"She can't keep doing that," Adaya said, "She'll burn out."
As if she had heard the words, Daphne stopped firing her launcher. She reached down and removed her heels and buckled them together and laid them across her shoulder.
"Never just throw away a set of five inch stilettos," Mattie said, "Those are beautiful."
"Sure Mattie," Trent said.
Daphne charged into the horde of Soldiers and they seemed to explode as anything that came within reach of her was ripped apart.
The guy with the camera had lost all interest in running away. He was mesmerized by the sight in front of him.
Daphne went down under a pile of soldiers.
"Oh God," Prada said.
"Nope," I said, "wait for it."
The pile exploded in every direction as Daphne burst out of it like some Greek goddess. She was bloody and wounded, not to mention nearly naked. She still had her shoes.
"Perhaps, not the time to have worn a thong," Prada said.
The camera was pointed at her but the gate was plainly visible in front of her. She continued her rampage through the soldiers and literally went through a Wraith that had come out of the Gate.
She was right up against the Gate when a Kresh'Ma'Nar strode through the portal. It was moving fast and was past her in an instant. But Daphne is a Mage with a twenty inch Soulstream. She was on it before it even knew she was there.
She was up its back with her shoes in her hand. They glowed with Soulfire as she imbued her five inch heels.
"Ohhh!" I heard Mattie as Daphne slammed her fiery heels into both of the Demon Mage's ears.
The heels pierced its brain and it fell forward onto its face. What Kresh were left turned from their victims and you could see the roars as they charged back toward her.
She screamed something I expect was rather mean at them and met them half way.
She tore them apart. The gate closed.
The camera stayed on her as she limped over to the fallen Mage and bent down. She calmly pulled her shoes from its ears and buckled them back together.
Someone came out of the crowd with a long jacket which he handed to her. She put it on and thanked the man.
"Don't look so disappointed," Prada said.
"Men," Adaya said.
"She saved the shoes," Mattie said.
"She saved a lot of people," Brighton said.
"Well, that too," Mattie said.
***
We landed in England and refueled again. The flight seemed to take forever but it was necessary. We needed the planes over here to use. Everything we had over here was already in use. The Great Gate had opened in Kenya, Africa. Before we could take off again there was a man brought to me from the African Academy.
"Sir I was ordered to report directly to you."
I could see the bitterness inside of him. Something had happened that had been rough for him.
"Just think about what happened and I'll watch it."
His thoughts returned to the previous days. His thoughts returned to his posting at Nanyuki. To his Mage Captain, Malcolm Hendrix. I remembered Malcolm. I had made him a Mage some time back. A powerful Mage at that.
"Sir, there's no way you can stop that with thirty Mages. We all have to go!"
"No, Sovas, your job is to get as many women and children in the planes and get them out of here. You, personally will be on the first plane. You will report directly to Colin Rourke. Tell him what happened here. You tell him we held them as long as we could. Most importantly, you tell him where this Gate is so he can drop Hell on it. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir," Sovas answered.
I could feel the misery as this man had watched thirty Mages run South toward what he could feel as the most Demons he had ever felt in the same spot before. The pictures had just come in from the drones that were sent South. They had been disheartening. There were hundreds of thousands of Kresh already out and running. They poured through in rivers.
Sovas followed orders and gave the commands to remove all women and children from the city that they could fit in any plane available. He was on the first and he looked back with tears in his eyes as he saw the massive explosion to the south. He knew he was watching the deaths of many of his brothers. He longed to be there with them.
I placed my hand on his shoulder, "You'll be with me when we get there, Sovas. I swear it."
"They held them long enough to get ten planes out of Nanyuki."
"We'll make them pay," I said with a fire burning inside me that would not be pushed down. Those men had ran straight into that Hell to save as many as they could and I would not let them die in vain.
"Change of plans," I said, "We're goin for the Gate and we're goin to close it, one way or another."
"Yes Sir," said our pilot, "I'll call it in."
I went back to my seat alongside the right wall of the plane. My rage was clawing to get free and I needed to center myself. What had happened in Nanyuki is what I would expect of any Mage Captain. I hated that we had lost those men, but they died as Soulguards die. With honor and protecting those that cannot protect themselves. The problem with that situation was that we would all die piecemeal if we couldn't get our forces together. None of the garrison in Nanyuki had survived except Sovas. It would haunt him, I'm sure but we would give the man a chance to see his brothers avenged. It's the best I can do for him.
"We have com signal from the Academy in Africa, Sir," the pilot said over my coms.
"Patch me in," I said.
"This is Rourke," I said after I heard the click in my coms.
"We've loaded all the civilians from the Academy, Sir," Ekene Dakarai said.
Dakarai was the Dean of the African Academy and a powerful Mage in his own right but I knew they couldn't stand up to the wave of Kresh coming up through Kenya straight toward them.
We couldn't face them piecemeal or they would roll across us and destroy our world. The Source weapons weren't plentiful enough in one place yet.
"I need you to pull out, Dakarai," I said, "We have to hit em on a unified front. Forces are buildin up in Cairo to meet the bastards."
"It's too late for that, Sir," he said with a shake of his head, "We've sent all the civilians out with the planes and they're too close."
"Then you hit the hills," I said, "don't waste men on a frontal assault. Guerilla tactics, Dakarai. We'll send planes down to get you as soon as we can. But you have to stay alive so we can fight these bastards together. You hear me?"
"Yes Sir, we'll do our best," he said.
"I know you will," I said, "You're Soulguard."
"Yes Sir, Dakarai out."
"Good luck and Godspeed, Dakarai."
I turned to Rostov, "Get word back to base, we need planes to go after those men. As soon as we hit that gate, we go join them in Cairo, as well."
He nodded and headed for the cockpit.
The rage was clawing its way out again as I thought of all the people dying down there. Several of the Mageguards were staring at me. My rage was leaking and they could all feel it. Some of these men had only fought in training alongside me and they didn't know the depths of the rage.
What I had just ordered Dakarai to do would not sit well with them but we have to pull everything together for a unified attack. If there's one thing I have learned in the last few days, I can't be everywhere I'm needed and it eats at me. I need to be at the Gate, I need to be in Cairo, I needed to be in Berlin, London, Prague, Rome and a dozen other cities in Europe.
The small gates were opening all over Europe to spread our forces and they were doing a swell job of it. The forces that were on their way to Cairo consisted of military units from ten different countries.
So far, the Kresh had followed a fairly straight line up through Kenya, straight toward Egypt and the small land bridge that allowed access to the Middle Eastern countries and Europe.
Europe seemed to be the main target, though. The gates seemed focused there. But the death toll in N
orth Eastern Africa was going to be horrendous. Evacuation of the countries between Kenya and Egypt were underway but that was a lot of damn people.
The problem was that the gate kept spewing Kresh even as the others poured through the country.
We had three planes full of Mages and Mageguards and we would close the gate. If we could get to a place where we could reload on the plane, we would. Otherwise, we fight our way out of Africa.
It was scary to know that my desire to use the second option was far stronger than the desire to use the first. Unfettered, the beast inside me could bath in the blood of our enemies.
I looked up to find some disturbing expressions around me and I sensed the feelings behind them. They feared what they were seeing and feeling as my emotions were projecting outward.
It might have had something to do with the vicious grin that was on my face as I thought of the slaughter to come.
Chapter 28
"Sir there's something you need to see," Rostov said as he rested his hand on my shoulder.
I jerked around with fires burning in my eyes. I could feel the bastards and my rage was almost unbearable.
I beat it back down and shook my head to clear it.
"What is it, Alexei?"
"There's a detachment of Marines down below. A force of Kresh has split off and headed toward a small city. Perhaps ten thousand. We'll be overhead in less than ten minutes."
I clicked my coms for the pilot, "Have we got enough fuel to land and take back off and still reach the gate?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good," I said, "Tell the others we're gonna hit that force hard."
"Yes Sir."
I got up and headed toward where Prada sat with her squad.
"We're hittin a force in less than ten," I said, "I want you, Lyr, Trent, and Mattie to hit the ground and protect the marines down there. Your squad will be with me."
"Got it," she said and headed back toward the opening doors on the back of the plane.
"Trent!"
"Boss?" he said from the right.
"You have one job," I said.
"Roger."
"Throw Prada out of the plane and follow her."
"Yes Sir!" he said with a grin.
Prada's head jerked around at the order but it was too late. He slammed into her and both went out the door.
Mattie was laughing as she ran past, "I love this job!"
"Be careful, Love," Lyrica said as she followed them out the door.
"All right, boys and girls!" I yelled, "Let's show the bastards what Hell looks like! Rostov! Brighton! You're with me! Combat drop."
***
"There's a lot of the bastards down there, Sir," Corporal Santos whispered.
"You got that right, Santos," Sergeant Hicks whispered, "Get on that radio and call in a strike. There's no way we can do anything with that many."
Hicks was peering over the ridgeline and what he was seeing left a large hollow pit in his stomach. The Kresh poured across the valley below like a swarm of locusts. There were so many, he couldn’t see the ground below them. He also knew that they were moving toward the small town down on the plains below the ridges. It was several miles away but it would be impossible to evacuate in time. These things could run like the wind.
"Sir, they say we have ordinance incoming already," Corporal Santos slid in beside him.
"We haven’t lazed the target yet."
"Different ordinance, Sir."
Hicks looked upward as he heard the roar of the engines. Three C-130s swept through the sky above them and forms began launching from the rear of the planes. It looked like clusters of men and women floated toward the ground. One of the clusters rocketed toward the ground.
Hicks winced as he figured whatever these guys use as parachutes must have failed. About five hundred feet up, that cluster seemed to explode. Hicks felt his skin crawl and his teeth seemed to vibrate. It ached all the way to his core. This had been described to him before by some of the men he'd served with. They had served with Soulguard before and this was what it felt like when their Mages did their thing.
He watched as the whole cluster slowed and slammed into the ground right in the center of that horde. A huge plume of dust shot skyward and fire exploded outward from the impact.
"He's always doin that," Hicks heard a voice from behind him.
Hicks spun around to find two women stepping from the shadows of the trees behind them. More forms stepped out as well and Hicks found himself facing a pretty woman with brown hair. She wore black body armor and he could see the hilts of a pair of swords crossed on her back.
"My, aren’t you a pretty one," she said.
She moved so fast, he just saw a blur. She was standing right in front of him. Her finger ran along the scar that led from his right cheekbone, down across his jaw.
"Got a thing for scars, handsome," she said with a smile, "I got a few myself. Maybe I'll show em to you sometime."
"Damn, Andrea," the other woman interrupted, "Horde of Demons, over the ridge."
"Yeah, yeah," Andrea said with a wink at Hicks, "Later, big boy."
The two women walked right past the squad with their two followers right behind them.
"All right," the second woman said, "Shall we distract them till everyone gets on the ground?"
"Looks like he already distracted them quite well, Lyrica."
"Why should he get all the fun?" Lyrica returned, "He always sends me off to the side. I'm getting a little tired of that."
"Ma'am," Hicks said, "Looks like they've seen you already, they're headed this way."
Both women looked toward the horde that rolled toward them.
"Nice," the one named Lyrica said. She clapped her hands and Hicks cringed as he thought of what it looked like.
Friggin cheerleaders, he thought.
"You know," one of their followers said, "She's getting as bad as him."
He was a six foot tall man that looked at home in his armor. The tiny woman beside him looked out of place until Hicks saw her eyes. There was a fire burning inside them that sent chills down his spine.
"Not quite," she said, "She just wants..."
She spied the young woman bouncing and clapping her hands.
"On second thought, you're probably right."
"Oh my God! Did you just say I was right?"
Hicks had seen a lot of things in his career as a soldier, but he was having trouble wrapping his mind around the situation that was unfolding around him. A flood of Kresh were pouring toward them and he was surrounded by kids.
He went to one knee and raised his rifle toward the approaching Kresh and moments before he would pull the trigger they slammed to a stop against an invisible wall. He motioned for his men to hold their fire.
"He said to shield these guys," Lyrica said, "He didn't say we couldn't attack too."
"I think that was sort of unspoken, honey," Andrea answered.
"But I don't see why we can't do both," Lyrica said, "He didn't specifically say not to. And there's no injured people so I don't see the harm in it."
"The plan is for him to draw them to him," the big man said, "If you blast a shitload of em, it may interfere with his game plan."
"Of course, you're gonna take his side," Lyrica said, "Damn these things are loud."
The roars and screams from the Kresh pounding on her shield was getting louder.
Hicks was still a bit dazed as he watched the girl argue with her cohorts. His mouth dropped open when the girl snarled and turned back toward the roaring horde.
"Shut up!" she yelled and he felt something.
It looked like every Kresh within a hundred feet of the shield just fell in pieces. Like a razor blade had ripped through them, they fell in parts with explosions of blood.
"The blade seems to work well," the tiny woman said with one eyebrow raised.
"Thanks Mattie," Lyrica said with a smile, "At least Colin will be glad we tested that."
The center of
the horde seemed to explode down in the valley and Hicks felt the ache in his teeth again.
"Looks like they pissed him off," Andrea said, "Bet he melts his swords again."
"He better not!" Lyrica said, "He has the ones I got for him. If he melts those, I'm gonna kick his ass!"
"Oh yeah," Mattie said, "There they go! Sorry, girl, those blades are toast. You see that Trent?"
"Yep, they're slag. Sorry Lyr."
"Son of a..."
"You gotta learn, babe," Andrea said, "You can't give him stuff to fight with and expect him not to break it."
"Next time he's just getting friggin shoes."
"He has no respect for shoes, Lyrica, honey," Mattie said, "The first day I met him he dropped a Demon head on mine."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I had to burn them."
"How could he do that to shoes?" Lyrica asked, "Shoes are, like, sacred."
"Women," Trent turned to Hicks, "She has a hundred pairs of shoes and she's bitchin about one pair. And it was like fifteen years ago. They never just forgive and forget. If I made as many mistakes as our boss does I'd be afraid to even talk to a woman. But I'm just about flawless so I don't have to worry about it like..."
"Flawless!? That's a joke," Mattie interrupted, "The only reason you don't have anyone trying to beat you to death is because you're so pretty and everyone knows you're retarded so they make exceptions."
"You didn't act like I was retarded last night. You seemed pretty hap... ungh!"
The tiny woman had moved so fast Hicks hadn't even seen her move. The big man nearly doubled over.
"I'm about to stop making exceptions, Mister."
The Kresh were back at the shield and roaring. Then something happened down in the valley and every one of them turned away. They roared in unison and charged back into the valley.
"Oh, that got their attention," Andrea said, "You think he'll Alpha?"
"I doubt it," Lyrica said, "He likes to use the hands on approach. But there's always the chance he will."
She paused and cocked her head a little to the side.
"Looks like I was wrong," Lyrica said, "Sereno just shielded them up. He's gonna Alpha."
Bloodlord (Soulguard Book 3) Page 13
