The sunrise was hours away, but we didn't stop moving even for a minute. Surrounded by thick darkness, the alluring shuffle of a night forest was all that surrounded us. Occasionally in the distance, I caught the noise of airplane and honking of the truck on a highway. I knew we were close to a habitat land, but we still needed to find the nearest town and figure out our location.
The moist air engulfed my lungs making my breathing labored, and my body was so heated up that I couldn't feel the temperature around me. It was a familiar body condition. All my muscles were tense, working for one and the same cause — to make my body obey and keep pushing myself further.
"I think we need to take a break," I heard Oengus complain. Involuntarily my lips twitched, finding humor in his demand. He was hundred present of what I was only half, and he was already tired.
"Wimp," I coughed into my fist.
"Excuse me," Oengus stopped walking. Even in complete darkness under a faint moonlight, I could see his amused face.
"I said," I pronounced clearly and coughed again, "wimp."
"We've been on the move since this noon. I didn't even have a piss stop," he scowled. "The last time I had to walk so much was eight centuries ago when I had to travel from Exeter to Dorchester on foot."
"Right," I muttered. "The last time I had to travel anywhere was from Chicago Illinois to South Dakota. And it was after months of being tortured."
Oengus scoffed. "How long are you going to hold a grudge? It's been fifty good years since then."
"For you," I made a bored expression even though he couldn't see me and I really didn't need to pretend to be affected by anything he said. I wasn't completely emotionless. My emotions were there just under a dormant spell. When I mentioned my months in captivity a very tiny flare of irritation managed to stir inside of me. I almost rejoiced at the feeling. It was far from the rage that sometimes could consume me and definitely not a happy emotion, but nonetheless, it was something to take a notice of. "For me, it was only a few months ago."
"Right..." he trailed off. "Anyway...back to the subject. We need to take a break. I know you're tough and all, but let's be rational, shell we?"
"Fine," I huffed. "Let's take a break."
I slipped the straps off my shoulders and dropped my backpack on the ground. From a side pocket, I pulled out a bottle of water and made several small sips. From my left, I heard a rustle of plastic and scowled silently at Oengus. He had no surviving skills whatsoever. I closed the cap on the bottle and put it back. From another pocket I withdrew a pack of dry snack and nestling comfortably on the ground started shoving piece by piece into my mouth.
Inhaling deeply I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sounds around me. The air was sweet with the rusty woodsy aftertaste. I swallowed down the flavor that accumulated on my tongue and made my body relax a little. There were no people near us on miles, though if it were up to me, I'd continue walking until I reached a human town. The best bet was to buy a bus ticket and travel as far as the bus would go. Better yet travel towards Canada and cross the border unnoticed at some public resort like Niagara Falls.
I felt movement behind my back and tensed. Something fell with a thud next to me followed by a groan.
"Like in good old days," Oengus muttered. "Sleeping on the ground minus bonfire."
"You're the one who wanted to make a stop. Better enjoy it." I replied feeling instant relief.
"Thanks, I will," he snapped and sat down on the ground. "By the way, you stink."
"You too," I snapped back shoving the pack of dry food back into the pocket.
In the big compartment of my backpack, I found my winter jacket that I wore in New York. Swiftly I pushed my arms into the sleeves and using the backpack for a pillow laid down on the ground.
The Good thing was that it didn't rain recently, and the ground was dry. I tightened the jacket around me and began staring into the night forest. There wasn't much to look at. The night dressed everything in one deep dark brown color. The trees, the soil, the grass — all was merged into one living substance. On the background, I was still hearing Oengus grumbling, but soon even that became a distant whisper.
I flipped onto my back and fixed my gaze at a starry sky. The stars were twinkling, winking at me cheerfully, though of course, I couldn't find anything cheerful about that. The atmosphere was different. Something ominous was floating up in the air making the winking of starts look mocking.
The trail of my thoughts got cut off by overwhelming peacefulness. I didn't even notice how everything faded into oblivion. My consciousness was drifting in the blackness until a strange feeling paralyzed me from inside out and my eyes flew open. I turned my head to look at Oengus, finding him sitting next to me wide-awake. His face was hard and gaze directed ahead of him into the forest. The Sunrise was an hour away, but the darkness began graying, making the majority of the surrounding distinctive. I sat up straight and started looking in the same direction as him.
The noises of night animals and the shuffle of leaves in the wind seemed like sucked into a vacuum. All was too quiet. As quiet as I remember it to be. And my skin was prickling with awareness. The thickening emptiness confirmed my suspicious.
"They are here," I said in a whisper.
"About thirty or so," he replied under his breath reaching for his travel bag.
I followed his example, blindly finding my backpack and dragging it towards me. Softly, I placed the straps on my shoulders while watching Oengus opening the zipper of his bag. Inside was a big stack of cash and three guns that were carelessly lying on top of money. He grabbed all three throwing me one and zipped the bag. A long strap that was attached to his travel bag he pulled over his head and rested the bag on his shoulder behind his back. I looked around to make sure that we took everything and slowly rose to my feet.
My skin was vibrating with electricity. I scanned the area for a nice thick three and finding it just in a few feet away urged Oengus to follow me.
"Stay with you back to the tree," I told him. "I'll be right in front of you."
"How heroic of you," he muttered sarcastically but did as I say heading towards the tree.
"Yes, indeed. Make sure not to get hit. I can deal with the defense, but once you're out...we both are." I followed him stepping carefully on the leafy ground.
"You need to grow another twenty inches for me to stay comfortably behind," he said leaning on the tree slightly bending his body to shrink himself to fit behind me. My lips twitched in a faint smirk, finding his remark funny.
"Happy hiding," I said and turned around setting my stare at the dark gray vegetation ahead of me. "Oh yes," I whispered knowing that he could hear me. "Try not to touch me and thanks for the gun." I removed the safety and put my finger on the trigger. I didn't have long practice at shooting, this was my first time holding a real firing gun in my hand, but I grasped the idea of how to use it. Moreover, had all the personal skills that allowed me to press the trigger without batting a lash.
Behind me, I heard two clicks and in a second two handguns appeared near my head, sticking over my shoulder just a few inches of my personal space that was electrified with burning sensation of danger.
For a moment silence fell upon us. Even the wind has stilled expecting some kind of action to happen. Slowly I inhaled fresh, slightly humid air and as slowly exhaled. My fingers stiffened the gun. I lifted my hand and made the first shot in the direction that my intuition suggested me in a whisper.
"Alive!" followed a command after the gunshot was fired.
I swallowed collected on my tongue bitterness watching the shifting in the bushes to my left.
Not waiting for my reaction Oengus pointed one of the guns towards the bushes and made two shots. Then he made three more and ducked behind me. I could feel his muted excitement. His desire of bloody battle. I could feel my own excitement. The danger that was following us for days now finally got to us. It was time to fight.
Suddenly, the armed men began appearing from behind the trees. They were moving noiseless, mixing with the woodsy background. But before any of them could get closer Oengus and I would shoot them down, preserving me from using my gift and exposing my real potential.
After fifteen men were down everything stilled again. Some of them were humans, and some were feras. Feras souls were leaking out in a black substance from the host bodies and vanishing into the ground with a painful hiss.
"I'm out of the bullets," Oengus whispered behind me. And so was I.
"That was the whole point," a tall man replied stepped into the view. "Strategy and planning. Step one: surround the enemy. Step two: exhaust his weapon potential. Step three: capture or kill." He said clapping his hands in a cheerful manner. "But what do I see... Older brother Oengus. A legend of his own. The most promising leader of the entire dark kingdom is in the company of a pesky human girl."
"A very important pesky human girl," Oengus corrected in his calm and superior voice. "dear half brother...Abysmal."
"Ah!" The man chuckled. "Details...details...who pays attention to these little details nowadays?"
"Apparently, I'm old fashioned," Oengus returned briskly. "I see Tyr didn't want to stain his hands in the dirt and had sent his minions to do the job for him. How typical of him. I hope you brought more men with you."
"I think we doing just fine the way it is," the man smirked. His features were concealed by darkness, but blazing of his eyes was bright enough to see confidence written in them.
"Ah! Youth...arrogance... tsk...tsk...tsk..." Oengus sighed dreamily.
The man cleared his throat. "Enough of this. Why don't you give the girl to me and we can peacefully part. I can even send you some money. Your ascetic way of living for the past fifty years brought your money and power to zero. From what I heard you're bankrupt with no place to stay..."
"News travel fast. BUT, the girl stays with me. Do you want to go with that big charming man, Stacy?"
I nearly rolled my eyes but said nothing. This civil conversation was getting old. My hands were itching for something to do.
"See, she doesn't want. Send hello to my brother from me."
The man smirk grew wider. "Who said I was going to give her to him...Who said I need her to be alive... Fire!"
Suddenly a muted noise of a bang erupted in the air and with wide eyes I watched bullets from all around flying towards me. Bang! Bang! Bang, bang! - Was all my ear could catch in the silent cacophony. It was almost a symphony, just without the actual music.
In a moment a wall of bullets and metal dust was building around my body. If not for my absolutely collected state of being I would suffocate in that metallic barrier. My hands collected the bullets from the place of my face in a heap, letting the rest fall to the ground with a clink, and instantly my eyes connected with the man who now stood only a few feet away.
"Bad choice," I said calmly feeling my demonic side resurrecting from a deep nap. I brought the bullets to my mouth and blew on them forcing them fly back in the direction of the bushes.
"She is..." Abysmal opened his mouth but didn't have time to finish the sentence. My bare hand shot out, and I touched his face instantly sending him flying into the tree.
"Summon the fera, Oengus. As their superior, they will listen."
"How do you know?" he mused clearly pleased with the outcome of the battle.
"Oh, I know. Some of them belong to me."
"Interesting," he muttered under his breath, but right after that began whispering the words in the old language.