The Gathering

by Michael Timmins

His heart broke for them, but he could do nothing. While they flailed at him, he took the opportunity to strike out with his claws, cutting them. They were small slices, barely breaking the surface of their skin to draw blood. It was all that was necessary. Or so he had been told.

  Drawing himself up, he stared down at the two women who were now crying audibly, holding their injured arms.

  “If I were you. I would kill yourself as soon as possible. If not, you will end up like me.”

  He turned and left them there. Nothing in the commands given to him, prohibited him from telling them the truth. He would tell them all, though he doubted any would listen.

  Najeen Swat sat with her friends at a table in the food court of the Mall of America. Becky spoke to Amber about Chad Kartner, the blond-haired cutie who sat next to her in Chemistry.

  Najeen barely paid attention, since this was Becky’s fifth crush in almost an equal number of weeks, and instead watched the people in the mall. The mall, as per usual at this time, was packed. It always seemed crazy to her how many people spent their days at a mall.

  You mean like what you are doing?

  “Have you seen his butt, though?” Becky closed her eyes tight and tilted her head back with a serene smile on her face. “It is sooooo perfect!”

  Najeen shook her head in amusement. She had seen Chad’s butt and she had to admit it was pretty fine.

  An interesting grouping off to the side of the food court caught her attention. A dozen people, mainly men, were clustered around each other, but weren’t engaging with others in their group. Instead, it looked like they were all waiting for something.

  She frowned. Maybe it will be a flash mob? Wouldn’t that be something to see? She had never seen a flash mob. She wondered if they would do some sort of song and dance.

  One of the men, she noticed, had a radio clipped to his belt which he kept fiddling with nervously. She smiled slightly. She would be nervous to perform in front of all these people too.

  Suddenly, the man started and peered down at the radio. When he glanced back up, impossibly, his eyes met hers. Even across the distance she could see the emotion carried there. Sadness. Resignation and maybe — horror?

  Goosebumps rose on her skin and the hair at the nape of her neck rose.

  This was no flash mob.

  The man turned away from her, then looked back at the rest of the group he stood with. Then something happened. The bodies of the men and women began to alter, contort, shift and reform. The people sitting closest to them stood and staggered back from them in alarm, knocking over chairs and tables. Within moments, a dozen humanoid looking beasts stood in a cluster within the food court.

  What happened next became a nightmarish tableau. The monsters separated, attacking anyone in sight. Screams and yells of fear and alarm permeated the food court. Becky and Amber had already jumped up. Amber screamed, ‘Oh my God, oh my God’ over and over. Najeen sat, frozen.

  She couldn’t believe what she saw. It was all so unreal. These creatures couldn’t exist. It had to be some kind of stunt, or prank. Somehow, those people had used sleight of hand or visual tricks to put on monster outfits.

  She knew it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t mistake what she was seeing, and her brain worked furiously to come up with something which made sense.

  One of the creatures made its way over toward their table. Becky grabbed her arm, trying to get her to move, but she was leaden. Becky pleaded with her, begging her to go. Her voice sounded far away, distant as if down a long tunnel. All Najeen could focus on was this thing . . . this monster slicing its way toward her.

  Remotely, she realized Becky had let go of her arm and she could no longer hear her. In a fog, she looked around, but Becky and Amber were nowhere in sight.

  They left me. She couldn’t blame them. Any sane person should be running away right now. Instead, she sat there, waiting for the beast to arrive.

  When it did, it was like standing right next to the road, or beside a railway track. The creature hurled by her, sucking the air out of her lungs as it passed. It didn’t even acknowledge her. It only reached out as if by instinct and dragged a claw across her bare arm.

  It burned and she gasped. Warm fluid ran down her arm while her shorts became soaked with the release of urine as she peed herself. Death had come for her. Then passed her by. She lived. Everyone lived. Those monsters had weaved their way through running and screaming people and had hurt them all. Had hurt them, but like her, had left them alive.

  Najeen peered around. People were clutching bleeding arms, legs, scratched torsos and abdomens, and while there was plenty of blood, no one lay unmoving.

  Nervous laughter crept up on her. First a little, then more. She began to laugh hysterically, while tears ran down her face in a steady stream. Others joined her. The laughter sounded maniacal and yet so needed.

  In the coming days, news spread of countless other attacks perpetrated like the one at the Mall of America. There had been an attack on Wall Street leaving hundreds of brokers injured. Dozens of these monsters appeared on the streets of the Las Vegas strip, killing dozens of police officers and security guards and injuring hundreds of tourist and street workers. Even the Kennedy Space Center had been attacked! Many NASA scientists had been wounded, but none killed.

  There had been rumors of an attack on the White House. The White House had been circumspect about confirming the attack and how successful it had been. However, there had been plenty of internet videos showing how successful it had been.

  Najeen couldn’t watch them. Not after what had happened to her. So many people hurt, but not killed. It made no sense to her. She had gone to the hospital of course, but she had lied about how she had gotten cut. She had told her parents it had been on a sharp piece of metal she had accidently dragged her arm across while walking next to an old fence.

  She didn’t know why she had lied about her injury. Becky and Amber had made it out of the mall safely and their parents had called her parents. She had told them she had fled immediately after Becky and Amber had left her and she had hurt her arm as she had run.

  If her parents had been suspicious of her altered story, they didn’t press her. They had doubtless been so relieved she lived; they didn’t want to interrogate her.

  I’m alive!

  The next day, Najeen died from a heart attack.

  Chapter Fourty-Two

  What should have been an easy route to traverse had since been made almost impossible for the four of them. Streets were clogged with abandoned vehicles which had nowhere to go now buildings had collapsed all around them.

  Clint couldn’t help but marvel at what had once been a road clustered with shops and high rises now appeared decimated and replaced with towering oaks, cypresses and walnut trees. It reminded Clint of those pictures he had seen in grade school of the mighty sequoias in California. With trunks wider than an average home, these trees could match the highest skyscraper.

  If it wasn’t for the devastation they had caused to Houston, they would have been beautiful to behold.

  Their decision to forgo the car had been the right one as massive root systems had fissured the asphalt, leaving many of the roads undrivable. It meant going on foot, but they would have had to anyway.

  People were still running around in panicked frenzy. Looting had begun as shops were in ruins, so their wares were taken without difficulty. Clint had to fight the impulse to shift and run the fools off. It was always a shame people reverted to acting like this in a crisis. They should be helping each other, not ruining people’s livelihoods.

  In the distance, deep rumbling sounds and earth trembles could still be heard and felt as Kestrel’s circle of power worked its way farther out, destroying buildings as it went.

  Ahead, a veritable forest had sprung up, clogging the way. Pieces of debris clung to branches high above. Metal girders created twisted ornaments hanging from outstretched limbs.

  Screams for help came from inside broken buildin
gs as they made their way. As much as Clint knew they should stop and help these people, they would be helping more people in the long run if they stopped Kestrel. Pained expressions grew on the rest of the groups faces as they left people to their fates and he knew they mirrored his own.

  After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at a park. If there had been other people in the park earlier today, the madness surrounding the park had driven them away. Calls coming from loved ones trapped in buildings, or those at home wondering where their loved ones were, had emptied the park.

  Sylvanis drove them on, deeper into the park. The sureness of her strides told Clint all he needed to know, and he didn’t bother asking if she knew where they were going.

  At last, they entered a clearing and Clint felt his rage flare up immediately.

  Before them, in its center, waited Kestrel. She stood before them, naked, her arms held up toward the heavens. Her alabaster skin held a sheen of perspiration and she swayed slightly.

  Behind her, the source of his rage. The man he knew to be the Boar, and another who, from Kat’s descriptions would be the Croc. There were others in the clearing as well. Four other men roamed the edge of the forest. They had yet to see them.

  Kestrel’s eyes sprung open and she spied them across the clearing.

  “No!” She pointed towards them and collapsed, falling to the soft grass.

  Everything happened in an instant. Clint shifted, his Wolf hybrid form replaced his human form and he shot off after the Boar. Kat and Jessie shifted as one and moved to intercept the Croc.

  Across the field, the Boar and Croc shifted and stepped between them and Kestrel’s fallen form. The Croc motioned to the other men in the field and two of them shifted, both Crocs to attack them. The other two, a Boar and a Croc, went to stand over Kestrel.

  The two Crocs were smaller than the True, but not by much.

  Clint didn’t care. The Croc set between him and the Boar and Clint would not be stopped. As the Croc came to him, Clint knew immediately this person was not a fighter. Maybe he didn’t even want to be there but had been controlled to fight. While Clint felt pity for the man, it didn’t change what Clint needed to do.

  As they closed together, the Croc thrust out with his jaws to snap at Clint’s head. Clint moved aside and thrust his claws upward burying them into the soft underside of the Croc’s throat.

  With a pivot, he pushed his back against the Croc’s body, his hand still deep inside the beast’s gullet. With a powerful thrust, he pulled the Croc over his shoulder as he bent at the waist, tossing him back the way they had come.

  As the Croc flew away from him, Clint had managed to grab hold of the Croc’s windpipe and esophagus in his claws, tearing them from its body as it sailed away from Clint. It wasn’t a wound that would kill him, but he would be some time to heal.

  Then the Boar slammed into him.

  Jessie darted across the field, keeping pace with Kat. He marveled at his new body. In all his years in the corps, he had handled all manner of weaponry, some of the most powerful weapons mankind had invented even. And yet, they all seemed to pale in comparison to the weapon his body was now.

  He could feel the power pulsing through his body as he ran. His clawed feet dug into the earth as he propelled himself forward. The bunching of his leg muscles with each stride made him think of nothing short of perfection. He didn’t wield a machine for killing. He was the killing machine.

  They barreled toward the two Crocs. The smaller one lay between them and the bigger one. Jessie would let Kat handle that one while he tackled the bigger one.

  “I’ve got the big one in the back,” he told her.

  She growled at him. “No. You will attack the one in front.”

  Jessie found himself lining up with the smaller one.

  What the hell? He tried to alter his course and found he couldn’t. He wanted to. He tried to, but he still found himself moving to engage the smaller Croc.

  He growled this time.

  “What the fuck!”

  “Just do it!” Kat commanded him again and he launched himself at the Croc. Anger clouded his mind, his thoughts a tangle and he attacked carelessly. As he collided with the Croc, he grabbed Jessie’s arms and yanked them out wide. Lunging forward with his mouth he bit into the spot between Jessie’s neck and shoulder, crunching down hard.

  Jessie could feel his clavicle snap under the intense bite of the Croc. Terribly sharp teeth ripped into his fur covered skin, shredding as the Croc began to thrash his head, whipping Jessie around like a ragdoll.

  Wildly, he began raking the Croc’s underbelly with the claws on his feet. He could feel the hide parting as he tore into the beast. With one vicious thrash, the Croc released him, sending him flying to tumble across the ground, bouncing as he went. His shoulder joint jarred out of its socket as he hit. He came to a stop twenty feet or so away.

  He hurt, but he knew his body would repair itself in time. He didn’t heal as quick as Kat. He had observed that much in the time they had spent together. There was a definite difference between the level of power between them which bothered Jessie. It bothered him more now it appeared Kat had some control over him. Somehow.

  Pushing himself off the ground, he turned his head as a scaled-covered clawed foot slammed into his face. His mandible shattered and knocked loose. Pain seared through him as his nose broke. His sharp fangs were shattered and rocketed into the back of his throat.

  Spinning away from the force of the blow, he immediately cleared his mind of all thoughts of pain and willed his body to heal as quickly as possible. His head lay turned away from the direction of the Croc, but he could feel the tremors of the ground as it closed on him.

  This fight was not going well.

  Kat knew Jessie was pissed. She had never intended to use her will on him. Wasn’t supposed to, in fact. Sylvanis had wished to keep it secret from the new recruits. Though Sylvanis trusted them to help them win, she didn’t truly trust them.

  It seems she had learned a lot of this day and age in the short time she had been here.

  Dismissing Jessie from her mind, a problem for later, she stared at the Croc she had fought before, its mouth agape, knife like teeth lining its long maw. Saliva dripped from it. If there is a later.

  She couldn’t let Jessie fight this monster. For one, she owed it a rematch. For another, Jessie would have been killed. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jessie launched into the air, tumbling across the ground as he hit. He might still get killed.

  Focusing back on the Croc, she slowed her approach.

  “Ah, I see . . .” he began.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Kat cut him off.

  He chuckled in wry amusement and moved on her.

  She forgot how quick the bulky creature was. It came at her like an avalanche of scales and claws.

  She leaped back to avoid the slash of his claws, but as it brought his claw around to swipe at her, it continued in its pirouette and whipped its longer tail out at her.

  It collided with her side with an audible crunch. Her ribs snapped and she could feel their sharp ends dig into her internal organs. As surprised as she had been by the move, her instincts had still kicked in and she moved with the impact, lessening the damage. Somewhat.

  With a roll, she hopped back on her feet and moved.

  The Croc finished his turn, ready for her. She darted in so quick his attempt to swipe at her this time met nothing but air. Instead she was inside his reach. He was bigger than her. Taller. And she found herself under his jaw.

  Bending at the knees, she jutted her hands straight out and dug into his underbelly as she launched herself upward. Slicing as she went, her head slammed into his throat. The impact jarred her head and neck, but she could hear the crunch of his esophagus as it collapsed in his throat.

  Staggering back, the Croc reached up to grasp at his throat, making wheezing sounds as he drew air in and out. As his throat repaired itself, a deep growl reverberated from him a
nd the glare he sent Kat’s way made her a little weak in the knees.

  Steeling herself, she waited for his attack. He didn’t charge her like she thought he would. No. He stalked toward her. Holding his arms out slightly, claws bared, as he tipped his head down slightly so his eyes were focused on her face.

  Like rolling waves, his muscles rippled under his scaled hide. The dark green scales reflected light from the sun overhead, giving them a glistening darkness.

  Lashing her tail around behind her, she crouched and waited for him to close the distance. His hulking shape came closer and closer. She knew there was no backing down. No backing away from this fight. She had chosen to meet this threat head on, and she would. He needed to be stopped.

  She wasn’t sure she could do it.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Watching everything unfold before her, Sylvanis kept her eyes focused on Kestrel. Still lying naked on the grass, she began weakly trying to rise. She was weak. It didn’t surprise Sylvanis. The amount of power Kestrel had unleased on Houston would weaken any Druidess.

  The two Weres stayed guarding her, though they appeared eager to join the fight.

  Well, she would oblige them.

  “Talamh nathair”

  Reminiscent of her first battle with Kestrel, a column of earth rose from the ground. Dirt, stone and roots climbed upward right behind the two Weres. The sound of its rise caused them to turn.

  Ten feet. Twenty feet. The earthen snake rose, twisting upon itself and fell with alarming speed toward the Boar guarding Kestrel. Barely jumping aside, the Boar missed being crushed as the snake battered the ground.

  It did not stop though. Instead it lashed out to the side, crashing into the Croc who stood there, jaws opened in surprise. He was even more surprised when it hit him. The Croc went soaring through the air.

  As quickly as it had struck the Croc, it darted back toward the Boar, who deftly sidestepped the attack. With scant concentration, Sylvanis kept the snake on the attack, keeping the Weres at bay.