Tuatha dropped onto a knee and caressed her daughter's face. "And I keep my word. I won't kill you, and you will serve me for the rest of your life—several days at least. Rizleoghin feeds slowly."
Tuatha rose, ignoring her daughter's screams. "Break the dwarf," she ordered her spymaster, "but see he doesn't die. I'll need him to rebuild his father's machine."
"Yes, my queen," Cal Endralia said.
Grellissa's screams followed her as she walked out.
26
Alex and Leela stalked through the jungle, leading the eight soldiers in their cover guard, which moved in an arrowhead formation behind them, each soldier covering his or her arc of fire. The rest of the Strike Force followed in platoon columns, out of sight in the thick foliage but less than two hundred meters away. Occasionally, Huck or one of the platoon commanders would speak over the radio, and their call sign and locational data would flash on Alex's visor. The situational awareness was superb. Alex saw only Leela and the cover team, yet he knew the exact location of each soldier. Leela moved beside Alex, to his right. While Alex focused on the best path north, Leela focused on protecting Alex, keeping a watchful eye out for things with big teeth and claws. He really hated jungles.
This close to the river, where sunlight was plentiful, the underbrush grew thick and wild, a living wall of weeds, grasses, thorns, ferns, canes, shrubs, and bamboo clumps. The foliage was so thick that in places, they could see only five meters ahead of them. Alex had been hoping to find primary jungle, which was much more open and easier to cross, but his luck just wasn't that good. Jungles and rain forests grew in layers, from the forest floor to the canopy, often thirty or more meters above. In primary jungle, this thick overhead canopy blocked most of the sunlight from reaching the forest floor, making the jungle darker but also resulting in far fewer plants and brush. But here, it was all secondary jungle, the thickest, most difficult terrain in the world and often marred by swamps. Each kilometer became a battle.
This was their second day in the jungle. The first day, they had only made it three and a half kilometers before Alex insisted they quit for the day and set up their camp and defenses while they had sunlight. Huck didn't object. The trek had exhausted the troops. They set up hammocks in the trees with mosquito netting covering them, but critters still bit or stung several dozen soldiers anyhow. None of the injuries appeared poisonous—ants, ticks, and centipedes—but Dr. Ireland gave each soldier penicillin shots just in case.
Alex had checked on their dark-elf prisoner last night. Veraxia seemed unconcerned by the jungle hardships, energized even. The dark-elf priestess was an enigma. Although guarded by a pair of soldiers, she acted as though they were her honor guard. And according to Ylra, who translated for her, Veraxia constantly questioned her about manlings and the Old World, treating humanity as a new species to study.
Alex focused on the jungle, using a stick to part the brush. He slid between the undergrowth when possible and cut his way through with a machete when it wasn't. He kept the river on their right, leading the Strike Force north, but never in a straight line, never predictable. He avoided animal trails and ridgelines, which, while easier to traverse, were also much more likely to be under observation if there were dark elves in the jungle. So far, though, he saw no humanoid tracks, only animal.
As expected, the wildlife was abundant. Birds flew overhead, monkeys shrieked at them from the trees, and several times, they heard predators threatening them, hissing and snarling from behind cover, no doubt warning them off. The predators, likely jungle cats, remained out of sight, moving parallel through the brush. Most likely, they were just curious about the large party of interlopers. Even Faerum's monsters would avoid attacking a hundred men and women… he hoped. If they were unlucky enough to blunder into an apex predator, like a basilisk, someone would die.
He glanced up as a flock of large bats winged overhead through one of the rare breaks in the canopy.
"Do you think they're… vampire bats?" Leela whispered.
"I don't know. Even on Earth, vampire bats aren't common. Besides, they feed on birds, not people."
"On Earth. This isn't Earth. I bet not only are they bloodsuckers, but they also transform into real vampires—or turn to mist or some such bullshit."
He smiled and squeezed her elbow. "Not everything on this world is magical."
"Says you."
Alex sighed and used his machete to cut through a thick strand of vines, slicing a path. "We should have brought boats, not exo-suits."
Several hours later, they had only made it another two kilometers through the jungle. They found a stream, a tributary of the river, and Alex asked Huck to make sure everyone refilled their canteens and used their water purification tablets. The stream water tasted brackish, but they needed to drink to keep their fluids up in the oppressive heat and humidity. There had already been several heat casualties, slowing them down even more while Dr. Ireland and her medics tended to the sick.
While the liquid body armor jumpsuits protected them from most insect bites, they were also thick and uncomfortable. Alex called more short halts than he had expected to. Much worse was the terrain, which was becoming wetter, muddier, and swampier, with hanging vines brushing past their faces. He wiped the back of his neck with his scarf. The last thing they needed now was to wade through a swamp. The only easy day was yesterday.
A thick downpour fell, starting from nothing and drenching them in a heavy torrent in moments. Just as quickly as it had started, the rain stopped, and steam rose around them, fogging his visor. He motioned for the cover team to hold back while he surveyed their surroundings. He and Leela edged forward, and Alex raised his visor into the helmet, using his bare eyes to scan the now-steamy depths of the jungle. He froze, his stomach knotting in fear as a massive snake—its powerful body at least a foot wide—slid through the brush not four feet away. Blinded by the rain, he had almost walked right into it.
He heard the quick intake of Leela's breath just behind him. The serpent, at least fifty feet long, hissed and rose, bringing its colossal triangular head on a level with Alex's, staring at him with small clever red eyes. In place of scales, bright red and green feathers covered its body, and those feathers bristled now along its spine, rising like a dog's hackles. Alex reached back and gripped Leela's arm, holding her in place, his eyes fixed on the snake's. He didn't know whether he should stare into a snake's eyes or look away, but somehow, he felt that showing fear would be a deadly mistake.
The snake's head drifted within a foot of his face, the eyes looking as though they could see right into his soul. Its head was more lizard than snake, with a small narrow beak-like mouth and its feathers forming a crown about its head. The mouth parted, and a thin forked tongue darted out. It hissed and swayed to the side to regard Leela. Alex's rifle hung from its sling near his thigh, and he held a machete in his right hand. He couldn't do anything with the oversized knife but anger the beast, but he might give Leela time to get away. He tensed for action, his heartbeat pounding in his skull. As if aware of what he was thinking, the snake swayed back before him. It then rose several feet above him, then two large feathered wings shot out to either side of its long body, snapping branches and sending leaves flying. Alex's breath caught in his throat at the sight, which was both terrifying and beautiful.
It regarded Alex once more, then in a terrifyingly fast flash, the snake whipped about and shot into the underbrush. Alex and Leela stood in place, staring at the foliage ahead of them, seeing nothing. They probably only remained there for seconds, but it felt much longer before the rest of the cover team caught up, oblivious to what had just happened.
"Everything all right, sir?" one soldier whispered.
Alex opened his mouth to answer and found it was dry, his throat parched. His pulse still throbbed in his skull, but he nodded. "Yeah, fine. We're fine."
"That was… amazing," Leela said, her voice trembling.
"What was?" the soldier asked.
"
Nothing. Let's keep going," Alex said.
They saw no further sign of a winged serpent, but Alex's thoughts kept returning to a high school class he had taken a lifetime ago on Mesoamerican civilization, the people, customs, and beliefs—and the winged god, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl.
27
Within an hour of the unexpected encounter with the winged serpent, the muddy ground became a much damper swamp, adding to the Strike Force's misery. Because of the soggy terrain, Alex, Leela, and the cover team went ahead of the others, looking for a way around the swamp.
Alex waved away a mosquito an inch long—at least he hoped it was a mosquito—and stopped to yank his boot free of the sucking mud. The tall grass gave way to moss hanging from branches. Tiny plants covered the water's surface, and shrubs and bushes sprouted around the few trees. They could see farther now but at the cost of reduced mobility. Unfortunately, the sun was setting, and they had to push on because they couldn't spend the night in this deluge. Everyone would be sick.
He had left his visor up, preferring a wider field of view over the constant barrage of data—most of which he still didn't know how to interpret. Nor did he find it helpful to know the location of each soldier in the Strike Force. They were following him, which was all he really needed to know. What he needed to do was to find a way around this damned swamp. He was considering asking Huck to send a UAV up to map the terrain and find an alternate path. This was miserable. Then the rain began to hammer down again. He really, really hated the jungle.
Alex took another step, and the sweet stench of rot washed over him. Then he saw a large shape half buried in the water. As he came closer, he realized it was a dead animal. He used his rifle barrel to prod its head. It was a bear of some type, no larger than a small brown bear. It must have been recently killed. Otherwise, the jungle's scavengers would have picked it clean, especially the eyes, which were staring at him from below an inch of foul water. He wondered what hunted bears, but this was Faerum, so probably everything. The carcass appeared to have been ripped open in dozens of places. At least it hadn't been a basilisk, or else the outer flesh would have been petrified.
He skirted the carcass, pointing it out to Leela and the others in the cover group behind her, who nodded and moved around it. The rain washed away their dirt and sweat, cooling them but adding to their discomfort. It rained harder, limiting visibility to a gray blur ten feet ahead of them. Too late to ask Huck to send up a UAV now. He plodded on through the deluge.
Then, as if someone had turned off a faucet, the rain stopped. Steam rose like mist, and as it parted, it revealed three large mounds the size of houses sitting directly in their path not a hundred paces away. Each mound was built from mud, branches, leaves, and other debris.
Alex froze, motioning for the others to stop. His intuition screamed that they were in danger as stared at the three mounds. Nests, he realized. Something built a home here.
A wide stream flowed from the right, coming from the direction of the river. Now, he saw that the mounds dammed the stream, creating the foot-deep swamp through which they slogged. Each mound sported a series of dark holes, each at least several feet wide.
He keyed his radio. "Sunray, this is Ranger," he whispered. "We've walked into a problem here. Hold everyone in place while we pull back to you."
"Acknowledged, Ranger," Huck answered. "Be careful."
He keyed his mike once in reply. His mind flashed to the bear carcass. He turned to face Leela and the other eight soldiers, who were still in an arrowhead formation, each kneeling and watching their surroundings. He motioned to Leela that they would turn around and move back, and she nodded and repeated the gesture to the others. When she looked back, Leela's eyes widened in alarm. Alex turned, the hair on the back of his neck rising. A giant rat the size of a large dog climbed from a hole in one mound and stood staring at them with angry red eyes. And now more appeared—many more.
Holding his rifle by the pistol grip, he motioned for the others to move back. He took a squishing step, followed by another. More rats appeared, dozens, all watching them. He took several more steps, praying the rats would let them draw back. This close to their homes, they'd be ferociously territorial, but once they were out of sight…
The rats multiplied, crawling over their nests. One large creature lifted its black snout into the air and shrieked, revealing inch-long teeth. It leaped into the water and swam at Alex and the others. The other rats shrieked as well and began throwing themselves into the water by the dozens, swimming toward them, turning the black swamp waters alive with bobbing rat heads. Shit!
"Weapons free!" Alex yelled, firing a 40mm grenade into the waters. When it detonated, it threw bloody water and chunks of rats through the air.
The others fired their assault rifles with short controlled bursts. The rats came on without pause. Now, the soldiers' bursts were much longer and less controlled.
A fireball twenty feet wide blossomed across the waters, incinerating scores of rats—that gave the rats pause but only for a few moments. Alex and the others struggled through the water to a hillock a dozen paces wide that rose from the swamp. It wasn't much, but under the circumstances, it was the best ground they'd find to fight on. They hit the quick-release tabs on their rucksacks, dropping them. Then they formed a half circle and kept up a steady stream of fire on the advancing rat horde, which was now in the hundreds. The soldiers fired nonstop, sending volleys of caseless 4.73mm bullets into the rats, killing them by the scores, yet still they came on.
Alex's radio chirped. "Ranger, this is Sunray. Send sitrep. Over."
None of the soldiers with Alex would have tagged the rats as hostile, but Huck couldn't have missed the shooting.
Alex reloaded another 40mm grenade, launched it into a mass of rats bunching up near the base of the hillock, scattering them, then keyed his radio. "This is Ranger. We're surrounded by hundreds of hostile giant rats and can't pull back to your location. Can you reach us?"
To her credit, Huck didn't hesitate or question him about giant rats. "On our way. Stay alive."
"I hear that," he said as he fired a long burst, raking it across a knot of wet rats. His weapon clicked on empty, and despite his inexperience with the futuristic Tac rifle, he reloaded like a pro, inserting another block of caseless ammo. Seconds later, he was firing again.
Leela channeled flames, sending a torrent of fire from the Brace and washing it across the rats, driving them back again. The stench of burning fur was gag inducing. Why are they still coming? Is it because we're too near their young?
"Grenade!" one soldier yelled.
The grenade buried itself in the mud as a knot of struggling black rats moved forward. Too close, Alex realized and threw himself on Leela, dragged her down, and lay atop her. The grenade detonated a moment later, blowing apart rats, sending shrapnel winging around them, and cutting away leaves. Alex felt a sharp impact in his side and knew he was hit. He rolled away from Leela, bringing his rifle to bear, and fired point-blank at a rat lunging for his throat. His rounds ripped the rat's head apart, splashing his face with gore. His barrel sizzled as blood splattered it. Nearby, one soldier screamed as at least five rats crawled over him. Hundreds of others were almost atop them.
Alex let his rifle hang and drew Witch-Bane. Leela rose to her knees and extended both arms to the side as Alex drove his sword point deep into the spine of one rat attacking the soldier. Another rat spun on him, biting at his wrist. He felt the teeth on his forearm, but only for a moment before he yanked his arm free. With his reverse swing, he cut the rat's head from its body. Other soldiers joined him, using the butts of their rifles against the remaining rats, driving them away from the soldier, and bludgeoning them to death. The wounded soldier moaned, blood spurting from his neck as one man applied pressure to it.
Breathless, Alex stared about himself. Around them, the rats threw themselves at the magical barrier Leela had erected. They couldn't understand what kept them from their prey, but their r
ed eyes shone with hatred. There were hundreds, with more still streaming from the mounds. He stood behind Leela where she knelt with her arms outstretched. Sweat ran down her face.
"How long can you hold them back?"
"Not. Much. Longer," she gasped.
One man raised his rifle to fire, but Alex pushed it away. "Don't. The bullets will ricochet on us." He surveyed the situation and didn't see any way out of it. "The moment the shield fails, they'll be on us again," he told the soldiers. He keyed his mike. "Sunray, ETA?"
"Two to three minutes," she said. "We had to move the war rigs forward."
He glanced at his wife's strained face, wondering if they had that long. Once, Leela had used the Brace to protect Elizabeth from dragon fire, but she hadn't needed to keep the shield active for longer than a minute then, nor had she had to create such a large shield. The effort was draining her, especially after the magic she had channeled fighting the rats. Alex glared at the rats throwing themselves at the invisible barrier. "I hope you choke on us," he whispered.
Just then, a loud, angry staccato roar cut across the swamp, freezing the rats. Alex's fear spiked, a primal response to a sound he had prayed never to hear again—the distinctive cry of a basilisk. The rats remained still, their heads lifted.
The cry repeated itself, louder this time, coming from the east. Its staccato challenge echoed across the swamp. Then, as if a single entity, the rats turned and bolted, throwing themselves back into the water and swimming away as if their lives depended on it.
Six years ago, a single basilisk had laid waste to Task Force Devil's base, killing scores of well-armed soldiers and even destroying an armored vehicle. Only Elizabeth, with the power of the Brace, had defeated the basilisk, and as brave as Leela was, she had never been as powerful a mag-sens as Elizabeth.
Alex, remembering Elizabeth had said night-vision devices negated the basilisk's death-gaze, activated his visor, lowering it with a snap. As his visor energized and his heads-up display came into focus, he prayed the display might have the same nullifying effect as night vision. "Get ready," he told the others and heard the tremor in his voice.
Ranger Page 24