I pulled out the long hunting knife strapped to my thigh and crept slowly around the next tree. The ladies around me did the same, drawing their own weapons. Avery had her bow strung and taut by her cheek, crouched to the ground.
I paused, waiting for them to make a move. They made no sound, and I couldn’t see them.
Annia reacted before I heard the sound. She twisted, trying to move before it happened, but time was too fast, and she couldn’t out race a bullet. No one could stop time, not even me. Her gift gave her warning, but she was not quick enough to save a life. As the sharp pop of a gun echoed all around me, I felt my chest ready to explode.
But not for myself…for my daughter.
Annia was too slow to stop the bullet that hit Avery in the chest. Avery seemed to pause for a moment, time pausing with her before she fell backward. Annia caught her before she hit the ground, but her heart had already stopped beating.
And my entire world stopped altogether.
Chapter Seven
I clung to Avery’s body, unwilling to let her go. Her eyes widened. They looked up at me, but there was no life behind them. Bullets blazed past me, moving the air so close to my head that my snow-white hair waved in the wind, but still I couldn’t leave her.
Annia finally pulled me behind a nearby tree, and my focus me came back into view. Annia’s eyes were filled with tears, and her mouth moved over and over again, saying, “I’m sorry.”
I gripped my sister’s jaw, turning her face to meet mine. “She is with the stars now. All we can do is make amends for what was lost.”
Annia nodded, blinking back tears before pulling her bow out again. She strung an arrow and pulled it taut. Stepping around the tree, she let her arrow fly, hitting its mark square between the eyes.
I reacted before the pain and loss could set in, before my body crumbled and wept like it longed to on the inside. I swallowed it down, and I prepared to move.
Ahead of me, two ladies fought with what looked like another human, but was something different. The figure threw one of the twins across the clearing like she weighed nothing before it pounced on Misha. I heard her cry of pain as a limb was snapped in half.
Sprinting, I barreled into the male figure on top of Misha. We tumbled to the forest ground. I was on my feet in less than a second, but the male was up just as quick. He had lost his gun, but he wielded the short knife in his hand with well-practiced movements.
We circled each other, waiting to see what the other would do first—two hunters facing off. But only one would walk away.
I lunged forward, slicing at his midsection, but he stepped just out of reach. I pulled myself back in tight, keeping my guard arm close so as not to expose my ribs.
The male made the next move. He faked to his left before streaking for my right. His knife barely missed me as I dodged out of the way.
As I ducked, I tossed my knife. It flew smoothly through the air before I caught it with my opposite arm and thrust it up, hitting the male in the forearm and slicing straight through the other side.
The male, however, didn’t scream in pain as I had expected. In fact, it was only then I realized none of them had uttered one word.
When I pulled my hunting knife back, I noticed no blood coated it. The wound revealed silver wires where veins and blood should have been.
“What are you?” I asked.
The male tilted its head to the side, as if deciphering what I had asked it.
“I am a Carbon, and you are delaying my mission.” The voice that came out of the figure was anything but human. It was monotone and robotic. I understood why it felt so wrong. It was wrong.
The figure took a step toward me, but it never reached my side as a long sword sliced clean through its neck. The body fell limp to the ground.
Annia stood before me. She, too, noted the lack of blood coating her blade.
They do not bleed, Annia signed to me.
I nodded.
“What does this mean?” Malia stepped toward me. Her sister held her broken arm tight to her chest, and the other three joined a few paces behind her. The four Carbons had been eliminated.
“I do not know,” I admitted.
As the ladies gathered closer, I noted Olivia holding Avery’s body. I stepped toward her, the group parting as I neared. I took Avery in my arms, holding her tight. She was my daughter, and my burden to carry.
“Bury the bodies,” I instructed before I began the long journey back home with Avery still tight in my arms and a tension in my chest that made it hard to breathe. It threatened to choke me, stealing the very air from my lungs as it squeezed harder. I let out a sob, and a tear dripped down my nose.
Annia kept a respectable distance. I gritted my teeth and pulled back the tears, stopping them from spilling over anymore than they already had. She watched over me as I walked through the Dred Wulfs’ territory, not stopping once for food or rest. My only mission was to bring my daughter home so her little girl could see her one last time, to say goodbye.
When I finally stepped foot back into our territory, my legs wobbling and struggling to keep me standing, I knelt down and placed Avery’s body on the ground before me.
Ainsley was there, awaiting our return. She watched as her mother’s arm fell limp to the ground. Tears flowed like a river down the little girl’s cheeks. She stepped over to my side, and I took her hand. Together, we wept for the loss of a daughter and a mother.
Chapter Eight
I allowed myself only two days of mourning before I resolved to finish what I was sent for. The stars were gracious enough to give me two days to say goodbye, but it wasn’t enough.
“I don’t want you to leave, Grandmother,” Ainsley said.
I gave her a gentle smile. “But I must. You know this.”
Ainsley crossed her arms, looking to the ground. “Will you return?”
My heart sank as I knew what she was asking without saying it. The worry that I, too, would leave and never come back. “I will return. I promise you, my darling.”
Ainsley sighed, but she didn’t fight me any longer.
I continued filling my bag. The small wooden box with the star-shaped pendant on the top was among the things I would take with me on this final mission.
“Your aunty will take good care of you. And you will watch over her as well, won’t you?” I asked Ainsley. She nodded.
Annia nodded her promise that she would indeed take care of Ainsley while I was away. I would be gone for some time, and Annia would take leadership of the tribe in my absence.
“Be strong, my beautiful granddaughter. I will return as soon as I can.” I kissed the top of Ainsley’s head before I gathered my bag and walked out of the small tent. Annia followed behind me.
The Ladies of the Muted Forest stood outside my tent, their fists resting against their chest as they bowed; their silent condolences in this simple act. I had to blink back the tears.
When I reached the end of the row, I turned around to address them. “The stars have always been mysterious and unforgiving, but they do not hand us more than we can handle. We are strong, and we will grow stronger in this time of loss and confusion.” I had to take a deep breath to settle the quiver in my voice. “Annia will take my place while I am gone. During this time, I ask that you prepare. War is coming. We will lose many more if we are not prepared. Do not wallow in the unknown. Trust the stars and keep ever vigilant in your training.”
I placed my hand on my chest and bowed my head.
“May the stars keep you safe,” the ladies spoke in unison.
“They shall,” I whispered before I turned and began my journey into the forest.
It took four days to track down the boy. Though he was unskilled and ill-prepared for the beasts living within this forest, he was smart. He hid well for a boy terrified for his own life.
When I found him that night, a Dred Wulf, the alpha I remembered, had tracked him down and the Wulf was moments away from killing the boy. A small par
t of me resented the child.
I felt no pity for the Wulf who died from the well-aimed arrows I sent its way. The alpha who had often hunted me died with his eye on the innocent prey he couldn’t reach. Killing the beast wasn’t what caused me resentment though. It was the fact that the stars deemed this child more important than my own daughter. That I was meant to save him and not her.
It took time for the boy to not see me as a predator too. I had to internally scold myself more than once at the tone and harsh words I used with him. I wrapped a rope around the Dred Wulf, planning to put its meat and fur to good use. When the boy was finally brave enough to come down from his hiding place in the crevice of a steep cliff, I smelled the urine that had escaped him, likely in a moment of utter terror. Guilt swam through me as I realized I could have spared him this torture if I had come sooner.
I handed him the other end of the rope that dragged the dead Dred Wulf, and we began moving. As we walked toward the small hut that had been created for this very moment many years before, I wondered if the stars had made a mistake. How could this boy change the fate of mankind?
“Who are you?” the boy asked.
“My name is Aelish, and you are Max,” I said,
Max stood agape. I tugged on the rope tied around the Dred Wulf I had just slain. I nodded to the boy who had lost hold of his end; a silent order to keep moving.
“How…how do you know my name?” Max stuttered as he regained his footing.
“It’s on your jacket.” I gave a slight shrug. A lie, as the stars informed me of everything I needed to know about this young boy. But he wasn’t to know his destiny, or the fate the stars had for him.
He had been sent into this forest by his father with the intention of keeping the boy safe from the destruction ravaging Cytos. There was no escaping what was coming. And it was my turn to prepare him for what would inevitably come.
We were both silent as we made our way to the place that would be our home until the boy was ready. And then, I would send him out on an impossible mission, with an impossible end, that only he was capable of completing. I would prepare him in every way I could. He wouldn’t leave me until he was better than any other I had trained. Smarter than them. Stronger.
In every war, there were always heroes and villains, pawns and players. But there was always one person who could change everything—the wildcard nobody saw coming. They may not be the hero or the villain, but they were more important than either.
It was my job to train this boy with everything I had been given so that my people, and his people, could live in peace once more.
And so, the journey to save humanity began.
SNEAK PEAK
The Journey Continues…
Watcher - Book 1 in the Watcher Series
Read on for a sneak peek at the first book in this epic new series
Chapter One
I knew I wasn’t alone. They’d never leave until every last one of us disappeared.
From the edge of a rooftop high above the boulevards below, I breathed in the cool, damp air as my eyes monitored the near empty streets. Whispers of rain threatened to erupt from the melancholy sky above, as if to echo the sentiment of this place. The ruined city, once a place I called home, was nothing more than a pile of rubble thanks to the Bots and Carbons roaming the streets. Buildings had been torn to pieces, leaving gaping holes in those that still stood, uninhabited but for a few survivors. It wasn’t a livable place, not the refuge I’d known ten years ago, but it was my reality. And as my eyes scanned the dark metropolis before me, I clung to the feeling of freedom before the burden took over me. The silent promises I had made and had yet to fulfill.
Quiet and cold as it always was, the darkness hung like the night even at the peak of daytime. Smog and cloud lingered over the city, leaving us in a constant state of gloom with the threat of rain hanging over us. The only light that shone in this dark city was Sub 9, the enemy’s headquarters. The lone building lit up in the distance as I stood bathed in darkness, hidden in the shadows. Darkness was my friend, my confidant, my ever constant reminder of who I was and my purpose here.
I was invisible to those below me, but I saw them. All thanks to Adam, a scientist with a fascination for robotics before the war broke out.
“All clear and ready to go, Sawyer?” The voice of Sam, one of our technicians, startled me as it reverberated through the earpiece.
“Yeah, all good.” I clicked on ‘the Eye’ and it blinked to life over my right eye. “I’m turning you off now.”
“Aww, come—” My earpiece was muted before he’d finished his argument.
The six Bots that marched below me lit up green through the Eye. Their oversized steel frames were hard to miss as they stomped through the city streets looking for survivors. Most towered over me with ease, and at nearly four times my weight they were hard to take on alone, but their boxy structure and heavy feet made them easy targets for our weapons. Although they weren’t swift and agile like the Carbons, they were still dangerous and had to be eliminated if we hoped to survive another day.
Another two Bots were a mile away, and four more were stationed past them shining green on the little lens over my eye. They were indispensable and a constant entity in the city. The Carbons, however, were saved for the more important tasks and hadn’t been seen in weeks.
No matter how human-like the Carbons looked, they all had one flaw—a microchip at the base of their skull. They were carbon copies of us, hence the nickname, but despite their obvious human appearance, they were not of us. They’d become the deadliest foe mankind has ever known, and my constant enemy for the past ten years.
I was a part of a team searching the streets of Cytos. Watchers. Together we eliminated any Bots and Carbons that crossed our path. Twelve Bots tonight. Twelve to eliminate. I’d fought more than this at once; twelve was nothing to me.
Standing, I held steady waiting for the right moment as the wind pushed me onward. My lungs filled with the damp, cool air that surrounded me. My long dark hair that was secured in a braid threatened to escape, but I pushed it back. I never feared being seen for I was a shadow. I was head-to-toe covered in black, unseen and unheard, even to my companions.
I checked the line again, mostly out of habit. Then I leaned forward and let gravity take me over the edge as the butterflies moved from my stomach to my throat like they did every time despite my fearlessness. Free-falling ten, twenty, thirty stories before the belt around my waist tightened. The line tethering me to the building held strong as I glided to earth.
I dropped the remaining ten feet. My feet didn’t make a sound as they hit the pavement. Bots could sense human presences, but they hadn’t spotted me. Yet. They walked closer, oblivious as I crouched and hid behind an overturned trash can. One breath in, I took my gun out of its holster. One breath out, I steadied my aim. I knew where to shoot. One more easy breath, and I squeezed the trigger. Once, twice, six shots in all, and they were down, an easy kill as usual.
Wasting no time, I sprinted north, staying in the shadows. I caught my reflection in a passing window. My small frame and pale complexion didn’t match the assassin that lived inside of me. My cheeks flushed with adrenaline as my legs pumped harder, pushing me forward through the shadows.
I’ve enjoyed the anonymity of it all. Living to prove everyone, including myself, wrong.
My gun was out and ready. Two more guns were strapped across my back.
“You can never be too careful, Sawyer,” my dad had repeatedly said, ever the cautious one. He wouldn’t recognize his own daughter if he saw me. But he wouldn’t see me. He’d been dead, along with everyone else I knew, for what seemed like forever.
Turning west down an alley, I rounded the corner and came up behind the next set of Bots, exactly where I’d expected. Only two. They turned to me as I walked out of the shadows, and I shot them before they had a chance to take another step. The bullets hit their chests dead center. We’d found out—well, Adam found
out—that the center was where their control panels were. One shot to the middle of the chest, and it’s sayonara.
Four more to go.
I picked up my speed, adrenaline coursing through my veins. My steps matched the beat of my heart. My pace softened as I approached the next corner. Peeking around the bend, I saw something was different. The Bots were not alone. A Carbon was with them. They didn’t come out that often anymore, especially not with just a few Bots for protection. Once they’d realized we could track them, target them, and were picking them off one by one, they’d stopped coming out. We weren’t entirely sure why as their thousands outmatched our hundreds easily. The few Carbons we eliminated only swayed the numbers by a small amount; we were always outnumbered and likely would be forever. The Bots, however, were always expendable as many were unskilled, having been made to serve humans, not kill them.
The Carbon sensed me before I was close enough to fire. The Eye might have helped us see better, but our weapons weren’t as advanced as theirs, and they limited us greatly. My aim was good. Better than good, actually. But at that distance, it would’ve been a challenge even for me.
The Carbon ordered the Bots to separate, two on each side. They were hoping to surround me, but they were no match for my training. I was certain she’d already raised the alarm to their headquarters, detailing their coordinates and requesting back up, so I had to be swift and decisive.
Sprinting hard, I returned to the alley, knowing they sensed me but didn’t yet see me. I still had the upper hand. I doubled back and turned down the next street, hidden as I passed the Bots. The Carbon would sense me coming, so I stood a better chance one-on-one without the Bots to deal with. I stepped out from the shadows and loosed two rounds. Two Bots fell. The other two retreated, frantically searching for me as I strode back into the shadows. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. They walked into my line of sight, and then they were dead. Might’ve been fun if it hadn’t become so routine.
Untold: The Complete Watcher Series Mini Novellas (Watcher #4) Page 16