Cloak Games: Rebel Fist (14 page)

I felt Russell giving me a knowing look. I love my brother and would quite literally lay my life down for him, but sometimes I just wanted to smack him. 

Corvus watched the video I had taken of the glowing sphere. “Where did you record this?” 

“The Ducal Mall in Brookfield,” I said. “We were there this afternoon when the Archons attacked.” 

“I see,” said Corvus. “Nora. Have you ever seen anything like this?”

The tall Shadow Hunter strolled over and peered at the display. “I have not. But you’re the wizard, Corvus.” There was a little affectionate mockery in the nickname. “If you haven’t encountered it, then I definitely haven’t.” 

“I wish a copy of this video,” said Corvus, “to show to the Firstborn of our family.”

“Later,” I said, slipping my phone back into my jacket. “If we live through this. If you keep your promise.”

“A fair arrangement,” said Corvus. He glanced at the sky. “We should go. I want to return your brother to his home before dark.”

“Can’t Shadow Hunters see in the dark?” said Russell. 

“We can,” said Corvus, “but the other drivers cannot.”

“Good point,” said Russell.

We climbed into the van, and Nora put the vehicle into drive and set off. The acceleration pushed me back into my seat. Nora apparently liked to drive fast. We zoomed down the college’s driveway and turned east on Wisconsin Avenue with a squeal of tires. Corvus rolled down the window, produced an Uzi submachine gun from beneath the seat, and propped it on the door. 

Nora soon had to slow down. Burned out-vehicles littered the street, both regular cars and the wreckage of Homeland Security cars and SUVs. It looked like a lot of fighting had taken place just east of the medical college. I saw some dead orcs, but I saw far more dead Homeland Security officers in their blue uniforms, and even men-at-arms in black harnesses adorned with the sigil of Duke Tamirlas of Milwaukee. That was a very bad sign. The Duke’s men-at-arms were better armed, better trained, and better fighters than the sort of bullies who ended up in Homeland Security. If the Archons’ orcish soldiers were winning against the men-at-arms of Duke Tamirlas and his vassals…

Maybe Milwaukee would fall to the Archons. 

It seemed inconceivable that the Archons would defeat the Elven nobles…but then the Archons had chased the High Queen off the Elven homeworld, hadn’t they? I looked at Corvus, wondering if I could persuade him to get Russell and James and Lucy out of Milwaukee before I answered his second question. 

Vaguely I wondered what he intended to ask me. Given all the other problems I currently faced, it seemed like a minor concern.

Dusk fell as Nora turned onto the street where the Marneys lived, where I had gone running this morning. It had been barely twelve hours ago, but it seemed like half a lifetime. So far, at least, the fighting hadn’t reached the street. A lot of veterans lived in this neighborhood, and I glimpsed people watching us through closed blinds and pulled curtains. 

“There,” said Russell. “That’s my house.” 

“Your father,” said Corvus. “Is he a veteran?”

Russell hesitated. “He’s…not my father. Not my birth father, anyway.”

“He was a doctor in service to an Elven lord,” I said. “He has a gun.”

Corvus nodded. “You two had better get out first.”

“You look like Rebels, you mean?” said Russell.

“Cheeky lad,” said Nora. “But, yes.”

“Aren’t Shadow Hunters immune to bullets?” said Russell.

“We’re not,” said Nora. “We can heal from them, but the process is very painful and I would prefer not to undergo it at this time.” 

“Better park on the street, then,” I said. “Um. Russell. When James and Lucy ask about…”

“I know, I know,” said Russell. “I’ll keep my mouth shut. Also, I bet you guys don’t want anyone to know that you’re Shadow Hunters?”

“That would be helpful, yes,” said Corvus. 

The van stopped on the street in front of the Marneys’ house. I got out, my hips and shoulders and knees aching from the day’s various mishaps. My neck was starting to hurt as well. I wondered if I had whiplash from the numerous car crashes I had instigated today. Russell followed me across the street, and Nora shut off the engine as Corvus emerged from the van.

I took another step forward…and once again pain exploded through me, every muscle seeming to contract, my blood burning in my veins, my heart hammering against my ribs as if it wanted to tear free from my chest and escape. I staggered to a stop, sweat beading on my forehead, and squeezed my eyes against the pain.

Morvilind’s location spell, but not the summoning. He must have been looking for me. But why? 

“Are you all right?” 

Russell’s fingers grasped my arm, and bit by bit the roaring in my ears subsided.

“Fine,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I’m fine. Really. Just dizzy.”

“Clearly you are not,” said Corvus. “Are…” 

The front door to the house swung open, and James hobbled into sight, his face grim. He was walking without his cane, which was bad, but he needed both hands to carry the M-99 carbine he wasn’t quite pointing at Corvus and Nora. Most American men-at-arms carried the M-99 carbine, based on the old M-16 and M-4 designs that had been in use before the Conquest. It wasn’t as resilient as the AK-47, but it was more accurate, and James knew how to use it properly. 

“Russell?” James called out. “Nadia? Is that you?”

I saw Corvus’s eyes flick toward me. So much for keeping my real name hidden from him, but at this point that had been a slim hope.

“Yeah, it’s us,” said Russell, jogging across the street. Lucy emerged from the house as well, carrying a shotgun. Like any good wife of a discharged veteran, she went shooting with her husband, and was pretty good at it. Certainly she was a better shot than I was. “Don’t shoot!” 

“God be praised. Who’s with you?” said James. 

“They’re,” I said, searching for a word, “friendly. They helped us get here after we got away from the Ducal Mall. The streets are crawling with orcish soldiers.” I didn’t want to tell them about the anthrophages unless I could help it. 

“Good evening, sir,” said Nora. “My name is Nora Childress, and this is my commander, who has for some reason chosen to go under the name of Corvus while in Milwaukee.” Corvus rolled his eyes. “We happened to encounter Russell and Nadia, and decided to escort them home.” 

“Why?” said James. The M-99 didn’t waver. “Not that I’m ungrateful, mind, but you both look a little young to be veterans, and you’re not Homeland Security officers.”

“I can vouch for them,” I said. “I met them as part of my work.”

“Your duties with Lord Morvilind?” said James.

It was completely innocent. He didn’t mean anything by it, and he was just trying to keep me and Russell safe. But with that question, with five simple words, he had just signed my death warrant. 

“Yes,” I said, my throat dry as dust. “I did.”

I glanced at Corvus, and saw him staring at me. I couldn’t read his expression, but he had gone utterly motionless. Was he surprised? Confused? Angry? I couldn’t tell.

Yet I had the impression that he was angry.

In fact, I thought he was furious. But I didn’t think it was with me. 

“Corvus,” said Nora in a soft voice.

“Later,” said Corvus, the word harsh. He stepped forward, hands raised and away from his weapon. “Sir, we mean you no harm. We…”

“You’re a Shadow Hunter,” said James, the carbine’s barrel shifting a bit towards Corvus.

“There’s no such thing,” said Corvus.

“Son,” said James in the tone he used when lecturing a recalcitrant patient about his blood pressure, “I’m old and crippled, but I’m not stupid. I saw the edge of the tattoo on your neck when I mentioned Lord Morvilind. I was a medic of the men-at-arms for a long time, and I saw a Shadow Hunter once. I know what you are. I don’t care.” He shrugged a little, the gun unwavering. “With all the Rebels and Archons running about the streets, maybe we could use a Shadow Hunter or two. But what do you want with Nadia and Russell?” 

“I wish nothing of her brother,” said Corvus. “For Nadia herself, I wish only to ask a single question.”

“A question?” said James. 

“A question,” said Corvus. “The answer has become, I think, clearer to me in the last two minutes. But I wish only to ask her a single question, and then I shall be on my way.” 

James looked nonplussed. “A question?”

“That is all.” 

“You came all this way to ask her on a date?” said James.

“For God’s sake!” I said.

“Language, dear,” said Lucy automatically

“For God’s sake!” I said again. 

“That was not the question, no,” said Corvus. “I agreed…”

“How about,” I said, “we all get off the damn…I mean, the darned lawn and go in the darned house to talk about our darned problems before we get shot to death by some darned orcs?” 

They all stared at me for a moment. 

“Sensible,” agreed Nora. 

“Truly,” said James, stepping away from the door. “All right, everyone get inside. We can talk more there. I don’t know how much longer the neighborhood will be safe. We might have to get out of Milwaukee entirely. I…”

Shouts rang out, and I saw men running down the alley behind the Marneys’ house. We all spun in that direction, and the men ran through the Marneys’ yard and into the driveway, spilling onto the sidewalk and street.

They were Homeland Security officers, dozens of them in their blue uniforms, though some of them had on flak vests. All of the officers clutched pistols or tactical shotguns, and every single one of them looked terrified. Many had been wounded, their uniforms stained with blood. The officers saw us, and started shouting, pointing their guns at us. I raised my hands, and Corvus and James and the others lowered their weapons. 

“Listen to me,” said James. “We…”

“Shut up!” said one of the Homeland Security officers, shoving his way to the front of the crowd. He was fat, verging on obese, his gut making his blue uniform jacket look like a giant blueberry. His nameplate read WILBURN, and he had a colonel’s insignia upon his collar. 

“Sir,” said James, “we…”

“You are Rebels!” roared Wilburn, his face red and sweating and terrified. I saw a mixture of rage and stark, naked terror upon his face. I wondered how badly the orcs had beaten his men. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. We couldn’t have been defeated otherwise. There are Rebel traitors in the city, and they let the orcs inside!”

He was right, but we weren’t the Rebels. He was looking for a scapegoat, and we were a prime target.

“Sir!” said one of the officers, pointing at me. “The girl’s got an AK-47! The orcs must have given it to them!” 

“Proof!” said Wilburn. “Shoot them!” 

“Wait!” said James, shoving Lucy behind him. “You…”

“You do not want to do that,” said Corvus, stepping before both of them.

I wanted to let out a final, bitter laugh. After everything I had survived and escaped, after all the years spent serving Morvilind to save Russell, we were all going to die at the hands of some idiot Homeland Security paper pusher. 

And then, somehow, everything got worse.

Gray light pulsed and flared in the street twenty yards to the east, and a sheet of white mist billowed up from the asphalt, forming a square about ten yards across. 

“What the hell is that?” said Wilburn. 

“Oh, no,” I said. “No, no, no.” 

The sheet of white mist seemed to tighten and sharpen, and through it I saw a dead, dark forest, ripples of ghostly fire dancing across a starless sky.

James let out a sharp, horrified breath and stepped back. 

“What the hell is that?” screamed Wilburn. “I demand you tell me!” 

“It’s a rift way, you idiot,” I said, “and…”

As I spoke, a dozen orcs charged out of the rift way, armed and armored like the soldiers I had seen before. They wielded huge, double-bladed axes, and they charged howling into the mass of terrified Homeland Security officers. 

Chapter 8: Standards Have Slipped Since My Day

Everything dissolved into bloody chaos. 

The howling orcs struck, and I saw one Homeland Security officer lose his head, blood spurting from the stump of his neck. Another fell to his knees, screaming in horror, his right arm missing at the shoulder, and an axe split his head in two. I had seen people killed before, had even killed a few of them myself, but I had never seen anyone ripped apart like that. 

Wilburn screamed something, and the Homeland Security officers started shooting, pouring bullets at the charging orcs. A half-dozen orcs went down, but more of them erupted through the rift way and into the street, and others lifted their AK-47s and opened fire. 

I had been in fights before, I had even survived a Rebel terrorist attack in Madison, but I had never been in a full-fledged battle, and for an awful moment I simply didn’t know what to do.

James, Corvus, and Nora broke their paralysis first. Both Shadow Hunters produced pistols in two-handed grips and started shooting at the orcs. James took three steps back, lifted his M-99, and opened fire, the muzzle flashing in the gloom again and again.

“Inside!” yelled James. “Quick, quick, quick. Inside, all of you!” 

“Go!” I said, grabbing Russell’s arm and pushing him towards the door. Russell gave a jerky nod and ran to Lucy, urging her towards the house. I followed them inside, and James, Corvus, and Nora fell back after us into the living room. 

James slammed the door shut and locked it behind us. That seemed so futile that I almost laughed.

A window exploded with the whine of a bullet, glass shards raining onto the floor.

“Down!” barked Corvus, and we threw ourselves to the floor. James started to, but his bad leg folded beneath him and he landed with a grunt. He pushed himself over onto his rear, his back resting against the wall. Corvus popped up long enough to send three quick shots through the broken window. An orc howled in fury, audible even through the chaos of the battle. 

“We have to get out of here,” said Lucy. 

“Maybe if we run out the back while they’re fighting?” said Russell.