Read Online Sky Song: Overture by Meg Merriet - Free Book Online

waved his hand dismissively and rubbed between his eyes. “Fire the ballista.”
    “No!” Dirk roared.
    The Duskmen were bringing down the hammer on the ballista’s release, when suddenly the entire mechanism went rolling backward. They jumped out of the way as the ship tilted and sent the contraption flying, breaking the railing right off its pegs. The witch Maive held her arm outstretched, all five fingers spiked like a cactus flower.
    “Maive,” said Dirk, grinning with as much joy as a bloodied, beaten man could muster.
    “What are you doing?” demanded Perceval.
    Maive did not answer her emperor, but addressed Dirk instead. “Oh, Lexi.”
    “Will you forgive me?” he asked. “I’ve been so lost since we quarreled.”
    “You’ve proved yourself, and so I’ve lifted Molly’s curse.”
    Perceval’s frown was barely discernible beneath his heavy beard, but his eyes channeled all the hate in the world. “Throw the traitorous witch to the clouds!” he commanded. Two Duskmen grabbed Maive from behind and held her over the railing, gripping her hands so she couldn’t cast. The wind whipped her black hair in front of her face. She shrieked and writhed, kicking her legs.
    Dirk struggled against his captors. “Let her go!”
    “If you insist,” said Perceval. “Let her go, men!”
    “Long live Prince Derek!” cried Maive. The Duskmen flipped her over mid-sentence.
    “Maive!” sobbed Dirk, twisting and fighting to get away. “You will die this very day, Perceval! I swear it! The Wastrel won’t go down without blowing you to pieces!” The purr of a stealthy aircraft interrupted his outburst. Everyone went silent and gasped.
    The globe copter arose with Maive clinging to a red fin, one hand signing over her head. She moved with lightning speed as she leapt on board and tackled Dirk away from his captors. A field of energy knocked the Duskmen back and formed a shimmering dome around the lovers.
    Through the globe copter’s side door, I saw Fitz revving a stationary minigun covered in pressure gauges. I dived behind a sack of rice, covering my head with my arms. The chamber whirred as it gained rotating speed, and then it rained death across the deck. My ears hummed and I held my breath.
    When the minigun finally ceased, zip lines planted into the Crescendo and mobs of pirates rode in, parachute packs already prepped on their backs. They fired pistol after pistol at every man holding a weapon. Our canons fired on the Crescendo’s hull. Through the mist of gunfire, I saw the emperor ripped apart by artillery. My barricade spilled streams of rice all over the planks. I heard the gun panels flipping open along the side of the Crescendo.
    Maive lowered her shield. There was no debate to be had. At the end of this battle, both the Crescendo and the Wastrel were going down.
    “Abandon ship!” Dirk cried. The copter set down on the deck and Baker jumped out, reaching for Dirk and Maive and pulling them on board. He wore a Duskman uniform with a huge bloodstain over the side of the torso. From his upright stature, I could tell the blood was not his own. Maive took the pilot’s seat.
    I ran towards Baker, waving my arms. “Wait!” I cried. “Don’t leave me behind!” He looked at my clothes and then at my face and then down at my clothes again. For the first time, he saw Mona.
    “Clikk?” Baker averted his eyes as I got closer. “Earth and sky,” he whispered. The Crescendo quaked as the cannons blew. We took our only means of escape and crammed into the copter.
    Fitz had torn the skirt of his bridal gown and was wrapping his leg.
    “Hold fast,” Maive told him, running a hand over his calf. The bullets dropped out of his flesh, clinking against the copperplate floor. Fitz sighed in relief, but his calm was short-lived, for as I boarded the ship, his jaw fell open.
    “Egads!” he shouted. “Clikk’s a lady!”
    “Where’s Molly?” asked Dirk.
    “She’s on the Wastrel,” said