Shadow Borne (24 page)

"Yes and even then, all I could see was him.
He'd been gone for so long and...I'm sorry." I shrugged
apologetically, ignoring Claire's horrified gasp. "I never intended
to use you that way." I continued. "You caught me off guard and
like I said–"

"I heard what you said."
he snapped, his pain laced voice cracking over me like a whip. "You
want me gone?
Fine.
"

I flinched from the world of contempt he
infused into the word and his eyes, he looked...disgusted. Never
over the course of our lives had he ever, ever looked at me that
way. That look cut deeper than I could have imagined and I watched
with helpless regret as he stalked across the clearing. His long,
even strides carried him further away from me with each passing
second. His men fell into step behind him and in the next moment
they were gone, hidden from view but still watching, I knew.

I released the breath I'd been holding and
turned to face the forest. I'd done it, done what I had to do, even
if the victory felt hollow. My chest physically ached at the depth
of pain I'd just inflicted on Aranu. Claire was a silent presence
beside me.

"I had to do it." I choked.

"I know." she murmured and when I dared a
sideways glance, her eyes were warm and filled with sympathy.

I tried to smile, failed miserably. And then
I felt the ground vibrate beneath our feet.

"Oh, hell." Claire's eyes went wide as the
leaves beyond the fence began to rustle.

"This is it, girls. Hold your positions and
stay calm." I directed the group around me.

Twenty women. There were only twenty women
scattered haphazardly about the clearing as scores of Coatyl
emerged from the dense tree line ahead. Blood rushed through my
veins at warp speed as I watched them slowly, steadily fill the
space. Ten, twenty, fifty and still they kept coming.

A strange gulping sound beside me tore my
attention away from the Coatyl.

"Claire!" I admonished "Is that a
flask?"

"Yes, and it's filled with alcohol." She
took another hefty swallow and offered up the small gold
container.

I shook my head and refocused on the scene
across the fence.

"You know what's so horrible?" Claire
whispered, inching closer and clasping my hand. "They almost look
like us...Ari, if I'm going to die right now, I'm glad it's with
you. You're my best friend."

Her voice broke on the
word friend and I took a deep breath. Gently but firmly I pulled my
hand from her white-knuckled death grip. "I love you too, Claire.
Now get off me and pull it together." I whispered back. "We aren't
going to die here."
Not without a
fight.

Still more Coatyl poured into the clearing.
The ones on the front lines went still and stared hard at the
fence. They seemed almost...confused. Claire and I exchanged a look
as the first several rows of Coatyl murmured among themselves and
then one by one began to face forward and fix their glaring stares
on us. Hundreds of malevolent eyes fastened on our small group.

Several gasps went through
the crowd and I sighed as many of the nymphs backed up. To Claire's
credit, she didn't take a step back. If anything, she appeared to
be rooted to the spot but her breathing was coming in tense,
shallow bursts and her fingers were white around the shiny,
metallic gold of the flask.
So much for
acting natural.

Murmurs of unease rippled
through the clearing and the air became charged with nervous
energy. I didn't blame them, really–and I knew exactly what Claire
meant by 'they almost look like us'. The basic body shape of the
Coatyl
did
look
like us...you know, except for the bone thin frame and the sharp,
angular features. But at first glance, a casual observer would
think they were seeing a strange, emaciated person wearing white
clothing. And then you noticed it wasn't clothing at all but
bleached skin. After that, your eyes took in the sharp clawed
hands, the bulging eyes that were perpetually on the edge of rage,
the long, stringy hair. When they smiled, a row of sharp, pointed
teeth were bared and their eyes narrowed, much like now...I locked
eyes with one that stood close to the fence and felt my stomach
heave.

The creature's scowl deepened and he took a
step closer to the barrier. His eyes lowered to the shimmering
panel and he snarled, reaching toward the top rung. Instantly, I
moved forward, fear tossed to the dirt and trampled beneath the
soles of my boots.

"I wouldn't do that it I were you." I
cautioned, stopping at the border. I stood inches from the Coatyl
now. "On second thought..." I crossed my arms and forced a smile.
"Go ahead."

The invitation was silky, mocking and had
the intended result. It brought the Coatyl's head up and he leaned
forward with an angry, animal sound rumbling in his throat.

"You were expecting us to be unprotected?" I
asked coldly, another small smile playing at the corners of my
lips. Dimly, I wondered if the thing could hear my racing heart. A
fine, cold mist squirmed across the back of my neck and it was all
I could do not to lean over and grip the fence to steady
myself.

The longer I stood across from the creature,
the more hyper aware I became of the livid anger emanating from
him. If he reached out, raked a claw across my throat, I would be
dead. This close to major veins and arteries, the venom in his
claws would be deadly. A fine tremor began to tingle through my
hands and I clenched the muscles in my arms tight. Immediately, I
regretted the action. My head swam and I felt myself begin to sway.
On the other side of the fence, my enemy seemed to sense that I was
teetering on the edge of weakness. The black irises widened,
narrowed, and his lips curled. I sucked in a deep breath, then
leaned forward and let it out as a growl fierce enough to give the
Coatyl pause.

The brush of fabric against my right arm
told me Claire had moved forward to flank my side. I didn't look at
her. Didn't dare take my eyes off the beast crouching in front of
me. Crouching? Shit. Was he getting ready to spring? Just then, a
scream tore through the air.

"What the..." I looked beyond the Coatyl and
my previously narrow frame of vision and gasped. My hands fell to
my sides, numb, and then I did reach out and grab the nearest fence
post in an effort to steady myself.

Claire's hand shot out and captured my
fingers in a hard grip. With my right hand, I returned the damp
squeeze. With my left, I reached across her and plucked the flask
from her hand. One handed, I twisted the top and let the small,
threaded gold cap fall to the dusty ground. The alcohol burned a
trail that I felt sizzle through each and every nerve ending and I
straightened, draining the bottle and letting it join the cap at
our feet. New creatures were still filling the clearing and my mind
flashed to an earlier conversation, the phrase 'worse than Coatyl'
filling my mind with icy cold dread.

"Aries...what the hell are they?" Claire
shouted as a second shrill scream filled the air.

The tall, pale blue creatures edged into
view, squeezing into each and every last available space in the
clearing. One of the nymphs shouted "Run!" and I held both arms up,
momentarily putting my back to the fence as I roared at my people.
"No one runs! Hold your positions!" I was tempted to tack on 'shut
up' to those orders. I would have, if I'd thought it would do
anything to quell the rising panic among many of the women.

As it was, the ones who weren't screaming
were clustered together, identical looks of frozen disbelief on
their pretty faces. "Hold your positions!" I repeated, louder now
in case the men hidden behind us hadn't heard me the first time.
"They must be Kahn's latest experiment gone wrong. Damn. I figured
they'd come for us sooner or later, but did it have to be
today?"

"Well, considering they're teaming up with
the Coatyl to kill us all, yes, it had to be today."

Claire pointed out the obvious and I glanced
at her, noting she sounded much calmer than she had a few moments
ago.

Probably the alcohol kicking in. I spared
another glance at the half hysterical members of our team and
briefly wished we'd thought to bring enough for everyone.

"If they come through the fence, there's no
way we're walking away from this in one piece." she said.

I swallowed as more of the Life Breathers
filed in to take their place among the Coatyl. "Yeah. But we didn't
really have a chance before they showed up so..." But wait. I
braced myself on the fence, placing both feet on the bottom rung
and boosting my body higher in order to better scan the mob before
us. "Claire, I think the screams are coming from the Coatyl."

Instantly, she was perched precariously
beside me. "Are you sure?" She frowned, climbing onto the top rail
and leaning over in an attempt to see further.

My hand shot out, fisting around the cloth
between her shoulder blades and I yanked her back just in time to
prevent her from falling off the fence and into enemy
territory.

"There's one hell of a commotion going on
back there." I shouted over the ever increasing noise level. At
roughly the same moment, the ground began to shake beneath our
feet. I didn't have to turn around to know the stampede behind us
was hundreds of men rushing forward, out of the trees.

"What the fuck, Claire! Are you crazy?"

I did look back then.
Clearly, Mark was pissed. I'd never heard him swear like that. But
considering we had bigger problems at the moment, I spun around and
used one hand to shield my eyes, scanning the scene on the other
side of the fence. Something wasn't quite right...or maybe
it
was
. I grinned
suddenly.

"Guys!" I tossed the word
over my shoulder and strained for a better view. "I don't think the
Life Breathers are here to kill
us
."

Mark and Claire stopped shouting at each
other long enough to pay attention to their surroundings and grasp
the implications of what I'd just said.

A hand pressed into my lower back and I spun
sharply, coming precariously close to toppling off the fence.
Mike's drawn face stared back at me.

"Don't fall." he cautioned, splaying his
fingers wide to counterbalance my shifting weight. His other hand
came up and framed my left side without actually touching me. My
eyes held his for a fleeting moment but finally I nodded, deciding
now wasn't the time to snap at him. I took a deep breath and let
him help me down from the fence.

"They've formed a circle around the Coatyl."
Mark voiced what I'd already observed, his shrewd eyes skimming
over the mass of white and blue figures.

More screams filled the air in the deepening
twilight and now the Coatyl were paying very little attention to
us.

"They're attacking the Coatyl, but I can't
see that far back. I don't know how they're doing it." The
translucent blue creatures wore no weapons as they moved swiftly
around the sides to herd and hem the Coatyl in. They were actively
maneuvering their enemy...so, they were intelligent. And
terrifying. I wouldn't have believed anything could be more
intimidating than the dead white demonic looking creatures gathered
before us, but I'd been very wrong. These creatures stood a head
taller than the Coatyl's six-foot height range and they were bulky.
They possessed two legs and two arms but instead of skin, the
sported something shiny and rough looking...scales? Whatever it
was, it covered only their faces and bald heads. Their eyes were
large black orbs, deep set and expressionless in the scaly blue
faces. They had no nose that I could see, and a flat, wide,
colorless slash of a mouth in place of lips.

Each creature looked the same as the next
and they were thick through the chest. They were translucent
through the torso and I stared, fascinated, at the largest rib cage
I'd ever seen. Just then, the creature's flat line of a mouth
opened wide and a fine crystalline mist puffed out from between the
'lips'. The hazy burst of breath touched a nearby Coatyl and the
pallid demon began to claw at its own throat and gasp. Seconds
later, it stopped breathing altogether and fell to the ground.
Dead.

"Whoa." Claire breathed.

"Life Breathers." I nodded, the pieces
clicking fully into place. "Kahn created them to eliminate the
Coatyl."

"After the Coatyl were supposed to have
killed us." Mark nodded, satisfaction edging some of the tension
from his voice and stance.

"Except that Aries' plan to recreate the
enchantment stopped the Coatyl from carrying out their
mission."

"And now the Life Breathers are taking care
of the problem for us." Mark finished. "The Life Breathers are a
fail-safe. Kahn must have known he'd never be able to control the
Coatyl. So he found a way to eliminate them once they'd outlived
their usefulness."

"Huh." Claire crossed her arms over her
chest, watching the battle rage on. "It looks like he was a little
premature in taking them out. Not that I'm complaining." she was
quick to add.

Mike winced when one of the Coatyl sent a
clawed hand slashing through the torso of a Life Breather but said
"It looks like Kahn couldn't control the Life Breathers, either.
So, we're good, right?"

Mark nodded, watching as another Life
Breather fell. It didn't take the Coatyl long to figure out their
opponents' weak spot was that translucent, apparently thin membrane
of the torso. "We should be, anyway. It looks like there are more
Life Breathers than there are Coatyl. Regardless." he shrugged,
sheathing his onyx and jade handled sword. "We'll sit back and let
them kill each other for a while. Then we'll step in and finish off
the rest."