The beast, unable to turn as sharp, followed them with a growl.
"Do that again!" Yaaranam knocked on the roof of the truck.
Back on the brakes, he spun the truck around, narrowly dodging a tree, and another eos he could only see the ankle of. This time when they went past the skaginvar, Yaaranam lit it up with the flamethrower.
The beast cried and turned in the opposite direction, its flesh scorched into charcoal down an entire side.
Snapping its jaws, it continued to turn right into the truck as it came for another sweep. It shoved the side of its head into the vehicle, flipping it off its wheels and sending it into the horde of eos still screeching and clawing at each other to get to Fenris.
The truck rolled several times, sending Yaaranam flying out of the hatch. When it stopped, it laid on its roof. Yaaranam cried out, laying just a few feet away.
Jackal groaned from the passenger seat, his back jabbed by the stick of the gear shift.
"Never been happier to be on those painkillers." He groaned. Leaning his head back, he spied out the small window of the door.
Black smog. It splashed around through the commotion. Bullets and grenades tearing up the ground outside.
The truck rocked back and forth. Valkria and smaller counterparts were jumping on top of the truck. They clawed and bit at the internals.
Jackal reached into the back seat to grab a rifle. He kicked the passenger door open and crawled out. He caught sight of Yaaranam sitting in the mud just a few meters away. Some of the creatures jumped right over her head. Up to his feet, Jackal rolled his shoulders and looked up.
That mangled up skaginvar was on the other side of the truck, its nose close enough for him to feel and smell that foul breath. Its jaws shivered as it growled.
“J-Jack!” Yaaranam hollered.
He barely turned his head to see why she was yelling.
A dead eos a few feet in front of her started to twitch. It kicked at the ground. Its tail thumped. With a sharp twist of its head, the whole body rolled. Black blood spilled from the bullet holes as each one quickly filled in with freshly grown flesh. It hacked and vomited bile and blood. Green glowing eyes locked on Yaaranam.
Then another one started to do the same thing. Another. Another.
All of the eos that they had gunned down, and set ablaze were rising back up. Their wounds cinching shut. Some of them were unlucky enough to get up in the khexide. Those eos succumbed in no time. They hobbled and coughed as their blood poured out yet again until they collapsed back down.
The skaginvar just in front of Jackal reared its head back with a snort.
Now the eos targeted them.
Deemed a threat, the humans were attacked. Each eos that came back from the dead leaped after the nearest soldier. Trucks were overrun. Those trying to stay in cover, were eaten alive.
Reaper had gathered a team a midst the combat. None were ready to see them come back to life. Now Reaper understood what the Alpha at Avant-Garde meant. Destroy the cores. How could he have forgotten?
“Captain!” A soldier shouted. “Captain, what do we do?”
“Center mass!” He said. “Take them down again! Stay in the khexide, it’s our only cover.”
“I can see Lieutenant Jackal out there.” Another said.
“We need to help him.” Reaper lead the charge into the rest of the eos.
He watched another truck topple over to the smaller eos. Doors ripped off. Bodies dragged out. When he turned in the other direction, he witnessed a valkria, with those crescent blades extended out at either of its sides. It charged into his team, slicing one soldier clean in half.
He turned from the valkria as it ran away only to be met face to face with the scarred up face of a beast he wished he did not recognize.
He hit the ground, the back of his head cracking against the dirt. Those head-sized incisors snapped shut right in front of his nose. Reaper twisted underneath the beast in time for its paw to smash into the ground right where his head had been. He gave it a swift punch to the soft part of its neck.
A kick to its ribs and Reaper shoved the beast off. Before he could get back up to his feet, it came for him again. A leap did not take Reaper down completely this time. It bit into his arm, kept him down on his knee.
It did not matter how many times he punched the monster. It continued to bite and swipe at him.
Destroy the core. He thought.
Where was it?
Inside the monster…
He gripped its fang, pulling on it to brace himself. The next time it opened its mouth to bite down again, Reaper shoved his hand into the back of its mouth. He hissed on the bite, squeezed the fang. Down its throat.
The beast pulled back, letting go of his arm.
Still Reaper pushed in deeper until his shoulder was within its jaws. He poked around, fingers attempting to hook anything they could.
It pawed at him, pinned him to the ground with its claws, and pulled on its head.
“Oh, Jesus, forgive me.” Reaper grumbled.
He felt something! Solid.
The beast stopped moving abruptly. Its jaws opened wide. Its posture dropped, eyes darting around until meeting Reaper’s miserable gaze.
He kept his finger on the solid object. He got the sense of fear. He could almost smell it. The beast trembled. Its soul reflected in those yellow eyes.
It didn’t want to die.
Reaper took a deep breath. Pulled himself from its mouth.
A chill ran down the creature’s spine. It shook its head and sneezed.
His face twisted, he shook his arm the best he could.
The beast bowed its head, chest against the ground.
“What?” He breathed.
He touched the creature’s nose. There was an instant connection. One of a warrior’s spirit. It accepted its fate. Reaper gave it a pat on its nose. With a grumble, the beast shook its head and jumped in a circle. Jaws snapped, and its lessers stopped what they were doing. They stepped off the soldiers, bowed their heads. The leader of the pack gave a huff, looked back to the Captain, and charged down the line of soldiers.
With its posse in tow, the pack of reldul tackled down the valkria. They stood with the soldiers and fired their weapons at the incoming eos. Their alpha never strayed far from Reaper, prioritizing his protection above all else.
They made it to Jackal’s position in time to catch Vactubstein and Tunaaka charge in from the side. The geihildra snapped around at the last second, kicking its hind legs back. A combination of its thagomizer lined tail, and a clawed foot crashed into the side of the skaginvar’s head just as it started to ignite its flame.
Its gigantic head snapped to the side, fire erupting from its mouth. With a roar it turned back, making a bite at the geihildra. It sidestepped, swinging its tail back and forth to tease the beast.
It took the bait, but was caught in the act by the reldul leaping out of the crowd of monsters. The largest of them and one of the smaller ones dug their claws into the giant’s snout. They kicked their feet against its jaw and bit down into its brow. The others circled around to leap on its side and destroy the weapons attached.
The soldiers fired upon it, careful not to hit their newfound comrades.
The skaginvar attempted to flee and shake off the reldul, but a well-timed smack of the tail from Tunaaka sent the beast toppling head first into the dirt. Dragged down to its side, the smaller reldul bit and pulled, distracting its feet and occupying its head. That left the alpha to attack the weakened area and tear its way through its chest.
“Captain!” Jackal called, getting himself up from the ground. “Fucking hell, you know how to make an entrance.”
“Are you two all right?” Reaper grabbed his shoulder.
“Banged up, but we can still fight.” He looked over to Yaaranam who was on her way over.
“Captain,” She said, panting. “Did you see? They rose up from the dead!”
“They weren’t actually dead.�
� Reaper said. “Fucked up, but not dead. You have to destroy the cores.”
“Yeah,” Jackal nodded. “It’s their soul. Something about setting it free.”
“Soul? Those aren’t meant to be tangible.”
A red glowing orb rolled across the ground, thumping against Reaper’s boot.
“That’s it.” Jackal pointed.
Reaper picked the orb up, and rolled it around his hands.
“This...is a soul?” He raised a brow.
“He’s gifted it to you!” Vactubstein shouted from atop Tunaaka.
“What? Why?”
“The alpha of the pack eats the soul,” He explained, “They grow stronger when they do.”
The eos shrieked. They started to run away from the cavern. They ignored the soldiers once more, choosing to run past them in quite a frantic hurry. They looked to see what they were running from.
Fenris was not much further away, in the middle of bringing down a giraffe sized beast. Its back covered in scutes and twin barrels aimed upwards, the creature let out a song of terror. It kicked and thumped its tail to try to get back up, but the wolf tore into one of its legs, climbing up on top of it.
Right behind him, was a creature unlike any of the others they had seen. Well over twenty-three feet tall at the shoulder, its spine was elongated into ten foot tall, metallic dorsal fins. Each spine had a series of crimson lights that glowed with fire. Its head was nearly six feet long with long, narrow jaws sporting conical teeth haphazardly grown in.
It rushed forth on all four limbs, the knuckles of its hands bent inwards to keep the razor sharp claws from dulling in the dirt. When it neared Fenris, it reared up on its hind legs and gave a single swipe that sent the wolf flying into the face of the cliff.
FORTY-SEVEN
The beast with the overgrown sail upon its back let out a hellacious shriek. Everything shook as if an earthquake threatened to rip the ground apart. Many of the eos ran away, but those brave enough swarmed the downed valkyrie. The remaining humans stood together with the few operational trucks pulling up behind them. In their panic the eos ran right through them and climbed up over the trucks. They wanted away from the beast now that it had revealed itself.
The valkria bit into Fenris and dragged it from the wall. It took their combined strength to move the wolf. They clawed and snapped their jaws around its limbs and pulled in opposite directions.
“We have to do something.” Jackal said, looking at Reaper.
“He is struggling out there,” Vactubstein stated, pulling the reins to keep his beast steady through the charging eos. “He is not at his full strength.”
“It’s those chains.” Jackal said. “He can’t move right with them.”
“We need to help him. He won’t take that skuladr down alone in his current state.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Reaper asked.
“Something! Anything! That thing will eat him!” Jackal swung his arm.
Reaper looked down to that crimson orb in his hand. Eos are soul eaters. They get stronger when they eat another’s soul. Maybe...maybe Fenris needed a boost.
Before Reaper could get his thought out into the open, that skuladr began to speak so that all could hear it.
“Pathetic!” It spat with a voice like that of nails scratching down a chalkboard. “The Great Dragon said you would devour this planet!”
Its head lowered down to better look at the wolf held down by the dozens of valkria. They held onto each of its limbs and pulled them back. The more Fenris pulled against them, the tighter the chains dug into his flesh.
“They said you were fearsome.” The skuladr continued. “Look at you. Weak. Pathetic.” Its long jaws snapped shut. Bones snapped. The metallic skeletons hanging from its sectioned sail rattled with its movements.
“You can’t even fend for yourself! All I see is a sniveling little pest. A waste of a good soul! The Great Dragon will pay me well for your head.”
Fenris’ snapped its teeth, yanked on one of its larger arms only to reel back in pain. It was true. The valkyrie had weakened over time. Stuck on the Syndicate with no source of good food. The chains hindered its every move. It had only done so well thus far due to the fear of its presence and its ever growing hunger driving it forward. Now anger was boiling inside its chest. The insults dug deep into its flesh.
It would show the skuladr why it was called the Devourer. Why it was feared by all.
These valkria were like hatchlings compared to the wolf. It ripped its body from their grasp and leaped into the air. Biting back the pain, its bigger claws bent backwards and dug into the stone cliff face. The wolf climbed upwards, growling all the while. The skuladr watched it for a moment before trying to take a bite out of it.
Up. Up. Fenris was quick to get out of its reach. Gnashing teeth and threatening gestures, Fenris gave a roar.
The skuladr slammed its side into the cliff, watching to see if the wolf would fall. With no luck, it hit the cliff again.
The valkyrie pushed from the stone. Through the air, it reached out to grab the top of one of the beast’s spines. It dropped from there, taking a bite out of the spine and twisting as it pulled itself down to its back. The skuladr shrieked and rammed into the wall again to shake the wolf off.
“Fenris!” Reaper called through the crowd. “Fenris!”
Ripping off a sheet of metal from the beast’s back, the valkyrie looked to the shouting.
Reaper held up the red orb just as the pack of reldul charged passed him. The beast leaped up, latching onto the skuladr’s head and neck.
Fenris leaped off, meeting Reaper and the others on the ground. Fenris took the orb and then looked to the Captain.
“This will help, right?” He asked.
Fenris nodded and tossed the orb into its mouth. A single snap of the jaws and it shattered. Each shard dropped into the back of its mouth to be swallowed. With a shake of its body, the spikes on its upper back grew dramatically. The missing scythe appendage sprouted new, moist in a gray goo.
The skuladr smacked one of the reldul from its face and gave a screech of rage. The guns attached to either of its sides sent out a volley of projectiles right for Fenris and the soldiers.
Fenris shoved Reaper to the ground and used one of its larger arms to pull Jackal down and under it. It bent over just enough to shield them and the others close enough. The rounds smacked right into Fenris’ body. Some pierced right through his cloak.
The monster swiped at them, but the valkyrie held its ground and braced for impact with its shoulder and two of its arms. It dug its feet into the ground, standing directly over Reaper.
The skuladr’s claws could move no further. Not against Fenris.
Jackal crawled backwards from underneath Fenris.
“Shoot it!” He ordered. “Shoot that fucking thing!”
The six soldiers that remained formed a line right behind Jackal. Some kneeled, while others stood. They held down their triggers to fire at the skuladr’s face.
Its face torn open from each impact only served to anger it further. It pulled its hand away and gave a ferocious roar.
Fenris turned, giving Reaper a chance to get out from under it. When the beast came for them again, Fenris opened its mouth wide and spat out a ball of fiery smoke. The flaming khexide burned through the air and against the skuladr’s face, making it reel back and turn away.
The wolf continued bellowing out the flames repeatedly, moving to follow the beast as it backed down. The reldul attacked again as one. They jumped on its legs, and clawed their way up. Those that fell, quickly recovered and fired their cannons at the monster.
The soldiers followed them, though wouldn't be able to pursue for much longer. One of them called out they were out of ammunition. Another spared his last magazine. Then another was out. Even Yaaranam's flamethrower was out of fuel.
Lacking a weapon himself did not stop Vactubstein from charging in on the geihildra's back.
The skuladr spun arou
nd sharply to knock off one of the reldul from its side. Its massive tail smacked right into Tunaaka and Fenris both. Both had gone flying. Tunaaka smashed into a tree with Vactubstein flying a bit further and crashing into the mud.
Fenris hit the compacted dirt and rocks of the lake. Nearly fully submerged in the water, Fenris clawed at the ground to get into shallower water. Only waist deep, it was stuck on all fours desperately crawling towards the dry land ahead.
The alpha reldul leaped to the skuladr only to take a smack of its claws at full force. It hit the ground with a loud thud. When it did not get back up, its pack mates cried and backed down from the fight. This let the skuladr go unhindered, marching right for Fenris still stuck in the lake.
Yaaranam ran for Vactubstein, dropping her emptied weapon.
"Captain, what do we do?" One of the soldiers asked.
Reaper looked around, trying to figure out a solution.
"How many vehicles are operational?" He asked.
"Four, sir."
"Do we have rope?"
"No, sir."
"Reaper," Ianisse chimed in. "What about the vines? Those are awfully strong."
"You're right! Get two trucks, and get as many vines as you can, we need to make a long rope."
The soldiers all accepted their orders and ran off to gather the vines and the needed trucks.
"What are you planning?" Jackal asked.
"That thing is huge." Reaper pointed. "We need to bring it down to our level.”
“Should have Mjolnir and Yaa--” Jackal suddenly winced. The breath taken out of his lungs. His chest ached as if it were just hit with a sledgehammer. He clutched at his chest and his head.
Reaper grabbed his shoulder, holding him upright.
“Medic!” He shouted.
Jackal tried to wave him off, but an invisible dagger plunged its way into his brain. His eyes began to glow red, the light wisping away like fire on a waving torch.
“Are you all right?” Reaper asked, trying to keep him on his feet.
“S-something’s….” He took a sharp breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. Eyes shut tight, the lids turned from the fleshy tone to black. The discoloration spread out over his eyes like vines.
The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) Page 40