You rely on your axe," Chacha rumbled.
He stood up. He unbuckled his shield.
Kusi paused. "You surrender?"
"No," Chacha said. He dropped the shield. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Chacha flexed his arms. The titanium brace on his right arm whined as the servos engaged max power.
"I am done blocking," Chacha growled.
Kusi swung the axe—a killing blow meant to cleave Chacha in two.
Chacha stepped into the swing.
He caught the haft of the axe with his left hand. The vibro-blade buzzed inches from his face.
"What?" Kusi gasped.
Chacha pulled Kusi forward. He cocked his right fist—the titanium fist.
"KURYA THUNDER!"
Chacha punched Kusi in the chest.
CRUNCH.
The titanium brace amplified Chacha's massive strength. The punch punched straight through the chrome chest plate. It shattered the power core beneath.
Kusi flew backward, crashing through three bookshelves and embedding himself in the wall. The light in his eyes died.
Chacha panted, holding his bruised hand.
He picked up his shield.
"Stone breaks," Chacha muttered. "Wolves don't."
He looked up the stairs.
"Hold on, Amani."
The Water and the Weight
In the Admiral's Quarters, Amani was losing.
The room was shredded. The glass walls were sliced open.
The Admiral was relentless. His water-jet claw was a whip of destruction. Amani couldn't get close. Every time he tried to use gravity to crush the Admiral, the man moved with fluid, unnatural grace, sliding across the wet floor.
Amani was cut in three places. His white robes were stained red.
"You fight like land," the Admiral taunted, firing a burst of water that sliced the command console in half. "Rigid. Predictable. You try to anchor the world. But the world is water, boy. It flows around you."
Amani rolled behind a pillar. He was breathing hard.
He's right, Amani thought. I'm trying to hold him down. But you can't hold water. You have to contain it.
Amani closed his eyes. He remembered the feeling of the ocean. The pull of the moon.
He stood up. He walked out from behind the pillar.
The Admiral aimed his claw.
"Goodbye, Anchor."
He fired the jet.
Amani didn't dodge. He clapped his hands.
"Gravity Well: Orbit."
He didn't pull the water down. He created a gravity field around himself that spun rapidly.
The high-pressure water jet hit the field and curved. It bent around Amani's body, trapped in orbit like a moon around a planet.
The Admiral's eyes widened. "Impossible."
Amani gathered the water. He added his own gravity to it, compressing it into a sphere of super-dense liquid.
"You like water?" Amani whispered. "Here."
"Return to Sender."
Amani released the gravity. The sphere of water shot back at the Admiral at twice the speed.
It hit the Admiral's mechanical claw.
BANG.
The pressure was too much. The claw exploded. The backlash threw the Admiral across the room, smashing him through the glass window.
He hung onto the ledge, dangling over the burning deck of the Leviathan.
Amani walked to the broken window. The wind howled in.
The Admiral looked up, his mask broken, revealing a scarred, human face.
"The fleet…" the Admiral gasped. "It will… sail on."
"No," Amani said. "It won't."
He pointed to the sky.
The black Ornithopter, piloted by Upepo, was diving toward the Command Tower.
"Pick him up!" Amani yelled into his radio.
Upepo swooped low. Chacha, who had just burst into the room, grabbed Amani and jumped. They landed on the wing of the Ornithopter as it pulled up.
Behind them, the Leviathan's main reactor—damaged by the battle—went critical.
KA-BOOM.
The flagship exploded.
The shockwave flattened the water of the delta.
As they flew away into the dawn, Amani looked back.
The Admiral was gone. The fleet was burning.
But deep under the water, something stirred. The signal had stopped… but the Source was still out there.