Jamie raced ahead of us, pausing to sniff fences and bushes and bumpers, but always leaving several car lengths between us. Smart pooka. If he came close enough to grab, I’d latch on to his sweater and not let go until we headed home.
The wide paved road fed into a narrow chip-and-seal driveway that predated the subdivision. A sturdy wooden fence stretched from sidewalk to sidewalk, delineating the private property from the public, and a heavy chain served as the gate. Summer hurdled the chain like an Olympic athlete. I slowed, jogging up the sidewalk and into the mud to go around the fence.
Beyond the gate, the driveway wound down the side of a precipitous slope to a home out of sight behind a cluster of oaks. Summer stopped before the drop-off and scanned the northern horizon. I fell in beside her, grasping my side and breathing louder than a racehorse at the finish line. Jamie roamed down the hill, rustling through dried grasses.
The steepest part of the hillside had been spared the advance of urbanization, and thick white trunks of native oaks traipsed down the incline, their roots carpeted with last season’s weeds. At the base of the hill, the open space ran up against the rigid lines of another subdivision. From our vantage point, I could peer into the backyards of two rows of homes below us before the rest of the valley condensed into a sea of rooftops. Beyond them, the junior college’s stubby buildings defined the northern edge of my region’s border.
A seething beast of legs and wings and patchwork black-and-white segments oozed over the rooftops. We’d found the sjel tyv.
“Shouldn’t we get down there?” It seemed like the appropriate question, though keeping my distance had far greater appeal.
“By the time we get to our cars, the tyv will be here. Get ready to run.”
I hoped she meant run away.
The colossal tyv surged into the air, skimming the barren oak canopies and climbing faster than her cumbersome bulk should have allowed.
“Come on.” Summer sprinted back toward the gate and the subdivision beyond it.
I shoved my burning thighs into motion. Right. Run toward the evil creature that would enjoy ripping my soul from my body. This job fuzzed the line between stupidity and bravery more every day.
Once I had the smooth pavement of Galaxy Lane beneath my boots, I ran with my face upturned to the sky, heart thumping in anticipation of the sjel tyv cresting the rooftops. Drones streamed overhead in a strung-out procession, too high for my palmquell and too fast for my aim. Wings blurring, they disappeared southward, swarming deeper into my region.
Nails scrabbling on the asphalt, Jamie blasted past me and Summer in an impressive display of speed I could never hope to match. His marble soul drew swaths of drones in his wake, and he darted in circles, playing with them with the same enthusiasm he exhibited with imps. Even distracted, he kept his distance, his antics enticing the drones away from us, and I suspected he wasn’t motivated by a desire to protect me.
Summer flung herself behind an oversize pickup parked at the curb and I slammed into the panel beside her as the sjel tyv billowed over the rooftop two houses ahead of us. I gulped air, trying to quiet my ragged breathing. Together we crept down the length of the truck, peeking over the high bed at the monstrosity crawling across the tile roof. I kept a death grip on the handle of my soul breaker.
Val’s illustration had failed to capture the horror of a living tyv. Shaped like a drone on steroids, her massive abdomen stretched at least five feet long, all of it bloated thicker than I could circle with my arms—if I were feeling suicidal enough to try. Six long, segmented legs, each as thick as my own and coated with wicked black barbs, jutted from the sides of a fuzzy thorax so full of lux lucis it looked milky. Huge mesh eyes coated her triangular head, which tilted back and forth, her overgrown antennae sampling the air. Like the drones, she had a proboscis instead of a mouth, and hers was as long as a narwhal tusk and just as sharp. Her wings fanned out to either side, two enormous black-veined sails she used for balance. For flight, she had drones.
They teemed beneath her, their smaller bodies so thick I mistook them for deformed appendages at first. She crawled over them, pivoting to dip her hind end into the closest chimney. The sides of her abdomen flexed, and an egg dropped down the flue. A flurry of drones beat their wings beneath her, those at the front stretching forward in a linked line like so many mutant flying reindeer. Straining, the roiling mass carted the tyv to the next house.
Rooftop visits during the wintry nights, eggs deposited down the chimneys, a sleigh of bodies beneath her—give the sjel tyv a red coat and call her anti-Santa. Naughty? You’re safe. Nice? Step right up; she’ll eat your soul.
If fear didn’t have me trembling in my boots, I’m sure I would have laughed.
I tried to count the drones ferrying her, but their densely packed bodies made it impossible. Not that the specific numbers mattered. A solid estimate put their numbers above forty, and more ranged in a loose swarm around the tyv. If they all turned on us at once, Summer and I would be toast.
I hadn’t fully grasped what it meant for the tyv to control drones through a hive mind until I saw them in action. The drones beneath the tyv served as an extension of her massive body, lifting and turning in maneuvers so coordinated they appeared choreographed. The fluid harmony of the drones and their ability to anticipate the tyv’s needs went beyond training or practice; the drones were so eerily synchronized they had to be acting on the impulse of a single brain.
When the whole hideous affair achieved liftoff again, I crept forward. Summer threw an arm in front of me.
“No closer,” she said. Raising her palmquell, she fired on the stragglers recovering on the first roof. A contingent of fresh drones broke away from the tyv and rushed us.
“Split up!”
I raced across the street, sliding as I rounded the bumper of a sedan. Summer charged around the truck and up a driveway to put a garage door at her back. The drones divided and attacked. I fired over the roof of the sedan, and with the drones in a tight cluster, I landed several hits before sprinting out of their path. Miraculously, they swept past me.
I spun, spotting the reason for my reprieve: Jamie. The drones converged on him, cloaking him from sight. Taking advantage of their preoccupation, I hammered them with lux lucis. When a puff of atrum glitter exploded over Jamie, I remembered to muffle my whoop of victory before it woke the neighborhood.
Jamie growled and tore off. The remaining drones followed, gliding above his back as if tied to him.
Summer sauntered down the sidewalk. All four drones that had attacked her were gone, likely all dead. I scanned the rooftops. The tyv hadn’t slowed or even appeared to notice our skirmish. She dropped an egg down a chimney six houses up the street and rode her slaves to the next house. Swiping a fat drone from the air with a barbed foot, she rammed her proboscis into its abdomen, cannibalizing its milky lux lucis. When she released it, the drone flopped to the roof, its emaciated black body twitching helplessly.
“Stick close,” Summer said, breaking my horrified trance.
We marched after the giant tyv, pausing to fire on drones at the outskirts of the flock. When the first bright white bullet streaked through their midst, a pack separated from the main group and dove toward us. I planted my feet and fired, exploding the first drone. Summer killed two more as we sprinted in opposite directions, and the drones scattered to follow us. I fired as I ran, missing more often than hitting, ducking and weaving around the street until I eliminated the last drone chasing me.
“Fall in,” Summer barked.
I jerked around, surprised by the half-block gap between us. I’d been so focused on the drones, I hadn’t paid attention to Summer’s location, or my own. Holding my cramping side, I trotted to Summer. She didn’t give me a chance to catch my breath; the moment I caught up with her, she broke into a jog toward the tyv that now hunkered atop a house at the far end of the block.
The drones were ready for us this time, and a tight contingent attacked before w
e got close to the tyv. Summer stood her ground, firing in short, efficient bursts. I tried to mimic her but had to duck aside to avoid being struck. The drones chased me. As tempting as it was to run and shoot willy-nilly again, I kept Summer in my sights and studied the drones’ attack strategy between evasive sprints. It didn’t take long to verify my suspicion: They weren’t acting randomly. They herded me away from Summer, and divided, we made easier targets.
Determined to thwart the drones, I zigzagged back toward Summer. Pain lanced through my spine. I gave up attempting to avoid drones and sprinted for the other enforcer, ignoring the second and third whip of pain through my body. I had to get to her side. I had to plant myself next to her and not move.
Black glitter fogged the air above Summer, and I dove through it, shoving against her left side as if I could graft us together.
“Watch it,” Summer growled.
A drone darted in from the right, jabbing Summer’s shoulder before I could bring my palmquell up. The light in her soul fluctuated, dimming and flaring in a lightning-fast pop. The drone levitated, a blur of lux lucis sliding visibly up its proboscis, through its thorax, and into its abdomen. If I’d blinked twice, I would have missed the whole thing.
Summer swiveled toward the tyv and charged.
“Summer! Wait!”
I surged after her. She ignored the drones tearing bites from her soul, concentrating a stream of lux lucis in the tyv’s direction, even though the energy arced in a useless stream that splattered the pavement well short of the tyv. I ignored the drones, too. Nothing mattered except sticking with Summer and not moving.
If she hadn’t tripped over the base of a mobile basketball hoop left at the curb, I wouldn’t have caught her. She fell forward, bracing a palm against the pavement to catch her balance, and I snaked my hand around her belt. Oblivious, Summer launched forward again. My arm jerked in its socket and I flew through the air, coming down almost on top of her.
“Stay still,” I ordered, tightening my grip and hunkering into a wide-legged stance. She strained toward the tyv, but this time I only rocked in place.
Good. We were together and stationary.
Pain in my strained shoulder socket overtook the urgency to hold my ground next to Summer, and I blinked, befuddled, at the woman flailing against my grip on her belt, her whole body straining to get closer to the tyv. Comprehension came on a surge of righteousness. Ha! My drone-zapped impulse had saved the day. Any minute now, Summer would realize it, too, and I looked forward to rubbing her face in it.
“Let me go,” Summer demanded, running in place. Her soul dimmed alarmingly, her mindless stream of lux lucis spilling her reserves in a widening pool twenty feet in front of her. “I’ll kill her. I’ll show Pamela I’ve got what it takes.”
Drones lifted the tyv to the next rooftop. Summer yanked her soul breaker free and jabbed the air in front of her, heedless of the hundred-yard gap between her weapon and her target. I sidled around behind her to stay out of her way, never breaking my grip on her belt.
The drones grew bolder, recognizing weakness in their prey. I used my signature spray-as-much-lux-lucis-into-the-air-as-possible tactic to drive them back. If any drones died in the process, so much the better, but protecting Summer was my top priority. In her current state, if I lost my grip, she’d charge to her death.
Jamie loped around us, and the drones flocked to his irresistible energy, trailing after him when he tore away from us toward the tyv. Frowning, I contemplated his retreat. Had he done that to help me or to save the drones?
Summer backpedaled, knocking me down. Pain blossomed across my kneecap and flared up my leg, chased by the icy chill of water soaking into my jeans. I used my grip on Summer’s belt to hoist myself back to my feet, almost toppling her.
“Enough already,” she groused, tapping my arm with her palmquell.
Seeing sanity had returned to her eyes again, I uncurled stiff fingers from her belt and rubbed my palm down my leg, chafing blood back into my cramped digits.
“Oh holy crap, she’s coming this way.”
Summer scooped an arm under my elbow, spun me, and ran, towing me beside her. I glanced over my shoulder in time to see the tyv float across the street in our direction like a grotesque parade-day balloon suspended on the bodies of her slaves. Whipping my head back around, I ignored the pulsing pain in my knee and sprinted for all I was worth.
A flurry of drones descended on us, and without slowing or unlinking my right arm from Summer’s left, I fired into their midst. Summer tugged us across a soggy lawn and slammed us into the base of a thick maple. In tandem, we smacked our free hands to the bark, sucking down the tree’s lux lucis. Energy gushed back into my limbs, and I downed three drones to Summer’s five before the skies around us cleared. The tyv had disappeared.
“Where’d she go?” Summer darted to the sidewalk, scanning the sky.
“There.” I pointed to the tail end of the tyv’s posse gliding over the back fence of a two-story house across the street. The mass of drones and tyv settled on the far roof, inaccessible from our current location. To catch up, we’d have to circle the block.
Jamie had already come to the same conclusion, and he galloped down the opposite sidewalk. I started to rush after him, but Summer grabbed my arm.
“Slow down. You’ll wear yourself out if you race around like that.”
Jamie careened around the corner and disappeared down the side street. With him out of sight, urgency nipped at my steps, but my thighs agreed with Summer, and I slowed to a manageable jog.
“Is it your years of training that made you go Kamikaze back there?” I asked. “If so, I’m impressed. I mean, just think about how fast you would have died without my incompetent help.” I should have held my tongue, but I couldn’t resist getting in the jab.
“At least I didn’t give up.”
“Because rushing to your death is so much better than taking a breather.” Would it hurt her to say thank you for saving her life?
We made a right at the corner and jogged down the sidewalk, feet hitting the concrete in tandem.
“Suku Hujan Gembira have arrived!” cried a high-pitched voice near my ear.
I swerved and ducked. A bright white prajurit body zoomed around my head twice before hovering in front of me. The tiny man brandished two naked swords in an artful flourish that tipped him head over feet. Round beelike wings carried him back up to my eye level, and he saluted before zipping in front of Summer. She slowed, and I caught up with her again. The prajurit had no problem keeping pace while flying backward.
“Gusti! This is not a race. Conserve your strength,” scolded a female prajurit, dropping from above and startling me yet again.
“Yes, Asih,” Gusti grumbled.
Summer’s crimped expression tried to convey a statement; it was either “See? I told you” or “You look like an idiot every time you’re frightened by a prajurit.” Probably both.
“And sheath your weapons,” Asih ordered. “These are our allies.”
Gusti sheepishly tucked his swords back into the twin sheaths on his hips.
“Is this all of you?” I asked, twisting to look around and jostling Summer in the process. She elbowed me back to my side of the sidewalk.
“We’re the forerunners.” Asih’s tone told me I’d asked a stupid question.
“Madison’s pitifully ignorant,” Summer said, and she had the nerve not to sound out of breath. “She doesn’t know how clans work.”
“Madison? You’re Madison Fox?” Gusti’s wings buzzed in excitement.
“Of course she is Madison Fox. She’s the watcher of this territory,” Asih said.
“I am honored to be your forerunner.” Gusti bowed, and I had to slow to prevent a collision.
“Your clan brings much needed support to us, Asih,” Summer said. “Your bravery and honor in working outside your territory will be remembered.”
“You are a wise human, Summer Potts,” Asih said.
&nbs
p; It didn’t surprise me that they knew who Summer was, too, only that her name elicited no reaction from Gusti. Summer deserved far more awe than I did, but she wouldn’t hear it from me.
We rounded the corner into a long cul-de-sac at a fast walk, and I finally spotted Jamie. Wreathed in drones, he wove among the parked cars half a block away from us, keeping pace with the tyv as drones carted her from one rooftop to the next.
“The pooka has turned?” Asih asked. Her tiny body lifted in alarm, and her swords leapt to her hands. Beside her, Gusti mirrored her defensive position.
“Of course not!”
Neither prajurit looked reassured. I didn’t blame them. With his entourage of drones and his soul cloaked with atrum, Jamie looked pure evil.
“He’s just testing his boundaries,” I said.
“That’s what you’re calling it,” Summer murmured.
I gritted my teeth.
“I will inform the Sunan,” Asih said. Keeping a suspicious eye on Jamie, she continued. “Gusti, standard cloak and tag. Vary at your discretion. Report in twenty.”
Gusti crossed his swords in front of his chest in a salute. Asih buzzed over our heads and disappeared in the direction we’d come from. Gusti waved to Summer and me, then ducked under the eaves of the nearest house, following the underside of the slope toward the peak of the roof. Fast as a hummingbird, he darted to the chimney, paused to do something I couldn’t make out from the ground, then dropped back beneath the eaves and beelined for the next house. I lost track of his small form among the branches of a sycamore.
By unspoken consent, Summer and I drifted into the middle of the street where we’d have more maneuverability. A sharp breeze cut across my cheeks, doing nothing to cool the sweat accumulated on my scalp beneath my beanie. A scattering of frost moths coasted through the neighborhood, but I ignored them. They weren’t fast enough to catch us while we were chasing drones, and Brad had made it clear not to expend our lux lucis on moths tonight. All our efforts were to be focused on killing drones.
A Fistful of Frost Page 18
