by Mel Odom
“Something’s wrong,” Simon said. “There are ten of us and seven of them. They should be giving ground, not staying there.”
“Maybe they can’t count, mate,” Nathan offered.
It wasn’t just counting, though. The Ravagers would have known when they didn’t have the numbers they needed to bring down their prey.
A cold warning thrilled down Simon’s spine as he watched the Ravagers holding their positions to the south. The demons from the north and east came on at a furious gallop.
Then the Templar closed on the Ravagers. Just before the two groups collided, the Ravagers issued their low, guttural barks. A warrior alone might have a chance to get clear of an encounter thanks to that habit of barking. But that wasn’t going to happen tonight. The demons threw themselves forward with gaping jaws.
Simon dropped the deer carcass from his shoulder and hoped he’d have a chance to collect it before they had to flee. He freed the Spike Bolter at his hip and fisted it. The pistol was large, an L-shaped frame with six rotating barrels capable of delivering an amazing rate of fire. The ammunition was palladium spikes.
In the 360-degree HUD view, Simon saw Danielle free her second Molten Edge sword. The second one was slightly smaller than the one she held in her right hand. She’d been training long and hard these past few months to wield dual blades in battle. The Molten Edge blades held a high-intensity column of carefully controlled lava that followed the parameters defined by the sword.
Both weapons flared to life as she said the voice-activation prompts. Both blades resembled liquid fire and stood proudly against the darkness of the night. Danielle was hard to lose in a night battle.
The Ravagers shifted, but they didn’t attack or retreat.
With liquid ease, the lead Ravager pivoted to face Simon. The horrible maw gaped open to reveal rows of serrated teeth that curved inward. Once a Ravager closed its jaws, the mouth was like a bear trap. A victim would almost have to hack off his own limb to get free.
Instead of waiting for the Ravager’s attack, Simon sprang into action. He leaped high into the air and extended the Spike Bolter at the Ravager. When he squeezed the trigger, a steady stream of palladium spikes tore into the demon’s scaly hide.
The Ravager roared in pain, but wasn’t hurt badly enough to give up its single-minded obsession with seeking its prey. Next to the first, a second Ravager powered itself up to stand on its two rear legs as it lunged at Simon.
Nathan’s Firefield Caster belched a pair of grenades that struck the second Ravager in the throat. The explosions knocked the creature back and covered it with a sheet of flame. Before it could recover, Nathan fired another pair of rounds that struck the Ravager’s head. One of them exploded in the demon’s mouth. It roared, breathing out fire, and whipsawed in a frenzy of pain.
“Anchor,” Simon ordered the suit AI as he arced down. Anchoring spikes designed to hold a Templar fast against an assault fired from his boots. There were two twelve-inch spikes, one on each side of his ankles.
The first Ravager pulled back from the one that was on fire, but it moved only a few inches. Simon’s left foot spikes smashed down through the Ravager’s thick skull, but the spikes on his right foot only pierced the demon’s neck. Simon’s considerable weight drove the Ravager to the ground.
The Ravager yanked its head out from under Simon, who fell sideways, unable to keep his balance because his spikes were anchored into the demon. Its strength surprised him. He’d figured his move would have nailed it to the ground.
He landed hard on his back, but the armor and special anticoncussive liquid insulation that lay between him and the armor cushioned the blow. The Ravager came at him, but its head twisted awkwardly on its skinny neck. Still, it snapped at him and its fangs raked his armor.
Simon raised the Spike Bolter into position and fired at almost point-blank range. The spikes reduced the Ravager’s left eye to bloody pulp and chewed through the socket and temple.
Bloodied, the Ravager refused to die. It snarled and dug its front feet into the ground, then surged forward again. Propelled by his opponent’s weight and strength, Simon flopped like a rag doll.
“Anchor release,” he commanded.
The spikes withdrew from the Ravager’s head and neck. Instantly, it reared on its back legs and came down hard on Simon with its front legs. Unable to get out of the way, Simon felt the blow bounce him against the ground.
“Warning,” the suit AI informed him. “Suit integrity at eighty-one percent.”
Simon rolled to the side as the Ravager tried to repeat the attack. The ground shook as the massive front feet struck. After another roll, Simon got his feet under him. He surged up and fired the Spike Bolter again. The Ravager cocked its head sideways to see him with its good eye. Behind it, the Ravager that Nathan had shot rolled in agony as the clinging flames blistered the demon’s flesh.
“Other demons closing in from the north and east,” the suit AI said.
A brief glance at the HUD showed Simon the fresh waves of demons headed his way. He knew that trying to stand against all of them would be suicide. They had to make it through the Ravagers here.
SIX
L eah spread her arms and legs into a starfish pattern as she fell. Despite her panic over the long fall, she couldn’t forget about the Blood Angel. The dive over the building’s side had bought Leah a little time, but she knew it wasn’t much.
Calm, she told herself. You’ve done this before. Nothing to it.
But she knew that was a lie. The equipment she was about to use had been used under optimum conditions. And she’d never used it at night.
She slammed her clenched fist into the activation pad just below her neck and waited to endure severe agony. The NanoDyne hang glider deployed from the low-profile backpack strapped to her. Thin black Kevlar mesh sailed along telescoping struts powered by Konstruk nanobots. In less than a second, the twenty-foot span of wings had spread and filled the frame.
The straps cut into Leah’s flesh with a suddenness that took her breath away. She stifled a scream of pain. Every time she’d used the hang glider before, she’d deployed it from a standing start. As she checked the wings, she saw that they vibrated madly. For a moment she wondered if they were going to be wrecked by the headlong pace of her plunge. If they broke, it was over. The impact of the long fall would kill her.
At least the Blood Angel won’t get you, she told herself grimly. She grabbed the controls depending from the wings, then straightened out her glide just in time to avoid one of the taller buildings. She adjusted her direction toward the O2 and fired the microrockets filled with chemical propellant. They were capable of a sustained thirty-second burst that allowed the glider to gain altitude for longer flight.
The Blood Angel swooped down on Leah. The demon’s claws tore through the hang glider’s left wing as if it were made of paper rather than specially treated bullet-resistant fabric.
Abandoning the controls for a moment, Leah grabbed for the pistol in a shoulder holster under her left arm and the one at her left hip. The first weapon was an XM41 Thermal Bolter, a small rocket launcher that fired deadly warheads. The second was an SRAC machine pistol capable of a high rate of fire.
A twist in the harness allowed Leah to point the Thermal Bolter at the Blood Angel through the rent in the hang glider fabric. Hoping she didn’t accidently hit the glider’s wing, she squeezed the trigger and launched what looked like a small fireball as she closed her eyes. Protecting her eyes was second nature.
Bright light stormed across the back of Leah’s eyelids as the rocket hammered the Blood Angel. A fresh wave of heat from the explosion clouded around her for a moment, then it was gone.
Flames wreathed the Blood Angel. It shrieked in pain and frustration as it tried to hang on. Aiming the weapon again, Leah fired one more time. The second rocket burst against the demon’s skin as well.
The Blood Angel let go and shrilled as it fell away. Leah knew she hadn’t mortally injur
ed the demon yet, though. She reached up and tapped the gun butt against the small control panel that had slid into place above her. AUTOPILOT blinked into view across the small screen. Immediately, the wings adjusted themselves to a gentle glide approach path the shortest distance to the ground. WARNING. APPROACH SPEED TOO GREAT, blinked the small readout. WARNING. NO CLEAR FLIGHT PATH AVAILABLE.
I know, I know. Leah followed the flaming Blood Angel with her eyes. Almost in the next breath, the flames around the demon extinguished. The Blood Angel flapped its wings and heeled over, streaking back to the attack.
Leah leveled the SRAC machine pistol at the demon and squeezed the trigger. The pistol bucked and kicked in her fist. Every third round was a purple tracer. Leah put the line of bullets on target with the demon. They smashed into the Blood Angel and tore holes in its body. Leah blasted the demon again with the rocket launcher.
Blinded by the flames, the Blood Angel hurtled straight at Leah. The demon fired more arcane energy and shrieked again.
Leah holstered the rocket launcher and grabbed the hang glider’s controls. AUTOPILOT DISENGAGED. Her thumb slid over the rocket activation button. She pressed and held it, intending to hold on for a slow five-count.
Instead, the Blood Angel’s energy blast overtook her. The hang glider spun as if seized in a miniature whirlwind. The support struts shivered and popped as they fought to maintain their shape. WARNING! flashed the LED screen on the controls. WIND SHEAR IS—
Leah ignored the rest of the message. It didn’t make any difference. All the guidance system could tell her was how bad everything was, and she already had a clue about that. She pushed the controls forward and fired the rockets because up seemed to be the path of least resistance.
That direction also took her back into the path of the Blood Angel.
Fisting the SRAC machine pistol, Leah fired at the center of the demon’s body. The explosive-tipped bullets smashed through the Blood Angel’s scales, lodged in its flesh, and detonated. Small, fist-sized craters opened up in the demon’s body and turned it into a moonscape of destruction.
Fighting the controls, Leah almost panicked when she saw the side of a building suddenly only a few feet away. She triggered the right rocket and tipped the hang glider sideways. The wingtip bounced intermittently from the side of the building. Orange sparks spewed in a torrent as the metal grated against stone. The scraping noise sounded as horrendous as the Blood Angel’s cry.
Easy. Easy. Leah tried keeping a gentle but firm hand at the controls. The altimeter showed she was still seventy feet in the air. Plenty of fall remained to kill her.
The Blood Angel swooped in and smashed against the building. Rebounding from the wall, the demon spun down in a sudden tangle of broken limbs and shredded wings that still burned from the rocket attack.
A savage cry of exultation burst from Leah’s lips before she knew it. In the next moment the hang glider’s wingtip skidded against the building and heeled around. Panicked, suddenly focused on her own survival, Leah kicked her right foot against the wall and shoved. The hang glider’s struts screamed and shuddered.
Knowing she had nothing to lose, Leah fired the rockets and hoped for the best. The propulsion kicked the hang glider out away from the building, but a crosswind caught it and slapped it back toward the wall again. Leah twisted violently, striving to keep the hang glider from crashing into the building. Then she blew past it and scooted once more into the open area above a street.
Maintaining control now, Leah angled for the street. She knew she was coming down far too fast, but there was nothing to be done for it. Darkspawn gunners were already tracking her. The air was suddenly alive with tracers and blurry energy bursts that heated the air, vibrated through her, or sparked electrical energy across her suit.
Fifteen feet above the street, Leah cut loose from the harness and dropped. She hit the ground on her feet and immediately tucked into a roll. The augmented strength of the suit would have allowed her to land standing, but that would have also made her an easy target for the demons.
“Here, Leah! Nip in!”
One of the orange dots identifying the agents suddenly radiated concentric circles to attract Leah’s attention. She gathered herself and ran, pulling both her weapons.
Two men and one woman took cover behind an overturned double-decker bus beside the burned, rusting hulk of a tank that was a grim reminder that the British military had failed to stop the demon invasion in 2020. William Pittsfield, the man who’d called to Leah, was a veteran of both the military and a clandestine career that spanned decades. He was a survivor.
“A bit rough out tonight, eh?” Pittsfield asked.
“Perhaps a bit,” Leah agreed.
Pittsfield leaned out around the bus and took aim with the Grizzly Rifle he carried. Energy pulsed and spewed during the two-second burst. A group of Darkspawn that had been closing in on their position went down like wheat before a scythe. Their smoldering bodies lay twisted and broken on the ground.
“One thing you have to say about this little tea party,” Pittsfield said laconically, “there’s no lack of targets.” He recharged his weapon.
“What about the satchel teams?” Leah asked.
“We’ve lost one of them,” Evelyn Herrington said. “There were more of these blighters here than we’d been told to expect.”
Leah didn’t say anything. It was hard to know the exact numbers of demons. So many of them looked alike, they could have been interchangeable parts. Added to that and making it even more difficult, the demons constantly moved.
“We need better intelligence about these sites,” Leah said.
“Agreed.” Robert Wickersham was the youngest among them. He had come to his majority while the war with the demons was under way. He ducked around the corner for a moment and fired the XM55 20-mm rifle he carried. A Darkspawn sniper located in one of the nearby buildings took a header out of a window and crashed to the ground below.
“Good shooting,” Evelyn commented.
“Thank you.”
A sudden explosion ripped across the street and jostled the bus. For a moment Leah thought it was going to overturn on them. Then it settled once more with a grinding clank.
Leah tracked the explosion.
“Satchel Team Three,” Pittsfield stated grimly. “They didn’t make it inside the dome.”
“Are there any survivors?” Wickersham asked.
Pittsfield’s masked head shook. “I don’t know.”
“If there are, we can’t just leave them for the demons.”
“I know.” Pittsfield looked around at them. “Everybody saddled up then?”
“Yes,” Leah said.
The other two echoed her.
“Righto,” Pittsfield responded. “Then let’s be about it, and be quick. We’ve riled these little beasties up.” He glanced around the corner of the bus and took off.
Leah followed.
SEVEN
S imon swung his broadsword with all his amplified strength. The blade bit into the Ravager’s reptilian face. Blood spurted over Simon’s visor and obscured the forward 76 percent of his view—the suit ID verified that. He backed up automatically, holstered the Spike Bolter at his hip, and wiped the blood from his visor. His view remained streaked and smeared, but it was better than it had been.
In front of him, the Ravager’s face had been split nearly in two by the sword blow. The weapon remained mired in the demon’s flesh as it yanked back. From the jerky movements he observed, Simon judged that the creature was dazed. Simon used both hands to free his sword, weathered a mostly ineffectual blow that struck his chest, then rammed the broadsword into the demon’s chest to pierce the heart.
Transfixed by the Templar blade, the Ravager shuddered and stood upright. Then its gory head fell to the side. The body followed it and the demon slumped to the ground.
“Carnagors!” someone shouted.
Slightly winded from his efforts, Simon wheeled around and looked past
the blazing pyre that remained of the Ravager that Nathan had attacked. The other Templar had engaged the demons and fought for their lives. Thankfully all of the warriors still stood.
Beyond them, though, creatures burrowed up from the ground. At least a dozen of them broke the surface. Black soil scattered across the white snow.
The Carnagors resembled tanks. Massive as elephants, thick hide covered their bodies and provided natural armor. Tusks and rows of jagged teeth filled the cavernous mouths. Jagged spikes stood up from their spines. Hooked talons meant for digging and slashing jutted out from their toes. Carnagors could rip a Templar’s armor open with those talons. Simon had seen it happen firsthand.
It was a trap. The cold realization of what had happened swept over Simon. This was beyond the capabilities of the Ravagers and the Carnagors.
“Sweep for demons,” Simon ordered the AI. “Confirm known types.”
“Sweeping. Confirm known demons: Ravager, Carnagor, and Minion.”
“Isolate and display Minion.” Simon lunged out of the way of a stampeding Carnagor. Even as fast as he was, he barely escaped the full brunt of the demon’s attack. One of its shoulders caught his right foot and spun him into another Carnagor twenty feet away.
The second Carnagor whipped around and tried to bite its offender. Simon swept up a large rock and threw it into the Carnagor’s throat. The rock gagged the monster for a moment. As it coughed and hacked, it pulled away and clawed at its mouth with its front feet. The razor-sharp talons scored its ugly face again and again. In its panic, the Carnagor didn’t notice the cuts.
“Minion isolated,” the suit AI said. “Displaying.”
Simon got to his feet and reached around to his back for the Blockade Shield he carried. The shield had been hammered out on Templar forge, then overlaid with arcane energy and layered with NanoDyne tech. The nanobots gathered energy from the earth’s electromagnetic field much as the spellwork served to do. When fully charged, the shield was a powerful weapon as well as a means of defense.