Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 737
Although they were yelling, Jordan couldn’t hear what anyone
was saying over the long, continuous rolls of thunder that filled
the air.
He grabbed Axel by the shoulder. "What’s happening?"
Axel pointed. "Maybe we’d better get back inside."
Jordan looked up.
Coils of light were falling from the sky.
For a second or two he couldn’t figure out what he was
seeing. From the zenith to the horizon, long glowing threadlike
shapes one after another faded into view, moved gently down
the sky leaving red trails like blood, then faded from view
again--or else touched the earth, where great white blooms of
light appeared. As he watched, a brilliant shimmering rope
appeared almost directly overhead, grew for seconds into a
bright starred tangle like a falling rope, then suddenly found
perspective as a giant flaming branch-like shape that
plummeted out of sight behind the mountain. The whole sky lit
up with a blue-white flash, and the ground under Jordan shook.
Then the sound came round the mountain, and he lost his
footing.
He tumbled head over heels down the slope, and landed
about a meter from Axel. He sat up, bruised and half-deafened.
Tamsin was next to him in seconds, offering her hand. With a
grimace Jordan took it and stood.
"What the hell is all this?" shouted Axel. His words
seemed strangely muffled to Jordan.
"It’s the swans!" shouted Marya. "The Diadem swans
are attacking!"
Jordan’s heart sank. "Not attacking. They’re falling."
"Falling? But why... the fleet?"
"No." It took a few seconds for Jordan to orient himself.
The valley was this way, the saddle between the two peaks