Seeds of Autumn

by HB Lyne

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Stalker's paws pounded on the pavement as she ran. The blind panic was subsiding, now she was mostly just feeling lost and shocked. The Blue Moon, her pack, was gone. Her home in the betting shop had been destroyed and her telepathic connection to her packmates was severed. She skidded to a halt and slipped up an alley at the southern edge of her pack's territory. She paced the alley, her red fur was damp from the drizzle that was falling from the black, November evening sky above.

  She couldn't think clearly, her head was still ringing with the sound of the explosion and in her fox form it was always harder to think like a human, so she shifted silently. Her fingers went straight to the necklace resting on her chest, the small piece of clay, inlaid with a feather was safe and secure, but touching it sent her thoughts cascading into despair. Shadow's Step was gone. She fell to the floor of the alley and began to cry uncontrollably.

  The bond with her pack had broken so suddenly and completely that she knew Grins-Too-Widely was gone forever. She knew that the Blue Moon's patron was dead, that was the only way for the pack bond to sever like that. If one or more members of her pack had been killed then they would have disappeared from her thoughts, but the others would have remained. But no, all of the voices went silent at once. Grins-Too-Widely held them together and now he was gone they were no longer connected the same way.

  With a sudden spark of hope she wiped the tears from her face. The ancient shifter was gone, but the rest of the pack might not be. She had seen the rubble remains of the betting shop that was their headquarters and home. There were dead buried in there; the fire had been a flashpoint, an extremely hot and fast burning one, probably started by mystical means. There was no way that everyone got out of there alive. But she couldn't abandon all hope, it was rare for everyone to be in the building at 5pm. The petrol station had gone up too, the fight had obviously spilled to there and it was possible that there were other survivors there too.

  Stalker leaped up from the ground and shifted swiftly into her fox form then set off at a sprint for the petrol station. She knew it would be crawling with emergency services, but she had to try to get as close as she could. She sprinted back the way she had come, then veered west towards the petrol station.

  She soon reached a road block, a police van stood sentinel and tape had been strung across the road but she slipped silently and unseen into an alley and up a back street, slinking her way closer to the scene. The air hung heavy with smoke and it took some effort not to let it claw her throat. She could hear the shouts of command and the booming spray of the fire hoses and there was a red glow permeating the smoky air.

  Stalker put her nose to the ground and inched her way through the smoke and the crowd of on-lookers, under the police tape and around the back of the fire engine. It was so hot, the blaze was like nothing she had ever seen before. She couldn't smell anything except the fire and smoke and frustration pounded through her temples. She managed to get close enough to see through the smoke and chaos to the hole that had been left in place of the petrol station, rubble was strewn everywhere and the tarmac was cracked and melted in places.

  'Hey! Get out of it!' the shout caught Stalker off guard. A nearby fire fighter took an aggressive step towards her and shooed her away with his arms. She snarled briefly, this was her territory and it was a surprise to be ordered away from it. But she had her cover to maintain, so she turned tail and jogged back up the alley she had approached from.

  She needed to find any survivors, she tried to think where to begin. Without the pack telepathy she had no idea where to start looking. A shadow twitched just ahead of her and her eyes went straight to it, searching the alley ahead, but the movement was gone. She knew what it was though, it must be Pursuit-of-Midnight-Solitude.

  The darkness moved again, teasing her. It continued to flicker, giving her a much longer look at it than normal. The demon's normal behaviour was to tease and taunt her, appear and disappear to get her to pursue it. With a frown, Stalker padded forward. The demon didn't retreat, it stayed where it was, a shimmering shadow against the wall of the alley right in line of the glow from a street lamp, where there shouldn't really be any shadow.

  Pursuit-of-Midnight-Solitude really wanted her attention, Stalker realised, this was no ordinary night of questing, the demon wanted to help. Pursuit-of-Midnight-Solitude twitched and then slunk out of the alley and out of view. With no hesitation, Stalker jogged from the alley and looked up the street. Her eyes locked onto the demon and she set off after it, chasing it up dark side streets and small alleyways, away from the prying eyes of Caerton's human inhabitants.

  The demon led Stalker all the way to the north boundary of the Blue Moon's territory, towards Redfield park. As she approached the park, Stalker slowed down, something wasn't right. She smelled the ground, there had been a shifter here very recently and it wasn't one of her pack. She traced the scent carefully towards the park, where her nose was suddenly assaulted by four other scents. Boundary markings. The Wrecking Crew had clearly made a grab for Blue Moon turf. They must have heard about the attack and seized the opportunity to expand their own territory. Stalker growled. She wanted to beat them back and retake what she felt was hers. But she was alone and had no way to know how many of her packmates had survived. She knew she would have to let this go, for now at least.

  Carefully she followed the new boundary marking, The Wrecking Crew hadn't taken much, they hadn't pushed their luck, but they had taken the park and a portion of the streets west of it. She picked out the scent of Fury, still fresh in her memory from their initiation combat only the night before, and now Stalker felt a violent surge of rage at discovering her scent on what should be Blue Moon territory.

  Pursuit-of-Midnight-Solitude moved before Stalker's eyes and urged her to follow. They ran south, the demon weaving in and out of the natural shadows and taking the fox via the darkest, quietest route across St. Mark's and straight to the self-defence dojo where Stalker worked.

  A familiar scent caught the air and she immediately focussed on it, tracking it for a few blocks, to the doorway she had collapsed in on the night of her first change. This was the first time she had been back here and a confusing mash of emotions flooded her fox senses. She tried to focus on the familiar scent, it was Fights-Eyes-Open, she was sure of it, he had been here. Was he looking for her?

  She followed the trail and soon picked up another scent, Wind Talker! The two of them had been here together. The trail turned suddenly east, towards the human home that Eyes kept, where his human family lived. He must have gone there to check that they were safe. Stalker picked up her pace and ran into Crossway. The scents grew stronger and a third was added to their mix. Weaver, her dear pack-sister was with them too. Her heart pounded and elation filled her as she approached the right place. She rounded a corner and ran along the pavement, ahead she could see the place that she, Weaver and Eyes had hidden to guard his family and right there, in the same spot, she saw her fellow youngsters, stood talking in hurried and hushed voices.

  She barked to signal her approach and the three of them turned to see her sprinting towards them, she shifted mid-stride into her human form, under the cover of a large tree, just in time to be caught in a tight group embrace.

  'Thank Artemis!' Weaver was crying as she hugged her sister.

  'You're all alive. Thank goodness,' Stalker whimpered, touching each of them and feeling completely overwhelmed with relief and excitement. 'The others? Are they...?'

  Eyes shook his head.

  'They're all gone,' he said sadly, his jaw tight.

  'Lily? Was she there?' Stalker asked, urgently afraid for her young friend.

  Eyes nodded slowly.

  'She was closing the shop with Shadow. They were in the front and were the first to go down.' Eyes wiped a shaking hand across his forehead.

  Stalker leaned heavily on Weaver and the two women had to hold each other upright. Silent tears streamed down Stalker's face.

/>   'What happened? How did you all survive?' she asked, looking from one face to another, each showing a mixture of fear, shock and relief.

  'We really should go somewhere private to discuss this,' Eyes said in a tired whisper, glancing around them.

  'Where?' Weaver asked, despair in her voice. 'There is nowhere we can go, nowhere safe.'

  'The Wrecking Crew have taken Redfield Park,' Stalker reported. 'I was just there. But I don't think it was them that attacked, I think it was just an opportunistic grab. They might make another push for more of Redfield and who knows who else might try to take advantage of this. This isn't our territory any more.'

  A ripple of frustration and objection went around the group.

  'We are still here. We may be young, but we can do this,' Eyes growled, trying to subdue the panic and desperation they all felt.

  'Who did this?' Stalker asked, petrified of the unknown.

  'The Phoenix Guard,' Weaver whispered, looking around cautiously.

  Stalker looked at her carefully for a moment, remembering the sketches Weaver had shown her that morning of fire and a phoenix.

  'Who are they?' she asked, deciding not to mention the premonition.

  'Allies of the Witches,' Wind Talker hissed. 'Flames told me about them, they live out in the countryside beyond Fenwick.'

  'So were the Witches involved in this?' Stalker snarled. She had doubted the sincerity of the message declaring the matter with Weaver to be settled and she wished now that she had made her doubts more vocally known.

  'They must have let the Phoenix Guard cross Fenwick, at least,' Eyes spoke up. 'If they weren't actually involved in the attack they still facilitated it.'

  'We really have to leave this until another time, we need to assess the damage in Hepethia at the betting shop and the petrol station.' Wind Talker said, his face set hard against the pain he must be feeling.

  Stalker groaned, she had seen the state of both sites and it hadn't even occurred to her that the damage would be reflected on the other side of the veil.

  'It's not going to be pretty,' she sighed. 'I've been to both sites, the fallout from this is going to be huge.'

  'Let's go,' Eyes said, but looked back at his house as Wind Talker took the lead. Stalker grasped Eyes' hand and gave it a squeeze. She knew how torn he must be feeling, wanting to go to his family, but knowing he had to help secure the pack and its territory. She hoped she could reassure him and that he would get to be home with his family soon.

  Wind Talker led them across St. Mark's, the heart of what had been their territory. There was still a plume of smoke in the sky over by the petrol station a few blocks to the south, but they steered clear of it and headed for the betting shop. In the short time since Stalker had fled the scene, the street had almost emptied of bystanders and emergency services. Police tape was still strung up across the street, preventing anyone from getting close enough to see anything, but they could see the fire engine was still there and the flashing lights of a police car. The press had arrived, there were vans parked all along the street and cameras set up at the police tape with excited and serious correspondents stood in front of them, busily reporting on the bizarre flash fire.

  Stalker and Weaver clutched hands and stood watching in silence. Eyes and Wind Talker looked like they wanted to charge the press and start hitting things, but Stalker trusted that they wouldn't do anything.

  The house and shop were completely gone, it was just a gap in the terrace. The fire was out now, it was just a black, smoking hole.

  'What happened?' Stalker asked, not really aiming her question at anyone in particular, just a desperate plea for answers.

  Eyes sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

  'You were here, weren't you?' Weaver asked him, her voice soft and patient. He nodded.

  'It happened just after I got back from work,' Eyes whispered, before leading them all away from the scene. He led them half a block away and sat down on the kerb. Stalker and Weaver sat either side of him, Wind Talker crouched in the street before them.

  'They knew something was coming, but I don't think they expected it to be so fast. We never stood a chance. I think the only reason I survived is because Fortune kept them from chasing me. I think he sacrificed himself for me.'

  Stalker gasped. She remembered the pain she had felt right before the bond was severed and she knew Eyes was right. She had felt at least one of them literally being ripped apart.

  'Flames killed some of them. He blew up the petrol station on purpose.' Everyone looked at Wind Talker. 'He gave me his bag and told me to run. I protested,' he said stiffly. 'But he threw me clear and then blew the place up. He was stronger than he looked.' His eyes dropped to the floor, apparently ashamed, though Stalker knew he would never admit it. 'Flames sacrificed himself to take out the Phoenix Guard who chased us away from the betting shop,' he concluded with renewed stiffness.

  'Where were you?' Stalker asked Weaver.

  'The university,' Weaver replied, almost choking on the words, tears barely kept at bay. 'Flames told me to do something for myself, that I should have a break.'

  'We were all kept safe,' Stalker whispered. 'They made sure of it. They all sacrificed themselves for us.' She thought of Shadow's Step. Could he have known as early as that morning when he told her to be somewhere else? Weaver hadn't told Fortune, or the others about her nightmare visions of fire until later in the day, but Shadow and the others had always seemed to have other ways of knowing things. Weaver had kept quiet about that since the attack and Stalker wasn't going to bring it up. She probably felt terrible about not telling someone sooner and would have to carry that guilt with her for a long time. Stalker wasn't going to make it worse by pointing it out.

  'Well then, let's make sure that sacrifice wasn't in vain,' Eyes said, standing up and shaking off his slump. 'Let's cross over and see what has happened on the other side of the veil as a result of the attack. We'll need to formalise our new border as a new pack and find somewhere to hunker down. There is bound to be a lot of spiritual and human fall out from this, police will be all over it and the press, for days if not weeks to come. We'll be busy.'

  His energy was infectious and it spurred them all to action. They slipped down a back street, away from street lights and overlooking windows, then crossed the veil and set off back towards the betting shop.

  They moved quickly and quietly through Hepethia, Stalker was aware of the attention that a group of them might attract, but the demons and fae seemed distracted. It seemed busier than usual too, there were frightening noises coming from inside buildings, shrieks and moans, then there was the relentless sound of televisions blaring out a news broadcast from inside almost every home. Stalker guessed that all of their neighbours that weren't gathered in the street were tuned in to the news to see what had happened, giving a surge of power to the electricity elementals and media demons.

  Shadowy figures raced along the street, paying the shifters no attention and from the cold air that followed in their wake, Stalker felt wave after wave of fear and chaos.

  At the scene of the first fire it was quieter, there was police tape strung across the street as it was in the human world, but whatever crowds of demons and fae had been here had dispersed. A lone police van sat further down the street, it sat at the kerb purring like a cat, thriving on the energy at this place. They ducked under the tape and moved down the street towards the rubble. The police van demon snarled at them and lurched forward. The four shifters took defensive positions and the demon backed down, deciding not to take on four shifters at once.

  Stalker's eyes went to the remains of their home. There was a gaping hole in the ground and the tarmac around it was scorched black. The buildings on either side were bent over double, warped from the heat and probably attempting to move away.

  She reached out with her senses, trying to feel the veil and was shocked to find a gaping maw where their home had been. There was a hole in the very fabric of the universe
, the veil was in tatters. She felt sadness and anger well up inside and threaten to spill. Weaver beside her was shaking and Stalker grasped her hand and squeezed it.

  'I don't understand,' Stalker whispered. 'How did they do this?'

  Just then, a rotten smell reached her on the wind, it was the smell of decay mixed with fresh tarmac and she whipped around to locate the source. A man stood nearby, watching them and the smoking rubble. It was part human, part demon, dressed in a black suit and hat, with a sallow face and he reeked of rot and darkness.

  Eyes glared at him, the man smiled back.

  'Who are you?' Eyes demanded, his voice echoing off the nearby buildings.

  'I am Tar Peter. And you are?' His voice was thick and wet.

  'We're the pack that claims this territory!' barked Wind Talker. 'What are you doing here?'

  'Rubber necking,' Tar Peter said with a smile and small chuckle. 'One can't help slowing down to get a good look at an accident like this, one might see something terrible.' There was glee in his voice.

  It was enough to tip the whole pack over the edge and they launched at him, shifting into their Agrius forms mid-leap. But Tar Peter was too quick for them, by the time the first of their claws was close enough to make contact the demon had sunk into the ground, disappearing into a pool of liquid tar.

  Stalker wasn't the only one to snarl in frustration and pound the road hard enough to crack it. Amid the pack's snarls, terrible new noises rose up into the night. Stalker turned to look at the rubble and watched in horror as three great hulking demons clawed their way out of the hole.

  Wait until you have to fight fire. The words of Flames-First-Guardian echoed in her mind as the flames rose up and took humanoid form. After the fire came fear, a horrifying demon with cracked black skin and a huge mouth alight with fire. Beside the demon was a construct of brick, metal and cables with smoke billowing from inside it. The three demons climbed onto the road and towered above the shifters, as tall as the buildings around them.

  You have got to be kidding me, Stalker thought, unable to voice it with her bestial jaws. In an instant, Eyes was bounding towards the devastation construct with a warrior's howl. Weaver was hot on his tail and the two of them got stuck in to it, ripping it to pieces and throwing the discards back into the hole in the ground.

  Stalker took a few seconds to assess the situation. Wind Talker had shifted back into his human form and was busy fishing through his bag, pulling out talismans and ritual tools. She had a hunch he was going to take on the fire elemental, the others had a good handle on the devastation demon, so she steeled herself to go after fear. She ran forward and slipped past the demon, dodging its massive claws and disorienting it. She kept ducking and weaving around it, slashing at it when she could without compromising her advantage of speed.

  Pieces of the devastation construct kept flying past her, into the hole, the edge of which she danced around in her attempts to confuse the fear demon. Somewhere nearby she was aware of a crack of thunder and Wind Talker's voice chanting something into the increasing wind. The fine drizzle that had been falling started to increase and soon a downpour washed over them. The fire elemental twisted and writhed, steam issuing from it and filling the air around them. Stalker winced as the steam caught her side and scolded her arm and the side of her face. As she was shaking it off the fear demon managed to land a hefty blow and she felt her ribs crack as she was thrown back into the street and landed with a crunch on the tarmac. With a growl she leaped up and darted back behind the fear demon and tried even harder to get under its feet.

  Wind Talker gave a satisfied bark of laughter before shifting into the Agrius form and leaping into the fray to get his claws dirty. Stalker kept distracting the fear demon while Wind Talker took advantage of its confusion and set about tearing chunks out of it. With an almighty howl Wind Talker managed to rip a whole arm off the demon, spilling its black ichor down its side and all over the road. Stalker needed no further encouragement and with a fierce roar of her own, she leaped onto its back and dug her huge bestial claws and ferocious teeth into its neck. Thick, hot liquid oozed out from under its charred skin and filled her mouth, it tasted foul.

  The demon moaned and stumbled backwards. Stalker jumped down and dodged out of its way as it fell backwards into the hole in the ground, undoubtedly back to whatever hellish dimension it had spawned from. She looked carefully over the edge and watched it fall into black nothingness.

  Panting, she looked around. The fire elemental was a steaming, black hulk, immobile and teetering on the edge of the hole. Wind Talker strode over to it and shoved it into the blackness. The devastation construct was nothing more than a scattered pile of debris, most of it had already been thrown back down the hole and Eyes was kicking the remaining pieces in. Weaver was nursing a broken arm and Eyes had blood all over his chest and a gash above his eye.

  Stalker couldn't help but smile, they had taken on three very intimidating demons and had prevailed, despite a handful of injuries. She felt the fire of exhilaration from the fight and let out a loud howl of victory. Eyes stopped what he was doing and joined her, the others added to the chorus with their own voices and Stalker felt a little spark of a connection flicker through the pack. They had fought together and staked a claim to territory, which was enough to link them together as a pack.

  The four of them came together, Stalker was the last to shift back into her human form and they all looked down into the pit between worlds and realities before turning to move away from it.

  'We will need to mend the veil, but it will take preparation,' Wind Talker sighed, the last to move away.

  Eyes put an arm around Stalker as they walked.

  'We can do this. We can form a new pack. Retake what was ours and avenge the Blue Moon,' he said with true conviction.

  Stalker-of-Night's-Shadow believed him and knew in her heart that they would get through this together.

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