Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 56

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

CHANCE

We had been driving for an hour. We just had about thirty miles to go to the settlement that had been leveled. So far, no sign of any convoy. Shae launched a drone about twenty minutes ago and had sent it ahead of us, searching either side of the road for life. There was a good chance they were taking a trail and not the road.

Holland sighed and kept her focus forward. No one had said much since we’d left.

“Anyone here know about the anax’s magic wielding?” Damaris asked, trying to sound casual.

“Nope,” I answered. “But I expect you could sense it?”

“I could sense magic, but that doesn’t tell me what kind.”

“Well, do better than that in the future. I want to know if someone so much as smells weird to you.” If he’d given me a heads-up, I’d have at least been prepared and not dumbfounded.

“Yes, your excellence. Perhaps I can even?—”

“Stop!” Shae interrupted, her face focused on her screen. “I see movement, hard to tell what exactly, but about a mile inland and three miles up the road. Could be the convoy, hard to tell through the trees.”

“Can you track their route?” Holland asked.

“Trying to follow. If this is them then there’s a big problem.” Shae didn’t finish the thought.

“And that is?” Damaris pressed her to continue.

“It’s a very, very small convoy.”

Shit. I drove up two more miles and then parked the transport on the side of the road. The rig was big enough to fit thirty, I’d hoped we’d at least fill it and then have some following us. That would not be the case.

“Alright, everyone out. Stay tight. Any sign of those creatures?” I got out of the transport and shut the door, my feet sinking into the mud.

“Hard to say, but the movement appears methodical, so I’d say, no,” Shae responded, adjusting the strap of the rifle I’d given her before we left.

“Damaris, anything?” I asked.

He lifted his face to the grey sky and wrinkled his nose. Then he sniffed again, obnoxiously loud. “I sense magic. Foreign magic.”

“Like those creatures?” Holland asked, coming around the vehicle, weapon trained on the forest. She was always at the ready.

“Yes and no. There are traces of dark magic, but also something else I can’t place.”

“Like with Anax Clark?”

“No, not quite. This is stronger, but again, it’s hard to tell.”

I nodded.

“Shae, where is the group now?” Holland asked, not taking her eyes off the thick tree line. The rain had stopped and was a mere mist now, fog rolling through the pines, most of which held an unnatural grey color to their bark. What once was a glorious redwood forest, now was washed by death and left corpses for trees.

“I can’t tell, low visibility. But last movement had them southeast of here. Maybe guard dog here can sniff them out as we get closer.” She winked at Damaris, nudging past him.

“Right, because that is my sole purpose in life.” He rolled his eyes.

“Move out. Stay close, stay quiet,” I ordered as I took the lead position and entered the brush. The scrub oak appeared dead, no leaves just bare grey branches. They were covered in a white powder. Odd.

The fog only got thicker as I began to pass into the dark forest. The mist was beginning to paw at my nose, it was cool but somehow still murky in a way that reminded me of a swamp and not crisp air that was common in this southern forest.

A large tree had fallen, snapped at the base. White puss oozed out of it. I didn’t need Damaris to tell me he sensed dark magic. This place reeked of it.

I stepped over a large fallen trunk and then continued to scan ahead. Visibility was bad, I could see maybe thirty feet in front of me at a time.

“Anyone else feel like this is a scene from a horror movie?” Damaris asked.

“What, you scared?” Shae prodded him as she walked alongside Holland who was directly to my right.

“Nope, just feel like if I were watching this on TV, I’d be shouting at the characters to turn back. Nothing ever good comes from fog, forests, and weird magic.”

“Shut it, Damaris,” I commanded. We didn’t need everyone getting easily spooked.

Holland walked up closer to me, her pistol aimed at the trees scanning behind each one that came into view.

“He’s right though,” she whispered so only I could hear. “Those creatures would blend into this fog far too easily.”

“We keep moving.”

She nodded in response, even if her jaw ticked. She didn’t have to like it, but we were moving forward. I did not shy back at the first sign of trouble.

I listened for any sounds of life beyond the horizon. Any signs of those creatures or of Tate’s convoy. They were small, that could work to their advantage.

“Stop!” Damaris gripped my shoulder. “ That magic. It’s strong, very strong. Just ahead.” He nodded beyond the large grey wood tree trunks.

“Stay here, Holland hold this line.” I walked slowly toward the brush just ahead and then past the large trees. Trees that have been here for hundreds of years, ones that were normally comforting, were now ominous—bad omens.

“Good boy.” Shae’s teasing was beginning to fade as I continued forward. The mist got thicker, and my arms were sleek with the moisture. A twig snapped under my foot; I froze. No sound, no motion.

I inhaled and continued forward. I just needed to keep moving?—

I was thrown to the side and landed on my back. A large hand was squeezing my throat. I opened my eyes and saw a ruddy buzz cut. A large male was pinning me to the ground with his body.

“Who are you?” he demanded, but his grip only tightened, constricting my airway. I tried bucking him off, but his weight was expertly placed.

“Du…Dux Dale,” I choked out, barely able to form the words.

“Guara.” The male wrinkled his nose but released the pressure on my throat. “Are you one of them?”

What was he asking? Was I member of the guara? Yes, but the look in his eyes warned that the wrong answer could result in death. I remained silent.

“Answer me!”

“Freeze, or the next breath you take will be your last,” Holland demanded. Thank blood for her. She was just behind a tree, weapon trained on the male atop me. “Roll off him, now.”

Before the male could respond, I bucked out from under him and rolled on top, trading places. From this angle, I could see the standard-issue dokimos uniform. He appeared younger than I’d originally thought and had bruising across his face. The convoy.

“Arms up, shortie,” a female voice came from behind me. I twirled around, still keeping the dokimos pinned underneath me, but enough to get a visual. Fuck. A tall female with chocolate eyes came out. She had a rifle trained on Holland. Black braids were thrown around her shoulders, disheveled and yet, feminine. “You,” she snorted at the male below me, “get off him. Now.” She didn’t take her eyes from Holland, but a twitch in her wrist told me she could change her aim and take both Holland and I down in a single moment.

“Look, we’re on the same side. We’re the rescue transport sent to intercept your convoy,” I spoke slowly as I moved from the male beneath me.

“You two, that’s a rescue party?” The female arched her brow. She didn’t lower her weapon.

“Pathetic, right Vala,” the male spoke as he stood and walked toward the female. “Then again, are we surprised?”

“Alright now, you two. I see you. Come out from behind the tree line, throw your weapons down,” the female, Vala I surmised, commanded. “Don’t and—” She scrunched her nose and I swore she found some sick humor in this. “Don’t and I’ll blow ‘er brains out!” she said the last few words in an accent while giving the male next to her a wink, before whispering, “Always wanted to say that.”

What the actual hell?

Shae and Damaris both walked out from behind the pines and held their hands up. Damaris had a weapon, even if it were raised, while Shae held a disk. Her blue eyes wide.

“Good, now drop your weapons,” Vala commanded.

Damaris dropped it and kicked it toward her, Holland following suit.

“Like I said, we’re on the same side here. This is all unnecessary.”

Movement behind Vala drew my attention. I could see a figure peeking through the fog. He was large and appeared to be carrying something. No, not something, someone.

She was limp, hanging from his arms. Almost lifeless.

“Tate!” Shae started forward, forgetting about Vala and her gun.

To my utter surprise, Vala lowered her weapon. She exchanged a glance with the male and then looked to the shadowed figure. He nodded and then continued toward us. Blood covered the limp tan arms that dangled from his hold along with gold hair that was muddied and clumped together.

“Is she…” I couldn’t finish the thought. Tate’s head was nestled against his shoulder, eyes closed. Blood and mud covered her uniform, and I could see a makeshift bandage on her shoulder, wrapping her back, and on her arm.

“Alive,” the male carrying her spoke.

“What the hell happened?” I stood up and began to approach him. Tate was injured under his watch.

“You know what happened, Dale.”

I instantly hated this male. He knew who I was and spoke to me as if I were beneath him.

“Move, we need to get to your transport. Tate needs medical attention.” He brushed past me, and I didn’t miss the protective tightening of his arms or the way his scent was mingled with Tate’s.

“Will she be OK?” Shae asked, blocking the male’s path as she placed a hand to Tate’s forehead. “She’s burning up.”

“We need to get her medical attention,” he repeated, sidestepping Shae.

“You heard him, move out and take us to your convoy,” Vala spoke, placing her weapon in its holster. Away but with easy access. Clearly, she had tactical training. The male next to her herded Shae toward the tree line we’d just come from.

“Where is the rest of your convoy, dux?” Holland spoke, eyeing the large male holding Tate.

“Anax Mardi. And this is it. Now move.”

We were about fifteen minutes out from the outpost. I was driving with Dokimos Vala next to me. Holland was in the back with the male, a Dokimos Jared. Shae sat next to Damaris across from Anax Mardi who refused to place Tate down. The way he held her was proprietary. I sucked on my fang. I didn’t like it and I didn’t trust him. The road jostled as I hit a rut and then swerved to avoid another.

“Easy,” Mardi commanded. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see him cradling Tate to his body. Possessive asshole.

“Damaris, how’s it smelling?” I asked, not wanting to be obvious but also needing to know if this anax also had magic.

“Wrong and strong,” he responded.

Vala gave me an incredulous look and then looked back to Dokimos Jared. “I smell sweat and B.O.”

“I can only imagine what it was like for you. We are investigating these creatures but need more intel. Can you tell us what they looked like?” Holland asked, pulling out a recording device.

“Big, black and grey, some upright and some on all fours,” Jared responded.

“So, you encountered both as well?”

“We did. You too?” he countered Holland.

She nodded in response. I focused my gaze ahead of me. The outpost’s lights coming into view.

“How did you survive?” Holland prodded. We needed to know if they had evolved further or still could be killed with a blow to the head.

“Swords,” Vala responded. “I drew mine and well, Jason always has his drawn.”

Was that a euphemism?

“Ok, so you just stabbed them, or did you have to decapitate them?”

“Decapitation killed them, stabbing and cutting limbs off maimed them enough to get away,” Vala answered.

“So—”

“Enough. We’re here,” Anax Mardi interrupted Holland as he gestured to the gate in front of us.

“Shae,” I said, but didn’t even need to ask, the door was already opening. I waited for the gate to fully open and then pulled through.