by TW Iain
Something metal flashed.
His knife.
The creature swung its arm again, but Brice was ready this time. He used the momentum, twisting with the creature. He screamed as he powered his arm down, his vision filled with the back of the creature’s neck.
It wailed, far louder than Brice believed could be possible. It spun violently, and Brice no longer had a grip on anything. He crashed down hard, and the air exploded out of his lungs.
The creature writhed, staggering on its feet. It crashed into the storage units, and bellowed even louder. It twisted its arms round, trying to reach behind its head.
Trying to grab the knife stuck hilt-deep in its neck.
Light burst into Brice’s vision, and Ryann saw standing, a torch in each hand. The beams of light criss-crossed the room, following the frenzied creature.
“Get more torches!” she yelled.
There were a couple close by, and Brice grabbed them. He rose, swaying, to his feet, and thumbed the torch controls. He ignored the pain tearing down his arm, and the tightness in his chest. He ignored everything but the creature and the wonderful sol light.
The beast fell and rolled onto its back. Brice aimed a beam at the thing’s face, into those cold orbs. The creature buckled, legs kicking out and arms flailing. The stench of burning rose in steam, the mass of movement sending it up in angry bursts that hit Brice. They made his eyes water and his throat itch. But he kept the beams of light steady. He held them trained on the creature, sol eating away at its flesh.
Then the flailing became twitching, and the creature pulled its arms in tight to its chest. It curled into a foetal ball. Where the light hit its back, blisters popped, spraying translucent liquid in a fine mist that mixed with the steam. There was no blood, but the creature’s hide ran semi-fluid now, oozing towards the floor.
And then the screaming stopped, and the blackened mass of the creature lay still.
Only then did Brice give in to his body’s demands, and allow himself to collapse.
The smell reminded Ryann of her parents’ farm, when they had to get rid of diseased animals. She’d cried then, too, even though she knew it needed to be done.
The torches were heavy in her hands, and she placed them by her feet. She made sure they were powered down first, though. It was important to do things properly.
Then, and only then, did she take in the room. It was important to analyse any situation as soon as the adrenaline began to fade.
She recorded, unwilling to fully trust her memory. She pulled up filters, and saw heat swirl in the room. The source was the charred mess, although it was already cooling, and a dark residue spread out beneath it. Like burning plastic, she thought, like something unreal.
Brice sat next to the remains, his head in his hands but his breathing steady. Blood coated a sleeve of his jacket, pooling and dripping from the elbow.
She didn’t even try to reach his lattice, and it struck her just what he had achieved. Dark, without enhancements, yet he had taken on one of the creatures. And he’d survived. Ryan felt both humbled and proud.
Cathal always said the lad had potential.
“You okay?” she asked, and he turned to her, his face drained of emotion. But he nodded, and that was enough. He appeared younger, but maybe that was down to the way the light in the room suddenly grew brighter.
That would keep Keelin occupied. If she had a focus, she wouldn’t dwell on what they’d been through.
Ryann looked through the open door to the bridge, but from this angle she couldn’t see the pilot’s position. But she did see Nyle’s body, blocking the doorway.
She reached out for him as her eyes examined the wound, so like Cathal’s.
“Brice, grab a medi-kit.” She knelt beside the pilot, pressing a hand to the back of his neck to forge a stronger connection. He was warm, and energy coursed through his lattice. She had expected that.
“Here.” Brice placed the medi-kit down and crouched next to her. She noted the grunt of exhaustion as he did so. “Anything I can do?”
She took a breath. He’d done so much already.
“Syringe,” she said. “Labelled ‘Cleanse A-6’. Then I’ll need a pad. Largest you can find. Thanks.”
She heard him rummaging through the kit, and she thought back to when she’d treated Cathal’s wound in the cave. Only a few hours ago, yet it felt like an age had passed. She was older now, wearied yet wiser.
Brice handed her the needle-less syringe, and she readied it, knowing what was to come. She cleaned his wound, letting his limbs flail, knowing the spasms would pass. As she placed the pad over his wound, fastening it with the sealing strips, she imagined his skin changing, and his whole body becoming something else. She breathed in the trace of the aroma that would grow stronger as the disease took control of his body.
They’d have to find a blanket to cover him soon, to protect him from the light.
“He going to be okay?” Brice asked.
Ryann nodded, even though she wasn’t sure. He’d live, if becoming one of those things could be called living.
“Not Osker, though.” There was an edge of anger in Brice’s voice—not the petty rivalry she was used to, but something more deep-seated. She turned to face him, automatically clearing up the detritus of her medical administrations as she did so. Brice didn’t meet her gaze, but looked to the corner, where Osker lay in his body-bag.
“That couldn’t be helped,” she said. “There were too many creatures. You know that.”
“But he didn’t deserve to die. He was just doing his job.” Brice spoke quietly, through clenched teeth. “He was only doing what he was told to do.”
“That’s all any of us do,” Ryann said, although she didn’t really believe that now. It was only what they did when they were too weak to think for themselves.
Brice huffed. “Sure. We do what the company tell us to. And look where it gets us.” His mouth opened, as if he had more to say, but the words never came.
Ryann nodded, and it shocked her to realise she shared his bitterness.
The company had never been perfect. It was too big for that, and there would always be issues. There would always be paper-pushers who didn’t understand, who cut corners to boost profits.
But since that conversation with Arela, hidden resentments had risen within Ryann, grasping hold of new facts. Where before she felt annoyance, now she loathed the company.
She looked to the remains of the creature, to what Kaiahive—and how she hated that name now—had created and then abandoned. And she wondered what would happen to those the beasts had infected. Would the company abandon Cathal and Nyle too?
She no longer wanted to work for such monsters.
Brice stood, and walked towards the creature. “We want to get rid of this thing?” He kicked it, his boot squelching into its body, and that made Ryann feel nauseous. “Open the hatch, chuck it out? Might clear the air a bit.”
She could understand his anger. She knew how he was channelling all his hatred onto those remains. The creatures had killed Osker. They had taken Tris, and left Cathal and Nyle in a state of limbo. They had put Brice through hell.
But it had been a person. Once, it had been just like them. She couldn’t hate it because of what others had done.
“No,” she said softly, and he turned to her in surprise. She thought fast. “We need to understand them. We need to learn whatever we can.” But she didn’t add that the creature was as much a victim as they were, and it deserved their respect.
Brice’s fis
ts clenched and unclenched, and his chest rose as he took a deep breath. Then he stepped away, holding his injured arm close to his body. She’d have to see to that soon.
“This isn’t over, is it?” he said, his eyes still on the remains of the creature.
She shook her head. This was only just the start.
But for now, their night was over. They had a reprieve, and a chance to finally rest.
Ryann closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, the cabin was flooded with a soft, beautiful yellow glow.
She looked through to the cabin. Keelin had turned in her seat, a grin on her face.
“We have power,” she said. And Ryann had to swallow to stop the tears from falling.
“The Proteus still on auto?”
Keelin shook her head. “I’ve taken control. Feels a bit strange, but it’s good to be flying again. You want me to set a course?”
Ryann did. A part of her wanted to tell Keelin to turn the craft around and head out of the basin, over the rim, and as far from this mess as possible. But she knew where they needed to go.
“Haven,” she said. Even though that meant returning to Kaiahive, it also meant returning to Arela, and the other crews, and everything that was good about the place. “Take us home.”
The creature watched from the high branches. As the craft retreated into the sky, and that burning light fled, it emerged, focusing on the aftermath.
It sensed the burning from below, and knew what blood remained in its fallen brethren would be rank now, and that there was no reason to feast on the fallen. Others would be, it knew, but there would always be the scavengers and the desperate.
It sniffed, drawing in the scent of the ones that had got away. Two had been infected, and that was good. But they had been taken, and in a craft. That meant they travelled far.
It reached out, and the trail of the craft hung in the air, despite the downpour. It turned, facing the way the craft had gone.
The infected, and the others, had run because they were frightened. But they had been organised. They had managed to exploit a weakness, and so they were not unintelligent. And that meant they were not running blind. They would be seeking safety.
It called out, reaching for its brethren, and many responded. Not all, but that was no problem. There would always be stragglers. They would understand in time.
It jumped from the branch and landed on the soft ground, in the midst of its brethren. It stretched upright, uttered a rallying cry and pulled in more attention.
The craft could be followed, and the brethren were strong. They could feed on the forest beasts if required, or take sustenance from their weaker kin. But they could track their quarry.
The quarry ran to safety. There was safety in numbers.
And that meant more opportunities to feed.
What next?
Thank you for spending your precious time in reading this book. I hope it’s been a fun ride.
If you’ve enjoyed it, and want to read more in the Shadows series, I have an exclusive novella available. See below for details.
I’d love to know what you thought of Shadowfall. The most direct way to do this is to e-mail me at [email protected]. Alternatively, you could let not only me but the whole world know, by leaving a review.
Reviews are important. They let others know the truth about a book. They give potential readers the information they need to decide if that book is for them. And they help books reach more readers.
Anything you can do to help others find my books is appreciated. Thank you.
TW Iain
Shadowlair (A Shadows Prequel)
When Haven’s long-range sensors reported unfamiliar signals out on the rim, there was no immediate panic. It was probably nothing more than a glitch. But protocol demanded an investivation, so a crew was dispatched.
The crew never returned.
The rescue mission found their abandoned craft a few days later, but the storm stopped them probing any further.
And so they never found evidence of the stowaway. They never followed the trail into the gully.
They never discovered if the crew lived or died. Or if something worse happened.
But you can read their story. Join the mailing list, and you can download Shadowlair, a free, exclusive novella that uncovers more of the secrets of the creatures.
Click here, or visit twian.com.
Dominions
If you enjoy dark Dystopian thrillers, check out the Dominions series.
You can read two of these books for free. By joining the TW Iain mailing list, you have access to the exclusive novella Control. And the short story Gatekeeper is free from all major e-book retailers.
Find out more about the series at twiain.com, or search in whatever e-book store you prefer.
Table of Contents
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Epilogue
