Maybe next time, thought Elizabeth ruefully.
Another fireball came hurtling out of the sky at them, clearly drawn by Elizabeth's mana-use. Leela channeled her shield again, and the fireball bounced off to blow up a nearby car. Then another of the trucks behind them went up in flames. Mercifully, Elizabeth only heard the screams for a moment. She cringed, consumed by guilt. They can't get to us, so they're killing the others—and I'm all out of grenades.
How do we fight an invisible enemy?
She grasped at her assault rifle, put it on automatic, and emptied an entire magazine into the air behind them. Then she had to hang on as Paco left the gully, driving up onto a sidewalk, following Corinna in the cruiser. They weaved in and out of parked cars, ripping away more than a few side mirrors. Corinna ploughed right through a chain-link fence that ran down the side of the road then dragged it along in a shower of sparks behind her cruiser. They slowly drove past a residential area on their left, with white-and-green homes surrounded by picket fences. She felt channeling a moment before the green minivan behind them blew up, swerving and crashing into an abandoned bus.
No! They're going to kill everyone.
"Hold my waist!" Leela yelled, kneeling upright.
Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Leela's blue jeans. The young woman extended both hands to her side, and Elizabeth felt her channeling again, much more mana this time. "Be careful!" she yelled. "You can burn out if you use too much."
Another flying lizard appeared from out of thin air as it crumpled into an invisible wall. The monster and its rider fell, smashing into an SUV, crushing it and setting off its car alarm.
Well done, Leela!
"That's it!" Leela yelled, falling back into Elizabeth's arms. "I don't feel any more of them."
Neither did Elizabeth, but that only meant they weren't actively channeling. If they were still cloaked, she wouldn't know until just before they attacked, if even then. They wove in and out of traffic, often shoving parked cars out of their way, ripping their own chassis apart. They crept along like that for another kilometer or so before it became impossible to go any farther in the vehicles.
Corinna came to a stop with the Taylor oil refinery on their right. Only five vehicles with maybe twenty-five defenders remained, with only a handful of the red-jersey-clad Canadian Rangers. The road ahead, entirely blocked by abandoned cars, dipped down, heading toward the Peace River and the Taylor Bridge. As the survivors grouped together, they turned to Corinna and Paco. "What do we do?" asked one of the young rangers.
"Hurry," said Corinna. "We're gonna have to make a run for it."
Paco grabbed Elizabeth's backpack, throwing it over his shoulder as he urged the two women to go ahead of him.
They trotted past the parked cars, moving toward the bridge. Ahead, at the end of the bridge, a pair of RCMP officers waved them on. At least the civilians made it across. They reached the bridge and began to weave their way through the constricted vehicles. When she heard howling behind them, Elizabeth stopped and stared. This isn't going to work, she realized. They're faster than we are—especially the hellhounds. They'll just catch us on the other side, all strung out. It'll be a massacre.
She climbed up onto the hood of a red Toyota and used her binoculars to stare at the highway on the other side of the bridge, where it climbed back up from the riverbank. A long line of civilians dotted the highway, hundreds of them. Those are just the slowest, she realized with mounting horror. The elderly, the young… the most vulnerable.
"Elizabeth! What are you doing?" Paco demanded. "We're not safe here."
"We're not going to be safe on the other side, either," she answered. Paco helped her climb back down, watching her, with Leela standing just behind him.
"What's wrong?" Leela asked.
"We need to do something to stop them," Elizabeth answered, handing Leela her rifle as she snatched her bag from Paco's shoulder. She dropped to a knee and began to root through the bag and found what she was looking for right away—the two thermite grenades.
"Holy shit," said Paco as she unwrapped the grenades. "If I knew those were in there, I'd have let you carry your own damn bag. You scare the shit out of me sometimes, Elizabeth. What are you doing with thermite grenades?"
"I think the task force kept them on hand for destroying evidence. All that matters is that we have them. You were in the army. If we wedge these under the gas tanks of a bus or a truck—something big—what will happen?"
He flashed her a smile, suddenly understanding. "It'll set that vehicle and most of the others around it—hell, maybe all the others—on fire. Every car on this bridge might go up if the fires get hot enough."
"So they won't be able to follow us?"
He shook his head. "The bridge won't burn, but the enemy won't be able to get across until the fires burn out and the metal cools. If we're lucky and it doesn't rain, that might be a day, maybe longer. I'm no firefighter."
"Right," she said, nodding and holding both grenades, one in each hand. "You two get moving. I'll catch up."
"Bullshit. Give me one of them." He held his hand out.
Elizabeth hesitated then gave him one of the thermite grenades.
Leela stared at him in panic. "Yancy, what—"
"Go. Get across the bridge," Paco ordered. "Take Clyde with you. We'll catch up." He turned away without waiting for a response and moved across the bridge to the opposite side. "You take these lanes!" he yelled to Elizabeth. "I'll take the others! Look for something really big to set on fire."
"Goddamn it," swore Leela, holding onto Clyde's collar with one hand as the agitated dog tried to follow Paco. "Be careful," she said to Elizabeth then began to drag the protesting dog with her as she headed across the bridge, following the others who were already far ahead.
A yellow semi-trailer, the kind that transported cars, was stuck across the center bridge divider where the driver had tried to ram his way over it. Instead, his vehicle had gotten hung, skewed over, and tipped on its side, letting the eight cars it had been transporting scatter onto the bridge.
This'll do, she mused approvingly.
At first, she was just going to place the grenade under the truck's engine block, but then she reconsidered and looked for the gas tank, getting down on her hands and knees and looking under its carriage where it lay at an angle across the concrete divider. She saw what looked like a double tank under the cab. Is it propane? Will propane even burn? She had no idea, so, locked by indecision, she stared at the grenade in her hand, the only one she had. Do something, Elizabeth. You can't stand here trying to make your mind up all day. Those hellhounds can run fast. They could be here at any moment.
Sweat dripped into her eyes, and she yanked her shemagh free and used it to wipe the sweat away. "Please, Lord," she whispered. "Don't let me mess this up." She pulled the pin and rolled the canister under the fuel tank. The arming handle popped off the grenade the second she let it go, and the canister began to hiss.
She jumped to her feet and bolted away but only made it several steps before something slammed into her back, sending her flying forward to smash into the back of a van. Her left collarbone snapped, and pain stabbed down her chest and arm. She fell to the surface of the bridge, feeling a grinding sensation in her shoulder, crying out in agony.
A winged lizard, its twenty-foot-wide bat-like wings extended to either side, shrieked as it swept down upon the bridge, landing atop the car transporter, causing it to rock under its weight. Mounted on the beast, sitting atop a dark leather saddle, was a dark elf woman just like the one that had attacked the Magic Kingdom a year ago. Her skin was dark purple, her eyes yellow and oddly large. She wore a leather helmet, but her long white hair extended out behind it.
The dark elf dropped from the saddle and slid down an extended wing to land lithely upon the bridge. She advanced on Elizabeth, a gleaming saber in her hand. Shorter and smaller than Elizabeth, she wore black chain mail and dark leather armor, like something from the cover of
a heavy-metal album. She smiled cruelly as she came closer, moving with the grace of a predator. She held a sack in her other hand, but the sack moved. Something alive and angry was inside it.
The winged lizard lifted its serpentine head and shrieked once more. Then the thermite grenade ignited, sending white-hot flames shooting out from beneath the truck's cab. The trailer rocked as the frightened beast jumped away, its massive wings beating a storm. The dark elf woman yelled something to the creature, a command perhaps. As the beast landed atop a nearby school bus, a rifle shot rang out. The beast shrieked in pain, a bloody bullet wound suddenly appearing in its torso.
Paco!
The dark elf, a mage, channeled, sending a bolt of lightning flashing out across the bridge in the direction the gunshot had come from. The winged beast shrieked again, its head whipping about on its long neck, but there was no further gunfire. Elizabeth tried to channel from where she lay, but the dark-elf mage spun on her and smashed the side of her saber into Elizabeth's temple, stunning her. More pain flashed through her as the dark-elf mage rolled her onto her stomach then used her saber to cut open the back of her shirt, the T-shirt beneath, and her bra strap, exposing her naked back. Elizabeth moaned, trying to move, but the dark elf knelt upon her spine, sending fresh waves of pain lancing through her broken collarbone. She screamed. The dark elf woman said something in a mocking tone to Elizabeth as she slipped her saber back into the scabbard she wore on her belt, clearly enjoying herself. "Go to hell," Elizabeth gasped through the pain.
The dark elf woman laughed again, and Elizabeth heard her draw something from the sack she carried. A moment later, she thrust something past Elizabeth's face so she could see it clearly—a wriggling, angry foot-long centipede with long antennae and a gnashing mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. The centipede's antennae brushed Elizabeth's cheek, sending a wave of revulsion coursing through her, and fear washed through her like icy water. She had never seen anything so revolting, but Cassie had. She had told Elizabeth that the dark elf who kidnapped McKnight used the centipede to torture and control him. She's going to let it bite me, she realized with horror. It'll bury its head in my neck—just like Colonel McKnight.
The dark elf yanked Elizabeth's shemagh away, exposing the back of her neck. She giggled as she brought the thrashing insect closer to Elizabeth's skin. Elizabeth's courage snapped. "Please … please don't," she begged, trying to look over her shoulder.
A glowing ring of fire appeared in the air behind the dark elf. Elizabeth stared in confusion as it suddenly expanded, revealing dark forest on the other side—a gateway!
A second dark elf woman stepped through the gateway, accompanied by a short but powerfully built bearded man holding two red-hot axes. The dark elf threatening Elizabeth jumped away from her, spinning about, but the mage that had just come through the gateway released a blinding lightning bolt that struck her, sending her smashing into one of the abandoned cars with a bone-crushing impact. She hit the car so hard, the windows shattered and it slid sideways into another car.
The new dark-elf mage stomped on the centipede, crushing its head. The flying lizard shrieked in rage, its wings pounding, but its cries ended abruptly, cut off mid-shriek. Elizabeth's vision went dim. The smoke was building, the trailer now engulfed in flames. The heat became painful, the air choking.
As strong hands gently picked her up, she passed out.
PART III
PURSUIT
23
Leela gripped Clyde's collar with both hands, hanging on as the dog kept trying to drag her back onto the bridge to find her brother, Yancy—she refused to refer to him by that stupid army nickname, "Paco," regardless of how cool he thought it was. She had slung Elizabeth's army rifle over her back beside her own hunting rifle. Whenever she moved, the rifles clattered against one another. Most of the others had already begun making their way south along the Alaskan highway, following the fleeing civilians. Only the female RCMP officer, Corinna, and a pair of other RCMP officers remained. When Leela had arrived, dragging Clyde, she had told the RCMP officer what her brother and Elizabeth were trying to do to stop pursuit. That had been almost five minutes ago. How long does it take to set a grenade?
Corinna, the stock of her shotgun balanced on her hip, said something to the other officers then joined Leela. "What's your name?"
"Leela," she answered curtly. She had no reason to distrust the woman, but her people's past with the government and the police had always been shaky; some biases were impossible to break.
"Hello, Leela. My name is Corinna."
"I know."
"Your brother and Elizabeth are very brave. I'm sure they'll be along in a minute."
Leela said nothing.
Corinna tossed her head at the pair of RCMP officers, who stood waiting a short distance away. "We're getting ready to follow the others. It's going to be a long walk to Dawson Creek. Do you want to—"
"I'm not going anywhere without my brother."
Corinna pursed her lips but nodded. "I'll wait with you, then."
An uncomfortable silence settled between the two women.
What's taking so long? It was just like Yancy to be a hero.
Corinna watched the refugees move farther down the highway. "Dawson Creek must be sixty kilometers away—too far for people to walk, especially for the elderly or the young."
Leela stared at the slowly moving civilians in the distance. "Won't your… the authorities send buses, trucks?"
Corinna sighed wearily, swaying slightly. "Yes… but it'll take time to organize. Days, maybe—"
"Clyde, stop it! Sit!" Leela ordered, her voice rising to an angry shout as she hauled the dog back with both hands, stopping him from his attempt to break away and run back to her brother. Clyde snorted at her, tossing his head unhappily, but he dropped down onto his belly and stared at the bridge. Leela understood exactly how Clyde felt. Don't be an idiot, Yancy. Get back here now!
"Thank God for your brother," Corinna said. "If not for his help, we'd never have been able to hold them back long enough for all these people to get across. He and Elizabeth have saved lives today, hundreds, maybe thousands. You, too… and the others that didn't make it. Now it's up to the province to—"
They heard a sudden shriek coming from the bridge. Leela's heart drummed as a vast winged shape dropped from the sky and landed atop the bridge.
The dark elves!
A moment later, she felt someone using magic. Lightning flashed on the bridge.
"Oh shit," she whispered. "Yancy! I never should have left him." Clyde barked furiously, whining and staring at Leela, the want in his sorrowful brown eyes crystal clear. A moment later, Clyde broke away from her grip and ran back onto the bridge to vanish among the packed vehicles. "Goddamn it, Clyde." Leela unslung Elizabeth's rifle but stared at it in frustration. "How do I know it's ready to fire?" she asked.
"Here," Corinna said, taking it from her and drawing back on a weird handle behind the scope and slightly opening the breech. She looked inside then nodded and handed it back to Leela. "This is the safety here." She pointed to a small lever beside the pistol grip and flicked it between three selections. "S is safety. Put in on R if you want to fire single shots. A if you want to fire a burst."
"Got it," Leela said, turning away to follow Clyde.
"Wait," Corinna said, catching her elbow. "I'm coming, too." She ran back to the other officers and spoke briefly. Leela watched as the two men handed Corinna what ammunition they had, including spare pistol magazines. Corinna ran back, stuffing the shotgun shells and magazines into her pockets, then unslung her shotgun and held it ready against her shoulder. "Okay, let's go."
The two women moved back onto the bridge, slipping past the wedged vehicles. Up ahead, near the center of the bridge, the vast winged lizard creature sat atop a vehicle, its wings beating as its head whipped about on its long neck, shrieking in rage. Leela felt a surge of magical power—far more power than she could have cast. Lightning lit up the sky
ahead of them, blinding with its brilliance. She froze, blinking rapidly, seeing nothing but spots of light.
When her vision returned, thick plumes of black smoke rose to their front. It looked as if a large car transporter was on fire. She felt someone using magic again, a new type of spell, one that she had never felt before—although to be fair, it was all new magic to her. At first, the spell was active to her front, where the trailer burned, but then it… shifted suddenly and was now coming from the shoreline on her right. She darted to the side of the bridge and slid across the hood of a red Mustang convertible to the bridge's safety rail just in time to see a ring of fire appear out of midair on the shoreline below, about fifty feet from the edge of a small forest. The ring rotated then expanded. A moment later, two people, a dark elf woman and a short man, stepped out from the ring. The man carried someone in his arms but with no more effort than if he were carrying a small child. Elizabeth! It's Elizabeth!
But where's Yancy?
The ring of fire winked out of existence in a puff of smoke. Corinna joined Leela just as the dark-elf mage and the man carrying Elizabeth entered the trees, disappearing from sight.
"Oh crap," swore Corinna. "This is too weird. I don't know what to do."
Leela turned away, staring at the growing fire on the bridge ahead of them. She could hear Clyde barking furiously. "Yancy wasn't with them. We keep looking."
She began to run between the cars, keeping low as the smoke became thicker. The heat pushed back on her, and she had to pull her T-shirt collar up over her mouth to breathe. Her eyes stung, and both she and Corinna began to cough, but she focused on Clyde's barking. They found the dead lizard-thing first, its snakelike head severed and its carcass cooking in the blazing fire of the car transporter. She almost tripped over its severed head, which was the size of her torso. The neck had been cauterized somehow. Leela stared in confusion at it and, a moment later, saw the blackened corpse of a small humanoid figure. Her chest stuttered, but then she realized it was far too small to be Yancy. It was a dark elf, and she gripped something in her hand—a green scarf, the same army scarf that Elizabeth had been wearing.
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