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

by Casey Lea

  Zak slapped regen fields into place, but the cut was superficial and already clotting. However, Magreth stared up at him, looking as shaken as if she’d taken a lethal strike.

  “It cut straight through my shield.”

  There was no answer to such an obvious statement and no point making it as far as Zak was concerned. He always expected the worst of any enemy. It was the best way to avoid disappointment.

  The rocky ground jerked as the arachnid lurched closer. It scraped stalactites from the ceiling and there was a grating of chitin plates when its harpoons shifted to reacquire their targets. The cavern groaned and cracks ran through the floor.

  The rock under Zak buckled making him clutch the harpoon embedded in the wall to stay upright. Magreth held onto him and they stood swaying together.

  “It cut straight through,” she repeated.

  “Shocking,” Zak agreed, trying to sound sympathetic.

  Magreth gave him an annoyed look and pointed to the weapon he was clinging to. “That’s not the point. It cut through more than my shield.”

  Zak stared at the mottled claw. It had split the stone, but strands of web had also been severed and now hung limply from the wall. The harpoon had gone straight through them without sticking.

  “Help me,” Zak said, closing both hands around the harpoon’s shaft and pulling as hard as he could. The monstrous blade was rough to the touch, offering a good grip and he felt it move. He hoisted himself to brace his legs against the wall and put his body into the effort. Magreth joined him, wrapping her arms around the harpoon, then pushing with her legs too.

  The deformed pincer slipped free, but Zak’s fronds sensed movement behind him. The spider had dragged itself closer, while its body puffed up to become even larger. It shrugged and released more harpoons.

  “Down,” Magreth yelled, falling to her belly, but Zak charged instead.

  The harpoons curved through the air before slashing down in a deadly arc. Most of them fell short and Zak lunged under the few that were too high, while swiping at those on target with his stolen claw. It worked. The harpoon in his hands groaned, but didn’t crack and scattered those sent by the spider. He kept his eye on the beast as he backed away.

  Its sides heaved, but he didn’t know whether it was gasping for breath or preparing another attack. It edged forward again, clearly trying to get fully into range. Zak backed up.

  A thud from behind made him spin to see Mac on the ground and Magreth standing over him, sawing at the last of his bonds with another spider harpoon. Zak grinned. He loved a lady who could think fast. He joined her and hoisted Mac up into a fireman’s hold. His employer groaned and muttered something that sounded like a complaint, but Zak ignored him. Magreth led the way into the tunnel and Zak was hard on her heels, ducking strands of cut web that snapped and hissed at him as he passed.

  This time the passage was large enough to let them move without crouching and they sprinted toward growing daylight. They burst from a cave mouth bigger than any they’d seen before to find themselves high on a mountain, with snow all around and violet sky above. Blinding light bounced off the surrounding slopes, while reflections from crystal cliffs gave the air a purple haze that hurt the eyes even more. They were out of the dark maze and back in a world of brilliance.

  39

  It’s A Date

  Zak blinked and searched their surroundings. He looked down, past steep slopes and more cliffs, to the valley where their hunt had started. He checked his com and it was definitely the same place – littered with avalanche debris and edged along one side by the black dots of caves.

  The mountain shook and around Zak’s feet a top layer of snow skidded free to rustle down the slope. He turned, to see something filling the cave mouth behind them. It jerked out of the darkness and more snow shifted, but the spider stopped. It hunched in upon itself like a raisin drying in the sun. The dirty pools that were its eyes blinked in the lavender light and then closed completely. Its bulk heaved as if trying to retreat and it slammed into an edge of the cavern mouth.

  Rock broke free and the spider managed to drag itself back into darkness.

  “Thank God,” Magreth breathed and collapsed to sit on a spit of ice.

  Zak sank down beside her and slid Mac, who was starting to struggle, off his shoulder. The human fell face first into the snow and came up spluttering. He glared at Zak.

  “What sort of doctoring is this?”

  “Sorry, Mac, but how am I supposed to tell the front of your head from the back?’ Zak raised a hand to his chin and mimed stroking a beard.

  Magreth laughed and Mac stopped glaring, turning to find the source of feminine amusement. He eyed Magreth and his beard wagged in apparent appreciation. “That’s more like it, laddie. This is my kind of rescue. Did you happen to bring a wee dram of anything alcoholic? Strictly for medicinal use of course.”

  “No booze, Mac. Not till you’re buying,” Zak said, while running a scan of his ragged friend. Mac had plenty of bruises and his skin was badly abraded, as if he’d been exposed to acid, but that didn’t seem to be slowing him down.

  “Duncan MacKenzie at your service, but you can call me Mac,” he told Magreth and tucked into a bow over her hand. The bristles of his beard tickled the back of her hand and she gave a gasping laugh.

  “Don’t worry,” Zak said as he slathered a med field over his patient, “Mac has a licence to drive that thing.”

  Magreth smiled back. “I don’t worry and that’s a seriously impressive beard.”

  Mac clasped his hands together over his chest. “Ah, a lady after my own heart. You’re as welcome as rain in a desert, darling. Now tell me, what name could do justice to a flower such as yourself?”

  “Strike Leader Mashishanga.”

  “Oh, aye. My, then. And to your friends?”

  Magreth’s smile faded. “I’ll let you know when I make some new ones.”

  She stood, slipping on the ice, but caught herself with a step onto snow. “We’ve got unfinished business and we need to take cover.”

  Zak remembered the explosives and jumped to his feet. It was past time they took care of Blizzard’s pest problem. He reached to hep Mac up, but he’d already accepted Magreth’s hand and was on his feet. Magreth tried to reclaim her hand, but the old fox swayed as if dizzy. Zak checked his com and his patient’s healing was well underway. He was about to tell Magreth, but she gave Mac a look that made Zak shudder. Her sudden smile was just as chilling.

  “Do you want to explode with the mountain?” she asked sweetly. “Because I’m happy to throw you back in the pit we just dragged you out of.”

  Mac dropped her hand and sucked in air between his teeth. “Now, now, Leader. No need for misunderstandings. I was seeking a little distraction after losing my team, is all.”

  Magreth’s jaw tightened and she turned away. “Let’s blow this thing.”

  “This way,” Zak suggested and led them further uphill to an outcropping of rock that rose from the snow. It would shield them from the blast, while keeping them above any avalanche. He’d had enough of those for one week.

  He climbed a boulder and settled on a rock ledge behind it. Magreth crouched beside him, while Mac tucked down next to her. She looked up at Zak and he nodded, then curled up close to the main slab of the outcrop rising above them.

  Magreth tapped her com. Absolutely nothing happened.

  Zak rested his face in his arms, but wasn’t surprised by the lack of explosion. He added a new rule to his list. Don’t underestimate your environment. The Universe would rather laugh at you than be your friend.

  “Too much rock for the remote detonator to get through,” Magreth announced, bouncing upright.

  Zak rose too and gave Mac a hand up. The human wobbled, but managed to stay on his feet. They jumped down and moved away from the shelter of the outcrop, to study the cave mouths dotted along the distant valley. It was Zak who stated the obvious.

  “Someone needs to poke a head, or at
least an arm, back in there and set the thing off.”

  “Sure enough, lad,” Mac said and started limping down the slope.

  Magreth followed and caught him in a single stride. She moved to block his path, putting her hands on her hips. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Now, lassie, don’t take that matronly tone. It sits as ill on you as a chastity belt on a groom. I’m the hunter here and I’ve comrades to avenge. Let me do so, before the giant vermin finds some sunshades.”

  “Thank you for your offer, sir, but this is a military matter. I lost my team on this job and I’ll be the one to finish it.”

  “I’ve a contract for this, lass. I’ve been paid to complete and by Lord I’ll do it.”

  “My mercenary credentials may be lacking, Mr MacKenzie, but I’ve trained all my life for situations like this.”

  “All your life is it, lovely? Would that be a decade then?”

  Magreth’s laugh was the last thing Zak heard as he rose higher toward the afternoon sun. He caught a lazy thermal that lifted him silently away from the discussion. He tipped sideways to slip down the valley and his injured wing trembled, but held. It would last long enough to reach the caves, though whether it would fly him to safety was more uncertain. Still, at least he had a chance of escape, which neither of his friends did. He was the only logical choice for this mission.

  “What the hell are you doing?” his com demanded in a voice so thick with anger he hardly recognized it as Magreth’s. It seemed he’d finally managed to dent her calm. “They were my team, Zak. You don’t have any right to-”

  “I know,” he answered, while the valley wall grew closer. “I’m doing it anyway. Send me the detonator’s frequency.”

  “Dammit, Zak. Come back. Now.”

  He didn’t answer, just banked toward the nearest cave mouth. He raised his gaze to the mountains beyond and their crystal cliffs glinted back. Water still cascaded down dozens of faces and the air was filled with violet rainbows. Blizzard was a harsh world, but one of the most beautiful Zak had ever seen.

  His wrist thrummed as his com received Magreth’s remote detonation code and he dropped into a steep dive. In and out. He could do this.

  The air thundered past as if trying to hold Zak back, but he furled his wings to let gravity take him. He hurtled at the cave they’d entered several lifetimes ago and the ground rushed to meet him. A second from crashing he opened his wings a little. Just enough to keep him rocketing down the valley and past the cave. He’d try a fly by first and if that didn’t work he’d have to get more up close and personal.

  The cave mouth flashed past, but it was a good size and Zak was ready. He used full com power to send the signal, saving nothing for a protective shield. There was a silent second as he continued down the valley and then the mountain shrugged. Its entire flank lifted in a huge bubble and the bellow of the explosion followed.

  Air was sucked in toward the ranges, dragging Zak with it, until the shock wave hit. Suddenly the sky had jet power and his wings were helpless. He was thrown away from the mountains. The earth and sun cartwheeled past, while he tasted blood. He tried to hold on, but the force was too great and the sun faded. He slipped into a darkness as black as any cave.

  ***

  Zak woke to a soft touch on his chin and the warmth of lips on his mouth.

  “That had better not be you, Mac,” he growled.

  The lips jerked away and Mac chuckled, but his laugh came from off to one side. Zak opened his eyes in time to see Magreth sitting up beside him. He raised a brow in query and it was hard to be certain-sure, but she might have blushed.

  “You weren’t breathing,” she snapped.

  “Aye,” Mac said with a grin. “Had the air knocked out of you I’m guessing, but the young lady seemed eager enough to put it back.”

  “I was ready. To help. Eager is completely misleading and implies some satisfaction that you were hurt, or that I was taking advantage of the situation. I assure you I would never-”

  Zak started laughing and Magreth broke off. She managed a grimace that was almost a smile.

  “I’m pleased you’re okay, Zak. You had me worried there for a moment. All the extra paperwork of losing a civilian.”

  “I’d hate to be a burden.” Their gazes met and the pain in Zak’s lungs disappeared.

  “Much to my surprize,” Magreth said softly, “you’re not.”

  “Much to my surprise,” Mac added, “the Doc was more use than a whole team of hunters. Which reminds me of some drinking I need to do. Does anyone wish to join me? I’m talking to you, Strike Leader Mashishanga.”

  Magreth didn’t answer and didn’t seem to have heard. She was still watching Zak and might have been blushing, although that was probably the sunset washing up the valley. It softened her features and made her look more approachable. Her hair followed the curve of her head in dozens of tiny braids and she was the most enchanting human he’d ever seen.

  Mac snorted and Zak gave him a vague wave as he stamped away. Magreth kept kneeling beside him and that simple gesture warmed him enough to drive off the evening chill. They sat in silence for a long time, until she shook herself and looked around, as if surprised by the growing dark.

  “What will you do now?” Magreth asked. “I’ve arranged transport through Ish, my 2IC. Do you want a lift?”

  Zak considered that. “I think I’ll go home for dinner.”

  “That sounds nice. Where’s home?”

  “Good question. Most of my family live here on Blizzard. I haven’t seen them for a while, so it seems a good place to start. I need to make a call first, so I’ll find my own way to Justice after that and get cleaned up for dinner.” He studied her profile as she turned to watch the sun set. “I’d like it if you came with me.”

  Magreth’s head snapped round and she watched him warily, as if she suspected he was joking. “You’re asking me home to meet your parents?”

  “Only one of my fathers, but yes, it would be a date.”

  “I’m at least forty years older than you, Zak.”

  “Really? In truth? I guess you’ll have to try to keep up then, Magreth.”

  Her lips quirked and he felt her relax. “That’s Strike Leader Mashishanga to you, kid.”

  “After everything we’ve been through together?”

  Her smile widened. “Don’t worry. If our date goes well tonight you might make it to first.”

  “First base?”

  “Ha,” Magreth snorted. “First names.”

  Zak found himself laughing. “Was that a yes?”

  “It’s a ‘hell, yes’. Just let me see the rest of my team first. Can you pick me up from the hotel? In an hour?”

  “Sure. I’ll see you then.” Zak watched with silent appreciation as she rose and walked away. The Captain gave new meaning to the words ‘great ass’. The lights of a flitter appeared over the brow of the valley and she climbed aboard. He had a brief glimpse of the Alliance logo on its side as it turned away and then it was gone. He felt a strange pang, but reminded himself that he’d see her again very soon.

  Zak started to smile, but sighed instead. He had one last thing to do and no more excuses. It was time to make the call he’d been so drakking sure he’d never make. It seemed he didn’t know everything after all. He sent a thought to his com and it dialled Nikareon’s number.

  An image of his father appeared above Zak’s wrist and Zak cleared his throat. “Hey, Patri. About dinner. Is tonight too soon?”

  Nikareon’s eyes closed while his face twisted, but only for a split second. The moment passed so fast Zak might have imagined it, as Nik assumed his usual sardonic smile. “You’re welcome. Always. Including tonight.”

  “Final warning, you’d be better off without me.”

  “That’s my choice.” Nik’s grin softened. “Trust me, it’s not one I’m going to regret.”

  “I hope not, but before you agree I need to say something.” Zak paused, but Nik waited for him
to continue, so he was left with no option but to go on. “I’m sorry, Nikareon. I’ve been blaming you for every wrong I suffered as a child.”

  His father’s eyes narrowed. “As you should. It was my fault you were hunted from slum to slum.”

  “Of course it was.”

  Nik’s smirk returned. “Is this an apology? I don’t need one, but I’m a little confused.”

  “That’s not what I’m sorry for. I also blamed you for every wrong I ever inflicted on others when I was a child. That was ridiculous, but I wasn’t truly angry with you. I was ashamed. Furious at myself and looking for excuses. Someone else to blame.”

  “So you made me your space goat?”

  “I think that’s scapegoat. And it wasn’t fair of me. You cared for me, kept me alive, and the choices I made were my own.”

  Nikareon’s brow furrowed. “What did you do that you’re so shamed by?”

  Zak hadn’t wanted to face that question. Not yet, but there was no point running from the truth. “Lots of things. Whenever you went away. Every time you were laying false trails, or getting supplies, or scouting new homes, or whatever, I left the nest and went out.”

  “Out where?”

  “Everywhere and anywhere. On the Rim and beyond.”

  Nik’s smile remained, but his lips thinned to make it sharper. “Did you have any girlfriends with you to hold back your hair during all this partying?”

  “Yes,” Zak whispered.

  “Pretty airheads who were all drugs and dancing, or uglier ladies with a taste for blood?”

  “Ugly and no ladies allowed. Not until after the main course.”

  Nikareon’s lips stretched further to show his teeth. “Mercs, then.”

  “Yes,” Zak said too loudly. “Mercs. I followed them round like a bad reputation, trying to prove I could keep up. And I did. With everything.”

  Nik’s smile finally surrendered and he stared coldly at Zak. “That’s not how I raised you.”