The Claw Order (Fanghunters Book 4)

by Leo Romero

  Rah lay there motionless as if dead. If only. This thing was very much alive, very much a part of Middle Eastern life. And if it had its way, an oppressive, brutal caliphate would rule the world beneath a banner of darkness with its twisted interpretation of the Holy scriptures as its law. An insult to the word of Allah.

  Faisal knew he couldn’t procrastinate any longer. This was the only chance he’d have to destroy Rah and he needed to take it. From his robes, he retrieved a metal chisel and small hammer; implements they were supposed to be using on Clement’s supposed expedition. He moved in to assassinate the beast, the handle of the chisel greasy in his grip. He went to place the chisel where Rah’s heart would be, but there was so much fat, he couldn’t be sure. He stared down at the beast in confusion. He knew he only had one chance. If he missed the heart, Rah wouldn’t die.

  Faisal huffed. He hovered the chisel over a roll of fat, then moved it away. He scratched his head. Come on, come on, do it! he urged himself. Sweat and panic began to take hold of him. He didn’t have much time. He focused in on the thing’s chest, using the light from the flashlight for guidance. He found a nipple. He nodded; that would be his guide. He aimed for the spot a little above and over toward Rah’s right hand side. The tip of the chisel touched skin; it was tough like the hide of an elephant.

  Rah twitched, but didn’t awaken.

  Faisal caught his breath. He opened up his mouth and clutched the handle of the flashlight between his lips like a hookah pipe, his head turned down to the chisel in his trembling hand, the light focused on it. He grabbed his hammer and raised it into the air. His eyes focused in on the handle of the chisel, the exact spot he needed to strike with the hammer. Rah lay fast asleep, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.

  Faisal sucked in a deep breath and—

  An abrupt wail cut through the air like the cry of a wild animal. Faisal froze, his blood running cold. His head whipped around to where the noise emanated, his eyes bulging from his skull. The flashlight clenched between his lips illuminated small cribs dotted around the other side of the chamber. Inside, were squirming babies. Faisal watched on helplessly as a small mouth opened up to release a cry. The sound was like knives in Faisal’s ears.

  He stared at the babies in disbelief. Rah has children, he realized with unabridged horror. And they were stirring. In the next instant, another began wailing, soon joined by its brothers and sisters. Before Faisal could do anything, the room erupted in a hellish chorus of screams and wails that echoed around the room.

  Faisal’s heart began hammering. The noise would give him away.

  Quick!

  He threw his attention back to Rah, raised his hammer and—

  Rah’s eyes snapped open. They focused in on Faisal, a flicker of panic shooting through them. They bored into Faisal’s soul like hot skewers, rooting him. Faisal gasped, his hammer still held in the air. He was trying to bring it down, to drive the chisel through the heart of the beast, but his hand wouldn’t respond to his desire. It shook on the air, but held firm. Faisal applied more pressure to his hand, but it wouldn’t move; it was stuck in the air as if he’d been turned to stone. He was captured by those mystic eyes, those evil, dark, bloodshot eyes.

  All the while the babies continued to scream and cry.

  “Who are you?” Rah growled.

  Faisal couldn’t answer. Instead, he was trying with all his might to bring his hammer down. But, his limbs were like ice; they wouldn’t move. And then, from nowhere, they did. He removed the chisel from Rah’s chest. Faisal watched in bemusement as his hand acted of its own accord. Against his will, he turned the chisel on himself. He stared in horror at the point of the chisel now aimed at his own eye. His whole body trembled in terror, the cries and wails of Rah’s children reverberating in his frightened mind. He pushed against Rah’s will with everything he had, but it was useless. Rah had control of him with his hypnosis. Rah was a snake charmer, and Faisal was nothing more than a witless cobra forced to play to his song.

  Rah watched on in glee as he held up a hand and threw it in toward Faisal. Like it was attached to strings, Faisal’s arm followed the command. He thrust the chisel into his own eye. There was a squelch, followed by white-hot pain that juddered through his whole body. A scream bolted from his chest, which drowned out the wails of babies. At that moment, Rah released him from his grip. Faisal staggered back, waving his hands on the air like a demented belly dancer, excruciating pain juddering through his mind.

  Rah sat up in bed and began clapping his meaty hands in joy, his flabby body rippling. His cackles rocketed around the room alongside babies wailing and Faisal screaming as he comically ran around the chamber in a blind panic, the chisel sticking out of his face. Somewhere in the background, Rah’s sick joyous laughter rang through Faisal’s tender mind; he was laughing at the fool who’d dared enter his domain and attempt to assassinate him.

  Faisal almost fell in his haste to escape the chamber. A sticky substance was oozing out of his damaged eye and down his cheek as he spun in perfect circles across the floor, seeking out the double doors from which he entered.

  Rah pointed a thick finger at him and released a wild cackle. “Why are you leaving so soon?” he asked. “Come back. I’m hungry!”

  Rah’s jibes were something at the back of Faisal’s hazy world of dark and pain. He managed to stagger over to the doors, his breathing ragged. Get out of here, get out of here, get out of here. Before you die!

  He threw out a hand to grab the door handle, the chisel still stuck in his skull. He just needed to get out to safety, back to the others where they could nurse his wounds.

  Behind him, Rah continued to cackle, while his babies screamed and howled.

  Faisal went to grab the door handle, but caught air.

  The doors were already on the move. Someone was coming in.

  The doors flew open. And in stepped the day guards.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Present Day – Amazon River

  Panic rooted Trixie.

  She gripped the frame of the boat so hard, her knuckles were skin covered bone. The boat was gliding toward that giant split in the earth like a dead fly caught in bathwater heading for the open plughole. They were helpless. Rafa was trying his best to get the engine going again even though they all knew it was blown. Dom, Alicia, and Troy were paddling with everything they had. But, the pull was too strong for them.

  Dom paddled his arms like a crazed canoeist. He threw his head back. “Come on, Trix. PADDLE!” he screamed, the veins on his neck bulging.

  Trixie absently shook her head. A bizarre, twitchy grin spread across her face. “It’s... pointless...” she said in a breathless voice. The giant split drew closer. Closer. A few more meters and they’d finally be sucked into that deep crevice that looked like it led directly to Hell.

  An abrupt laugh jumped from her chest. “It’s pointless!” she shrieked.

  The current picked up in pace.

  “It’s pointless!” she snapped with a cackle.

  The crevice was now in full view, dark and beckoning, anticipating its prey. Trixie watched a mighty crocodile slip into its darkness, its manic paddling fruitless.

  She pointed at it and cackled. “See that?” she asked the others. They just carried on paddling.

  Trixie’s grin vanished. She grabbed her smartphone and dialed. “MACK!”

  There was no answer.

  Trixie’s jaw dropped. The phone fell from her grip and hit the deck. They were on the cusp of the crevice. Any moment they’d fall into it and be smashed to pieces and drown. It was nice knowing you, Trixie. So long.

  She winced, the inevitable about to take them all. She stared at the darkness of the split in terror. It loomed like Death itself.

  A noise filled the air, making her frown. The whir of rotors growing more intense by the second. Trixie’s head snapped up. Something appeared out of the dark horizon like a black hawk. Mack!

  The chopper came fully into view.
Mack came down as low as he could and sat there, hovering over the crack. Trixie’s eyes widened in hope. She knew what Mack had planned. “Grab onto the skids!” she screamed to everyone on the boat.

  “The what?” Rafa shouted back.

  “The feet!” Trixie screeched as she ran to the front of the boat. The chopper’s rotors blew air into her face; it burned the sweat cold. The boat slipped beneath the skids. With wide eyes, Trixie leaped up and grabbed hold of the skids. She anchored herself to it with a yelp, her legs dangling. She looked down; the dark crevice stared back at her like a black hole to oblivion.

  She whipped her head back. “JUMP!” she screamed, her throat aching. She watched on in agony, her arms already aching as the others scrambled on the deck. Rafa reached up and grabbed the opposite skid; it took his weight and immediately the chopper rocked on the air.

  Alicia jumped up and grabbed the skid, her eyes wide with fright. She hooked an arm over the metal and clutched hold of her wrist to hold herself in place.

  Trixie glanced down. The boat was almost past the chopper and the other two bozos were still on the boat. “Jump!” she screamed at them.

  Troy had his hands cupped up in front of his face, his stare fixed on the skid above him. Dom grabbed him by the chest and pushed him upward. Troy sparked into gear. He jumped at the last moment, grabbing the skid and clutching it with both hands. He dangled there like a monkey at the zoo, his tongue lolling from his mouth.

  By then, the boat had virtually gone by. And Dom was still on the deck.

  Trixie glared down at him in disbelief. What the hell is he doing?

  Instead of reaching up for the skid, Dom took a glance behind him at the giant crack in the river about to swallow him. And that small look back killed the second he had. By the time his instincts kicked in and he turned and threw up a hand to the skid, the nose of the boat was already tipping forward. Trixie watched on in horror as his fingertips brushed the skid, and Dom ended up clutching nothing but air.

  Trixie’s eyes bulged. “Dom! she screeched.

  She caught a glimpse of Dom’s frightened face; his wide, glassy eyes, his mouth agape, his arm flapping on the air. The boat was on its downward trajectory, taking him with it.

  Rafa let one of his hands go from the skid and whipped it across the air. He managed to grab hold of Dom’s wrist, holding him in place. Dom teetered, but Rafa held on, his neck straining. Mack propelled upward. Dom’s feet left the deck of the boat, and Rafa’s arm gripping the skid stretched; he groaned in agony. He clenched his teeth against the strain, his arm trembling.

  Trixie watched on in bewildered shock as the boat slipped off the edge and vanished forever into the crevice. Dom hung on for dear life, his stunned gaze fixed on that boat as it disappeared into oblivion.

  In the next instant, they were moving forward. The momentum swung all their legs back. Trixie gripped onto the skid with all her might, the incessant whir of rotors whipping through her mind. The cold wind clawed at her face, forcing her eyes shut. From between her tight lids she could make out Rafa opposite her; his face was a portrait of agony, the veins on his neck bulging like chord. In his grip was Dom, flopping and dangling on the air like a child’s doll, his face wide open in shock. His head rotated left and right, taking in the madness.

  Below them, the Amazon River whizzed by; it snaked through the jungle like a huge boa constrictor. Trixie watched it, an exhilarating, terror-inducing rush juddering through her body. She locked her elbow around the skid, the metal digging into the joint of her arm. Her legs were thrown around on the air like they were twigs. Below, the forest was visibly shaking under the pressure of another quake.

  A loud groan, audible above the rotors made her head snap around; Rafa was growling under the strain. His arm was trembling. Dom was swinging like a pendulum. Rafa’s face was a picture of pure agony.

  “Hold on!” Trixie screamed. “Don’t let go!”

  Rafa growled in response, his face contorted.

  The chopper whizzed along, the wind whistling through them all. The river had arced off, and they were now flying over the forest itself. A little further and the trees thinned out to a patch of grassy area. Mack dipped the chopper, just as Rafa let out a final growl of agony.

  Trixie’s head snapped his way. Through bleary eyes, she watched as he finally lost his grip on the skid, Dom’s weight proving too much for him. His hand slipped away and they both dropped like anvils.

  Trixie gasped. “Dom!” she screamed.

  “Rafa!” Alicia screamed.

  “Help!” Troy screamed.

  Below and behind them, Rafa and Dom fell through the air like stunt men.

  Dom hung from Rafa’s grip like a piece of luggage. Terror juddered through his veins; he was helpless, the wind throwing his body left and right. The trees and river below him were like a bed of nails. If he fell from Rafa’s grip, he was doomed. He watched the world fly by, his heart hammering in his chest, his mind caught in the midst of terror and exhilaration like he was on the wackiest roller coaster ride in the universe.

  Above him, he could feel Rafa’s strain. He knew his weight was too much for him to hold on with only one hand. Eventually, they’d fall. He wished he could speak to Mack, tell him to find a place to land ASAP. Did Mack even know what was going on below? Who knew?

  They continued to cut through the twilight to wherever Mack was taking them.

  Rafa howled in pain. Dom flicked his head up to meet him. Rafa’s face was contorted in agony. Dom’s eyes widened in fear.

  “Hold on!” Dom heard Trixie scream. “Don’t let go!”

  Dom looked down. Then, snapped his head back up. His feet trod on the air; all he wanted was to touch ground. Lovely, nice, solid ground.

  Rafa growled, and Dom knew it wasn’t good. From the corner of his eyes, he watched Rafa’s hand begin to slip away from the skid.

  Dom’s eyes popped.

  Rafa lost his grip and in the next instant, gravity was Dom’s new friend. It went to work on him without mercy, pushing him down through the air. As he went, he caught a quick blast of Trixie’s scream. The world rushed by. Dom’s stomach shot upward. He waved his arms on the air in the vain hope of catching hold of something. All the while, the ground was fast approaching. He sucked in a huge breath, just as his feet hit land.

  I’m gonna die! the last thought to puncture his mind.

  Luckily, Mack had descended enough for the fall not to be fatal. He smashed into the marshy ground, the water accumulated in the area breaking most of the fall. Water splashed up and around, the soft ground beneath him cushioning first his feet, then his ass. Pain jarred up his spine and he collapsed back into the smelly swamp, his arms slapping on water.

  He lay where he was for a few seconds, gazing up at the purplish sky, a few stars now twinkling in the twilight. His breathing was ragged, his chest tight from fear and the adrenaline rush.

  Am I... alive?

  With a groan, he sat up in the swamp, his legs half submerged in water, his bumps and bruises moaning at him. He winced under the pain. “I dunno why I ever signed up to this crap!” he moaned to himself. He wiped the slime from his arms in disgust.

  Movement to his right made his head turn. Rafa was getting into a seated position, rubbing his head. “Puta,” he groaned.

  “You can say that again, buddy,” Dom told him.

  He looked to the sky. The chopper was gone. Thankfully, so were the quakes. Whether they’d stopped or they were far enough away from the epicenter, Dom didn’t know. He caught his breath, just as a relief massaged his body and mind. At least he was on ground; not exactly solid ground, but at least safe, albeit stinky.

  He turned to Rafa. “You okay?” Dom asked.

  “I’ll live,” Rafa answered, wiping slime from his face.

  Movement from the bushes in the near distance melted Dom’s grin. He turned his head slow to spot something now heading their way through the marsh. Something sleek, black, wild. Dangerous. Dom’s l
ips trembled. “Uh, Rafa, buddy,” he said in a shaky voice, greenish-yellow eyes glowing at him in the lowering light.

  “What?” Rafa said in a peeved voice, still wiping grime from his arms.

  Something else entered the scene from the bushes. Another one. A big cat. A big, black cat like a giant shadow with glowing eyes. Dom’s chest seized. He went to scramble away, but instead fell on his back, splashing up water.

  Rafa looked at him in bemusement. “What’s wrong with—” He snapped his head toward the cats as they approached and his eyes widened. “Oh no!”

  The cats approached, their tongues lolling from their mouths, hot panting shooting out behind them. Their eyes bored into the two guys lying in the marsh; the invaders of their territory.

  Dom tried getting up on his elbows, but Rafa threw a hand his way. “Don’t move, amigo!” he warned. “Stay calm.”

  “Easier said than done,” Dom retorted, his concerned eyes flicking from Rafa to the panthers staring them down.

  “You still got a crossbow?” Rafa asked, but the tone of his voice told Dom it was more of a hopeful question.

  “I lost that back at Magdalena’s. What about you?” Dom’s high-pitched voice was also more in hope.

  Rafa gave him a quick shake of the head. “No, hombre. I ran out of ammo back on the river.”

  “Great. So now we’re cat food.” His legs began to tremble as the giant mountains of muscle stalked ever closer. They split; one headed Rafa’s way, the other Dom’s. They approached slow and deliberate with a sideway stance, their paws squelching in the marsh.

  “What are we gonna do?” Dom hissed.

  Rafa gulped. “Can you bark like a dog? It might scare them.”

  “I wish I had some cat nip or a toy mouse.” Dom looked to the darkening sky. “Where in the hell did Mack go?”

  “He probably still thinks he’s carrying us.”

  The panthers drew closer. Their horrible, marble-like eyes fixed on their prey. One of them began to growl, a low guttural sound that seemed to cause the air to shake. The hairs on the back of Dom’s neck sprang to attention. His body trembled. He caught a glimpse of the fangs in the mighty jaws of the beast stalking him. They put any head order vampire’s fangs to shame. The thought of those things sinking into his flesh was Hell itself.