Cursed

by Keri Arthur

  “How long is a piece of string?” he retorted. “It would also depend on whether they decide to keep tunneling once they hit the Kanjoi River. I doubt they will.”

  “Is that the wind’s wisdom or a hunch?”

  “A hunch, but a logical one. If attack is their intent, then they won’t want to give us much time to prepare.”

  “That’s presuming they think along the same lines as we do. They might not.”

  “Even fire ants prefer to swarm on unsuspecting prey.”

  “Then I pity the Skaran.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “The Skaran are a scourge—”

  “Yes, but they no more deserve extinction than we do,” I said. “And if either the highlanders or the Mauvaissians thought differently, something would have been done about them long ago.”

  “I doubt we’d have the capacity to do that now let alone centuries ago. And given the Skaran have more than one settlement, extinction isn’t likely.”

  “Even so, there were a lot of women and children in that settlement, Donal. I have no desire to see any of them fall victim to the bipeds.”

  He grunted. “You, Princess, have a surprisingly soft core under the steel.”

  Which few people ever saw, simply because up until this man, I’d never let my guard down. But then, protecting my heart and letting nothing but hate and anger simmer had been a key point of surviving the last twelve years.

  “Don’t let that snippet get out, or you’ll ruin my reputation.” I pushed up. “I’ll drop by in the morning and update you.”

  “Hopefully that update will hold nothing but an uneventful night.”

  “Hopefully.”

  I touched his shoulder again and then headed across to the mess hall. Once I’d grabbed a meal and some cutlery, I joined the others at the table. The day leaders reported, and then Marx briefly mentioned the results of our mission and the activity we’d discovered. “We're currently on a simple watch brief until we learn more about these bipeds. Even if attack is their intent, they'll have to go through the Skaran first, and we all know that will be no easy task.”

  “A watch brief doesn't explain the pulse cannons being fitted up on the ramparts,” Raj commented. “That’s getting ready for an attack.”

  “Indeed, because I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Marx glanced at me. “Stay sharp when you and your team get close to the Quaih River; the bipeds might just skirt the Skaran settlement to come at us, and that means your patrol will be in the way.”

  “If that happens, we’re dead, Captain. Blasters don’t kill the bastards.”

  “Which is why all patrols are being issued pulse rifles,” he said.

  “Good.” Between the rifles and the earth, we at least had a fighting chance. Whether either would ensure survival was another matter entirely. “Have Dravan’s and Kaid’s replacements been added to my team?”

  “We sent out an in-house call for volunteers until the replacements arrive.” He tossed me a couple of folders. “Their names are Finn and Orli.”

  “I take it they’re career soldiers without Sifft heritage?”

  He nodded. “But we’ll give them night circlets, which will magically enhance their sight enough for them to see almost as well as you.”

  Good, because the last thing the team needed would be two soldiers next to useless in the dark. “Thanks, Cap.”

  He nodded. “Be careful out there—the Skaran rarely go more than three days without an attack, so you’ll likely get hit tonight.”

  I nodded and flicked through the folders as I ate the rest of my meal. Once I’d finished, Margreet and I walked across to armaments to get our kits and pulse rifles, and then joined our teams at the exit tunnel.

  Nash greeted me politely, but Sage’s expression was sour. “Nice of you to finally grace us with your presence,” she muttered.

  “Hey, you were more than welcome to take my place on the mission into the dead lands.” I kept my voice mild, even as annoyance stirred within. “Of course, you would probably now be dead given you’re not an earth mage and can’t summon her power to either protect or attack.”

  She snorted. “No matter what the rumors might be saying about you, only the king and his heir can summon the earth, and we all know you ain’t that.”

  “I love the certainty with which you say that,” I said. “Now if you could just muster that sort of conviction and effort into your job, you might make a good soldier one day.”

  Her gaze narrowed, but she had the sense not to comment any further. I glanced past Nash to the two newcomers. The night circlets were very similar to the ones communicators wore, but black in color. “I’m Nyx, leader of this motley group.”

  The two men nodded and introduced themselves. Finn was a wiry, gray-haired man in his midfifties while Orli was swarthy in build and coloring, and even older than Finn.

  As the tunnel gate opened, I said, “I want sharpness out there tonight. It may not be just the Skaran we have to worry about.”

  “Is that what your mission in the dead lands was about?” Nash asked.

  “Yes, and they’re not dead.”

  “Great.” Nash fell in step beside me. “So what, exactly, is out there?”

  I hesitated. Given neither the captain nor the commander had updated the scouting group as a whole, I probably shouldn’t say anything—but I didn’t want them walking into the Wild Lands and possible trouble without some sort of forewarning.

  “Bipeds that are faster and meaner than the Skaran, with body armor that renders blasters next to useless.”

  “Well, didn’t we choose a fine time to volunteer for a short tour of duty out here,” Finn said cheerfully and motioned toward the rifle strapped across his back. “If the buggers attack me, they’ll be hearing lots of noise from my metal friend here.”

  I smiled but didn’t say anything. Truth be told, if the bipeds attacked in any sort of force, five pulse rifles weren’t going to make a whole lot of difference.

  We left the tunnel and crossed the bridge into the Wild Lands. As we entered the deeper darkness of the forest, I said, “We'll keep to a tight V-formation tonight, with me in the lead. I want everyone within eyesight of each other.”

  Nash frowned. “If the Skaran attack, you'll be taking the brunt—”

  “No, because the earth will inform me of their approach long before any of us can smell them.”

  He raised his eyebrows but didn't question me further. With him and Sage to my left and right, and the two soldiers behind them, we moved out. The night was silent and empty, and the hours went by slowly. Despite this, the sensation that something was off-kilter grew. It wasn’t originating from the Wild Lands, but rather the Skaran.

  I stopped at the Quaih River and scrambled up a large rock, hoping to get a better view of the distant settlement. The place was dark and silent, both of which struck me as odd given how much activity had been evident last night.

  “Is there a problem?” Nash asked, as he and Sage stopped at the base of the rock.

  “Maybe.”

  I scrambled back down and then knelt and pressed my fingers into the soil. What happens in the settlement on the other side of the river?

  Deadness, came the reply.

  I frowned. Meaning they're all dead? The whole settlement?

  Surely that wasn't possible—aside from the fact the bipeds were nocturnal, the Skaran settlement was huge.

  We cannot say if they live or not, because the deadness that was present in the dead lands surrounds the whole settlement.

  Alarm stirred. The bipeds have tunneled that far already?

  No, their tunnel approaches at speed, but they have not reached the river yet.

  And the bipeds themselves? Where does the bulk of their weight lay?

  They do not press against us, so they are either in the dead earth surrounding their tunnel or in that settlement.

  I swore and thrust up. Nash opened his mouth and then shut it again when I raised my hand. I tapped the halo
and said, “Base, this is Caracal One.”

  “Go ahead, Caracal One.”

  “We've reached the Quaih River. The Skaran settlement is dark—I think we need to investigate.”

  “Negative, Caracal One.” It was the captain's voice. “The Skaran have employed similar lure tactics in the past to capture patrols.”

  “This isn't a tactic, Cap—not when it involves the whole settlement. There's something wrong out there, but the earth can’t tell me what it is.”

  “Then we'll investigate in the morning, when light is on our side. Move on, Caracal One. That's an order.”

  The morning would be too damn late—the certainty of that echoed through every fiber of my being. Whatever was happening, whatever the bipeds were doing over there, we needed to see it.

  Or pay the price in lives for our ignorance.

  “Fine. Caracal One out.” I hit the switch and met Nash's gaze. “You're on point from now on. I'm going to investigate.”

  He frowned. “But Marx said—”

  “I know precisely what he said, which is why you and the team are going to obey him.”

  “But you can't go there alone—”

  “It's easier for one person to escape their notice than five,” I cut in. “And we all know I'm less likely to gather flack for disobedience.”

  “Getting any closer to the Skaran home base is nothing short of suicide,” Sage muttered. “If she's happy to go alone and get herself killed, I'm all for it.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but I have no intention of getting dead.” I returned my gaze to Nash. “Control will undoubtedly realize what's happened sooner rather than later, so inform them you're obeying my orders and that I've said under no circumstances are you or anyone else to come after me. I'll report once I hit the settlement. And remind them I'm better able to protect one than five.”

  Nash hesitated, clearly unhappy about the situation. But he didn't argue; he simply glanced at the rest of the team. “Let's go, people. Standard close formation for the rest of the night.”

  I pulled the halo out of my ear and tucked it into a pocket, then spun around and followed the river, keeping to the shadows as much as practical. The Skaran encampment was at least a couple of hours of walking away, but despite the urgency beating through my veins, I wasn't about to hurry. The settlement may be silent, but that didn't mean there weren't Skaran hunting parties out in these woods. The earth would warn me if any approached, but I'd hear that warning a whole lot clearer if I was walking rather than running.

  I was an hour into my journey when the halo vibrated lightly. I ignored it. It was undoubtedly the captain with an order to forget my current course of action, and that was something I had no intention of doing. The unit buzzed several more times and then fell silent.

  Fingers of yellow and rose were beginning to light the sky by the time I started climbing the longish hill that separated me from the Skaran encampment. The Quaih River had long ago left my side and a mix of trees and long grass currently surrounded me—neither of which provided much cover. Not that I needed it. There was no movement, no sound, and no sign of life. I was alone out here.

  As I neared the top of the hill, I dropped down and crawled the rest of the way. The long grass bent around me, almost as if it was determined to give way rather than be crushed underneath me. Or perhaps it was the earth attempting to make my movements easier. The deadness that covered the Skaran settlement and prevented her from feeling what was happening had tendrils reaching up this hill, but for the moment, they weren't strong enough to prevent me from hearing or reaching for her.

  I stopped at the top of the hill. The Skaran settlement below was as still and silent as the surrounding land—unlike last night, there were no adults moving about, and certainly no children playing. There was also absolutely no sign of the bipeds, be they armored or mage.

  For all intents and purposes, this settlement looked abandoned.

  And yet no matter how fast the Skaran were, surely not even they could evacuate a settlement this large in the course of a day and a night.

  Of course, it was totally possible the captain was right and this was some form of trap. But if that were the case, I suspected it wasn't one the Skaran had laid—and that they were the intended prey, not those of us who patrolled the Wild Lands.

  I reinserted the halo and then said, “Base, this is Caracal One. I’ve reached the Skaran settlement.”

  “You are in such deep shit when you return, Princess,” an all too familiar voice said. “To say the captain and commander aren't happy is something of a major understatement.”

  No doubt—and I really didn’t care. “Donal, what the hell are you doing out of bed? You need to be resting your broken butt—”

  “Which was impossible to do after the wind told me what you were up to.”

  “That still doesn't explain why you're answering comms and not the captain or the comms team.”

  “Marx is currently off duty and the shift captain has graciously allowed me to stay.”

  Which was Donal code for he would not be moved no matter what, and the shift captain was wise enough to know it.

  “What's happening out there, Nyx?” he added.

  I returned my attention to the settlement. “Absolutely nothing.”

  “Clarify nothing.”

  “No sign of movement or life. No smoke from the chimneys. Nothing to indicate anyone or anything ever lived there. According to the earth, the strange deadness we encountered over that tunnel now surrounds the Skaran encampment.”

  “Any sign of bipeds?”

  “No.” I paused and studied the hill immediately below me. “And no indication that they've buried themselves for the oncoming day. I'm going closer to investigate.”

  “Be careful.”

  “That's my middle name.”

  I slithered down the hill. Halfway down, the long grass stopped moving to one side, which meant I was now leaving a trail of crushed vegetation behind me. I doubted it mattered, because I really didn’t think there was anyone within the settlement to notice or care.

  As I drew nearer, the earth’s pulse died, but it was replaced by the same angry trembling that had been evident as we’d drawn closer to the spark-lit shaft out in the dead lands. Whatever had been happening out there was now happening here.

  I reached flat land and paused, sweeping my gaze across the rusting metal wall of swords that divided me from the settlement's interior. They were unscarred—untouched. There was no indication that any weapon—not even brute force—had been used on them.

  There was no sign of fighting inside the wall, either. There wasn’t even any form of disorder—not even random bits of abandoned rubbish—and surely there would have been if the Skaran had left in any sort of hurry.

  I studied the ground between that metal fence and me but couldn’t see anything untoward, no matter what instinct might be suggesting. I pushed up and ran forward, still keeping as low as possible despite the fact there appeared to be no one and nothing around.

  I wasn’t far from the sword fence when the knife flared to life; a heartbeat later, I ran straight into something solid. I bounced back and hit the ground butt first, hard enough to elicit a grunt of pain.

  I sucked in some air and then rose onto my knees, carefully reached out with one hand, and met a wall—another invisible one. I might not be able to see the bipeds, but they’d certainly been here. I pressed the halo again. “Base, this is Caracal One. I just hit an invisible wall.”

  “The same sort that we discovered at the volcano?” Donal asked.

  “Yes. I haven’t explored the full extent of it, but I’m guessing it completely surrounds the settlement.” I paused. “I’m going in.”

  “Nyx, that might not be—”

  “We need to find out what the hell is happening,” I cut in. “If you can figure out an easier and safer way to do that, please let me know.”

  He made a low noise that very much sounded like a growl of frustration
. “You know I can’t, but I still think—”

  “The earth thinks otherwise, Donal. I’m not about to gainsay her. I’ll let you know once I’m on the other side of the barrier.”

  “Be fucking careful—and remember, the earth can’t rescue you in the dead zone.”

  “I’m well aware of that, highlander. Caracal One out.”

  I drew my knife. The runes instantly came to life, their golden gleam almost rivaling the growing day for brightness. I carefully pressed the delicate point into the barrier; once again the runes pulsed and the red flames came to life, crawling down the length of the blade and onto the surface of the unseen barrier. As it began to melt away, I swept the blade around in an arc to create a doorway. After carefully crawling through, I released the knife and then turned around.

  And once again saw the truth.

  Only this time it wasn’t civilization.

  It was destruction.

  Bloody, brutal destruction.

  Nine

  The sword barrier had certainly been breached—and in multiple places. In some areas it had utterly melted, while in others the heavy metal swords had simply been parted or flattened. They might well have been twigs for all the respect the bipeds had shown them.

  And in the settlement itself….

  I briefly closed my eyes and fought the surge of my stomach. The Skaran certainly hadn’t evacuated their city; in fact, it was rather apparent that they’d barely even had time to realize they were in danger.

  There were bodies everywhere; some were whole, but most were not. Those closest to me not only had the tops of their skulls sliced off but also fist-sized holes in their chests. There was no heart inside that cavity, just as there was no brain inside their skulls. The bipeds had obviously taken them as trophies.

  I swallowed heavily. As much as I wanted to do nothing more than turn and run, I needed to see the full extent of this destruction—needed to know whether it involved the entire settlement, or if some here had managed to escape.

  Though I doubted it. The pall of death hung too heavily over this place.