The Gatekeepers (The Survivors Book Eight)

by Nathan Hystad

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright ©

  Books By Nathan Hystad

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  New Horizon (The Survivors Book 9)

  Lights Over Cloud Lake

  Rift: The Resistance Book One

  Copyright © 2019 Nathan Hystad

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cover art: Tom Edwards Design

  Edited by: Scarlett R Algee

  Proofed and Formatted by: BZ Hercules

  Keep up to date with his new releases by signing up for his Newsletter at www.nathanhystad.com

  Nathan’s books are also available on Audible!

  Lights Over Cloud Lake

  The Survivors Series

  The Event

  New Threat

  New World

  The Ancients

  The Theos

  Old Enemy

  New Alliance

  The Gatekeepers

  New Horizon

  The Resistance Series

  Rift

  Revenge

  Return

  Red Creek

  Prologue

  Their scent was overwhelming, luring him to the nest from miles away. He was starving, and the idea of food motivated him to speed up. His paws plodded along the rough ground; rocks littered the landscape as if they’d originated from the sky. Otherwise, the night was cold, close to freezing.

  The hunter paused in the middle of the open space, raising his head to sniff. The land was sterile, fruitless, and he caught a whiff of impending precipitation. If he was correct, it would be falling as white flakes before the night was over. This only made him move faster, his thin limbs quickly carrying his emaciated body across the terrain.

  His target was half a mile ahead; their smell filled his olfactory sensors now, filling him with blood lust. Food. Finally, after a week of eating nothing but grass, he’d found meat. His pupils widened as he remembered the feel of flesh between his lips, the blood of the kill dripping off his snout.

  It was dark out; the dense clouds concealed the pricks of light he’d grown accustomed to over the years. As he neared the rocky outcropping his prey was using as a nest, he paused, seeing snow fall for the first time this season. A flake slowly dropped, landing on his nose before melting. He licked his lips and crouched low, trying to obtain a visual on his targets.

  There were three of the six-legged creatures: a male, a female, and a baby. Life was tough out here, and that was why he was the last of his kind. Slowly but surely, they’d all died. His pack was gone. He was alone. The prey was half his size, but they needed less to survive. He envied their small stomachs and their hibernating ability.

  He slunk around their nest, climbing above the rocks to peer over at the family. The male was sleeping, the baby nestled into his mother’s embrace. She was awake, watching, listening as the protective matriarchs always did. For a moment, he felt guilty for what he was about to do, but life was like that. It was the only way to survive, and instinct took over.

  He jumped down, landing on all four paws. He bit the female’s head first, ending her with a snap of his powerful jaws. The male was next, raking his claws out, thrashing his tail without success. He died seconds later. The infant was flailing, six legs pulling it away from the bloody scene.

  The attacker let it go. There was no survival for the child. This harsh world would eat it up before sunrise. Snow fell heavily now, and the hunter ate, consuming every part of the two victims. His eyes rolled back in euphoric triumph and he moved into the open, away from the nest when he was done.

  He already felt the changes happening, and he allowed them to expedite. His snout shortened, and he felt every stitch of his face pull inward as his head twisted and deformed. His long, lean legs morphed, and two more stubby, leathery legs pushed out from his sides. His bushy tail shed its hair and lengthened until it was two feet long; a spike grew from the end.

  A howl emerged from his throat, a primal sound, before his voice gurgled and changed to match that of the prey he’d recently consumed.

  The hunter was now lower to the ground, and he took a few tentative steps, practicing walking with six appendages. He stumbled around, trying to recall how to walk smoothly. He’d Shifted into one of these creatures before, but that had been many seasons ago.

  When he was confident in his ability, he started toward the mountains in the distance. His stomach extended, a bulbous sack containing the bones and blood of his recent victims. Already their cold blood made him acclimate to the weather more easily.

  He felt stronger than he had in many cycles of the pink moon. His mind wavered, drifting into a catatonic state as he moved through the cold damp night. By the time he arrived at the base of the mountains, he was exhausted, ready for a brief hibernation to digest and consider his next move.

  When he awoke again, the ground was blanketed in snow, and he wished his legs were a few inches longer so his belly wouldn’t drag in the powder. It was going to be a long season. He needed to find a food source, and then he’d find a cave to rest in, waiting out the weather.

  The hunter scuttled on six legs through rocky paths, over small hills and ridges, climbing with a skill his previous animal body couldn’t have managed. Miles later, he smelled the newcomers before he saw them. His kind always had an acute sense of smell, no matter what form they embraced at the time. It was a skill that should have allowed them to thrive, if only the land weren’t so deadly.

  He pushed the thoughts of his people away and waited for the two creatures to walk into the valley below. They were on two legs, and he found this disconcerting. Nothing here had that capability, at least that he’d seen – other than the winged creatures, but these were nothing like those. They were tall, shiny, and didn’t seem to mind making noise.

  He crept along the mountainside, following behind them for a mile before they stopped. He watched with interest as they erected a shelter: a portable cave with strange smells. He didn’t understand the scents; they were too foreign to his senses.

  That was when it hit the hunter. They weren’t from here. Somehow, these creatures had arrived on his land. He needed to find out where they came from. Perhaps he could follow the path and leave as well. The thought consumed him, and he waited, spying on them as they sat together, communicating animatedly. He listened, hoping to gain comprehension. His kind could emulate their prey’s speech patterns, if not fully understand them. Perhaps if he could learn a phrase, he could lure one away. One was all he needed.

&nb
sp; “You really want to risk using the portal table again?” one of them asked. The hunter smelled him as a male.

  The female replied, “What choice do we have? This place is terrible. It’s nothing but rocks and snow. Sensors aren’t picking up anything larger than a dog in the area. I don’t know about you, but this isn’t what I signed up for. What do you think went wrong?”

  The hunter stayed and listened, unable to decipher a single sound. “Dean Parker and Sarlun have been warning us that this might eventually happen. The damned Theos are leaving the stones. It’s like everything is disintegrating. The way I look at it, we have portals on hundreds of worlds, the entire system is interconnected. The Theos are somehow powering the crystals, but they’re also fueling the whole complex grid of connections. There’s enough juice to run each world’s portal stone, but the grid is broken. Unless someone fixes it, we’re bound for random planets each time we use it…”

  The female cut him off. “And since they unlocked the previously blocked symbols, we don’t know where we could end up. The Theos Collective had good reasons to hide those from the Gatekeepers of old. Dean needed them to stop the Iskios from destroying half of the universe,” she said.

  “Exactly. So if we go through again, we could end up on one of those dangerous worlds. Do you really want to risk arriving on a planet of lava, or one full of deadly human-eating snails?” the male asked.

  “How do we know this world wasn’t on the list?” she asked.

  “We don’t.”

  The hunter watched with intense curiosity. He was beginning to learn their speech, tiny bits and pieces funneled into images through his advanced cerebral cortex. He understood their term portal on a basic level.

  He sniffed the air, picking up this pair’s scent behind him. If he acted soon, he’d be able to follow their tracks and trace the smell to this portal they spoke of.

  “I wish we hadn’t signed up for this job. I’d much rather be working on Shimmal. How about you?” he asked.

  That was when the hunter noticed they weren’t the same species. At first he’d thought their smells separated their sexes, but it went beyond that. He spotted the snout waving beyond an artificial dome over the man’s head.

  “I’d be happy to return to New Spero. My first mission, and I’m not even going to make the festival on Haven. Dean Parker was going to introduce me as a new Gatekeeper. Only a handful of humans is allowed entrance,” she said.

  “There will be other festivals. I’m sorry your first mission has turned sideways. I was looking forward to some time on Pumorel’s beaches, even though we were going for diplomatic reasons,” the male said.

  “So was I. It’s been a long few years of hard work on New Spero. Anyway, I think we should wait it out. Someone will come for us. The Gatekeepers are a resilient and ancient organization. As soon as they know we’re missing, they’ll find a way to rescue us.” She stood, moving toward the constructed shelter. “You mind taking first watch? I’m beat.”

  The male’s head shook. “Not a problem. I’m going to scope out the vicinity. See if there’s a better place to move to in the morning.”

  “Don’t veer off too far,” she said before entering the shelter.

  The hunter was happy. He was far smaller than the new prey, but he had the element of surprise on his side. He tested out his vocal cords, trying one of their words: “Gatekeeper.” It was gravelly, and he tried a few more times before he was happy with the outcome.

  The male was already walking around, a bright light shooting from its hand. The hunter didn’t understand. It was as if he’d harnessed the sun’s power somehow. He tracked the male, staying fifty yards away at all times. The two-legged creature continued below him in the valley, the hunter on a cliff twenty feet above. When they were far enough away from their nest, he made the move.

  “Gatekeeper!” the hunter shouted. And again: “Gatekeeper!”

  The male’s head snapped up, trying to find the source. The light shone around the hunter’s small, hidden form.

  “Who’s there?” the male asked.

  The hunter heard the prey’s footsteps on the rock as he climbed over the snow-covered ground and onto a platform in the outcropping. It was time. The hunter sprang from his hiding spot, jaws spread wide. He clung to the prey’s clothing, biting into the male’s neck. He was almost swung off as the victim protested, but he held firmly. After chewing through layers of fabricated skin, the smell of pumping blood was stronger. The hunter bit again, this time finding blood.

  He gurgled and fell to the ground, and the hunter didn’t waste any time. He began to consume the body. It twitched as he kept going, the entire process taking far longer than any previous Shift. This creature was larger than any others, and by the time his belly was filled, the transformation had begun.

  The hunter writhed in pain as he stretched out, the bones from inside his stomach sack melting and emerging through his skin. The transformation took longer than devouring the prey, and by the end of it, the hunter wished he was dead. He howled and screamed in an unknown voice, but eventually, he lay there unmoving, naked and cold.

  The body was strange, and he fought to stand on two legs. His snout twitched from side to side, and he fell a few times before understanding how to balance. It was challenging after being so low to the ground with six legs. His feet carried him toward the nest, where the female was sleeping. He needed her suit; he could tell this instantly. His breathing was labored, and now he comprehended the dome around the prey’s head.

  The hunter stood naked at the camp and moved toward the tent, as he now knew it to be named. Once she was dead, he’d head for the portal they came through and leave this dreaded world for good.

  One

  The sun peeked through my drapes as I blinked my eyes open. It took a moment to remember where I was. For a brief second, I expected to be on the Kraski ship, flying around searching for Fortune, Magnus and Natalia’s missing Keppe vessel. Only we’d found them, and they were now on their way home, safe and sound.

  I sighed out stale air and smiled in the dim room. Mary’s chest rose and fell as she slept peacefully, and as much as I wanted to crawl over her and kiss her awake, I knew she needed the rest. Today was going to be a big day. Again.

  Maggie stood at the foot of our bed, her tail lifting straight up. She must have heard Jules moving around before I did, and had jumped off the bed stealthily. I tried to emulate her, and tucked and rolled from the blanket, my bare feet slapping lightly on the floor.

  The dog and I trod down the hall and into Jules’ room, where a device spun a carousel of lights around the space. Jules was standing in her big-girl bed, pointing at the dancing display. Her bright green eyes glowed, and I stifled the dread inside me of what it might mean. She was an ordinary girl. Dr. Nick assured us monthly that nothing abnormal was showing up in her test results. And yet… those eyes, as beautiful as they were on my little girl, were off-putting because of the Iskios. It was the same green as the Vortex Mary had been controlling while possessed by the ancient beings.

  “Papa!” Jules stuck her arms out to me, and I crossed the room to snatch her up. Maggie was at the bed first and had jumped up, licking my daughter on the face. “Puppy silly,” she said between attentions from the dog, and I couldn’t deny it.

  “Puppy is very silly. Let’s take you to the potty, then you can come outside with me and Maggie. Okay, honey?” I asked, and Jules nodded. She was a quick study and had hated diapers for nearly six months now.

  I picked her up, and she struggled as soon as we were out of the room. “Down, Papa,” she ordered, and I rolled my eyes, setting her to the floor.

  She ran towards the hall, and Maggie and I patiently waited while she did her business. Maggie peered up at me as if to say it was her turn, and I went to the kitchen, turning on the coffee pot. Mary always prepped it the day before, and I was grateful today. My head was sleepy, my mind addled after the long journey to Magnus and then home.

  I
wished I had more time here, more time to spend with my family on New Spero before heading out to the mess the failing portals had left for the Gatekeeper team. Sarlun was expecting us today, and as much as I didn’t want to be there, I knew there were lives depending on us.

  “Papa. I wash.” Jules stood there in her tiny PJs, hands dripping with water. I laughed and grabbed the tea towel, drying them off.

  “Good work, JuJu. Now if you could teach Maggie to let herself out, then we’d be golden,” I said.

  “Golden,” Jules repeated.

  Maggie was at the door, and I pressed it open to the back yard. She ran out, off the deck and toward the patch of garden. Various vegetables were thriving out there, and I held Jules’ hand as we descended to the grass. She ran around, hands in front of her as if she was chasing an invisible fairy, and I soaked it all in. Maggie chased her, barking with joy, and this went on for five minutes before the door creaked open, and Mary stepped onto the wooden deck holding two steaming cups of coffee.

  “When did you get up?” she asked.

  “Not long ago. Sorry about the noise.” I jabbed a thumb toward the happy kid and dog.

  She shook her head. “I was up. And there are worse things to wake to. Like… anything but this.” She sat on the deck, and I joined her, feet on the stairs. Magnus and I had built these steps with our own two hands, and I grinned at the memory.

  “I’m sorry, Mary,” I said.

  “For what?” she asked.

  “For not being around like I promised. I wish it wasn’t like this,” I said.

  “I do too, but it’s not in our cards yet. This time will be different, though.”

  “Why?” I sipped the coffee, instantly feeling the kick.

  “Because we’re going with you,” Mary said without meeting my gaze. She smiled as she watched Jules chasing Maggie toward the garden. Maggie stopped to sniff something, and my daughter bumped into her, tumbling over. Jules stood right up and giggled.

  I had hardly heard Mary’s words, but they finally clicked. “Wait… you’re coming with me?”