Isis's eyes were completely black; the veins in her face clearly visible as she rose up to glower at me. Noise from the front of the room brought the others heads up. I kept my gaze focused on Isis but when she glanced toward the balcony I couldn't help but look also. Gathered upon the balcony were a couple dozen Tintagelians that had been drawn to this level of the ship by the explosion and alarms.
"Get out!" Isis roared and thrust a finger at them.
They retreated through the hole like she had thrown a fireball at them. Using the distraction the Tintagelians had created I pulled one of the bombs from my pocket and snipped the fuse. I didn't give any warning as I lit the fuse and threw the bomb into the upper level of the tree. There wasn't enough time to get out of the way, not nearly enough time to escape the room as the bomb bounced amongst the branches and tumbled toward the water below. Throwing myself to the ground I covered my head as I braced for the explosion.
Chapter 22
Bethany,
I fell back as another creature burst from the woods and crashed into the campground. "Retreat, we have to retreat," Darnell panted beside me.
I scrambled to reload my rifle as we moved behind one of the buildings and took shelter in its shadow. People and Tintagelians ran by us, some of them were carrying others but both species were being captured and taken by The Seekers at an alarming rate. We had managed to take down three of them but there were at least four more running rampant through the camp.
I finished reloading and wiped away the sweat trickling down my face as I took a deep breath. My heart beat pulsed in my ears as adrenaline coursed through my body and I had to control the tremor that shook my hands. I refused to let panic get the best of me as I pressed the rifle against my chest and prepared to flee the temporary shelter of the building.
My gaze slid to the massive spaceship in the distance but since that first puff of smoke nothing else had occurred. There may be nothing for them to come back to if they did survive, I realized as pain twisted my heart. I absolutely refused to let them go through whatever it was that they were going through up there for nothing.
The ground shook as the creatures pounded across the earth. My ears began to ring from the echoing round of gunfire that pierced the air again. There was no more smoke from the ship, but the clearing was filled with a smoky haze that made it difficult to see as more screams rent the air. I leaned my head against the back of the building as my burning eyes met Lloyd's. Fear had pinched his mouth and widened his eyes but I also saw the same resolution in him that was creeping through me.
Not without a fight, there is no way they would take us without one hell of a fight.
"We have to get to the others," I said.
Darnell nodded as I took a deep breath and prepared to flee the shelter of the building. "Now!" Darnell commanded and rushed forward.
Lloyd and I stayed close on his heels as he plunged into the woods. I glanced back at the camp but all I could see were shadowy figures amongst the fog of smoke choking the clearing. Most of the contained fires had been knocked over and were beginning to spread amongst the buildings. The flames crackled as they leapt into the air and caught hold of the trees.
I could move faster than Lloyd and Darnell, but I was unwilling to leave them behind with those things stalking us and the fire spreading outward. Trees snapped and broke behind us as we scurried through the obstacles within the forest. We burst free of the woods and into the neighborhood where the research house had been established.
My mouth dropped, I skidded to a halt as I spotted two more of the monsters looming over top of one of the homes. "Please tell me you have some bombs left," I said to Lloyd.
"A couple," he panted.
"I think you better start digging them out."
One of the larger ones crashed through a ranch style house as if it were no more than a house of cards. Its crab-like eyes spun on their tall stalks and focused on us. My heart leapt into my throat, I lifted the rifle to my shoulder as it barreled toward us and began to fire. No matter how many bullets pierced it though it was determined to take us down and I wasn't sure that we could stop it. My heart was in my throat, I could barely see straight as it continued to close in on us.
I didn't see Aiden and Bret until I heard the gunshots from near one of the houses. The creature let out a strange wailing sound as blood exploded from one of its hind legs. Though it was injured it wasn't hindered much as it switched directions and honed in on my brother and Bret.
"Aiden run!" I screamed.
The two of them hurried to get out of the way but there was no slowing the momentum of the monster barreling toward them. Dropping my empty rifle I gathered every ounce of strength and speed I had within me. Unlike the mountain lion, I showed no hesitance here as I pulled my knife free. I raced at the creature and flung myself at its massive, silly putty like back. It bucked beneath me and tried to throw me off by rearing back on its hind legs but I clung as tenaciously as a tick on a dog to it as I climbed toward its head.
Bret dove through the doorway of one of the homes but Aiden was cut off from the doorway as the monster spun. A tentacle whipped wildly through the air and smacked into Aiden with a sound like that of a lobster shell cracking. I'd never heard the likes of that sound before but I knew I would never forget it. A scream of fury and agony tore through me as I grasped my knife with both hands and drove it to the hilt into the creatures head. Blood spurted over me but I barely felt it as I pulled the knife out and repeatedly drove it into the creature.
I hadn't been able to take down that mountain lion, but rage drove me now. Rage and a strength the likes of which I had never experienced before. I would destroy this thing. I would make it pay for what it had done to Aiden and I didn't care what I had to do to make that happen. Even if it meant diving into realms of myself that I had never known, or even expected, existed.
I wasn't aware of the black running through my veins, or the fact that I was still screaming, until the creature dropped out from beneath me. The breath was knocked from me, my screams silenced as I tumbled onto the ground. I caught a brief glimpse of the black threading through my arms as I rolled away from the creature and toward the prone figure of my brother.
I knew I wasn't supposed to move him but my driving urge to see him, to know, outweighed common sense as I rested my hand on his shoulder and cautiously rolled him over. A sob lodged in my throat as his head flopped to the side and his sightless eyes fell upon me. There was a moment where everything in me stopped, I didn't breathe, I was certain my heart didn't even beat as the world shattered around me.
Pain exploded through my chest, a heart wasn't supposed to feel like this, it couldn't continue to beat if it felt like this. There was no way a person could continue on when they felt like this, but even as I thought that I knew I was wrong. A person did continue on, they simply had no other choice. I most certainly didn't have a choice as my pulverized heart continued its pulsing rhythm and my breath found a way in.
"No," I choked. "No, Aiden no."
Tears spilled down my cheeks and fell upon his beloved face as my hands ran frantically over him. There was no blood but his head was flopped in that unnatural way and I could feel something jagged from his back pressing against my palm. A guttural cry tore from me as my tears fell more rapidly upon him and my hands clenched at his still warm cheeks. I bent my head and pressed my cheek against his as sobs tore from me. The tears I hadn't shed for my father and mother seemed to release now as a never ending stream poured from me. I wrapped my arms around my brother, my best friend, and buried my face in his neck as I clutched him against me
"I'm so sorry," I breathed as my fingers curled into his shirt. "Please, please don't leave us Aiden. I need you; I love you so much, please stay with me."
"Bethany, Bethy we have to go." Bret's hand fell upon my shoulder as he knelt at my side. Tears slid down his cheeks as he tried to pull me away from Aiden's broken body but I refused to release him. "We have to go."
&
nbsp; I knew that he was right, but I couldn't leave my brother here, amongst this mess, amid this death and chaos. I hadn't been able to save him but I would never leave him behind. Bending low, I slid his arm around my shoulder and lifted him onto my back. "Bethany..." Lloyd started as I braced my legs and pushed myself to my feet with far more ease than I would have thought possible given Aiden's six foot frame.
"I'm not leaving him," I grated out between my teeth.
He stared at me for a minute before giving a brisk nod. "Come on, let's get out of here."
I could barely see or breathe but somehow I managed to keep going. The ground was beginning to shake again as we neared the house where we had left Abby, Molly, Matt, Jenna and Bishop. I had to get to my sister, I couldn't lose her too. I just couldn't.
We were almost to the house when another puff of smoke emerged from the ship.
***
Cade,
Scrambling back to my feet, I didn't give the others a chance to regain their bearings as I darted toward The Fountain in the center again. The blast had ripped the front of the tree off to reveal the hideous core of the monstrous plant. The inner part of the tree was made up of the same fibrous roots that filled the pond and were now oozing blood into the water beneath. The roots or tree, maybe even both, were releasing a high pitched scream that made me wince.
I grabbed three of the vials from within my jacket. Using my thumb, I flipped the tops off of them and heaved them into the water. I didn't know if it would have any effect on the tree, or the roots, but I was going to do everything I could to take the monstrosity down. The water began to froth and foam as the roots whipped back and forth in a frenzy that churned the reddening water. The roots shot up and began to whip rapidly above the water as the screaming increased to the point that I thought my eardrums would shatter.
Raijin leapt before me when I grabbed for another bomb from inside my shirt. My hand enclosed on the syringe Bishop had given me as Raijin seized hold of my throat. I threw my arm up to knock him off, but he knocked it aside and lifted me off the ground as if I weighed no more than a child. I faked going back at him with the same arm but instead I kicked him forcefully in the stomach. A loud grunt escaped him as he was knocked back a good foot. I grabbed hold of the hand squeezing my throat and snapped it back before ripping it off of me. With the full force of my weight I swung forward and drove the syringe deep into his neck. A smile curved my mouth as his eyes widened and I pushed the plunger.
Blackness bled into his eyes; a ferocious growl erupted from him as he thrust his face into mine. Before I could prepare to defend myself again though, his face went slack and he released me. His hands clawed at the syringe still sticking out of his neck as he stumbled back. All the color drained from his face, white bubbles foamed from his mouth and a strange gurgling sound escaped him as he fell away from me.
Isis reached for him but even as she went to grab him, his eyes were rolling back into his head and he was slumping to the floor. Foam continued to spill from his mouth but I sensed no heartbeat from him anymore. It took a moment for the realization to sink in that for the first time in over seven thousand years one of The Ancients had died, and I had been the one to do it.
Isis's eyes came up to me as she comprehended what I'd done to her friend, and what had been tossed into the pool with her precious tree. An enraged bellow ripped from her as she charged across the floor toward me. Snatching up a branch that had been blown off the tree and onto the floor, I swung it up and caught her across the face as she launched at me like a pouncing tiger with hooked fingers and a loud snarl.
Blood exploded from her mouth, her cheek caved from the force of the impact. The tree tore across my palms, slicing them open as the branch was ripped from my grasp. My arms were still shaking from the force of the blow when she landed with a big splash in the water. Like a school of hungry piranha, the damaged roots surged forward to feed as they had so many times over thousands of years. A blood curdling scream ripped from Isis as the water within the pool began to churn and her blood turned it an even deeper shade of red.
Jessica yanked the syringe from Raijin's neck and I tossed her some more of the poison to fill it with. She waved the syringe in front of Forseti when he took a step toward her. A sneer curved his lip but he looked toward the other Ancients spreading out around The Fountain instead of continuing toward her. An unnatural hush fell across the room as Isis finally became still.
I pulled another bomb out, but I didn't bother to cut the wick as I lit it and threw it across the room. "Run!" I bellowed.
"No!" Agrona, silent until now, screamed as the bomb spun across the room toward what remained of the tree. Her small, spindly legs moved remarkably fast as her desperate need for survival outweighed her apprehension of us. She tried to intervene with the bomb, but it was already beyond her reach.
Jessica was the first one to hit the stairs and dash up them as fast as she could with the rest of us right behind her. Osiris was lurching for the bomb when it went off. A spray of blood shot across the room as his hand exploded like a smashed pumpkin and the remaining half of the tree was rocked backward. A loud cracking filled the air as the tree began to twist to the side.
The force of the blow had knocked me over but I regained my balance and pulled myself back to my feet using the rail of the stairs. Malsumis let out a strangled cry and lifted a massive broken limb onto his shoulder. Holding it like a spear, he heaved it forward as if it weighed no more than a twig. It moved through the air with the deadly speed and accuracy of a heat seeking missile toward Steve.
"Look out!" I shouted as I lurched forward to grab Steve.
My hand curled into the bottom of his shirt and I jerked him back as he tried to twist out of the way of the limb. It was too late though, the branch pierced through his midsection and out the other side. His hands clawed at the protruding object in his gut, his mouth dropped as blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. The force of the branch had knocked him half over the railing and there was no stopping the momentum as his shirt tore within my hand and he toppled over the rail. The sharp sound of bones breaking reverberated through the room as his body bounced off of the stairs below before plummeting out of view.
I didn't bother to look back as I propelled myself up the stairs faster. Jessica had just made it to the balcony when the loud cracking of the tree became a splintering crescendo that reverberated through the room. The air whistled through the leaves as the tree completely gave up on maintaining its hold on life.
The tree slid down the side of the stairs and crashed onto the floor with enough force to rock the ship. I grabbed hold of the rail before I could be knocked over the side of it. What was left of The Ancients scrambled to get out of the way of the tree as it bounced off of the floor. Osiris's head tilted back, he held his mangled arm up before him as he pinned me with his gaze. Even beaten and bloody there was nothing but murderous intent within those empty, shark-like eyes.
Grabbing hold of the banister, I kicked my feet onto it and braced myself as I prepared to jump off of it. The top part of the tree crashed onto the ground again as I launched myself off the railing and leapt for the balcony. My hands grasped hold of the floor of the balcony; my feet swung over open air as I tried to maintain my hold on the slippery floor. Discomfort slid through my arms as I moved myself down the balcony toward one of the rails bolted into the floor.
I was almost to the railing when hands grabbed hold of my arms. I swung my legs onto the floor of the balcony and pushed myself up while Jessica and Craig helped pull me the rest of the way over. "Go!" I shouted as I fell upon the floor and struggled to catch my breath.
I glanced back at the room, but most of it was blocked by the top half of the toppled tree. I didn't think there was any way they would be able to escape the room but to be on the safe side I pulled another bomb free and lit it. Pushing myself to my hands and feet I threw myself through the hole in the crystal as the ship heaved once more from the force of the bomb ex
ploding.
A loud groaning filled the air as the ship began to shift toward the side. The ship had become a giant slip and slide as I fought to keep my balance on the smooth, moving surface. The Tintagelians that had been outside the door began to scream as most lost the battle against the tilt of the ship and crashed into the broken crystal door.
"This way!" Jessica cried.
Bracing my feet on the floor, I placed my hands against the wall and used the tips of my shoes to pull myself forward. Too confused by what was going on, the Tintagelians around us didn't try to stop our escape as we pulled ourselves toward the stairwell we had entered through. Betty let out a small cry as she lost her hold and started to slide by me. Somehow managing to hold on with one hand, I snagged her before she could get lost amongst the crush pressed against the back wall.
I pushed Betty behind me and waited for her to brace herself again before continuing on. Finally making it to the end, I pulled myself around the corner and fell against the wall. The screams and blaring sirens followed us as we made it to the stairwell. I stared doubtfully at the single stair before us. Unlike before though, the wall was pulled back to reveal the rail and open space beyond the stairwell. It must have been some sort of emergency precaution that occurred when the alarms were set off.
"Go Jessica," I urged.
"Go where?" she demanded.
"Walk the rail."
She turned the color of snow, but as she looked back toward where we had come from, it was obvious there were no other choices. Jessica stepped onto the rail as the first of the Tintagelians behind us turned the corner. Betty and Craig stayed close on Jessica's heels as she moved out over open space. I was just stepping onto the rail when the first Tintagelian reached the stairway behind me.