Sepia caught her breath and sat up.
“I thought you were tethered to the Keep?”
“I said I was tethered to the park, which is quite vast, as you have no doubt noticed.”
“Why is this place safe?” Sepia asked. “It didn’t feel too safe a few seconds ago when it was ripping my insides out.”
“That pain you felt—” Calisto began and then stopped.
“What is it?” Sepia asked. “Tell me.”
“That is what makes this place safe…and deadly.”
“What do you mean?”
“The reason you will be safe here is due to the intensity of that pain.”
“I don’t follow,” Sepia said. “That pain is stopping me from getting out of here.”
“And it will stop the Unholy from coming down here.”
“What are you saying?” Sepia asked. “The Unholy can somehow feel my pain?”
“No,” Calisto said quietly. “Only the Unholy feel pain as they approach the rift.”
SIXTEEN
Jas ran back into the Keep.
“Hello! Hey!” she yelled. “She needs help!”
Wake walked in, followed by Bernice.
“What is it?” Wake asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Sepia, the behemoth, her eye was glowing and then it came out of nowhere and smacked her and then the Dreadwolves…” Jas said, the words tumbling out. “They were everywhere.”
Wake put a hand on her shoulder.
“Take a breath. Bernice, she could use a bottle of water I think,” Wake said. “Start again, this time slowly.”
Bernice left the room and came back with a large bottle of spring water. She tossed it to Wake, who gave Jas a small sip to drink.
“We were sitting outside, talking with Calisto, and her super-creepy bear,” Jas said. “Then she looked at the park with that weird eye of hers and it started glowing.”
“With whom?” Wake asked. “Whom were you speaking with?”
“Calisto,” Jas answered. “Some woman who is tethered to the park. She has a bear that’s like her pet—but not really.”
Wake gave Bernice a sidelong glance.
“Continue,” Wake said. “You were speaking to this… Calisto, and then what happened with Sepia’s eye?”
“She looked into the park and, wait—she needs help now,” Jas said. “We have to go.”
“We will,” Wake said. “As soon as you tell us what happened we can better help her.”
“We finished speaking with Calisto, Sepia looked into the park, and her eye flared,” Jas said. “A few seconds later a behemoth appeared and slapped Sepia into the park.”
“Into the park?” asked Bernice. “Damn, she’s done.”
Wake gave Bernice a look as Jas’s eyes started to water.
“Are you certain it was into the park?” Wake asked. “Can you tell us in which direction?”
Jas nodded. “Yes, it whacked her straight away from the entrance and sent her into the park,” she said. “That’s when I ran here.”
“You did the right thing,” Wake said. “We need to discuss our next move, so wait here. Bernice, a word.”
*******
Wake and Bernice left Jas in the foyer and headed into one of the larger rooms. The cold stone echoed with their steps as they stood in front of the large table. Wake grabbed a large folded piece of paper from her pack and smoothed it out on the surface of the table.
Bernice looked down at the map and shook her head.
“She’s dead if that thing sent her deeper into the park,” Bernice said. “This whole exercise was a waste of time.”
“Sepia is a class-two Hunter,” Wake started as she looked down at the map.
“Without a sword, which makes her a what? Class four now?” Bernice asked. “They will rip her apart after they find out she doesn’t have her sword.”
“Then it appears she will need help,” Wake said quietly as she circled an area of the map. “If I were her, I would head here.”
“Help?” Bernice snorted. “You mean help identifying the body. It’s too late for help. Tell me you aren’t going in after her, Wake.”
“We have explicit instructions,” Wake said. “You will evac with Jas and I will go find Sepia, or her body if it comes to that.”
“I’m not leaving you in here alone,” Bernice said, “just to take back some rookie who can’t follow directions.”
“Do you want to go after Sepia?”
“Fuck no,” Bernice answered after a pause. “Doesn’t mean you should, though.”
“‘She got smacked into the forest and we lost her’ will not go over well with Anna,” Wake said. “Would you like to deliver that report?”
“I would rather go in after the Hunter,” Bernice said. “Fine, I extract with the kid, you get the Hunter or whatever is left of her.”
Wake folded up the map and placed it back in her pack.
“Make the call,” Wake said as she headed back into the foyer and to Jas.
Jas sat on one of the benches and tugged on her finger as she waited. She stood when she saw Wake.
“We’re going to get her, right?” Jas asked. “I can point you in the right direction.”
“We are not going to get her, I am,” Wake said. “I need you to go back to the compound with Bernice.”
“You’re going there alone?” Jas asked, incredulous. “Those things will kill you.”
“That’s what I told her,” Bernice said as she entered the foyer. “ETA is fifteen minutes and he means be ready to bail in fifteen.”
“What’s wrong?” Wake asked.
“Bear says the EMP field around the park is fluctuating like he’s never seen,” Bernice said. “Almost told me to get out on my own. You sure about this?”
“Yes. Jas, can you show me where the behemoth sent Sepia?”
“Yes, but this is a bad idea,” she said. “Why don’t we all go back and come back with a large group?”
Wake looked at Bernice, who nodded imperceptibly.
“Do you remember what you said about Sepia’s eye?” Bernice asked. “How it glowed and gave off that strange light?”
“Yes,” Jas said slowly.
“Did you realize that the behemoth got close to you even though the Keep has active wards around it that are supposed to prevent the Unholy from getting close?”
“Are you saying that was Sepia’s fault?” Jas asked. “She wouldn’t pull a behemoth here. Besides, it attacked her.”
“Maybe not on purpose,” Bernice said. “And that’s just it…we can’t trust her. I have never seen an eye like that, except on—”
“Except on?” Jas demanded. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’ve only seen eyes like that on the Unholy, kid,” Bernice said. “No other Hunter or Sister has a glowing green eye that flares, not one. That thing creeps me out.”
“So we’re going to leave her in here alone, because of her eye?”
“Look, all I’m saying is I don’t trust her and Anna doesn’t trust her,” Bernice answered. “None of the Sisters do. Why do you think they took her sword?”
“Because of the wards,” Jas said. “The sword interfered with the wards?”
Bernice stared at Jas and then shook her head.
“Damn, you’re green,” Bernice said. “It’s too much power.”
“What do you mean? Jas asked. “Why couldn’t she keep her sword?”
“When the behemoth hit her, did she die?” Bernice asked. “Or did she get up and start running?”
Jas remained silent a moment, then answered. “She got up and ran,” she said quietly.
“Do you think any of us could survive a hit from a behemoth?” Bernice asked. “The answer you’re looking for is no.”
“But she’s a Hunter—”Jas began.
“No, not even Hunters take on behemoths alone,” Bernice said. “I don’t know what she is but she isn’t just a Hunter.”
“Is she that danger
ous?” Jas asked. “She saved me, twice.”
“Yes, that Hunter with that sword is a menace to everything and everyone around her,” Bernice said. “The wards aren’t affected, they’re useless against her.”
“It was a lie then?” Jas asked, narrowing her eyes. “And what is this mission? Disposal?”
“It’s what it needs to be and right now it’s screwed to hell,” Bernice said. “We should abort this circus while we still can.”
“We are not aborting anything,” Wake said. “You two get back to the compound. I will find Sepia. Jas, show me where the behemoth sent her.”
They stepped outside of the Keep and Jas pointed in the direction where she saw Sepia land after being struck by the behemoth.
“Good luck, Wake,” Bernice said and grabbed her hand. “You need to make your own way out. You got this?”
Wake nodded as she tightened the sheaths around her legs and arms. She made sure the pack strapped to her back was secure and tight as well. With a final look, she took off at a run into the park, as quiet as a shadow as she disappeared into the trees.
Bernice and Jas remained near the Keep as Wake left.
“Is she going to be okay?” Jas asked, looking around. “This place is a deathtrap.”
Bernice placed a hand on Jas’s shoulder. “Anyone else running in there with only daggers and attitude wouldn’t last long,” Bernice answered. “But her? I almost feel sorry for the Unholy that crosses her path.”
Behind them, the muffled whirring of the helicopter approached.
“That’s our ride—let’s go,” Bernice said.
They ran to the helicopter and boarded without a word, leaving the park behind as sounds of the Unholy crawled through the night.
SEVENTEEN
“Intel has the target last reported at this location,” said Kala as he spoke to several of the Black Hunters around him. They were on the roof of the building across from the Sisters’ compound.
They looked down at a map as he spoke.
“We’ll breach here, here, and here,” he said as he pointed, “and take them down with minimal resistance.”
“Rules of engagement, sir?” one of the Hunters asked.
“Sterilize the entire compound with extreme prejudice,” Kala answered. “Shoot to kill. No witnesses or survivors.”
“Yes, sir,” answered the men in unison.
“We move in ten, so get to your positions. Everyone else is in place,” Kala said. “Remember, the primary objective is the Hunter. Everyone else is secondary.”
EIGHTEEN
“What are you saying?” Sepia asked with an edge. “Are you saying I’m Unholy?”
“Calm down and listen to me,” Calisto said. “Let’s try to do this objectively, Sepia.”
“Has there ever been a documented case of human-Nightmare offspring?” Sepia asked. “Ever?”
“No, not documented, but how do you explain the blade you wield?”
“My blade?” Sepia asked, surprised. “You mean the blade given to me by my mother?”
“Precisely that one,” Calisto said. “No one else could wield that blade before your mother. It is the only dark blade in circulation.”
“What are you talking about?” Sepia said, her anger rising. “That blade has been in my family for generations.”
“No, it hasn’t,” Calisto answered. “Not that one.”
“Gan told me—” Sepia began. “He told me it went back to the formation of the twenty-one.”
“That much is true,” Calisto said. “It is one of the original twenty-one forged to fight the Unholy.”
“But?”
“How are you feeling?” Calisto asked. “Since they took your blade? Any headaches, blurred vision?”
“No, why would I—?” Sepia said.
“Good, that means there is still time to get it back, before the change,” Calisto said.
“The change?”
“Why is your sword the only dark blade held by a Hunter?” Calisto asked. “Did Gan tell you?”
“No, he didn’t,” Sepia answered. “I asked him once. He said he would explain it when I was older, more experienced.”
Behind them the rumbling continued. Sepia looked behind them but the entrance was still blocked with stone and debris.
“Of course he didn’t,” Calisto said. “But I would say that time has arrived.”
The rubble at the entrance of the passageway began to shift.
“It would seem you have attracted some determined adversaries,” Calisto said as she grabbed Sepia and headed down and away from the passage entrance.
“I can’t go down there,” Sepia said. “It’s too much.”
“I don’t see an alternative,” Calisto answered. “You will have to embrace the pain.”
“Even if it kills me?”
“It won’t kill you, but you will wish for death many times before we cross the rift,” Calisto said.
NINETEEN
Wake ran through the park, aware of the Unholy behind and around her. She followed Sepia’s trail through the dense underbrush.
How do you survive a behemoth strike?
She stopped at the edge of the great lawn. In her periphery, she could sense the Dreadwolves hiding and waiting. She bent down and examined the grass, feeling for the trail Sepia left. She found the direction Sepia took and unsheathed her knives as she stood slowly.
Holding a knife in each hand, she stepped onto the lawn at a slow jog and picked up speed. Within a few seconds, howls filled the night as five Dreadwolves gave chase. Her feet glided over the grass as she ran but the howls grew closer.
Not fast enough. Will have to slow them down.
She skidded to a stop and turned. In the distance, the Dreadwolves slowed and approached in a semi-circle.
Let’s try diplomacy.
“I have no quarrel with you,” Wake said as she stepped back slowly. “We can part without spilling blood.”
A black-furred wolf snarled at her.
“You bear the Hunter’s stench, human,” it said. “Inform the Alpha we have found a member of the Hunter’s pack.”
Two of the Dreadwolves stopped and began to howl. Wake extended her hands and released her knives. They crossed the distance in the space of a heartbeat and buried themselves in the throats of the howling wolves.
“With blood, then,” she said as the black wolf charged at her. She waited until the last possible moment and shifted right. This allowed the Dreadwolf to sail past her as she buried a knife in its side. Keeping the black wolf in front of her, she circled around it, facing the remaining two. She withdrew a knife from her thigh sheath and finished the black before it could retaliate. The remaining two leaped at her. She released the knife she held and brought down the one on her right. The one on her left was too fast and tore at her leg before she finished it.
This definitely complicates things, she thought as she unstrapped her pack and pulled out a bandage and a bottle of water. She slipped into the cover of the trees. She washed the wound and wrapped it, stopping the bleeding. She put weight on the leg and winced as she tried to walk.
No more running for now.
In the distance, she heard more howls. She managed to pick up the trail again and found herself at the edge of a crevice. She looked down into the darkness and saw nothing. Taking a stone, she dropped it in and waited. Several seconds later, she heard the splash.
Dropping into a dark pool of indeterminate depth…this gets better by the second.
The howls were getting closer as she stepped around the entrance of the crevice.
Clenching her jaw, she jumped in.
*******
Calisto led the way down, closer to the rift. Halfway down, she stopped.
“What is it?” Sepia asked through clenched teeth as she fell to one knee.
“Someone is close by,” Calisto answered, looking back up the passage. “Listen to me, Sepia, you must keep going no matter how difficult it seems.”
Sepia wiped the sweat from her pale face. Her matted hair covered her eyes as she stood up with a grunt. She leaned against the wall and looked down the passage.
This is hopeless. Can’t even walk.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” Sepia said between breaths as she grabbed her midsection. “I would rather face the behemoth.”
“Not without your sword,” Calisto said. “We’ll get it back, but right now I need to retrieve the one behind us.”
Sepia closed her eyes and let her senses expand. She could feel someone in the lake on the other side of the rubble, but couldn’t pinpoint the energy signature. She didn’t have this person’s frequency.
“Do you know who it is?” Sepia asked. “Why are they following us?”
“Not us—you,” Calisto said. “They’re after you and I need to find out if this is another threat.”
“Whoever they are, they were good enough to track me and strong enough to get down here,” Sepia said. “I don’t think that’s Jas.”
“No, it is someone strong enough to survive the park at night and follow you here,” Calisto said, looking back to the entrance sealed with debris. “Keep moving forward, this passage is not safe.”
“But you said the rift—” Sepia began.
Calisto grabbed Sepia gently by the shoulders and forced her to look up the incline at the debris. It was coming apart slowly, with pieces falling off the mountain of rubble blocking the entrance.
“The behemoth will not stop until they breach that obstacle,” Calisto said. “The rift will not keep you safe here and it will not stop them despite the pain you are experiencing.”
“Aren’t they feeling the same thing?”
“Not yet,” Calisto replied. “They are accustomed to this discomfort. You are not. The rift will not hinder them until they get much closer.”
“How far away is it?” Sepia said as she calmed her breathing. “This thing feels like it’s right on me.”
“In order to hinder the Unholy and this behemoth, you must be much closer and the rift still sits several miles below us,” Calisto replied. “Now go, Hunter.”
Sepia shook her head in disbelief.
Miles below us? And it’s still kicking my ass.
Sepia Blue-Sisters: A Sepia Blue Thriller Page 7
