Trees and shrubs fell back in streaks dark of woodland colors. From the moment they leapt from the truck and began their pursuit of Brett's killer, a powerful force surged through Davidar. His brother had a couple of steps on him and seemed to be gaining ground on the silent assassin.
The man they chased moved with the grace of a black leopard. He stepped between two trees and shimmied up them, one foot at a time. When he reached the top, he soared to an outcropping of rocks.
Davidar stopped.
Dram followed the man up the trees, climbing like an expert. Davidar sensed danger as the stalker stood on the rocky ledge, his sword drawn, ready to strike.
"Dram! Don't!"
The warning came too late. Dram had already reached the ledge. The sword moved so fast, that Davidar could barely discern its whereabouts. Luckily Dram did, because he ducked, dodged, and outmaneuvered several slices, jabs, and chops. None of the blows landed.
Energy built in Davidar's legs. He crouched and pushed his will into the ground. A hole imploded in the earth below him. He launched into the air. The man, still busy taking swipes at Dram, didn't notice.
Davidar landed beside the scrappers. Ribs crunched below the man's right arm as he raised his sword. The shock of the blow made him lose his grip. His sword clinked against the rocks. The dark soldier toppled back down the cliff and landed with a solid thud.
"Wow," Dram said. "I can't believe he didn't hit me."
A low roar came from the thicket below. The man stood. His clothes ripped. Muscles burst through torn seams. Coarse gray hairs emerged through the dark skin. Several loud grunts came from him. If he had been a man, he wasn't anymore.
Davidar took Dram by the shoulder. "I don't think we're finished."
Claws burst through the creature's gloves. It dug into the side of the cliff and crawled up like a spider.
Dram shoved Davidar. While in the air, he adjusted and did a backflip. It didn't work. He landed on his stomach, ten feet away . . . in a patch of green shrubbery. When he looked up at the two tussling on the rocks, he saw streaks of blood blossoming across Dram's chest. With each additional swipe of its razor-sharp talons, more lines of crimson appeared.
Dram dropped to his knees and spit blood.
This time, Davidar ran at full speed and tackled the creature. The two slid over the side of the mountain and busted through branches until they landed on the hard dirt below. Once again Davidar found himself on his back, the creature above him poised to make a killing blow.
Move to the right!
He obeyed the internal command and quickly turned onto his side. In his periphery, he noticed a large figure fall from the top of the cliff. The creature's sword sank through the top of its head, exited through the jawline, and stuck in the ground. Its blade missed Davidar's back by centimeters. Its body flopped around in defeat.
Davidar scurried out from under the beast. A large black hand reached down and picked him off the ground. Treylor stood in triumph over the body.
Dram dropped to the ground in front of them. "How'd you know where we were?"
Their soon-to-be brother, pulled the sword from the creature and let the husk slump to the forest floor. "Your mother seems to know everything that's going on with her family members. And we could all smell the blood. Are you okay, Dram?"
"Yeah. A bit worse for wear, but damn, that was cool."
Treylor looked Davidar over. "You're good." He crouched on one knee and unsnapped the creature's helmet. "By all the gods." His eyes went wide as he slowly revealed the monster's face.
"What in the galaxies is that thing?" Dram asked.
"I can't believe it." Treylor shook his head in silence.
Davidar had the same question. "You've seen the creature before?"
Treylor nodded. "But this is impossible." He interlaced his thick fingers in the creature's white mane and pulled its head back.
Its eyes looked human except for the red tint to its irises. The nose had ripples of thick skin on either side and it had an upturned snout. Fangs jutted from its lower jaw, which nearly touched its upper lips. The rest of the body had those rugged hairs all over. To Davidar, they felt like pine needles.
Treylor picked up the body. "We need to examine this back at the ship." He darted into the trees and disappeared.
"Amazing. He didn't tell us what it was." Dram wiped the blood from the sword on the leg of his flight suit. "I'll be keeping this."
"What in the seven hells happened here?" Jimmy Boy called from several yards away.
Davidar had heard him as he cautiously moseyed behind them.
Jimmy Boy leaned down, dipped his finger in the creature's blood, and smelled it. "Holy shit! That ain't human." With a handful of dirt, he cleaned his finger. "That's worse than day-old deer guts, damn. Where's the body?"
"Oh, it's ..." Dram began.
"Down the hill." Davidar interrupted.
Jimmy Boy cocked his eye at Dram. "You okay, kiddo?"
Dram stuck his finger in one of the holes and stretched the suit. Beneath the blood-soaked material was pristine skin.
"Must have been the guy's blood." Davidar hoped to throw Jimmy off the scent this time.
"Mmm, hmm." He knew Jimmy Boy wasn't buying it.
Dram closed his shirt. "We should be getting back to the truck, yeah?"
Jimmy Boy hiked his camouflaged boot onto the stump and rested his arms on his knee. He spat out a wad of black goo. "You two better tell me exactly what the hell is going on here. I ain't letting you near those kids until you tell me who you are."
Davidar shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. If we tell you who we are, you'd get frightened and run away. We've been shown how your kind treats ours."
Jimmy slapped his hand on his knee and smiled. His teeth had the same black gunk on them. With the finger he used to smell the blood, he scooped at his bottom lip and flicked the remnants of whatever was onto the ground.
"All I wanna know is the damn truth. Humans can be such short-sighted bastards. I knew that wasn't a Russian or European spacecraft." He sighed. "But I guess you ain't here to hurt us since you killed the one that got poor Brett."
The truck roared to life in the distance. "If they aren't back here in two minutes, we're leaving them," Jason said.
Go with the children. We will handle things here.
Yes, mother.
"The children are leaving. We need to get back down to the truck." Davidar looked one more time at the puddle of blood. Snow turned to steam with every consecutive drop. The sun peaked through the dense forest. He followed a beam down to a cliff. The same cliff Dram and the killer had fought.
"Jimmy Boy." Dram stepped in front of the man, blocking his way back to the truck.
"Yup." He fiddled with the cigarette behind his ear.
"Would you kindly not tell the kids what you learned about us? I mean, we don't want to frighten them more than they already are."
"I guess. I'll keep it quiet for a bit. If you two jack monkeys promise not to mess with my mind or do anything to harm those kids and Marcie. Got it?"
Dram nodded. "Yeah, okay. I promise."
Davidar held out his hand. "I promise as well."
Jimmy Boy took Davidar's hand and shook it with conviction. "Okay then. We got a dead kid to clean up and tons of explaining to do. Marcie's gonna shit bricks."
They followed Jimmy Boy back. The kids had wrapped Brett in a sleeping bag with the top tied shut and put him in the bed of the truck. Jimmy Boy took Brett's spot in the back seat with Matt and Eve. Davidar, Dram, and Dustin sat with their backs to the cab.
Spots of light landed on his sleeve. He pulled up the material and touched the glow on his skin. The area under felt warm and soft. With the nail of his index finger, he pushed against the skin until a drop of blood dripped down his arm. When he moved his arm out of the light, the small tear in his epidermis stitched back together. It's the reason the creature could nearly kill Dram on the cliff. They had an allergy on Earth. One which would never go away. It rises in the east . . . sets in the west.
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Shall we see what Katelyn, Ralia, and Misha are up to?