by brett hicks
Slowly the dregs of light spilled over the faux-horizon and the artificial sun rose. It was so blinding that one would nearly mistake the creation for a real star.
“This serves as an ecosystem too, right Shemron?”
He looked what passed for impressed in dragon expressions. His large head bobbed slightly.
“Very good young one, you have earned a cookie for your efforts.”
I narrowed my eyes at the dragon and pointed an accusing finger at it.
“Don’t you start that shit on me or I’ll blast your scaly hide back to the neither-world!”
Shemron made more hacking and raspy sounds of laughter and a few puffs of flame shot from his smoky nostrils. His body tremored slightly and he huffed down a deep drag of oxygen.
“You sound so much like Morrigan that it is almost disturbing, child. You look like Nox in color, but your features and shape are like Morrigan as are your amber eyes.”
I stung and warmed my heart to hear the dragon speak of my parents. While I was very confused about many things, I wasn’t at all confused about my feelings for my long-dead parents. They had done everything in their power to see that I survived and had a home. I couldn’t blame them for cataclysmic destruction and war, not unless they started it all.
When this was all over, I would need time to grieve for them properly. Everything changed for me over the past few days. I was just an unwanted orphan of questionable birth before now. In fact, I had parents who loved me and gave up everything for me—for my future.
Trumpets sounded like something you would have expected from old-school war parties. I leaned down and at the base of the crag were platoons of armed inhumans. Most brandishing rifles or handguns of some variety. This was well insulated from the mortal world, so no one was holding back on his or her weapons. The last time I was vastly outnumbered, I had the advantage in that they had only melee weapons and bows. Now, I was faced with almost two-thousand beings all armed to the teeth, as we were. Granted, we had a dragon and the high-ground, how long could that advantage last? I didn’t expect Shemron to give up his life defending Atlantis a second time.
“Well, they really mean to kill us properly this time lass.”
Liam murmured from next to me and I turned enough to see his jovial look.
“What the hell are you smiling about, it’s creepy!?”
Liam gave me a faux-hurt look and palmed his hand to his chest.
“I was just thinking about how many of these gits I have wanted to fill full of holes for a very long time now. Boston’s inhuman populace is among the most ruthless and blood-thirsty.”
I frowned and nodded to the host.
“I thought that they were under-trained?!”
Liam’s lips twitched in amusement.
“Most are, but that does not make them nice to be around, or to share a border with.”
I huffed and shook my head at Liam.
“You scare me, Liam, you and your seeming lack of anything resembling common sense.”
Liam chuckled darkly and waved me off.
“Nay lass, I have plenty of sense, hence why I am on your side. They might have us outnumbered but you are the darkest of all the bloody horses I have ever come across. If my time at the tracks has taught me anything, it’s the dark horse you need to fear.”
I snorted derisively at him and rolled my eyes.
“There is something very wrong with your form of logic Liam. Do I even want to try to point out that the dark horse at a track has nothing to do with what that phrase actually means?!”
Liam laughed vibrantly and waved me off. I shot daggers at him with my amber eyes. He was unaffected, as per usual, but he had succeeded in taking my mind off the onslaught we were now faced with.
I felt some strange calm cascade over me and my body became still and hyper-aware. I was ready for this; I would do anything I had to do to keep myself and my people alive. Add to that tally one dragon and I would find a way. I would fight until my soul was exasperated and my body was nothing but dust if it meant keeping everyone else alive.
I took a deep breath and I bellowed out, “Rangers, begin picking off their flanks. Drive them into a central focal point for the main gunners to mow through!”
I did not have to see the dark forest rangers, I knew they heard me and not even a moment had passed when the first rattling death-cry resounded bellow. More dark shafts came out of nowhere and more bodies littered the woods below.
“Impressive, look at how they have broken formation already. They have no discipline.”
Shemron murmured and he chuckled before flapping his massive leathery wings and taking off into the air.
I had one long moment to wonder what he was going to do before he swung down drawing fire from the center-most column and a pillar of fire scorched dozens of souls in a single pass. Screams and embers filled the early morning sky with the slow cacophony of death.
“Save your ammo as best you can, for now, let’s just pick at them! Don’t shoot unless you know you’ve got a clear shot!”
Bix called out somewhere ahead of me. She was losing arrows at a speed that blurred her arm motions. Her bow was a full-length re-curved huntress bow of the Dark Forest. She rapidly loosed silver tipped arrows and more bodies began to fall.
Shemron made another pass and this time most of the people around had the sense to try to take cover or find respite from the pillar of flame. He still caught no fewer than ten in a conflagration.
I picked up the bow Bix had been teaching me on and I began to notch arrows, firing as I saw a nice target. I swore in a long string as I began to fire shot-after-shot. I was not as good as the rangers so I did miss sometimes. I did, however, keep people ducking. Most of the witches were trying to decipher our warding, but Bix and the other half of the dark rangers were harrying them, making this task nearly impossible for the time being.
Bullets rang out and bounced off the stone around us. The purely mundane weapons were able to breach the wards. I swore and I kept firing as I could while ducking as rapid-fire came raining down on my location.
I moved low to the ground and began to find a new position. I was currently too exposed to do much more damage now.
The fire roared like a storm and smothered the first line aiming for me. I looked up in awe at the massive dragon soaring in the sky like vengeance with scales. He was roaring and blasting fireballs. Bullets seemed to bounce right off his thick scales.
Shemron was deadly and I was very grateful he was on our side!
Seventeen:
Skylar woke in a start at the sound of boots thumping around him. He spun up and a slender pale hand caught his nine-millimeter clad hand. His eyes came to a pair of violet elven eyes that looked slightly annoyed and maybe just a hint of bemusement sprinkled on top.
“Easy there killer, it’s just me.”
Vivian said softly to him and Skylar frowned slightly and felt that his cheeks were heating in embarrassment. Vivian let his hand go but plucked the gun free and spun it around her finger like an old-fashioned gunslinger. She then offered it back to him butt-first.
Skylar accepted his gun and resisted the urge to snatch it with a small act of petulance. He wasn’t typically one to be petty, but even a relaxed fella has his limits. Skylar’s happened to be people hovering over him as he slept. He had a very obnoxious girlfriend in college who used to hover and wake him up “accidentally” on a daily basis. After that, well he tended to have very extreme reactions to waking up with anyone hovering over him making noise. Not that any of this was Vivi’s fault; she was likely just trying to stretch out her legs a bit. They were all very cramped in the tiny old apartment structure.
They could have tried to spread out more and each get more room, but they opted to stick together where they would each work as an early warning system if anything tried to approach them in their sleep. Skylar was surprised that he crashed so hard considering their surroundings. Being flooded with so much adrenaline had taken
its toll on him eventually.
“Anyone out there?”
He asked Vivi and she waggled her hand side-to-side.
“Three in this area that I could see, but there could be a few more. I am not detecting anything major, so we should be fine on proceeding to the bridge. We do have some more traps between us and our destination, but nothing that cannot be overcome. What I am worried about is how we will approach in an unknown situation and in a room we have never seen before. I am still not sure if the security will warn Henry to our approach well ahead of time or if we can truly get the drop on him.”
Vivi said and Skylar was surprised at how many full sentences came out of her mouth at one time. He had the good sense to keep this information to himself however, he has seen her when she is pissed.
“How did you sleep?”
He turned and Ariel’s blue eyes greeted him like twin moons of cold light—cold yet still warm and inviting.
He cleared his throat and sat up straighter on instinct.
“I’m fine, thanks. How about you, did you get any rest at all?”
Ariel bit her lip in a subtle act of self-consciousness. She shrugged and waved a hand to her large green sack filled with herbs and various spell ingredients.
“I whipped up some lunatic-nights potion.”
She said this as if it explained everything, only Skylar was extremely new to witches and magic in general. Ariel turned slightly pink at this realization belatedly and she added, “It’s a potion that prolongs stamina and staves off sleep for up to three days.”
Vivi snorted and dryly put in, “Yeah, but then you crash for about a day or two after the potion wears off. That shit is dangerous.”
Ariel looked at her and tersely quipped, “More dangerous than the death-traps and roaming patrols with automatic weapons?”
Vivi shrugged and plainly said, “They have to see me to shoot me and that seems to be extraordinarily difficult.”
Ariel planted her hands on her hips and glared at the much taller girl. Even if Ariel didn’t look tough, she had a certain air of deadliness to her. Vivi seemed to be enjoying taunting her in front of Skylar, but even she was careful not to truly cross the witch.
“Just keep in mind that we have people here who are more visible.”
Skylar smiled easily at the girls and pointed to himself.
“Sorry Vivi, I haven’t gotten my ninja’s license yet, so I won’t be able to follow you into the shadows, or where ever it is you go when you disappear.”
Vivi took a split second to debate to herself if she wanted to keep taunting Ariel, but she just opted to chuckle lowly at his attempt at humor. Ariel was smiling at him now too and seemed to have forgotten Vivi existed, for now.
To say the two women had a rough history would be gravely understating matters. While Ariel has always been on friendly terms with Seraphina before Thea came in and blew all the old hatred out of the water with more pressing issues, Vivi used to heckle Ariel, always convinced that a witch as powerful as she had to be up to something bad. Ariel never much cared for the prejudice against her kind, but even she knew it was well earned. Hell, the slavers black market Thea just broke up last week was the perfect example! The witches and daemons were enslaving and selling humans for money or favors.
While Vivi and Ariel were able to work together while under constant threat of death, when things were slow, like now, they were reminded of their past.
“We should be heading out soon.”
Vivi said and Ariel nodded in agreement.
“We should all eat first, an army marches on its stomach. My dad beat that into me growing up, along with other things.”
Skylar put in and Vivi swung her gaze back to the new Dhampire and she conceded to his point.
“I’m sure your witch can brew something for you, but I will fix my own food. Never trust anything that comes out of a cauldron.”
Vivi said and Ariel was shooting daggers at her. Skylar thought she might summon up witch flames or something, but Ariel just huffed and plopped down next to Skylar. She enjoyed these moments where she could just sit beside him and soak up the warmth his masculine body radiated like a heater.
She seemed to forget the insults an instant after her eyes met his. He had such a deep expressive look for such a young man. He was about half-a-year younger than she, yet he had such maturity and character. He was an old soul, for sure, Ariel was certain of this.
Light began to trickle over the horizon as they ate some military rations. She had no idea where exactly Seraphina procured such items in bulk, but Ariel was not about to go poking that beehive.
Skylar frowned at the thick crimson fluid in the baggy. He eyed it like the blood was going to launch itself up at him and devour his soul.
“You have to eat Sky.”
Ariel said gently in a tone so hushed only he heard her. She wasn’t going to broadcast his issues, but she also was not going to watch him sit in denial. Skylar looked at the fluid again and huffed lowly.
“To immortality…”
He said sarcastically and he finally turned the blood bag up and began to gulp it down quickly. He might not like the blood, but his body loved the substance. He felt the electric surge of new energy rushing through him the instant the first drops settled in his stomach.
Ariel was no stranger to blood, so she didn’t really think anything about watching a Dhampire drink. Skylar was embarrassed like she had just watched him use the bathroom or something equally devastating.
She gave him a supportive smile and she reframed from broadcasting her approval in any obvious manner. She was worried about how he might respond if the others heckled him about being squeamish about blood. This life was so new to him that he was still spinning. He had only spent a single wakeful day as an immortal creature of the night. He needed time and time was not his ally right now.
More light began to spill over the horizon and Vivi slipped out the window without explanation.
“She’s going to scout out the road ahead and also try to see if they are going to change the guards soon. Most shifts would change during the morning hour.”
Ariel said and Skylar looked at her with mild surprise lighting his features. She smiled brightly at him and rolled her eyes.
“Inhumans learn all types of neat things while mortal children are primarily focused on addition and subtraction.”
She said matter-of-factly and Skylar snorted softly in amusement.
“Sounds like your life make being raised by a cop absolutely dull and mundane.”
Ariel shrugged and she grinned.
“I don’t know, it stands to reason that you likely picked up much the same things as I did in your upbringing.”
Skylar made a non-committal sound and he stood up and peered out the window, careful not to expose himself to any possible patrols.
Cobweb-riddled shops and ancient dilapidated apartments were across the street. The building next to theirs’ was in solid condition, similar in structure and tone to their apartment.
Skylar wasn’t sure what caused the damage to some of the buildings he could see in the city. Most of the damage looked so old that webs and dust had collected on the rubble. The materials hadn’t decayed, or at least most of them seemed to be intact. Whatever the people of Atlantis used for construction, their buildings were meant to last!
Skylar saw many buildings of smooth grey stone and the ashen-colored metal alloy that seemed to be the favored material of the city, besides sturdy stone.
The streets were like a maze or a true labyrinth. He felt like Daedalus stuck in the mythical maze. He now wondered how mythical that maze was and if he might possibly be inside the very same maze now.
He noted that centuries were sparse here and they stayed strictly to the center of the streets. He was sure that more were watching from vantage points so that the streets were only safe if you were meant to be on them.
Light rose rapidly into the sky. The artificial environment of Atlantis
simulated the rising of the sun, but it quickly put it into the proper noon-time position. This seemed more to ensure that the climate was properly maintained. Skylar even tasted light humidity in the air, along with a gentle breeze. He was shocked at the scope of this city and its wonders. The outer section had been nothing impressive, per se, but this inner section was all marvelous and well beyond anything humans were capable of dreaming up.
He felt the slight nudge of the breeze through the window and he resisted the urge to stick his head out.
Crystal Spires and stone hulking keeps rose high into the sky in the inner-most point of the city. This was Skylar’s destination, the bridge.
Even if the designs were not opulent in any overt manner, everything was awe-inspiring. Skylar sat back down and he looked to Ariel who was finishing up the last of what looked like biscuits and gravy if only a lumpy, soupy mess of an imitation.
“We should head out soon. When do you think Vivi will be back?”
She shrugged and waved her hand vaguely towards the direction of the window Vivi had used to sneak out.
“Hell if I know what’s going through that damn elf’s mind at any given moment. She’ll be back soon though; Vivi is all about discipline and structure. She will not leave us all here to our own devices for too long.”
Not for the first time or even the tenth time, Skylar was burning to ask her more about her past with Vivi. He shook those thoughts off and as if he had conjured her with his own force of will Vivi appeared through the door like an inky shadow come to life.