Valley of Fires: A Conquered Earth Novel (The Conquered Earth Series) Read Online Free Page A

eight-legged Spiders, both from the blue and whites, a clan Ambassador called Mas’Shinra. What was left of the green and orange Mas’Erinhah, the smaller, quick three-legged Hunters with their cloaking abilities and a few of their powerful artillery walkers. More Brutes, like the crumpled one near the lumber, the five-legged walkers of the purple clan. And all of them bore one thing in common: their colors were gone, stripped away, leaving only bright, gleaming silver metal. A line of the walkers, mostly Hunters and Mantises, stood in front of the angry, yelling kids.
    Guardian, a projection came. It was what the Assembly called her, a reference to her perceived role as the protector of Zoey, their Scion, and every time Mira heard it, she felt a sting. It was an ironic reminder of just how badly she had failed in that task, not all that long ago. She ignored the projections, listening to the argument.
    “You saw the explosion,” a White Helix stated, a girl, her mask still undrawn. She was tall, lithe, and agile like all Helix, and kept her hair razored in a thin layer of what probably would have been the whitest blond Mira had ever seen, had it been allowed to grow.
    “And what was left of one of those Brutes is on the ground right next to it,” said another, staring heatedly at a tall boy in grimy overalls. “What else would it have been?”
    “Personally, my money’s on you, ” the kid replied, folding his arms. Mira knew him. His name was Christian, one of the Wind Trader engineers.
    “ Us? ” The Helix seemed aghast.
    “Just give the word,” one of the Helix stated again.
    “You guys are flipping around in here every day, shooting off those sticks,” Christian stated. “You said yourself you don’t have much to do with artifacts. Which means you have no real idea what happens when one of those crystals comes into contact with—”
    “You’re really reaching,” the Helix girl said. “Why are you so eager to protect them?”
    “Just. Give. The word.”
    Guardian.
    What? Mira thought back, her eyes moving to their source, a five-legged walker standing out front of the others. There were no discerning marks or technology on Ambassador to tell it apart from the others, but still she knew. It was in the projections themselves, they were unique in ways she couldn’t describe.
    We tried to contain, it projected.
    The answer, as usual, was cryptic. The translation her mind made of the Assembly’s feelings was never a smooth process, but she was getting better at understanding. Mira looked to the smoke rising from the lumberyard and the ruined walker there. She moved for it as the arguments continued.
    Mira scrutinized the scene, studying the remains, the smoking lumber, and something else, the remnants scattered everywhere, and they were barely recognizable. A car battery, regular AA batteries, coins, washers, all everyday objects, or at least they used to be. They were artifact components, from the Strange Lands, a powerful, dangerous place that no longer existed, and one that, long ago, had meant everything to her.
    Mira picked up one of the batteries. She had never seen one that looked like this. It was just a blackened, charred mass, but Mira didn’t think it had anything to do with the fire. Artifacts were supposed to be indestructible outside the Strange Lands, yet these were completely ruined.
    Mira was a Freebooter, an expert in such things, and she guessed these had been assembled into a Dynamo, what was essentially a generator, in this case used to power a whole host of tools from the World Before. Air drills, saws, cutting torches. What was strange was that it seemed as if the combination had exploded, and that should have been impossible. Combinations lost power and died, but unless their design included the need for some kind of combustion, they didn’t blow up.
    Guardian …
    Mira heard the sounds of shuffling behind her. Two Hunters stood on either side of her, no more than a foot away,