Except from The Third Book of Ore: Blaze of Embers by Cam Baity and Benny Zelkowicz
Cam Baity and Benny Zelkowicz are pleased to share an excerpt from Blaze of Embers, the conclusion to their Books Of Ore series.
The Shroud was churning.
Clouds formed. Not the scrap-metal clouds of bullet rain, but soft white ones, like cumulus clouds back home. They bubbled out from the wall of fog, growing and rising.
And . . . glowing?
And coming at them.
The air was hot now, and Micah felt sweat beading on his forehead. There was pressure in his ears, a squeezing sensation that swallowed up the sound around him.
“Get those jets up and running!” Goodwin screamed to the assembled Foundry workers. But his words sounded strangely muffled, like something shouted underwater. “I want—”
He didn’t have a chance to finish.
Clouds broke over them like a tidal wave. A hurricane of fire. Shrieks of terror.
The camp was lifted into the air.
Micah was sucked up into the violent wind. He scrabbled at the cracked ground, desperate for a handhold. The manacles on his hands snagged on an outcropping. He hung there, legs kicking at the cyclone. Tumbling debris whizzed past. A Watchman soldier pinwheeled toward Micah. Clipped him, knocked him loose.
Screaming, Micah fell into the white rush. The hot gale deafened him. He slammed into something, crushed the wind from his lungs. It was a Gyrojet, groaning and rattling, about to be ripped apart by the freak storm. The fierce winds pressed
him against the side of the aircraft. By wriggling his body, Micah managed to inch toward the shelter of the open cargo bay at its rear. He collapsed inside, amidst a tumult of heavy crates and Cyclewynders.
The Gyrojet pitched. Micah was tossed against the wall. Equipment crashed all around. A Cyclewynder toppled and crunched onto its handlebars, striking its starter. The Cycle revved, its lethally sharp wheels spinning and coughing fumes as it did crazy doughnuts across the floor. It spiraled madly toward Micah.
He crumpled into a ball. The Cycle blade slammed into the wall inches above his head, squealing and spewing sparks. The jet shook again. The blade slipped closer. Desperately, Micah thrust his hands up at the wheel, manacles first. He yelped as the sparks burned his wrists, bit into his cheeks. Despite the pain, he pushed harder, forcing the Cycle to saw through the cuffs. He heaved the vehicle, and it fell away. Micah scrambled clear, his digital manacles split in two.
The Gyrojet trembled. Metal groaned. He could hear pieces of the aircraft being ripped away, felt the ceiling of the cargo bay crumpling. There, at the back of the hold, was the Cycle that held all his gear. He knew what he had to do. Micah scrambled for the tethered Cyclewynder, hopped in the seat, and mashed the ignition button. Its wheels screeched and hacked into the metal floor.
Hands appeared around the open cargo bay door. Someone climbing in, silhouetted by the white whirlwind, seeking shelter.
Goodwin. The Foundry Chairman tumbled into the hold. His eyes met Micah’s.
Another shriek of metal as the jet shuddered in the storm. Its nose tilted sharply downward. The open cargo bay pointed up at the stars, the floor inclined like a ramp. Gravity tugged Micah backward. He wrenched the throttle, and the Cycle fishtailed in a shower of sparks. Micah maxed out the accelerator. The tether snapped. The Cycle jerked, stuttered, and raced upward, aiming right for Goodwin.
The Chairman dove aside. Micah blasted out the back of the Gyrojet, cursing his near miss. He was held aloft for a moment by flickering hot winds that felt like they would sear the skin right off his body. Suspended, he hung on for dear life.
The Cyclewynder crunched to the ground and shot forward. Micah wrangled the steering. Didn’t fall. He careened through the clouds, whipping around Watchmen, launching over obstacles.
He burst out of the storm and into sudden, shocking stillness, almost as if a switch had been thrown. He took a choking breath, the air still heavy with that alien floral scent. The oppressive heat faded. He sped away, frantically fleeing.
Micah knew where he was going. The fiery glow behind him lit the way as he headed toward what he had seen in the distant mountains. No matter how far-fetched it was, no matter how unlikely, he had to make for it.
He had to try.
Micah gunned the Cyclewynder across the open plain and away from the wreckage of the Foundry camp. He zoomed up into the gnarls of the overgrown Ephrian Mountains and risked a quick glance back.
What he saw made him lose control. The Cyclewynder swerved, almost throwing him off.
The clouds were gathering into a column of white fire. The tempest took shape, heaving flame and mist. Cyclone arms, tornado legs. A hulking thing. An impossible figure of impossible size. It rose and rose. The storm formed a jutting head that surveyed the scene. Stared with blazing, molten golden eyes.
Micah clung to the Cyclewynder as he regained control, clung to what he thought he knew, sure and yet altogether unsure of what he had seen. The storm that had come from the Shroud. The storm that had struck the Foundry with heavenly fire.
In slow motion, it—no, She raised a leg. Down it came.
And the world trembled.
Excerpted from BLAZE OF EMBERS © Copyright 2017 by Cam Baity and Benny Zelkowicz. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Benny Zelkowicz studied animation at CalArts and made the award winning film, The ErlKing. He directed and starred in the BBC/CBC animated series Lunar Jim, and worked on The LEGO Movie as well as several TV shows including Robot Chicken and Moral Orel.
Missed The Foundry's Edge (The First Book Of Ore) or Waybound (The Second Book of Ore)? Found out more at http://www.booksofore.com.
About The Third Book Of Ore: Blaze of Embers
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| Cam Baity |
Phoebe Plumm and Micah Tanner are no longer the spoiled heiress and naïve servant boy who first stumbled upon the fiercely beautiful world of living metal known as Mehk. They have rallied to aid the mehkans and risked their lives fighting the relentless greed of the Foundry, a corporation that harvests the metal creatures to sell as products back home in Meridian. But the kids' mission to retrieve a mysterious relic ended in devastating tragedy and with Micah as a prisoner of the enemy. Shattered, he can only watch as an unthinkable new power rises in Mehk and international war erupts in Meridian. Trapped between the Foundry and this staggering mehkan threat, Micah has no choice but to work with dangerous humans and mehkans alike, each with their own agenda. As the path of destruction spreads and hope fades, Micah leads his unlikely allies in a desperate race back to Meridian, where the two worlds are about to clash. A terrible reckoning is underway, and this time, everything is at stake.
About the Authors
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| Benny Zelkowicz |
Cam Baity is an Emmy Award winning animator, and his short films have screened around the world, including at Anima Mundi in Brazil and the BBC British Short Film Festival. His credits include major motion pictures like Team America: World Police and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and popular television shows such as Robot Chicken and Supermansion.
Benny Zelkowicz studied animation at CalArts and made the award winning film, The ErlKing. He directed and starred in the BBC/CBC animated series Lunar Jim, and worked on The LEGO Movie as well as several TV shows including Robot Chicken and Moral Orel.
More links
Twitter: @CamandBenny
Hashtag: #BooksOfOre
Facebook: https://www.facebook
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