There was an art to good machine gun firing, and both Casey and Jay were as good as anyone she had ever seen, better than most. Their fire was steady and accurate, the bursts short. Just the same, the barrels soon glowed with heat.
Both men covered their predetermined arcs of fire, making sure they didn't engage the same targets. Angie couldn't see the vampires they were shooting at, but where the tracers hit, they started small fires in the dry grass that glowed green in her NVGs. Then Angie saw shadows dart across the terrain, moving impossibly fast toward them—the vampires. There were dozens of shapes now, the ground exploding around them under the impact of heavy machine gun fire. She hated and feared vampires and always had, but she forced herself to breathe, to be calm, to do her part if the vampires reached them.
When the vampires reached them.
The vampires, illuminated by the burning grass, sprinted faster than horses, but Casey and Jay must have understood how to lead them now, and their bullets began to hammer into the vampires. The attackers faltered and fell. Some were cut in half, others were thrown back dozens of paces, and still more shattered under the impact of the high-caliber ammunition. When the vampires stumbled or fell, the brothers focused their fire, hosing them down until their bodies turned to ash.
Son of a bitch, Angie thought, the SOPs work.
"Changing barrels," Jay yelled. Rowan helped, using a cloth that had been set nearby to grip the red-hot machine gun barrel. In seconds, they had it off and were attaching a spare, but the vampires had closed the distance to just under two hundred meters.
"Running low on ammo," Casey yelled just before his heavy machine gun ran dry. Angie knelt beside him and inserted another box of linked bullets. By now, Jay was firing again. She glanced up to see the vampires were much closer, close enough for her to make out their pale faces.
The head of one of the vampires exploded into gristle as Erin fired her sniper rifle. She worked the bolt, loading another bullet, and then calmly fired again, taking out a second vampire. But many more were coming.
"God damn, that's a lot of vamps," Casey said in wonder. "Must be really pissed with us."
"Or thirsty," yelled Erin as she reloaded and raised her rifle to her shoulder, firing again. This time she missed the head, but the impact knocked the vampire back ten feet, where Jay ripped it apart with a burst of machine gun fire.
Tec and the others below were also firing now, the sharp crack of an assault rifleshot and much smaller retort of a sub-gun echoing in the night. They didn't aim for the heads—probably having decided they were too small a target—but when their bullets hit the center of the visible mass, the vampires’ bodies, the bullets slowed the vampires for Jay, Casey, and Erin to shoot. Ash drifted in the air as the vampires died.
Then Angie felt Wyn Renna cast a spell, another one she didn't know. Darts of blue energy shot from her fingers to strike the closest four vampires, barely twenty paces away. When the blue energy hit the vampires, they froze in mid-step like statues. The others shot them in the head, shattering their brains, and their bodies turned to ash, leaving empty clothing to fall to the ground.
The last of the vampires, at least eight of them, were too close for the heavy machine guns now and almost on top of Tec and the others down below.
"Hand to hand!" Rowan yelled, rising from where he knelt next to Casey and sprinting for the path down.
Angie followed and saw Tec advance on the vampires, firing short bursts with his assault rifle as he closed the distance with them, hitting them with unnatural skill. Just for a moment, her heart clenched in fear. She drew Nightfall, the runes along its black blade glowing with blue fire, just as Tec dropped his assault rifle and drew a bayonet in each hand. He slammed into the closest three vampires, matching their intensity and strength. Two others came at Tavi, but her shade created a shield, blocking their attacks. Wyn Renna joined the fight, casting Shutter to flash beside Tavi and behead one of the vampires. Deldin Gar, armed with his short sword, attacked another vampire, but Deldin Gar was no mage and had no shade to shield him. Vampire and elf went down together in a frenzied tangle.
Rowan ran down the embankment, firing at the vampires. His rounds didn't kill them, but he did slow them enough to help Tec, who leaped into the air, spun about, and beheaded one of the vampires with a bayonet.
"Don't die," she whispered, her fear a rock in her gut.
Two vampires tackled Tec. Rowan, unable to shoot without hitting the other man, moved around them, looking for an opening, but one of the vampires wrapped his long, pale arms around Tec's waist while the other drew his head back to bite into Tec's now-exposed throat.
Angie cast Shutter, transporting herself the last twenty meters and appearing right behind the vampire trying to bite Tec. Nightfall was a dueling rapier, intended for stabbing, not cutting, but she put her weight into the swing, holding the side-sword's elaborate hilt in both hands. Her blade caught the vampire under his pointed chin, and the moment it made contact, she drew it back, inflicting a savage cut. It wasn't nearly enough to decapitate the vampire, but it did give Tec the chance he needed, and the man kicked the wounded vampire away while he fought the one holding him around the waist. Rowan launched himself at the injured vampire and began hammering at its head with the butt of his rifle.
Another vampire, a young woman, leaped at Angie, her fingernails slashing at Angie’s face. The Shade King created a shield to block the vampire attack, but the shield was much weaker than it should have been, barely even there.
She was running out of mana.
Angie used Nightfall to cut at the vampire’s hands, slicing through clawlike fingers. Then she took a chance and stepped forward and shoved her free hand against the vampire’s chest, just over her heart. Once before, the Shade King had taken a vampire's life force. The problem was that she never understood how or why the Shade King consumed some lives when she touched an enemy’s skin but left others. Sometimes it felt arbitrary. Go on, she screamed in her mind, take it! The vampire hesitated, staring in confusion at Angie. When the vampire’s life force flowed into Angie a moment later, her body turned to ash. The Shade King had fed after all.
Power surged through Angie. Rowan and Tec were beating down the other vampire, so she looked about for more enemies. Wyn Renna and Tavi fought a vampire with their swords, keeping it at bay, but sparks flew where the vampire's fingernails struck their shields.
She stepped between the women from behind. "Make a hole!"
The two mages slipped to the sides just as Angie extended her left palm and hit the vampire with Shockwave, sending it flying more than a hundred feet to tumble along the ground. Days earlier, she had cast a Shockwave spell so powerful it had disintegrated the vampire she had cast it at, literally shredding its body. That was something else she had no control over: how powerful her spells were. The vampire rolled along the ground and then rose once more, staring at Angie in stunned fear. It turned to run, but before it could take three steps, Wyn Renna lashed out with her hand, sending a red ribbon of light snaking around the vampire's throat from behind. As she yanked her hand back, the ribbon decapitated the vampire, turning its body to ash.
"Next time, do that first," Angie said.
"Doesn't work too close," Wyn Renna answered.
Then Erin, Jay, and Casey were there, each holding a rifle as they leaped onto another vampire, beating it down and smashing its skull in with their rifle butts. More ash drifted through the air. Angie looked about for more enemies to fight but saw Tec and Rowan drag the final vampire from Deldin Gar. It had been drinking the elf’s blood. The elf stared with dead, open eyes. Rowan wrapped his arms around the thrashing vampire, holding it in place as Tec beheaded it, literally sawing its head off with one of his bayonets. Angie looked away as the last vampire turned to ash.
Silence settled over them.
"God damn, that was a lot of vamps," Casey said, his voice filled with excitement.
Angie, breathing heavily, stared at him in wonder. Sh
e'd never understand werewolves.
"You guys smell that?" Erin asked, her face reflecting her distaste.
The field was burning with scores of small fires lit by the tracers. The fires were washing out Angie’s NVGs, so she removed them. She sniffed the air, finding it heavy with smoke and cordite and more than a little bit of vampire ash, but then a harsh stench assaulted her nose, and she almost gagged. "Something's wrong. That's no vampire."
"New contact front!" Casey yelled, lifting his rifle into his shoulder. "Something big." He began firing, quick aimed shots.
Angie stared out over the field, seeing a dark form rushing through the smoke. It was far too large to be a vampire, bigger than a horse. It thundered across the field, displacing smoke in its wake. The others began firing now as well, the air crackling with rifleshots. She knew there was no way they were missing it—every single one of them was a crazy good shot—but the dark form didn't slow. Then two large, leathery wings snapped out to either side of its huge frame.
"We've got a flyer," Erin yelled.
The dark shape rose into the air, whistling toward them impossibly fast, its giant wings flapping. It struck the ground hard enough to send them reeling. Angie fell to a knee and looked up to see a nightmarish hybrid of a bat and monster. It was larger than a bear, with heavily muscled arms and legs, all covered in night-black fur and scales. Its tree-trunk-like legs were bent back like a goat’s and tipped in gleaming black claws a foot long. The powerful leathery bat wings grew from its back. Its long claws were curved and wicked sharp. Its head was a monstrosity, its maw split in three jaws, two on the bottom, one on the top—all filled with rows of needlelike teeth. Its nostrils were slits of fire, and the same fires burned in its small eyes. It opened its three-part maw and screeched in rage. The air stank of sulfur and brimstone.
"Demon!" Tec yelled in warning.
Another demon? Fear rooted Angie in place.
Gouger of Faces had been so powerful it had taken everything they had to defeat it, including the help of Ephix. Now they faced another—and this one was even larger. The demon's gaze fixated on Wyn Renna, and it took a thundering step toward her. "Elfling, time to come with me," the demon rasped, its voice like a thousand locusts.
Wyn Renna’s mouth fell open, and her saber dropped from nerveless fingers.
"Fuck you," said Casey, stepping in front of the elf and opening fire point-blank with his assault rifle, shooting it right in the face.
The others fired a moment later. The air crackled with gunshots, but the bullets ricocheted away from the demon. The horses screamed in terror, pulling free from their ropes and bolting past—Patches among them—knocking Tec down as they fled.
The demon lashed out at Casey with a powerful blow of an arm, sending him flying. Angie, terrified now for Casey, rose to her feet and hit the demon with Shockwave. The spell hammered into the demon, knocking it back, sending it flying head over wings.
But a moment later, it picked itself up. "You dare? I’ll crush you to jelly."
It came for Angie now. She cast Shockwave again, but the demon flew into the air, evading her spell. As it came down toward her, she had only a moment to wonder if the Shade King could protect her against something that large.
But then an all-black were-jaguar collided into the airborne demon, knocking it away from Angie. Tec had risked his humanity to transform and save her. Demon and were-jaguar rolled along the ground, each ripping at the other with talon, claw, and fang.
Angie scurried back as Tavi pulled her away from the chaotic battle. Erin and Jay moved about the beasts, looking for an angle to fire without hitting Tec. They were wasting their time. Bullets couldn’t hurt this thing. She couldn't see Rowan or Casey, didn’t even know if Casey was even still alive.
Tec bit and clawed at the demon, roaring like a jungle predator, but as powerful as Tec was in his were-jaguar form, the demon was much stronger and nearly invulnerable. The demon caught Tec in its claws and lifted the were-jaguar high over its head. Tec roared in pain as the demon tossed him casually at Angie. She cast Shutter, transporting herself away just as Tec slammed into the ground with bone-crushing force. The were-jaguar rolled along the ground and then went still, his body already transforming back into a man's. Oh, God, is he dead?
Angie cast Shockwave again, once more hammering at the demon, but this time it shrugged off the spell, its fiery eyes fixing on Wyn Renna again. "Come, Elfling, someone wishes to play with your blood."
The night lit up with a bright flare as a flaming projectile struck the demon in its chest, detonating with an ear-popping roar of black smoke and shrapnel. The Shade King threw up a shield around Angie, protecting her from shrapnel. Rowan stood nearby, a still-smoking M72 light anti-armor weapon on his shoulder. A moment later, another rocket slammed into the demon, sending it staggering back, one of its wings ripped apart. Casey, blood running down his scalp, discarded his own smoking LAW tube.
The demon roared in fury, but its wing hung ruined, fire smoldering in its membranes. Two rockets, and all they had managed was to wound it.
Angie hated giving control over to the Shade King but knew she was outclassed. "Please," she whispered, "we can't fight this thing. Will you help?"
THIS TERROR IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU, the Shade King's alien voice spoke to her, communicating with her for the first time in days. IF YOU FACE IT, YOU WILL DIE.
"I ... I can't," she gasped, her heart lurching into her throat as the demon advanced on Wyn Renna. "Help me fight it! I'll let you control my body again, cast your own spells."
"You," the demon spoke again, stopping its advance on Wyn Renna to stare at Angie. "What are you? What is that obscenity you carry within you?"
IT FEELS ME. FLEE, urged the Shade King. WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
"I'll find out," the demon taunted. "I'll bring you as well. The dragon only wants the elfling. You I can keep for myself. I'll peel your skin back and discover what hides within. I'll break your bones and suck out the marrow. Then I'll bring you back to life and kill you again. I am Sudden Bloodletter, the Death Bat. I am the end of all things."
"Do something," Angie begged the Shade King.
YOU ARE NOT READY. WE ARE NOT READY. YOU RESIST ME STILL.
"Help me, please!" She screamed in fear as the demon surged forward, the ground shaking beneath its hooves.
I'LL TRY.
Then the Shade King took over her body, as it had before during the battle at the Home Guard airfield. Almost as if she were in a trance, she watched her hands rise and gesture at the demon. Blue flames arced from each of her fingertips, tendrils of blue-white fire that wrapped around the demon and tightened like chains. The demon screamed in rage, thrashing against the bonds. Shivers of fear coursed through Angie.
YOU HAVE NOT THE STRENGTH, the Shade King repeated. NOW RUN!
Then it released her, and she fell to her knees, dizziness coursing through her. The demon raged against the blue flames holding it. "We need to run!" Angie gasped.
Erin helped Angie to her feet, pulling her along with her. Rowan, Casey, Tavi, Wyn, and Jay were there as well, and Casey had slung Tec over his shoulder. "We need to get the hell out of here," Erin yelled to Rowan.
"Horses are gone," Jay yelled. "We'll have to leg it."
"Never make it," said Rowan, his voice finally showing fear. "Go, run. Move north. Follow the runway."
They stumbled away, with Erin helping Angie and Casey carrying Tec. The demon's roars pursued them. They hit the broken asphalt of the old runway and ran down its length. The sun was beginning to rise in the east, a red glow along the horizon.
"How long will whatever you did hold that thing?" Erin asked.
"Damned if I know," she gasped. "I didn't do it."
Just then, a piercing cry of a predatory bird shrieked down on them, followed by a chorus of others.
"She comes," Wyn Renna yelled triumphantly. "I told you she'd come."
Angie looked up to see a dozen giant birds highlighted against t
he dawn's glow, each with a wingspan thirty feet long, soaring down toward them.
"Rocs!" yelled Wyn Renna. "From the Hollows. But how?"
The rocs, each resembling a truck-sized eagle with bright-blue feathers on its head and a golden beak, landed with a flurry of beating wings, buffeting Angie and the others. Atop each roc, on an elaborately carved leather saddle, sat an elf with a crossbow in one hand and reins in the other. Seated atop the largest of the giant birds was a young elven warrior Angie recognized from her visit to Queen Elenaril's court on Coronado Island: her son, Prince Kilyn Star-Sword.
"Hurry," the prince yelled, motioning them on. "Whatever that thing is, it is breaking free."
The demon screamed in rage. "I’ll bring you to hell, woman! I’ll find you again. I promise."
"Get Tec to one of the birds," Angie yelled frantically, but Erin was already hauling her by the arm toward Prince Kilyn's bird. "Tec!" she repeated, but Erin thrust her up into the elven prince’s hands as the giant bird lowered its head and neck, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting before him, his arm wrapped about her waist.
Her stomach lurched as the giant bird beat its wings and took to the air. She gripped the elven prince's arm as the ground fell away, looking about wildly as the other birds rose in a V formation on either side of her. Her friends sat in saddles with elven riders. She cried out in relief when she saw Tec lying facedown over one of the saddles. "Don’t be dead," she whispered.
The demon roared once more. Then Prince Kilyn turned his roc north, toward the Coronado Fey Enclave.
They had escaped.
Chapter 9
The sun rose to the east as the giant bird flew north over the Sierra de Juárez Mountains. Angie gripped the saddle horn so tightly her fingers began to throb with pain. Prince Kilyn Star-Sword flew with one arm around her waist and the other loosely holding the reins, but, as near as Angie could tell, the giant eagle-like roc flew itself, gliding on the wind currents and only using powerful beats of its wings when necessary.
The Awakened World Boxed Set Page 65
