Children of the Void: Book One of the Aionian Saga (21 page)

“Just aim where you think they should be,” he said. “Ready? Fire!”

The two rifles barked in unison, sending bullets at the creature in tight, three-round bursts. The monster screeched, pulling its head away from the incoming fire. When it lunged for them, Gideon and Takomi were already leaping out of the way in opposite directions, and its claws raked harmlessly over the ground.

Gideon and Takomi didn’t let up. They stood, fired, then leapt back away from the edge of the cliff to regroup and start again. The augmented reality of Gideon’s visor told him that Vincent was right underneath the beast, but so far he wasn’t firing at it.

“If we were trying to piss it off, it’s working,” shouted Takomi as she jumped out of the way moments before a great clawed hand slammed down on the canyon rim.

Gideon was about to reply when an ear-shattering roar erupted from the canyon floor. The two of them ran to the edge and peered down as the creature crashed down to the ground. Vincent ran out from behind the beast as it tried to spin around and swipe at him. In his hand he held a glowing plasma blade.

“Vincent, look out!” yelled Takomi as the clawed hand lashed out at him. Vincent dodged just in time to avoid the crushing blow.

Gideon fired at the creature, but this time, it ignored the stinging bullets. All of its attention was focused on Vincent as it managed to lift itself up again. One of its rear legs dragged behind it as it pulled itself toward Vincent. Even with one leg hobbled, the monster was gaining on Vincent.

Takomi and Gideon took aim and fired round after round into its side, but the creature ignored them.

“This isn’t working,” said Takomi. “Vincent, get out of there.”

“I’m trying,” grunted Vincent. “This guy’s too fast.”

Gideon looked over at Takomi. “What do we do?”

She didn’t respond. Instead, she took a deep breath and leapt from the precipice. Gideon gritted his teeth, checked his ammunition, and jumped after her.

About halfway down, he hit the ravine wall and slid for a few meters until he was about to fall. Before he lost his balance, he sprung off the slope and sailed through the air, finally crashing down on the canyon floor near the river.

It took a moment to orient himself, but with his visor’s heads up display, he was able to find Takomi running toward the creature. Gideon pulled out the knife strapped to his thigh and ran after her.

Now that he was standing below the monstrosity, he could truly appreciate how huge it was. The thick tail scraped along the canyon floor in front of him, and with every step the ground trembled. Blood dripped from the wounded leg and filled the air with a sharp metallic smell.

In a few seconds, the creature would be right on top of Vincent, and Gideon doubted that the Sentinel Armor would do much good against those teeth. Takomi and Gideon circled around to its right side and activated the blue glow of plasma around their blades. Without pausing, Takomi leapt in the air with the knife held over her head like a samurai. She swung hard, and the ultra-hot blade sliced through the flesh at the back of the creature’s thigh.

The canyon walls echoed with the screams of the enraged beast. The cut must have inflicted a lot of pain, but the monster continued to put weight on it as it spun around to find its attacker. Gideon failed to notice the heavy tail swinging at him until it was too late, and it slammed into him with a force that would have crushed his bones if it weren’t for his Sentinel Armor. Nonetheless, he flew into the opposite wall of the canyon and fell to the ground, fighting to regain his breath.

“Gideon, you all right?” yelled Vincent. It was several seconds before Gideon could reply.

“I’m okay,” he said between gasps. “Knocked the wind out of me, that’s all.”

Climbing to his feet, he looked around to find his rifle bent in two, and his plasma blade had disappeared. He was about to tell Vincent he’d lost his weapons when Takomi spat out a string of curses. The creature had her trapped between a sheer rock wall and its deadly claws.

Gideon ran toward her through the creature’s legs. “Get out of there, Takomi!” he yelled.

Takomi fired her rifle up at its chest. “I’m trying.”

The monster recoiled from the bullets pelting it at close range, but there still didn’t seem to be any real damage. It took a swipe at Takomi, narrowly missing her as she dove and rolled out of the way. Before she could get to her feet, the other hand came crashing down on top of her.

“Takomi!” yelled Vincent as he fired at the monster in vain. The clawed hand came up with Takomi in its grip. She squirmed like a mouse in an eagle’s talons as the hand brought her up to the creature’s jaws.

Takomi’s knife and rifle lay glinting in the sunlight where she had just been. Gideon sprinted forward and swept up the knife in his hand, then turned and flicked the switch to ignite the plasma. He took three steps and dove at the creature’s foreleg, plunging the knife up to the hilt into the creature’s knee joint.

The monster roared as the leg gave way under its bulk. As it tumbled down it flung Takomi into the air, sending her flailing into the trees along the river. Gideon barely had time to scramble out of its way before the creature fell on its side next to him.

The walls of the canyon echoed with the beast’s cries as it thrashed on the ground, trying to prop itself up. The tail knocked boulders loose as it whipped across the ground. Huge claws ripped trees from the soil as it tried to find leverage.

Gideon ran to Takomi, but she was already up and moving to get out of harm’s way. Behind him, Vincent circled around to the creature’s head, staying out of reach of the long claws. Avoiding the creature’s thick tail, Gideon ran around behind its back to meet up with him.

“What now, Vincent?” he asked.

A series of gunshots burst from Vincent’s rifle, and the creature roared. “Hopefully it will try to eat me.”

“What?” said Takomi as she came around to join Vincent. Without a weapon, she could only help so much.

Vincent was too focused on the creature’s snapping jaws to reply. He inched his way forward, rifle at his shoulder. The beast turned to face him, and lurched forward, jaws ready to snap him up. At the last second Vincent fired fully automatic bursts straight into the gaping mouth. With one last screech of pain, the creature’s huge head crashed to the ground. After a few spasms, the creature lay still. Nonetheless, Vincent fired more rounds into any soft tissue he could find until he was satisfied it wasn’t going to move again.

Water pooled behind the dead creature’s back as its body created a dam at the bottom of the ravine. The muscles in Gideon’s body relaxed even as they continued to shake from excess adrenaline.

Vincent slung his rifle over his shoulder and approached the lifeless jaws. He circled around the head, examining the creature up close. “No eyes,” he said. “Must use different senses to hunt.” He passed a gloved hand along its tough hide.

Takomi walked up and stood next to Gideon. “I really hope we don’t run into one of these things again.”

Vincent shook his head. “A predator this size probably has a huge territory. If I had to guess, I’d say it’ll be months before another one wanders into this area.”

Takomi turned to Gideon. “What’re you going to name this one, Gid?”

He stood there shaking his head. “I haven’t a clue what to call it.”

Padre’s voice in Gideon’s ear made him jump. “For now we’ll just call it a pesadilla.”

Gideon looked up to see Padre and Connor walking along the river toward them.

As they examined the carcass, Connor jumped up and landed on its back. “I’m impressed. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to take it down.”

“It’s not something I want to try again.” He reached up and stroked the creatures maw before he turned and walked away. “We didn’t come here to kill the wildlife. Come on, we’ve got to go back for the others we left in the forest. Is the rest of the crew safe?”

Connor jumped down off the creature’s back. “They’re okay. We left them halfway up the cliff, tucked into a shallow alcove. It’s like a little fort up there.”

Vincent was already jogging up the side of the ravine, searching for the best path. “Let’s get a move on before it gets too dark. David will be getting nervous.”

Gideon smiled at Vincent’s dry jab and followed the others back up the side of the cliff in the direction they’d come from. The armor made the otherwise daunting climb a mere inconvenience, and as he stood on the top of the cliff, he looked back down at the hulking mass of the pesadilla.
 

They took off at full speed for the fort, reaching it as the sun dipped below the hills on the far side of the ravine. Gideon had no idea what pesadilla meant, but the way Padre had said it, with a tone of respect and revulsion, made the word stick out in Gideon’s head. He repeated it in his mind, rolling it over and over.

“Pauline, define pesadilla,” he said quietly.

His AI responded immediately. “Pesadilla. Spanish. English translation: nightmare.”

T
HE
“
FORT
”
TURNED
out to be a flat spot underneath an overhang that was too shallow to be considered a cave. Large boulders that had broken off of the overhang long ago were strewn about the area, affording a bit of protection. The twenty survivors left after the attack were in bad shape. Some had collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to move. Others huddled near the rocks at the back of the fort in silence.
 

Some, like Tawny, were doing what they could to improve the makeshift shelter before nightfall. Vincent, now in chief security officer mode, set about improving the fortifications. With the help of their armor, he and Connor were able to move many of the boulders to the perimeter, forming a kind of wall. Padre took Takomi and Gideon with him to cut down nearby trees, hauling them back to add to the fortifications. By nightfall, the little shelter looked more like an actual fort.

With the area secured and guards posted, they went about helping with what they could. Gideon and Takomi scoured the supplies, finding clean, dry clothes and passing them out to the others.

Gideon took a set of clothes and walked over to a woman who sat crumpled against the wall of the cave like a discarded doll. She stared ahead at the bonfire, even as Gideon approached. It was the mother of Garrett Preece, one of the boys from the academy. He tried to remember her first name, but couldn’t recall it.
 

“Mrs. Preece,” he said. She blinked but didn’t look up at him. “Mrs. Preece, I brought you some dry clothes.” At first, he thought she was covered in dirt, but closer inspection revealed the dark stains were blood, too much blood to all be hers. He went down on one knee next to her and reached for her hand.

The moment he touched her, she jerked away like she’d been shocked. She let out a tiny cry and stared in horror at Gideon’s face. He reached out again. “No, no. Mrs. Preece, it’s just me, Gideon Killdeer.” But the distraught woman kicked at him and backed away. Someone grabbed Gideon by the shoulder and jerked him backward.

“You’ve got your visor on, you idiot,” said Takomi as she pushed him out of the way. She knelt down and spoke gently to the woman. Slowly, Mrs. Preece started breathing normally, looking back and forth between Takomi and Gideon. Her eyes closed, and she threw her head back and let out an anguished wail. Before she toppled over, Takomi leapt forward to catch her. The woman broke down into wracking sobs, clutching at Takomi and burying her head in her arms.

Takomi sat with her, stroking her head and speaking softly. Gideon stood back, dumbfounded. A hand fell on his shoulder, and he turned to see Padre, eyes moist, motioning for Gideon to come away. The two of them walked to an empty corner of the cave. Gideon remembered his visor and removed his helmet.

“I’m afraid what happened today might be too much for some of these people,” said the priest. “In fact, I’m not so sure it hasn’t been too much for me.” Gideon nodded. Padre looked around at the ragged bunch of survivors in the firelight.
 

He turned his attention back to Gideon. “I want you to know, I’ve been impressed with how you, Takomi, and Joseph have been handling things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never would have imagined a scenario like this. Most kids your age would have panicked, or been overcome with shock after what you’ve been through.” He stole a glance back at Mrs. Preece, still sobbing into Takomi’s shoulder.

“Well,” said Gideon as he shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with this topic, “Ms. Drexel did tell us once that we Voidborn have grown up with better training.”
 

Padre shook his head. “I’m sure that helps but... in any case, keep doing what you’re doing.”

Gideon nodded. Padre patted him on the shoulder and turned to walk away. Vincent walked by at that moment and stopped in front of Gideon. The big man looked at him for a long time without saying anything. Finally, he spoke. “You look tired,” he said. He spoke softly, but his deep voice rumbled in the rocky enclosure. “Anyone not on guard duty should get as much sleep as they can.”

Gideon smiled and saluted. He wondered if Vincent would take his own advice. In any case, Gideon planned on following it to the letter. He looked around for a good spot to sleep. Takomi was still sitting against the rock wall with Mrs. Preece’s head on her lap. The disheveled woman had changed her clothes and was now fast asleep. Gideon walked toward his friend, but Takomi held up her hand and waved him off, pointing at Mrs. Preece.

Feeling dejected, he looked around again, finding Joseph on his knees spreading out his bedroll. Gideon grabbed his gear and made his way over. Joseph smiled up at him as he approached. “Looks like this fort will work out fine, eh Gid?”

Gideon looked around the camp and nodded slightly. “I think you’re right. It’s definitely better than any of our other camps.”

“Well,” said Joseph, standing up and stretching his back, “we didn’t know there were dinosaurs out here.”