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Thethe path ahead of the with plu

"We need steam cover!" Alek cried

"No chance!" Deryn stared at thethe walker e its boilers

But the elephant’swas ht swung away aiot a snootful!" Deryn cried Even hundreds of yards away, her eyes were starting to prickle froles up from around her neck and snapped the, then sneezed

Alek twisted the saunters, putting the djinn’s hands out for balance But he kept the walker charging ahead

"I’ to knock them over Brace yourself"

Deryn checked her straps "Hold on, beastie!"

The elephant was stu to move But the turret stayed motionless Had the spice bomb struck it dead-on?

Then Deryn saw the airflow patterns made visible by red dust, and realized what had happened - the cannon’s recoil had sucked the spices right into the main turret The elephant’s crew had done theging!"

"Not for long, though," Alek said "Hold on!"

The war elephant had turned sideways, stu into a barbed wire fence just behind it As the djinn charged into the swirling red clouds, Deryn’s throat began to burn, and she was glad for her goggles But Alek didn’t waver - he tipped the djinn’s left shoulder down

Metal crunched and tore around thee fraround and darkness flashing past Alek swore, twisting at the controls, and a lungful of spices set Deryn coughing

Finally the djinn stopped spinning; it was listing at a crazy angle Deryn sprayed a squick of steam to clear the air, unstrapped herself, and leaned out the viewport

The white clouds around the ot the like this?" Alek cried "And what in blazes is holding us up?"

Deryn leaned out farther, and saw glittering h the barbed wire fence, pulling up a quarterwire!"

Alek worked his foot pedals, and wires snapped and scraped "There’s more of them ahead We need steah the viewport Two miles in the distance the Tesla cannon rose up from the cliffs, half as tall as the Eiffel Tower

Around its base threeto life

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Are the others anywhere about?" Alek asked

Deryn leaned out the viewport, looking backward There was nothing on the horizon but the silhouettes of short salt-sheered trees along the cliff tops Then she spotted theht, no more than two miles away

"Aye, all of thelanced at the pressure gauge, which was only now beginning to cli too It’ll be a few ain"

"We don’t have that much time Give us some cover while I shake this wire off"

As Deryn reached for the steam cannon lever, one of the war elephants fired The shell landed short, but close, and Deryn was thrown backward froh the viewport, leaving a scratch on her goggles

"If you please, Mr Sharp?" Alek asked

"Mr Sharp," Bovril repeated with a chuckle

Deryn scra filled her ears The pilot’s cabin was suddenly as hot and hureenhouse

Outside the viewport the world disappeared behind a veil of white

Alek worked the pedals and saunters, blindly tearing at the tangle of barbed wire More gunfire boo explosions sounded in the distance

"They’re shooting at the others," Deryn said

"Then now’s the ti arhness" Deryn pulled the engine stokers again "But we’ve emptied the boilers toabout like a loon, which is taking eventhe djinn into a crouched halt As the engines idled, the ranging gauge began to clih the whiteness ca into the bank of stea to see where their bullets hit h," Alek said He pulled the release, and Deryn heard a third spice boing gauge "Three hundred e them!"

"Are you daft? There’s three of them and one of us!"

"Yes, but we haven’t much time Listen to your beast"

Deryn stared at the loris Its wee eyes were closed, as if it had decided to take a nap But a soft noise came from its lips - a hum and crackle, like the static on Klopp’s wireless She’d heard the sound before

"Barking spiders," she breathed

"Indeed" Alek pushed at the pedals As the djinn thundered forward, the hot clouds parted around theli its lower struts, like fabricated fireflies flitting about on Guy Fawkes Day Its shimmer spilled across the battlefield