The Iron Altar Series Box Set One: Books 1 to 3

by Casey Lea

  ***

  The next day was cold and grey, which suited Zak’s mood perfectly. When he woke, his eyelashes were heavy with frost and he was thankful for his com’s protection from the frigid night. He had to blink ice crystals away before he could open his lids. Sitting up was just as challenging. He made it to a crouch and groaned. The deep noise rolled along the sheltering rock ledge over his head, then echoed back from above it.

  Zak froze. How could an echo come from the slope on top of the overhang? There was another moan that ended with a strange grating noise. Someone was on the mountain. He really hoped it wasn’t Nikareon. Nothing could be worse than another drakking heart-to-heart with his ex. Zak searched for a mind touch with his fronds, but there was no hint of thought. Just a faint buzz, as if he’d tuned into a patch of mental static.

  There was more noise from above and Zak stayed perfectly still. The muffled thud of quick steps was strangely staccato. It didn’t sound like feet crunching through the new snow cover. It was a more rapid hammering that rumbled through the rock face. Either someone very heavy was running down the scree slope, or something with more than two legs was on the move.

  Zak considered his contract with Haze. Mac had made the hunt sound exciting, which meant dangerous. What the hell could be wandering loose on Blizzard? Perhaps this was his chance to find out. The rapid thuds above were abruptly buried by the slurping noise of snow shifting.

  There was a deeper rumble and a curtain of white cascaded from the lip of the overhang. The avalanche blocked the rising sun and Zak crouched at the back of his hollow as snow thundered past. It kept going, but flashes of light appeared through the falling debris. He looked up as his hollow was painted with an old-movie-reel flicker.

  The snowfall had been replaced by stones. Small rocks tumbled past, as scree from the slope above rolled from the overhang like a stony curtain. Whatever was moving up there was big. Big enough to turn the whole mountainside into a waterfall.

  The stones stopped and dust rose in a world gone quiet again. Zak walked to the front of his shelter, which was blocked by a snotty white mass of rock and snow. Lucky he hadn’t been under that. He tipped his head back, following the dim light to find an opening like the gash of a toothless mouth, just below the overhang. The gap was narrow, but with luck he could squeeze through. He carefully levered himself up the rough hill, climbing to reach that patch of grey sky.

  A shadow fell past.

  Zak flinched as a dark blur dropped across his only exit. The shape was big enough to block the opening completely and the splat of its landing further down the slope made the pile of debris he was trapped behind shake.

  The earth heaved as the creature launched itself again, but Zak scarcely noticed. He was already moving, throwing himself up the crumbling pile of stones at reckless speed. He had to see what was scary enough to set his pulse hammering in his throat. He reached the top and peered over, fronds bristling.

  There was nothing there. He paused and lifted the strands behind his ears higher. There was a more distant buzz of mental static, but it was impossible to tell what direction it was coming from. He checked his surroundings once more and poked his arm out to risk a quick scan. It was negative, so he slithered through the narrow gap between the overhang and the pile of avalanche debris.

  Without the wind Blizzard was an eerily quiet world. Zak crouched above a short slope mottled with rocks and snow and a valley floor that seemed closer then he remembered. He looked further and realized the avalanche had filled much of the narrow gully below. He edged forward then rose, to move down the mountain as quickly and quietly as he could. The soft brush of his feet seemed as loud as a storm to him. He might have been the only living creature on the planet.

  Zak slipped down the valley like a whisper in the calm air. The landscape opened out before him to show rolling hills below that were actually moss-maysas. The vivid green of new growth curved over the crest of each giant creature, while the lower, more sheltered bases seemed to trail skirts of darker seaweed. It was a peaceful scene, but every instinct he had was screaming. He wasn’t truly alone.

  The ragged edge of the avalanche formed a wall across the valley and Zak crouched above it. He ran another scan, taking his time, but the only life signs ahead were clustered around the moss-maysas. His com confirmed that the landscape was as quiet as it seemed, but he wasn’t convinced. Not even a little.

  A single step dropped Zak off the rubble and he spread his wings. They stretched wide to catch the still air, so he could sweep along the valley floor. The ground below bristled with sharp-edged grasses. Black stars were scattered among them and he risked a glance at his com. They were flowers. Rather plain ones, waiting for the wind to spread their pollen. They probably wouldn’t have long to wait.

  Zak grinned and looked back at the moraine-like cliff behind him. He blinked, lifting the second membrane that protected his eyes during flight. That helped him focus on some strange tracks further up the valley wall. Something had leapt from the avalanche debris much closer to the mountains than the path he’d taken.

  A tilt of Zak’s wings drifted him back toward the ranges. The ground rushed past below, widening the smile on his face. Nothing was better than flying. The purple cliffs that lined the flanks of the mountains swept closer and his reflection grew in their crystal faces. He grinned at himself, before looking down again. He reached the suspicious trail and flared his wings while unlocking his legs, dropping to meet the ground in a silent landing.

  The stony soil was pock marked with two lines of bore holes that left a trail of dark circles with crumbling lips. Zak crouched down to cover one with his hand. The hole was so large his fingers only just reached across it. That was disturbing, but not as much as a pair of furrows running along either side of the circles. They cut much deeper, slicing down through earth and rock. He didn’t want to imagine what had gouged such long straight lines. It looked as if a giant on stilts had dragged two heavy sticks behind it. There was no sign of anything resembling a foot print. Was he hunting something biological, or mechanical?

  Zak rose with a shrug. Hunting was hunting. You did it carefully, whatever was at the end. He looked up along the tracks and saw there was indeed an ending. It wasn’t far away.

  The trail disappeared into a cave mouth so jagged it looked like a dark maw with broken teeth. A mouth waiting to swallow him. Excellent.

  The terrain grew even rougher up to the cave, but Zak stepped precisely, maintaining speed and silence. He pressed himself to the mountainside next to the dark gash and waited there for a long time. The world seemed quieter than ever. His com and every sense he had said he was alone, yet somehow he knew he wasn’t. He reached out to touch the edge of the cave.

  It gripped him tight. Zak tried to pull away, but nothing happened. He was stuck to the rock and his palm started to burn. He had to use full battle-strength to snatch his hand back. His skin ripped and the force of the release spun him around. He cursed, but jetted for the sky without hesitation, scrubbing off sticky strands that clung to his fingers. They looked like some sort of web. A spider’s web? He shuddered as goosebumps chased their way across his skin. He had a bad feeling about this.

  Zak circled the cave like a wary vulture. How could the prey he’d tracked so close and quick be invisible? Especially when it was big enough to tear up the ground wherever it went? This beast was truly dangerous, with strange abilities that could be a serious threat in the wrong hands. He sent an order to his com and it whistled to let him know it had made a connection.

  “Mac?” Zak asked, but there was no answer. “Dammit, Mac, I’m after something and I’m pretty sure it’s your beastie. I could use some backup, or at least a search party if I don’t return. I’ll tag the cave I’m entering. Follow my com if you can, but I’m heading underground, so I’ll likely be out of contact. Try to join the party and bring all the fireworks you’ve got.”

  The first hint of a breeze whispered up the valley and Zak took a deep b
reath. The air was fresh enough to clear his questions away and leave only determination. He dived toward the cave, slapping his com into searchlight mode.

  The answering beam was bright enough to be easily seen on such a cloudy day. It swept across the bristle-grass terrain beneath Zak, rising then shrinking as it followed the rough ground. He swooped into the cave. His light disappeared. Not completely, but it was strangely muted and the cave became too dark for flying. A backstroke of his wings dropped him to the gritty floor.

  Zak looked down as he twisted his wrist up, and nearly blinded himself. His searchlight was still blazing away, but when he pointed it further into the cave it was swallowed up. He could vaguely see smothering grey strands which sucked in the light. His fronds lifted higher, searching for both infra-red and electromagnetic radiation. There was no warmth anywhere. The cave was uniformly chill, but the hint of a mind was back – a vague fuzz, without thought or emotion. It didn’t even feel like a life form.

  He took a step deeper into darkness and directed all of his com power into the beam of light. It brightened, but there was still nothing to be seen.

  The buzz in Zak’s fronds might have been louder, but he couldn’t be sure he sensed anything. His shoulders hunched, which bunched his wings closer, lifting their claws to battle readiness. It felt like the apparently empty cave was watching him. He stared back. He might be blind, but whatever he was hunting didn’t need to know that.

  A crackle of real static made Zak jump. He darted sideways automatically, his heart hammering loud enough to drown out any movement in the cave. He forced himself to stop, claws still ready, and checked his wrist. His com had lit up with an urgent message tag, but was struggling to connect. The tag shrilled again. Whoever was calling really wanted to reach him. That thought made him straighten, though he kept his claws ready. Someone needed to talk right now. Perhaps it was his father. Maybe he had news about Darsey.

  Zak turned to leave the cave and stopped.

  Silver-grey strands now criss-crossed the exit and more appeared as Zak stared. Only a few strips of daylight remained. A web grew, it’s pattern more obvious with every second. He’d flown into a trap.

  Zak roared and jetted back to the exit. His wrist snapped up and a missile streaked ahead of him.

  It exploded in the web with a flash of light that was swallowed up, followed by a muffled bellow. He briefly thought the strike had failed. The strands rippled and thrummed, but held together, absorbing the explosion. Then the centre of the web ripped - its taut strands pinging apart to wave in the wind. They groped for Zak as he shot past, sticking briefly to his skin before ripping free.

  The air was just as fresh and the sky brighter than before when Zak streaked into it. His roar became a whoop. Not that he’d call this hunt a success. Far from it. He found a thermal and spread his wings to begin a lazy climb, circling as he rose.

  Zak’s com yelped more urgently and gave another burst of static. The crackle stopped, to be replaced by heavy breathing. He felt his eyebrows shoot up.

  “Is this an anonymous call I’m going to like, or just a tease?” Zak asked.

  A garbled burst was his only answer, but he could have sworn the word ‘lad’ was part of it.

  “Mac?”

  No image appeared over his com, but a ragged voice blasted from it.

  “Thank God, lad. Where are you? We need to meet at the Justice Hospital. Now.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “Just hurry.” There was another harsh breath and someone moaned. “We’ll be there… soon as can.”

  Zak took off at jet speed, pushing his wings so hard it hurt.

  30

  Justice

  Zak came in hard over a small town spread across foothills. He banked and swooped lower his shadow leaping to meet him as he blasted over rooftops. So this was Justice. More purpose than pretty, which suited him just fine. He liked the logical layout, with a few main paths forming a grid around the buildings, which were large enough to be modest skyscrapers in the middle and much smaller at the edge.

  He banked harder, turning toward the grandest building of all. The hospital perhaps? It was made of white marble and had multiple floors, all draped with the green and creamy gold of plants imported from Blossom. He swept closer to the curving layers of stone that stepped back up the slope behind like a series of rice paddies. Each story was fronted by open balconies filled with flowers. It was beautiful, but nothing to do with the medical profession. Its name was carved above the double height entrance. Fair Haven Hotel.

  A brief laugh burst from Zak. It seemed there was more money to be made from tourists than sick locals. He had to slow to circle back to the town and movement caught his eye. He turned to see something blast from one of the highest buildings and rocket straight at him. There was no time to manoeuvre and he could only brace himself for collision. A small body hit him hard enough to knock the breath out of him.

  There was a moment of twisting sky and earth, mixed with laughter. “Zak. You made it.”

  “Haze,” he croaked back.

  His youngest brother’s smile was at least as bright as the sun. He pounded Zak’s shoulder and the amount of energy rolling off the boy was enough to give Zak a headache.

  “Last to the clouds is a Vorthian slug,” Haze yelled and he was gone, jetting straight up, before Zak could protest.

  Zak tucked his wings tighter and followed. His fatigue fell away along with the ground. No barely-fledged chick was going to beat him anywhere.

  The chase lasted longer than he expected and Justice had shrunk to a fingernail when he finally passed Haze. The chick was still grinning and Zak smiled back, but that was all he had time for.

  “Where’s the hospital?” he yelled to Haze, whose smile finally faltered.

  What’s wrong? the youngster thought back, but Zak didn’t open his mind in response.

  “Message from Mac to meet him there. It sounded urgent.”

  Haze nodded and shut his wings, tipping forward to dive headfirst at the ground. Zak followed suit to fall through air that pummelled him in response. The view was intoxicating. Purple mountains and silver streams ran down to plains covered in green-hued moss-maysas. The sea was a strip of violet edging the curve of the planet.

  Justice was growing closer fast and Zak studied the town for any sign of a hospital. Nothing was obvious, so he followed his baby brother. He spared the view a last look, but then did a double take to focus on movement. Something was crawling across the nearest mountain flank. He tilted his wings to sweep silently toward it, but didn’t bother to tell Haze. His ‘boss’ could stay well away from any danger.

  The mountains swept closer and so did the speck struggling over them. Zak squinted and the single blob became two. Two people, one being dragged by the other and both about to take a bad fall. The slope they were crossing was dotted with snow, but it was steeper ahead of them and changed from solid rock to millions of tiny stones, poised to fall.

  Zak’s wings tucked into brace position and his jets blasted to drive him forward. The range of peaks became walls of purple crystal. He hurtled into the closest cliff, tucking into a dive at the last minute, to make a turn so tight the spray from a lavender waterfall soaked his wingtip. He streaked to meet the struggling couple and a familiar face looked up.

  Mac’s beard bristled in what might have been a smile, although it was redder than usual. Blood red.

  “Stop,” Zak yelled, but he was too late.

  The ragged couple kept coming and Mac staggered onto the scree slope hidden at the top by a thin layer of snow. He stumbled as the ground shifted and fell to his knees when stones rolled away underfoot. The mountain roared and dust rose with the sound. Mac fell back onto the woman he’d been dragging and both disappeared.

  The roar faded to a hiss as Zak dived into the rising cloud of debris. His wings stung and grit threatened to clog their intake pores. His jet streams stuttered, but he pushed through the pain, while his fronds sought any touc
h of heat, or thought, in the avalanche below. There was nothing and he started coughing, his lungs protesting along with his wings. If he didn’t lift soon, he’d be swallowed by the tumbling slope as completely as Mac.

  Zak fought the dust cloud. If his search was useless there was no point dying too… Except he didn’t like losing. Not when the price paid was other people’s lives. He bared his teeth to the sandpaper air and dived deeper. His jets stopped, so he spread his wings to stay aloft. Agony hit and they tried to furl automatically, but he forced them open, against the grit storm. His com kept them from shredding completely and he flapped on searching without hope, as the slope grew still below him and the avalanche ended.

  The dust began to settle and at last Zak felt something. A familiar mind was cursing from the far edge of the collapse. He hooked onto Mac’s random thoughts and followed them down the mountain.

  Zak dropped to the ground at a scattered edge of boulders covered by smaller stones. His fronds were stretched and pointing straight down, toward his feet. Mac was somewhere under the rubble. He began digging, pulling com power for extra strength, rather than protection, so his fingertips grew raw and his blood stained the rocks he was shifting. He kept throwing them aside and shovelling scree with his hands, until a blast of air told him someone had arrived behind him.

  “Fly away,” Haze ordered.

  Zak looked up to see his brother landing awkwardly with a huge tubular device hoisted on his shoulder. An anti-grav generator. Zak shot straight up and, although it hurt, at least his jets were working.

  A hum sounded and he looked down to see a boulder as big as his body wafting into the air. A cloud of rocks lifted with it. Smaller stones were caught by the breeze and swirled away like a current of dirty air. Each layer that lifted showed more grey beneath, but finally Zak spotted something that wasn’t shaped like a rock. A leg.