Discovery at Nerwolix

by C. G. Coppola

  “Humans still hungry?” Warze frowns, then tosses another melon to both Rogues.

  “Hey, thanks, Warze!” Jace grins, digging into the fruit. Booker mirrors the gratitude and brings the bright yellow melon to his mouth.

  “How you feeling?” Reid whispers to me, brushing back another curl. “You doing alright?”

  “This day…” I bite my lip.

  “I know.”

  I look between his eyes, needing to hear it. “Are we going to be able to do this?”

  He picks at a piece of thread on his shoes, watching it with dedicated focus. “We didn’t think it was possible to get off Harrizel,” he glances around at our surroundings, “and here we are. You know… Tucker is a legit tribesman and you,” he turns to me with the sweetest smile, the kind that absolutely melts me. “You’re part Dofinike,” he shrugs. “Why can’t we?”

  “Reid…” it comes out a soft whisper only he can hear. “I’m worried.”

  “I’m not leaving you again,” his hand trails down my face.

  “No,” I shake my head, holding his hand to my cheek. “I’m worried about the others. Pratt and Mae. Able… I need to know they’re okay.”

  “They’ll be fine. They’re with Sampson.”

  He’s right; they’re safest with him more than anyone. After a minute of convincing myself, I finally nod. “Okay.”

  “So,” he smiles, narrowing his eyes. “Why don’t you tell me about earlier?”

  “Earlier?”

  “Booker said you shot at the Vermix and they all scrambled?”

  “It was a diversion. So he could get Jace.”

  Reid’s smile fades. “And the Vermix chased you?”

  “They would’ve gotten me except the Zingfinolds showed up. Saved my butt.”

  “Female rush through forest, all Dofinikes behind her,” Warze says. “Perfect distraction for Zingfinold to strike.”

  “See?” I turn to Reid with a grin. “It worked for everybody.”

  Reid runs his fingers across his brows, massaging them. “Jesus.”

  “It was the only thing we could do.”

  “You’ve got a pretty brave gal there, Boss,” Jace chews. “Smart too.”

  “She’s something alright,” Reid looks at me, a smile working its way back into place. He runs his fingers down my face and gently grips my chin, pulling my mouth up to his. He places a soft kiss on my lips and looks between my eyes. “Please be careful.”

  “Right back at you.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “And I’m joking?”

  Reid exhales with a bit of a laugh, shaking his head. “Alright. I promise if you do.”

  “I always promise.”

  “Good,” he kisses me again before jumping to a stand. Making his way over to Warze, they both look up at the sky again. It’s only darkened slightly, to a soft hazy purple, but night will be here soon. Too soon. Crossing his arms, Reid turns to the Zingfinold. “Do you know how many you’ve got out here in the trees?”

  Warze glances beyond the lime green curtain, half shrugging. “Hundred.”

  “A hundred or hundreds?” Jace asks.

  “A hundred,” Warze says.

  “Jeez…” the Rogue shakes his head. “Still not good.”

  “Walker estimated about five thousand down at the beach,” I rise to a stand. “If most of them came over here…”

  “And that’s more than a few thousand,” Jace gets to his feet, peering down to the Vermix-covered ground.

  “The odds were against us before,” I say. “We’re all still here.”

  “That’s right. And now we have more help with us,” Reid turns to Warze. “Are they all spread out and awaiting your signal?”

  He nods once.

  “How do you want to do it? Attack from the middle and send them scrambling? Or from both sides, picking them off?”

  “Both sides. Break into pieces on both sides… work into center,” Warze glances up to the sky once more. “Soon night come and we attack.”

  We wait while the sky darkens to a deep, cobalt blue. Jace and Booker rest against the trunk, arms folded and eyes closed. Warze crouches by the Yulus, peering out to the movement below and Reid and I are standing a few feet away, over by the edge. Rubbing his hands down my arm, Reid kisses my forehead before bringing his mouth low to my ear.

  “I want you constantly near me.”

  “I’ll try. You know I can’t make you that promise.”

  “I don’t care. I always want to be able to see you—to know where you are,” he brushes a curl behind my ear. “Let’s stick together, okay?”

  I nod and he leans down, planting a gentle kiss on my lips. It heats me more than it should, even now, when it’s the last thing I should be thinking of. Still hovering on my lips, his mouth turns up into a smile. “I’m looking forward to celebrating our victory.”

  “Me too.”

  He winks, backing up. “Warze,” he spins, motioning to the sky. “What do you think? We ready?”

  With a quick glance up through the lime green shield, the Zingfinold tribesman nods. “It time.”

  “We’ll take this end. Leave half the Zingfinolds here and have the others take the north side.”

  Warze points a few trees over, behind Booker. “Tizno start attack. Work forward, through Dofinikes and do no slow. Remember, silent—always moving. Do no stay in same Eckle long. Always moving.”

  Letting out a new fluttery whistle, Warze looks between us. With a slight nod, he leaps off the tree and through the Yulus, disappearing in seconds. The leaves only rustle momentarily, quickly stilling into their uniformed shield again.

  “How do we know when it’s going to start?” Jace asks.

  “I’m pretty sure we’ll know,” Reid opens the curtain and peers down to the Vermix. “Alright,” he says, “we’ll head down another few levels to have a better chance at hitting our target. When we shoot, we aim for the head, neck or chest and only try for a few targets at a time. No more than five or so. Even if you miss, move on; make for another branch and start again. Like Warze said,” he looks back at us, “always be moving. If they can see you, they can shoot you. Don’t give them that advantage. We’re here to create a panic; an invisible threat from above.”

  “They’ll climb the trees looking for us,” Jace says.

  “Yep,” he nods. “No Traxpires. Not unless you absolutely must.”

  “They all might ascend,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “They won’t want to deviate from their search. It’s too important. They’ll send some up, but not all and this time, we’ve got at least a hundred Zingfinolds with us.”

  “It’s something,” Booker agrees.

  “Alright,” Reid rubs his hands together. “Ready?”

  We nod and he motions to the bell-shaped leaves ahead. I have both of our Traxpires and our Brulilies tucked away in my pockets. Jace and Booker descend first and Reid approaches, wrapping an arm around me. He offers an encouraging smile and it distracts me as we start to lower through the Yulus. We’re halfway between the tree’s base and middle when my shoes hit the bark. I shift my focus from Reid to the ground. There’s a much clearer view of the Vermix here.

  “When?” I hear Jace whisper.

  Reid holds his hand up. We hold our breath, waiting, watching. And then it happens. A single Brulily dart flies through the air, striking into the closest Vermix and soundlessly, he falls to the ground. A couple Dofinikes notice, but before they’re about to investigate, more darts fly and like the first, they drop with ease.

  It happens so suddenly—the shower of darts raining on the edge of the Vermix, most crashing to the dirt without any idea of what’s happening. But with each fallen Dofinike, more and more notice and look to the trees. Before they can make any real headway, they tumble to the ground too. And then more look up, and then more, and suddenly, only half the darts are actually piercing the Vermix. The rest fall to the ground because the Dofinikes are racing over, aim
ing for the trees where Reid, Booker, Jace and I send ours flying.

  Keeping still, I simply focus on pegging them. They’re scampering up the bark but I focus on remaining calm. Just focus. As long as you hit them, it doesn’t make a difference how high they get. Only a handful have scurried up and the boys are letting theirs fly next to me. Taking my time, I chose my target and focus on his snarling snout. With a deep blow, I aim for the crown of his head and send my dart soaring. He pauses mid climb and after a second, releases the tree, falling backwards into the darkness.

  “Time to move,” Reid whispers, slipping his hand around my waist and together we swing onto another branch. Jace and Booker do the same, moving to the same tree, keeping our small group together. The Vermix continue ascending the other area but with our new location, we take advantage of shooting them while they’re distracted. One by one they release the tree, falling straight back and with so many hitting the forest base at once, they make a considerable thud, causing more Vermix to look over and notice. “We should probably move again. Over there,” Reid points a few trees down. “Let’s go.”

  He takes my waist again and we soar through the Eckles, to the next branch while Jace and Booker swing behind us. But then an orange blast shoots past me, searing the edge of the bark. I jerk back, my pulse racing as Jace reaches for his Traxpire. But Reid places his hand on the RC’s shoulder and shakes his head. Another explosion ripples through the leaves and Booker sends a few darts flying. After a minute, another thud hits the ground and Reid motions us to a different tree.

  Once we’re there, a soft patter of feet moves above. It’s almost too silent to hear and when I look up, it’s gone. A soft spray of darts release from the same spot and a leaping Vermix falls back mid-flight, crashing to the ground. Another quiet patter of feet sound below, and again, when I look, nothing is there. Just the swaying Yulus. The Zingfinolds are all around us, sweeping silently through the forest and unleashing a rain of Brulily darts.

  “Do you think the others know by now?” I whisper to Reid.

  Tightlipped, he shakes his head, pointing to the center of the giant Vermix army where the majority are still working away at excavating the mountain. Only the south end has really noticed and the panic hasn’t rippled through to the middle yet. This is good. It’s working. Only a portion of the Vermix are aware there’s a situation but most have no clue. And I know the north end is being chipped away too. Is that where Warze is?

  I turn to ask Reid what he thinks when a hand slips over my mouth and I’m drawn back. My heart races, my body shaking until I realize that it’s Reid holding me still, keeping me quiet. But why? It’s then that I see what the others are looking at—a trio of Vermix on the other side of the trunk, not more than a few feet away. They’re sniffing up, investigating, and about to come around when Jace sends a dart flying, hitting one in the neck. His talons fly to the needle, his yellow eyes growing wide. The other two immediately notice, racing around. Snatching my blade, Reid backhands one in the throat and sweeps his leg out to trip him while Booker shoots three darts straight into the face of the last one. They both fall over the edge after the first, causing a loud thud on the forest base.

  “That was close,” Reid whispers. “We need to keep going.”

  “Boss,” Jace motions to the ground, to the swarm of Vermix suddenly jetting up our surrounding trees. “Think they finally noticed.”

  Before it was just a handful of curious Dofinikes—the lucky ones who weren’t immediately shot down. Not until they tried going after us and were knocked from the Eckles. But with all their noticeable crashing, too many have discovered the threat and now they’re coming after us.

  Something lands on the branch behind us and as we all turn to shoot, Warze offers a disappointing scowl. “Keep moving,” he hisses before leaping onto another a tree.

  “You heard the man, uh—Zingfinold,” Jace says, grabbing a lime Yulu and swinging after him, Booker quickly follows.

  Reid secures me to his waist and we go flying after the first two, through the darkness and past the shield of hanging Yulus. But this time, it’s not just the invisible Zingfinolds scurrying through the forest anymore. The Vermix presence is palpable. They’re clunky and loud when their talons grip into the trees and their snarls permeate up the trunks. I’m not sure how many are up here with us, but we don’t stop very long to find out. We swing from branch to branch, trying to get a good look at things but everywhere we stop, there’s a Vermix ascending the trunk, about to leap for us.

  And that’s when it really starts.

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Hylas Mountains

  Brulily darts whiz past.

  I’m not sure where to stand, where to go—everything is happening so quickly. Viscous snarls invade the leaves, coming from all directions and it’s like what it was earlier this morning, when the Vermix rushed the forest. Except now the Zingfinolds have joined the battle and instead of Traxpire explosions ripping through the air, it’s tiny needle-sized darts.

  I’m never sure which way to go, which direction to move. I just keep going with Reid, ducking when he says so and stopping when he commands. I still have my Brulily, but I’m not sure it’s much use with the Vermix racing through the trees with us. A blast of orange sears the trunk next to me but before I have a moment to think, Jace reaches around and fires back with the same defense. He misses, and the Vermix leaps toward us, aiming for our branch. But he’s knocked out by a large moving force. It’s so quick that I almost miss it and the Zingfinold disappearing into the shadows again.

  Another Vermix tries leaping for us, but this time I reach for my Traxpire. Centering on the green patch between his eyes, I shoot him through the head. He falls and Booker guns down the one right behind him. A third takes off for us and a large, dark force knocks into him, the two vanishing below.

  “Shit,” Jace curses. “Guess they’re onto us.”

  “We need to get higher,” Reid says. “Top of the canopy.”

  Booker and Jace leap first but as Reid and I are about to take off after them, a Vermix lands in front of us, knocking Reid’s Traxpire to the side. Lunging, the Dofinike grips him around the throat, pinning him to the tree. Fury flares through me and whipping the blade from my pocket, I jam it right into the Vermix’s neck. When he doesn’t move, I do it again and again, carving a galley until his head slumps over, onto the other side and he falls off the branch altogether.

  “Are you okay?” I rush up to Reid.

  With a gulp, he nods, bringing a hand to his neck. “Shit. That bastard was quick.”

  “Sure you’re okay?”

  “Fallon!” He pushes me to the side as another Vermix leaps onto the branch, right where I was standing. Reid takes the brunt of the hit and before I’m able to do anything, the two go toppling off the landing.

  “REID!” I cry. My heart stops, my mind scrambling. Rushing to the edge, I peer over and watch blasts of orange rip through the darkness. Darts swish past, raining horizontal after the Traxpire blasts and I can’t breathe. “Reid!”

  I know I should be going up, toward the canopy where it’s safest. I know that’s what Reid would want me to do, but there’s no way I’m leaving him. It’s just not a choice. Taking a huge breath, I grab onto the closest Yulu and lower myself into the chaos, landing on a branch close to the ground. I don’t know where he landed—which direction he even went—but it doesn’t matter.

  I’m finding him.

  “Reid!” I scream, grabbing unwanted attention from several Vermix.

  They turn their Traxpires on me but I dodge, rounding to the other side of the trunk. This isn’t smart. I know it isn’t but it doesn’t matter.

  “Reid!” I call again, swinging to another branch, scanning as quickly as possible. Orange blasts fly in my direction but I duck and swing, dodging as I make my way through the trees. I only fire back when there’s a Vermix in close range or if I need to hit one to clear a path. I’m not really fighting this battle right now—the quest is fo
r Reid. To find him. To make sure he’s still alive and if not, to kill every fucking Vermix on this planet.

  A huge force lands on my branch and as I turn, ready to fire, Warze shakes his head, pointing to a nearby tree. Quickly, he snatches me toward him, pulling me out of the range of a Traxpire explosion. It singes the tree and the smell of burnt bark invades my nostrils.

  “Silent, female,” he growls and releasing a shower of Brulilies, he pegs the nearby Vermix. “Come.”

  “But Reid—”

  “Human safe,” he wraps an around me. “I take you to him.”

  Before I’m able to say anything, we’re swinging through the trees, right in the midst of raining darts and thunderous explosions. He brings us to another branch and we’re off again after only a second, moving swiftly from tree to tree, never stopping for more than a minute. It’s different than what Reid, Jace, Booker and I were doing. We would land, fire some darts and after a bit, we’d take off again. But Warze barely stops. He only uses the branches as connection points—leaping from them to get to the next target.

  “Where’s Reid?” I ask after reaching the fifth or sixth Eckle.

  “On ground.”

  “What?”

  Warze drops us lower, blasting the impending Vermix and creating a steady path to the forest base. We land at the southern side of the mountain among a pile of fallen Dofinikes—the first handful that were taken out. I’m about to ask Warze where Reid is again but then I see him.

  My heart stops.

  Empty-handed, he’s fighting two Vermix who have also lost their Traxpires, the battle consisting of hand-to-claw combat only. It would be over if Reid didn’t move so quickly, running up the body of one and scissor-kicking the other, all while jabbing with sharp angles of his fingers and hard blasts of his fists. He’s too fast for them—too swift. Both Vermix try to snatch him but he rolls off with ease, continuing to rain down with jet-like actions and reflexes. Even weaponless, Reid is in control of this battle. But I can’t watch it anymore. I need to help.