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

by Casey Lea

  “Going,” Magreth agreed and turned to stride toward the most distant tunnel.

  Zak was quick enough to fall into line behind her, while the three soldiers spread out to follow. They reached the narrowest opening of the three and Zak waited a second before trotting after Magreth. He had to duck and could hear his breathing in the tight passage. The path started to climb, which took him by surprise, making him scuff his boots for a few steps. He made an effort to step more quietly. The back of his neck was prickling and he knew he wasn’t just being followed by three soldiers.

  A glance at his com didn’t help Zak at all. The only life signs registering were those of the team. He picked up his pace until he was right behind Magreth and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

  “You should turn back.”

  “Be quiet and give me some space.”

  “Mac’s not your problem and this feels… worse. Much worse than I imagined. I can’t leave without trying to find him, but you should get clear and bring more backup.”

  Magreth ignored him, picking up her pace, but before he could catch her, Zak felt a blaster dig into his spine.

  “Obey orders,” a cold voice said in his ear and Zak realised it was too late to become a party of one. They were in this together. He moved on again, but even a jog didn’t bring him up on Magreth’s flank. She was moving at battle speed and he followed suit.

  The tunnel became smooth and slippery underfoot, but Zak didn’t stumble. Each stride was longer than his body, while his boots landed with perfect precision. The energy flowing from his com would have been intoxicating if Nikareon hadn’t trained him in self-control long ago.

  The trip up the mountain went at a steady speed that kept the walls rushing past, from tunnels to caverns and back again. They entered another ragged cave and Zak realised that the strip of smooth floor continued straight through it.

  Magreth raised a fist and came to a halt, with the others following suit behind her. Zak ducked down to feel the ground and it was worn flat, with the occasional deeper groove. The swathe of weathered rock led through the centre of the cave and into the next rising tunnel.

  “It’s a trail,” Zak murmured. “A path worn by constant use. So where are the animals that made it?”

  Magreth spared him a glance, before returning her attention to her com. Her mouth looked tight, but she sounded calm. “Good work, Hiro. Battle speed back to the cave we first entered and hold it for our retreat. Target signal-strength is variable, but we must be close to our lost lamb.”

  “Understood, sar. We’ll see you at the rendezvous. What the hell?”

  Hiro’s cry was followed by a scraping sound and Zak was at Magreth’s side in an instant.

  “I’ve heard that noise before. When Mac was attacked.”

  Magreth jammed her com against her jaw, although her voice was still steady. “Take cover, Hiro. Report asap.”

  There was no answer and Zak turned away from Magreth to scan the shadows surrounding them. The scream of a blaster firing made him flinch. The noise shrilled from the com repeatedly and someone was yelling between shots. Then everything went very quiet.

  Zak kept watching the cave, but his ears and fronds were focused on Magreth.

  “Hiro,” she said and finally sounded hoarse. “Hiro, report. Now, dammit. Your life signs have dropped out. Repeat, your bio feeds are dead. Tell me that you’re not.”

  She paused, but got no response. “Hiro? Please.”

  Magreth closed her eyes, while the silence dragged on. She drew a deep breath, but her voice was steady again. “If your tek’s down, get out of the caves and send up a flare. Call in some help. We’ll exit further up and blow the lot. So get out now. Clear the area. That’s an order.”

  Silence returned and Zak didn't try to break it. Team bio-feeds were state of the art - made to withstand conditions that would pulp their wearers. Hiro and his companions were almost certainly dead.

  “Let’s finish the job,” Magreth said harshly. “If it goes sideways and we can’t get out, the last man standing needs to hit the detonator. We’re going to take down whatever attacked our guys. Agreed?”

  She was answered by a chorus of “sar”.

  “Do I get the remote code?” Zak asked.

  Magreth stared past him, as if trying to see through the cave walls. “Don’t worry, Doc. We’ve got this.”

  She spun and disappeared into the next tunnel. It seemed she didn’t trust Zak to push the big red button. Perhaps she figured it was a waste of time sending him the code, because he’d just panic and run. He followed the rest of the troop without complaint. If he was in Magreth’s position he’d probably think the same.

  Zak moved like a whisper through the increasingly rank air and the team walked just as quietly, but the tunnel was no longer silent. Shadows capered across its walls in the bobbing of the group’s lights and those dark shapes seemed to rustle and scratch. The noises grew louder, like branches scraping a window on a stormy night.

  The light from Magreth’s torch shrank as she entered another cavern and the first of her men followed her. The second never made it.

  Black spears burst from the earth of the tunnel wall to impale him. Those that missed flesh bent to wrap around the victim. Zak jumped forward to join the third soldier and they attacked together. Zak’s sword swept out and he tried to hack through the blades piercing the injured man. However, his blade skidded off a mottled black surface and he went down on one knee. The Alliance man shot at the jagged sticks point blank, but his blast bounced straight back.

  Zak felt the heat singe his hair and was flattened. The rock floor smacked his cheek and his vision went silver. He rolled and covered the writhing form of the soldier who’d tried to shoot the spears. The man was on fire and flames scorched them both, before their combined com fields smothered them. Zak threw a stasis drop over the still figure and rolled to come up under the spears.

  The strangely stick-like weapons were disappearing back into the wall and Zak’s battle sight showed a massive body beyond them. They weren’t spears at all, but multiple legs, or at least limbs of some kind. He could see the black bulk crouched in a hole behind them. It dragged its victim into that den and sank curving fangs into the soldier.

  Zak blinked and blinked again, but it didn’t help. Every part of the beast was black. There wasn’t a hint of colour. Not a single vulnerable point in sight. The gigantic spider looked impervious to any attack.

  A battle cry echoed from the chamber ahead and Zak swivelled to see Magreth swinging a sword and hailing down blows on a scuttling figure. It reared up, to twice the captain’s height, and her last soldier flung himself at the belly of the beast. He slapped an explosive into place and started to roll away, but those deadly limbs flashed out.

  The man screamed and Magreth roared. She struck at the legs impaling him and managed to wedge her sword into one, but it stuck there. She kept trying to pull it free, until the spear-like limb jerked up to lift her off her feet.

  Zak swung his burn patient up onto his shoulder and charged. He still couldn’t find a target to strike, so he didn’t bother. He grabbed Magreth round the waist and carried her away. They’d nearly reached the end of the cave when the limpet mine exploded.

  They all flew forward to collect the cavern wall. Zak slid down the rock face to land on his belly, but his com helped him get to his feet. Magreth staggered up beside him. She turned her shoulder until they stood back to back and both checked the spider they’d fled from.

  It should have been vaporised, but pieces of exoskeleton had been flung around the chamber, along with shattered legs, most of which had been driven into the ceiling or walls.

  “What the hell is that thing?” she asked raggedly.

  “Deadly.”

  Zak bent to once again hoist the only surviving member of Magreth’s team across his shoulders. He slipped into the nearest chasm in the rock and she followed.

  38

  And Then There Were Two
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br />   The spider’s burrows were quiet again, but it wasn’t a peaceful silence. Gusts of rancid wind seemed to suck the air away from them and then blast it back, as if some massive creature was trying to breathe them in. They stumbled on. Zak knew his com was still in battle mode, but it didn't feel like it. He’d never faced an enemy like this before.

  The burrow they were following grew increasingly slick underfoot and they skidded down a brief slope into the next cavern. It was narrow and twisting, so they slowed to move more cautiously. Their two lights hardly lifted the gloom. Neither of them suggested retreat, but Zak wasn’t sure whether Magreth was still committed to saving Mac, or just smart enough to avoid whatever was following them.

  Sound skittered past, like the first hiss of a distant sea. Zak picked up the pace and Magreth moved forward to take point. She dropped a fresh blaster from her com and gave Zak a look before he could comment.

  “I noticed that we’ll get blowback from this,” she said, “so I’ll keep it strictly long distance. We need to keep those things away from us.”

  Zak nodded and picked up his pace. The distant static became a roar as the roof ahead collapsed. He threw himself sideways to shelter Magreth and both went down on their knees, with Zak braced over her. The air stank of mould and clods spun through it. He was pelted with chunks of dirt and all he could do was crouch on all fours until the cave-in stopped.

  It took Zak a second to realise the world had finished falling on him, because the roar continued. However, it wasn’t the sound of earth shifting, but the scurry and hiss of countless limbs. He looked back and wished he hadn’t.

  A motley array of spiders was racing after them. The largest were twice as tall as he was and dragged harpoon-like limbs on either side. One of the biggest arachnids lifted a vicious claw with twin hooks. There was a sharp hiss and the strange harpoon shot down the cave. It sailed free of the spider to sink into the burned soldier, lying where Zak had dropped him.

  Magreth gasped and pushed Zak away, but it was too late. The glossy black prongs had sunk deep and a twisted length that looked like silver yarn was fused to the harpoon’s base. The spider used that strange strand to drag its victim back to its fangs. It bit down with a spurt of venom as soon as the soldier reached it.

  More spiders surged past the feeding monster. There were so many their carapaces scraped together and screeched past each other. Medium sized creatures scurried along the walls and ceiling.

  “Drop your armor,” Zak yelled, but Magreth ignored him.

  The last of her men disappeared into the spider pack and she tried to sprint after him. Zak grabbed her injured arm before she could take more than a step and twisted hard. She cried out in rage and pain, but he didn’t let go.

  “He was in stasis,” she shouted. “He might survive-”

  “Being torn to pieces?” Zak yelled back and she stopped struggling.

  “Lose your armor,” he shouted again and spread his wings as wide as he could in the cramped cave. A dark shape lurched forward from the shadows, so he threw his sword with all his strength. It was deflected by the invulnerable exoskeleton. The blade scored a grove as it went past, but that was all. None of this made sense. How could an animal be impervious to an exotic-matter-infused weapon?

  Zak had no idea and no time. He pulled Magreth close and she must have understood, because pieces of her armor clanked to the worn stone of the cave floor. He ran on with Magreth clutched to his chest as she shed the last of her protection, leaving only the camo-suit.

  The cave twisted again and multiple exits came into sight. However, the scuttling of legs, sounding like a forest in a gale, exploded from the corridors ahead. Gleaming eyes were like clusters of red dots and dozens of claws glinted in the com light as spiders attacked from all sides.

  Another of the jagged harpoons shot straight at Zak. He twisted and jerked his wing back. Too late. The missile caught the wing’s edge and he yelled as soft tissue ripped. Pain speared up to his shoulder blade and he knew he couldn’t fly.

  Magreth started firing past his shoulder, her blaster bucking and steaming. Zak looked back, with sudden hope that she could clear a path behind them, so they could retreat. Spiders hissed as they were thrown into the air or tumbled back up crevices, but as soon as they landed they stalked forward again.

  Zak and Magreth were surrounded and he stopped, dropping his companion to her feet.

  “Crap,” Magreth said and Zak looked down to see her staring at his bleeding wing. She shook her head and their eyes met. “Get out of here. That’s an order, Zak. Go. I’m right behind you.”

  “Closer than that,” Zak said and wrapped his arms around her again, lifting her as he spun, so his back was to the spiders ahead.

  “You can’t fly us both out of here with that wing,” she protested.

  “Don’t have to fly.”

  The cave shook and the largest spider yet reared over them. Zak set his teeth and flipped the lower edge of his wings toward the enemy, before blasting air from his wings’ pores. Gods, that left wing hurt. The spider staggered, but Zak jetted backward, holding tight to Magreth. They hurtled in a wild curve, because there was less drive from his injured wing. His side slammed into the wall of the cave, but he kept on going, scraping along the rock face.

  Zak began to hit spiders as well, ricocheting from one sharp body to another. A hook tried to snag his leg, but he kicked it away and momentum carried them on. He blasted a path through the last of the spiders and they were free. Until his back crashed into stone and he realized they’d reached the end of the road.

  The spiders galloped after them.

  Magreth planted her feet on the cave floor and helped Zak find his balance. His left wing was dragging, which slowed him down as they sprinted for the closest opening. They reached a gash in the wall together and both paused.

  “They’re herding us,” he gasped, then realized it didn’t matter, because they had no choice. The empty black ahead was better than the spiders at their heels. At least for now.

  Their com lights seemed dimmer than ever, but the combination was enough to show a short tunnel ahead that opened up to another jagged cavern. They squirmed through the burrow and burst into the largest space yet. The sound of scrabbling claws was like a rock fall behind them.

  Zak twisted his wings back and his face twisted too, but he ignored the pain to hurtle forward on full jets. He collected Magreth as he went and their arching path took them across the space in seconds. Dark openings were scattered between stalagmites and one was large enough to skid straight into. Zak twisted his good wing and their path shifted toward that dark maw.

  “No,” Magreth yelled and Zak put on the brakes, flipping his uninjured wing ahead and fanning it out to spread a curtain of air that slowed them down. They managed to regain control of the skid well short of the cavernous hole he’d been aiming for.

  It sucked in light as he stared at it, smearing his vision when he strained to see what was there. That gaping mouth wasn’t open at all, but criss-crossed by strands of grey. Zak lifted his com and the web blocking their escape became clearer as he got closer. It was more than just a web. A dark shape hung there, bundled in tangled chords. The bulge started struggling when the light reached it.

  Zak’s feet hit the ground fully as they came to a stop, but he and Magreth started running. They continued across the uneven cave together. His com was helping with his injured wing and this time his longer legs took him to the web first. He slid to a halt just short of bumping into it.

  “Someone’s in there,” Zak said.

  “Laddie?” the bundle croaked and relief washed over Zak.

  “Mac? Those spiders have no taste.”

  A groan was the only answer and Zak stepped in to tear at the web holding his friend. It tore back, ripping strips of skin from his palms. He swore and stepped away.

  “Let me,” Magreth offered, spinning a knife from her com to her hand. She swiped at the strands supporting the cocoon, but her bl
ade rebounded. She swore too, tipping back to absorb the deflection. She looked past Zak and her eyes widened.

  Zak twisted to see how close the horde was… and froze. A sea of spiders had washed into the cavern, cresting high on either wall, but it wasn’t the swollen bodies clinging from ceiling to floor that made him hesitate. The spiders had stopped half-way down the chamber like a wave running to a stop, while a single champion clanked forward. The beast was so large it could barely fit in the cave. It was far too big to leave, except by the exit holding Mac, so it seemed they’d run straight into its lair.

  “You don’t see that every day,” Magreth said softly and Zak had to agree.

  The spider was a mottled black and grey, with warty growths everywhere. It crouched low so that its bent knees rose as high as its body, which scraped the roof. Some of the warts blinked and Zak realized they were eyes, as dull and dead as stagnant pools. More of the growths quivered and then burst open to ooze pus. However, something else broke through the green bubbles, many somethings with sharp tips. Within seconds the spider bristled with harpoons. Double-hooked spears sprouted like needle grass in the rain and every one of them pointed at Zak or Magreth.

  Movement to his left made Zak tense, but it was Magreth, shifting to place herself between Zak and the threat.

  “My com shield is battle grade,” she said. “I’ll feed it all my power. It’ll protect us.”

  Her bravado impressed Zak, but he could feel the concern behind it. This enemy was unlike anything she’d ever met.

  A blurred harpoon slashed through the air. Magreth was already turning, but Zak grabbed her by the waist to spin her faster. The twin blades flashed past to bury themselves in the wall with a crack of shattered rock. Magreth gasped and Zak felt pain cross her body like a lick of flame. He turned her again to face him and studied the thin red line drawn across her abdomen. It continued on over the back of her wrist, where her arm had been swinging by her side. The harpoon had caught her certain-sure.