Free The Round Table (Space Lore Book 3) by Chris Dietzel Page B

Eastcheap, where she had cut off the Green Knight’s head years earlier, every patron agreed that the seat she had used back then should remain empty in her honor. The most common reason for fights in Eastcheap these days was when a new customer unwittingly sat in that chair and ignored the warnings to move.
    “Vere, stop pushing that damn wheel.” It was the second voice again.
    A clawed hand, green and covered in scales, rested on her shoulder. She didn’t shrug it off or acknowledge it in any way. Instead, she pushed as hard as she could until the Circle of Sorrow moved slightly forward again.
    Vere was aware of the people standing beside her body, but all of her attention was elsewhere. In her mind, the Cauldrons of Dagda didn’t currently exist. Her only reality was the one in which she and Mortimous were speaking.
    The two of them were at the king’s hall back on Edsall Dark. Scrope was there, pacing around the cavernous and empty room. However, he didn’t seem to know Vere and Mortimous were also there.
    “This is where the round table should go,” Mortimous said.
    “Here?”
    The figure in black robes shrugged. “Where else?”
    “You’re sure the round table is the solution?”
    Mortimous faded from her sight. Or was she the one leaving? The entire hall within CamaLon faded into the distance in a way that made it difficult for her to tell if only he was leaving or if both of them were.
    “Mortimous?”
    He was gone.
    Beside her, at the Circle of Sorrow, the same irritated woman said, “This is ridiculous. We came here to rescue her, not to watch her work. Every second we stand here, we’re giving the security forces a chance to regroup.”
    The next thing Vere knew, the same clawed hand that had rested on her shoulder now hoisted her into the air. “Let’s go,” Traskk said in Basilisk, and he threw Vere over his shoulder and carried her away.

19

    The Griffin Fire was already without its front shields, and there were too many Thunderbolts filling the sky to defend against all of them. Quickly directed all shield capacity to the belly of the ship, protecting it from the immense heat coming up from the dark molten death below, then took the ship low across Terror-Dhome’s lava seas.
    A pair of Thunderbolts set the same course. Their shields weren’t as powerful though, and even before the pilots could bring the ships back up to a safe level, the navigation circuits of both were fried and the Thunderbolts plummeted into the lava.
    Quickly immediately brought the ship back up and away from the lava. The maneuver was successful, but he frowned at the sheer number of Vonnegan fighters still coming at him. More Thunderbolts had departed from the Athens Destroyer and were joining the others already attacking the Griffin Fire. Looking at the cockpit display, he counted a dozen red dots angling from all positions, all converging on his ship.
    Another laser blast hit, knocking away a false metal panel and revealing more of the actual vessel underneath it.
    Cade’s voice came across the comm system: “Is there anything I can do?”
    Below, the Pendragon was dark and still on the spaceport, one of five ships scattered on the otherwise empty deck.
    “Don’t do a thing,” he said. “Just sit still. There are too many ships for me to keep them all away.”
    Another laser blast tore apart two more sheets of metal. Half of the false ship remained, with half of the Griffin Fire exposed beneath it.
    He changed course so the Griffin Fire was leaving the planet and began speeding out into space. Setting the engines for full power, he raced directly at the Athens Destroyer orbiting the planet.
    “Hey, where are you going?” Cade shouted, but Quickly ignored him.
    With so many fighters in the air, it was too difficult for Quickly to keep track of all of them. By racing out toward the Athens Destroyer, he would go in the only direction they didn’t expect, ensuring all of them were behind him—at least for a