When War Calls(155)

‘Return fire when ready,’ said Blair.

Yahtai nodded. If there was more time, he would have asked why this sentinel seemed to encourage murder. It was against their code. Instead, he gave the command to his men and within seconds the trees and hills around them became a mass of fire and shrapnel, causing the Alliance forces to scatter to avoid the Waikorian strikes. The Alliance returned fire, but Adonis and Blair made sure that nothing of harm was able to pass through their shields.

The Alliance then started to move around the travelling band, as they knew that two sentinels could not defend an entire line of people. It was now a race to see who could get position first. The people of Waikor and Ceahlin needed to get as close to the Daijuar as possible, while the Alliance needed to get to the end of the line where there was no protection.

Alyssa ran with Vacarlo toward some families that were standing in one spot, watching as everyone else passed. Unlike those near the Daijuarn shields, the people here near the back of the line were panicking. They scrambled the best they could to get out of the way so that the tanks could be brought forward, while Waikorian artillery kept the Alliance distracted, sending shells high over the Daijuarn shields. The blasts were deafening and caused many of the people to feel ill and weak at the knees, but Alyssa kept her calm and ran straight for the children she had spotted.

‘Come with me,’ she said, as loudly but as softly as she could manage. She did not want to frighten them any further.

She bent down, allowing a small boy to get on her back so that she could carry him. The boy was too small to keep pace.

‘Where are we going?’ asked the mother.

‘To the shields,’ said Alyssa, ‘we’re not safe here.’

The mother nodded and grabbed the hands of two other children. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ she said to the others, and all the families began to follow.

Vacarlo offered to carry another of the smaller children and then quickly joined Alyssa in the lead. ‘We need to get to the other side,’ he said, ‘I hear gunfire. Stay behind the tanks if you can!’

The people had formed two lines either side, allowing a wide path in the middle for the vehicles to pass through unhindered. This created a danger as they were moving quite quickly. If the families were to make it across to the other side, they’d need to time it perfectly or at least wait for a big enough gap. Alyssa acknowledged the situation and then began checking over her shoulder every few seconds. She spotted a break between the tanks and launchers shortly after and ran through, the boy on her back clinging tightly as she did. She was then joined by the others and they all continued on their way. But now they were in the thick of the people moving forward, and their pace dropped considerably.

‘Should we stay this side?’ Alyssa asked, realising how slowly they were moving now.

‘It’s safer, at least we have cover,’ said Vacarlo.

‘I hope you’re right.’

Not far ahead in the distance, Alyssa watched as several of the Waikorian launchers lifted their arsenal, pointing it up and toward the Alliance forces.

‘What are they doing?’

‘They’re returning fire. They’re going to try to kill as many of them as possible so that the Daijuar do not have to work so hard.’

Alyssa nodded but somehow felt there was something not quite right about this strategy. The Daijuar were powerful, it would have made more sense to just fire from within the shield, as they were doing now.

As the launchers became ready to fire, all of the people in the vicinity stopped, forcing Alyssa, Vacarlo and the families to do the same. They watched in awe with their hands over their ears as the missiles were shot high, their fiery tails being hidden by the huge clouds of dust being blown into the air. Moments later they heard the sounds of impact, the explosions loud even at such distance. Some of the children began to cry, and Alyssa began to hurry them all forward once again. But they could barely see through the dust, many were bumping into one another and the very real danger of being trampled became apparent. Vacarlo lost his footing as he sidestepped a fallen child and ended up crashing into Alyssa briefly before taking down two others. Alyssa hastily put down the boy she was carrying so that she could help Vacarlo up.

It was then that she realised what she didn’t like about the strategy. Firing from so far outside of the Daijuarn shields and with this many people around was only going to draw attention to them. The Alliance now knew how far the line stretched back and exactly where they were.

Before the dust had cleared there was an explosion behind them, and soldiers as well as civilians all cried out, many of them wounded, others already mourning the dead. A second strike came just ahead of them, so close that it shook the ground beneath their feet. The dust then cleared and Alyssa looked up in horror. She saw five missiles all heading toward her, Vacarlo and the families. She didn’t have the chance to help them up. It almost seemed as if time had stopped as the last moments of her life were before her. There was a whisper somewhere hidden in the wind then, speaking words she could not understand.