Stomach turning as I think about Todd and his allegiance to the Urthmen, my eyes scan the landscape, skimming the treetops and the tops of the buildings below. I glimpse the top of Reyna’s pale-blonde hair and Xan’s black hair. I see Todd, as well. He shifts nervously. Even the dumbest of creatures wouldn’t believe he has this village under control. I wonder what the Urthmen will say and do when they see him.
I realize I won’t have to wonder much longer when I spot what I think is a vehicle in the distance.
“Hey guys, you see that?” I ask.
“I see it,” Pike answers right away.
“Me, too,” Ara agrees.
“I’d hoped to never see another nasty Urthman face again,” Kai says as he changes position. His leg bleeds through the shirt he’s wadded and placed over the wound. Another shirt’s been tied around to hold it in place. Though he tries to hide it, I see him gnash his molars each time he moves.
“Me, too,” I say.
“This place seemed perfect. Too perfect. But I wanted to believe,” Kai grinds out his words, emotion and pain lacing each. I understand. I understand how he feels. Even though every cell in my body shrieked at once that something in this village was wrong within the first five minutes of arriving, I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe that all that I saw here was real, that harmony existed. That peace was possible. Even in a world run by a species that exterminates us. I wanted to believe. But my instinct proved correct, as instinct always does. Had I listened to it, Kai wouldn’t be injured. Ashlyn would be alive. And I’d have declined the invitation to stay in the first place. I’m not sure how Jonah would’ve reacted. But he’d have been acting alone. I guess it doesn’t matter now. I can’t undo what’s been done. All I can do is hope to better the future, to safeguard ours inasmuch as I can, and always heed the warnings my instinct issues.
The roar of an engine echoes. Peering over the wall I see it. I see the darkly colored truck approaching quickly. Just one. I worried a fleet of trucks would be dispatched and let out a sigh of relief. Though we forced Todd to place a call to the Urthmen that we’d been apprehended and locked up, in the back of my mind I still feared the worst. I feared a dozen vehicles would crowd the gate and a very hostile mob of Urthmen would flood the camp.
“Here they come,” I warn. “One truck is pulling to the gate and Todd will let it in.” I watch as Todd unlocks the gate and swings it open wide. He waves the truck in and locks the gate behind it. The truck stops and roughly a dozen Urthmen exit it, all dressed alike. “They’re inside. Everybody ready?”
Mumbles of approval sound. We turn our bodies inward, looking down the wall at the rear of the village where Reyna and I found the tire tracks just hours ago.
“Vile creatures,” Micah whispers as he watches the Urthmen assemble in some sort of formation to honor the last to exit. One turns and opens the passenger-side door and an Urthman wearing the same uniform as the others only with numerous shiny gold decorations over his left breast pocket steps from the truck. Tall and thick through his chest and arms and with an expression that’s a perpetual scowl, I recognize the Urthman. The medals he wears. Flashes of being shackled at the wrists and chained to my brothers and sister after my village was stormed flicker in my mind as bursts. Snippets. I see him. See his face.
“General Hild, I didn’t think you’d come,” Todd says.
Hild. That’s the name! General Hild was the Urthman who led the raid that killed my parents. Killed everyone. Every muscle in my body sparks to life, and anger burns hot like molten lava beneath the surface of my skin. Pike’s head whips in my direction. He recognizes the face. The name. I bring my index finger to my lips then point below.
General Hild glowers at Todd. “And why wouldn’t I?” he demands.
“An Urthman of your rank and stature typically doesn’t make trips like this, that’s all.” Todd offers his smirk. His left eye blinks involuntarily. I wonder whether General Hild even notices. “I didn’t mean any offense whatsoever,” Todd tries to placate.
General Hild holds up a meaty hand. “Spare me the pathetic attempt at flattery,” he growls. “Urthman of your rank and stature,” he mocks Todd’s voice. “I know what I am. I know my rank and I know my stature. I don’t need a fool like you patting my head. A human fool at that!” Though his posture is impeccable, he clasps his hands behind his back and manages to roll his broad shoulders back even further, puffing his chest further. He looks left and right, scrutinizing the area before him. “It’s quiet here. Too quiet.” He tips his chin, as if sniffing the air. “Where is everyone?” He barks the question but with a haughtiness that implies he already knows the answer.
“They’re all keeping an eye on our prisoners,” Todd lies.
General Hild bends at the waist and looks Todd directly in the eyes. “Liar!” he roars.
“What?” Todd questions heatedly. “I’m not lying!”
General Hild’s head whips around. “What did you just say?” The upper portion of his mouth, where a top lip would be on a human, curls up over his pointed front teeth.
“N-nothing,” Todd cowers.
“Liar,” he hisses more venomously than the first time.
Todd doesn’t react. He doesn’t need to. The fear in his eyes reveals enough. So does his silence. Lips clamped shut, he simply looks at the Urthman General guiltily.
General Hild laughs, turning away from Todd. It’s a harsh, awful sound filled with bitterness and contempt. “Coward,” he spits then turns from Todd. “You can watch as I kill everyone here. My men will raid every building and kill anyone and everyone inside.” He then stops and whirls on Todd, his arm carving the air with a small, pointed object. Todd’s hands fly to the side of his throat just before he collapses to the ground, blood spurting between his fingers. “Starting with you,” General Hild says as he bends and wipes the bloody dagger on Todd’s tan pants. He replaces it to a sheath at his belt. Todd lies in a heap in a pool of his own lifeblood.
I blink, delaying for just a split second before I look to Pike and the others and nod. “Now!” I call out. At my command, our group springs to their feet and fires arrows. Before the Urthmen on the ground have time to react, a storm of arrows rains down on them. They attempt to scatter, running left and right. A few run in circles. They scream and cry out. One is hit in the eye. Another in the throat. Several are hit in the chest. In the back. All about their bodies. They fall. Still, we do not relent. We shoot until none are left standing. None move. None but General Hild. He lies on his side, an arrow protruding from his upper thigh. “Hold your fire!” I tell everyone. “Leave him. I want Hild alive,” I say. “For now,” I add just to myself. I stand and jog along the upper lip of the wall to an alcove that leads to a staircase to the courtyard of the village. Taking the steps two at a time, I reach the bottom and race across the pathway, leaping over the bodies of fallen Urthmen until I reach Hild. He drags himself, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. I kick him over so that he faces me. I squat beside him. “Hello, General Hild. Remember me?”
Pain is evident in his features but he bites it back, resuming his scowl. “Yes, I remember you. I remember your village. Slaughtering everyone.”
The screams from that day echo through my mind. The stench of blood, so much blood. I can still smell it without even trying. Without even concentrating. I narrow my eyes at him, loathing him and all that he represents. All that he’s done. “Not everyone. Oversight on your part, I guess. Had you finished the job, well, you’d have survived today.” I smile at him, a sinister smile devoid of merriment.
Refusing to be cowed, General Hild attempts to fire back. “You do realize you’re the most hunted creatures on the planet, don’t you?” He laughs. The sound is as pleasant a sound as two rocks scraping together. “There won’t be a place for you to hide. Nowhere to run. The King will find you and he’ll have your head on a spike once he finishes punishing you for killing his son.” He cackles again, causing himself to cough and hack.
&
nbsp; “Yes, you’re right. But you won’t be around to see it, will you?” I smile again, staring at him before I draw my blade and slit his throat. Both of his hands fly to the wound. He tries to speak but only makes a wet gurgling sound. I study every expression that crosses his face as life leaves him. I watch him die, only vaguely aware that the rest of the group has gathered around me. I drop my blade and stand. I look around the walled village. Realization hits me like a stone to my temple. What General Hild said is true. There is nowhere for us to go. Nowhere to hide. We will always be hunted. Always on the run. And always able to trust only each other, no one else. My gaze shifts from the walls and structures within the walls to Pike, Ara, Reyna and the rest of our group. Everyone is watching me. Looking to me for our next move or a plan. The truth I haven’t told them—can’t tell them—is that I don’t have one. I have nothing at all. I’m uncertain and truly afraid for the first time. All I know is we can’t stay here. We have to leave immediately. More Urthmen will be dispatched when General Hild and his men don’t return. And there’ll be more than twelve, I’m certain. The truck is the only option we have. And then what? After everyone is packed in and we take all that we can from here, where do we go? On this planet where we are part of a species relentlessly hunted and on the brink of extinction, where do we go? Despair clutches my throat in an iron-clad grip. My eyes burn and my heart splutters. I don’t know whether I want to cry or scream. Both. But neither are options. I don’t have the luxury of allowing myself to break down. I don’t have the luxury of time. So I force myself to ignore the lump in my throat and the physical ache in my chest and do what has to be done. Swallowing hard to steady my voice, I turn and face our group. My family. I’ve come to learn that family isn’t always who you’re born to. It’s who you choose and who chooses you along the way. It’s the people that fight alongside you. The people who live for you. The people who’d die for you. The people staring back at me, though not blood of my blood, are my family. They are home. Wherever we go will be home because of them. “Alright, we need to take as many supplies and as much food from here as we can load into the truck,” I start. I issue the rest of my orders, thinking out loud in lieu of a true plan. Everyone sets about performing a task. I’m left standing alone. I close my eyes for a moment and try to envision a future where we survive. As I do, I hear the treetops stir, the faint swish of leaves dried by the late-summer sun, and feel a breeze whisper across my face. And in that moment, I realize that our destiny begins with a decision, a decision we made the moment we escaped the arena. We decided to stand together. We decided to fight the forces that oppressed us and live free. We chose freedom. We chose it then and choose it now. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we will fight for it. We will be free.
About the Authors
Jennifer and Christopher Martucci hoped that their life plan had changed radically in early 2009. To date, the jury is still out. But late one night, in January of 2009, the stay-at-home mom of three girls under the age of six had just picked up the last doll from the playroom floor and placed it in a bin when her husband startled her by declaring, “We should write a book, together!” Wearied from a day of shuttling the children to and from school, preschool and Daisy Scouts, laundry, cooking and cleaning, Jennifer simply stared blankly at her husband of fifteen years. After all, the idea of writing a book had been an individual dream each of them had possessed for much of their young adult lives. Both had written separately in their teens and early twenties, but without much success. They would write a dozen chapters here and there only to find that either the plot would fall apart, or characters would lose their zest, or the story would just fall flat. Christopher had always preferred penning science-fiction stories filled with monsters and diabolical villains, while Jennifer had favored venting personal experiences or writing about romance. Inevitably though, frustration and day-to-day life had placed writing on the back burner and for several years, each had pursued alternate (paying) careers. But the dream had never died. And Christopher suggested that their dream ought to be removed from the back burner for further examination. When he proposed that they author a book together on that cold January night, Jennifer was hesitant to reject the idea outright. His proposal sparked a discussion, and the discussion lasted deep into the night. By morning, the idea for the Dark Creations series was born.
The Planet Urth series, The Demon Hunter series, the Vampire Extinction series, as well as the Arianna Rose series and the Dark Creations series are works that were written while Jennifer and Christopher continued about with their daily activities and raised their young children. They changed diapers, potty trained and went to story time at the local library between chapter outlines and served as room parents while fleshing out each section. Life simply continued.
As the storyline continues to evolve, so too does the Martucci collaboration. Lunches are still packed, noses are still wiped and time remains a rare and precious commodity in their household, but it is the sound of happy chaos that is the true background music of their writing. They hope that all enjoy reading their work as much as they enjoyed writing it.
Books by Jennifer and Christopher Martucci:
The Dark Creations Series (A YA paranormal romance series)
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1)
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 2)
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1&2)
Dark Creations: Resurrection (Part 3)
Dark Creations: The Hunted (Part 4)
Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5)
Dark Creations: Dark Ending (Part 6)
The Arianna Rose Series (A paranormal romance series)
Arianna Rose (Part 1)
Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2)
Arianna’s Awakening (Part 1 & 2)
Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3)
Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4)
Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5)
The Planet Urth series (A YA science-fiction/futuristic series)
Planet Urth: (Book 1)
Planet Urth: The Savage Lands (Book 2)
Planet Urth: The Underground City (Book 3)
Planet Urth: The Rise of Azlyn (Book 4)
Planet Urth: The Fate of Urth (Book 5)
Planet Urth: Extinction (Book 6)
Planet Urth: Remains of Urth (Book 7)
Planet Urth: The Black Forest (Book 8)
Planet Urth: Sin City (Book 9)
The Vampire Extinction Series (A paranormal romance/vampire series)
The Vampire Extinction: Greyson Undead (Book 1)
The Vampire Extinction: Alex Undead (book 2)
The Demon Hunter series
The Demon Hunter: Rise of the Hunter (Book 1)
The Demon Hunter: The Dark Once (Book 2)
The Demon Hunter: Hunter of the Damned (Book 3)
Oh, One Last Thing Before You Go…
When you turn the page, you may be given the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter automatically. If you enjoyed our book, please take a second to click that button and let your friends know about it.
If they get something out of the book, they’ll be grateful to you, and we will be, too!
Thank you so much!
Love,
Jenny and Chris
The Black Forest Page 20