Chapter 113 – A Plane.

Aurora was sitting with her hands clenched on her knees.

She had stopped moving a while ago.

Through Matt she could see the sky, part of the forest, and that thing that kept pulling away every time he tried to get closer.

A military plane.

That was what he had told her.

A machine from his world that could fly and that was built for combat.

Aurora didn't know much about the machines of Matt's world, but she had understood the important part fairly quickly.

That one was dangerous.

It was also far too loud.

Every time Matt managed to get a little closer, the sound rose until Aurora scrunched up her face. She didn't understand how the person inside could stand it.

'And how is he supposed to catch that?'

Matt kept trying. Aurora leaned forward when she saw him change direction.

She was ready.

If he called her, she was going to answer instantly. She didn't want him to have to wait even a second, especially that far off the ground.

But then… Aurora felt two arms wrap around her.

"There you are."

Aurora looked down. Then she turned her head. The girl with the twin tails had settled in behind her and was hugging her again.

She had a fairly calm smile.

Aurora did not.

"Let go of me."

"Why?"

"I'm busy."

"You're sitting."

Aurora tried to push her hands away.

The girl let her move them for an instant before hugging her again, a little higher up this time.

"Don't break my concentration!"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm keeping watch in case my master needs me."

The girl looked where Aurora had been looking.

She was quiet for a few seconds.

Then she let out a small laugh.

"Papa isn't going to bring you out."

Aurora stopped struggling.

"What?"

"He's too cautious."

The girl rested her cheek on her shoulder.

"He's going to try to do it all himself. You can sit and wait, but he isn't going to call you."

Aurora turned her head a little more.

The girl was too close.

That made what she did next a lot easier.

Aurora bit her.

"Ow!"

The hug loosened at once. Aurora let go of the hair that had gotten caught in her teeth and glared at her.

"You don't understand my master well enough."

The girl brought a hand to her head.

She didn't look very hurt, but she did look a little surprised. The girl rubbed the spot where she had been bitten before smiling again.

"No. You're the one who doesn't understand Papa."

Aurora pressed her lips together.

"Stop calling him that."

"Papa?"

"He doesn't like it."

Aurora looked at her for a few seconds. The girl looked back without losing her smile.

"I have a plan."

Aurora blinked.

She had changed the subject so fast that it took her a moment to answer.

"A plan for what?"

"For Papa."

"Matt."

"For Papa," the girl repeated, settling in behind her again.

Aurora glanced outside.

The plane was still pulling away.

Matt was still behind it.

He still hadn't called her.

"What plan?"

The girl leaned toward her ear.

Aurora pulled away a little, in case she tried to tickle her again, but she only spoke.

"We have to make him a cake."

Aurora went still.

"What?"

"A cake."

"Now?"

The girl nodded.

"A big one!"

Aurora looked at the sky. Then at her.

Matt was chasing a military machine that had been dropping explosives on the kingdom, but this girl wanted to bake a cake.

Aurora ran a hand down her face.

"I'm keeping an eye on Matt."

"So am I."

"Doesn't look like it."

The girl hugged her again.

"Do you know how to make one?"

Aurora looked at the hands on her stomach. Then she looked back outside, trying to ignore her.

The girl waited a few seconds.

"Aurora?"

"Not now."

"Later?"

Aurora didn't answer.

She had to concentrate.

Although, thanks to that question, she had also started thinking about ingredients.

◇◆◇

Matt kept his eyes on the plane.

He had recognized those silhouettes from the castle window. He had seen them pass, heard the engines, and understood fairly well what was happening.

But seeing it up close was still hard to accept.

A fighter jet, from his world, bombing Elyra's kingdom.

'How the hell did they get here?'

When he had started closing in, the four planes had split up.

One had turned toward the mountains. Two others had gone in different directions, and Matt had chosen to follow the closest one.

Trying to chase all of them made no sense; he was already having enough trouble with one.

Every time he tried to close the distance, the fighter pulled farther away.

Matt could fly. Quite fast, in fact, but that thing could fly much faster.

There was someone inside.

Someone from his world.

And for them to be here, they had to have crossed over somehow.

Matt swallowed.

Opening a portal between the two worlds wasn't exactly simple.

There were vampires who could do it, but not many, and it certainly wasn't a skill anyone picked up out of boredom.

'Someone with that level of power opened a portal for them?'

Matt didn't know whether it had been a vampire. He didn't know from which side it had been opened either.

That made things considerably worse.

Because one person could cross by accident.

Even several.

But four military planes attacking the same place...

Matt looked at the fighter again.

'Does the government already know this world exists?'

The possibility left a sick feeling in his stomach.

He didn't know what country the planes were from. He hadn't been able to see any markings he could recognize, and he wasn't going to guess from the shape alone.

But someone had sent them.

Someone had chosen his kingdom as a target.

'Could this end in a war?'

Matt remembered the expeditions Elyra organized from time to time.

She would pick some of her most capable vampires, give them a destination and send them to get something.

A material.

A relic.

Something she wanted.

If there were creatures or inhabitants in the way, the order was usually fairly simple.

Exterminate them.

Matt had heard reports like that far too many times.

Back then, the names of the places barely meant anything to him. They were places in this world he had never been to and didn't want to go to either.

Now there was a combat plane in front of him.

'What if one of those expeditions...?'

He clenched his teeth.

He didn't know anything.

He could be imagining an explanation that had nothing to do with what had happened.

That was why he needed to talk to the pilot, before Elyra found her own way of asking.

Matt pushed forward again, but the plane pulled away.

"Sure," he muttered.

Matt was spending energy so that the distance would grow a little more slowly.

Great strategy.

At least the fighter had stopped heading back toward the kingdom. Since splitting off from the others, it had held a course that took it farther and farther from the castle. Matt hadn't seen it try to set up another attack run.

It seemed to be retreating.

Maybe looking for the portal.

That possibility was enough to keep Matt on its tail.

Several minutes passed.

The forest stretched out beneath them both, and the kingdom began to shrink to a distant smudge among the mountains.

Matt let himself look back just once. Then he focused on the plane again.

'If it keeps this up, I'm going to lose it.'

It didn't want to go near the kingdom again.

It didn't seem willing to come down either.

Matt was thinking about how to force it to change direction when the fighter started to climb, lifting its nose. The plane gained altitude and banked, tracing a wide curve.

Matt slowed down a little.

'Is it going back?'

The nose ended up pointing at him.

'Ah.'

Not at the kingdom.

At him.

Matt moved the instant he saw the first flash.

BRRRRRR!

The burst cut through the air where he had been a moment earlier.

Matt kept moving to the side, raising a hand to form a barrier in front of his body.

The first rounds went wide. A couple hit the edge.

CRACK!

The surface split.

Matt felt the impact in his arm and had to pour in more energy to keep the fragments from breaking through.

'Fine! I get it!'

It didn't want to talk. Or it didn't want to talk to something that was chasing its plane in midair.

Matt could understand that part.

He would have liked it to explain that without shooting at him.

The fighter kept descending.

Matt watched something drop from beneath one of the wings.

He recognized it before it started coming toward him.

'A missile.'

Matt lowered his hand.

He wasn't going to test the barrier against that.

Matt moved to one side, but the missile corrected its course.

Matt's eyes widened a little.

'Of course it can do that.'

Matt waited just long enough to see which way it was turning and dove.

The missile followed him again.

Matt changed direction abruptly when it was already far too close, gritting his teeth with the effort.

He saw it pass overhead. Then came the explosion.

BOOOM!

The shockwave shoved him and made him lose altitude.

Matt raised what was left of the barrier to shield himself from the fragments. Several cracks spread across the surface before it finally shattered, and a piece of metal grazed his shoulder.

Matt looked at the blood. Then at the plane.

"Now you're actually annoying me."

The fighter kept coming.

The pilot had managed to force him off his course, but by coming down to attack him, he had also closed a good part of the distance between them.

It was the first real chance Matt had had.

He didn't need to catch it from behind.

He needed to be where it was going to pass.

Matt held out his hand, and a sword made of magic formed between his fingers.

Matt looked at the cockpit.

He could try to strike there.

He could also kill the pilot before getting to ask a single question.

Matt shifted his gaze to one of the wings.

'That.'

The engine roared.

Matt waited until the plane was close enough and launched himself diagonally, away from the cockpit.

He didn't try to match its speed.

Only to cross its path for an instant.

The blade hit the wing.

KRRRAK!

The impact jolted his whole arm.

Matt tightened his fingers on the hilt and finished the cut before pulling away.

A section of the wing went flying.

The fighter kept going, but it lurched toward the damaged side.

Matt braked however he could.

His shoulder hurt.

His arm too.

Matt looked at the plane.

'Come on. Get out.'

The machine rolled over. For a few seconds it seemed the pilot was trying to regain control. The nose came up a little, but it didn't hold.

The plane began to lose altitude.

Matt dissolved the sword.

He didn't want it in his hand when he approached the pilot.

'Get out already.'

The cockpit canopy came off. Almost at the same moment, the seat shot upward.

Matt let out his breath.

"Good."

He waited.

The pilot separated from the seat and fell for a moment before the parachute opened above him.

The fall slowed all at once.

Matt changed direction to approach. Below, the plane kept falling out of control, pulling away amid the noise of the engine and the debris from the wing.

Matt kept his eyes on the parachute.

That person could explain what was going on.

How he had gotten here.

Who had sent him.

Why they were attacking that kingdom.

Matt approached from the side, making sure the pilot could see him before he got too close.

The man turned his head. He still had his helmet on, and a mask covered part of his face.

Matt couldn't make out his expression well, but he did see his arms go tense when he found Matt floating beside him.

Matt slowed his descent until it matched the parachute's. The pilot kept staring at him.

Matt raised his empty hands. Then he pointed toward the place where the kingdom had been left too far behind to make out clearly.

"Why are you attacking that kingdom?"