The Metatron had finally kicked free of Daisy’s strap. It clambered to its feet with the speed of an insect, surprising her. As soon as its feet were on the pavement it could tug on her arm with strength that was more than human. When she jerked, it jerked back ten times faster; it was like having one wrist embedded in the Washington Monument. But she understood that it didn’t weigh that much. Its only power came from its contact with the ground.

She gave in, let it pull her up against its hard body, and thrust her free hand between its legs. She hooked her arm under its pelvis, getting the crook of her elbow where the genitals would be on a human, and gathered her legs under her and stood up. Like mighty Heracles severing Antaeus from his contact with the ground. The force she’d been fighting vanished, throwing her off balance. She staggered back along the chopper’s flank. Sensing the hum of the tail rotor dangerously close, she turned away from the danger, inadvertently feeding the Metatron’s outstretched legs into the whirring blade.

What occurred then was too fast and violent for any human senses to take in. It was like a shock cut in a movie; there was only before and after. She knew it was bad and that she had sustained injuries. The tail rotor was ruined, the helicopter out of trim. Its tail swung around, collected her and what was left of the Metatron, and knocked them off the edge of the helipad.

The water below was as cold as advertised. She tried to raise her arms to swim, but the Metatron was still holding one of her wrists in a death grip. Her free hand came up. Daisy came up with it, the faded plastic petals floating in front of her face but gradually fading from view as she sank.

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The Palace’s tallest tower was the dwelling place of Longregard. Just below it was a stretch of high parapet where Egdod was wont to pace back and forth. Once it had offered a pleasant view of Town, which in those days had been situated only a short distance below. Now Town was a jumbled ruin, spread across ground so far below the top of the pinnacle that Egdod’s view of it was frequently obscured by intervening strata of cloud. It was a smudge upon the surface of the Land, devoid of color since all of the trees had been felled.