Starlight (The Dark Elf War Book 1)

by William Stacey

  As she approached Paco, he remained squatting on the ground, watching her over his shoulder. “Hey, little sister. What up?”

  Clyde bounded over and jumped up against her thigh, his tongue hanging out. The animal was so large he almost knocked her over. It took several moments before Clyde calmed down.

  Paco cocked his head to the side and examined the dog. “You all done with the pretty girl now, Clyde? Ready to get back to work?”

  Clyde locked his gaze on Paco and barked, just once. To Cassie’s ear it sounded just a tad defiant, maybe grouchy.

  Paco stared into Clyde’s eyes, a look of complete seriousness on his features. “Kaanetaah, Clyde. Kaanetaah.”

  Immediately, Clyde spun about in a circle and began sniffing the ground again. Paco motioned Cassie over. She knelt down beside him, looking at the terrain he had been examining before she interrupted. There was an opening in the fence about four feet wide. Dozens of large, canine-like prints overlapped one another, creating a muddy mess.

  “That was cool,” Cassie said. “Dene-Zaa?”

  “Yup.”

  “Ka-an-etaa-ah.” Cassie sounded the word out slowly. She had always loved languages, and Dene-Zaa was about as exotic as you could get.

  Paco grimaced. “Close enough. You see what happened here?” He let his fingers trail over one of the less-trampled prints.

  “There was a break in the fence, so they all funneled in here.”

  Paco shook his head. “They broke the fence—at least, the alpha did. Didn’t even burn it first; just ran right through it. The others followed him in.”

  Really? How big are these things? “Him?”

  “Most likely a him. I’m applying wolf behavior to these things, but I don’t really know if they’re like wolves or not. I just got nothing else to go on.”

  “So, what now?”

  “Look at this.” He placed the stick he was holding onto the ground, using it to measure the space between two of the large paw prints. “This is the alpha’s track. Look at this bad boy’s stride. This fella is a big one, real big. Probably more than three hundred pounds.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Means his head comes up to your chest. Big, big fire doggy.”

  Cassie’s hand reached her chest, and she stared at it. “Really? That big?”

  Clyde whined and flopped down on the ground beside Paco.

  “Clyde don’t like these things. Can’t say I blame him.”

  “Will he track them?”

  Paco snorted, reached over, and scratched behind the shepherd’s ears. “He’ll track ’em if I ask him to. For now. When we get closer… I don’t know. A good dog’ll do just about anything you want it to, but you push them too far…”

  “Can I help?”

  Paco watched her, a grin on his face. There was a large gap between his front teeth. “I don’t know, little sister. Can you?”

  “I spent some summers working with the park rangers. I’m not useless. I’ve done a lot of hiking around here.”

  “No. You’ve done a lot of hiking in Moberly Park. These things have gone north. Wildlands up north.”

  “I know. I can sense them. They’re getting farther away.”

  Paco’s grin disappeared, and he watched her face closely. “That true—you can sense them?”

  She nodded. “We all can. But I think I’m better at it than the others.”

  Paco stood up and leaned back against an unbroken section of the fence. He pulled a small notepad out of his pocket and began writing in it. Cassie heard footsteps and turned to see Buck and Alex approaching. Alex smiled, but Buck looked pissed off, which, near as she could tell, was how he always looked.

  “What’s going on, Chief?” Buck asked. “When we moving?”

  Without looking up, Paco kept scribbling notes. “Whenever you and your boys are ready. You got a map of the area?”

  “Course we do, Chief.” Buck nodded at Alex.

  On cue, Alex pulled a large map from his trouser pocket. It was folded like an accordion, so it could open up as much or as little as needed. Alex handed the map to Paco, who, now down on one knee, unfolded it. Buck and Alex dropped down beside him while Cassie looked over his shoulder. The map displayed the local area, including all of Moberly Lake Park and the Pine River Valley running north to the Moberly River.

  “They’ve headed up this way,” Paco said, indicating the area on the map with his finger. “We’ve got about twenty K of some pretty savage wilderness between here and the Moberly River.”

  “Can they cross the river?” Buck asked.

  Paco hesitated. “Maybe. Wolves might if they thought they had to. But the real question is do they need to? There’s lots of terrain to move about in up there and lots of game, including all the farms in the valley.”

  “Okay, so what then?” Buck asked.

  “Well, they’ve eaten, full bellies, so they’re probably gonna go to ground, but if they’re like wolves, they may be nocturnal—they may not go to sleep until early morning.”

  “You think they got a lair up north?” Alex asked.

  “Don’t know.” With hooded eyes, Paco watched Buck carefully. “How long these things been here?”

  Buck scowled. “Just track the fucking things, Chief. That’s what we’re paying you for.”

  “I need good intel to do my job,” Paco said. “Just cut the secret shit and tell me unless you want these things getting the drop on us.”

  Buck’s eyes tightened with anger, but Alex spoke first. “We think they showed up the night of the bizarre electrical storm.”

  Buck glared at Alex, who simply shrugged. “What does it matter?”

  “Two weeks. Probably not long enough to find a lair, then,” Paco said. “Also, they won’t know the ground well. We got that going for us.”

  “Okay, what now?” Buck asked

  “Clyde and me follow their trail. He follows the blood scent. I follow the sign.”

  Alex leaned in to examine the map. “We got some trails, maybe big enough for the MRAPs, maybe not.” He looked up from the map. “We’re gonna have to go on foot.”

  Paco looked at Buck. “I’m gonna need help.”

  Buck exposed his teeth, looking like a grinning death’s head. “Don’t worry, Chief. We’ve done this sort of shit before. We’re pros. You’ll have a cover team out watching your ass for you. They’ll keep in touch with the MRAPs.” Buck glanced at Alex. “You’re up, Newf. Take four guys with you.”

  “We’re gonna have to go light.” If Alex was worried about stalking through the bush after a pack of fire-breathing dogs, he was hiding it well.

  “Go any way you have to,” Buck said. “Once we run these things down, you call me in. We’ll get ahead then light ’em up good. They may be tough, but they’re not bulletproof. And I got a score to settle with ’em.”

  “There’s more,” said Paco.

  “What?” said Buck.

  “I want Cassie with me. She can help track these things.”

  “No way,” said Alex.

  “Ain’t gonna happen, Chief,” Buck joined in. “McKnight’ll have my head if anything happened to one of his precious mag-sens.”

  “Look,” said Paco. “It’s getting dark. I’m gonna have to track by flashlight.”

  “So, we wait for morning, then,” Buck said.

  Paco shook his head. “Can’t. Look at the sky.”

  All of them turned toward the horizon, where dark clouds gathered near the setting sun.

  “This trail isn’t going to last if it rains,” Paco said. “When it does, we’ll be out on foot, in the weeds, hunting animals that probably feel pretty comfortable hunting us.”

  Alex shook his head again. “You got the dog. It can follow their scent.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” said Paco. “Clyde’s a pretty awesome dog. But there’s only so much you can ask of any animal, and he doesn’t like these things. If he loses his shit out there, we’ll be alone and in the dark.”
/>
  “I can do this,” Cassie jumped in. “It’s cool. I’ve done this sort of thing before.”

  Alex frowned. Buck laughed unkindly. “You’ve hunted fire-breathing dogs in the wilderness before?”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’ve been in this area before. I know my way—”

  “You don’t,” said Alex. “It’s cool you’re offering to help, but you have no idea what’s out there.”

  “Neither do you, Newf,” said Buck. He looked from Alex to Cassie and then to Paco. “Okay, Chief. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Blondie here goes with the cover team.” Alex opened his mouth to protest, but Buck jammed a finger into his chest. “I’m in fucking charge here. Not you. Jesus, I’m tired of telling you that. The girl goes. You keep her alive. If she gets her ass eaten out there, you can explain it to McKnight. She might as well start earning her pay.”

  Alex stared at the ground, his face red.

  “I’m getting paid?” Cassie forced a smile onto her features and tried her best to sound as though she wasn’t terrified.

  “Service to your country, Blondie,” said Buck. “That’s all the pay you need.”

  Chapter 25

  “You all set?” Alex asked Cassie.

  “Yeah, I’m good.”

  In truth, she didn’t feel good; she felt as though she was way out of her element. This was all happening too fast. It was still surreal. Was she really about to go hunt fire-breathing dogs in the wilderness—on foot?

  She had left her small pack in the vehicle. Alex had told her it was best to only carry what she’d need. He had, however, given her a Camelbak water hydration system, which was a small, water-filled backpack with a tube for sipping. If she wanted to drink, all she had to do was stick the tube in her mouth. She also wore a sleeveless equipment vest covered in pockets—a “load-bearing vest,” Alex had called it. He had pulled most of the equipment out of it, just leaving some rations, a first-aid kit, and a compass. Dangling over her chest from a strap was a set of night-vision glasses, a heavy and bulky device with four lenses.

  “All right.” Alex strapped a flashlight to the front of her load-bearing vest. Then he stood back a pace and critically examined her. “So, we’re going to be moving quickly, at least as quickly as we can, but I don’t want any problems out there. If you’re having difficulty keeping up, say something. Tell me, tell Clara, tell Paco. Shit, tell Clyde if you want. Just don’t keep problems to yourself out there. You can become a heat casualty faster than you can possibly imagine, and I have no intention of calling in Starlight tonight, okay?”

  She really didn’t know what he was talking about, but she nodded her head quickly.

  About ten paces away, Paco waited beside Clyde. In addition to Alex, Paco, and Clyde, there were four others in the cover party: Clara, Gus, Connor, and Eric. She couldn’t remember their last names, nor was she certain they had even given them. In truth, she was just happy she could remember their first names. Her thinking was a little bit addled at the moment. Clara, she knew, was a sergeant and acted as Alex’s second in command, but she didn’t know what rank the others were. It didn’t really matter, if she were being honest. They seemed really, really competent. They each carried a very dangerous-looking rifle with a collapsible stock and all sorts of high-tech doodads attached to it—Special Forces laser scopes and stuff like that, she guessed. She noticed Paco also carried a hunting rifle.

  Am I the only one who’s unarmed?

  “Do I need one of those?” she asked Alex, pointing at his rifle.

  His lips tightened as he silently contemplated her request. She had expected him to laugh, to mock her, maybe to make a joke. Jesus, do I need a weapon?

  “No, you just stick close by me.” He gripped her shoulder and squeezed it. “You’ll be fine.” He turned away, faced Paco. “Let’s get this done.”

  Paco nodded and knelt down beside the dog, who stared into his face expectantly. “Okay, Clyde. Way to find the scent. Now we need to hunt it. Dehdzat, Clyde. Dehdzat.”

  Deh-dzat. Cassie sounded this word out in her head as well as the other, Kaanetaah. Look. Hunt.

  The dog trotted into the woods, and the cover team followed.

  * * *

  Hours later, Cassie’s lungs were on fire, her thighs literally trembled—not in a good way—and every inch of her was drenched in sweat. Exhausted, she had to stop once more. Leaning over at the waist, she placed her hands against her knees and gasped for air. It was pitch dark, and all she had to light her way was the flashlight strapped to her load-bearing vest.

  She had made a lot of mistakes in her life—a lot of mistakes—but volunteering to come along with the cover team had been a doozy. She should have stayed with the trucks, with Elizabeth and Duncan. She didn’t belong here, hiking through the brush at night with professional soldiers. She was slowing them down. They must hate her guts for this. They had to be swearing at her beneath their breath, wishing she weren’t there. Sure enough, she saw Alex coming back for her once again. He dropped down on one knee and peered into her face. He had been a constant presence, always checking on her, making sure she was all right. She must be such a burden to him.

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled, feeling anything but fine.

  He felt her Camelbak, lifting it and squeezing. She had emptied it some time ago. She felt her face heat. She had hoped he wouldn’t notice that she had burned through all her water already.

  “Take it off,” he said.

  She slipped the straps off, and he pulled it away. A moment later, he had shrugged off his own Camelbak and was holding it out for her to slip onto her back.

  She shook her head, unable to talk coherently. “Yours,” she managed.

  “Jesus, Cassie, you’re worse than my sister. Take the water.”

  Feeling like she was going to die from shame, she slipped her arms through the Camelbak and pulled it on. A moment later, Alex put the nozzle in her mouth and stood and watched her as she drank. It tasted so good, so unbelievably good. Water had never tasted this good before.

  She was so out of shape.

  They had been tracking the hellhounds for more than five hours—five near-nonstop hours of climbing over, under, and through the bush. At first, she had kept up well enough, but all too quickly she had begun to get tired, and once that happened, her balance began to go. She had started to stumble, to fall. Now, her palms were skinned, her knee hurt, and her shoulders ached. When this torture was over, she was never, not ever, hiking again. Nature sucked.

  None of the others seemed to have any problems keeping up at all—and they were the ones carrying all the equipment. These guys—and she was definitely including Clara with the guys—were insanely fit.

  Not her. She needed a beer. She needed a bath. Neither was likely anytime soon.

  Up ahead, Paco squatted down again and used his flashlight to examine the ground. Clyde stood about two feet away, watching him. The dog’s eyes reflected the light from the flashlights. Alex and the other four soldiers used their night-vision devices, but Paco had insisted on his flashlight, stating he needed white light. Paco glanced over his shoulder, saw Cassie watching him, and then motioned for her to come closer. Sighing and wheezing, she staggered over before dropping down on her hands and knees beside him, grateful for the rest.

  “You gonna make it?”

  Not trusting herself to talk, she nodded.

  Paco watched her face closely for several more moments then used his flashlight to highlight the ground in front of him, angling the light so that it cast shadows against a large set of prints on the ground, creating a contrast.

  “This is our Alpha,” Paco said. “We’re catching up, so the track is fresh, maybe only one to two hours old. Clyde’s still on the scent, but the closer we get, the more restless he gets. He’s scared, and no shame on him, ’cause these things scare the shit out of me, too.” He paused, watching Cassie’s face. “Can you tell me anything?”

  She closed her eyes and concentrated, meas
uring the presence of mana around her. It was becoming easier for her. The more she used her mana-tracking sense, the more accustomed she became to it. “Nothing. They must be far away still.”

  “Do you feel them far away? Or not at all?”

  “It’s hard to describe, to put into words, but I think, and this is only a working theory, that I can tell when they draw or use mana.”

  “Okay, so you can track this mana use, not the actual creatures. All the time, or only when they’re using it?”

  “I think only when they’re using it… but I just don’t know for sure.”

  Paco’s face took on a deadly serious look, at odds with his constant smile. “Not so good, then. If they’re not using magic, maybe they could sneak up on us.”

  “It’s possible, but why would they do that?”

  “We don’t know these things at all. We don’t know what’s normal for them or how they hunt or whether anything from their world hunts them by their use of magic.”

  “Their world?”

  Paco glanced at Alex, who knelt beside Clara not too far away, their heads together in whispered conversation. The other soldiers had each taken up a different position, watching outward. They did this every single time they stopped. Even when they were just walking, each soldier watched a different direction, often stopping to aim down the scope of their weapons.

  “These things have to be aliens,” Paco whispered. “It’s the only possible conclusion.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know. They must have crash-landed on our planet.”

  “Giant fire-breathing wolves flew here in a spaceship and then crash-landed?”

  Paco’s face look pained. “Best I can come up with.”

  “Wait a minute,” she said, closing her eyes again. “There, I just sensed one of them, that way.” She pointed to the northeast.

  “Close?” Paco asked.

  “No. I don’t think so.”