The irony that two people who so desperately want to kill each other are busy saving each other instead isn’t lost on me.
“Try harder!” he snaps as more tanniyn surge toward us. Their milky eyes and glistening scales reflect the flames as they crunch over the ruins of the road.
Beyond them, the city blocks that we can see are in flaming ruins. Black monstrous things heave themselves into the air and crash into buildings, leaving jagged holes or toppling structures that were already shaky. Metal rends apart with earsplitting shrieks, and one of the road-bridges topples beneath the weight of three tanniyn, who crush the rubble beneath them as they slither toward the next row of buildings.
We aren’t going to get out of here alive if I don’t do something. Abandoning my efforts to make them go east, I hit the button that will send them back to their nest instead. The Commander and I back slowly down the street, while the creatures roar and shudder and lash out with their tails, sending walls, trees, and sometimes one another flying.
I press relentlessly against the button that sends the infrasonic signal and pray that it works. The creatures closest to us finally dive back into the ground. I don’t wait around to see if the rest follow. At this point, fire has spread from the eastern edge of the camp and is eating through the north side of the city. The Commander and I are the only people left on the street. Those hiding in the buildings are either going to burn to death or run from the city with only what they can carry.
With their leader dead and their supplies destroyed, I’m not worried about being followed. Quickly, the Commander and I hurry away from the camp and through the city. When we reach the outskirts, he turns to me.
“The device?” He holds out his hand. Reluctantly, I hand over the tech. He strokes it with loving fingers, and a vicious smile spreads across his face.
“It didn’t control them very well when we used the transmitters,” I say. “It works better when you’re just trying to control one at a time.”
“It will work well enough for our purposes.” He looks back toward the city, and I follow his gaze.
Fire consumes entire city blocks. Buildings lean against one another or simply crash to the ground in a hail of metal and stone.
“No wonder the previous civilization didn’t stand a chance,” I say. “If this was what happened in every major city, and no one knew that the right infrasonic frequency would send them away, they’d be defenseless.”
The Commander’s voice is quiet. “It was like this all across the globe. Chaos. Panic. Someone in our air and space department figured out that the beasts could be repelled with the right sonic pulse. We could still communicate with other nations using satellite phones.” He glances at me. “Phones were devices that allowed us to talk to others over great distances and—”
“I’ve read about phones.” When his brow rises, I add, “Jared brought back books when he traveled.”
He grunts. “We shared what we knew with the leaders of nations we could still reach by sat-phone and coordinated the effort to send teams down to destroy the nests of tanniyn. You know what happened after that.”
“I know what happened here. What about the other teams? Were any successful?”
He shrugs. “No one ever answered their sat-phones again.” His hands tighten over the device. I leave him there and start up the bluff, one ear tuned to the sound of his footsteps coming up behind me. There’s nothing to keep him from driving a sword through my back now. He knows how to use the device. He’s seen firsthand what it can do.
I’m expendable now.
I reach the top of the bluff while the Commander still stands at the base, staring at the city. Maybe he’s lost in the memories of watching his home burn so many years ago. Maybe he’s trying to decide if he should kill me now or when we reach Rowansmark.
Willow is standing on the bluff, the crossbow cradled in her arms, its arrow pointed at the Commander. Nola and Jodi flank her, their daggers in their hands. The horses are tethered with the two that the Commander and I rode.
“I’m here,” I say. Nola runs to me and hugs me. I hold her tight and wish with everything in me that I didn’t have to tell her about Drake. When Nola lets go, Jodi launches herself at me. I wrap my arms around her and meet Willow’s gaze.
“Are you . . . did they . . . are you hurt?” I ask, my cheeks burning a little when she looks at me.
“I’m not hurt. Neither are Jodi or Nola.” She shows no inclination to hug me, but her eyes glow with something that looks like relief.
“I found something of yours.” I retrieve her bow from my bag. “I don’t have any arrows, but—”
“That’s okay. I can make some.” She straps the crossbow to the back of her saddle and takes her bow, running her fingers across it like it’s an old friend. She meets my eyes. “Thank you for the bow.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And for coming back for us.”
“We’re family now, Willow. That’s what family does.” I brush a strand of hair out of her eyes and smile a little, though now that the girls are safe, the pain of losing Drake is settling into me.
She raises a brow at me. “You aren’t going to hug me too, are you?”
I gently bump my fist against her shoulder. “No hugging.”
“Good. You creep me out when you get all mushy.”
I refrain from mentioning the fierce half hug she gave me when she wasn’t sure I’d live and try to find the words to shatter Nola’s world.
“Try harder!” he snaps as more tanniyn surge toward us. Their milky eyes and glistening scales reflect the flames as they crunch over the ruins of the road.
Beyond them, the city blocks that we can see are in flaming ruins. Black monstrous things heave themselves into the air and crash into buildings, leaving jagged holes or toppling structures that were already shaky. Metal rends apart with earsplitting shrieks, and one of the road-bridges topples beneath the weight of three tanniyn, who crush the rubble beneath them as they slither toward the next row of buildings.
We aren’t going to get out of here alive if I don’t do something. Abandoning my efforts to make them go east, I hit the button that will send them back to their nest instead. The Commander and I back slowly down the street, while the creatures roar and shudder and lash out with their tails, sending walls, trees, and sometimes one another flying.
I press relentlessly against the button that sends the infrasonic signal and pray that it works. The creatures closest to us finally dive back into the ground. I don’t wait around to see if the rest follow. At this point, fire has spread from the eastern edge of the camp and is eating through the north side of the city. The Commander and I are the only people left on the street. Those hiding in the buildings are either going to burn to death or run from the city with only what they can carry.
With their leader dead and their supplies destroyed, I’m not worried about being followed. Quickly, the Commander and I hurry away from the camp and through the city. When we reach the outskirts, he turns to me.
“The device?” He holds out his hand. Reluctantly, I hand over the tech. He strokes it with loving fingers, and a vicious smile spreads across his face.
“It didn’t control them very well when we used the transmitters,” I say. “It works better when you’re just trying to control one at a time.”
“It will work well enough for our purposes.” He looks back toward the city, and I follow his gaze.
Fire consumes entire city blocks. Buildings lean against one another or simply crash to the ground in a hail of metal and stone.
“No wonder the previous civilization didn’t stand a chance,” I say. “If this was what happened in every major city, and no one knew that the right infrasonic frequency would send them away, they’d be defenseless.”
The Commander’s voice is quiet. “It was like this all across the globe. Chaos. Panic. Someone in our air and space department figured out that the beasts could be repelled with the right sonic pulse. We could still communicate with other nations using satellite phones.” He glances at me. “Phones were devices that allowed us to talk to others over great distances and—”
“I’ve read about phones.” When his brow rises, I add, “Jared brought back books when he traveled.”
He grunts. “We shared what we knew with the leaders of nations we could still reach by sat-phone and coordinated the effort to send teams down to destroy the nests of tanniyn. You know what happened after that.”
“I know what happened here. What about the other teams? Were any successful?”
He shrugs. “No one ever answered their sat-phones again.” His hands tighten over the device. I leave him there and start up the bluff, one ear tuned to the sound of his footsteps coming up behind me. There’s nothing to keep him from driving a sword through my back now. He knows how to use the device. He’s seen firsthand what it can do.
I’m expendable now.
I reach the top of the bluff while the Commander still stands at the base, staring at the city. Maybe he’s lost in the memories of watching his home burn so many years ago. Maybe he’s trying to decide if he should kill me now or when we reach Rowansmark.
Willow is standing on the bluff, the crossbow cradled in her arms, its arrow pointed at the Commander. Nola and Jodi flank her, their daggers in their hands. The horses are tethered with the two that the Commander and I rode.
“I’m here,” I say. Nola runs to me and hugs me. I hold her tight and wish with everything in me that I didn’t have to tell her about Drake. When Nola lets go, Jodi launches herself at me. I wrap my arms around her and meet Willow’s gaze.
“Are you . . . did they . . . are you hurt?” I ask, my cheeks burning a little when she looks at me.
“I’m not hurt. Neither are Jodi or Nola.” She shows no inclination to hug me, but her eyes glow with something that looks like relief.
“I found something of yours.” I retrieve her bow from my bag. “I don’t have any arrows, but—”
“That’s okay. I can make some.” She straps the crossbow to the back of her saddle and takes her bow, running her fingers across it like it’s an old friend. She meets my eyes. “Thank you for the bow.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And for coming back for us.”
“We’re family now, Willow. That’s what family does.” I brush a strand of hair out of her eyes and smile a little, though now that the girls are safe, the pain of losing Drake is settling into me.
She raises a brow at me. “You aren’t going to hug me too, are you?”
I gently bump my fist against her shoulder. “No hugging.”
“Good. You creep me out when you get all mushy.”
I refrain from mentioning the fierce half hug she gave me when she wasn’t sure I’d live and try to find the words to shatter Nola’s world.
