“What does that mean, Chiye-tanka?” Elizabeth asked.
“Big man,” Paco said. “Or, Great Elder Brother if you prefer.”
“It was trying to protect us,” Cassie said. “I’m sure of it.”
“I think you’re right,” Paco said.
“What else can you tell us about it?” Elizabeth asked.
At first, Cassie thought that Paco was ignoring her and that perhaps the other woman had insulted him by asking, but after several moments of quiet contemplation, Paco started talking again, choosing his words carefully. “There are different beliefs among different tribes. My people, the Dane-zaa, believe that the Great Elder Brother comes from the Great Spirit, the Earth Father, to look after us.”
“I believe that, too,” said Elizabeth, a look of profound innocence in her big brown eyes.
Paco smiled, but out of sight, Cassie rolled her eyes.
“The Great Elder Brother is a special type of being, a supernatural spirit and a messenger during times of trouble. This is why he appeared to my uncle to warn us that the fires would change direction. But not all First Nations people think that way. Others, like the Métis, don’t see him as a benevolent spirit at all. To them, he’s the Rugaru, a beast.”
“Rugaru?” repeated Cassie, sounding the word out.
“It’s a bastardization of the French words Loup Garou.”
“Werewolf?” asked Elizabeth, making the sign of the cross.
Paco nodded. “The Ojibway see him in much the same way, but they believe he’s a form of the Windago, the beast that eats the flesh of men.”
A shudder ran through Cassie. Anyone who grew up in the North had heard tales of the Windago, the cannibal monster.
“It isn’t true,” said Paco. “Maybe there’s such a creature in the south, but up north, the Great Elder Brother is a friend. You’ll never find agreement between all of the native peoples on this matter. We’re too diverse, with too many different stories. But I believe we lost a great friend last night. One we’re going to need.”
Cassie nodded vigorously. “It was a friend. That’s why it gave me the gift, the Brace.”
“Us,” insisted Elizabeth, “he gave us the Brace.”
Cassie felt her face heat, but she ignored the other woman. The creature had given it to her, and Buck had stolen it. Even now, he had it stowed away somewhere in his vehicle. She downed the dregs of her coffee, feeling her bitterness rise. “So, what now?”
“Now we go after it,” said Paco. “This time, hopefully, it doesn’t ambush us again.”
At that moment, they heard the low roar of an aircraft then the distinctive stuttering of a helicopter’s rotor blades. Within moments, a dark-green helicopter flew over them, skimming the treetops and heading south in the direction the basilisk had gone. Paco smiled, indicating the passage of the helicopter with his coffee cup. “That should help.”
Buck stepped away from his MRAP and faced the two women and native tracker. “Finish eating,” he called out. “We’re moving again in five.”
Where’s my Brace, you arrogant son of a bitch?
* * *
Just as Paco had said, the basilisk’s trail moved southwest, following the shore of the Pine River. Elizabeth had moved out on foot again with Paco and the tracking party, while Cassie remained a passenger in the MRAP. Later that day, around one in the afternoon, the MRAPs met up with the tracking party once more at a bend in the Pine River. At that point, the mag-sens changed places, and Cassie went out on foot. This time, it was much easier keeping up with the others. She was still scared, but it was also a relief to finally get out of the MRAP and into the fresh air.
A light breeze caressed her skin, carrying with it the scent of pine needles. They followed the river south and every now and again saw small pleasure boats out on the water, probably carrying fishing or hunting parties. Sometimes, the people on board would see them and stare at the soldiers. After all, there was no army base this far north, no reason for them to be here. Cassie waved to one boatload of hunters, but Alex met her gaze and shook his head disapprovingly, and she didn’t do it again.
A large blackfly buzzed her face, and she swatted it away in annoyance. The flies would only get worse as the weather got warmer—so would the constantly annoying mosquitoes. This was the North, after all. Just then, she heard rotors overhead and looked up to see their helicopter flash by over the treetops. No doubt, the noise was scaring the hell out of the local wildlife and pissing off the hunters, but with the basilisk running loose, that was probably a good thing. Hunters shouldn’t be anywhere near these woods right now. Everyone needed to stay clear out of the area.
Except for us dummies actually looking for the monster.
As the sound of the helicopter receded, Cassie pushed on again, catching up to the rest of the tracking party. How long would it take to find this thing—days or weeks? And for that matter, why hadn’t the helicopter found it already? How hard could it be to locate a creature the size of a truck? The hunt for the hellhounds had only taken one night, but they had been tracking the basilisk for much longer than that.
Paco must be exhausted by now. She sighed, pushed her field cap back a bit, and wiped the sweat from her forehead before redoubling her efforts to catch up.
Chapter 36
It was early evening as the Bell CH-146 Griffon utility helicopter banked sharply, making a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. Its pilot, Captain Paul Linders, scanned the pine trees below, as did his copilot, Lieutenant Jean-Phillipe Bastien, and the two door gunners, each crewing a C-6 general-purpose machine gun. His flight engineer, Second Lieutenant Karen Higgins, was too busy monitoring her instruments to help search for giant man-eating lizards. The only passenger was one of the American Delta Force operators, who had boarded carrying a high-powered air gun. Paul’s job, which he privately thought of as a complete waste of his considerable flying skills, was to find the basilisk and put the Delta soldier into a firing position with the air gun.
They were a flying hunting party, and so far, the mission was a bust. Had Paul not seen the evidence of the basilisk’s attack on the Magic Kingdom the night before, as well as the burning wreckage of the MRAP it had destroyed, he would have called bullshit. Even after seeing firsthand the black-and-white video feed of the creature ripping through the perimeter fence, he still struggled to accept that he was really out here, flying around looking for a mythical beast.
Paul flew the helicopter over the tree line at close to 220 kilometers an hour, crisscrossing the terrain ahead of the tracking party on the ground. They had been up for almost an hour and a half. At best, they could only stay airborne another thirty minutes before he began pushing his fuel reserves.
How is it possible we haven’t seen this thing yet? It’s freaking huge.
In mounting frustration, he pushed the transmit button on his microphone, activating his crew communications. “Guys?” This was the sixth time he had asked in the last twenty minutes, so there was a noticeable pause before the two door gunners answered.
“Nothing yet,” said Master Corporal Keith Howard on his starboard.
“Nada,” replied Corporal Ken Otachi on the port side.
Paul sighed and shook his head. Why was he even bothering? If anyone had seen a giant lizard, they sure as hell weren’t going to wait for him to ask before sounding off. He activated his communications link to the ground team and advised them he was going to swing farther south for several more passes. If they still hadn’t seen anything after that, he was going to have to return to base for refueling before coming back again. There was a second Griffon at the Magic Kingdom, with another crew ready to go. They’d fly in shifts until they found this damned thing.
He banked the aircraft, putting the setting sun on his right. Long shadows stretched across the ground. By the time he returned to base to refuel and come back, it’d be dark, and they’d have to fly with night vision. And while he and his crew were really, really goddamned good at flying with night
vision, daylight was always better for visibility. Honestly, he wondered for the hundredth time, how the hell is it we can’t find it?
And then they did.
Jean-Phillipe swore excitedly in French, pointing to the forest in front of them. “You see that?”
Less than a half kilometer away, a giant lizard rose up on its hind legs, staring at the approaching helicopter. It actually stood there watching them for several seconds before turning and darting back into the tree line, disappearing from sight.
“Cheeky bastard,” said Paul as he adjusted the aircraft’s course, heading directly for the basilisk. “Get ready,” he said over the intercom. “We’ve found it.” Then he transmitted the same message to Buck with the ground team.
Behind him, the US Special Forces operator prepped his air gun for firing and made sure his harness was secured. Paul didn’t pay any more attention because he knew Karen would help him. Paul’s concern was driving the Griffon and putting it in the best position for the soldier to take his shot. And if by some chance the drugs didn’t work, Paul was going to let the door gunners light it up with the C-6s. There was no way he was letting this thing go—the hell with orders. It had killed people, including fellow soldiers.
Within seconds, they cut over the copse of trees in which the basilisk had disappeared. All eyes scanned the forest, which was a mixture of thick pines and trembling asp trees interspersed with bushes and other sight-obscuring foliage. It didn’t matter how dense the foliage was, though; now that they had found it, the basilisk wasn’t going any farther. Paul would fly the Griffon on fumes if he had to.
“There! There it is.” Jean-Phillipe pointed.
Paul had expected the basilisk to run as all other animals did when chased by a helicopter. But instead, it sat within the copse, glaring up at them. Paul slowed the aircraft to a crawl and then turned it, positioning the starboard side toward the basilisk so his passenger could take a shot.
After several moments, Karen came forward, sticking her head between him and Jean-Phillipe. “He says he needs you to get closer,” she yelled, excitement in her eyes.
“Closer? Are you shitting me?” Paul asked. “How close?”
“Says he needs to be within fifty meters to be sure.”
Jesus, that close? Aren’t these guys supposed to be expert shots? Paul shook his head. “I’ll do what I can, but I’m not getting that close. We don’t know how its death-gaze thingie works, and I’m not risking the aircraft.”
Karen nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
“Tell him to just make the goddamned shot and quit whining.”
Karen darted back, and Paul returned his attention to the basilisk, now less than a hundred meters away and still watching them. He edged the aircraft closer, keeping a wary eye on the tops of the trees. The last thing he needed was to go down anywhere near this thing.
“I’m going to paint a dragon silhouette on the fuselage,” Jean-Phillipe muttered. “It’s going to be so awesome.”
Paul grinned, bobbing his head. And then the cabin filled with flames.
Paul inhaled, sending fire down his throat, scorching his lungs. There wasn’t even time to scream.
* * *
“Something’s channeling,” Cassie yelled to Alex and the others in the tracking party.
In the forest about a kilometer away, there was an impossibly loud explosion, followed almost immediately by a thick cloud of oily black smoke.
“Oh, crap,” Cassie whispered.
More people had just died.
Chapter 37
Although the MRAPs arrived at the crash scene within minutes, the basilisk was already gone. Alex saw right away that there was no one left alive to save. The helicopter fuselage was a blazing wreck, its heat so intense he and Buck could only circle it in helpless rage. On the other side of the inferno, Paco moved through the trees with two soldiers, looking for signs of the beast. Cassie and Elizabeth waited inside one of the MRAPs, where they might be safer if it came to a sudden fight.
Wherever it was, it had to still be close, Alex knew.
Buck removed his bush cap and ran his hands back over his crew cut, pulling the skin on his already gaunt face even tighter. “I’m so goddamned tired of this shit.”
“That’s two of the tranq guns gone now,” Alex said.
Buck said nothing.
“Two down, and we still don’t know if the drugs will even work.”
“You just fucking know everything, don’t you?”
“This isn’t going to work, you know,” Alex said, turning his face away from the heat of the fire. They still had one tranquilizer gun, but now—without the helicopter—how were they even going to get close enough to use it without risking losing the shooter, or the rest of the team?
The burning helicopter had set fire to a number of the surrounding pine trees, which now cracked and roared. The province would need to get a water bomber out there right away. If not, the fire might spread and maybe even threaten a community. At any other time, they’d stay and help fight it, but Alex knew they were going to just keep going—they had to. They were too close to stop now.
“We have to take it alive,” Buck said, perspiration making his face shine. “McKnight said—”
“McKnight isn’t here. And if he were, I don’t think he’d want us to lose the entire team trying.”
Buck grimaced, shook his head. “Well, Newf, we’re gonna.”
Paco approached them, his hunting rifle held across his chest.
“Well?” Buck asked.
“The sign is fresh and pretty clear. This thing isn’t exactly hard to track.” Paco pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a smoldering branch. “It’s moving south, but it’s only about ten to fifteen minutes ahead of us.”
“The second helicopter?” Alex asked Buck.
Buck shook his head. “McKnight doesn’t want to risk it, not without knowing what happened to this one. We’re on our own.”
“The basilisk happened to this helicopter,” Paco said, staring at the fire.
“Can you get a shooter close enough to it without being seen?” Alex asked Paco.
Paco took a drag of his cigarette and paused, considering the question. “Maybe. But this thing is smart, not like the hellhounds. It knows when it’s being tracked and understands what’s a danger and what isn’t. That’s why it took out the chopper. And last night, had it not been for the Great Elder Brother…”
“You’re pulling this out of your ass. You don’t know; you’re guessing,” said Buck. “Someone needs to go in there after it on foot.”
An ominous silence settled over them, broken only by the crackling of the burning pines. Alex watched Buck’s face as the other man considered his options. McKnight wanted it alive, and Alex could see why. If they could somehow replicate the creature’s gaze, it would make a powerful weapon. But now, the shooter was going to be at risk.
“I’ll go,” Alex said.
Buck frowned. Paco looked frightened.
“I’m not sure McKnight wants the senior Canadian officer on Task Force Devil—”
“Don’t worry about McKnight. He’ll understand. All I need is for Paco to get me close enough to take a shot.”
Buck chewed his lip as he considered Alex’s offer. “All right. Let’s try that. You two go ahead alone. Less chance it’ll see you. We’ll follow behind on foot without the MRAPs.”
“You sure?” Alex asked. “We may need the firepower.”
“Buck’s right,” said Paco. “This thing will hear the vehicles. I’m sure of it. There’s no way you’ll get close enough to use the co-ax.”
“We’ll get by without the vehicles,” Buck said. “We’ll finish this on foot. Today.”
“And if the drugs don’t work?” Alex asked.
“Then we use the anti-armor weapons. An assault team with the M-72s. McKnight won’t like it, but if you fail, then we’re all out of other options.”
“M-72s are short-range. You sure they’ll work?�
�� Alex asked.
“If we can hit it, we can kill it,” Buck said.
“And if we don’t?”
Buck sighed and nodded to himself. “Okay. I’m giving the magic glove thingy to the girl, just in case.”
“Cassie?” Alex asked.
“No, the other one, the good one.”
He understood Buck’s reasoning. Elizabeth had consistently demonstrated more skill and potential than Cassie. They knew nothing about the glove, so the smart money was on arming Elizabeth.
Buck turned away from both of them. “You two get moving. We’ll follow behind as soon as we can.”
Alex grabbed his arm. “Wait. I want to bring Cassie with me, just in case.”
Paco stepped forward. “I don’t—”
“Not your call, Chief,” said Buck. “Go ahead. Bring Blondie with you. I don’t need her. But for your sake, I sure hope she can move quietly.”
“So do I,” Alex said.
* * *
Heat flushed through Cassie’s body as she watched Buck give the Brace—her Brace—to Elizabeth. Elizabeth, with a self-satisfied look on her face, took the talisman, folded it up, and slipped it into the pocket of her combat pants. Then she actually looked over at Cassie and smiled. Cassie breathed deeply, trying to remain calm. The rest of the soldiers bustled about the two MRAPs, unloading weapons and ammunition. This time, she knew, no one would remain behind, not even a driver. The vehicles would be locked up and left hidden in the trees. The soldiers prepared themselves for battle, stuffing grenades and magazines of ammunition into their load-bearing vests. Several of them slung metal tubes the length of their arms over their backs. They were rocket launchers; Cassie was certain of that.
Starlight (The Dark Elf War Book 1) Page 29