by H B Lyne
She barked to signal her approach and the three of them turned to see her sprinting towards them, she shifted mid-stride into her human form, under the cover of a large tree, just in time to be caught in a tight group embrace.
'Thank Artemis!' Weaver was crying as she hugged her sister.
'You're all alive. Thank goodness,' Stalker whimpered, touching each of them and feeling completely overwhelmed with relief and excitement. 'The others? Are they...?'
Eyes shook his head.
'They're all gone,' he said sadly, his jaw tight.
'Lily? Was she there?' Stalker asked, urgently afraid for her young friend.
Eyes nodded slowly.
'She was closing the shop with Shadow. They were in the front and were the first to go down.' Eyes wiped a shaking hand across his forehead.
Stalker leaned heavily on Weaver and the two women had to hold each other upright. Silent tears streamed down Stalker's face.
'What happened? How did you all survive?' she asked, looking from one face to another, each showing a mixture of fear, shock and relief.
'We really should go somewhere private to discuss this,' Eyes said in a tired whisper, glancing around them.
'Where?' Weaver asked, despair in her voice. 'There is nowhere we can go, nowhere safe.'
'The Wrecking Crew have taken Redfield Park,' Stalker reported. 'I was just there. But I don't think it was them that attacked, I think it was just an opportunistic grab. They might make another push for more of Redfield and who knows who else might try to take advantage of this. This isn't our territory any more.'
A ripple of frustration and objection went around the group.
'We are still here. We may be young, but we can do this,' Eyes growled, trying to subdue the panic and desperation they all felt.
'Who did this?' Stalker asked, petrified of the unknown.
'The Phoenix Guard,' Weaver whispered, looking around cautiously.
Stalker looked at her carefully for a moment, remembering the sketches Weaver had shown her that morning of fire and a phoenix.
'Who are they?' she asked, deciding not to mention the premonition.
'Allies of the Witches,' Wind Talker hissed. 'Flames told me about them, they live out in the countryside beyond Fenwick.'
'So were the Witches involved in this?' Stalker snarled. She had doubted the sincerity of the message declaring the matter with Weaver to be settled and she wished now that she had made her doubts more vocally known.
'They must have let the Phoenix Guard cross Fenwick, at least,' Eyes spoke up. 'If they weren't actually involved in the attack they still facilitated it.'
'We really have to leave this until another time, we need to assess the damage in Hepethia at the betting shop and the petrol station.' Wind Talker said, his face set hard against the pain he must be feeling.
Stalker groaned, she had seen the state of both sites and it hadn't even occurred to her that the damage would be reflected on the other side of the veil.
'It's not going to be pretty,' she sighed. 'I've been to both sites, the fallout from this is going to be huge.'
'Let's go,' Eyes said, but looked back at his house as Wind Talker took the lead. Stalker grasped Eyes' hand and gave it a squeeze. She knew how torn he must be feeling, wanting to go to his family, but knowing he had to help secure the pack and its territory. She hoped she could reassure him and that he would get to be home with his family soon.
Wind Talker led them across St. Mark's, the heart of what had been their territory. There was still a plume of smoke in the sky over by the petrol station a few blocks to the south, but they steered clear of it and headed for the betting shop. In the short time since Stalker had fled the scene, the street had almost emptied of bystanders and emergency services. Police tape was still strung up across the street, preventing anyone from getting close enough to see anything, but they could see the fire engine was still there and the flashing lights of a police car. The press had arrived, there were vans parked all along the street and cameras set up at the police tape with excited and serious correspondents stood in front of them, busily reporting on the bizarre flash fire.
Stalker and Weaver clutched hands and stood watching in silence. Eyes and Wind Talker looked like they wanted to charge the press and start hitting things, but Stalker trusted that they wouldn't do anything.
The house and shop were completely gone, it was just a gap in the terrace. The fire was out now, it was just a black, smoking hole.
'What happened?' Stalker asked, not really aiming her question at anyone in particular, just a desperate plea for answers.
Eyes sighed and ran his hands through his hair.
'You were here, weren't you?' Weaver asked him, her voice soft and patient. He nodded.
'It happened just after I got back from work,' Eyes whispered, before leading them all away from the scene. He led them half a block away and sat down on the kerb. Stalker and Weaver sat either side of him, Wind Talker crouched in the street before them.
'They knew something was coming, but I don't think they expected it to be so fast. We never stood a chance. I think the only reason I survived is because Fortune kept them from chasing me. I think he sacrificed himself for me.'
Stalker gasped. She remembered the pain she had felt right before the bond was severed and she knew Eyes was right. She had felt at least one of them literally being ripped apart.
'Flames killed some of them. He blew up the petrol station on purpose.' Everyone looked at Wind Talker. 'He gave me his bag and told me to run. I protested,' he said stiffly. 'But he threw me clear and then blew the place up. He was stronger than he looked.' His eyes dropped to the floor, apparently ashamed, though Stalker knew he would never admit it. 'Flames sacrificed himself to take out the Phoenix Guard who chased us away from the betting shop,' he concluded with renewed stiffness.
'Where were you?' Stalker asked Weaver.
'The university,' Weaver replied, almost choking on the words, tears barely kept at bay. 'Flames told me to do something for myself, that I should have a break.'
'We were all kept safe,' Stalker whispered. 'They made sure of it. They all sacrificed themselves for us.' She thought of Shadow's Step. Could he have known as early as that morning when he told her to be somewhere else? Weaver hadn't told Fortune, or the others about her nightmare visions of fire until later in the day, but Shadow and the others had always seemed to have other ways of knowing things. Weaver had kept quiet about that since the attack and Stalker wasn't going to bring it up. She probably felt terrible about not telling someone sooner and would have to carry that guilt with her for a long time. Stalker wasn't going to make it worse by pointing it out.
'Well then, let's make sure that sacrifice wasn't in vain,' Eyes said, standing up and shaking off his slump. 'Let's cross over and see what has happened on the other side of the veil as a result of the attack. We'll need to formalise our new border as a new pack and find somewhere to hunker down. There is bound to be a lot of spiritual and human fall out from this, police will be all over it and the press, for days if not weeks to come. We'll be busy.'
His energy was infectious and it spurred them all to action. They slipped down a back street, away from street lights and overlooking windows, then crossed the veil and set off back towards the betting shop.
They moved quickly and quietly through Hepethia, Stalker was aware of the attention that a group of them might attract, but the demons and fae seemed distracted. It seemed busier than usual too, there were frightening noises coming from inside buildings, shrieks and moans, then there was the relentless sound of televisions blaring out a news broadcast from inside almost every home. Stalker guessed that all of their neighbours that weren't gathered in the street were tuned in to the news to see what had happened, giving a surge of power to the electricity elementals and media demons.
Shadowy figures raced along the street, paying the shifters no attention and from the cold air that followed in their wake, Stalker felt wave
after wave of fear and chaos.
At the scene of the first fire it was quieter, there was police tape strung across the street as it was in the human world, but whatever crowds of demons and fae had been here had dispersed. A lone police van sat further down the street, it sat at the kerb purring like a cat, thriving on the energy at this place. They ducked under the tape and moved down the street towards the rubble. The police van demon snarled at them and lurched forward. The four shifters took defensive positions and the demon backed down, deciding not to take on four shifters at once.
Stalker's eyes went to the remains of their home. There was a gaping hole in the ground and the tarmac around it was scorched black. The buildings on either side were bent over double, warped from the heat and probably attempting to move away.
She reached out with her senses, trying to feel the veil and was shocked to find a gaping maw where their home had been. There was a hole in the very fabric of the universe, the veil was in tatters. She felt sadness and anger well up inside and threaten to spill. Weaver beside her was shaking and Stalker grasped her hand and squeezed it.
'I don't understand,' Stalker whispered. 'How did they do this?'
Just then, a rotten smell reached her on the wind, it was the smell of decay mixed with fresh tarmac and she whipped around to locate the source. A man stood nearby, watching them and the smoking rubble. It was part human, part demon, dressed in a black suit and hat, with a sallow face and he reeked of rot and darkness.
Eyes glared at him, the man smiled back.
'Who are you?' Eyes demanded, his voice echoing off the nearby buildings.
'I am Tar Peter. And you are?' His voice was thick and wet.
'We're the pack that claims this territory!' barked Wind Talker. 'What are you doing here?'
'Rubber necking,' Tar Peter said with a smile and small chuckle. 'One can't help slowing down to get a good look at an accident like this, one might see something terrible.' There was glee in his voice.
It was enough to tip the whole pack over the edge and they launched at him, shifting into their Agrius forms mid-leap. But Tar Peter was too quick for them, by the time the first of their claws was close enough to make contact the demon had sunk into the ground, disappearing into a pool of liquid tar.
Stalker wasn't the only one to snarl in frustration and pound the road hard enough to crack it. Amid the pack's snarls, terrible new noises rose up into the night. Stalker turned to look at the rubble and watched in horror as three great hulking demons clawed their way out of the hole.
Wait until you have to fight fire. The words of Flames-First-Guardian echoed in her mind as the flames rose up and took humanoid form. After the fire came fear, a horrifying demon with cracked black skin and a huge mouth alight with fire. Beside the demon was a construct of brick, metal and cables with smoke billowing from inside it. The three demons climbed onto the road and towered above the shifters, as tall as the buildings around them.
You have got to be kidding me, Stalker thought, unable to voice it with her bestial jaws. In an instant, Eyes was bounding towards the devastation construct with a warrior's howl. Weaver was hot on his tail and the two of them got stuck in to it, ripping it to pieces and throwing the discards back into the hole in the ground.
Stalker took a few seconds to assess the situation. Wind Talker had shifted back into his human form and was busy fishing through his bag, pulling out talismans and ritual tools. She had a hunch he was going to take on the fire elemental, the others had a good handle on the devastation demon, so she steeled herself to go after fear. She ran forward and slipped past the demon, dodging its massive claws and disorienting it. She kept ducking and weaving around it, slashing at it when she could without compromising her advantage of speed.
Pieces of the devastation construct kept flying past her, into the hole, the edge of which she danced around in her attempts to confuse the fear demon. Somewhere nearby she was aware of a crack of thunder and Wind Talker's voice chanting something into the increasing wind. The fine drizzle that had been falling started to increase and soon a downpour washed over them. The fire elemental twisted and writhed, steam issuing from it and filling the air around them. Stalker winced as the steam caught her side and scolded her arm and the side of her face. As she was shaking it off the fear demon managed to land a hefty blow and she felt her ribs crack as she was thrown back into the street and landed with a crunch on the tarmac. With a growl she leaped up and darted back behind the fear demon and tried even harder to get under its feet.
Wind Talker gave a satisfied bark of laughter before shifting into the Agrius form and leaping into the fray to get his claws dirty. Stalker kept distracting the fear demon while Wind Talker took advantage of its confusion and set about tearing chunks out of it. With an almighty howl Wind Talker managed to rip a whole arm off the demon, spilling its black ichor down its side and all over the road. Stalker needed no further encouragement and with a fierce roar of her own, she leaped onto its back and dug her huge bestial claws and ferocious teeth into its neck. Thick, hot liquid oozed out from under its charred skin and filled her mouth, it tasted foul.
The demon moaned and stumbled backwards. Stalker jumped down and dodged out of its way as it fell backwards into the hole in the ground, undoubtedly back to whatever hellish dimension it had spawned from. She looked carefully over the edge and watched it fall into black nothingness.
Panting, she looked around. The fire elemental was a steaming, black hulk, immobile and teetering on the edge of the hole. Wind Talker strode over to it and shoved it into the blackness. The devastation construct was nothing more than a scattered pile of debris, most of it had already been thrown back down the hole and Eyes was kicking the remaining pieces in. Weaver was nursing a broken arm and Eyes had blood all over his chest and a gash above his eye.
Stalker couldn't help but smile, they had taken on three very intimidating demons and had prevailed, despite a handful of injuries. She felt the fire of exhilaration from the fight and let out a loud howl of victory. Eyes stopped what he was doing and joined her, the others added to the chorus with their own voices and Stalker felt a little spark of a connection flicker through the pack. They had fought together and staked a claim to territory, which was enough to link them together as a pack.
The four of them came together, Stalker was the last to shift back into her human form and they all looked down into the pit between worlds and realities before turning to move away from it.
'We will need to mend the veil, but it will take preparation,' Wind Talker sighed, the last to move away.
Eyes put an arm around Stalker as they walked.
'We can do this. We can form a new pack. Retake what was ours and avenge the Blue Moon,' he said with true conviction.
Stalker-of-Night's-Shadow believed him and knew in her heart that they would get through this together.
The story continues in
Echoes of the Past
Ghosts of Winter
Prologue
Fights-Eyes-Open
Eyes strode into the shop. Shadow's Step sat drumming his fingers behind one of the little glass windows, Lily pottered about behind him tidying the back of the shop in advance of closing time. A couple of punters stood transfixed by the noisy televisions.
Eyes passed through the shop and into the house behind it. He heard raised voices in the kitchen. Fortune, it was always Fortune.
'Why didn't she tell one of us before now?' the Alpha was bellowing, as Eyes entered.
'What's wrong?' Eyes asked.
'Where is Weaver now?' Fortune went on, apparently not noticing Eyes' arrival.
'The university,' Flames-First-Guardian responded. 'I told her to give us some space to handle this. I'm absolutely certain it is the Phoenix Guard and I don't know how long we have.'
Eyes looked from face to face, confusion and worry seeping into every pore of his body.
'Get back to the petrol station!' Fortune yelled at Flames. 'Do what you have to do.'
>
Flames nodded and left through the back door without a word. Wind Talker hesitated for a moment and then strode after his mentor. Speaks-With-Stone sat hunched at the table, her face and shoulders heavy with the gravity of the situation.
Fortune ran his hands through his thick hair and stared up at the ceiling. Eyes waited as patiently as he could bear it before he spoke again.
'Fortune?' he asked softly. Fortune's head whipped to him, his eyes wide with shock.
There was a moment of complete silence before the explosion. The sound of the shop window shattering splintered the air and Eyes leapt away from the door and slid across the kitchen table. Screams rang out and the room rapidly filled with fire and smoke. Fortune disappeared from view and Stone sprang from her chair, her body growing swiftly as she moved and sprouting thick fur all over. Her clothes disappeared, as if they had melted into her skin, and in place of her human face was the thick muzzle of a predator, the Agrius. She overturned the huge pine table with one clawed hand and bounded towards a shadowy figure moving into the kitchen through the thick smoke.
Howls and snarls ripped through the smoke and Eyes cursed his blindness. He shifted into his Agrius form, as Stone had, and raced forwards, desperate to find someone to rip apart. He managed two strides before he was roughly tackled from the side and forced to the ground. He started to fight back, but realised in the scramble that it was Fortune who held him and was trying to shield him as someone stepped closer through the smoke, an unknown scent.