by D P Rowell
Cameron, who had helped himself to his feet, pointed a finger towards Dorneg and said, “There’s an entire train of witches (who, by the way, don’t like us at all) heading straight for that city. Do you really think all of us rallying up there is the best idea? It’s bound to be another trap.”
“We don’t have any choice,” Juneg said. “Trust me. We have much better chances facing bunch of witches than Dolochs, Lochdunds, and Forest Hounds.”
Ace’s eyes shot up. He ran to Juneg and grabbed her arms. “What did you call those beasts?”
Juneg gave him a crazy stare and tilted her head.
“Tell me!” Ace said.
“Dolochs, Lochdund, and Forest Hounds.”
“Fae!” Ace said, “You speak fae?”
Juneg wiggled her way from Ace’s grip with a look of distaste. “No. I don’t speak fae. That just what locals call beasts around here.”
“Locals?” Ace looked around with a wide smile. “Are there faes in the city?”
Juneg said, “Well, Dorneg is closest city to Breen in Neutrals and Heorg.”
“Uh . . .” Borundi said, “can one of you tell me what happening?”
Ace turned to the tall jag, grinning. “Doloch and Lochdund are fae names. They mean Wooded Creature and Death Beast.”
“What your point?”
Ace straightened himself and turned to face the others as he spoke. “First point, Juneg’s right. All of us are trained witch hunters, with the exception of Juneg. We can handle witches. We can’t handle Death Beasts. Seeing as she’s the only one with experience in these woods, we should probably listen to her. Second point, we’re going to a city with a fae population. That’s been our goal this entire time is to recruit faes!” Ace’s face lit up as several waves of hope burst inside and spread through his veins. He turned to his brother. Cameron’s face showed a smidge of excitement, and the others in the group looked undecided. “Don’t you see, Cameron? This is part of Grandpa’s plan! We’re still heading in the right direction.”
Cameron gave him a look mixed with anger and understanding. His older brother nodded silently. After a brief pause, Borundi tossed his rifle up to rest on his shoulder.
“Well,” The large jag said, “best be on way then!” He turned and headed alongside the railroads without hesitation or a single glance backwards. Ace liked Borundi. The boy smiled and ran to catch up. The scuffle of leaves behind him shortly after announced the other companions joining in. Ace marched beside Borundi. The jag had more to him than just his muscles and antlers. He brought with him a sense of security. “I like wind here,” Borundi said. “Crisp. Cool. It feel great. Nice break from Heorg heat.”
Ace squinted. “You mean it feels great?” he said. Borundi scoffed at the boy in a playful manner. “Sorry,” Ace said, hanging his head. “Jag grammar is still kinda new to me. Sometimes I forget you guys speak different.”
“No need apologize,” Borundi said. “I understand. Evelander complicate things all time. Jag speak so simple, I teach you right now. There only one thing you need understand about jag speak. Simple. That it. It all you need know about jags, actually. We not much for extravagance. We speak little as possible to get point across. Fast. Effective. Why say ‘the wind is cold on my arms?’ Don’t make sense. If I say, ‘wind cold on arms,’ you understand, right?” Ace snickered at the jag and nodded with a smile. “See?” the jag said. “Why say the or my if you know what I mean without? It just extra words for sake of extra words. Jags have one philosophy. Keep simple. Why just one philosophy? ‘Cause it simple!”
The jag grew more animated the longer he spoke and the others in the group laughed with him.
“I know that right!” Juneg said from behind.
The forest complimented the tranquility. Other than the leaves brushing beneath the feet of the travelers and the occasional gust of piercing cold wind, the quiet remained uninterrupted. The stale, chill air wore Ace down after long enough. Comfortable at first but irritating after a while. The slight dampness of the leaves numbed his feet after too long. He found himself with both hands closed in under his armpits, eager to arrive at a heated inn in Dorneg. Would they stay at an inn? They needed to remain under the radar to avoid witches. These things worried him as they trotted along, but soon left his thoughts once reminded of the fae population in the city; reminded of how Grandpa had this planned somehow, and Ace needed only to follow the path. He smiled and gazed at the beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow borne of the autumn leaves. Once they had made considerable progress in their journey, Ace turned around at the touch of a hand on his shoulder. His older brother had caught up and tugged on his shoulder, suggesting he had a secret to tell. Ace fell back and joined his older brother.
“I’m sorry,” Cameron said.
Ace hung his head. “No, I’m sorry . . . You were right, actually.”
“No, no. It wasn’t right of me. I just—” Cameron swallowed and looked at Ace, “I just somehow feel responsible for all this mess and I can’t deal with it.”
Ace raised an eyebrow. “Responsible? Why?”
Cameron shook his head. “Forget it. I just . . . I’m sorry. Okay?”
Ace tilted his head with question and hesitated before replying. “Sure. Okay.”
“But I thought of something that made me feel a little better about all this,” Cameron said.
“What’s that?”
“You understood fae.”
“So?”
“So . . . You obviously still have some access to your elyr. Wasn’t it the elyr that taught you how to speak fae?”
Ace raised his eyebrows and looked around. He pulled his left hand from under his arm and scratched his chin. “Hadn’t thought about that.”
Cameron smiled. “We’re gonna figure this out, little bro. One way or another.”
Ace smiled back. “Yeah, we will.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Chasers
The dull sky covered what little light the sun could've snuck through the leaves. An ominous stain covered the air. Ace’s feet had just enough feeling left to keep him soldering on, and given the chattering teeth among his companions, he assumed the same was true for everyone else. Hills rose and fell along the way, proposing the idea of mountainous terrain ahead. However, Juneg, at one point during their travels, mentioned Dorneg’s forest hills remaining minimal and flattening out before the shoreline. They had spent the last minute following a sharp turn around a sizeable hill. Ace anticipated seeing the city once they reached the other side of the curve but grew restless and disappointed when it just proved to be more redwoods.
“How much further, Juneg?” Ace said.
“Almost there,” Juneg replied from his right.
Ace looked at Borundi to his left. The jag never chattered his teeth, rubbed his palms together, or folded his arms. Despite the clouds from
his monstrous huffing. To Ace’s right, Juneg had her arms folded under her arms and squeezed herself to death.
“Hey! You guys hear that?” Said Cameron from behind. The group halted, and everyone turned around. Cameron had his hand over his ear and leaned away from the tracks.
“What?” Borundi said.
“Shh!” Cameron said.
Ace cupped his hand over his ear as well. For a moment he only heard a few gusts of wind lashing against the redwoods. Then something else zipped by. High-pitched and far off. Then, another faint zip.
“Hovercrafts,” Ace said. “The highway must be close by. Does that mean Dorneg is near?”
“It means we might be able to catch a ride,” Cameron said.
“You nuts, ug?” Borundi said. “You think it best idea for all us to be hitchhiking with random strangers right now?”
“No,” Juneg said. She spread her arms out. “Everyone, quiet.” Her eyes widened, and she leaned towards the sounds. The zips grew less faint. Then, they grew more frequent. Were they getting closer? Juneg’s gray faced drained to a cloudy white color. “That not highw
ay.” The jag girl ran to Borundi. “Does that weapon work on things other than witches?”
Borundi nodded. “Witch hunting weapons are hybrid weapons.”
Juneg turned to everyone else in the group. “Get ready to use it. Everybody run now!”
Ace took the look on her face seriously and ran as soon as she instructed to. Soon, the whole group followed in their footsteps and the air filled with the sound of hundreds of rustling leaves. Ace glanced behind to find Cameron catching up. Juneg fell slightly behind and Cameron grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. The faint hums grew to loud buzzes covering the vast of the forest. Some large bug, hovering in the air, cut the corner of a hill behind them and came into sight, then four more followed behind it. Their transparent wings took the span of a large bird’s and moved so quickly they could hardly be seen. It had a slimy, green face with two horns, one jutting from its snout and another jutting from between its beady, black eyes. Neon green fur covered it from head to teardrop-shaped body. Two claws jutted from its stomach, their talons extended forward as it made for its attack.
“Borundi!” Ace yelled from behind. The large jag turned behind, and his jaw nearly hit the ground. He reached in his holster, pulled out an AMHB and threw it to Ace. The boy turned around to find Cameron with his AMR pulled out.
“I’ll hold them off!” Borundi yelled, “Everyone else keep going!” The large jag stopped and faced the monstrous insects. He kept one eye focused on them until Cameron and Juneg ran past him. With a roar, he flipped the switch from anti-magic to plasma, and pulled the trigger on his rifle, firing at will. The massive bugs tilted their heads forward, reflecting the bullets off their armored bodies. Ace stopped at the sight of Borundi’s trouble.
“We can’t just leave him like this,” Ace said, fighting to yell over the thundering bullets.
“The mission is getting your elyr back,” Cameron said to Ace. He ignored his older brother and stopped running. Cameron saw this and stopped as well, “Ace! C’mon, we need you. He’s a hunter, he knows what’s at stake!”
Ace shook his head. By now, Juneg realized the hold up and ran back to Ace and Cameron.
“What you two doing? Let get out of here!” Juneg said.
“I’m not leaving Borundi to take the fall for me. Too many people have been hurt because of me,” Ace said. He turned to find Borundi being chased up a rolling hill, firing at two of the green beasts while the other two began chasing after the others.
Juneg yelled. “Aim for bodies! Their heads are nearly indestructible!”
Borundi ran toward the beast, slid on his knees, and fired three shots at its belly. It screamed in a high pitch as green slime oozed from its body. It fell down and rolled on the autumn leaves. Borundi shot at the other two, pulling them away from the others. “Go! Now!”
Cameron tugged at Ace's arm. “C'mon, bro, don't let him take this risk in vain.”
Ace huffed in anger. Cameron was right. He turned the other way and the three of them sprinted away from the chaos.
“We need to reach Dorneg,” Juneg said, ankles deep in the damp leaves. “The Lochdund will only get bigger and scarier the further we travel.”
“How close are we?” Cameron said.
“Close enoug—” Juneg had begun to say, but stopped abruptly as three more green beasts cut the corner of a hill beside them, halting their run. Their fierce buzzing and pitch-dark eyes spoke of a determination to kill. Ace’s heart fell to his stomach as they froze before the death beasts. What to do now? Cameron pulled his AMR out and held it before him in desperation. Ace lifted his AMHB.
Emery, Ace thought, now would be a really great time for me to get my elyr back.
It was too late. The beasts darted towards them angrily. Ace went to pull the trigger, his nervkes quaking like a storm. If he missed, everything would crumbl—
“Yoo hoo!” Shouted a voice from the distance. Something cracked in the sky like a whiplash as a net covered in orange sparks fell from the sky and snatched the death beasts, sending them rolling to the ground. The beasts let out a high squeal as the net of strange electricity neutralized them. What had just happened? Ace looked around the forest until something caught his eye. Atop one of the hills on the other side of the tracks stood two figures. One like a drake and the other like a human. Each of them operating some large weapon, holstered over their shoulders.
“Great catch!” The drake said. The two engaged merrily in laughter and slapped hands.
“Chasers,” Juneg whispered with a smile.
Ace walked closer to them. “Hey! Who are you?”
The two people leaned forward towards them as if to squint, then hopped down the hill. Not much longer, another drake and human followed behind them from the hill.
“No thanks are necessary,” the first drake said, a hiss in his speech. “It’s just what we do.”
Ace went to say more, but before he could, Juneg leaped in the air with a loud yell, “Easley!” The young jag ran past the first two people. Ace observed the two others lagging behind the chasers. Then, he too ran after them. For the other figure standing next to the drake had been Trilo. Somehow, Easley and Trilo had caught up with them. Cameron fell into step behind Ace. When they had jumped the tracks and reached the other side, Juneg attacked Easley with a strong embrace. Cameron, Trilo, and Ace each exchanged hugs and welcomes as well, smiles stretched wide across all their faces.
“Yeah, that’s cool,” said the other drake behind them, “It’s not like we helped or anything.”
Ace turned around to face the two others in the group with the weapons hoisted on their shoulders. The drake had slimy purple skin, ears like fins, round and yellow bug eyes, and shark teeth. One large fin started at the bridge of his snout and went all the way down his back, popping through his black, rubber jumpsuit.
Clothed in similar attire, a fae stood next to him. A female fae, who looked to be a teenager or young adult. Two silver clumps of hair parted in the middle and grew in waves alongside each of her cheeks, while the rest of her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her tattoos covered her neck and ears, but only touched her face in small lines under each of her eyes.
Ace tipped a nod of grattitude at them. “Thanks to both of you.”
The fae and drake returned the gesture. “Not a problem at all,” the drake said.
“Easley,” Juneg said. Ace turned his attention to the two friends reunited. “How did you beat us to Dorneg?”
The yellow drake smirked at her. “Well, Trilo and I jumped off the train and had just begun walking to Dorneg when we heard some others talking in the distance. We decided to go check it out and found these two camping out in the woods. They’re chasers out on a hunting trip. We told them that we lost our friends out in these woods and needed help getting them back. They were very kind and offered their help, driving us through the forest.”
“We just lost someone else traveling with us,” Ace said. “He's a jag, not but a minute behind us, and last we saw, he was fighting those Lochdund.”
The fae girl gave Ace a strange look when Ace mentioned the death beast. But the red drake dismissed it and responded right away, “You mean him?” he said, pointing behind him. Ace turned to find Borundi walking with a group of a few other chasers. Ace smiled and turned back to the group before him.
“Don’t worry about the others,” the fae girl spoke. “We’ve had plenty of people lost in these redwoods before. With a ton of chasers looking for them right now, they’ll turn up in no time. In the meantime, how about we get you to Dorneg, where you’ll be safe for the night?”
The group nodded in response. Their ability to handle the beastly insects a minute ago settled any skepticism Ace may have had of their ability to rescue the others. The drake and fae chasers led them further into the forest where they had a large hovercraft awaiting them. Within minutes they were on their way to Dorneg, soaring next to the railroad tracks.
Trilo, who had taken the seat next to Ace on the hovercraft
lightly elbowed him at one point during the trip. Ace turned to face the male fae, but Trilo’s eyes were turned away, looking out of the window. For a moment, Ace thought to dismiss the elbow as a coincidence. But then he noticed Trilo’s hand balled up in a fist, resting on the seat. The male fae removed his hand and revealed a crumpled up piece of paper. Ace grabbed the paper without anyone noticing. He held it low and unfolded it as quietly as he could. Using a cough as a disguise, he pulled the paper within a reasonable distance to his face and read it quickly before anyone could notice.
Don’t trust the faes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Old Fae
Dorneg’s steel gates lifted in a roaring creak as the chasers drove the hovercraft into the city. Its surrounding walls towering over them as they drove through. Ace hadn‘t experienced a city as still as Dorneg. The peoples’ faces complimented the smoky skies and surrounding dampness. Only one beam of sunlight broke through the clouds in the city. The people of Dorneg went about their day with long faces. As they turned the corners, each street offered something new to see. Hole-in-the-wall diners and pubs, restaurants, bookstores, arcades. Advertised by steel signs and glowing neon lights. Steel and brick made up the city’s architecture; smoke rose through various parts of the city.
The hovercraft turned into an alleyway where a garage hid behind a brick wall. The garage opened, and they drove into a large warehouse, held up by several steel pillars. Once the garage shut behind them, everyone stepped out of the hovercraft. Ace stayed close to Trilo, eager to inquire about the letter passed to him on the trip there. He wasn’t sure if
he believed it or not. Why would he not trust faes? They were the whole purpose of the Israh; and why else would Grandpa have set everything up so they’d end up in a fae populated city?
