Aegis Rising (49 page)

What he didn’t know was that he was in the sights of an armed worker who had gone around behind the infirmary. The worker quietly moved toward the villager as the lad knelt at the back of the building and fiddled with the blue cube.

The worker aimed his weapon before calling out, “Psst, Injun!”

The lad jumped. He saw the threat lurking to his right, with the barrel of a gun pointing straight at him. His face transformed into a look of pure terror. He quickly tried to scramble back to the trees. The worker, an experienced marksman, waited calmly until the lad was perfectly aligned in his sights before firing a few rounds. The young man flopped onto his back on the ground, trembling for a few moments before going still.

The worker lowered his weapon and walked toward the intruder who lay splayed before him, eyes glassy. “Boom, you’re dead,” he chuckled. He picked up the cube the lad had dropped. The explosive wasn’t armed but the worker didn’t know it and did not want to take chances. He put the cube back inside the villager’s sack, then flung the bag into the trees before strolling away.

Hajjar groaned as he came around. Opening his eyes, he stared up at the brightening sky. He tried to recall what was happening but his senses were coming back to him slowly. It wasn’t too long before his ears began to work again and he picked out a smorgasbord of sounds, predominantly shouts from the guards and workers. Then it all came rushing back.

As he pushed some rubble off himself, he heard his name being called. He looked around, a frown creasing his brow, until his eyes landed on his radio that was by his hand. He picked it up. “Somebody called for me?” he asked, sounding hoarse.

Ajajdif’s voice came on. “Yeah, me. You okay?”

Hajjar stiffly pushed himself up to his feet. “Yeah.”

“Good. Get the Marauders out. Keep your eyes peeled for the intruders, though.”

“Yes, sir.” The head of security dusted himself off and pulled out a 9mm Glock from his holster. Holding the weapon in one hand, he warily made his way over to the Marauders’ building.

One of the crossbowmen up at the top of the mountain spotted the giant man as he hurried to the beasts’ enclosure. The villager quickly turned his crossbow toward the man and let loose an arrow.

The arrow missed Hajjar by an inch as he was punching a code into the security keypad. He saw the arrow bounce off the steel building and land by his left foot. He whipped around to look behind him, both hands gripping his sidearm, but no one was there. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. He reached behind him, pulling open the heavy door with one hand. As he turned around and stepped in, another arrow whistled just over his shaved head and hit the second door in front of him. He slammed the first door shut and turned to look down at the arrow. He picked it up and eyed it. “Arrows against guns?” he scoffed. “They really think they can outdo us with these?” He shook his head as he pressed his thumb against the thumbprint recognition scanner. As he walked inside, he boomed to the terrified handler behind the steel counter, “Get my controller. I’m setting the Marauders loose.”

54

A
jajdif scanned the site from his window, striving for clear shots at the intruders as they tangled with the workers not too far from the security post. Unfortunately, the intruders seemed to have guessed that there was someone eyeing them from across the site and danced around his employees. The workers always ended up being the ones in his sights instead. Piqued, Ajajdif changed direction of his aim. He swung the muzzle of his weapon around to see where the other intruders were. A group of them stood not too far from the destroyed mess hall and were firing arrows from their bows.

A tall brunette with light brown skin seemed to be the center of that group. She appeared mature but was lithe and elegant in her movements, making it impossible to guess her age from afar. Ajajdif watched her carefully as she called out to the others. Her actions were leading him to the notion that she was the group’s commander. Gunning her down could weaken the link in the intruders’ attack plan and give his workers a slight boost—or so he hoped. A young girl, perhaps fifteen or sixteen by her looks, hung back around the woman while the others actively sought out the workers and engaged them in skirmishes.

Ajajdif inhaled and could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears as he held his breath. He aligned the crosshairs to the woman’s head. Just as he was about to fire his weapon, the excavator’s cylinder that had embedded itself into the wall behind him came crashing down. Startled, he squeezed the trigger but his aim was off. The bullet struck the woman in the chest, just a couple of inches above her heart. She buckled from the impact and stumbled back into the arms of the teenager, who looked utterly shell-shocked. Ajajdif knew the hit would be critical enough to put the leader out of action. He watched as the girl gently lowered the woman to the ground. He deliberated taking her out as well, but decided to leave the girl alone. He needed to save his ammunition for the real threats.

Tegan knelt beside her mentor, unable to tear her eyes away from the blood on Tikina’s chest. The Elder’s breathing was rapid and shallow. Her skin was quickly becoming clammy and moist. Tegan whimpered as her mentor’s head started to loll and her eyelids began to droop. She placed her hand on the wound, trying to stem the flow of blood, but kept pulling her hands back each time the Elder hissed in pain. Even though she had taken the basic first aid course in school, she wasn’t prepared for anything like this. The simple training she’d gotten was rendered non-existent as dread set in her mind.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

Tikina’s eyes suddenly opened wide and she grabbed her apprentice’s hand, holding it with an iron grip that stunned the teenager. “Tegan,” she murmured. Her pupil leaned in closer. “You must take over for me. Use Chayton and Akira, youngling. Use them.”

“What about you?” Tegan croaked.

“You must leave me be.”

“No! You can’t ask me to do that, not when you can’t even move!”

“You must, Tegan!”

Tegan shook her head angrily. “No. I’m not leaving. I’ll find a way to help you.”

“Do not do this, youngling. I . . .” Tikina’s voice ebbed as she faded into unconsciousness.

Losing her nerve, Tegan looked around for anyone to help her but the other members of the team had spread out when Tikina had ordered them to. She looked down at the Elder and desperately tried to remember everything she had learned, but her mind continued to draw a blank. She harangued herself as she sat by her mentor’s side, again pressing her hands against the wound in an attempt to halt the blood flow.

The door of the Marauders’ building swung outward and the four creatures stalked out, their unsheathed claws digging into the soil. They paused, drawing themselves up to their full height. They took a long sniff to identify the direction of the intruders. With raucous growls they lunged forward across the wrecked vehicle shed in search of the trespassers.

Hajjar slowly followed out after them, watching the animals as if they were the single most wonderful entities to have ever been created. Without realizing it, he tightened his hold on the remote, relishing the power in his hands. The feeling of dominance over such destructive beasts never grew old with him.

His eyes followed the beasts as they began to terrorize the intruders. The intruders intuitively scrambled away whenever the Marauders drew close, but Hajjar knew they would not last. The hybrids were designed to kill.

Tayoka and Jag had just about finished up with the three men they were facing. The last man, not yet tied, was face-down on the ground. As Jag stomped down on his arm and stuck a dart into him, the sounds of the beasts on the other side of the site became more distinct. Puzzled, Jag looked over at Tayoka. The Elder looked back at him. They both turned when they noticed shadows streaking across the site, moving so fast they almost appeared blurred. The two watched, speechless, as one shadow jumped onto the back of a villager who was firing arrows from his bow, sending him tumbling down. The man let out an ear-splitting, inhuman sound that was quickly cut off as the beast shoved him down, clawing and tearing into him.

Jag and Tayoka could barely look at the grizzly sight. Neither had ever witnessed a creature attacking violently for the exclusive need to satiate its instinct to kill. To Jag, it seemed as if the creatures were enjoying the massacre. He backed away from the scene and glanced at where he expected Tayoka to have been standing; instead he found the Elder sprinting toward a giant man by the beasts’ building. He yelled out to Tayoka and started to run after him, but the Elder turned around and held a hand up, instructing Jag to stay put. Jag’s eyes followed his mentor as Tayoka headed toward his target again.

It was only a matter of a few seconds for Tayoka to reach the big man. The Elder was moving swiftly, too fast for his opponent to move out of the way as Tayoka leapt and landed a scissor-kick to the man’s neck. Twisting his body, the Elder forced the man down.

The giant was stunned by the surprise attack. He shoved Tayoka away and got back up. Tayoka rose up as well, glaring at the other man. The man had to bend his head to look down at the Elder and was more than surprised to see that his aggressor was at least twenty years older than him. Taking a couple of steps back, he tucked away a black device and whipped out his pistol, pointing it at the Elder. Like greased lightning, Tayoka struck the gun out of his hand and kicked it aside. The giant watched the weapon slide away, then looked back at the Elder and advanced malevolently toward the older man.

From their concealed position behind the building that Nageau had pointed out, Saiyu, Mariah and the man with the eye patch were preparing for an assault on the sniper. The man crawled on his stomach from behind the building, and unknown to the sniper at the window, positioned himself right next to him.

Saiyu and Mariah were on the opposite side of the building. Staying low, Saiyu peeked around the corner of the building and spotted the barrel of the sniper’s rifle. She signaled to Mariah to stay close to her as they readied themselves to barge through the door and take down the man behind the gun. They stopped cold when they heard a crackling sound. Then Mariah heard a radio communication that seemed oddly close. Realizing that there was a conversation happening indoors, she strained her ears to listen and heard the tail-end of the radio exchange.

“. . . ETA in two minutes, and we’re comin’ in hot. Flight Zero out.”

She heard a mumble, probably from the sniper, but it was almost inaudible. As she crouched beside Saiyu, she thought through what she’d overheard.
Coming in hot? That’s military jargon, isn’t it?
She froze at the notion and immediately scanned the sky, half-expecting to see an aircraft.
Nah . . . this is a mining activity, not a military excursion. It’s gotta be something else.

The barks and roars of the beasts had stabbed fear into Aari. He stuck close to his mentor, but even Ashack seemed to have gotten flustered as they caught sight of two massive, black-furred beasts stalking two villagers. Coordinating their moves, they trapped the men.

The villagers knew right away that flight was not an option. They took their defensive positions and covered each other. The men put up a brave fight in what was to be their last stand, for within moments the beasts dragged them down and tore them apart.

Aari nearly bit through his tongue as he saw it all unfold before his eyes. Ashack stood protectively in front of him and a distraught bellow rose from the Elder, shattering his stoic demeanor. Aari winced, feeling the raw anguish from his mentor. The speed of the attack had taken even Ashack by surprise, leaving him helpless as he was unable to use his light-bending skills to save the men.

A lamenting cry shook Aari from the shock of what he had just witnessed. He craned his neck to look behind him and saw Tegan kneeling on the ground beside the limp body of Tikina. Seeking to get Ashack’s attention, Aari grabbed his arm and turned him toward Tegan and Tikina. He looked at his mentor, searching for direction, and from his peripheral vision noticed the large shadowed figures of the beasts turning toward the fallen Elder and her pupil. The creatures tilted their heads up, taking a whiff and picking up a scent. They seemed to know that there was an injured quarry.

Both Ashack and Aari recognized their intentions. The Elder met Aari’s eyes briefly, his intent clear. With a nod of understanding, Aari broke into a mad sprint. “Tegan!” he screamed.

That jolted Tegan to look up at him. She seemed confused by his panic, but then her eyes drifted to the ominous silhouettes charging behind him. The frightening scene froze her in her place.

Aari grabbed her, and without slowing his stride, hauled her along at full speed toward what was left of the mess hall. Tegan was in a near panic. “Tikina! We can’t leave her!”

“Ashack’s got her covered!” he yelled back. “Just
run!
”

Tegan glanced back and couldn’t find her mentor, but saw the beasts stall, yards away from where Tikina should have been, looking confused. Then one of them looked up directly at the fleeing pair and gave chase. Tegan goggled. She tore away from her friend’s grip and raced past a surprised Aari. “Hurry!” she screeched.

Jumping over rubble, they careened past the dining section with the beast no more than fifty feet behind them. Aari could hear the creature’s growl, sounding closer than it actually was. The two vaulted onto the food serving counter and leapt onto the half-demolished wall behind it that separated the dining area from the kitchen. They jumped down onto the kitchen floor and looked around for somewhere to hide. Aari happened to glance up and saw a trap door in the ceiling, the kind used by maintenance crews to service the exhaust fans. He clambered onto the stove counter and reached for the trap door. It was locked. He looked around frantically and found a fire extinguisher attached to a pillar next to him. Grabbing it, he smashed the trap door open. He leapt and pulled himself through the ceiling, puffing out a breath.