One
Nearly one year later…
The inky black sky above is littered with feathered clouds, lighted by vivid bursts of red and green, which mirror the battle below. A near constant rumble rises from the ground as I press my palms into the cold, moist earth. The spider drones are on the move.
The hairs along my arms rise in warning a split second before a red laser zings past my cheek, charring the raven hairs that fall about my face. Mud splatters against my forehead when I raise a hand to shield my eyes as the ground erupts less than ten feet ahead. The scent of burnt swamp muck stings my nose as a rain of slimy mud pelts down upon us.
“I’d say we’re getting close,” I whisper over my shoulder to my second-in-command. The young man beside me turns and silently passes on the message to the rest of our squadron.
He inches closer and breathes his questions into my ear. “Where to now?”
Wiping my hands free of the frigid and dank-smelling mud, I dip my head once more to trace my finger along the weathered paper map. A thin black line marks our entry path and continues on toward our target. One of Commander Drakon’s bases lies just in front of us.
We will have to belly crawl through half a foot of putrid slush and God knows what else to reach the wall, but I’ve been through worse.
“We’re heading just north of the fighting.” I point toward the southern gate where all the laser fireworks have converged. Even as I speak, green and red lasers connect in midair and explode back to Earth in a shower of fragmented color. “We need to veer off now. Send your men to the wall. We’ll go around and meet up on the other side.”
With a cutting hand motion, Carleon signals his men to move off. I notice much of his hair has been plastered to his head, the mud only a few shades lighter than his own short-cropped hair. His eyes are wide and alert as the squelching sounds of boots fade and another volley bursts overhead. “Our enemy is getting antsy.”
I tuck the map into the front of my jacket before zipping it up to my chin with fingers stiff from the cold. It will be a miracle if the map manages to survive the trek through the marshlands that surround the base like a moat.
I don’t like swamps or the creepy crawly things that live in them. Wolves, bears, and mountain lions I can handle, but I don’t do snakes. I’m just praying with winter well on its way, the snakes will have gone to ground. “Drakon’s men know they are surrounded. What would you do?”
“Probably head to the canteen and down as many sodas as I could.” My eyebrow rises with amusement. Carleon shrugs out of his pack. He won’t need it once we’re through the wall. “What? I’ve grown to like the stuff.”
I laugh softly and shake my head. Leave it to him to think with his stomach at a time like this. “Should I leave you behind to have a snack, then?”
“And miss all of the good stuff? Nah. I’ll stick with you.” He raises two laser pistols and checks the power gauge. Full charge. “Besides, I want to see the look on Drakon’s face when he surrenders to you.”
That is what I look forward to most.
When we first received notification that Drakon was back on Earth, Kyan was concerned with how the news would affect my training. To be honest, I think things couldn’t have gotten any worse.
I’m struggling… again.
My boyfriend Eamon thinks that’s why I’m here, leading this mission, but that’s only a half-truth. I need to be here, need to feel the thrill of making a difference. Ever since the City fell to our command over a year ago, I have been trapped within its confines. What I need is space.
No. I need a good fight.
“Eamon’s soldiers did a good job breaching the front gate. It’s almost as if he wants to make this easy on us.” I smile tightly at the men around me. Seven have placed their lives in my hands. I know three of them well, but the others only by name.
I remove a pair of binoculars from my pants pocket and train them on the wall. It’s hard to get a clear line of sight with the web of lasers flashing brightly in my scope. I tuck them back into my pocket and hope Eamon is in position. “The base is cut off and our men should be in place. Let’s move out.”
“You ready for this?” Carleon asks, grinning from ear to ear. His breath hangs in thick clouds before his mouth. The temperatures are dropping rapidly now that the sun has set.
Great. That’s going to make this trip through the mud that much more pleasant, I grumble silently to myself.
Since the first time I met Carleon, on the day we infiltrated and brought the City to its knees, he has always been the first to leap into battle. His walnut eyes grow wide with excitement and he bounces on his toes, ready for anything. His enthusiasm during a fight never ceases to amaze me, even after fighting at his side through countless skirmishes.