Darklight 5: Darktide

by Forrest, Bella

  Before we left, I had taken a quick headcount of my group, who would stay in the Immortal Plane for the upcoming raid and run interference while the last wave of evacuees raced for the tear. On the human side would be myself, Zach, Gina, Lily, Colin, the trio from Scotland, and Sylas. For vampires, we had Dorian, Kono, Arlonne, Laini, Bravi, and a dedicated group from the Hive who had fared well during our clash with the skimmer wave, with few injuries. Juneau, Reshi, Charrek, three makers from the workshop, two harvesters, and six wildlings would join us, with Gren among them. There were forty-five members of the raiding party, but every face was scuffed and worn from the battle.

  The grim, sleep-deprived appearances of my companions gave me little comfort, but a sense of determination brewed among our group. The Hive was gone. We had no time to stop and rest.

  Hundreds of redbills carrying vampires darted from the cave, like bats waking for the night. Our journey would be long as we followed the path of the evacuees. The refugees flew low through the redwood tunnels, toward various portals and the tear. Coalition scouts flying with them had been instructed to keep low, to watch out for danger. If anything happened, they were to try to draw the fire from hunter patrols. The raiding party would jump in to help, but we flew just above the treetops to watch the horizon for oncoming skimmers.

  I touched my chest absentmindedly. There was no heartburn, even though I’d missed a transfusion. Granted, I was still unhappy about the way my conversation with Dorian had ended, but it wasn’t the time to pick a fight. I leaned against him as we flew. Would his reluctance to give me blood drive a wedge between us? I shut my eyes momentarily to hold thoughts of doubt at bay.

  In the constant danger and uncertainty of the Immortal Plane, we could die at any moment. I just wanted to appreciate being with him in this moment, even if it didn’t last. I wrapped my arms around his waist lightly. He relaxed beneath my touch, but we didn’t speak. A familiar pressure in my head welled, slowly growing worse as the strange redwood forest passed beneath us, stretching on for ages. No heartburn now, but when? We had a lot of ground to cover before we reached the outskirts of Vanim.

  During our tense journey through soul-dim, there was little conflict. We managed to avoid major groups of hunters, who seemed to just miss us or vice versa. Zach sent me a thumbs-up after one such moment, clearly cheering about this fact, but I found it hard to share his relief. It was too perfect.

  We only met two small groups, about five hunters each, but they were easily dispatched by our many fighters and Reshi’s jaspeth. The machine became our group’s pride and joy. Thanks to its powerful glamor, it was able to take the hunters out with an aerial attack that they scarcely saw coming and were helpless to defend against. The more they shot at it, the more powerful our jaspeth became. Reluctantly, I started to hope. If we kept taking out hunters from above, we had a good chance of protecting the refugee caravan below. Their group managed well with most of the Hive’s redbill flock as they moved through the redwood tunnels, an extra protection from any wildlings or creatures along the way.

  A small red light flew into the sky in the distance.

  “That’ll be one of the leaders,” Dorian muttered, and signaled to the rest of our group to prepare for landing. The caravan needed to rest and make sure everyone was accounted for before the final dash for safety. We had arrived at the base of the mountains around Vanim. This region held splintered mountains, the landscape providing plentiful hiding places with crooks and crevices. Looking at it in this light, I imagined that Dorian and our vampire friends had found it helpful to hide here after the destruction of Vanim. A thick fog rolled in and around the city, making Vanim appear like a ghost in the distance. I shivered at the memories of that place.

  The raiding party crossed farther into the mountains, over the other side of the range, to make camp near an outcropping. The training camp was supposedly down below, although we would have to send scouts to confirm our suspicions. After establishing our information about the training grounds, the refugees planned to make their dash to the tear. If the training camp spotted them, our warriors would flood the camp to keep the hunters and their monsters at bay.

  In my mind, it sounded tidy… but things were rarely that easy with the hunters.

  I dismounted from Drigar, my bladder complaining at the movement. I needed to find a place to relieve myself.

  “I’ll meet you and the others in a few minutes for the planning,” I told him. Concern and warmth seeped through me; Dorian looked dead on his feet. He nodded. I turned and stumbled away into the dark.

  I walked the ridgeline that we camped behind. There would be no fires tonight, so dinner was not going to be particularly appetizing. I hooked my thumb in my weapons belt. A calm reassurance came from the presence of my bracer and the knives from Reshi. My handgun sat in its holster, but my rifle was strapped to my back. In blessed privacy, I relieved myself and then took my rifle out to look through my scope over the distant landscape. The glint of soul-lanterns greeted me. Despite the darkness of the valley, I made out the vague shape of a sprawling compound. Dorian was right. At least, I hoped so.

  I toed the edge of the overhang I was on.

  “Mind if I join?” Gina asked behind me. I smiled, although it felt a bit forced. Our last few interactions had been more strained than I liked. I offered her a look through my rifle scope, and she let out a low whistle. “Looks like the antithesis of VAMPS camp.” She pulled back and let out a long, haggard sigh. “I’ll never get used to it.”

  “Get used to what?” I hadn’t seen Gina up close since the battle outside the cave entrance. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from fatigue. Mine probably look the same.

  “It’s been over a week, and this place stills crawls under my skin,” Gina confessed.

  “It can do that to you.” I mulled over her words. Strangely enough, I felt the opposite. Despite everything I was struggling with, my body finally felt comfortable in the Immortal Plane. Perhaps another positive effect of the vampire blood, but maybe I was giving it too much credit; maybe I’d just finally integrated.

  For a moment, Gina’s open expression made me want to tell her everything about the cure, my fears of how it might be changing me in more ways than I’d intended. But if I did, she might alert Zach, and I still felt a distance with my brother, in a way I’d never experienced before. We were on the cusp of one of the largest, most crucial missions we’d even been a part of, and I didn’t want to distract my teammates for nothing. Instead, I settled on asking her in a roundabout way.

  “Do I seem different lately?” I asked, trying to make my tone light. “I’m just trying to figure out all the different ways being in the Immortal Plane can affect people. The Bureau board will need to know for when they send reinforcements through, after all.”

  Gina ran a hand through her blonde bob. The strands were stringy with grime, but my ponytail was no better. Dirt marred both our faces, and blood stained our faded clothes.

  She blew out a long exhale, puffing her cheeks. “You do seem different. I mean, distant, but we haven’t had much time to interact.” She swung inquisitive eyes my way. “Are you worried about something?”

  My tongue sat like a heavy stone in my mouth. I couldn’t open up to her without telling her too much. “Just the mission.”

  “Okay. Zach told me that you found a cure for you and Dorian?” She grinned. “I mean, it was obvious you’d figured something out, since you spend so much time together now without pain, but a cure is good news. Can you and Dorian get close now?”

  Warmth flooded my cheeks. This subject was far from my comfort zone and would no doubt lead to her asking for details about the cure. I’d have to tell her eventually, I knew that, but not yet. If she reacted badly, I didn’t want either of us to take that into battle in the morning.

  “Close enough,” I replied evasively. “Um, speaking of Dorian, I told him I’d find him for the meeting.”

  “Okay, okay,” Gina said, winking, but then sh
e sobered. “If you want to talk at all, about anything, I’m here. It’s been a rough few months for all of us. You especially.”

  I nodded stiffly, not trusting my voice, and left Gina, hurrying for the relative safety of the group. As I crossed the ridge, keeping low to avoid standing out as a silhouette, I came across Lily surveying the valley through her rifle scope.

  “Everything all right down there?” I asked.

  She didn’t look at me as she replied. “As far as I can tell. Just trying to get a sense of what we might face in that camp.”

  Not far behind her, the Scottish soldiers MacGregor, Fraser, and Melrose sat nearby on a group of flat stones. Fraser was taking off his boots to shake out several stones.

  “Never thought I’d see anything crazier than that mob in Edinburgh before I joined Morag’s group,” he muttered.

  MacGregor clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve fought these hunters before. We can do it again,” he promised. His smile was genuine but turned into a yawn.

  Sylas sat beside Zach, carefully arranging his medical supplies in his battered kit.

  “I’m ready to go,” Bravi piped up. She paced back and forth, throwing the occasional glare toward the valley.

  “That makes one of us,” Zach said, and rubbed his face. His trigger-happy attitude had dampened considerably as the journey took its toll.

  I scanned the rest of our group, noting the exhaustion on most faces. We had split the vampires familiar with the Mortal Plane, but not vital to the fight, between several groups of evacuees heading for the tear. Drinn, Neo, Harlowe, and Rayne would help them communicate with the waiting government forces. Hank had joined them, but his shaken, pale face remained burned in my mind. After Bryce and Roxy left, I would be the only human with any significant experience of the Immortal Plane.

  I left Zach and Bravi to carry on a debate about when to start scouting. My boots felt like they weighed more than usual. I rubbed my tired eyes, for the first time trying to ignore the insidious voice in my head pleading for more of Dorian’s blood.

  Unexpected laughter hit my ears. I stumbled over to a group of makers and harvesters, finding Juneau sitting next to Charrek, looking very at home among the makers he used to employ. He laughed at a joke that someone had told, then caught sight of me.

  “Lyra, hello,” he drawled and clapped his hands together. It was good to see him without the rope cuffs around his wrists. “Come to witness my absolute terror?”

  I lifted a questioning brow. “You seem pretty happy to me.”

  He tossed his braided hair back. Even in the shabby remnants of his modified party gown, he looked like a work of art as he dramatically swept his arm over his forehead, earning an affectionate eyeroll and smirk from Charrek.

  “I’m terrified. I would run with the evacuees, but after what you said about that awful Inkarri’s reaction to the Mortal Plane, I have no interest in it. It seems I have to stay and fight after all. One must be brave, when one runs out of options. I only hope to make myself useful.” The last part was actually touching. I smiled as Charrek comfortingly patted Juneau’s shoulder with exaggerated movements.

  “There, there. We all have skills to contribute.” Charrek’s eyes gleamed mischievously as he continued in the same tone. “Even a useless, dramatic person like you.” The makers burst into laughter, but Juneau merely lifted his chin with theatrical pride.

  “I can outfit people, organize, strategize…” Juneau dropped his gaze to the ground, looking wistful. “Perhaps Laini can teach me to fight. I don’t know how to use these elegant hands for war.”

  Sure, choose Laini. I smirked. “Arlonne and Bravi are warriors by profession, but I imagine you’ll ask Laini anyway.” I winked so he knew I was being playful. It was hard to tell if he thought I was being cold and distant, since I knew Juneau less well than the others. His and Laini’s budding… relationship, or whatever it was, could be interesting to watch. Would the curse affect a ruler and a vampire? I shivered, although I didn’t know whether it was from annoyance at the thought of it being easy for them, or dread of finding out otherwise.

  Kono cleared his voice just behind my shoulder, causing me to jump. His eyes landed on Juneau, who stopped his joking. “Can you use your voice to compel, the way that Irrikus and Sempre can?”

  The businesslike question sliced through the mirth of our scene. The makers shifted awkwardly and averted their eyes, uncomfortable at the reminder of his caste’s major advantage. Juneau tapped a finger to his chin in thought, his eyes scanning their reactions.

  “I never thought of that,” he said lightly, somehow managing to sound even more featherbrained than usual.

  I was starting to realize that much of this attitude was an act to make those of other castes around him feel safe.

  “I don’t use the skill much at all, and I’m afraid it’s a case of practice-makes-perfect.” He nodded but raised a finger. “I can try, however. At the very least, I was always chastised as a child for my inability to use any kind of ‘inside voice’.”

  “Do whatever you can,” Kono said. “It could be useful for our plan. Actually, can you all join me over there?” He jerked his hand to the small, partially ruined amphitheater near our hiding spot. Before the fall of Vanim, perhaps it had been a community area for the vampires to stage plays or ceremonies.

  Hidden in a sharp-edged ravine of smoky stone, our group gathered, and Kono and Reshi explained the situation. They planned to divide the raiding party into small squads with a balanced combination of different castes and human soldiers. Each team would be led by a main Coalition head: Arlonne, Reshi, Dorian, myself, and Kono.

  “Our priority is to protect the refugees at all costs,” Arlonne said. Her prosthetic arm was now strapped to her. “We draw fire away from the caravan if the hunters spot them or go in to protect them.”

  “There’s no backup coming this time,” Dorian said. His eyes steadily swept across our gathered team. The serious glint in his glacial eyes spoke volumes about the difficulty before us. “We’re all that we’ve got. If we win, we finally gain a strategic position. There will be buildings we can fortify, weapons and energy to use, prisoners and plans to gain information from, and most importantly, a place to defend the tear. We can’t afford to lose. But if we do… we lose protecting the lives of innocents. This battle will be fought in memory of the Hive and Vanim. This battle is for the many we have lost along the way. We will no longer be haunted by the ghosts of the past. We fight to forge a new way forward. We fight in the memory of our home, a home we must now make for ourselves.”

  A home we must now win.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I peered through the scope of my rifle to look over the sprawling training camp, nestled between mountains. Soul winds swept the lingering fog away. As the soul lights descended into the valley, it became clearer where the barracks of the sprawling compound were. Dead center in my scope.

  Several yards away, most of the Coalition rested, trying to catch as much sleep as they could. The humans found it hard to sleep in the constantly changing light, though it was dimmer than Mortal Plane daytime.

  Soft steps on the loose pebbles sounded behind me. I recognized the footfalls but didn’t turn.

  “Ready to switch out?” Laini asked through a yawn. “I managed to catch a bit of sleep. I hope you can do the same.”

  “Thanks. Good luck.” I didn’t tell her that I had something to do first… although I would try to grab a nap afterward.

  I found Dorian on the outskirts of our camp, where we’d set up our bedrolls for after I’d finished my watch. He leaned against a large boulder, looking like a mysterious movie hero with his battered cloak and pained gaze on the distant ruins of Vanim.

  “Hi there,” I said. Something—perhaps delirium from lack of sleep and blood—pushed me to wrap my arms around him. I squeezed and stiffened, half expecting a rush of heartburn, but it didn’t come. Instead, my ears pricked at Dorian’s husky laugh.

 
“I see you found a spark of energy somewhere,” Dorian muttered. He planted a kiss on top of my head. “I found a private spot.” He gestured down into a small ditch, screened by rocks and feathery green plants, showing that he’d set out our packs and bedrolls.

  “Classy.”

  “Why, thank you,” he said.

  He jumped down and reached up to help me. I might have accepted more help than I needed, taking any excuse to touch him, but my ribs still complained at the landing. He sank to the ground and leaned against the rocky wall behind us. I sat beside him and leaned my head on his chest, sighing wistfully. I was glad we’d found time to have a moment together before the chaos started.

  "I don’t think I’ll ever take moments like this for granted,” he said quietly.

  Smiling, I lifted my head from his chest and kissed him. There was so much waiting for us just over the mountain ridge, but just sharing the burden with each other helped. We huddled like that for a few minutes, but an insistent thought niggled at the back of my mind.

  I need blood before the battle.

  I ran my tongue over the backs of my teeth, mulling over how to broach the subject with him. Dorian seemed to be in a good mood. We were kissing and cuddling, after all. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and looked up at him, trying to look like the portrait of reason.

  “I’ve been thinking,” I said quietly.

  “Oh?” he said lazily. “What’s on your mind?”

  My heartrate spiked under his warm gaze. “It feels like we’re going into the big battle right now, even after we put up a hell of a fight at the sanitarium.”

  He nodded, solemn as he ran a hand over my hair with steady strokes. I closed my eyes, letting myself sink into his touch.

  “Maybe,” I said carefully, “we should share a small amount of blood. We don’t know when our protection from the curse will run out, and if we’re hit by it in the middle of the fight, it could be massively dangerous. Once everything gets kicked into motion, I don’t know when we’ll have another chance.”