Read Online Clockwork Twist : Waking by Emily Thompson - Free Book Online

below, stretching out to the north and south father than Twist could see.  The huge piles of white cloud to the north came to a point, almost reaching out to him from the pure blue sky.  As Twist watched, something appeared at the tip of the cloud—now close beside the ship—and it soon became clear enough to identify as another, much smaller airship.  It was slim, two decked, and fit with large vertical sails on either side of a single, tall balloon hanging above the deck.
    The Vimana suddenly plunged, turning to the south.  Twist clung tightly to the rail as a siren bellowed and the sound of shouting filled the air.  Turning, Twist saw Aazzi, Dr. Rodés, and Arabel all appear on the deck with weapons in hand.  Small, winged crafts flew from the small airship, arcing through the air towards them.
    “Twist!” Arabel yelled. “Get below decks!”
    “What's happening?” Twist yelled, hurrying closer to her.
    “We're under attack,” she said, checking her pistol and watching the sky.
    Twist looked to the smaller crafts.  Streams of white steam spewed out behind the winged things—coming closer, Twist saw that they were people with wings and steam engines strapped to their backs, flying like birds and heading right for the Vimana .  One of them crashed onto the deck, tossing off the contraption and pulling out a pair of pistols, while two other flying people streamed around the ship in tight arcs.
    “We want the clock maker!” yelled the landed intruder. “Give him up!”
    In answer, Aazzi started shooting at him, running closer.  Arabel yelled at Twist to run before turning to join the fight herself.  Noise and chaos erupted in all directions: flaming fire began to rain down from the smaller airship, the flying men fired pistols as they flew by, the crew of the Vimana returned fire from the deck, Zayle appeared with large wrenches in each hand to strike at the fliers as they flew too close, Arabel took to the rigging with her own weapons, Aazzi ran from target to target at lightning and inhuman speeds as more fliers appeared and tried to board the ship.
    Twist ran for the stairs below decks, but one of the fliers crashed onto the deck in front of him, blocking him.  The man didn't remove his wings, but he reached out to grab Twist with both hands.  Twist jumped away from him, only to fall over a bit of the collecting debris on the deck.  Aazzi appeared out of nowhere and shot at the flier until he jumped over the side of the ship.  She grabbed Twist's collar and hauled him to his feet, throwing him towards the stairs before turning to fire again.
    The airship lurched to the left, throwing Twist to the railing.  His vision fell to see the green sea now less than a hundred feet below the ship.  He struggled to regain his footing to hurry below decks when he heard Arabel's voice scream.
    “No!  That's Jon!” she yelled, grabbing Dr. Rodés's gun as he took aim.
    Twist looked to see a man with wings running at him across the deck.  The buzzing sensation at the base of Twist's neck reappeared, stilling him for an instant.  The man wore black goggles that hid his eyes, but he pulled them off as he ran closer to Twist.
    “Twist!  Run!” Aazzi's voice yelled from across the ship.
    Twist tore his eyes off his attacker and dove from the stairs.  The other man was too fast and his hands caught Twist's arm.  In the instant before his Sight took over, Twist looked up at the other man, meeting his brilliant green eyes.
    The electric sensation in the base of his neck exploded into white hot fire, throwing Twist off the deck and into the air with a strong concussion.  The other man flew away from him while impossible light broke over them both and the force of the blast threw them apart.  Twist's overwhelmed senses had only a moment to tell him he was falling through open air, before everything went black, silent, and still.
     

 

     
     
    A throbbing pain at the base of Twist's neck came to him before