by Chris Fox
She easily hefted three of the crates, each weighing sixty pounds or more. Liz began walking back to the Ark, peering around her burdens since they were taller than her head. Blair picked up two of the crates knowing the limits of his strength. He still found it odd that women were so much stronger than men, but it provided a strange sort of balance to the traditional world.
“Let’s make this the last load,” Liz called over her shoulder. A sheen of sweat made her shirt cling to her back, highlighting the muscles as they moved. “We’ve been at this all day. There’s enough food and medical supplies down there to last us for months.”
“You’re not getting an argument from me,” Blair replied, following after her. It was easier to go single file through the Ark’s confines, at least when carrying this sort of burden. “It looks like we’ve raided almost everything we can from their camp anyway. Pickings have been slim for the last few trips.”
“Maybe we can actually relax for a bit after we finish,” Liz suggested, beaming one of those smiles over her shoulder.
“I found a bottle of rum yesterday,” Blair said, shooting back a grin. “We ought to crack it open and celebrate. You realize this will be the first downtime we’ve had since we became werewolves? We didn’t even pause after the end of the world.”
They entered the comforting shade of the tunnel, winding down into the Ark. It amazed him how differently he’d come to view it since the day he’d arrived. That had been less than three months ago, and yet the gulf was wider than any lifetime. The corridor sloped down as they passed the first row of antechambers.
“So can I confide something?” Liz asked, slowing until he could walk with her.
“Of course. After the things we’ve shared? You can tell me anything,” Blair replied, adjusting the weight of the crates.
“I’m having trouble sleeping. I haven’t been able to since that day we woke up naked. The day I—well, shit, I can’t even say it,” she finished lamely, quickening her step again.
“The day you killed that man when we were on the run,” Blair finished for her. He quickened his pace to match. “Liz, you’re a doctor. A healer. You’re kind and everything I’ve seen you do is aimed at helping the people around you. I get why this is hard for you, maybe better than anyone.”
“Do you?” she asked, eyes sharp. “Blair, I wanted to heal people. Make the world a better place. Now I kill. Relentlessly. I’m a death machine, the ultimate warrior. That’s my lot in life now, to slaughter every day. To fight. It isn’t me, Blair. It isn’t fair. This isn’t who I was supposed to be.”
He didn’t have an answer. They walked in silence until they reached the eastern wing. Then he cleared his throat, finally sorting out his thoughts enough to speak. “Liz, neither one of us wanted this. I was a teacher. You were a healer. We can still be those things. For you? Cleanse the land, Liz. Just like you said you wanted to. Kill the zombies. Wipe out the undead. Help a new and better world rise from the ashes. That’s your purpose now.”
“How can you accept it so easily?” she asked, setting down her crates as they finally arrived in the mess. She turned to face him, ponytail swishing across her shoulder. “I just can’t get my mind around it. I can smell blood. Hear heartbeats. But what’s worse? I want to hunt, Blair. I want to kill. I want to let it out and slaughter everything around me. How do you reconcile that with the teacher in you? Because the doctor in me is horrified.”
“Because I’ve come to understand that the world we lived in only existed because some had to sacrifice to make it so,” Blair explained. It was something he’d thought long on. He set down the crates before continuing. “Soldiers fought to secure oil so America would be wealthy. Our standard of living was paid for in their lives. We’re safe from fires because firemen put themselves in harm’s way. We don’t have the luxury of being doctors or teachers anymore. We’re soldiers now. Either we take back this world or the zombies snuff it out. Does it suck? Sure. But we don’t have a choice. I square the beast in me, because I need it to fulfill my role. To do the things no one else can.”
“I hadn’t looked at it that way,” Liz admitted, moving to sit on the edge of the long table. “We really are necessary. I think about what would have happened without this place. What if Mohn had won and the werewolves were stopped? Where would the world be? Overwhelmed by zombies and out of power. You saw what those fast zombies did and the Mother says that’s just the beginning."
Her expression softened and his mouth went dry as he stared into her eyes.
“Listen, Blair. I wanted to talk to you about Bri—” Liz began, trailing off as he whirled to face the corridor.
“We’re not alone,” Blair said, peeling off his shirt and dropping it to the marble. He shucked out of his pants as well. They were comfortable and he didn’t want to replace them. Again. “Someone is accessing systems in the central chamber. I can feel it, like something whispering in my ear.”
Only one of the Mother’s near progeny could access the Ark. There is another champion within these walls, perhaps from the secondary rejuvenation chamber.
“It’s another werewolf, someone like us,” Blair explained, turning to face Liz, who was also stripping. He tried not to stare. Focus. “I’m going to go delay her so she doesn’t get away. Get there as quickly as you can.”
“Blair that’s—” Liz began.
No time. He blurred, all the way up the corridor and down another. Blurred again to reach the central chamber, crossing the distance in a span of heartbeats. He leapt through the doorway, rolling down the ramp and behind one of the damaged obelisks. The room was empty, or at least it appeared so.
“You’re not Isis,” a male voice called from the shadows. It was clearly amused, clipped with something akin to a British accent, though he knew that wasn’t quite right. “So she sent a single Ka-Dun? A poor decision on her part unless you are a good deal more powerful than you appear. Why don’t you tuck your tail between your legs and scurry away? I’ll let you live.”
“Why don’t you come out where I can see you? I’d be happy to show you just how powerful I am,” Blair roared. Why couldn’t he hear a heartbeat? Or smell the intruder? He was perfectly cloaked, like a female.
“Of course,” the intruder said, right behind him. Blair began to spin but even as he blurred, so did the intruder. Blair caught the impression of ebony skin and a shaved head, but what drew his attention were the smoldering green eyes and the razored teeth. The same teeth as the fast zombies.
The stranger brought the palm of his hand up, mere inches from Blair’s chest. It glowed the same sickly green as the eyes and then discharged an arc of energy. The bolt took Blair in the chest, hurling him against an obelisk with a sickening crunch and a flash of agony. The blow shattered his back, erasing feeling below his waist.
“I have appeared,” the man said. He loomed over Blair, grinning cruelly. His age was indeterminate, perhaps early thirties. He wore a shimmering white vest and flowing white pants similar to the Mother’s garb. Both wrists bore golden bracelets and he had an elaborate neck torque that could have been found in an Egyptian tomb. His skin suggested Nubian ancestry. “Where is this power you were going to show me? All I see is a pup with a broken back, yipping at something it cannot understand.”
Be wary, Ka-Dun, this is not a champion. You face one of the deathless. They command the shadows as females do.
He blurred too, Blair thought.
Deathless possess many powers. They also possess a breed of shaping, different from your own but very powerful. That is the source of the bolt of unmaking he unleashed.
“Lovely,” Blair muttered. He flooded his body with energy, healing his broken back and leaping to his feet. The deathless stood calmly, an infuriating smile still pasted on that too-handsome face.
Blair blurred forward, dropping low and swiping at his opponent’s calf. The deathless flowed backwards, narrowly avoiding his claws. He ripped a strange sword from a sheath at his side, the golden blade o
ddly curved in a way Blair had never seen. The blade hummed as it came for Blair’s head. He ducked under the blow and raked the deathless with his claws, catching his opponent in the chest. His hand came away bloody as the man melted into the shadows.
“Impressive. You’re quick,” the voice said, clearly amused. “I am Irakesh, of the Cradle. How are you called, young Ka-Dun?”
Blair considered ignoring him, but the longer he prolonged this fight the greater the chance that Liz would arrive. “My name is Blair.”
“You are of this new world then? Interesting. Isis has been busy. I hadn’t realized she would begin recruiting so quickly,” the voice said. It had moved to another section of darkness, somewhere near the central obelisk. “She left you behind while consolidating territory, and I can feel her access key within you. That should have been Ahiga’s responsibility, jumped-up urchin that he was. Does she trust you, or was she desperate?”
Something flashed behind him again. Blair blurred forward but wasn’t fast enough. Claws scored his back, sending lines of pain through his entire body. Were they poisoned somehow? It didn’t feel like a normal blow. Why hadn’t the deathless used his sword?
Irakesh vanished back into the shadows. “You’re outmatched, little wolf. Hamstrung by Isis’s paranoia. You cannot command the shadows. Do you know why that is? Because when she created your kind she didn’t want one person to have access to the full power at her disposal. So she segregated those powers, allowing only a fraction to be possessed by each gender. My kind has no such weakness.”
Blair leapt on top of the central obelisk, its surface scored from the battle with Mohn. He scanned the darkness. Was this Irakesh lying? Or had the Mother really done as he said? It made a certain sort of sense. It made the sexes reliant on each other, forming an excellent check on the power of any one individual.
“What will you do? You cannot find me, but I can easily find you,” the voice taunted. A green flash came from behind and to the right. This time Blair blurred away, narrowly dodging the bolt as it rippled across the obelisk. The obsidian absorbed it, seemingly undamaged.
Blair rolled behind another obelisk, taking a moment to focus his will. He had to find the bastard or this game of cat and mouse was only going to end one way. He sent out a pulse, just like he’d used while sparring with Bridget. There, resistance a few feet to his left.
He lunged, wrapping his arms around the patch of darkness. Something strong wriggled in his grip, but Blair fought to hold the deathless. He bit down hard, savaging Irakesh’s shoulder with a mouthful of fangs. The blood tasted sour, like wine turned to vinegar. He resisted the urge to spit it out, tearing further as he tried to sever his foe’s arm.
A wave of green energy burst from Irakesh, washing over Blair’s entire body. He tumbled backwards, muscles spasming as if he’d been subjected to a massive jolt of electricity. His body lay there twitching, refusing his commands to rise and fight. It was similar to the power that Ahiga had used back in Acapulco, but much more painful.
“Now that was truly impressive,” Irakesh said, clutching his shoulder with his good hand. The flesh was already knitting back together. “I didn’t know a male could find someone shadow dancing. That’s either a new talent, or a very closely held secret. I almost regret having to kill you without learning the answer.”
12
Hell Hath No Fury
Liz sprinted down the corridor with the long strides afforded by her lupine form. Sweat trickled through her fur as she bounded off a wall, using her momentum to fling her around a corner. Yet as fast as she moved it wasn’t fast enough.
In the distance she heard the grunts of combat, steel scraping against stone. Blair’s heart beat swiftly, his breathing ragged. He was fighting someone or something and she knew nothing about what they were dealing with. Damn him for running off. He was so damned impetuous.
She redoubled her speed, running low along the corridor. The combat continued, Blair giving a pained yelp that echoed from the room ahead. She rounded the last corner, dashing down the ramp and into the central chamber.
A bald man with dark skin stood over Blair’s crumpled form, his shimmering ivory clothing eerily familiar. The style and cut was too similar to the Mother’s to be a coincidence. The flowing white fabric draped over an athletic body, exactly the type of guy she preferred to date.
“I almost regret having to kill you without learning the answer,” the man stated, his arrogant voice still somehow friendly.
The ancient enemy, the beast rumbled, low and hostile. End him, Ka-Ken.
Liz pounced, claws extended as the shadows gathered about her. She came down on the man’s back, bearing him to ground with the heavy crack of bone breaking. She pinned him in place with both hands, tearing out his throat then ripping into his face with a savagery she hadn’t known she was capable of.
He screamed, his right eye punctured by one of her canines. Then he dissolved into a cloud of green mist. Not shadow, but something electric and insubstantial that made her fur stand on end as it flowed away from her. Liz spilled to the ground, clawing uselessly at the air. It dispersed the cloud, which flowed into the shadows and disappeared.
Where had the bastard gone? She scanned the area, but there was no sign of him.
Deathless are tricky, even more so than the Ka-Dun.
“Blair?” she asked, turning to face him. He staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall. At least he was alive.
“I’m all right,” he panted. He didn’t look all right. Raw pink wounds dotted his fur where his skin had been burned away. “We have to stop him. He took an access key, one linked to another Ark.”
“What is he?” she asked, scanning the darkness. There was still no sign of the intruder.
“He’s a deathless,” Blair explained, rolling his neck. It cracked and popped as vertebrae reset to a more natural position. “I’m guessing he’s been hidden here the entire time. Sleeping just like the Mother. He must have just awoken. He was about to kill me when you showed up. Thanks. That’s another one I owe you. It’s becoming a habit.”
“Yeah, well, just remember how much you owe me when someone has to wash the dishes tonight,” Liz said, giving him a half smile as she continued to scan the darkness for their new friend.
“I don’t know where he went, but I doubt he’d stay here. If it were me I’d flee the Ark before the Mother returned. It can’t be accidental he waited until she was gone,” Blair said, hobbling towards the ramp leading back to the surface. His theory made sense. “Let’s see if we can pick up a trail. He can use the shadows, but I bet he still leaves footprints.”
13
The House of Mohn
Irakesh quickened his pace, blurring up the ridge line to its peak. The bare granite jutted up into the night sky, overlooking both the way he’d come and the route forward. Behind him lay the gleaming black surface of the Ark, massive and silent. Ahead was a gentle slope with a narrow dirt road. The hillside was covered in scrubby brush, a stark contrast to the fields of ice when he’d invaded this place all those millennia ago. Apparently the climate had changed dramatically, the first sign that he’d emerged into a different world.
He studied the path, which wound down the hillside to a valley nestled between several hills. Beyond lay a wall of thick green vegetation. The jungle, where he could easily lose himself. Excellent.
Something much closer drew his eye. A strange metallic shape caught the moonlight, perhaps a hundred yards down the slope. He studied it from a distance, but could make no sense of the thing. It looked like scattered debris, as if a slipsail had been dashed against the side of a mountain and this was all that remained.
Irakesh blurred closer, blending into the shadows as he approached. Up close the place reeked of some unnatural substance, something sharp that burned his eyes. He’d never encountered anything like it. A four-foot section of a strange white material lay at his feet, the main body of the craft a few feet beyond. It was primarily metal, t
hough parts were molded from a smooth substance he’d never seen.
He picked up the long blade, amazed by its lightness. It was strong like metal yet far lighter. What could it possibly be? He dropped it and investigated the craft itself. The front had impacted with the hillside, crushing the area he presumed the pilot must lay. The slight stench of decay confirmed this, and as he knelt to examine further he saw a crushed hand jutting through a break in the strange transparent material that so closely resembled glass.
Irakesh circled the craft, coming to the side where a large portal lay. He could smell more decay within, so he ducked inside. A body lay at his feet, clothed in strange green clothing with a weave far too tight to belong to a peasant or even a common soldier. He knelt next to the body, smiling when he realized it was primarily intact.
He seized the corpse by the neck, dragging the head into his lap. Two claws in the ocular cavity let him pry open the skull, exposing the spongy grey matter within. It was old, but intact. He might be able to glean memories from this poor fool. Irakesh carefully peeled away the prefrontal cortex, devouring bite-sized morsels until it was gone.
His eyes closed as the rush of memories washed over him. So much, all of it new. This man was an officer in the military of some house known as Mohn. He’d been second in command here, an observer dispatched to watch over the real commander and to report back to his masters. The craft he’d crashed in was a helicopter, which had been bound for a kingdom called Panama. Mohn possessed a stronghold there. A stronghold with powerful weapons.
Wait, what was that? Irakesh focused on a recent memory, some sort of communication with this man’s masters despite the fact that he was thousands of miles away from them. He’d been ordered to retrieve a weapon of incredible power. The soldier didn’t understand precisely how this bomb worked, only that it split the atom and generated a massive burst of radiation and explosive force. Irakesh’s jaw fell open as he considered the implications.