by A L Fogerty
"It looks like you've been left all alone," said a creaking voice born of nightmares and midnight. Sid turned behind him and gazed upon a horrible creature he never believed he would see again—Veronica.
"How?" Sid said, stunned by the appearance of the dark mage.
"The father of darkness adores me. He has granted me eternal life, and I will do the same for you, Sid Blackfang. You have skills I find useful. You may join me in the power of darkness so that you may live forever."
"I don't think I'm available right now," Sid said, gripping the handle of his hammer.
"Oh, you dear stupid shifter. You think you have a choice." Veronica inched closer, her dead eyes vacant and black.
Sid shivered with repulsion, looking for any means of escape. There was nowhere to go except through the tunnel in front of him. He could stand and fight the witch, but he knew he didn't stand a chance. Unless he wanted to participate in whatever sick game she was playing, he had to go alone. He stared at the witch and then again at the tunnel, trying to convince himself that he wasn't taking the coward's way out in avoiding this fight. Finally, with a burst of strength, Sid clutched his hammer and charged into the darkness, straight into hell.
Chapter 12
Felix sat at their makeshift camp, reading over his notes. Using his navigational tools, he tried to get a sense of their location. He quickly came to the conclusion that they were far from where they should have been. He knew this because of the tilt of the sun in the sky, which he calculated using measurements he had learned long ago as a child. According to his watch, it was noon, but that time was based on home. According to the position of the sun, it was much later in the day.
Kayla had left camp with Quinn quite some time ago. He hoped she would return soon so he could share his discovery. Malik and Gloria were busy with their own skills, trying to discern their location. Jagger and Riddick had had an argument the minute that Kayla and Quinn left and were no longer speaking to each other. Jagger busied himself sharpening his sword. Riddick had gone off alone to gather firewood, leaving the camp quiet, which allowed Felix to concentrate on his calculations.
Gloria walked toward the fire with Malik, who wore a deep frown.
"Did your spells work?" Felix asked.
Malik sat across from him on a downed tree, shaking his head. "Our magic isn't working. It should have come back by now."
"I have discerned from my calculations and observations that we are currently at least three thousand miles southeast of our previous location. I know this because of the angle of the sun." Felix went on to explain to Malik how he had come to this conclusion. "I have also observed the vegetation. In my study of biology, I have learned that this particular type of vegetation is common to Central America.”
"No wonder this place looks so familiar." She looked around. "We often open portals to Central America to gather fruits, nuts, and coffee beans. But I've never opened a portal here specifically, which is odd, because I shouldn't be able to open portals to places I've never been before."
"Whatever Veronica did, I cannot fully explain," Malik said. "Chaos magic deflected by dark magic could have some unexpected effects."
"I can see that." Felix nodded. "When was the last time you tried to use your magic?"
"We been trying nonstop since we got here," Malik explained.
"We shouldn't have run from the witch," Jagger said. “We should have faced her.”
"You can't kill what is already dead," Malik countered.
"When we ran like that, we opened ourselves up to this situation. And now are paying for our cowardice," Jagger shot back.
"Jagger is admitting to being a coward?" Riddick returned to camp and dumped his wood with a loud crash beside the fire.
"Yes," Jagger said, “I am. We took the coward's way out, and I fully admit to that. Unlike some people."
"Are you two going to fight again?" Felix felt overwhelmed.
"It's not worth it." Riddick sat down, waving his hard.
"Good. I don't like it when you fight. Where is Kayla?" Felix looked toward the forest edge.
"She's with Quinn. He can heal her if anything happens. Besides, Kayla can kill any living thing with the grip of her fist." Riddick threw several broken branches on the fire.
"She should be back by now." Felix said, concern growing in his chest. His connection to Kayla had grown strong, opening doorways in his mind he had never experienced before. He could feel her feelings even at a distance, and it was a strange and startling experience. Deep in his gut, he felt as if something was terribly wrong.
Chapter 13
Kayla crept silently through the unfamiliar jungle. The tracks in the damp soil were like nothing she'd ever seen before. Quinn's grumbling behind her was getting on her nerves. Quinn was one of the loves of her life, but he did not know how to be silent in the forest. She'd left the camp and the others to get away from the disagreements and bickering, and Quinn seemed to have brought them with him.
"Don't you think we should be heading back now?"
"We haven't found anything to eat yet," she said over her shoulder.
The trunks of the trees were massive and gnarled, covered in moss and lichen and hundreds of tiny plants and vines. She gazed up into the trees, noting the absence of birdsong or the chatter of the small forest creatures. It was the oddest sensation, as if the entire forest was dead.
"Does this forest feel strange to you?" she asked.
"Of course it does. No one has any idea where we are.”
"I mean, aside from that. It just feels off."
Quinn stopped in his tracks and looked around as if taking in the environment fully for the first time. "There aren't any sounds of creatures."
"Exactly. I don't care how foreign this forest is. A place this rich in vegetation should be teeming with life."
"What do you think it is?" He stopped and stared at her, tilting his head.
"I don't know yet."
"Maybe we should be getting back to the others."
"You can go back if you want," Kayla said.
"I'm not going back without you."
"I don't need a babysitter, Quinn." She rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm not trying to babysit you. I just don't want you to get lost.”
Kayla looked up at the sun and then examined the trees for moss. "That direction is north. We just came from the west. Your footprints are blatantly obvious along the path. I don't think I'm in danger of getting lost," she said with a smirk.
"We need to stick together."
"Have it your way, but I'm not going back to the camp until I'm ready. Riddick and Jagger have been bickering since we arrived here, and I honestly don't know if we can do this without Willa and Mackenzie. I have a lot to think about, and I don't want to be distracted by what is happening back at the camp.”
"Fair enough," Quinn said.
"I really do need time to think."
"Is that supposed to be a hint?" Quinn asked, waving away a swarm of insects that were taunting him.
"It depends." She laughed. "Only if you're going to keep insisting I go back before I'm ready."
"Point taken."
“I wish I could figure out what was going on in this place. It's eerie.” She carefully climbed over a downed tree in her path.
"I'm beginning to see what you mean.” Quinn attempted to climb over as quietly and deftly as she had and failed horribly, falling on the other side into the mud.
"What do you think it is?" She offered her hand and helped him up.
"I honestly don't know. I've never seen anything like it, but maybe it's just what these forests are like.” Quinn attempted to wipe his robe clean, but it was a lost cause.
"No forest is like this. It's unnatural. We're not going to be able to find anything to hunt if there are no living creatures here."
"There has to be an explanation," Kayla said.
Quinn was silent for a long moment, and Kayla stopped and turned to him.
&nbs
p; "I think I know what's going on here," he whispered.
Kayla's jaw dropped at the sight in front of her. She nocked an arrow and began to circle. "Stay very still."
"I am all over it," Quinn said.
Kayla took several beats to decide how to handle the situation. Quinn was surrounded by a dozen large black cats. She reached out her mind with her alpha magic, trying to find their beating hearts. It quickly became clear what she was dealing with. When she further examined their bodies, she found they were rotten, exposing blood, bones, and sinew. The smell of decomposing flesh was unmistakable.
"How is this possible?" Quinn’s voice was a whispered hiss.
"I don't know."
"I've never seen an animal zombie."
"Neither have I," Kayla said.
Quinn reached toward the sky. As he called down the power of Wolf Mother, his lance appeared in his hand. As one of the beasts began charging at him, Quinn threw the lance. The zombie creature disintegrated before him, but that left eleven more monstrous cats.
Kayla nocked several arrows in her bow and shot at the closest creature. The zombie had to be decapitated before it was fully neutralized, and that was hard to do with a bow and arrow. The shot had to be perfect and the creature had to be turned in the exact right position.
She missed, and the creatures wheeled on her, anger flaring in their eyes. She nocked several more arrows and shot at the first one’s neck, slicing off its head. The others were circling Quinn. Bane snarled and growled, ducking near her legs. She needed to do something fast.
"Any chance you're feeling at all angelic?" Quinn said, slowly backing away.
"I still can't control it on demand." Sweat dripped from her brow. She hated not having control of her power. It was putting everyone in danger at every turn.
"It would be helpful right about now."
"I know," Kayla said, nocking more arrows. “Believe me, I know."
She shot the next creature, but only one arrow landed in its neck. The cat veered toward her, roaring with its monstrous dead mouth. It lunged, and she shot again, this time hitting her mark.
"Up here," Quinn said as he scaled the nearest tree.
Kayla hated to retreat, but she didn't see any other option. She couldn't defeat them fast enough, and they were closing in on Quinn. She shot several more arrows, turned, and ran toward the nearest tree trunk. Through her link with Bane, she sent her an order to run back to the camp, and the tiny wolf shot off through the jungle. Luckily none of the cats were fast enough to give chase. She and Quinn scurried up the tree and watched as the large cats circled beneath them.
"I bet you wish we had gone back now," Quinn said.
"Not helpful," Kayla muttered, staring down at the circling undead beasts.
"What are we going to do?"
"I'm going to try to pull on my angelic magic."
Kayla sat in the tree, frustrated that she couldn't just control her magic. Felix's question had been a legitimate one. Why couldn't she just do what she had done before? She wished it were that easy.
"How's it going over there?" Quinn asked over the distance. Kayla nocked several more arrows and shot them at the giant cats who were scratching and jumping at the tree trunks, their dead claws breaking in the hard bark.
"I'll get back to you on that," Kayla said.
"No pressure, but these cats seem to know how to climb."
"I noticed."
She shot several more times, knocking a climbing cat from the tree. Its shiny black fur had turned a shade of dusty gray. "How much longer until you can call another lance?"
"It could be several more minutes."
"I'm not the only one who has limitations," Kayla muttered.
"What was that?" Quinn asked across the space.
Kayla considered saying it again so he could hear but decided not to. What was important was that they get out of there alive and get back to the camp. A jaguar was climbing the tree across from her and gaining ground on Quinn. He scrambled farther up the tree, trying to escape. Kayla was running out of arrows and would have nothing to shoot with until she retrieved them from the monsters.
"How's it going over there?" Quinn said, climbing higher and higher.
Kayla shot her last arrow, hitting the zombie cat between the eyes. It pierced its brain, and the creature fell with a thump down to the ground.
"Thank you," Quinn yelled.
Kayla shook her head. She was out of arrows, and the jaguars were relentlessly circling and trying to climb toward them. Another one had started up the trunk toward Quinn even as he attempted to escape. Kayla wondered if she should try a different tactic. Instead of crushing a creature's heart with her alpha magic, maybe she could crush its brain.
"Hold on," she yelled.
"I don't think I have an option." Quinn clung to a high branch.
Kayla concentrated and pulled her alpha power into her gut. She reached out with her mind and sought out the creature’s dead brain. She opened her hand and then closed it, crushing the creature in one movement. It fell to the earth beside the others. Now that she had something that would work, she disposed of all the other monsters using the same method. Once they were all taken care of, she climbed down the tree and waited at the bottom for Quinn.
"That was a good trick," he said, jumping to the ground from the lowest branch. “Now can we go back?"
"Yes, Quinn. Now we can go back. I don't think we’re going to find anything to eat in this place."
They started back in the direction they'd come, climbing over broken branches and downed trees, scrambling over rocks and through deep puddles. Kayla had retrieved her arrows from the monsters and was focused on wiping the blood from the tips when she heard gunfire and a frantic scream echo through the forest.
Chapter 14
Felix stood from his seat and went to examine his experiment. He had no solution for their predicament, but knowledge itself was always valuable. He was measuring the angle of the sun with a stick in the ground when he heard an odd noise ahead of him in the forest. He peered into the shadows, trying to get an idea of what had made the sound. When he realized what it was, he wished he could unsee it.
Out of the darkness came a horde of zombie creatures of many shapes and sizes—monkeys, mice, jaguars, lizards, iguanas, snakes—and a multitude of birds gathered in the trees, their once bright colors muted with dust and decay.
Felix slowly inched backward, drawing his pistols. "Guys, we have company," he said, stepping gingerly back toward camp.
"What are you talking about, Felix?" Jagger asked.
"We have company," he repeated, not sure how to explain what was happening.
Jagger walked into the clearing and looked toward where the assembly of undead animals sat at the edge of the forest, watching and waiting. "This isn’t great," he said, drawing his sword.
"I’ve never seen a zombie animal before," Felix said.
"None of us have," Jagger said, grabbing his brother’s shoulder and slowly pulling him backward.
"I wonder how this happened. Perhaps it was a mutation of the virus."
"We can think about that later. Right now, let's focus on living. Malik, Gloria," Jagger yelled, "is your magic back yet?"
"We really could have used Mackenzie's magic right now," Felix said.
"No shit, Felix. Come on." Jagger pulled him and turned to run back to camp. Just then, the horde of zombie animals broke from the tree line and stampeded toward them. Felix and Jagger turned the corner and found Gloria and Malik coming their way.
"What is it?" Gloria asked.
"Zombie animals," Jagger said, panting.
"The virus doesn't affect animals," Gloria protested.
"You might want to tell them that.” Jagger turned back to the horde, hefting his sword.
"Zombie animals," Riddick said. “I've gotta see this.”
"Give it a minute. You can't miss them.” Jagger grimaced, ready for battle.
The animals turned the corn
er into the camp, and the group stood in a circle back-to-back. Felix drew his guns.
"I still can't cast my magic," Malik said.
"Neither can I.” Gloria’s voice was high and tense like a frantic bird.
"Pick up a stick and get to bashing.” Jagger kicked a stick at them.
All at once, the animals surged toward the group. Felix opened fire, shooting at an armadillo and hitting the creature right between the eyes. As with human zombies, killing the brain killed the zombie. Jagger and Riddick were fighting them off with sword and dagger. A flock of parakeets swooped down on Gloria, and she fended them off with a gnarled stick.
"I hope Kayla and Quinn get back soon.” Malik smashed a vole with a rock.
"Don't let them bite you," Felix said. "We don't know if this mutated virus will transfer to witches or shifters.”
"Good point," Malik said, kicking a howler monkey.
"If all the animals in the forest are zombies, I don't think Kayla's going to have a very successful hunt," Riddick said.
"There is a high probability that Quinn and Kayla were attacked," Felix said.
"Kayla can take care of herself," Riddick said.
"How is your magic coming?" Jagger asked, swinging at a jaguar as it lunged at him. He sliced the creature's head off, and it rolled on the ground to Felix’s feet. Felix shot repeatedly, aiming at the creatures’ foreheads. He had to stop and reload, stepping into the center of the group to avoid attack.
"Still nothing," Malik said.
"Me neither.” Gloria was breathless and sweating from exertion. The witches weren’t used to fighting with their bare hands.
The animals were closing in from every direction. Felix reloaded his gun and began to shoot at a flock of large condors that were approaching from the sky. The party was completely overwhelmed by dozens of zombies. He did a mental calculation and realized that they would not be able to win this fight. He considered telling the others but kept it to himself. Their only hope was Kayla's return.