Angel Born

by Brian Fuller

  “Where is the Sheid?” Shujaa asked.

  “It’s leaving, using Speed,” Helo said. “It’s got Scarlet’s heart. We need comms.”

  Helo knelt at Aclima’s side and turned her over, wiping the hail and dirt clinging to her away, her eyes fluttering open.

  She smiled. “That was wonderful. Help me up.”

  As he did, she took his hand and healed it, his two fingers and messed-up spine snapping back into place. Shujaa was next, though he flinched at her touch, almost like he thought she had the plague. But in moments his knee was good, and he took a couple of tentative steps.

  “Thanks, Aclima,” Helo said. “Shujaa, use Speed to get to team Delta. That busload of Dreads and Possessed should be close. If the Sheid’s still around, tell them not to engage until you get there.”

  But even as he said it, he knew the Sheid wouldn’t be there. Already the sky was lightening, the hail and rain dissipating.

  “What about you?” Shujaa asked.

  “I’m going to take Aclima to heal Faramir,” he said. “He’s our only chance to get comms back. I think everyone else in command was wiped out in the C4 blast.”

  Shujaa sped away, water and hail blasting away from his Speed-enhanced footfalls.

  “Glad you got that gift,” Helo said as he and Aclima jogged up the driveway.

  “I am too,” she answered. “Feels like an opportunity to atone for the hurt I’ve caused. Did I hear you say it took Scarlet’s heart?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her hand went to her mouth. “I am so sorry. Cain is relentless, Helo. How could he know Scarlet was your wife, Terissa?”

  “I don’t know,” he said glumly. “At least we know Tela is safe. She wasn’t who he wanted.”

  He could only imagine what Cain would do to Scarlet, and he shoved it out of his mind. There was work to do.

  After they navigated around the fallen trees, Helo sprinted back to the spot where he had found Faramir, Opal, and Scarlet. Not much had changed. Scarlet had rolled onto her side, her missing abdominal muscles not allowing much movement besides. Her eyes were wide and panicked, her dark hair soaked and shot through with pine needles. Faramir still hung like a limp rag. Opal had scooted herself near her severed legs.

  Aclima healed Faramir and turned her attention to Scarlet. Faramir slid off the branch.

  “Faramir,” Helo said. “We need—”

  “Did you destroy it?” he asked.

  “No, we need comms. They’re down, and we’ve got incoming.”

  “Lightning fried the comms receiver,” he reported, hands on his hips. “I might, and that’s a big might, be able to patch something together with stuff from the van, but it will only be local.”

  “You said you’re the best,” Helo said. “Time to prove it.”

  Faramir grunted. “If you want to talk to the Medius, you’ll need a working phone. I’ve got no signal out here anymore. Storm must have killed a tower.”

  “Get going,” Helo said, searching his side pocket for his phone. “Van’s banged up. See what survived.”

  Helo pulled out his phone. It hadn’t survived. Bent. Cracked. Wouldn’t even turn on.

  Faramir nodded. “Where’s Goliath?”

  “She’s smoke and pieces. Argyle too. So is the rest of command. Go now, Faramir.”

  And then Scarlet was in his arms, almost knocking him from his feet. She cried, her chest shuddering, something she had never done when they were married. She had always been so bouncy, so happy, almost naively so, like the world had no problems a good pop song couldn’t fix.

  But this was a genuine mess. The Sheid had her heart. She was going wherever Cain wanted her to go, somewhere he could use her to torment him. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t deserve it. She’d paid the price for her mistakes. Now Cain would make her pay even more.

  He gently pushed her back and took her face in his hands. “You’ll get through this, Scarlet. Just hold on, okay? I’ve got to go. Dreads are on the way. Aclima? Can you find her a good spot to hide and stay with her?”

  Aclima nodded from where she was healing Opal, face somber.

  “Be careful, Trace,” Scarlet said, voice shaky.

  He smiled reassuringly. “It’s Helo now.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’ll keep trying.”

  He sprinted back toward the van, vaulting over fallen trees. With the departure of the Sheid, the sun had already started throwing shafts of light through cracks in the clouds, the wind now a mild zephyr starting the work of drying his clothes.

  Halfway to the van, his comm piece crackled to life.

  “Testing. This is Faramir. Check in, please.”

  Then the comms went wild with all kinds of questions and reports in one big jumble.

  “This is Helo. I need a sitrep from Delta right now.”

  “This is Delta commander. Who is in command?”

  Helo paused. Who was in command? Command was obliterated.

  “Helo is in charge,” Shujaa said. “Everyone else is out.”

  “Copy that,” Delta said. “The Sheid ripped through here five minutes ago. We took out the bus’s tires. The Dreads and Possessed have all piled out, Dreads using Possessed as shields. I saw two Dread Thralls. They haven’t advanced, though. It’s like they’re there to cover the Sheid’s retreat.”

  “It’s not a retreat,” Helo said. “It got what it wanted. They just don’t want us going after it. We’ve got to track it.”

  “Should we pull back?” Delta asked. “Wait for them to leave?”

  “Hell, no,” Helo said. “We came here to kill Dreads, and we’re going to kill some Dreads.”

  “Yes, sir,” Delta commander said with a little enthusiasm.

  “What’s the count?”

  “Looks like ten Dreads, each with a Possessed, and two Thralls in the mix. Armed to the teeth. They’ve hunkered down in the trees in a defensive position. What’s the plan?”

  Helo thought for a moment. There were four teams out in the field in a circle around the cabin, Alpha through Delta. Delta was the only regiment that had seen any action so far. He asked Alpha, Baker, and Charlie if they had seen any movement, all replying in the negative. They had to trap the Dreads before they could leave. Neither side had any vehicles, though he had to believe the Sheid wasn’t going to merely run on foot to wherever Cain wanted it to go.

  “Here’s the play,” Helo said. “I want everyone who has Hallow or Glorious Presence to meet me at the driveway to the cabin double-time. All other soldiers meet up with Delta team and await instructions. Shujaa, find a couple of good snipers for me.”

  “Yes, Angel Born.”

  “Delta,” Helo said. “Contact the Medius if you can. Let them know the Sheid has escaped. We need tracking on this road. Now. Let them know the operation is ongoing.”

  “On it.”

  The sun broke through for good as he arrived at the van, the hail dissolving under its heat. Faramir worked on a receiver box, tweaking things here and there. He turned, his brown hair plastered to his scalp, giving him a drowned-rat vibe.

  “You serious about going after the Dreads?” Faramir said. “I mean, seems like we should pull back and assess right now. We’ve been hit pretty hard.”

  “We’re hitting them back,” Helo said. “You got a drone kit back there?”

  “But when command—”

  “Hey!” Helo interrupted before Faramir could get going. “The cowboy’s in charge. Deal with it. Do you have a drone kit?”

  Faramir sighed. He looked a little scared. Whatever fieldwork he had done in the past hadn’t included category-five Shedim. “I’ll see if it still works. You might want to check the side of the van.”

  While Faramir rummaged through the back, Helo checked the side of the van, and his eyebrows raised. The Sheid had scrawled four numbers into the side panel, all separated by a period. An IP address—an internet or network destination of some sort. Odd.

  He didn’t have time to research it as
he hunted down a shotgun. He still had ammo crammed in compartments of his uniform. One by one, the Michaels from the other teams arrived, clustering around the van. Rain had soaked their uniforms, but they weren’t muddy like he was. They chatted excitedly to one another, awed and worried at the same time. There were six altogether, fewer than he would have liked.

  “Listen up,” Helo said. “We’ve got Dreads, Dread Thralls, and Possessed out there. The Dreads are keeping the Possessed close so we can’t hit them. We’re going to flank. We’ll get Delta and the rest to distract them, then we’ll rush in. Get close. We’ll use Hallow and Glorious Presence to incapacitate the Possessed and kill the Dreads. Got it?”

  Nods all around.

  “Faramir, where’s my drone?”

  He looked angry. “It’ll be up in a minute.”

  “Make it fast. I need eyes in the air. We’ve got to make sure these Dreads are the only Dreads. Let’s go hunting.”

  Chapter 30

  Thralls

  The sprint to Delta’s position a mile down the road revealed the power of the Sheid as it had rampaged through the once-beautiful scene. The forest around Helo was a mess of fallen trees, busted branches, and melting hail clumped around the trunks. The Sheid had conveniently cleared its own way down the road, trees Helo was sure had once lain across the road pushed to the side during its departure.

  Delta commander met him by a pile of fallen trees. He had the bearing of an athletic man and a broad face that had a little farm boy in it. Helo shook his hand, Shujaa striding up, eyes bright, trailed by two others carrying Big Blessed Sniper Rifles.

  “Any change?” Helo asked the Delta captain.

  “No,” he answered. “They’re still just sitting there, waiting on us to make a move, I guess. I should tell you that the Medius wanted to shut this down, have us pull back. Mars pulled rank, though. Says it’s up to you.”

  Helo nodded, silently thanking Mars for his trust. The behavior of the Dreads was a little strange, but if their purpose was only to cover the Sheid’s escape, then it would probably be easy enough to get them to move.

  “Faramir, is that drone up yet?” he asked over comms.

  “It’s up,” Faramir reported. “What do you want me to do with it?”

  “What’s the range on that thing?”

  “Five miles.”

  “Take it over our heads and send it down the road. See if there is another group of Dreads behind this one or any clue as to how the Sheid is getting out of here.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said, a hint of defiant sass in the reply.

  “So what are we doing?” Delta asked.

  “Here’s what I think,” Helo began. “If they’re hunkered down trying to pin us here, then we’re going to do what they don’t want. Delta, I want you to take the main force out beyond their outer perimeter to the north and try to get around them. If I’m right, they’ll have to leave their positions to engage you.”

  “But the Possessed!” Delta said. “We can’t—”

  “Not done, Captain,” Helo interrupted. “You are to lay low, take pot shots, only kill if it’s clear. I’m going to take this crew south and flank the Dreads. We’ll use Hallow and Glorious Presence to break them down. When you see that happening, hold your fire so you don’t hit us. You take one sniper with you. I’ll take two with me for shots of opportunity. The woods will make it tough, though.”

  Delta nodded.

  “And,” Helo added, “don’t forget the Thralls. Sun’s out now, but the woods will give them all the shade they need. I want at least four in your group using Angel Fire ammo, but shotguns will cut the Possessed apart, so be careful where you aim. Any questions?”

  “No, sir,” Delta said.

  “Move out,” Helo ordered. “As soon as they move to cut you off, let me know and my team will move in.”

  Delta nodded and left, gathering his Michaels. Helo turned to the eight soldiers around him, an eager group of two snipers, including Shujaa, and six others. “Who’s got Glorious Presence?”

  There were four who did.

  “You’ll be the first in when we strike. Hallowers come after. Quick and clean. Blow the Dreads, incapacitate the Possessed. Knock them unconscious if you can, break a leg if you have to. Faramir, anything?”

  “I could be wrong,” he said, “but I think the Sheid’s in a meadow about three miles from your position. It’s off the road a ways. I can’t tell for sure unless I risk going closer. Whoever it is, is just an ant on my screen.”

  “Risk it and update.”

  What was the Sheid up to? Why would it stop and wait around? Delta team moved out, boots crunching branches as they tromped north on soggy ground through the pines.

  “Aclima, sitrep,” he asked.

  “A sitrep, huh?” she said. “We’re all safe and cozy listening to the birds and singing campfire songs. Are you doing anything stupid I should be aware of? I really don’t like being left out of this.”

  “We’re moving on the Dreads,” Helo said, glad she was being left out of this. It was nice being in charge. “I’ll keep you posted.”

  “You’d better.”

  About three minutes later, Delta captain checked in, voice a whisper. “They’re moving. Estimate contact in less than thirty seconds.”

  Just like he’d planned it. “On our way.” Helo took point, and they charged down the damp gravel road until they found the bus with blown-out tires, then slipped into the woods, traveling north. The trees had barely swallowed them when the first gunshots broke out. Helo raised his hands and listened. A quarter mile away, maybe, slightly to the right.

  Bam!

  One of the Michaels to his right fell flat, decapitated by a bullet from behind. The Dreads had left a trailer. Everyone hit the deck. Helo scooted behind a thick pine trunk, one of the older trees, with gnarled bark. The Dread had to be close to have any kind of angle.

  “This is Delta! The Thralls are running loose. Dreads hiding behind the Possessed! We need some help here!”

  “Be there in one minute,” Helo said. “Shujaa, lead them out. I’ll cover.”

  Helo peeked around the trunk, shotgun at the ready. “Go now.” Shujaa and the other Michaels dashed away through the trees. Eyes peeled, Helo swept his vision left to right, watching for a red aura.

  Another shot rang out, buzzing past one of the retreating Michaels before spitting up mud. Where was the Dread? It had to be close. Another shot and the tree Helo was hiding behind had a chunk the size of a softball blown through the middle of it. And that was the clue he needed. The hole was slanted downward at a steep angle; the Dread was above them.

  Using the hole as his guide, Helo glanced upward. He found the Dread fifty feet behind the van, glowing red three-quarters of the way up a dying pine with big branches. He was standing on one branch, his body between two other branches that formed a V. It was a crazy, unstable position, though the headless Ash Angel would say it had worked well enough.

  Helo pulled back. He couldn’t stay there since the Dread had a bead on him. The Dread’s choice of sniper roost was stupid. The idiot couldn’t adjust quickly around the trunk, a fact Helo intended to exploit.

  As he sprinted out of cover at an oblique angle, a shot rang out to his left, splitting a younger pine clean in half. It crashed down behind him as he rounded back behind where the Dread was positioned. He kept on his circular course, hopping a fallen log, and, predictably, the sniper abandoned his position, shouldering the rifle.

  As the Dread dropped to the next branch down, Helo took aim and blasted the branch out from under him, the fiery buckshot exploding the wood and part of the Dread’s left leg. He tumbled down, pants on fire, head introducing itself to a couple solid branches on the way to the forest floor. By the time the Dread hit the ground, Helo had little work to do. He caved the Dread’s head in with the shotgun’s butt, took the sniper rifle, and barreled after his team.

  And the war was on. He ducked a branch and skirted a tangle of slanted
, dead trees as the gunfire intensified, bullets whizzing in his direction. His team had arrived. Blooms of Glorious Presence brightened the forest to his angel vision, the tree trunks a little to his right bleaching. He sprinted in that direction, ready to Hallow.

  “Sitrep, Delta,” Helo said, starting to feel like Argyle.

  “They’ve stopped advancing, but the Thralls are mangling us. I’ve only got five still up.”

  “On my way. Shujaa, see if you can make the Thralls’ lives a little harder.”

  “Yes, Angel Born.”

  With a redoubled pace, Helo used his Strength to explode through a tangle of underbrush—no time for going around anything. A red bloom to his right caught his attention, and he turned toward it. A Dread had torched one of the Michaels, a burly guy who apparently had dropped one of the Possessed, the afflicted normal facedown nearby. The Michael’s wide eyes rolled insensate with some horror only he could see. The Dread who had torched him sank behind a tree trunk and raised his gun, a knockoff of the Big Blessed Rifle. Its barrel and the Dread’s lead hand stuck out of cover.

  Helo blasted at the weapon, sending it and the hand that held it flying into the forest. Snarling, the Dread rounded the trunk and torched. Helo grinned. The red glow was nothing but a color to him now. The Dread hardly had time to react before its head was blown off.

  Helo plowed forward, finding a blasted Dread and a downed Ash Angel. A Possessed wielding a pistol lurched out from behind a fallen tree and unloaded two shots. It was too late to dodge them. Helo took them both in his body armor, and he flared his Strength to keep from getting knocked down. Then he leapt high in the air as the Possessed fired wildly, clip emptied as Helo hit the ground. A fist to the jaw dropped the Possessed.

  “This is Delta, I’m down to three men. My arm’s gone. One Thrall has Speed, the other Toughness. Shujaa’s helping, but it’s not enough.”

  “Copy. Almost there. Anyone who can, get to Delta.”

  The Thralls had no hearts to burn. Killing them in the woods was going to be hard. There were patches of sunlight, but these were scattered and small. They couldn’t heal on hallowed ground, but the hallowers couldn’t keep it up forever. Helo was already starting to feel drained from what he had already done.