by Mark Cole
“No. All gateway magic is blocked from here. There’s no way to reach your world or anyone on it.”
“Then how did you get there?”
Caitlyn shuddered suddenly, and her right hand crept up to her cheek. “I…” Her index and middle fingers trailed down from her cheekbone to her jawline. “I don’t know.” She looked at Alex with wide eyes. “I can’t remember. I was in Starfall, then I was on Earth. I can’t…” Caitlyn’s eyes began to dart back and forth wildly. “How?” Her breathing grew rapid, and her eyes began to roll back in her head.
She’s going into shock! Alex grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Caitlyn! Listen to me. Everything’s all right! You’re safe now.” He wrapped his arms around her until her breathing slowed.
She pushed away from him and grabbed her forehead. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired. What were we talking about?”
What is going on? Does she really not remember? I don’t think I should bring it up again. “You were just telling me that it’s almost time to eat.”
Caitlyn looked at the two rabbits. “Oh, right.” She held a hand out, and the two rabbits floated up and away from the fire.
Whoa! Was that real magic?
She held one of the rabbits out to him, and they ate in silence. When the food was gone, Caitlyn stood. “You should get some sleep now. I’m going to cast a few wards around us. Nothing will come upon us in the night without us knowing about it well ahead of time.”
“Do you think Terra is all right?” Alex asked as he laid down near the fire.
“We have to get an early start tomorrow. Rest while you can. I’ll be right back.”
Alex nodded and closed his eyes. She didn’t answer my question. He listened to her walk away. We’re going for reinforcements, Terra. I’ll save you.
His sleep that night was fitful. Alex awoke feeling more tired than he had before he slept. He groggily lifted himself to his elbows. The small amount of sky he could see was still black with stars. Alex looked around, but didn’t see Caitlyn anywhere.
“Caitlyn? Where are you?” he called.
“We need to go. Now!” She crashed through the brush behind him in her panther form.
Alex jumped to his feet, all weariness forgotten at the sound of panic in her voice. “What’s going on?” he asked as he followed quickly behind her. He heard the howls of wolves in the distance.
“Hellhounds,” she said, fear evident in her voice. “Four of them. They are big, like wolves, but meaner and smarter.”
“You might be able to, but I don’t think that I can outrun anything like a wolf,” Alex said.
“I know that,” she snapped. Her black fur stood up straight. “Keep going the same direction, use the larger moon as your reference so you don’t get lost. Don’t stop for anything. I grew up hunting in these woods; about half a mile from here is a boulder in a wide clearing.
“It juts out of the ground at an angle, so they will only be able to come at you from one side. I’ll do my best to lead them away from you. If I don’t come back before dawn, keep going west. Starfall is only two more days walk that direction. The scouts should find you and lead you the rest of the way in.”
The howls were closer. “Keep going!” Caitlyn shouted as she spun and ran back the way she had come. Alex charged through the brush and brambles, small rips appearing on his jacket sleeves. He spied the moon through breaks in the trees. His throat and lungs began to burn in the frigid night air.
He heard a sharp yelp of pain and more howls from behind, closer still. The trees suddenly stopped as Alex crashed through more brush into the next clearing. He saw the boulder and angled toward it. He scrambled up the low side of it. He drew his sword and held it in front of himself with both hands.
Clouds covered the face of the moon, casting the clearing into inky darkness. He listened as the howls began to trail off to the south. Alex let his breath out when he realized he had been holding it. He slumped down to a sitting position, keeping his eyes on the line of trees.
A pair of glowing red eyes stared at him from the tree line. He watched as they stalked into the clearing. Alex heard a low growl as he stood back up. The crimson orbs stopped about thirty feet away.
Alex brandished the sword. “Come at me, then,” he shouted. Red eyes blinked. Alex watched as the cloud slowly moved from in front of the moon, light racing to bathe the clearing in shades of gray.
The hellhound stared at him, saliva dripped from slavering fangs. Blood reflected from several claw marks on the hellhound’s back. The grass around its paws was withering to ash.
“So, you’re the one Caitlyn jumped,” Alex taunted, not knowing if the beast could understand him. Hearing himself talk helped reinforce his courage. “Looks like she got you good.”
The hellhound growled at him again. I think it caught my drift, Alex thought. The hellhound began to pace around the boulder. Alex slowly turned to keep it in front of him. The demonic dog came closer as it circled, the gap closing to ten feet from the base of the boulder when it completed the circuit.
The hellhound leapt through the air, its jaws in line with Alex’s throat.
Alex yelled as he dove backwards and thrust his sword forward. A flash of light and heat stole his vision. The pommel of his sword dug painfully into Alex’s stomach as the demon crashed into him. The demon’s hot breath on his face smelled of sulfur. The grip felt suddenly foreign in his hands. As his vision cleared he saw the red light was gone from the beast’s eyes.
Alex pushed the hellhound off of him. He planted a foot on the dead beast and pulled his sword out of it. The blade came out with a fiery hiss.
Alex blinked a few times to clear his vision. Flames enveloped the length of the steel blade, an aggressive cross guard swept upward, leather wrapped the hilt, and the pommel had become three dimensional. Nine rings slowly spun, making it looked like a nine tiered gyroscope.
A powerful rage inundated him, turning Alex’s vision red with the pounding of it in his ears. , a ghostly voice whispered in his mind. Shocked by the sudden mental intrusion, Alex dropped the sword.
The sword clattered to the stone and changed back to its normal state. Alex stared at the now wooden sword. He noticed a faint light coming from the pommel. He picked it back up, expecting the sword to burst into flames again, but it remained inert.
“Wrath,” Alex said, trying to get the sword to do something, but nothing happened. Wrath, he thought. Still nothing. Alex pushed the hellhound’s corpse from the top of the boulder. Sheathing his sword, he sat on a space free of blood and thought about what had just happened as he waited for sunrise.
The sky had begun to lighten in the east as Alex heard something stumbling through the woods. His eyes snapped to the south. A large four legged animal stood at the edge of the clearing under the shade of the trees. In the darkness, he couldn’t tell if it was another hellhound or not. One golden eye shined in the dark as a black panther limped into the clearing.
“Caitlyn!” Alex shouted. He sprang to his feet and ran toward her. She limped a few steps before she collapsed. His breath hissed out through clenched teeth when he drew close enough to see her clearly.
Her fur was slick with blood from dozens of bites and claw marks. One of her eyes was swollen shut. She cast him a plaintive look with her open eye. “Alex,” she whispered, “You have to go. I only killed three of them, there is another out there still. The leader of the pack didn’t chase me. You have to run.”
Alex shook his head. “I killed the one you had roughed up. All four are dead. The sword... I don’t know, but it’s dead.”
“Good, at least you will make it. Go, leave me here. I did my part. Two days walk west is the village, the sentries should find you by tomorrow around noon. Send back someone for my body. I don’t want to end up as food for scavengers.”
He shook his head again. “I’m not letting you die on my watch,” Alex said, fighting down memories of his past. “I’m strong enoug
h to carry you, but not like this. Change into a human so you are lighter.”
“Can’t,” Caitlyn whispered, “the change may kill me.”
“And staying here will kill you. We have to try,” Alex shouted, angry at his inability to help. She nodded.
Caitlyn gasped as black fur turned green and changed into a woolen cloak. Joints and bones snapped and reformed into arms and legs. Her jaw cracked and took on its human shape.
Her dress and cloak were in tatters, and her body was still covered with open wounds. Alex pulled off his jacket and began to cut it into wide strips. She grimaced in pain as he bandaged the largest of her wounds as best he could. He put her on his back and draped her arms across his front. He used her cloak to tie her to his back.
If she was much taller, this wouldn’t work, he thought. “You all right back there?” Alex asked as he stood.
“It hurts,” she gasped.
“I know, Caitlyn,” Alex said, trying to comfort her. “But don’t worry, you’ll be fine soon. I’ll have you back to hunting mice in no time.”
She laughed weakly. A sharp twist of pain stole her breath. “I’m ready,” she said.
Alex nodded and began to run west. Her breath came in ragged pulls. This is just like two years ago in Columbia. But, she’s not going to die. I’ll get her out.
Specters of the past rose up around Alex as he ran.
Alex ducked lower behind the short wall as another mortar landed only a few hundred feet from his squad’s position.
His unit had been deployed to Bogotá at the Columbian government’s request to deal with some civil unrest following their election. They had been fighting almost nonstop for the past five days.
Communications had been difficult as the insurgents had some sort of high tech VHF/UHF signal jammers set up throughout the city. Alex’s squad disabled one, but took heavy losses in the effort. Their lieutenant and gunnery sergeant had both died in the attempt. Alex was able to call out to their command, and they were ordered to return with the jammer to the forward operating base for analysis.
“Civil unrest my ass,” the 17-year old private, Seamus Kurt, shouted over the sound of gunfire. “We landed in the middle of a damn civil war.”
“Stow it, Kurt,” Alex shouted back. “Order’s come down to take the jammer and EVAC. News building three streets down has a large enough helo pad. Suppressing fire at ten and three at those two apartment buildings.” Alex waited for a lull in the incoming fire. “Move!” he shouted.
Their rifles belched rounds up the street as the four men moved toward the road that would take them to the news station. Alex brought up the rear with Kurt almost fifteen feet ahead of him. As they turned the corner to move out of the hot zone, Kurt tripped over some rubble that had fallen from the building next to them. I’m going to kill that kid, Alex thought as he drew closer.
Before he could move to help the private up, something blew him onto his back. That felt like getting kicked by a horse, he thought with a groan. He shook his head to try to clear the ringing in his ears. A three inch piece of metal was firmly lodged in his chest plate. Porcupine, he thought.
Alex remembered the brief he had received on possible enemy capabilities before they inserted into the city. “With every new war comes new and inventive ways to kill people,” the report had said. “One thing the insurgents have improved upon, is the simple pipe bomb. They drill holes into the walls of the pipe and attach three to five inch spikes, making it resemble a metal porcupine.”
Alex rose to his feet in a daze and stumbled to where Kurt had fallen. The private blinked up at him lazily. His arms and legs were punctured multiple times from the spike bomb. The other two remaining squad members raced over and took up defensive positions.
“Sarge,” Kurt said numbly, “I can’t stand up.”
Alex slung his rifle across his back and knelt next to the ruined form of Private Kurt. He’s bleeding too much, and it’s too dangerous to treat him here. “Don’t worry, Seamus, helo has a flight surgeon. He’ll have you tap dancing and playing the piano in no time.”
“We gotta go, Sarge,” Max Gilroy, the squad’s heavy gunner, said. He was a giant of a man, seven feet tall and barrel-chested, so of course it was unanimously decided that he be called Tiny. He hated the nickname. “We are sniper bait sitting out here like this.”
Alex lifted Kurt. His taxed muscles screamed protest at the extra hundred-seventy pounds, and his ears rang painfully from the explosion. Alex did his best to ignore the pain. “Let’s move.” Hiding along the perimeter of the buildings, they skirted rubble as they rushed to the news station.
Max scanned the entrance to the building before declaring it clear and entering. Alex followed closely behind. Carter, the squad’s engineer, brought up the rear. The men flew up the stairs three at a time as they climbed the twenty-eight story building.
They located the roof access, but it was locked. Max tried to kick it in, but the solid metal door wouldn’t give. “My ankle will break before that door frame does.”
“Carter,” Alex said, “Breaching charge.” He and Max moved down a flight of stairs and Carter placed a shaped explosive charge on the concrete wall next to the door’s lock. He rushed down the stairs after the two other men.
A hollow thump, and billowing dust filled the stairwell. The three men rushed through the now open doorway and onto the roof. Carter activated an orange smoke day flare and tossed it a short distance away. In moments, a black helicopter hovered over the roof.
It settled down, and they ran toward it. Max and Carter climbed in and carefully took Kurt from him. Alex crawled in and gestured to the pilot to take off. He watched as the flight surgeon checked Kurt’s breathing and pulse.
The copilot turned and stared at Alex. “Are you all right, Sergeant?” she asked looking at his chest.
Alex looked down, he still had the porcupine spike sticking from his chest piece and was covered in Kurt’s blood. “I’m fine, bruised ribs, no worse for wear.”
She nodded. “Where’s the rest of your squad?”
Alex’s face hardened. “LT took a porcupine at point blank, and Gunny Wilcox was killed by sniper fire.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Me too,” Alex muttered. He turned back to the surgeon to see him tying Kurt to the deck. None of his wounds had been bandaged. “What are you doing?” Alex demanded, grabbing the middle aged medical officer by his collar. “Treat him.”
The surgeon said something, but Alex couldn’t hear him over the helicopter’s engine. “What?” he shouted.
“He’s gone,” the flight surgeon yelled over the noise.
Alex looked at the man in surprise. “He can’t be dead,” Alex shouted back. He let go of the man’s collar and looked at Max and Carter’s grim faces. “The kid can’t be dead,” he whispered. “He can’t even smoke yet.”
The surgeon put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “He’s gone, Son,” he said again. “I’m sorry.”
Numb, Alex moved to an empty seat and strapped himself in. “Me too.”
Alex’s breath came in ragged pulls. He had been running for most of the day without stopping. His lungs screamed in protest, his legs burned, and it felt as if his heart was pumping battery acid, but still he ran.
Caitlyn mumbled incoherently. Alex knew she was in shock and moving so much wasn’t helping her, but he saw no alternative. The sun was almost below the trees. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes like hours, and hours like eons. With every step behind him, he knew he wouldn’t be able to take another. With each foot fall, he knew there wouldn’t be another step in him, but still he ran.
Can’t stop, he though hazily. Need to stop. Couldn’t start if I stop. Just a minute to rest. Can’t rest. On and on he argued with himself, but still he ran.
Delirium began to set in as the sun dropped below the horizon. Terra beckoned him onward. She seemed to glow in the coming twilight, basking the trees around her in a soft blue glow.
“Sorry,” he panted. “I couldn’t protect you.”
Terra floated ahead of him as he ran. “Don’t worry, Alex. I’ll be fine. You can save her, keep running. Not much farther now.” His heart ached at the sound of Terra’s voice and for fear of what might be happening to his love right then.
His vision began to blur. “You aren’t real.”
“As real as you are, my love,” she whispered as she floated closer. She reached out and gently touched his face. Her hand was cool on the cheek that was dry from his lack of sweat. “I am here for you, Alex. Keep running, not much farther.”
His left foot snagged on a root, and he felt his ankle give way. He lost his balance, but a shimmering arm reached out and caught him. He almost fell again when he saw who the arm belonged to. “You’re dead! I watched you die!” Alex shouted.
The spirit smiled at him. “C’mon, Sarge,” Kurt’s spirit said, “Ya aren’t done yet.”
Pain shot up Alex’s leg from his left ankle when he put weight on it. The sharp blast coupled with his all day run almost made him collapse. “I can’t,” Alex gasped. “Ran all day. Nothing left.”
Kurt looked at Alex’s ankle. “It’s not broken, Sarge. You really going to give up now because of a little sprain? You going to let her die because you’re tired? I saw you go three days without sleep after gunny died, and you still brought me home.” Kurt slipped under one of Alex’s arms and helped support him. “I’ll help you do the same for her.”
“Is she?”
Kurt shook his head as he helped Alex stand straight. “Not yet, but if we don’t get a move on, she will. Let’s go, Sarge.”
The man walked with the spirits through the night. Every time Alex would stumble, Kurt kept him from falling. When Alex felt he could go no farther, Kurt and Terra would whisper their encouragement.
Lights sprang into existence as the three of them entered a small clearing. With the sudden light, Kurt and Terra vanished. Alex collapsed face first into the cool grass of the clearing. Beads of dew moistened his cracked lips. He heard footsteps approaching him from either side.