Angie stared at her, aware her mouth was hanging open. "I..."
"There is no time for further debate, Angela. Now is the time for action."
"Do it," Tec said.
Angie gulped but nodded.
"Ready yourselves." Ephix turned away and began to walk toward the same torchlit clearing that Char had been using earlier.
Tec gripped Angie's arm. "Weapons and ammo, as many and as quickly as you can gather them. See if there are radios as well. Maybe we can listen in to our enemy."
Our enemy, my former colleagues.
Angie’s thoughts were a tempest, but she gathered weapons from the dead soldiers, Nightfall's naked blade thrust through her belt. Erin needed her.
Less than twenty minutes later, Angie joined Ephix, Tec, and Astris in the torchlit clearing. Each wore a Home Guard uniform, the least bloody ones they could find, as well as a radio set. They carried an assortment of weapons—all but Ephix, who insisted she needed nothing but her hands. Ephix did, however, carry a sack a foot wide, its strap slung over her shoulder.
Astris looked like a child in her uniform. On her slender hip, she wore a knife and pistol that Angie now suspected she knew how to use. There was far more to Astris than Angie had realized.
Angie wore Nightfall, an assault rifle on a tactical sling, and an automatic pistol in a shoulder holster.
Tec carried an assault rifle and his kukri fighting knife. He also carried the pack with his water bottles. She stared at him, noting his smooth, easy movements, the confidence with which he carried himself. He reminded her of Rowan Seagrave, a born warrior. A were-jaguar that can heal any injury instantly with water—that's a good ally to have.
She pointed at his pack. "Will that water do anything for us?"
He smiled, his teeth flashing in the torchlight. "Stop you from being dehydrated, but that's about it."
"Figures."
"Be wary," Ephix warned, looking odd in her human combat uniform. Her long brown hair was tied up and hidden by a field cap, as was Angie's and Astris’s, and from a distance they'd look no different than any other Home Guard soldier. "Lodin protects his realm from others and will not love our presence."
"We are ready, Ephix Lamia," Tec said.
Ephix removed her talisman, a gold necklace with a black glass rose, from her pack. She held the rose cupped in her hands and began to cast her spell, yet another spell that Angie had never seen. She had known that Ephix was a grandmaster mage, as all the Fey and human students in the Fresno Enclave had, but she had never actually seen her use magic before. But then, Ephix was a terror without the magic, and Angie had always been willing to walk a mile to avoid her.
In moments, the occult energy in the air raised the hair on the back of Angie's neck and caused her skin to pucker with goosebumps.
How far did Nathan's treachery go, she wondered, waiting for Ephix to open her gateway. Was Marshal in on it? Ephix seemed to believe so. This was all so unbelievable. Nathan had betrayed the Seagraves, his own soldiers, just to curry favor with Smoke Heart and her Tzitzime cultists. It was the ultimate betrayal. Yet it was also true, she knew. She felt it in her heart. How, Nathan? How could you?
Then the air before Ephix warped and blurred. A hole in the fabric of reality burst open, five paces wide and just as high. On the other side of the hole, Angie saw the same clearing, the same woods, but everything else was different. The sky was red, not black, the trees more robust and thicker. The Hollows, another realm. It was all true.
"Come," said Ephix, motioning the others to follow. "I have not the strength to leave it open long." Ephix strode through the hole, and Angie and the others followed.
"And I thought I had seen and done everything," Tec said softly, glancing about himself.
Once Astris was through, Ephix closed the rift with a gesture. As the hole disappeared, the air popped in Angie's ears as if she had suddenly changed elevation.
She turned about, examining her surroundings. Everything was similar yet different. Same woods, same hills, same mountains to the east and west. But there was no zoo, no evidence it had ever existed. Nor did she see any structures at all. The sky was the color of blood, but the stars were unlike any constellations she had ever seen, and the air was so clean it was almost painful. Birds cried out about them, and the soft hum of insects was far louder than Angie was accustomed to.
"Is it night or day?" Angie asked.
"Neither," said Ephix. "It just is. As it always shall be. Now, be silent. I need to concentrate to draw the Mares to us."
Ephix knelt on the grass and transformed one of her hands into a claw, the fingertips long and sharp. She used the tips to score a wound in her forearm and drip blood onto the ground before her. Then she began to cast another spell that Angie didn't recognize. I know nothing of magic, she thought. I never truly did. We're like children to the Fey.
Ephix rose, her hand once again that of a young woman. There was no longer a wound on her arm, the skin unblemished but marred by blood. "I have made the request. Now we wait."
Then they heard a horn, a long, drawn-out bellow that echoed from far away.
"Lodin knows we're here." Ephix sighed. "I had hoped for more time, but this is his realm now, and he's drawn to power in it."
"He knows you're here already?" Angie asked.
Ephix glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. "He's not coming for me, Angela."
"What do we do?" Astris asked, the first trace of panic Angie had heard from her.
"Pray the Mares reach us first," Ephix answered bluntly.
They waited. As the minutes stretched, Tec readied his assault rifle. He began to pace like a prowling cat, his gaze sweeping the trees. He even sniffed the air. Angie knew exactly how he felt. Her nerves were so tight she felt like she'd snap. Astris's wings vibrated beneath her shirt before she calmed herself. Ephix was a statue, staring into the woods.
"Ah," said Ephix with a note of satisfaction.
A moment later, the four Mares burst from the trees, rushing straight for their clearing. They were magnificent, the most beautiful horses Angie had ever seen. They were larger than any horse she had ridden by at least several hands, wild and beautiful, majestic and proud—yet also clearly supernatural. Their large, round eyes flashed with crimson fire. The largest of the four, a jet-black mare with smoke trailing from her nostrils, stepped closer to Ephix, her gaze locked on her.
She bowed. "I see you, Podargos the Swift. We ask that you carry us and offer you a boon in return should ever you need it."
The mare, Podargos, stamped a hoof against the grass, the impact sending a tremor beneath their feet. The horse turned her head and stared at Angie. Then she neighed, tossing her head, the sound reverberating within Angie’s bones.
"She agrees," Ephix said, smiling now. But then they heard the horn again, closer now, as well as the howling of dogs. "But we must hurry."
"There's no saddles," Tec said.
Ephix pulled herself bareback onto Podargos's powerful back. "Nor would these creatures bear such an insult. Grip hard with your thighs and don't let go."
Tec nodded, approaching another mare, a red brute. The massive beast waited patiently as Tec gripped her neck and pulled himself up.
"Deinos the Terrible," Ephix told him. "Be careful. She is a man-eater." She looked to a silver mare and then to Angie. "Lampon the Shining will bear you, Angela." To Astris she gestured to the last, a sleek mustard mare. "And to you, Astris, Xanthos the Yellow."
Angie approached the silver mare waiting patiently for her, a flash of fire darting through her large eyes. She gripped the mare's neck and pulled herself up, finding it not as difficult as she feared to remain upright without a saddle and reins. Astris easily leaped atop her mount, landing lithely. Then she flashed a bright white smile at the others.
The horn sounded once more.
"Go, Podargos," Ephix called out. "Travel with great speed!"
The black horse neighed, lifting her head high and snorting. Th
en she galloped off, sparks trailing from her hooves, and Angie gripped her own mount's neck tightly, hanging on as the other horses chased after their leader.
Chapter 29
The otherworldly horses ran so fast the countryside blurred about Angie. She leaned forward, grasping Lampon's mane with a death grip. The winds of their passage buffeted her, and only the strap on her field cap hanging about her neck stopped it from flying away. So focused was she on hanging on that she could only spare quick glances at the wilderness: thickets and woods, rivers and streams, hills and valleys. She saw no roads, no structures, no hint of people.
And then they were joined by other wild horses, a vast herd of hundreds of stallions, mares, and colts, all racing alongside the four Mares of Diomedes and their strange riders. The other horses, running for the sheer joy of it, soon fell behind the supernatural mounts and then disappeared entirely. Clouds raced across the sky far too quickly. It was all too surreal. At one point it even appeared as though there were two moons. She was so surprised she clutched desperately at Lampon's mane to keep from falling. When she dared raise her eyes again, she saw she had been mistaken, and there was only one moon—far too large and close to the horizon, almost touching the landscape.
Yet despite their breathless pace, the horns of their pursuers grew closer, now closing in from behind. Lodin and his wild hunt. She had always believed the Fey lord to be a myth, but in this realm, myths lived. Her steed was proof of that.
The Mares must have understood the threat because their speed increased. The ground thundered with the sound of their hooves, sparks flew into the air with each step, and flames trailed from their nostrils. They moved so quickly that she was certain they'd take to the air.
Now, for the first time, Angie recognized the terrain ahead of them. As the Home Guard's S2, she had spent long hours studying the land, knowing its every crevice, hill, and trail. A ridge of hills, knobs, and knolls rose ahead of them, extending from the mountains far to the west that sheltered the San Joaquin Valley. If the Hollows truly did mirror her own world, then those hills held the Bunker, and the remains of the old Naval Air Station Lemoore—its airfield, infrastructure, and security perimeter. Only about fifteen kilometers to the east along Highway 198 would be the walls of Sanwa City. Now, of course, there was no city, no highway, but if Ephix could create another gateway here, they'd be at their destination—the Bunker.
After the Awakening, in the turmoil of the breakdown of civilization and the Food Wars, Colonel Marshal had organized his forces around his Bunker. He and his men, including the three oldest Seagrave brothers, had then built the first protected zone around the nearby community of Hanford, which sat on the intersections of Highways 43 and 198. With his troops and shielded equipment—including the Shrikes—Marshal had created a small community of survivors, saving those he could and turning away those he had to. In time, the protected zone became a wall around Sanwa City.
Ephix and her mount slowed first, broke into a canter before easing into a walk. The other mares followed suit, their flanks heaving with exertion. They stopped atop a hill covered with thick bushes and trees that overlooked several kilometers of windswept grassland and a single tall hill on the other side. This, Angie knew, was the ground upon which sat the old Naval Air Station Lemoore, its airfield and infrastructure. The far hill should have held the Bunker within its depths. Instead, she saw nothing but untouched wilderness—no Bunker, no airfield, no fence. But there was no mistaking the land. The Hollows did mirror her own world.
Ephix climbed down from her mount and touched her forehead to that of Podargos the Swift. "I owe you a boon, great one."
Podargos neighed loudly, tossing her head.
Angie and the others dismounted. When Angie's boots touched the ground, she stumbled, but Tec caught her arm. Her legs were exhausted, her balance gone.
"Easy now," Tec said. "You'll get your sea legs back soon enough."
Tec seemed fine, better than fine, as if he had just slept eight hours, but she took some small satisfaction in the exhaustion she saw mirrored on Astris's face; she wasn’t the only one tired. Angie let her fingers trail over Lampon's silver flank and coarse coat as the mare stepped away, following Podargos and the others. In a moment, Podargos broke into a run, and all four horses disappeared through the trees, their task completed.
"This hill should overlook the Bunker and its perimeter fence," Angie said, staring at the empty land.
"And it will again," Ephix said. "But I cannot promise you a safe arrival. Be ready for anything."
Tec stepped closer, his rifle held ready, and nodded at Ephix.
As Ephix began to cast her portal spell once more, a wolflike howl cut across the air. The howl was immediately picked up and returned by others, all baying in hunger and excitement. Horns began to blow in response.
Lodin and his hunt were here.
"We’re out of time," Tec said to Ephix, watching their rear.
She didn't answer, focusing instead on her spell. The air began to crackle with magical energy in front of Ephix, warping and shimmering.
Angie readied her rifle, facing a different direction than Tec. They heard more horns, so close now that they must be almost on them. Astris drew both her knife and pistol, her face surprisingly calm.
"Be ready," Ephix called out. "It's opening."
A quick glance over her shoulder showed Angie that the air warped before Ephix. When her gaze snapped to their rear again, she saw their pursuers for the first time as they broke through the trees on the far side of the hill. Running on all fours like wolves but with impossibly powerful shoulders, eight monsters charged at them, their eyes glowing red, their teeth bared.
"Barghests!" Astris warned.
Then a single rider, a man, followed the barghests. He halted his large, eight-legged horse, easily three times the size of a normal steed, and stared up at them. He wore a black cloak that seemed to move on its own, as if alive. His armor was full plate, gleaming with silver. He wore a full-face helmet with long deer horns extending from it. In his hand, he gripped a long black spear, the spearhead glowing with arcane fire.
Lord Lodin, the master of the Fey hunt.
And he stared at Angie.
"Now!" Ephix cried. "Hurry."
Angie stood frozen, transfixed by Lodin. According to Fey legend, Lodin's appearance forecast war and doom.
He pointed his spear at Angie, and his pack of barghests charged at her, howling with rage.
They're coming for me, she realized. He's after me. She froze, although she couldn’t say why. She felt the strangest … connection to Lord Lodin.
Tec grabbed her and dragged her with him toward the portal, through which Ephix and Astris had already gone. On the other side, Angie saw an early-morning sky. The barghests were almost upon them.
Then they were through, and the portal vanished, winking out of existence, leaving only a trail of black smoke in the air.
Tec stared into her face. "Are you okay?"
She stared at him in confusion then shook herself, ignoring Tec and examining her surroundings. They were back in the world, she realized. Her world.
And through the trees, in the clearing below, she saw the perimeter fence and the infrastructure of the Home Guard's base. Military HMMWVs moved slowly over the base roads, casting clouds of dirt in their wake. Soldiers on horseback patrolled the length of the perimeter fence. Less than a kilometer away, a long dirt runway ran from east to west, with barrels along its length. And, burrowed into the huge hill opposite theirs, was the black tunnel entrance of the Bunker. Her former home.
They had made it.
Chapter 30
Angie lay on her belly near the summit of the hill, watching the armed base. The eastern sky was a crimson veil that cast long shadows across the base. The earpiece of her radio crackled with static and then beeped as another of the Home Guard's mounted sentry patrols reported a lack of activity. They had been listening to the radio communications for some min
utes now, and Angie was surprised at how active the base was at this early hour. Tec lay beside her, gazing through a pair of small binoculars, with Ephix opposite him, watching the base with a predator's hunger. Astris slid up next to Angie without a sound.
Across the base, separated by almost a kilometer of open ground, sat the hill into which the Bunker had been built. Its entrance was a tunnel wide enough for a truck to drive through and was built into steel-reinforced concrete. Its massive blast doors were presently open, but they pretty much always were because air circulation was always a problem. Sentries stood guard before the tunnel, and Angie knew they’d check every load that entered. There'd be no way to slip past them. There were no shortcuts to security here, and that was if they could even get past the perimeter fence.
The remainder of the base looked much the same as any military camp. A strong perimeter fence with coils of razor wire on its top circled the base, airfield, and Bunker. Dirt roads crossed the terrain with dozens of old buildings, shacks, and Quonset huts. A large two-story corrugated iron hangar with a three-story wooden tower sat near the dirt runway. A single red pennant hung listlessly from the tower.
Normally, the hangar held the Shrike helicopters, but at present all five aircraft sat lined up beside one another at the far end of the runway. Even the rapid-reaction aircraft was here, not forward deployed. That never happened. Had Nathan insisted on all of them for the raid last night? Even from here, Angie could see the aircraft were being rearmed. Did that mean Nathan was planning on sending them out again? A single fuel truck, the only one the Home Guard possessed, sat near the Shrikes.
Soldiers and technicians moved about, attending to tasks. The land opposite the fence had been cleared, making a kill zone a hundred meters wide, although only the most suicidal Feral band would ever consider coming anywhere near this base. A single gate permitted entry through the fence, flanked by wooden towers with heavy machine guns and soldiers with scoped rifles.
The Awakened World Boxed Set Page 25
