The Awakened World Boxed Set

by William Stacey

  Char wore too-tight black leather pants with high leather boots. Over her ample cleavage, she wore a sleeveless Native American vest adorned with feathers and beads. Char was fascinated with all ancient civilizations and often adopted their customs and outfits. Tonight, she carried her staff and wore her battle rapier on her hip.

  Erin swayed in place, and Angie slipped an arm around her waist, providing what little comfort she could despite her own inner turmoil. It's still there, she thought. It's always been there, within me. Damn you, Char. You lied to me. She wasn't sure of anything anymore, but she had promised to help Erin, and she owed her that much, especially now that the Tzitzime had murdered Lewis. She'd do what she could to save the Seagraves. Once Char divined where they were, she'd go to Nathan, and he'd help plan a rescue operation.

  Once they were safe, she'd figure out what to do with her messed-up life.

  A large bonfire blazed in the center of the torch ring, and Char stood before it, swaying in place, chanting softly to herself in High Speech, a language the Fey would not teach humanity. She had placed her staff upright in the soft earth and now held aloft a long lock of Erin's red hair in one hand and another of her magical talismans in the other. This one was a deformed skull so old it had long since turned black.

  The skull, neither human nor Fey, was twice the size of a human’s, with jagged ridgelines running back from the forehead. The nubs of two horns, now worn smooth, jutted from the skull's temple. Esoteric runes—Sumerian, she thought, although her Sumerian was poor—were carved on every bit of the skull. The runes were lined with silver dust—silver being one of the high metals that amplified magic use.

  Angie had seen Char use the skull only twice before, and always to augment the casting of a divination spell. Once had been at Marshal's request to locate a missing human child. The other time had been to find a particularly nasty gang of Ferals who had evaded every attempt at capture.

  Both times, Char had been successful.

  Divination magic was difficult, even for a Fey grandmaster mage like Char. For humans, it was impossible. The Home Guard had considered Angie a diviner but only because they didn't understand her special talent, not because she could do divination magic. What Angie could do was locate life forms inside target compounds, which was very useful during a direct action but hardly divination magic. What Char would do this night was completely different. She would locate exactly where Erin's brothers were with pinpoint accuracy.

  Once, Char had admitted that the talisman was the key to her success as a diviner. She wouldn't tell Angie where the skull had come from, but she did say that Elenaril Cloudborn had been trying to purchase it from her for years, not that she'd ever part with it. Char and the queen of the elvish Enclave in Coronado had been rivals for as long as Angie could remember, although never openly hostile.

  Not like Char and Nathan.

  The air around Char began to thrum with occult power, imperceptible to mundanes, but it raised goose bumps on Angie's skin. "Not much longer," she whispered to Erin.

  Erin, her eyes locked on Char's back, said, "What if ... what if we're too far away? What if those Tzitzime people have already moved them?"

  "If this Tec is telling the truth, and Char believes he is, then the Tzitzime are enemies of the Nortenos as well as us. They'd have to move your brothers through an entire countryside that's hostile to them."

  "That doesn't mean they haven't done exactly that."

  Angie squeezed Erin's waist. "Trust Char. She's very good at this."

  Trust Char? Did I just say that? She bit her lip, letting her arm slip away from Erin, her feelings twisted into a knot.

  Char held the lock of hair and skull high above her head, her voice now becoming shrill and demanding. Angie could tell the magic was building to its climax. Any moment now.

  When the first of the explosions detonated in the distance, the fireballs blossoming over Char's home, they all spun about, staring in confusion. Even Char stared, no longer working her spell, her arms hanging at her sides.

  Angie's mouth fell open. "What the—"

  Erin pulled her to the ground as the shock waves hit them, knocking the others over.

  "We're under attack!" Erin yelled.

  More explosions lit up the jungle, followed by the burst of heavy machine-gun fire. Red tracers lanced down from the sky, starting fires where they hit. Just for a moment, Angie was hurled back to that night six months ago when her helicopter had been shot down. This was impossible, yet it was happening just the same.

  "Choppers!" Erin yelled. "Shrikes."

  And they were. Even Angie could see that now. As the fires burned, the distinctive duo-rotored stealth helicopters came into view, banking and attacking, firing rockets, the door-gunners letting loose at targets on the ground.

  Targets? Fey. Innocent fairies and others.

  Even from this far away, the wind carried the stench of sulfur and smoke and the screams of the dying.

  The half dozen Shrike aircraft were the Home Guard's most prized weapon. During the Awakening, the six experimental aircraft had been underground, protected by Marshal's Bunker along with a storehouse of other vehicles and electronics. And it had been a considerable warehouse, a private arsenal that Marshal and her father had overseen, as well as a cadre of Special Forces troops assigned to test the gear. In one day, Marshal had gone from being the commanding officer of an insignificant testing site to being the most powerful warlord on the west coast.

  In all the years since, the only time they had lost one of the aircraft was when Angie's helicopter had been shot down, a one-in-a-thousand chance. With Nathan now the Home Guard commanding officer, the aircraft were his. But this made no sense. An attack upon the Fresno Enclave would mean the end of the Concord Marshal had worked so hard to establish. It would mean war between humanity and Fey.

  Why?

  Several of the aircraft hovered over the trees, sending the thick black smoke swirling about them, but smoke or no, Angie saw the rappel lines and soldiers sliding down. Nathan was putting boots on the ground.

  She rose, as did Char and the others. Char stared at Angie, her eyes wide. "What is this?"

  "I don't know. I don't understand."

  A moment later, they heard the bursts of automatic-rifle fire, followed by anguished screams and the detonation of smaller explosives—hand grenades, she thought.

  "They're killing my people," Char said softly, almost in disbelief. Her eyes narrowed to slits, and she rose to her full towering height, her wings snapping outward. She dropped the talisman, taking up her staff in one hand and battle rapier in the other. Her shoulders trembled with rage as she began to stalk toward the fighting.

  Despite their earlier argument, panic welled in Angie, and she rushed forward, gripping her adopted mother's arm. "Don't! They're concentrating firepower there. Believe me, they'll have overwhelming force. This is what Nathan does, this type of nighttime raid, and he's damned good at it. We need to hide."

  Char's face was like granite, but a moment later, indecision flashed through her purple eyes. She looked from Angie to Erin to Andrej.

  "Please, love," Andrej pleaded. "Listen to her. Don't throw your life away."

  Her shoulders and wings slumped, but she lowered her gaze. "Ephix will come with her vampires and counterattack. When she does, we'll help then." Her voice became like stone, devoid of pity. "I'm going to end Nathan Case this night."

  They skirted the fighting, keeping to the woods and avoiding the battle, although each gunshot was like a personal blow to Angie. Char led the way, with Andrej, Angie, and Erin behind her. In the rear were a half dozen of Char's servants, three fairies, two nymphs, and a single water hag, hardly a robust fighting force. Where are the battle trolls when you need them? At home in bed, most likely.

  As bad as this was for Angie, it must have been infinitely worse for Char. Her people were the ones dying. The Fey could be ferocious foes, but not like this, not when they were taken by surprise at nigh
t. Angie took comfort in one thing: when Ephix and her vampires entered the battle, Nathan would have to retreat or die. Bullets were not going to stop a vampire, and she doubted even a rocket would stop an enraged Ephix.

  Nathan must know that. He's a great many things, but he isn't an idiot.

  Erin was with them, with her enhanced senses, but Char led the way. No doubt she saw every bit as well in the dark as Erin did, and Char knew the wilderness like no other. It wasn't as great an advantage as it should have been though. She knew the Home Guard troops would be equipped with night-vision devices and laser targeting on their weapons. If Angie and the others were seen...

  "Enemy left!" Erin yelled, spinning and bolting into the woods in the direction she had just called out so fast that she was like a blur in the night.

  Char rose into the air, buffeting the others with the beating of her wings. Angie had no night vision and saw nothing, but that didn't stop her from throwing herself onto her belly, dragging Andrej down with her. A moment later, the woods on their left lit up with the flash of automatic-rifle fire. Bullets cracked overhead and hit the ground around them, throwing dirt into her face. She saw a flash in the air as bullets impacted the shield Char's shade created to protect her.

  Then the succubus fell among their attackers, her rapier flashing and falling, her staff smashing heads. Erin was on them a moment later, barreling through at least two Home Guard soldiers. The water hag, shrieking in rage, rushed forward, her talons raised overhead. A burst of gunfire cut into the water hag, causing her to stumble and almost fall, but with a cry of pain, she kept going and collided with the soldier who had just shot her, taking him down. His screams ended a moment later, the hag lying atop him.

  When Angie and Andrej rose seconds later, the battle was over. Char and Erin were unhurt. The attackers were down. Angie saw a half dozen corpses. But two of the fairies, the water hag, and a nymph were also dead.

  Erin joined Angie and Andrej, holding assault rifles and load-bearing vests filled with equipment and ammo. She handed a rifle and vest to each of them. Char looked to her people, but there was nothing she could do for the dead. The remaining nymph and fairy were nearly hysterical, and Char ordered them to fly away and hide.

  Erin raised the rifle to her shoulder and turned about, scanning her surroundings. Angie checked both her own and Andrej's weapons, showing him the basics. Then she slipped the load-bearing vest over her back, pulling the zipper closed. Andrej and Erin did the same with their own vests.

  When she glanced at him, Andrej was holding a grenade in his hand, staring at it. "How does it work?" he asked her.

  "You pull the pin and throw. That's about it, but I'd put it away. You're just as likely to blow us up."

  He nodded, stuffing the grenade back into a pocket of his load-bearing vest. If she could see his face, she knew it'd be pale.

  "We need to move," Erin said to the others.

  Char stared at the red glow above the trees where her home had been, her eyes narrowing. "There's something else here." She turned to stare at Angie, the look in her large eyes sending a chill down Angie's spine. "Something old and dark, something that doesn't belong on this world. I was wrong. We can't wait for Ephix. We need to flee."

  Angie closed her eyes and used her life-sense gift but detected nothing within range that wasn't an animal, and damned few of those. "We're clear for now, but I—" She paused when she heard a click and a hiss coming from one of her vest's pockets. She pulled out a handset, holding it to her ear just in time to hear Nathan's voice demanding a sitrep.

  Without thinking, she pushed the transmit button. "The situation is that you're a murdering asshole, and I'll see you hanged for this."

  There was silence for a moment and then a click. "Angie, that you, baby?" Nathan asked, surprise and amusement in his voice. "We need to talk."

  Erin took the radio from her and smashed it against a tree trunk, shattering it. "We don't waste time talking to people we're going to kill."

  With Char leading, they slipped away into the jungle, intent on getting as far from Nathan and his men as possible.

  Chapter 25

  Nathan cast a Shockwave spell that knocked the vampire—one that looked like a young woman—to the ground. A moment later, two of his men equipped with crossbows shot it in the heart, killing it with wooden bolts. The vampire's corpse dried out like a deflating balloon and then turned to ash, leaving nothing behind but empty clothing. That had been the third vampire within the last five minutes. The tactics they had practiced were working: use the mages to knock down the vampires and then kill them with the crossbows. But there were only so many crossbows, and the vampires were reacting faster than he had thought they would.

  Damn them! They should be far from here in Fresno's outskirts, patrolling. Just how fast are they? And where is Ephix?

  Fey corpses littered the ground: dead fairies, their eyes open, lay next to sprites a foot tall. They had even killed one of the large trolls, its trunk-like torso now a gaping wound. The air was thick with the smell of death and burned flesh.

  His gaze flickered to the corpse of Anthalas nearby, his old elven fight master. The white-haired elf had done surprisingly well—even with a bullet in his gut. Despite the wound, he had still killed two of Nathan's men with a broadsword before Nathan had cut him down himself with his katana. Anthalas had been good, but he hadn’t been a mage and had no shade to protect him like Nathan did. Of all the dead, only Anthalas gave Nathan even the slightest pause. The old elf had been a mentor to him in many ways, more a father than his own useless drunk old man had ever been.

  But he was still a Fey, still the enemy.

  It was a hard thing to become the savior of humanity, and he needed to strengthen his resolve. There'd be many more deaths in the weeks to come. Many would be regrettable, but all would be necessary.

  Fires in Char's structures burned around them, providing more than enough light by which to see, so he had raised his NVGs atop his helmet. He had all five of his new mages with him, as well as five sections of infantry. His guests were also here, but he didn't like counting on people he didn't trust—and he sure as hell didn't trust Rayan Zar Davi; he'd be damned if he referred to her as Mother Smoke Heart.

  All five Shrikes flew cover overhead, using their rockets and door-gunners to suppress any Fey that came too close to the LZ. Still, they needed to wrap this up now, before Ephix showed up. He was taking a hell of a chance.

  With his mind occupied, he almost missed the vampire leaping down on him from a tree branch.

  Sneaky vamp.

  Nathan’s katana flashed from his scabbard, and he swept into the vampire’s attack, swinging his hexed weapon with both hands. His strike was good, and he felt the impact in his shoulders and hips as his blade cut the vampire’s head from his shoulders. The vampire’s corpse was turning to ash before it hit the ground.

  Nathan smiled and then, without looking, easily slid his katana back into his scabbard, a maneuver he had practiced more than any fighting drill. Sometimes looking cool was the most important thing.

  Rayan Zar Davi was approaching now, walking at an unhurried pace, her hand resting atop the hilt of her scimitar. She was coming from Char's home, which was now burning. Four of her people followed, carrying sacks of plunder. What bullshit is she up to now? he wondered, staring at the sacks. We didn't come here to steal things. Besides, he and his people had done all the work. Any treasure or magic trinkets rightfully belonged to him.

  He was about to say as much when he saw the darkness following her people, that ... thing she had sent against that underworld loser Mads Johansen. He shivered, looking away from it. Even with the fires, the shadows wrapped around it like a cloak, as if light couldn't touch it. And maybe it can't, Nathan. What kind of people have you sold your soul to? What have you done?

  What I had to. History only remembers the winners, not their methods.

  "She's not here," Rayan Zar Davi said, her voice laced with spite. The ne
arby fires danced in her dark eyes.

  "They're close," he said, pretending he didn't hear the tone she used. "I just spoke to Angie Ritter." He smiled, shaking his head. Oh, Angie baby, what a pain in the ass you've become. When Rayan Zar Davi's face darkened with anger, he said, "They just fought one of my cut-off teams to the south. We know where they are—or at least where they were a minute ago. We can go after them with the Shrikes."

  "Never mind that," she said as she waved her hand at him. "Show me where."

  He sighed, suppressing his anger. He'd need to talk to her about the way she spoke to him in front of his men. It undermined his authority. But for now, he needed her, needed her magic. "That way," he said, pointing to the southeast, "about a half kilometer from here."

  She turned and addressed the darkness. Now Nathan saw glowing red eyes, and his fear spiked. "Go," she ordered.

  "TWO DAYS, WITCH. YOUR TIME TO COMMAND ME RUNS SHORT." The growl it emitted wasn't remotely human. A moment later, it dissipated into smoke, leaving nothing behind except the stench of sulfur.

  Rayan Zar Davi faced Nathan. "Don't bother with your aircraft. They are not going anywhere."

  With that, she and her people trotted away to the southeast. He heaved a weary sigh, turning to one of his mages, the young blond lieutenant Ella Summers. "Round them up. We're moving out on foot right now. Have the aircraft provide cover."

  "Yes, sir."

  "And watch for clusters of vampires. That monster Ephix is out there somewhere."

  "Sir," she acknowledged, turning away and speaking into her radio.

  At the stench in the air, he almost felt sorry for Angie.

  Almost.

  "You chose the wrong side, baby."

  Nathan led his men after Rayan Zar Davi and her people.