Starlight (The Dark Elf War Book 1)

by William Stacey

  The smart money was on taking this thing down with a high-powered sniper rifle from far, far away, maybe a .50 caliber Barrett anti-vehicle rifle. Now, that was a shot Alex would prefer to be making. This little jaunt was, without a doubt, the dumbest thing he had ever done, and he had done some pretty dumb things. To make matters worse, he was now dragging along civilians, risking Cassie and Paco’s lives as well as his own. The two of them had no part in this; they weren’t responsible for the basilisk’s presence, and they shouldn’t be out here risking their lives. Alex adjusted his orange-tinted ballistic glasses. Orders were orders, and he needed Paco and Cassie: Alex wasn’t a tracker; he certainly didn’t know the ground the way Paco did. Only Paco had any chance of giving him a shot at this thing. And Cassie’s sensitivity for magic might save their lives. Please, God, don’t let me get them killed.

  They pushed on through the trees as stealthily as they could. Cassie, bless her heart, did her best, but every now and then she’d make noise, and Alex would cringe, certain the basilisk would hear and come crashing through the trees after them. At irregular intervals, Paco would pause, drop down on his belly, and examine the ground, lowering his head to gain a different perspective on some sign he had found. Alex was no tracker, but he knew hunters needed shadow and contrast to see signs—they needed to see the light striking the ground at a low angle. That was why trackers preferred to work in the early morning—or later in the day, as they were doing now. Paco silently pointed out the creature’s trail, which even Alex could see: three-toed lizard-paw prints in the soft ground, scuffed trees the monster had scraped against, even crushed vegetation. This thing didn’t seem at all concerned about covering its passage; perhaps it had decided there was nothing on this world that could harm it.

  Alex squatted down beside Paco and watched the other man. Paco’s face was cold and serious, and Alex could see the strain in his eyes. “Well?” Alex whispered.

  Paco bit his lower lip and pointed to a giant paw print the size of a man’s head. “We’re close. It’s no more than ten to fifteen minutes ahead of us,” he whispered back, “and maybe not even that.”

  “I need to be close.”

  Paco nodded. At that moment, a high-pitched, alien shriek cut across the tree line ahead of them, and both men’s gaze snapped toward it. Alex saw nothing, but a moment later, he heard a loud crack as a branch broke.

  “Less than ten minutes,” Paco whispered, still staring in the direction of the shriek.

  “Whether we live or die now is up to you, my friend. You’ve got to put me in a good spot.”

  Paco wet his index finger and held it up, measuring the wind’s direction and speed. He closed his eyes and remained like that for some time. Alex heard Cassie drop down just behind them. He turned and regarded her. Her face was pale, and she was clearly terrified. So was he, but he forced himself to smile reassuringly anyway. She wasn’t that much younger than him, really, but she was still way too young to be out here doing this. Once again, he reflected on just how fucking stupid this mission was. Duty is a mountain, he told himself, and you have to climb it every day.

  Paco reached over and gripped Alex’s knee in a calloused hand while motioning with his head to the left, toward a bush-filled gully that seemed to snake around in the direction from which they had just heard the basilisk. Alex inclined his head, showing he understood: Paco was going to try to bring them around the basilisk and approach it from downwind.

  Paco set off again, keeping hunched over and low. The man was quiet when he wanted to be, Alex noted. Unfortunately, as good a woodsman as Alex was, he wasn’t that good, and Cassie, bless her heart, kind of sucked. While Paco might be quiet enough to sneak up on the basilisk, Alex and Cassie were almost certain to give away their presence. But they had no other choice. Heading back to the others wasn’t an option; Buck would just send someone else out, maybe one of Alex’s men. He wasn’t going to let that happen. The basilisk was his responsibility.

  Alex pulled his tranquilizer rifle in close against his chest then followed the other man. A moment later, he heard Cassie behind him, doing a reasonable job of moving silently for a change. Fear was a wonderful motivator, it seemed, but would it be enough?

  * * *

  Cloaked in magic, Maelhrandia silently followed the manlings. Only one of them exhibited any skill at all, but even he would have been easily heard and seen by the smallest fae seelie child. Still, as clumsy as they were, Gazekiller had yet to detect them. If he did, he might kill them all before she could stop him. The noble beast would not tolerate being hunted.

  And then the manling mage turned and stared directly at Maelhrandia again. A chill ran through her, and her body went rigid with panic. Even now, the mage was staring right at her. How was that possible? Three times, she had looked right at Maelhrandia when she had been cloaked in Shadow-Soul.

  Once, maybe; twice, doubtful, but three times?

  The damned hideous mage turned away again, and—her mouth dry, her heart racing—Maelhrandia forced herself to slowly breathe. She hadn’t been detected. That would have been impossible. It was just really bad luck.

  Of course, she hadn’t been detected. It was absurd to think any of these manlings could see through her spell. Her prey began to slowly creep forward again, now trying to use a gully to stalk Gazekiller from downwind. They couldn’t detect Maelhrandia, but she’d let them get farther away, keep some distance. Just in case.

  * * *

  Alex lay on his stomach, waiting, watching the world, which was tinted orange through the lens of his ballistic glasses—clearer, sharper. Paco lay prone at the lip of the gully, peering over it, his hand held out to Alex, motioning him to stay still. From his position, Alex couldn’t see anything, but he was close enough to hear the basilisk moving about in the trees on the other side of the gully. Cassie lay beside Alex. In her terror, she was almost hyperventilating. Alex slowly reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. Her breathing slowed. They stayed like that, unmoving and silent, for several minutes. Finally, Paco motioned for Alex to move up beside him. His tranquilizer gun held in front of him, Alex very slowly crawled forward. Mosquitoes buzzed madly about his head, free to torment him. Alex peered over the edge of the gully.

  And there it was, less than fifty meters away: the basilisk.

  His breath caught in his throat. Even at the hospital, he hadn’t been this close. And then, he had been focused on escape with no chance to examine this… this monster. It was, by far, the largest living thing Alex had ever seen. It faced away from them, rubbing its hide against a tree trunk, causing the upper branches to sway and creak and shower the beast in pine needles. Thick, scaly hide covered most of its upper body, but the skin underneath the creature and on its legs looked less tough—the backs of its legs had no scales. While its upper body was huge and powerful, its eight legs seemed spindly, too weak to support such a weight. Clearly, though, the legs were far more powerful than they appeared. A long ridge of spiked barbs ran down its spine, commencing at the triangular head and extending all the way to the tip of the long tail.

  Just then, the basilisk ceased rubbing itself and raised its massive horned head to the sky, exposing its long, scaled neck. It shrieked a stuttering, alien challenge that reverberated through the trees, freezing Alex’s blood. Getting this close to the creature had been a mistake. McKnight was wrong. They needed to kill it, take it out from a distance. Duty is a mountain.

  Paco slowly gripped Alex’s forearm. Although his face reflected the same terror Alex felt, Paco motioned to himself and then to the trees on the far side of the beast. Alex stared at him, puzzled, and then he understood: Paco wanted to move around in front of the basilisk to distract it so that Alex would have a clear shot at its unarmored hind quarters.

  Too dangerous. Alex shook his head. Paco just squeezed his forearm again and then held his hand up, displaying five fingers: five minutes. He was going to do it whether Alex wanted him to or not. Alex nodded.

  Paco
crawled back down the gully. Then he began to make his way to the left so that he could come out on the other side of the basilisk. Soon, he was out of sight.

  There was a slight rustling as Cassie crawled up to take the spot where Paco had been. She gasped when she saw the monster. Alex met her eye and tried to give her a reassuring smile and to hide his own terror. The basilisk began grooming itself again, rubbing its bulk against the tree trunk.

  Reaching down, Alex undid the flap on his pants pocket and withdrew the leather case containing the M-99 darts. He opened the case in front of him, exposing the ten darts within. Using his thumb, he depressed the rifle’s safety button and, as quietly as he could, rotated it to the safety position, exposing the opening for the CO2 tank, which he very carefully and very quietly threaded onto the O-ring valve in front of the trigger assembly. There was only the slightest hiss of air when the tank’s pin was engaged, charging the weapon. Alex glanced up, but the basilisk hadn’t noticed; it continued rubbing itself. The creaking of the tree covered any noise Alex may have made. He prayed it would do the same for Paco. He then opened the rear-stock section of the rifle, exposing the ammunition chamber. Removing one of the darts from the open case, Alex carefully slipped off the plastic tip covering its barbed point and inserted the dart inside the chamber then rotated the stock section back into place. He breathed deeply but quietly, wishing once again he could have just put a 50-caliber sniper bullet through the damned thing’s skull. Goddamn you and your stupid ideas, McKnight!

  Once again, the basilisk raised its horned head, exposing the row of spikes beneath its snout; it cocked its head to the side and remained like that, silent and unmoving, for long moments. Finally, it lowered its head and returned to rubbing itself against the trunk. Exhaling, Alex reached forward with his left hand and adjusted the weapon’s muzzle velocity, setting it to maximum power.

  The weapon was loaded, charged, and ready for firing, but the basilisk was still moving too much to risk a shot. He had to hit the unarmored underbelly, or his dart would just bounce off. He needed to be ready to shoot quickly once Paco made his move and did whatever it was he was going to do. We really should have talked this through beforehand, he mused.

  And then they heard a bird calling from the woods opposite the basilisk, from the direction that Paco had been heading for. That was Paco; Alex was certain of it. A very small moan escaped Cassie’s lips when the basilisk suddenly swung its massive head toward the sound of the bird. The back of the animal’s body swung toward Alex, exposing the unarmored rear legs.

  Now. He aimed down the weapon’s three-by-nine adjustable scope, instantly acquiring his target. Alex had many flaws, but he never had a problem shooting under pressure. He set the crosshairs on the back of one of the basilisk’s rear legs, right on the muscle, exhaled half of his breath, and then paused, holding the remainder of the air within his lungs. With his thumb, he flicked the safety to fire and, with a single crisp movement, squeezed the trigger.

  The shot was good. Alex knew it would be even before he pulled the trigger. The basilisk must have felt the impact of the dart, because it suddenly and violently reared up on its hind legs, smashing into the pine tree beside it, snapping the tree trunk in half. The monster bellowed in rage and whipped about far faster than a creature that big should have been able to move. Its horned head swung directly toward Cassie and Alex, its bulbous blue eyes looking right at them.

  Oh, crap! In a flash of insight, Alex suddenly realized he didn’t give a shit if he overdosed this monster and killed it. He rushed to load another dart. The basilisk thundered toward them. Move, move, move, he screamed in his mind.

  With another dart loaded, Alex snapped the rear-stock section closed again. Too slow; he was way too slow. Had the first dart even penetrated its hide? If so, how long before the drug took effect? The basilisk was almost on them. Alex raised the weapon to fire but knew it was already too late.

  “Run!” he yelled to Cassie.

  She didn’t. Instead, in her panic, she hugged him, knocking the barrel of his weapon down, losing him any shot he might have had. Oh Christ, he thought, we’re dead.

  And then he gasped in surprise as a wave of energy swept over him. Less than twenty meters away, the basilisk just… stopped. The creature’s horned head swung back and forth. Its nostrils flared in an explosion of air. It was no longer looking at them, as though it had suddenly lost them. It rushed forward again, stopping less than five feet away, swinging its body around and trampling the brush but somehow missing the two of them. Its tail whipped through the air right over their heads, smashing a small tree down and cascading Alex and Cassie with leaves. Alex had no idea what was going on, but the beast was so close it might still crush them at any moment.

  Then Paco began screaming, yelling obscenities at the basilisk. Alex’s gaze darted toward him. Paco—the crazy fool—was standing out in the open, waving his arms and yelling. The basilisk roared in fury and spun, charging at Paco, who now turned and fled back into the trees. Alex raised his weapon again, reacquired his target, and took the shot. The basilisk smashed through the trees where Paco had been standing, splintering them into tinder. Then, without any warning, it just collapsed as if it had been smashed down by the hand of God.

  Cassie jumped to her feet, and the feeling of warmth abruptly disappeared. What had she done? “Paco!” She bolted toward the unmoving beast.

  Breathless, Alex stared at her. “Cassie, no!” He dropped the tranquilizer rifle, jumped up, and chased after her, terrified the basilisk would get back up and crush her.

  It didn’t, and she ran right past it into the trees. Alex followed her, skirting the basilisk. It shifted abruptly, one of its three-toed legs almost hitting him. But its bulbous blue eyes now seemed dull, clouded over. Its head twitched and rubbed against the ground then lay still. He could still hear it breathing and see its nostrils flaring, but the drugs had worked; it was out cold. Excitement coursed through him. Goddamn—it worked after all!

  When Cassie cried out in anguish, he turned and chased after her, forgetting the basilisk. He found her beside a pile of smashed pine trees, kneeling next to Paco, cradling his head against her chest. Paco’s eyes were glassing over, and blood poured down his shattered nose and out of his open mouth. Alex dropped next to him and felt for a pulse on the side of his neck while running his eyes over his body, making a combat assessment. It wasn’t good. Paco was dying. His torso had been smashed against a tree, crushing his ribs into his chest. If they got him to a hospital right away, he might make it… maybe.

  Alex keyed his MBITR. “Buck. We need Starlight and a medevac flight. We’ve got a man down.”

  Buck’s voice came back in his earpiece. “What’s the status of the target?”

  Paco coughed up blood, moaning in agony.

  “Do something,” Cassie cried, her blue eyes wide with fear.

  “The creature’s down, but so is Paco. We need medevac, now!”

  “Ack,” Buck said. “Be there in twenty mikes. Out.”

  Alex pulled out his combat knife and cut away Paco’s shirt. When he saw the extent of Paco’s injuries, he knew the other man would be long dead in twenty minutes. Even if they put him on a helicopter that very moment, he wouldn’t survive the flight. The entire left side of his body looked as if a sledgehammer had smashed it. Several ribs must have punctured his lungs, which even now had to be filling with blood.

  Cassie stared at him, tears in her eyes. “How bad is it?”

  “It’s bad,” he whispered. “I… I don’t think—”

  “Do something,” she pleaded.

  He bit his lip and shook his head. Paco’s breathing was wet. “I can give him some morphine and make him comfortable, but… I think his lungs have collapsed.”

  Her lip quivered, and she stared at her bloody hands. Then determination filled her eyes. “Stand back.”

  “What are you—”

  “Just do it!”

  She laid Paco’s head against the g
round then put her palms against his crushed left side. She closed her eyes, and the air around her hands blurred and became distorted. A wave of heat, emanating from her, rushed against Alex’s face. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Paco’s crushed left side rose on its own as if pushed back into place from the inside. The injured man abruptly inhaled deeply, his head and shoulders rising off the ground. His breathing became less raspy, less watery.

  Cassie sat back again, looking exhausted. The heat was gone. Whatever she had done, it was over. Paco’s skin was less pale than before, and he was definitely breathing better. Alex reached out his hand and ran his fingers lightly over the man’s previously shattered chest. He stared in wonder at Cassie. “What did you do?”

  Her eyes closed, she shook her head. “Don’t know, but it… felt like the right thing to do.”

  “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  “Neither did I,” she said, opening her eyes. She tried to smile but failed, clearly too worn out.

  He grinned for her, feeling a rush of euphoria. “You’re a regular Starlight, aren’t you? Full of surprises.”

  “A what?”

  “Starlight. It’s a radio call sign for medical services.”

  She tried to smile again, succeeding this time. “Starlight, huh? I like that.”

  By the time Buck and the others arrived, Paco was doing even better, and Alex was sure he’d survive the flight to a hospital. A score of paces away, the basilisk slept soundly.

  If duty was a mountain, they had climbed it that day.

  Chapter 39

  As Buck and the assault team secured the scene and prepared for the medevac helicopter, Cassie sat with the sleeping Paco. She was still wiped from having healed him. Never before had she used so much mana. Now that it was all over, she felt… thin, as if she had been stretched too far. She hadn’t known what she was doing when she’d woven the mana through Paco’s shattered body, but it had felt right establishing a connection with him and feeling his damaged flesh and bones knot together again. It was the same thing with the invisibility shield she had put up around her and Alex, protecting them from the basilisk’s charge. If Elizabeth’s natural skills lay with fire and destruction, Cassie’s were with healing and invisibility. She smiled. There were things she was good at after all.