Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHANCE

Screams woke me from my sleep. Panicked shouts filled the air, coming from what sounded like the far end of the village near the human district. I was out of my bed before Holland came barreling through my door, weapon ready.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded as I threw my pants on and then slipped into my boots.

“Attack. We’re under attack.” My pulse quickened at the look on her face. She was concentrating, using magic. “Not human. Not vampire. They’re something we can’t imagine.” Her creamy skin went paler, if that was possible, as her eyes widened.

“Let’s go.” I threw my tactical vest on as I grabbed my gun leaning against the door.

Holland kept up with my pace as we rushed out into what could only be described as chaos. My blood went cold at the unnatural shrieks coming from all around. The scene out here was devastating. Vampires, new soldiers with no training, were being overwhelmed, gutted by creatures I’d never seen before. Each one seemed different, all appeared to have once been alive—possibly human even. Black and grey scales covered their bodies as their taloned hands—paws, or whatever the fuck they were—scraped against the ground as they ran. They moved with incredible speed on all fours and shrieked animalistic cries. A creature reached for me and before I could react, Holland took him down with six rounds to the chest.

“On your left!” she shouted as she pivoted and began to methodically take one after another down. She was magnificent.

“Wake up, Dale! We’ve got to fight, NOW! Our men need us!” Her shouts drew me from my stupor, just in time to avoid the black claws coming at me from behind. I pivoted and withdrew a long dagger and sliced the thing’s head clean off. Even detached from the core, lying on the muddy ground, it began to scream—deep, disturbing cries.

I looked away from the headless corpse and raced into the mess. I could see vampires’ bodies littering the ground. These things crouched over them, eating.

A young guaraman was fighting off two creatures at once, a valiant effort but he wouldn’t hold long on his own. One of those things reached out and swiped at the young male’s face resulting in a spray of blood as the soldier fell. I aimed and shot the creature once, twice, three times until at last, it too fell. The other creature didn’t pause, instead, it lunged on top of the male and swiped at his abdomen, pulling and slicing his intestines. No-one deserved that type of death.

I aimed and fired at the thing attacking him as I charged. Nothing, it didn’t respond in the least. Closer, I just needed to get closer, and I could decapitate it. It raised back its claws and swiped again and again, black saliva dripping from his mouth.

I was three feet out—I would end it.

The thing whipped its head at me, and I froze. I knew that face. I’d worked with that face closely this past spring. Arche Shultz. He was a good soldier with promising skills. But that male was gone. Now, all I saw was a bloodthirsty creature. His eyes were pitch black with purple coloring his entire face in deep plum shades. He snarled at me, and his mouth now had not two upper fangs, but four. What happened to him?

My hesitation cost me. I took a hit from the side and was thrown to the ground by another creature. It buried its claws in my gut, and I let out a scream. I reached for my dagger and swiped three times in calculated strikes. I cut clean through its right forearm causing the black thing to drop. With one final strike, I sliced its throat causing it to stumble away from me. My abdomen burned from where its claws had dug, but there was no time to evaluate that. Three more creatures were racing toward me.

I braced my hand on the ground and forced myself up—adrenaline numbing the pain. The whole yard was a battlefield, my men, good soldiers, scattered the mud in heaps, dead. Murdered by evil itself.

The three creatures were about thirty feet away now. Tightening my grip on my dagger, I ran toward them; I was ready for this. The shock that had held me back was now numb and I allowed myself to slip into the tactical maneuvers I’d been practicing and teaching for the better half of fifteen years. I cut through one creature, slicing it in half, threw a dagger at the second one, the blade landed straight in its eye, while retrieving my pistol with my free hand and opened fire on the third. All three were down, their bodies twitching and their mouths letting out moans and screams. The whole scene was hellish.

Holland was across the field surrounded by a group of moaning, evil corpses. She’d taken down at least a dozen creatures. She could certainly hold her own.

A scream I knew too well drew my attention to the left. There, a blue-haired pixie was fighting off a tall creature. It had dug its claws into her right shoulder even as she used her assault rifle as a barrier, shoving its end into the creature’s throat. Shae. She needed help. How had I forgotten about her?

I needed to reach her. I ran, pouring all my strength and increased ability into the motion, as I raised my gun taking down several creatures in my path. She screamed again as she went careening into the side of the blood-processing plant. The creature was on her before she could even move, swiping with its claws and barely missing her. I aimed and fired. Three shots missed but the fourth struck true. The thing fell forward as a quarter-size hole shot blood from its skull. I reached it before it hit the ground and drew my dagger across its throat, one deep motion, decapitating it.

Shae sat there, her blue eyes wide. She looked utterly terrified. I once labeled her a pacifist. Yet, here she was.

“What a time to join?” I tried to connect with her through the shock. No reaction. I reached down and grabbed her arm helping her up. “You’re alive. That’s what matters. We’ll evaluate and er, process later. Take this.” I handed her my pistol and showed her how to load and fire the weapon.Blood coated my hand and likely my face. When she lifted her eyes to mine, they bugged out.

“You’re hurt.” She reached for me, blood coating her own arm—some of it was maroon, hers, and some of it was black as the night. She must’ve injured one of those things. Good for her. She may just survive this.

“Just point and shoot. Stay near me.”

She nodded. I turned and surveyed the rest of the yard. Two creatures fought each other over the corpse of a young vamp, her open eyes displayed nothing short of shock and pain. The processing plant had three creatures guarding it, stoic on all fours as they snarled at the scene in the yard. Why were they staying there? They snapped at the corpses and whined as they saw others feasting on the dead, yet they remained still. Holland was working her way toward the plant, two young guaramen at her side, plowing their way through the throng of things .

The plant. I cut through a couple of creatures, attempting to join Holland’s course. Shae kept pace with me, firing hopelessly at these creatures. She fired several rounds at a creature charging a nearby vamp. They all missed.

“Damn it!” she snapped.

“Maybe more time at the range and less in the shrink’s office would be a good idea in the future.” I chuckled a dry laugh as I fired twice, one shot through the head and the other through the creature’s black heart. The thing stopped mid-leap and collapsed. Dead.

The rest of the yard had maybe a dozen creatures at most. Three of them began to circle around a young guaraman who had a blade drawn and gun raised—he’d obviously had some combat training. But his movements were sloppy, he wouldn’t be able to hold three off for long. “Follow me!”

Shae was just a step behind me as we entered a cluster of creatures. I fired multiple times and managed to take down two. Shae nearly hit the soldier who was battling the third creature with his blade. The thing managed to evade the young arche’s swipe and had reached a clawed hand around his throat. His black talons sunk in, and blood began to flow down the arche’s throat.

No, not another one.

I raised my blade and lunged, burying the tip into the back of the creature where I suspected its heart lay. The creature twitched as black blood leaked from my blade, pouring to the ground. It turned, arche in its left hand, and growled at me. Foam dripping from its serpent-like tongue that was barely hidden by rows and rows of black teeth. It raised its free hand and swiped for me; I dodged it—barely.

It smiled, actually smiled at me as it increased its pressure on the young arche’s throat—the arche’s eyes widened as his face reddened before a sickening pop filled the night air. His severed corpse hit the ground. The thing palmed the head and threw it at me. I ducked but a female scream from behind made my stomach drop. Shae, she must’ve been struck. The creature jumped into the air toward me. I crouched down, weapon extended, and rolled. I expected the thing to be on me, but instead it landed on top of the tavern’s roof behind me—a thirty-foot jump at least. A loud burst came from the processing plant to my side. The side of the building was on fire, a gaping hole now claimed its side.

A tall creature jumped through the hole, landing on two feet instead of four like the rest. Its humanoid shape was as disturbing as its massive mouth with fangs protruding. It raised its head and howled once, twice, and then a third time holding the screech longer than the rest. In one motion, it jumped onto the plant’s roof. The three creatures guarding the plant turned and jumped, joining the humanoid creature on the roof. Several other creatures paused and then left their prey and followed the large humanoid thing. They then leapt from building to building heading for the vineyard that butted up to the forest.

While more than half of the creatures followed, a few creatures remained, their fangs buried deep into corpses. Holland systematically approached them and shot them until they fell dead. She had it under control.

A swatch of blue caught my attention. Shae was lying lifeless on the ground, face down in the mud. Blood seeped from her side. I rushed to her and checked for a pulse. She was alive, but unmistakably injured. Fuck.

A shriek sounded as a creature threw the body it’d been feeding from into the building and then focused on Shae’s body beside mine. It began to run, bent over and on fours, straight for us. Over my dead fucking body.

I raised my gun and fired, emptying my chamber. The thing’s body fell to the side and twitched before breaking into moans.

Chest heaving, I bent over and picked Shae up, throwing her over my shoulder. The whole yard was full of corpses. My men, Holland’s men, scattered the ground lying limp. Iron and something notably foul filled the night air. Anax Bole’s men were nowhere to be found.

A symphony of animalistic moans filled the yard as the creatures, even the decapitated heads, cried out in their death. Holland’s eyes met mine and even from a distance it was clear we agreed that something was innately wrong with this. What the hell were those things ? Turning for the medic building, I carried Shae. Dux Bole had some explaining to do.