Turning, I found Bale and a human stepping away from the remains of the last gargoyle. I recognized the man as Captain Timothy Tresden, the soldier Mac had assigned to lead the human troops. At five foot eight, he wasn’t tall, but he was solidly built with a thick neck and broad shoulders. His deep-brown skin was splattered with the black blood of the Gargoyle he’d helped Bale slaughter. Wiping the blood away, he flung it to the ground with a flick of his fingers. His sable eyes briefly met mine before fluttering away to take in the massacre that had taken place around us.
I looked over the human bodies littering the ground before focusing on the survivors. We’d started out with fifty people. Now there were only a couple dozen left. I’d known the humans would sustain heavy casualties, but I hadn’t expected it to be in the first full day outside of the camp.
“Shit!” I hissed.
“Weeding out the weak,” Shax muttered.
“How many more seals do you think have fallen?” Morax demanded.
My teeth ground together. I felt the hounds stirring within me, seeking out answers as to what had happened to their brethren, answers I wanted as badly as they did. The hounds were an intricate part of me. I wore the mark of Ziwa, the guardian of the hellhounds. I bore the hellhounds on my body and within me when no other varcolac had before me. They gave me strength, and they protected me, but they also made me far more volatile than the varcolacs who had come before me.
I welcomed the blessing and the curse that came with sharing my soul with them, and now something was happening to them and I would not tolerate it. The hounds weren’t dead. I would feel it through the bond connecting us if they were, but something had happened to incapacitate them while guarding those seals. I had to find out what and I had to do it soon.
The opening of the seals must be stopped. There were many other abominations kept behind those barriers. Abominations that should never have seen the fires of Hell, never mind the light of the human world. It had taken my ancestors thousands of years to lock them all away; it would be impossible to reseal them all at once.
I could open a gateway now and return to check on the hounds, but I couldn’t leave River out here for the amount of time it would take to return. Once I found her, I could take her back to the wall and go, but that would only delay our journey to the unnatural gateway, which was something Lucifer was probably hoping for. I had no choice but to push on and hope the hounds could keep the rest of the seals from falling.
“What were those… things?” a woman demanded, her voice breaking and taking on a hysterical note.
“Gargoyles,” Shax said flatly. “They’ve been taken care of now.”
“Taken care of!” she screeched shrilly. “Look around you! I don’t see any of your body parts littering the ground! Why are we here? We can’t do anything against these things!”
“Enough,” Captain Tresden said in a calming tone.
“Were we brought here to use as decoys for her?” The woman’s voice grew louder on each word. Her brown eyes rolled in her head as she gazed at the blood and body parts splattering the street.
I had no tolerance for humans when they were becoming hysterical, but I had to be careful not to break the tenuous trust I’d regained by reuniting them with their families. Walking away from her now would do little to help with that. “No, you weren’t brought here as decoys,” I replied.
“No? They just slaughtered us!” The woman wrung her hands before her and shifted her feet.
“We will be better prepared for what comes next,” Shax said and bestowed the charismatic smile on her that had always made him the most popular with the females in Hell and on Earth. “Gargoyles have roosted together for thousands upon thousands of years. They most likely wouldn’t have separated once they were free of Hell.”
“What does that mean?” another human demanded.
“Most likely, we just killed them all, and if we didn’t, then there are only a few more out there. They never had large numbers.”
“We weren’t prepared for this,” the woman whimpered.
“Yes, you were,” I replied. “You were told what you might be able to expect. You were told this was a mission many of you wouldn’t survive, but you volunteered anyway. You have the training to protect yourselves. Even after witnessing what you already have of the creatures from Hell, you still believed you would easily defeat the things out here; you can’t. We had hoped that more seals hadn’t fallen after the revenirs, but they have, and more will most likely fall too. You can either toughen up or die. Those are your choices.”
Done with her, I turned and walked away to survey the damage done to the vehicles and supplies. Out of the twenty vehicles, only ten trucks remained. We had to salvage what we could of the provisions before we were able to leave. The eyes of the demons bored into my back, but they all wisely chose not to mention the word tact right now.
“Gather what you can of the scattered supplies,” I commanded. “We’re leaving in five minutes.”
The woman began to cry; the others looked pale and dazed as they stared at the shredded remains of their troop. We had chosen the best of the best from the soldiers guarding the wall, but the gargoyle attack had rattled many of them.
There were simply some things the human mind couldn’t wrap itself around. No matter how well we’d trained them, there would be some who fell apart when faced with the creatures we would encounter on our way. And there would be more creatures, maybe not as lethal as the gargoyles, but there were others out there just as horrifying as those we fought today. We already knew the lanavours were free, and they made the gargoyles look like kittens in comparison.
My gaze went back to the road Hawk had taken to get River out of the city. I’d sent her away for her own safety. Now I had to get her back.
“Get to work!” I barked to those still standing around.
The humans immediately scattered to try to salvage what they could from the destroyed vehicles and human remains.
CHAPTER 12
River
“What do we do now?” I demanded of Corson. I grasped my hair whipping free of where I’d tied it back and held it down as the pickup bounced over the ruts and holes in the road.
“We go to where we’re supposed to meet Kobal,” he replied.
My knees went weak with relief; at least they’d arranged a meeting place before Corson left to come with us. I slid down against the truck to sit with my back against the cab. “Where?” I asked.
“There’s a town about fifteen miles away. It’s not as badly ruined as the others we’ve been through.”
“Some of the towns survived somewhat intact?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Corson replied. “Not many, but some.”
“The rockslide will slow them down,” the man said.
“It will,” Corson agreed before glancing at me. “But he will make it.”
The man and woman moved aside some bags of supplies before settling in. Black goo coated some of the canvas bags, but hopefully the supplies within were still good. Corson remained standing, his claws retracted and one of his arms hooked through the open window in the back of the truck to hold on. Gargoyle gunk splattered his face and clothes, but he didn’t pay it any attention as his eyes scanned the horizon with a ruthlessness I’d never seen in him before.
Kobal sent him with me for a reason, I realized.
I turned toward the other two. I’d been training with them before we’d left the wall behind, but there was something more about these two that teased at my mind.
Then, I recalled the woman with the almond-shaped, ocean blue eyes, and black hair had been the one to successfully chop off a demon’s hand during a training exercise when Kobal and Mac had still been trying to determine who would be coming with us on this journey. I’d been watching them at the time the woman successfully managed to strike the blow against the demon, when many failed.
After cutting off the demon’s hand, she’d been separated from the group of hop
efuls and led over to stand with the man sitting beside her now. A man who had earlier succeeded in slicing the ear from a demon. At the time, I’d envied them their easy camaraderie as they’d exchanged smiles and high fives.
I extended my hand, fully expecting them to spurn it but unable to resist seeking out some of that camaraderie for myself. “I’m River Dawson.”
“First Sergeant Erin Choi,” the striking woman replied and took hold of my hand in a firm handshake. The use of her rank to introduce herself was a sharp reminder that the rest of the humans with me were far more military than I was, though things had relaxed somewhat since we’d left the wall, or at least I hadn’t noticed as many people saluting each other out here as I had back there.
Erin’s sleek black hair, cut into a bob below her ears, shone in the sun. She had dainty features, unblemished skin bearing the hint of a tan, a slender nose, and full lips. She was about five inches shorter than me with a delicate build that made her appear fragile, but I sensed a wealth of strength in the hand holding mine.
“Nice to meet you.” I turned toward the man at her side and held my hand out to him.
He took hold of it and shook it briskly. “Sergeant Anselmo Vargas, most people call me Vargas.”
The gold cross he wore around his neck caught and reflected a beam of light when he leaned toward me. Vargas’s black hair was cropped close to his head in a buzz cut. Sweat beaded across his deep olive skin and broad cheekbones. His eyes were so rich a brown they were nearly black, but they held flecks of golden brown within them. He was about five ten and lean with rigid callouses on the hand gripping mine.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“You also,” he replied.
I released his hand and sat back against the truck as I tried not to smile over the realization neither of them had cringed or hesitated before shaking my hand. Maybe not having Kobal hovering over me was making them a little braver, or maybe it was because I had flame-thrown a gargoyle into a wall to save us. Either way, I felt almost human again, as I finally got a taste of the normalcy I’d been missing so much.
Why? I pondered as I drummed my fingers against my shins. What was so great about normal?
Nothing, I realized, at least not for me. For me, attempting to be normal had meant years of trying to hide the things I could do from others, years of stressing over being found out and labeled a freak. It had meant four long years of fearing being discovered once the military started circulating fliers looking for people with special abilities.
Maybe I didn’t care so much about feeling normal again, but more about feeling accepted by someone other than my brothers and Kobal. I’d come to actually enjoy the things I could do. I may not be great at all of it yet, but I was learning and improving every day. Drawing on life gave me a rush and made me feel connected to the world in a way I’d never felt before my powers had grown. Throwing flames was a good way to stay alive.
However, I still missed people. Lisa had been my closest friend at home, but I’d had many others in my small town and I’d known almost everyone. The people there had respected me and cared for me even when my own mother wouldn’t.
I thrived on all the life interconnected and weaving around me in tangible waves no one else on this planet felt, or at least that’s what Kobal said. I didn’t like feeling disconnected to any of that life, even the humans who would like nothing to do with me.
Draping my arm over my legs, I stared at the odd combination of burnt buildings and thriving, green life reclaiming the earth surrounding us as Hawk drove. Every once in a while, I would glimpse wildlife moving through the small, slender trees sprouting up beside the road. Amid some of the younger trees were a few older, larger ones that had somehow managed to survive the destruction of the bombs and the Hell unleashed upon the earth.
I wanted Kobal back, but it could be hours, possibly days before they were able to get around the blockage in the road. I glanced toward the sky, half expecting to see one of those monstrous things swooping toward us again, but it remained blessedly clear.
“Where am I going?” Hawk asked as he eased off the gas.
“Go straight for now,” Corson replied.
Turning, I knelt in the back of the truck to peer over the top of it as we entered a new town. My eyebrows rose at the sight of all of the houses lining the road. A few of them had blackened roofs and soot-stained walls, but most of them remained untouched. They were empty reminders of a better place and time.
For some reason, these still standing remnants were lonelier to me than the burned-out and broken structures we’d passed before. I could almost see the people and families who had lived here, hear the laughter of the children who had run through the streets, and the voices of the neighbors as they shared gossip over their white picket fences. There had been barbecues and sparklers, tears and drinks within these homes. There had been love before the war and the opening of the gateway had brought death.
Birds chirped and sang as they fluttered through trees. Squirrels and other animals turned and scurried into the sparse woods when they heard the truck approaching.
“It’s so strange,” Erin murmured.
Vargas rose to his feet and braced his legs apart. He surveyed the area as he spoke, “It’s been strange for years now.”
“There had to be survivors from here,” I said to Corson.
“I’m sure there were,” Corson replied.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“The ones who were old enough, and who volunteered for it, were absorbed into the troops along the wall. The others were all moved to an encampment near the Canadian border. They were never allowed to rejoin the citizens of your country. The same was done with those who survived the gateway opening on the other side of Earth. They were taken to an encampment near the border of Italy. All remaining governments never intend for the truth to get out about the cause of all this destruction,” Corson replied. “The survivors were kept segregated and under constant guard until the wall was completed.”
“So they became prisoners,” Erin whispered.
“Better than the alternative,” Corson replied with a shrug that caused the blue feathers hanging from his ears to twirl.
“Which was?” I prodded.
Corson’s unwavering gaze held mine. “Death.”
Vargas kissed the cross hanging around his neck before turning to stare at the houses surrounding us.
“They wouldn’t have…” Erin said, her voice trailing off.
“Wouldn’t they?” Corson inquired. “If any of this got out, it could cause a major uprising against the governments who created this mess in the first place. Not to mention, it would most likely result in open season on demons by the freaked out humans.”
“They would come to accept you,” Erin said.
“How much precious time would it take for them to do that? How many lives would be lost first, and how many more seals would fall as Lucifer continued to prepare for his return to Earth?”
I dropped down from my kneeling position and sat in the back of the truck. Lowering my chin onto my knee, I watched the buildings slipping by us. The people who had lived here now led a life on this side of the wall, not one they’d volunteered for, but one thrust upon them by events beyond their control, like me. They had survived though, not everyone had been destroyed by the destruction the human government had unwittingly unleashed by opening the gateway.
“One thing I’ve always wondered,” Vargas said. “Why didn’t the demons following Lucifer spread out across the land before the wall was assembled?”
“The Craetons who follow Lucifer stayed with him in Hell. The Palitons who follow Kobal, stayed close to him or obeyed his orders to spread out once here. Many of the other Hell creatures, for example the madagans, aren’t exactly the smartest in the world. They’re like our animals, wild and lethal, but their thought processes don’t involve taking over the world. Confused and disoriented by being set loose, many of them didn’t travel fa
r in the beginning. By the time they started to spread out more, the beginnings of a wall in many areas had been started, and we’d already come to an uneasy treaty with the humans.”
“Uneasy?” Erin inquired.
“We weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms in the beginning. Humans tend not to handle change or the unknown well. I’d say we’re a good combination of both.”
“You are,” I agreed.
“En masse, we might make your intolerant heads explode.” I shot him a look in response to his statement; he grinned back at me. “They didn’t exactly take kindly to you.”
“They don’t know what to make of me. They can at least see you’re different and now accept you for what you are. They may not know everything you’re capable of, but they know you’re trying to help them.”
“And they think you’re what…?” His voice trailed off as he stared pointedly at Erin, Vargas, and Hawk.
“First,” Vargas said as he sat back down, “I think you have a point that it would be disturbing for them to learn what is on this side of the wall, and that our government had a hand in helping to unleash it, but I think people would adapt to the truth over time. If given the chance.”
“The chaos that could result before people adapted to the truth may be the undoing of what is left of your civilization,” Corson reasoned. “And no one is willing to take that chance.”
Drawing his knee against his chest, Vargas tapped his fingers on it as he pondered Corson’s words. “Perhaps you’re right, but it doesn’t sound as if we’ll ever get the chance to know how they would handle it.”
“Most likely not,” Corson agreed.
Vargas focused on me. “Second, you’re right, we know what they are and part of what they’re capable of, but you look just like us. You came from a human town, yet you have abilities like them. We have no idea what you are, or what you’re capable of.”
Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2) Page 9