Well, I've been told that the Goliath is in stores now. I am deeply saddened. This was one of my favorite series and I'm really dissapointed that it's ending already. I mean, really? You're going to shove the entire first world war into three books! grrrrr.
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So, alas, I will dawdle in my reading of the Goliath and savor every last word of it. You may have already finished the book so please, dear readers, don't spoil it for me and post replies such as "OMG, Deryn Dies!" not appreciated.
The plan was simple: destroy the Tesla Cannon. And being a simple plan, one would think that it could be easily accomplished. All they needed to do was march the barking walkers up the mountain, smash the Tesla and call it a day.
Of course, things could never be simple.
"There's another one! About a thousand yards to your left….I mean, make that nine hundred meters!" Deryn shouted. She was perched in the viewport of the djinn playing lookout for Alek as he piloted the monstrous mechanism toward the towering Tesla.
"I see it!" Alek shouted back. His hands leapt for the controls snatching at the levers and using his body weight to swing the device to his left. The engines hissed in response and, as if connected to Alek's body, the head and torso of the djinn moved fluidly in the same direction. Alek reached for another trigger that released a missile into the hand of the walker. "On your command, Mr. Sharp." He cried.
"Mr. Sharp" Bovril corrected him. The beastie was perched on her shoulder, being perspicacious. Deryn, however, didn't have the time to shush the creature. She was too busy watching the ranging gauge. The little device was essential to their survival in this battle. Without it, she wouldn't be able to tell if the djinn could throw the missile far enough.
"Wait a bit!" She called down to Alek. The arrow on the gauge was still stuck on eight hundred meters.
"Better hurry up!" Alek barked. "It's getting closer!"
"Aye, and with your jumping and running about we won't get enough steam to throw the thing!"
Finally the needle hit the nine hundred meter mark meaning that the engines had gained enough steam to push the walker's arm strength to just the right power.
"Fire!" She screamed. Alek immediately pulled the lever to release the djinn's firing arm. Two seconds later and a thousand yards to their left an Ottoman walker exploded. The sixth one they destroyed that night. It reminded Deryn of smashing insects on the wall. You could keep killing the flies but no matter how many you smacked dead there would be another to take its place.
The Ottoman stormwalkers were similar in that they seemed to appear out of nowhere. One mechanical device easily replacing the one they had just destroyed. The things even looked like insects. They were large scorpion shaped walkers that scurried over the ground like spiders.
"Any more of them?" Alek cried over the booming of the guns.
She carefully examined the grounds before them, straining her eyes through the lens of the bronze Clanker binoculars. Surprisingly, there were no more scorpions to be seen. Although she could make out the outline of Lilit's walker shooting the clart out of something. Further in the distance there was another explosion, probably from Zaven's walker. Lilit's father had taken the most dangerous position as the leader of their small cavalry while Alek's father had taken the second most perilous spot behind him. Lilit and Alek were stuck in the rear.
Alek had complained at first when he had heard the plan. He had wanted to be in the forefront of the action with Zaven and his father. Deryn guessed that they were positioned toward the rear not only because they were younger and less experienced in warfare, but also because Franz Ferdinand would do everything to protect his son. He didn't want Alek to even pilot a walker in the first place. If Nene hadn't insisted, Alek and Deryn would probably be back at the warehouse picking their noses.
Franz may have tried to shield Alek, but Deryn could tell that even if they were in the rear, there was no safe zone in this battle. The Ottoman walkers had been attacking since they left the city. They were smaller contraptions, not nearly as powerful and huge as the djinn and her compatriots, but the little scorpions still punched back hard.
Minutes before, a rather nasty scorpion walker had aimed its guns right at Deryn's viewport. The shot had been so strong it had knocked her out of her seat and into the cockpit. Her head still stung from when she had clocked it on the steel wall behind her.
"I think we're coming to a standstill." Alek called up to her. He pulled the controls up to his face, causing the walker to slow and stop. The engines hissed and cooled for a moment before Alek let go of the contols. Then, without warning, he raised his arm and pointed in the distance. "Is that…? What in God's name is he doing?"
Deryn snapped her binoculars around to where Alek was pointing. Through the dusty haze of gunfire she could make out the silhouette of the Tesla Cannon. It stood proudly in the fading sunlight, gleaming in a copper gold reflection almost like a fine necklace or charm. If she squinted enough she could make out the fuzzy form of the Leviathan drifting closer and closer to the immense tower.
"What is who doing?" She asked, still not understanding what Alek was gawking at.
"It's Zaven! He's charging straight into the tower!"
Zaven's walker was probably the most impressive of the lot. Towering at nearly ninety feet high, the Sahmeran was a frightening machine to behold. Lilit had explained that it was shaped in the form of an ancient goddess. Even from this distance she could make out the elegant curves and rich silver paneling of the strong female form.
Yet the beautiful and terrifying walker was headed for the base of the Tesla Cannon. Deryn gasped in horror as the Sahmeran tossed a crumpled Elephante out of her way and continue straight on for the electric tower.
"He's going to sacrifice himself to the tower!" Alek shrieked.
"Well don't just sit there, you daft ninny! Get your arse in gear and trample over there! We have to stop him!"
He nodded and shifted his weight again to turn the djinn southward toward the Tesla. Deryn felt her knees tremble as Alek pushed his legs forward and started the stormwalker forward at top speed. The machine rocked back and forth with each of Alek's foot falls, its legs in exact unison with the prince's feet. The motion made Deryn slightly nauseous. She wasn't too fond of riding in such a large metal man.
"I think we're too late." Alek said. He was suddenly pulling the djinn to a hault.
"What do you mean? He hasn't reached the bloody tower yet!"
"Listen to your fabrication!" Alek snapped back.
Over the head pounding clanks of metal Deryn could hear Bovril beside her ear. Its voice crackled and hummed like a powerful electric current.
"That tower is prepared to shoot any moment!" Alek said, his own voice cracking with fear. "There's no way we'd reach Zaven in time to stop him, and even if we did, there would be no other way to stop the Tesla."
Deryn frowned. He was right. If, miraculously, they were able to reach the Sahmeran there still wouldn't be time to prevent the Leviathan from being shot down from the heavens. It seemed that the only way to save her ship was to let Lilit's father continue with his plan. Sadly, she lifted the binoculars once more and watched the Sahmeran crash into the base of the tower.
The impact was silent at first then, an instant later, a thunderous crack of lightening split through her skull, louder than any cannon she had ever heard. It was so bright she had to shut her eyes and turn away from the vantage point. Bovril's claws were digging into her shoulder and from the seat below her she could hear Alek scream a curse.
"Poor man." She said, rubbing her eyes to regain sight. Eventhough they were shut the glare from the electricity had blinded her through her eyelids. Blinking away stars, Deryn tried to make out what remained of the Tesla Cannon. It looked as though the tower had completely fallen over, although she couldn't be quite sure with her hazy vision.
Without warning something smashed into the metal beside her. She was once again thrown out of her seat and crashed into the steel wall on her left. The force of it was so hard she thought she may have broken an arm. Thankfully she easily returned to her seat a second later and both her arms were perfectly mobile, although very sore.
"Barking Clanker contraptions! If this were a beastie it would have natural walls of membrane, not bone crushing steel!" She said in disgust.
"If you were paying attention and staying on the lookout we wouldn't be hit in the first place!" Alek yelled at her.
She was about to say that she wouldn't have to play lookout in a fabrication; the beastie would have eyes of its own, but quickly held her tongue. Alek was fumbling with the controls so much she was afraid that he might break an arm instead. Apparently that last hit they took was a little more than the stormwalker could take. The djinn was listing dangerously to the left and Deryn could feel the machine losing her balance. Poor Alek was doing all he could to keep the walker on her feet, but it seemed he was losing the battle.
Slowly the djinn begain to lean even more. Inch by inch she continued to slant and Alek was hastily using all his stength to push the thing back forward. Deryn could see his cheeks were puffed out in exertion and his body was completely stretched in the opposite direction of the listing. As if he were trying to turn the whole machine with only his own arms.
She was about to jump down to help him but it was too late. They were no longer leaning but falling to the ground. She felt weightless for a moment before the entire eighty foot tall structure collapsed into the dirt beside it.
Deryn had put her arms out to stop her fall, which she realized instantly was a very very daft idea. It had been a hands first tumble into the metal frame of the djinn. She screamed when she hit the side of the walker, expecting her wrists to be broken at least.
However, when she held them up to examine a second later she was relieved to see they were whole.
"Alek, are you all right?" She called as soon as she was able to stand. She heard a moan to her right and ran through the sideways cockpit of the fallen walker to where the sound had come from.
Alek had not faired as well as she from the fall. He had become caught in the controls and it looked like his head had hit one of the levers rather smartly. An open wound was bleeding freshly from his forehead.
Deryn gasped and instantly slapped her hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, but Alek quickly brushed her off.
"I'm fine." He said gruffly then started to pull himself out of the controls. He stood up suddenly and almost fell if Deryn hadn't been there to catch him.
"Be careful, you've hit your head." She said, gently helping him to his feet. Alek raised his fingers to his wound to feel for bleeding.
"Oh." He said when his fingertips revealed the blood. His eyes fluttered a bit and he lost his footing again before Deryn reached out to steady him.
"Keep pressure on it!" Deryn commanded him and pushed his hand back up to his forehead. "Now how do we get out of here?"
There was no exit from the cockpit that she could see. The visor had been shut during the battle and was bent beyond opening by now. As for the doorway they had used to enter the contraption, it was also crumpled and destroyed. She wasn't sure that exiting through the rear of the walker would be safe anyways.
They were stuck. Deryn felt a new horrible fear settling in her abdomen. It was a mix of Closter phobia and fear for Alek's life. It felt like the little cockpit was getting ghastly smaller.
"We're never going to get out of here!" She gasped. Alek's eyes widened as he seemed to be absorbing her terror.
"What do you mean?" He asked in panic. "Are the exits all blocked?"
She nodded and Alek gulped loudly. One of his hands was squeezing the life out of her arm while the other was still clenched to his forehead over the bleeding gash.
A small noise caught Deryn's attention and she pulled her face away from Alek's horrified expression.
"Bovril?" She said, turning around to see the beastie muttering to itself and clutching her leather satchel.
"Has the creature gone mad as well? Excellent!" Alek peeved. Deryn raised a hand to silence him.
"No, I think its trying to tell us something."
She moved closer to Bovril and listened closely to what the loris was saying. It wasn't words exactly but a sound of chattering. Like stones hitting a glass window pane.
She frowned at the beastie. "Bovril, this isn't a time to be cute. Just spit it out!"
The loris tilted its head to one side then lifted her satchel with its front paws and gave the bag a little shake. The contents inside the bag clattered loudly and Bovril mimicked the sound, the same as the one he just did.
Deryn snatched the bag from the loris and opened it.
"Of course! I've been so daft! Why didn't I think of it earlier?"
"Think of what?" Alek looked over her shoulder as she emptied the contents of her satchel.
"Barnacles!" Deryn exclaimed, lifting a glass jar above her head in triumph and giving it a little shake. The shells inside clinked against the glass marvelously.
"Beg your pardon?" Alek asked. "But did you say barnacles?"
"Aye!" She squeeled. "Marvelous little beasties they are! Dr. Barlow gave them to me. They eat steel."
Alek's face turned slightly green. "Ummm…they do what?" He said, pushing both hands against his head wound.
Deryn didn't bother explaining it to a Clanker prince and quickly climbed up the floor of the slanting cockpit. She shook the barnacle jar again, angering the little fabs so they produced more steel destroying mucous. When she finished her climb she was back at the viewport with the binoculars. It was probably where the metal wall was thinnest. With a twist of the wrist she opened the contents of the jar and tossed it onto the steel wall that held up the small window of the viewport.
Seconds passed into minutes as she waited and watched the wall. She bit her lip, waiting in silence for any sign of the metal decaying.
"God's wounds!" Alek marveled suddenly. He had climbed up beside her, balancing on the seat she had been keeping lookout from before. "The wall is melting!"
She smiled. Sure enough, a tine hole the size of her thumbnail had appeared where she had thrown the barnacle fluid. It slowly grew to the size of her fist and then faster to fit a person's head and faster still until it almost covered half of the wall.
"Better jump through, your highness." She gestured to Alek. Dumbfounded, the prince stared at her and then back at the wall.
"But what if….that can't be safe!" Alek sputtered.
"Just don't touch the metal. We wouldn't want that stuff getting on your skin." She said.
Alek took a deep breath and lifted himself through the hole. When he was through he reached down with his free hand to help Deryn through.
They didn't stay long on the walker. Luckily, Alek's head wound was not as bad as it seemed. He showed her that it had stopped bleeding once they reached the ground.
"We should go check on the others." Alek said seriously. His eyes were darting toward the fallen Tesla Tower, no doubt wondering if his father was victim to the same fate as Zaven.
They ran toward the fallen tower. Deryn hadn't realized how gigantic it was from inside the stormwalker. Out in the open, the Tesla Cannon was overpowering. Outstretched on the ground as it was now she would guess that it was nearly the length of the Leviathan.
"There's your father!" She said, pointing to the walker called the iron golem. It was still upright and walking fine, proof of Franz's impressive piloting skills.
"Yes." Alek said, but his voice was cool. "The Minotaur has fallen."
Deryn followed Alek's gaze and shuddered. The minotaur had been Lilit's walker and it was now lying facedown in the dirt, completely trampled by Elephantes.
They continued to run in silence toward the destruction. Only a few Elephantes and scorpions seemed to be still walking, and those were being shot down by Franz's walker.
"Over there!" Alek suddenly pointed. On top of a cliff edge they were passing, a lone figure was standing and gazing out over the city. Deryn could see long braids blowing in the wind from the figure's head.
"Lilit!" She screamed and dashed over to the anarchist girl. As soon as she was in arms reach, Lilit crashed into her and embraced her in a tight hug.
"Dylan! Thank God you're all right!" She shouted.
"Lilit…you…your father." Alek stuttered. He awkwardly pointed toward the Tesla Cannon and the fallen Sahmeran. "I'm so sorry."
Lilit pushed away from Deryn and shrugged. There were no tears on her face and she was even managing a small bit of a smile.
"He died doing what's right." She explained. "We needed him to do it, the Leviathan needed him to do it, and so did my people." She gestured behind her to the skyline of Istanbul behind her. Deryn felt her mouth drop as she witnessed the view of the city. Explosions were dancing over the buildings like fallen stars and she could make out the outlines of hundreds of walkers piloting amongst the streets.
"The revolution." Alek mumbled.
Lilit nodded. "Thanks to you, we were able to distract the Sultan's guard and the Germans with this attack, leaving the city wide open for a full revolution on the palace."
Deryn shivered in her boots. "Barking spiders." She whispered.
"Barking spiders." Repeated Bovril.
Lilit smiled at the little beastie and stroked its fur. "I guess this is goodbye then." She said, pulling out a long cloth bag from her side and opening it. She pulled a strange contraption out that reminded Deryn of a large dragonfly.
"And where exactly are you planning to go, lassie?" Deryn scolded. "No point in getting yourself killed in this mess. You better stay put!"
Lilit beamed. "Nene needs me, my people need me. I wish I could stay, Dylan, especially with you being here. You are by far the most extraordinary boy I have ever met!"
Deryn gaped at the strange anarchist girl. It was a lovely compliment, to be sure, although she wish she were getting it from Alek instead.
"Aye, well I suppose…"
But Lilit didn't let her finish. She wrapped one arm around Deryn's waist and pulled her close, planting her lips firmly on Deryn's mouth.
Deryn didn't move. She couldn't. She was being kissed by a barking girl for Christ's sake! So she just stood there, with her eyes wide open arms at her side, debating when would be the right time to give Lilit a good shove.
Yet the kiss was over as suddenly as it started. Lilit pulled away and smiled up at Deryn bashfully.
"I'm sorry!" She giggled. "I guess I was just curious."
"CURIOUS!" Deryn stuttered. "Blisters, what the hell for? I mean, you hardly even know me!"
"I know you better than you think, Mr. Sharp." She said with a wink before turning to Alek. "You don't know what a friend you have in Dylan." And with one last smile, she lifted the dragonfly contraption onto her back and leapt off the cliff.
Alek dashed forward and Deryn followed him but Lilit did not need rescuing. Her dragonfly had caught the wind and was now gliding her through the air and towards the city. They could just make out her laughter on the breeze as she disappeared from view.
"She is mad." Alek said, shaking his head. Deryn nodded in agreement.
They continued to stare at the explosions over Istanbul when something loud popped behind them.
"Alek!" Someone shouted. They flipped around to see Franz Ferdinand climbing down from his iron golem. He rushed across the space between them and scooped his son into a metal crushing hug. "You're alive! When I saw your walker fall, I thought the worst! Thank heavens you're safe!" Surprisingly he reached over and smacked Deryn warmly on the back. "And you as well, Dylan. It's good to see you in one piece!"
"ALEK!" Another, more high pitched scream echoed through the night. Deryn saw Sophie's slender form emerge from the walker and snatch Alek away from her husband. She began to shower his face in kisses between broken bits of German.
"Calm down, mother!" Alek said, gently pushing her away. Deryn could see a faint tear running down his cheek. "Good heavens! What are you even doing here? You were supposed to stay back at the warehouse where it's safe! This is no place for a woman. Especially one who is expecting."
Sophie's face instantly turned to a scowl.
"I tried to keep her behind but she wouldn't listen to me." Franz sighed. "You know how it is."
Deryn could guess very well that Sophie had put up quite a stink to get in that walker and that there was nothing her husband could have done to stop her.
"Well, did you expect me to send him off forever without a proper goodbye!" She snarled.
"What do you mean, forever?" Alek said, crossing his arms. "We're you expecting me to die?"
Sophie replied with some sort of foul German word and Franz and Alek both rolled their eyes.
"I didn't mean that!" She snapped then lifted a hand to wipe her teary face. "We've decided, well your father has decided, that it would be better if we parted ways now."
Alek's face paled considerably and his eyes seemed to double in size. "What?"
"No need in arguing now, son, it's already done." He pointed up to the sky. "The Leviathan is on her way as we speak. We've already signaled to the airship that Dylan is alive. They are on their way over to fetch him and you will be joining him on board."
"But…" Alek gasped. "but why?"
"For your safety, of course." Franz replied effortlessly. "You must return to Britain and away from this horrific war."
Deryn could see Alek's eyes begin to glass over with faint tears. "But that doesn't make any sense! The Darwinists are the enemy!"
"That's true Alek, but they won't kill you as the Germans would. If you were to stay here the Ottomans could find you and then hand you over like a box of chocolates to their German friends."
"….the revolution."
"is ousting the Sultan, not the Germans." Franz admitted. "I cannot risk leaving you here."
"I don't entirely agree with it myself." Sophie sniffed. "But your father is right, dear, it would be best if you left."
A low grumbling sound was thundering from above and Deryn glanced up to see the Leviathan descending fast. The faint lovely scent of burning almonds drifted to her nose and she breathed in the wonderful smell of Hydrogen.
"We best be off." Franz said, giving his son a final pat on the shoulder.
"WAIT!" Deryn shouted, grasping the archduke's arm before he turned away. "You should come with us!"
Franz only sighed and gave her a sad smile. "That is a very kind offer, Dylan, and I wish I could accept, but I'm afraid that the world still believes that we are deceased. If my wife and I were to miraculously appear on a British hydrogen breather, I'm afraid that evferything would turn over backwards."
She slowly let go of his arm and watched hopelessly as he and his wife started back towards the stormwalker.
"It'll be allright, Alek, I promise." He said to his son. "And stay close to Dylan, he's a loyal friend."
He gave a salute to Alek before grasping hold of a ladder and ascending back into the walker. Behind him, Sophie was in tears. She gave Alek one last hug, said a few more things in German and then dashed after her husband as if afraid that she'd change her mind. Alek only stood there motionlessly, watching wide-eyed as the iron golem powered back into life and slowly marched his parents away into the night.
"Alek?" Deryn said softly, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to be all right?"
He met her eyes and smiled miserably. "He told me once that children raised in war are the strongest. I'm beginning to understand that now."
Deryn bit her lip. She couldn't think of what to say to him but it seemed that Alek didn't want to listen to her anyways. Instead she gave him a sideways hug.
Above them the Leviathan was dropping her rescue lines.