Edge of Endarys

Reunion

We stopped in Solmere. It made me think of Raven. I wondered where she was and if Quinton was with her. It must've been very hard for her to have the man who raised her—who, for all extensive purposes, she called father and friend—join forces with her sister to bring forth the destruction of her home. I wished I could talk to her. I wished I had a link to her so I would know where she was and how she was doing.

"We will find your friends, Sweetling," Dad said.

"How did you...oh, I forgot. This is going to take some getting used to. A father should so not be allowed to read his teenaged daughter's mind."

He chuckled and looked around. The city was dead. It wasn't just quiet, it was too quiet. It was early in the morning when we got there. There should've been bakers up preparing to open, baking donuts or something. There should've been some kind of hustle and bustle in the shops preparing to open for their customers.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Love. It's way too calm."

The horse was nervous and started fidgeting.

Deshawn jumped off his horse and walked around. "We can't stay." He sniffed the air the touched the ground feeling the dirt between his fingertips. "Death is near."

"Your orders, Jorlar?" Silver asked.

Dad was totally calm. "First of all, Deshawn, get back on your horse. If death is near I would prefer not to have yet another reason for Abbey to hate me."

Deshawn chuckled and remounted.

"Cricket, hold on to me tightly and don't let go."

I wrapped my arms around him. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Just don't let go." Dad glanced at Aaron. "Jor Breen."

"I will take this side. My brother will take the other."

Dad nodded and they took off down opposite alleys. I heard the sound of the horses' hooves echoing off the walls as they clomped down the cobblestone streets.

"Let's go." Dad pushed his horse up to a trot and kept watch all around him.

"I'll scout ahead," said Deshawn. He took off down the road.

"Dad?"

"Quiet."

He kept listening to the air. He moved through the town like a cat trying to sneak away with a chicken wing. Then, I heard it. There were creepy moans of hundreds of people. A crowd of people came up behind us. They were moving slowly but they seemed to have a purpose. They held out their arms and made groping motions with their hands as they came toward us.

"Zombies!" I screamed.

"It would appear we're much later than I thought," Dad said.

He pushed the horse into a full gallop. I'm not sure how much more running the poor animal could do but he seemed more than willing to put distance between us and the zombies.

We caught up to Deshawn who was fighting off another zombie horde near the edge of town with a large piece of metal pipe. His horse was extremely afraid. It was amazing to see him control that horse and try to fight off an attack.

"What do they want?" I asked.

"You," Deshawn shouted. "Serena's spirit has turned them into her puppets. It's the first sign that the end is near. They're slow which means she might not strong enough to take so many of them out of the village."

"She can control people?"

"It's a blanket sort of power," Dad said. "She's strong enough to cover a small area with her will. All she needs to know is your location but she can't keep it up for long. She has much more power than you told me, Cricket." Dad held me close. "Deshawn, out of the way!"