Страница 63 из 68
"Now!"
The shout was scattered, a dozen different voices. Madeleine stood and immediately spotted theribbon of light, a dandelion dragon come home with the dawn, but it wasimpossible see whether Haron's squad hadsucceeded. Whether they'd taken thosefew moments when the shield was down to press forward, thrust their handsagainst the Spire and blast it, a united punch intended to stun a mountain.
"Work," Noi muttered. "Work, work, wo–"
The Spire screamed. There was no other word for it. Electronic dissonance at a thousand decibels. Madeleine, hands over her ears, was movingback to the statue, all her attention focused on the curling ribbon of lightswooping in a tight circle over the southern section of the park, and thencoming to a near-halt, dozens of gossamer wings fa
The attackers' position in the north-east corner bought themtime, with the Spire blocking the Core's view of those closest to its base, andthe more widely scattered attackers sticking close to their chosen pieces ofrubble. But already the dragon wasmoving, a swift arc north along Elizabeth Street, and then a slow drift towardthe Spire from the park's north-west corner, approaching the double line ofBlues pulsing measured punches into the velvety surface.
"Get ready," Noi said, barely audible over thecontinuing unearthly scream.
Madeleine nodded, resting her hands on the statue'soutstretched arm, tracking the glowing creature's movements. The tactics Noi and Haronhad recommended for dragon slaying were not greatly different to the Roverfight. The dragon had some shielding,and would gain strength from force punches. They needed to keep it still long enough for the leech Blues to drainit. Quite a task when it was currentlydrifting about sixty metres above the ground, searching the shadows. Stopping the attack on the Spire would be theCore's first priority, and a great deal depended on what he chose to do when hespotted the Spire Squad. The best optionfor the freed Blues would be for the Core to pick up speed and circle theSpire, returning to sweep through the people at the base. But he might drop immediately down towardthem, or try to blast them with punches from dragon-back.
"All for one, guys," Pan shouted over the scream ofthe Spire, hopping up to balance on the mashed stag.
"All for one!" the Musketeers responded, quite asif they'd rehearsed it. One of thefigures on the dragon's back looked toward them.
Around them, others picked up the cry, a scattered echoacross the park which united and became a chant, a roar.
"All for one!"
"All For One!"
"ALL FOR ONE!"
For Théoden,Madeleine told herself as layers of gauzy wing beat into a faster pace, and thedragon whisked into a diving curve, crossing directly between the Musketeersand the Spire.
Madeleine punched. Full force, everything she had.
Her target was not the dragon's body, but below it, into thedownbeat of its wings. The weakestpoint, with the least capacity for shielding or absorption. Diaphanous sails shredded into fragments oflight, and the punch continued onward to strike the Spire, one more blowagainst the mountain. The dragon's swiftarc spun out of control, and it zagged suddenly left,dropping into trees to the south.
Madeleine sagged, hooking her arm around the statue's inorder to keep upright, while all around her there was an immediate scrambleafter their target.
"Stick with your partners!" Noi yelled. "Don't rush in – regroup on theroad." She paused to grabMadeleine's shoulder. "Follow whenyou can." Then she was gone.
Alone in the pre-dawn twilight, Madeleine staggered back toTyler's bench and flopped down, nearly overturning it in the process. The sudden decrease of the great roil ofpower within left her feeling chilled and vulnerable. Her hands were shaking.
The Spire continued to scream, shredding nerves exposed bycold, but she made herself ignore it, to take deep, even breaths until she feltthat she could walk without falling. Shedidn't feel ready to fight, but she could get closer to her friends, in reachso she could act when spots stopped swimming before her eyes.
Although she could now see almost clearly, it took care andeffort to cross the uneven ground to the road, and she sat down in the gutterfor a little while, searching anxiously down the road for signs of herfriends. She couldn't even make out thelight of the dragon, and with the noise the Spire was making she was strugglingto hear anything of use. Even the smallmedical team had vanished.
Standing, she checked back to the base of the Spire, and sawthat on the far side of the park there was already fighting. Just a handful of people so far, but morestreaming from one of the hotels, racing down Elizabeth Street. Gritting her teeth, she started trotting inthe opposite direction, down College Street, searching the trees ahead forsigns of battle. A dragon shouldn't beso hard to spot.
Passing the far end of the Cathedral, she glanced to her leftacross the paved forecourt and over the eastern suburbs. The first gleam of gold had touched thehorizon. How long could the Spire Squadkeep pounding the mountain? Were theyfeeling as drained as she? Haron hadn't been sure how long it would take, or howquickly the Spire would recover if they failed to bring it down.
Turning, Madeleine met the eyes of a familiar, strawberryblonde boy skirting the edge of the trees.
She drew breath – to shout, or take some action – but he wastoo quick for her, force punching immediately. Her automatic shield kept her whole, but the blow was so strong she wasblasted off her feet, too stu
Caught in that moment between being injured and knowingexactly what hurt, Madeleine levered herself to knees and one elbow, butanother force punch hit her square in the back and she went down. Her shield was strong enough to keep thepunch itself from breaking her to pieces, but not to prevent bruising impactwith granite pavers. A third punch hither, and the stone around her cracked.
"STOP IT!"
Emily's voice. Horrified, Madeleine jerked her head up, just in time to see Emily launchherself physically at the Core's stolen boy. Girl and alien overlord went down in a tangle of legs.
No time for recovery. Emily was a strong Blue, but the Core was stronger. Madeleine hurled herself to her feet,staggered, and sat down abruptly. Aboveher, she could just see Emily, punching at the Core beneath her, only to beblasted upward, more than ten metres into the air. The girl twisted like a cat, and camebouncing down, almost succeeding in slamming into the Core. He punched her again, and this time shetumbled out of Madeleine's sight, across the street.
There was so little Madeleine could do. She didn't have the strength to force punchor even attack the Core physically. Heronly advantage was the power of her spirit punch, and that she didn't dare todo because there were no leech Blues nearby. Pushing the Core out of Gavin wouldn't kill it, and there was all toogreat a chance that, in her weakened state, it would simply possess herinstead.
Whatever came after, the first thing was standing up. Madeleine rose carefully this time,discovering on the way that her left arm hurt when she put any weight onit. Five granite steps, broad and low. Then a short stagger out to the footpath, tofind Emily still holding her own, if only just.
Putting what was left of her strength into her voice,Madeleine shouted.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about theSpire?" She walked unsteadilyforward as the Core turned sharply toward her. "While you're wasting your time trying to squash us, we're wi