The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

asked.
    “I’m going to bring us down on the square, as close to the pyramid as possible,” Prometheus answered. “We need to take up positions on the pyramid to defend the steps.”
    Palamedes joined Joan by the window. “Lot of activity down there,” he murmured. “Lots of armor and weapons. We’ll be dropping right into a war zone.”
    Joan nodded. “Prometheus, what about landing on top of the pyramid?” she suggested. “It’s flat.”
    Palamedes’s teeth flashed in a white grin. “It’s also very sneaky. I like it.”
    “Can you do it?” Joan asked.
    “I’ll try.”
    “What about defenses?” Will asked.
    “There will be a handful of vimanas. Whatever survived the attack on the Tor Ri,” Palamedes said, “and some of the wealthier or older Elders will have their personal vimanas, but they’re not armed. Most of Huitzilopochtli’s fliers are going to try to land in the square before the pyramid. If they can defeat the anpu guards, that will open up the bridges and allow the rest of the people to swarm across the canals. A few of our vimanas and fliers will land on the opposite side of the canals to support the population and engage any anpu there.”
    “And what about Aten?” Palamedes asked. “Why aren’t we attacking the prison and freeing him?”
    Prometheus shook his head. “Marethyu was very clear about that. He said that the prison could only be attacked by the people of Danu Talis. It had to be their victory or their defeat.”
    “I know what he means,” Joan said. “If they can take the prison, it will show the rest of the population what they can achieve. A victory like that will ignite the entire city.”
    A series of scattered sparks danced across the control panel. Shakespeare rubbed them out with his sleeve. “How soon before we land?”
    “Soon,” Palamedes said. There was a crack and suddenly a rectangular panel fell out of the floor, allowing them to see into the outskirts of the city below. Bitter air whipped into the cabin.
    “Not soon enough,” Shakespeare said, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
    JOSH ROTATED HIS wrists and the edges of Excalibur and Clarent keened as they moved through the air.
    “There is an easier way.” Sophie’s hand opened and closed and a ball of silver fire bloomed in her palm. “You really don’t have any idea who we are,” she said to the bear-headed men.
    The silver ball sizzled, then fizzed and shrank before popping like a burst balloon.
    “And you have no idea where you are,” the huge berserker said, grunting the words with effort. He pointed to the ceiling with the blade of his battle-ax. It was glowing a little brighter than before. “No aura power in the pyramid. The walls drink it.”
    “How good are you with those?” Sophie asked Josh, nodding to the swords.
    “Not great,” he confessed. “Usually, Clarent does all the work for me.” He shook the sword in his left hand, but nothing happened.
    “Whatever is absorbing our auric power must be draining the swords, too,” she said. Sophie pulled her two swords free. She was carrying Durendal, the Sword of Air and Joyeuse, the Sword of Earth. They just felt like heavy lumps of stone in her hands.
    “Pretty toys,” the berserker said. “Four swords. Three of us. I will take two. My brothers will have one apiece.” He pointed to Josh with the black glass knife. “I will take yours.”
    The big berserker standing immediately to the warrior’s left suddenly punched him in the shoulder. “I want that one.” He pointed to Clarent.
    A dozen strategies flickered through Josh’s head and he knew he was accessing some of the knowledge Mars Ultor had filled him with. He risked a quick glance at his sister. “We need to play for time,” he whispered. “Isis and Osiris have to be back soon.” Then, loudly, he announced, “Clarent is a sword fit only for a leader. So, really, whoever’s the leader among you should have it.”
    “That’s me,” all three said simultaneously.
    Josh stepped backward and the three berserkers automatically moved forward. “If I could lure them farther down the room, do you think you’d be able to get past them to the door and open it?” he wondered.
    “Not a chance,” Sophie said.
    “Try it anyway.”
    “Give me the sword,” the biggest of the three berserkers said.
    Josh looked at the other two. “Should I?”
    “No,” they both grunted.
    He looked back to the biggest warrior and shrugged.