Zotikas: Episode 1: Clash of Heirs Read Online Free PDF Page A

bushes still
blocked line of sight with the guards patrolling the keep. He had nearly made
it to the trees when he saw a guard coming toward him. With no shadows he had
only one choice: he dove into the center of the hedgerow and froze.
    The oncoming watchman hadn’t seen him.
Within seconds the running man passed by. Had Kieler reached out his hand he
could have grabbed the guard’s ankle. But the foliage of the bush hid him. It
also scratched the skin of his hands and face like the claws of a wild animal.
    As the guard ran on toward the main keep,
Kieler crawled out and dashed into the trees. He ran from tree to tree now,
knowing more guards might be coming this way to get to the main building. Soon
enough they would be coming out from the keep, guided by the woman. He avoided
two more of the gathering sentinels and had to break cover to sprint for the
door to the steps leading down to the Plate level. Kieler hoped Bags was ready
for a quick getaway.
    As he flung open the door he had jammed
open earlier, a shout rang out behind him. He’d been spotted.
    Kieler swore. Why not just two seconds
more? He’d have been through the door unseen. But he had the lead, and
sheer fright gave his legs strength to take the stairs five and six at a time,
guided by his good hand on the railing.
    He was more than half way down the ten or
so stories when pursuit came through the door above. One shot pinged down
through the metal stairs, but it was so obviously ineffective that they didn’t
shoot again. They bolted down the stairs after him.
    He gained the ground level and sprinted
across the dock. Now metal bolts followed him as the guardsmen shot from the
landings of the metal staircase. He ran so as to put the crane between him and
his pursuers. Magbolts sent sparks showering down as they rang off the metal of
the loading crane.
    Passing the freighter he spotted their sled
with no small measure of relief. Bags had turned it around, ready to run, and
had the top hatch opened enough to peer out. He saw Kieler immediately.
    “ Sparks! Come on!” Bags flung open
the hatch and then dropped out of sight, heading for the cockpit.
    Kieler jumped down into the deep cut V of
the track, sliding down the magal slope. He hit the top of the sled and rolled.
Magbolts clanged off the hull around him. Multiple shooters, but no one seemed
to have a clear shot as the rain again worked to Kieler and Bags’ advantage.
This time Kieler didn’t go headfirst down the hatch, but swung down, caught
himself with his good arm and pulled the hatch closed over him.
    “Get this sled moving!” Kieler shouted
down. Before he hit the floor of the cargo hold the raider lurched forward and
acceleration pressed Kieler immobile against the ladder. The hammering of
magbolts on the hull dropped off within moments. His mask slid out from under
his arm, and fell diagonally toward the rear of the hold, stopping only when it
hit the engine compartment bulkhead. He grunted and tried to pry his head back
through the rungs of the ladder.
    Eventually he muscled himself down the
ladder, and though still in full acceleration, managed to crawl through the
open hatch into the cockpit. Looking up through the narrow windshield, he saw
brilliant lights ahead: the gate! From the guardhouse, more magbolts pinged
uselessly off the hull. Then Kieler’s heart dropped as he glimpsed two giant
rail guns atop the gate, one pointing toward them and one aimed down the track
in the direction they were going. A shell whizzed over their heads and Kieler
barely felt its detonation behind them—the guards hadn’t compensated for the
sled’s great speed. A breath later the gates flashed overhead. They were
through—still accelerating. Before relief and exhilaration had time to take
hold, another shell detonated ahead of them, tearing open the upper right of
the track. Magal fragments rained down onto the raider. Had they been a full
size freighter, they would have unbalanced and tumbled end