Carver, one of the former marines Jessie had enlisted had chosen Wolf as his hybrid form. He outweighed her by a hundred pounds in human form but in hybrid form, things didn’t equal out. For one, she was a True and he, a Pure. He was a Wolf and she, a Fox. For some reason, it worked out he had only two score pounds more than her.
Her ribs and sternum mended almost immediately.
He bared his fangs at her, and she peeled her lips back in a snarl and came at him. When she reached him, he swiped down at her and she swerved her body to the side to avoid the attack. He attempted another swipe and she swerved her body the other way, bringing her knee up this time to pound against Carver’s midsection. She was rewarded with an oof as he had the air blasted out of him.
Before he could recover, she stepped behind the larger Wolf and raked his back, dragging deep furrows through his trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles, her claws kicking up each time they struck a rib on the way down. Carver howled, but swung a backhanded swing at her, but she sensed it coming and bounced back out of the way.
He rounded on her and stood there, panting for a moment. He relaxed his stance and she did the same.
“Good, good,” he commended her. “You have improved much, Stephanie, in a very short time,” nodding his canine head as he spoke. “You are using your quickness to your advantage. Keep it up. From our brief it is clear several of the other side will have a size advantage over you.”
You’re telling me! Stephanie thought back to her encounter with the Croc and the Snake, Samuel. While Samuel had been about her size, the Croc stood bigger than both her and Carver. The Boar she had only seen on video, but matching his size next to Clint and Kat, he stood bigger as well. As far as she had been able to determine, the only one she was bigger than was the Rat.
“Thanks, Carver.” She offered him a smile, or at least, she hoped he knew it to be a smile. Those types of facial expressions didn’t look right when you were a Fox.
With their bout finished, she became aware of the other fights going on around her. Kat had used her family’s money to rent a gymnasium which had been seldom used. The idea had been to use this time while they waited for Kestrel to reveal herself, so they could strike, to practice fighting in their hybrid forms.
Jessie and Kat had arranged for his fellow soldiers to help teach those within the group who had no formal training in fighting, especially in hybrid form. Which pretty much meant everyone but Kat, though Jessie had assured everyone he was trained enough. Then Kat dropped him—hard. After that, he worked as hard as everyone else to learn what their new forms could do and how to incorporate fighting styles with their natural weapons.
Stephanie loved these moments as they allowed a certain blanking of the mind. An escape from thought. She needed these moments otherwise the hurt and shame would creep their way back into her thoughts. She didn’t believe she would ever be truly free of them, but for a time, while fighting, they receded and let her be.
She gazed out over the paired off fighters and located Jason. She spotted him and winced. For some reason he had been paired off with one of the new Bears. She didn’t know his name, but as she watched, he leaned back and rolled forward from his hips, crashing into Jason with his forepaws. The weight of the hit sent Jason flying, his ruddy colored bushy tail whipping around as he landed and bounced his way across the mat.
Jason got up unhurriedly. She watched as he rolled his shoulders and neck. It seemed such an oddly human gesture on a Fox.
She turned to Carver.
“Catch you later?” She tipped her head up in question.
He nodded and made a face. She had seen the expression on Clint enough that she thought she knew it for a smile.
“Yeah.” He motioned with his head toward Jason. “Go save him.”
She waved him off, turned and trotted toward the fight.
Jason and the Bear were squaring off again and they circled each other, looking for an opening. Jason spied her coming in their direction and changed his direction to ensure she approached from the Bear’s rear. The moment she got within range, he feigned an attack and the Bear hopped back.
Stephanie took that moment to attack.
Ducking in low, she sliced at his hamstring, cutting through it.
He roared and Jason launched himself on him. Unable to sustain his weight on his one useful leg, the Bear went down under Jason’s attack. Jason bit down in the space between shoulder and neck and savaged him.
The Bear roared again, and with an immense show of strength, tossed Jason off him, sending Jason and a solid chunk of his neck into the air.
Before he could regain his feet, Stephanie landed on him, punching with her claws extended, driving them deep into the Bear’s chest. Before he could swing a meaty paw at her, she danced off. He rolled to follow her, but Jason pounced on him, landing with all four clawed limbs pointing downward to punch into his Bear hide.
He roared a third time and moved to strike at Jason, but he danced out of reach. Stephanie darted in, nipping at him and tearing at his shoulder with her sharp fangs.
“ENOUGH!” the Bear roared, and Stephanie immediately ceased her attack and joined Jason as the Bear regained his feet. Wounds closed on the massive Bear as he rose.
“Enough,” he said more calmly. He looked them over as they stood side by side.
“You guys don’t fight fair.”
“Are we supposed to?” Stephanie’s voice sounded sweet and innocent. She would have batted her eyelashes at him if she could.
He eyed her, and chuckled. “No. No you are not. You fight to win. If it means tag-teaming someone, well, then that is what you do. You guys seem to fight well as a pair. Use it.”
She peered at Jason and peeled back her lips in her version of a smile. He did the same.
“Break?” Jason raised his eyebrows at his sparring partner.
“Sounds good to me, see you later, Jason.”
“You too, Ed.”
They nodded companionably to each other and Jason turned to her.
“I had him.”
She patted him on the arm. “Of course you did, sweetie.”
He chuckled but it died quickly. He’s thinking of Sim, Stephanie thought. When they had first met Sim, he had saved Jason from the Werecroc. In the conversation that had followed, Sim had tried to help Jason save face by saying he knew Jason had the fight well in hand and hadn’t needed his help. Jason, being the modest type, knew well enough he would have been dead if Sim had not intervened, had burst out laughing at the statement. Sim had followed suit and they had shared a good laugh over it and had bonded because of it.
Now, Sim was dead, killed in the battle in Chicago by some unknown assailant wielding old magic even Sylvanis knew nothing about. Jason hurt for the loss of his friend. As Stephanie did for Beth.
She looped her arm into his as they made their way to the lunchroom off the main gym area, shifting as they entered. There were several others in the room. All in their human form.
It seemed strange to have so many people here, not only aware of hers and Jason’s lycanthropy, but also sharing it. They only had a few Foxes among the group. Stephanie would not give anyone lycanthropy. Never again. Jason and Mike had to step in if there were those who felt Fox fit them better.
Most of the new recruits had chosen Bear, Wolf, and Tiger. She wasn’t offended. Not really. They wouldn’t had gotten anyone at all if it hadn’t been imparted on them how important it was to choose based on the animal they had more affinity with.
It was an easy test. You showed them a list of the four choices and asked them which one caught and held their eye. It was one of those things you had to simply do and explain afterward. Everyone has done it before on other tests. Your subconscious gravitates toward one thing and you fixate on it. It is your brain letting you recognize what it connects with.
Kat and Jessie were here and, as they approached, Kat roared a laugh at something Jessie had said. Jessie’s mouth broke into a huge smile as h
e rocked back and forth with laughter of his own. Kat spied them and covered her mouth with the back of her hand in a failed attempt to cover her laughter. She waved them over with her other hand.
Stephanie and Jason sat at their table and Stephanie arched an eyebrow in an unspoken question. When Kat gained a modicum of control, she turned to them.
“Jessie was regaling me with stories from his time in the Middle East.”
Stephanie regarded Jessie who was still chuckling. “I would think those stories wouldn’t be all that funny.”
“Oh, there are plenty of horror stories I could tell,” Jessie nodded soberly. “But, when you stick a bunch of guys . . . well, mostly guys. But, when you stick a bunch of guys together for months on end, with very little to do, usually, well, we tend to find things to amuse ourselves.”
Jason smiled knowingly. Men! Kat rolled her eyes at her and she responded in kind.
“How long were you there for?” Jason asked.
“I did a tour,” Jessie responded, and she nodded her head along with Jason as if they knew what that meant.
“Yeah. I saw a lot of shit go down. But I find most people don’t want to know about that stuff, you know? Or some do, but when you start talking about it, they grow uncomfortable and change the conversation. So, I just keep to the funny bits.” He smiled. “Plus, I really don’t like re-living it anyway.”
Awkward silence followed, since no one knew what to say to that.
“Was it hard coming home?” she asked him.
He regarded her for a minute before answering. “It wasn’t easy. I kinda floated around for a while. Unsure of what to do and how I would do it. Worked some odd jobs around, but never for long.” He shifted in his seat. “I would get restless, you know?” He laughed. “It’s funny, but all that time in the desert, unable to leave the base hardly at all and it never bothered me, and yet, when I came home, I couldn’t stay in one place long at all.”
Jessie turned away from them, rapping his fingers on the table. He turned to them abruptly. “Then I fell in with you guys, and now I feel I once again have a purpose and that helps. Yeah,” he glanced off again. “That helps.”
The table fell silent again. Then, to both Stephanie’s and Jason’s amazement, Kat reached across the table and took one of Jessie’s hands and squeezed it. Stephanie caught Jason looking at her wide eyed and she could imagine her eyes were wide as well. Only a few short days ago, Kat was cold-shouldering Jessie, hard.
He hadn’t let up though. She had to admire him for that. Wherever Kat went, Jessie would turn up with a smile and amusing quip or be there to assist her in whatever she needed doing.
Stephanie had been sure Kat couldn’t stand the former marine, but apparently, she had been wrong.
“Kat, Jessie, Stephanie, Jason?” Clint stood at the doorway motioning to them. Kat let go of Jessie’s hand immediately upon hearing Clint’s voice and flushed, which showed bright on her pale skin.
If Clint had noticed anything, he didn’t make a deal about it. They rose and approached him. As they reached him, he held the door open.
“Something is happening,” he told them.
Clint didn’t elaborate but led them to the back of the gym and into an office. Sylvanis sat at the desk, her face an unreadable mask. She wore a comfortable t-shirt, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. On the desk in front of her rested a strange looking knife, long bladed and curved slightly. The hilt was made from some kind of antler. As strange as it was, it seemed an appropriate weapon for the Druidess.
Hank was there as well, seated at another chair in the room. His face made it clear something had indeed happened, and it wasn’t good. Of Ben, there was no sign.
Clint closed the door after they entered and Sylvanis picked up a remote from the desk and pointed it at the TV which nested in the corner of the room by the ceiling.
Stephanie looked to the TV.
The screen sat frozen in pause, but the scene showed two people sitting. Their chairs were angled slightly toward each other, so they were facing the other person, but also facing toward the camera. A short square coffee table sat between them.
The woman in the one chair had blonde hair pulled back. She wore a dark red dress, pulled tight at the waist with a broad black belt with a golden buckle. With her legs crossed and her back erect, she had one arm resting on her knee and the other crossed over it, holding sheets of paper. An attractive woman, she had high cheekbones and a long chin. Her nose had a slight upturn to it, which left plenty of space for her full lips.
The man was a handsome man who looked like he took care of himself. His button-down shirt showcased his trim, solidly built body. Brown, sculpted hair framed his youthful, yet masculine face with a well-defined jawline and cheekbones. His frozen expression showed a friendly and inviting face. A tag along the bottom named him as Zach Van Stanley: Leader of E.A.R.t.H.
Sylvanis pressed play and the interview, which had already begun, began to play again. The woman spoke.
“So, Mr. Van Stanley, you requested this interview because you have claimed to have news about a new environmental movement which will change the face of global policy and save the Earth from its destruction.”
Clearly while the woman might believe in the threat of climate change, she had doubts about Mr. Van Stanley’s claim anything new would truly make a difference.
Zach Van Stanley offered an understanding smile.
“Believe me, Becca,” he spoke using her first name with such familiarity it seemed to throw in the face of her formality in using his last name. “I know it is easy for anyone to come on here and make these claims, but I assure you, I am not here to offer up false promises.”
He turned more toward the camera, to direct his next words at the audience at home. “We are on the brink of disaster. Organizations, like mine, have been warning of the calamity which faces us if we don’t change our ways. We have marched. We have lobbied. We have sabotaged. All to no avail. The world continues to march to its inevitable end. We continue to pollute the land. To rape and pillage the Earth of her precious resources, without caring about the repercussions.”
Stephanie found she could not look away from this man. His speech and his delivery were so captivating she found herself nodding in agreement with him.
“Well,” he continued. “I say, enough is enough. I speak now to the government of this country and to the governments of all the other countries who have failed to do what is right for Mother Earth. You may have begun to realize now, there is a war going on. There have already been casualties and there will be more.”
The interviewer lost her composure, unsure of where this interview was going now and wondering how she could stop it.
“We are not interested in your claims things will change. We are not interested in excuses. You have had your chance, and you have failed. You have not been part of the solution, and so that makes you part of the problem. And,” he paused to make sure everyone listened, and Stephanie, like surely everyone else, was, “you will be removed.”
“Mr. Van Stanley,” the interviewer interjected. “It sounds like you just declared war on the government of the United States?”
He turned a wan smile on her.
“The war has already started, Becca. They just haven’t acknowledged it yet.” He turned back to the screen. “In the next few days though, they won’t have a choice.”
He stood up at that moment and Becca looked like a deer in headlights, as if she expected him to leap at her. Instead, he turned toward her, unhooked his microphone pack from his pants and slid the cord out of his shirt. He placed it on the small table which sat between them, turned and walked off the screen.
Becca watched him go, her mouth slightly agape. It took her a moment to remember they were live, and she turned back to the screen. The video froze.
Stephanie turned to Sylvanis. “What does it mean?”
“Do you think he is working with Kestrel?” Jason shuffled uncomfortably besi
de her, the idea worrying him.
Sylvanis tapped the remote against the desk and remained looking at the screen a moment before regarding them.
“I think, given what he said and how he said it, Kestrel has found her allies. I know a little about this organization. E.A.R.t.H. is a group which had caught my interest when trying to determine what Kestrel might be up to. They have thousands of members, worldwide. With that kind of membership, Kestrel would have an army of recruits for her war and she would have something she never had during the last war.”
“Which is?” Hank asked.
“Willing people,” Stephanie responded before Sylvanis could. The memory had jumped to her the moment Hank asked the question.
“You had said one of the reasons Kestrel had failed in the last war was because most of her army were people she had forced to be a part of it. That she could force people to fight, but if they didn’t care about why they were fighting, they wouldn’t fight well.”
Sylvanis nodded.
“It’s true. I’m afraid things have just gotten much, much worse. If they are stepping into the light and announcing, if vaguely, their plans to fight, she must have already gathered many people to become her Were army.”
Silence fell on the group, no one sure what to say.
In the end, Hank spoke up.
“So, what are we going to do?”
Sylvanis looked pensive, uncertain. “I’m not certain. The ultimate goal hasn’t changed and the means as to how we will win hasn’t changed. If we take out Kestrel and her Trues, her army will disappear.” She still appeared uncertain. “How we go about that, I have no idea.”
“This, Zach Van Stanley guy,” Clint began, “it said on the scroll that E.A.R.t.H. is based in Houston. Should we start our search there?”
“That would seem the best place to start,” Kat agreed. “From the news of those other attacks, it would seem they were heading in that direction. It would be a safe bet to say that if those two monsters were going there that Kestrel will be there.”
The Gathering Page 41
