by JD MITCHELL
Ali thought about the ease at which Dub crushed the other unit and scrambled into the back toward Sawyer. Leaning over him, she placed her hand near his mouth. He was breathing.
At the back end of the unit, Jessica and Leigh propped Nash upright, who leaned heavily against Leigh.
Behind them, the monitors showed treetops or grass, depending on where each drone crashed. The pixie operated the only working drone. Tiny figures flooded the field resembling colorful looking ants in shades of reds, blues, yellows, and greens. The Fae army attacked.
“Sawyer.” Jessica stumbled toward them, tripping over a joystick.
“He’s out cold,” Ali said pulling Sawyer’s head onto her lap.
Jessica nodded, then moved toward Red.
“You’re bleeding,” Jessica said grasping Red’s face.
Red wiped his forehead, smearing blood across his brow. He studied the blood on his fingertips, then shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”
“Red-” Jessica drew a sharp breath, her eyes welling.
To Ali’s surprise, Red grabbed Jessica’s face and firmly pressed his lips to hers. Jessica stiffened, then kissed him back. Ali watched slack jawed as Red pulled away, sighing. “If something happens to me, run.”
No one said a word.
Red’s eyes found Jessica again, his voice firm. “Back-up should be here in a few minutes, if not, you make them leave.”
A tear slipped down Jessica’s cheek. She nodded.
Ali didn’t like what Red insinuated. The other unit was in shambles. Backup was likely dead, and she couldn’t abandon him.
Leigh was the first to interrupt. “Red, we have to move.”
Red gently pushed Jessica away from him. He summoned solas and thrust it through the front windshield. The glass exploded outward, shattering into tiny fragments.
Leigh deftly moved around Ali, supporting Nash as they limped past. He paused, looking at Jessica. “I need help carrying Nash outside.”
Nodding, Jessica climbed through the hole created by the missing windshield, then reached inside for Nash. Once they exited, the three of them rushed into the safety of the trees.
Ali watched, her anxiety growing by the second. Dub lingered beyond their unit.
Below her Sawyer stirred but didn’t wake. Ali reached under Sawyer’s armpits and dragged him toward the hole. He was heavier than she expected, but she pulled him close enough for Red to reach. Ali exited the unit first. She swung her legs outside, crouching beside the hole. The orange sky darkened further.
Dub was close.
She reached toward Sawyer grabbing his feet.
“Geia sas,” a cool voice said.
Ali spun toward the road. Dub stood near the edge, his eyes burning a hole into her nerves. She froze. Her mind blanked as her heart pounded like a cornered rabbit’s. Based on recent events, she doubted his foreign greeting was pleasant.
Red wiggled his way out of the window, laying Sawyer in the grass behind Ali’s feet.
Somewhere in the woods, a twig snapped. Ali prayed the other three made it behind the trees without being seen. The thought comforted her. They might get away.
Dub’s gaze stayed on her, his blue eyes a haunting familiarity which gave way to recognition. His eyes widened in surprise, then he grinned.
Dub knows me.
Fear faded to anger. She’d rather try something foolish, then act a chicken for slaughter. Ali raised her hands.
He sneered.
With a flick of her wrist, Ali sent a small ball of solas at his head.
Dub caught it, then laughed. Her neck flushed as her fears were realized, she was helpless against him. He reduced her action to a toddler playing catch with an adult. Dub crushed the energy like it was a piece of paper. Flecks of light crumbled from his fingers in tiny sparks. Ali tried again. He didn’t bother to defend himself, casually side-stepping her efforts.
Who Dub didn’t see coming was Red.
From the corner of her eye, Ali saw Red arch his hand like a pitcher at the mound, before releasing solas. A thick force visibly bent the air and collided with Dub’s ankles.
Dub’s eyes flashed with surprise as it knocked him face first into the ground.
Red advanced on Dub, firing another blow. Ali didn’t watch, instead she gripped Sawyer by the crook of his arms. Adrenaline surged through her body as she dragged him around the side of the unit. When they were out of sight, she bent over him.
“Sawyer,” Ali hissed.
She needed him to wake. Another twig broke behind her. Ali turned to see Leigh come crashing through the tree line. He paused, looking between Sawyer and Ali. She shook her head and pointed toward Red. “Go!”
Leigh nodded and sprinted from view. Ali hoped this wasn’t the last moment she saw him alive.
Ali watched the woods. No one else in sight. Jessica must be helping Nash. Part of her wondered how Jessica could leave her behind, the rest of her hoped it was true. She looked at Sawyer again.
“Sawyer,” Ali pleaded. “Come on, wake up.”
He moaned, this time opening his eyes and focusing on her. His eyes were dilated, and she worried he had a concussion.
“Ali?” Sawyer asked, squinting.
She placed a finger to her lips, then pointed around the vehicle.
Sawyer sat upright and peered that direction, just as Dub threw Leigh into the dirt. Ali couldn’t see Red from here, but she assumed he still fought Dub. Leigh stood and ran back into the fight.
“I need your help,” Ali whispered. “We can’t outrun Dub, and I won’t leave Red behind.”
Sawyer’s eyes widened, and he crawled toward the corner of the vehicle peeking around the edge. Ali took a deep breath, then followed.
It was hardly a fair fight. Red might have landed the first blow, but Dub had rebounded tenfold. He was stronger, quicker, and more skilled than Leigh and Red combined.
Dub slammed Red in the stomach with a gaoth. Red flew a few feet before he came to a rolling stop.
Leigh attempted to punch Dub, who blocked the blow. Dub swept Leigh’s legs, knocking him onto his back; then raising his hands skyward he thrust them downward casting a powerful solas toward Leigh’s chest. If Leigh hadn’t been quick to roll out of the way, Ali was certain it would’ve crushed his chest.
Red lunged forward, grabbing Dub around the waist as they tumbled to the ground. Red came out on top, but Dub flung him off like a rag doll.
An idea struck her. “Sawyer, can you move Dub like that time you separated Leigh and Nash?”
“Um…”
“Try,” Ali insisted. Any help was better than nothing. Leigh and Red were losing. So far, the only tactic that worked was catching Dub off guard.
Sawyer concentrated, sticking his tongue out as he pushed his sleeves back and held out his palms. Leigh fell forcefully into the gravel.
“Whoops,” Sawyer said apologetically.
Ali grimaced, wondering if Sawyer should try again.
Leigh stood looking confused, then dodged a rock that was double the width of a football.
“That was close,” she breathed.
Red struck Dub on the side of the head with a mass of solas. It slid off Dub like a loosely packed snowball.
Ali bit her lip. Sawyers help was a risk, but Dub was winning this fight.
“Try again,” Ali said.
Sawyer balled his fists and closed his eyes.
Dub slammed into the earth, then slid five feet as an invisible force dragged him. During the confusion, Red landed a kick to Dub’s face. Blood poured from his nose as Ali let out a squeal of delight.
His steely gaze found hers.
Fudge.
Ali grabbed Sawyer by the arm. She leaped over a fallen log, towing Sawyer into the thicket. The mobile command unit suddenly slid toward them, crashing into the first row of trees. Branches splintered, and the bases cracked, but the trees kept the unit from hitting them.
The two of them looked wide-eyed at each other. Taking
a deep breath, she summoned the courage to look. Dub seemed focused on Leigh and Red again; the fight still favored Dub.
Ali met Sawyer’s eyes. “Keep doing what you did. Every time you knock Dub over, we change location. Got it?”
Sawyer nodded. His eyes held fear, but his mouth was firm.
They moved to a better vantage point. She saw Dub kick Leigh in the chest.
“Now!” Ali hissed.
Sawyer cast toward Dub, but it was Leigh who moved fifteen feet. Darkness exploded where Leigh stood seconds before. Sawyer saved Leigh from whatever Dub conjured. Both Leigh and Dub looked puzzled.
Red took advantage and bashed Dub in the skull with a rock. Dub collapsed, then pushed himself upright.
Sawyer didn’t allow Dub to regain his balance. He tossed Dub six feet before he came crashing into the dirt.
Ali grabbed Sawyers shirt and pulled him behind a grouping of trees several feet away. The area where they stood moments before went up in flame.
“Oh truck,” Ali said watching the flames.
Her plan might have saved her from a fiery grave, but those flames would spread. They needed to move quicker.
Sawyer attacked again, and she moved them again. Dub raised a larger circle of fire this time, nearly igniting them both. The flames took on a life of their own, spitting fire in all directions. Intense heat dried the air burning her lungs, and she gasped as she covered her mouth. It reminded her of the dragon, and she wondered how Aengus faired in his assault.
A hundred feet away, Jessica and Nash tumbled from the trees into the clearing. Jessica supported Nash on one side, the two of them hobbling toward the action. As they neared, Nash unhooked his arm from Jessica’s shoulders and shot ice bullets at Dub.
The first bullet grazed Dub’s arm, but he was quick to dodge the rest. The distraction gave Leigh an opportunity to sweep Dub’s legs, driving him into the ground. Red attacked from above, attempting to electrocute Dub’s chest. Dub blocked the solas, throwing the bolts back at Red.
“Come on,” Ali whispered to Sawyer. She crept out of the brush toward a solitary tree on the edge of the clearing. Sawyer followed like a duckling on her heels.
Ali crouched. “Attack Dub with something different.”
Sawyer considered her. “You too.”
“I’m worthless against him,” she said surprised.
“We need four descendants, one from each bloodline.”
“We’re not strong enough,” Ali said chewing her lip.
Sawyer’s blue eyes aged twenty years as they fell into determination. “We have to try.”
She looked around the tree. Leigh, Red, and now Nash fought with everything they possessed.
“You’re right.”
His toothy grin greeted her. “I have a surprise for Dub.”
Ali braced herself, forcing her fear deep within herself. She’d need to step from behind the tree to conjure. Hopefully Sawyer’s surprise was nasty.
“On three,” Ali said. Not waiting for Sawyer to respond, she began counting before she lost her nerve. “One, two, THREE!”
Both of them rounded the tree. Ali fired a mass of concentrated air at Dub harder than she’d ever conjured during practice. Immediately she summoned a second weaker gaoth, releasing it.
Dub blocked her first attack, but the motion allowed Leigh to land a punch to Dub’s face. Dub sent Ali’s second attack into Leigh’s chest. He tumbled onto the ground.
Red discharged untamed lightening into the fray. It webbed toward Dub in a chaotic assault, but he blocked it all. Nash simultaneously attempted more ice bullets that only found dirt.
Disheveled, Leigh stood and launched himself towards the fight. Dub moved to block an attack from him, but Leigh didn’t strike. Instead, his focus shifted to the moving ground. The gravel from the road rose and swirled about Dub like a spinning tornado. Ali thought Dub conjured the spinning rocks, but he didn’t seem pleased.
Her focus fell to Sawyer. His hands spun mimicking the motion gravel traveled. In a quick movement, he slapped his palms together.
The spinning gravel suddenly rocketed inward toward Dub like a collapsing star.
A shimmering barrier snapped into place, protecting Dub. The gravel abruptly stopped, suspended in midair wherever it hammered the shield.
Before anyone made another move, Dub crossed his arms, then thrust them outward. He flung the gravel in all directions at a terrify speed.
Ali pounced on top of Sawyer, shielding him from the projectiles. Two pieces of gravel skipped across her back and hurt like hell. There was no doubt the gravel ripped into her skin.
Seemingly undiscouraged, Sawyer thrust his hands forward. He launched Dub into the air a few feet before Dub crashed into the gravel.
Red, Leigh, and Nash jumped at the opportunity. In near unison, solas propelled from Red’s palms, Nash hurled ice, and Leigh blasted him with a fireball. Dub cried out in pain as lightening danced across his chest. The right shoulder of his shirt sizzled, and an ice pellet gashed the corner of his temple. Ali raced toward them, attacking with a burst of gaoth.
Sawyer followed her, and gravel hit Dub in the gut like a peashooter. Leigh, Red, and Nash redoubled their efforts. Dub arched his back and cried out as blood poured from his nose. He curled in on himself and tried to block their assault. For a moment, Ali was convinced they’d kill him.
She couldn’t murder him.
Ali stopped, but didn’t have to debate her decision for long.
From the woods fifteen Fae exited at a full sprint flanking four members of the Tuatha de Danann–all of which were descendants. It was the Alpha team.
What where they doing here?
The Fae parted like an open book, surrounding Dub who writhed in pain. Dub saw them and attempted to stand.
“No! You do not!” Yelled one descendant, a Bé Chuille descendant if Ali remembered. The woman raised her hand skyward, then whipped her hand toward Dub. A shimmering silver lasso wove into existence and wrapped around him. She pulled it tight.
“Quick! Bind him before he teleports!” The woman said, her vowels stretched and her r’s long and harsh. She didn’t have an Irish accent like the other descendants. She was either Spanish or Italian.
The other three descendants mimicked her actions. In a matter of seconds, they bound Dub as he struggled against their efforts. Red ran up to Dub and punched him hard in the face. Dub collapsed and didn’t move.
The sky snapped back to blue, the dismal hues dissipating. With the orange haze gone, the day resumed its pleasantness again.
“Is he unconscious?” The Bé Chuille woman asked, her dark hair pulled back from her sun-kissed skin and sharp features.
“Let’s not risk it,” another descendant said. He was older with weathered skin and gray hair. Judging by his accent and missing consonants, he was local to Ireland.
The Alpha team bound Dub tighter with the lassoes until he resembled a silver burrito with a head.
Red collapsed to his knees and stared at the Bé Chuille descendant. “Sofia, I didn’t think you’d make it.”
Sofia nodded. “When you left, we did not know if we could catch you.”
“Did anyone in the other unit survive?” Red asked.
“They survived,” Sofia said. Her accent decidedly Italian. “We removed them before Dub destroyed the vehicle.”
Red looked like he might cry with relief.
Jessica rushed to Ali’s side. “Are you hurt?”
Ali shook her head. “I’m fine.” She stared between Red, the other descendants, and the Fae who surrounded Dub with spears drawn. “Was the Alpha team in the woods the entire time?”
Jessica looked apologetic. “They expected Dub would come for you.”
Everything clicked into place. Aengus leaving them in an open field, Red telling Jessica they couldn’t move the command unit any further, and now a primary descendant team here instead of at the front line. No one told Ali or Leigh.
“Leigh and I wer
e bait,” Ali stated.
Jessica looked guilty. “We couldn’t risk you knowing,” she said. “If Dub can read your mind, it might not have worked.”
Ali fumed. She pointed at Jessica. “You agreed with using me as bait?”
“I know you’re mad. But I didn’t want you to be alone if Dub showed.”
Ali realized it was a clever idea, but she felt betrayed. How could she trust Aengus after this? Or Jessica?
Leigh materialized at Ali’s side. Contrary to her minor scrapes, Leigh looked battered. A pink and purple lump formed at the top of his head and his left arm bled from a large gash. Red looked worse. His clothing sported burn marks from where the lightening scorched his chest. Blood trickled from his forehead, his mouth, and his right leg. However, Ali had a hard time feeling empathetic toward Red at the moment.
Jessica took one glance at Red and fussed at his cuts.
Ali threw out her arms and spun on Leigh, looking for justification for her anger. “Are you okay with what they did?”
“Yeah,” Leigh said. He pointed at Dub who was still unconscious. “The gamble worked.”
Ali looked at Dub’s limp body lying in the grass. Eventually she’d have to concede the plan worked. However, this was not that moment. “They didn’t ask us!”
“I get it. You’re pissed. But Dub is dangerous,” Leigh said. “Even if Dub’s capture is the sole victory today, it was worth it. Dain can’t track us without him.”
Sawyer grabbed her hand and squeezed. Her anger intensified as she realized Sawyer was in harm’s way too. How could Jessica agree to this?
Leigh wiped a stream of sweat from his face, then held out a fist to Sawyer who bumped it.
“Crucial job,” Leigh said. “You knocked him down and kept him on his toes.”
Sawyer grinned.
Behind them, Red kissed Jessica again. Ali looked away. Her gaze found Leigh, and he rolled his eyes.
“That’ll get old,” he gestured to Red and Jessica with his thumb.
Ali shrugged. She’d deal with the fallout of Jessica’s heartbreak later.
Nash hobbled past them toward the battered command vehicle.
“What are you doing?” Leigh asked.
Nash bent over and crawled inside the window. “I’m checking on the front line.”
