The Veil (39 page)

“We had tanks.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

The convoy travelled in a long column, the Vengeful leading the way and the Gargoyles gliding silently above us. We navigated the savage landscape with care, avoiding any tall patches of grass and giving the odd trees as much of a wide birth as possible. The Unicorn and horses’ movements were tentative – their instincts warning them that this was a bad place.

My instincts were doing the same.

Soon the walls of the Darklands started to close in around us as the area narrowed into a teardrop shape. The looming, grey cliffs on each side were sheer and pot-marked by countless cave entrances. In my time as a Bloodling, I had come to understand Vampires – even the Pandemonian ones to a degree. I was sure that we were seeing countless individual Hivemind nests, all linked via a complex network of tunnels that wrapped around each other and connected in a hundred different ways.
Almost like looking inside a giant ant’s nest.

For a predator it was efficient. For prey it was deadly. 

However, the tunnel system also scratched at the suspicious part of my mind, creating a concerning question.
Wild Bloodseekers and their Hiveminds are normally only tolerant of their own kin. So why would they choose to put themselves in such close proximity to one another? Unless…
It was then that I looked closer in the small nooks of the path we were traveling down and saw the remnants of death hidden among the shadows. The phalange bones of a hand, a scattering of teeth, the shattered jawbone that the teeth had once belonged to.  

…This area isn’t just a home; it’s a mass hunting ground.

My fangs slipped down from my gums instinctually as my fight or flight instinct activated beyond my control – warning me something was coming. Next to me Mikey’s had descended as well, but he was cupping a hand over his mouth, frowning with confusion.
He feels it too; he’s just too young to trust his instincts yet.

“We need to go.
Now
!” I hissed. The message swept down the convoy. Hooves started to drum against the dirt as we burst into gallops. At the same time the invisible threat made itself known. Hundreds of faces appeared from the darkness of the caves, the blank expressions of nested Bloodlings, their tattered clothes revealing the countless eras they had been stolen from – dragged through the Veil to serve as faithful watchdogs.

A series of loud hisses escaped the Bloodlings’ throats and then they surged towards us, tumbling right over the narrow edges of the cliffs and landing with sickening crunches on the ground behind us. They rose to their feet and surged forward as a series of humanoid waves, rushing behind us as we charged forward. The Vengeful fell back and created a protective line at our rear, but I wasn’t about to let children fight my battles for me.

I threw my hand up at my Gargoyle. “Protect the Vengeful!” I shouted.

Mikey yelled for his to do the same, and the two stone beasts dived into the chaos, as the Vengeful took pot shots over their shoulders with their gunpikes, the energy beams ripping through the sea of Nested and sending several of the mindless Bloodlings tumbling to the ground, where they were swept over by the others. The Gargoyles soared backwards, winching open their mouths and blasting down twin streams of fire – which were the dull grey of stone, their light stolen by the darkness, but their heat just as powerful. They scorched the path directly behind the Vengeful and consumed the front section of the surging Vampires in the devastating blaze. All of the Guardians around me pulled out their weapons and started firing wooden rounds and stakes at the surging mass. Sophia fitted a mask with a protruding wooden blade around a hawk-form Midnight’s head and then released him. He swooped among the Nested, stabbing the blade into their hearts and throats, reducing them to flaming ashes.  

Just as I motioned to pull out my own gun, something hit me hard in the shoulder and I fell from Picera’s back, hitting the ground hard and tumbling under the hooves of the charging Unicorns, who whinnied and vaulted over me. Before I could even see what had hit me, a blue hand clasped around my arm and I was dragged onto skating feet by Aran. I tried to climb back up as her Unicorn, Orshien, thundered down the winding passage, but we were moving far too fast and I kept tripping over my own feet as I was dragged along. Only Aran’s iron-strong hand kept me from hitting the ground again. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something charging after me – the same thing that had hit me and knocked me off Picera. I didn’t need to see it properly, its hot reeking scent told me everything I needed to know.

Hivemind.

“You got me?” I shouted up at Aran. The Urisk was leaning forward, face calm and blank, but her shoulder trembling from the strain, and monochrome hair streaming behind her. She turned to give me a single nod.

I took a deep breath and focused, waiting for the right moment. In the distance, a jutting section of rock poked from the edge of the pass, giving me the opportunity I needed.

Now!

I jumped up and stamped both feet down onto the rock, using the momentum to pounce into the air. I pivoted and came back down, with my feet pressed against Orshien’s side and the arm that clutched Aran’s hand between my own legs. One handed, I pulled a Coffin Nailer gun from my Kapre belt and stuffed it into my mouth, clamping my fangs hard against the cold metal as I grabbed a magazine of wooden stakes. I slammed the rounds in and loaded the gun, cocked it with my teeth and then pulled it out of my mouth, aiming. The Hivemind was gaining on me fast, the first of many who were diving from the cliffs, no doubt sent by their Bloodseeker masters to join the fray, kill the ones they couldn’t consume, and then catch something to feast on. Its jaws were wide and salivating, its black glistening eyes unblinking as it focused on its goal.

I squeezed the trigger.

The gun cracked like a whip as it unloaded a stake, punching right into the space between the Hivemind’s eyes. The creature’s legs folded underneath its body and dissolved into burning ash, joined a split second later by its torso and lower back, until the last thing that could be seen were its hind legs appearing to dive into a pool of grey cinders. I kept unleashing rounds, killing as many Hiveminds as I could.

They kept coming.

Hiveminds poured from the cave openings in a furious storm of fangs and razor claws, the fortunate ones hitting ground just behind the Vengeful’s horses and giving chase, the unfortunate piling into the tidal wave of Nested Bloodlings that rushed behind us, and joining them as they burned in the scorching flames that poured ceaselessly from the jaws of the Gargoyles. Those that were closing in on us did so with the frenzy of attack dogs, their bloodlust singular and unwavering – they even howled and snapped at each other when a rival nest’s Hivemind gained advantage.

I could feel Aran’s grip weakening. Her neck muscles were tight and her arm was trembling, but still she kept hunched forward as we thundered through the chaos literally rushing in from all round us. I tried to climb up, but I couldn’t get enough grip and I knew that Aran was too weak to do it. So I shouted as loudly as I could to the skies.

“Get me!”

A moment later a set of stone claws hooked under my armpits and I felt myself being hoisted high into the air. I continued to shoot at the chasing Hiveminds until the clip of the Coffin Nailer was spent. Stuffing the gun back into my belt, I used my free hand to grab onto the Gargoyle’s wing and swing myself onto its smooth back. From my higher position, I could see that the passage opened back up a few kilometres ahead. In the far distance, there was something long and bright somehow shimmering against the deep darkness, like a knife slash against a black canvass. I could also see that the Darkland Vampires had changed their tactics and were now emerging from the caves up ahead.

If I don’t do something, then they will have us pinned down.

“Speed up!” I commanded the Gargoyle, and instantly it broke away from the pack, surging so fast it made my hair whip around my head like living flames. I grabbed hold of both of its horns and slapped one of them with my palm. “Turn your head in the direction I pull!” I shouted as loud as I could above the thundering sound of Unicorn hooves and hissing Vampires. The Gargoyle gave a guttural sound of understanding. As we tore ahead, something appeared at the side of me, and I turned my head to see Mikey flying on his own Gargoyle. Instead of his usual grin, he was wearing a focused expression…true to his promise; he was taking things very seriously.

“What about the horde on our tail?” I shouted.

“Thinned out! I think we’ve killed most of them. The Vengeful and Lightwardens can deal with the rest.”

“We haven’t killed most of them!” I pointed ahead at the waiting mass of Nested and Hiveminds. “They’ve changed tactics!”

“Shit! So what do we do?” he shouted.

“We need to clear a path!” I yelled back. “Use the Gargoyle’s horns to control the directions of its flames. You take right and I’ll take left.”

He nodded and then shouted something I couldn’t quite hear over the echoing chaos that was happening in the valley beneath us. His Gargoyle banked to the right and flew parallel to the caves. I guided my Gargoyle left, gripping the stone horns as tight as I could, feeling the punch of gravity hitting my stomach as we rocketed towards the caves. We reached the point just before the still masses of waiting Hiveminds. I pulled the Gargoyle’s left horn, and it cranked its head in the same direction. I signalled Mikey to mirror my actions.

I could sense the Vampire hordes’ energy, could feel them wound like coiled springs, ready to release and rain down at the approaching convoy from above.

“Flames!” I commanded.

The creature opened its wide jaws and released a searing jet of light-starved fire down at the caves. A series of sickening screeches filled the passage, as the immensurable heat of the flames consumed flesh and bone, reducing our enemies to cinders. Those who weren’t instantly transformed to dust burned with grey flames and fell to the ground, writhing in agony and dissolving as their fire ravaged their bodies. Thick, smouldering clouds rolled up behind the sweeping Gargoyle, carrying with it the eye-watering stench of burning flesh and bone. Opposite, Mikey was clearing his own side of the path, his Gargoyle leaving a trail of smoke in its wake, like the contrails of a rudimentary plane. Out of nowhere a set of Hivemind claws wrapped around the jaw of my Gargoyle, scrambling against stone as it tried to climb onto its back. Glistening eyes stared wide at me as, somewhere in the fading part of its mind that still retained some primordial sense of individuality, it knew that it was going to fall. I pulled out a cocktail gun and loaded a wood shavings round, slipping it into the chamber. I aimed the gun right at its face and it snapped out its jaws, clamping them against the metal and letting out a high-pitched sound of aggression.

“Sorry.”

I pulled the trigger and the round snapped into its mouth. As the capsule broke apart and released its contents, the Hivemind’s throat started to break apart, dissolving into strands and then away into nothing. The Hivemind’s head fell first, followed shortly by its crumbling body, which was crushed by the hooves of Iralia’s Unicorn.  

Soon there were no more chasing Vampires.

I took a deep breath and put my gun back into my belt. Glancing over at Mikey, our gaze connected, and for the first time he allowed one of his cheeky grins. I smiled back and then pointed down at his un-mounted Unicorn. He nodded in understanding and a second later his Gargoyle peeled back towards the other Guardians.

I patted the side of the Gargoyle’s head. “Good job. Return me now.”

The Gargoyle looped in the air, forcing me to hold onto its horns with tight hands, and doubled back towards the others. I waited until I was almost at Picera and then vaulted from its back, landing in reverse on the Unicorn. Raising a leg, I swivelled around and took the reins again. “Good girl,” I said, patting the side of her neck.

We emerged from the canyon passage and out into more flatlands that were practically a carbon copy of the initial area of the Darklands. More of the same black dirt, sinister pulsing trees and more of the toxic grass. I glanced over my shoulder and saw nothing but curling clouds of smoke and the distant, charred ashes of our pursuers. There were no more waves of Nested and no more Hiveminds giving chase.

“Stop!” I called out, and we drew to a halt. “Is everyone okay?” I asked, turning Picera around so that I could see the group as a whole. 

“We are both fine,” said Lightwarden Udan.

“I’m good,” said Mikey.

“Never been better,” said Iralia. She gave a contented sigh. “It feels good to be part of the action again. I was sure that after the whole Yeth invasion thing was over, I’d be back on desk duty again.”

I frowned and then looked at Sophia. She was cradling Midnight against her chest, removing the wooden mask and stroking his feathers gently. “Are you okay Sophia?”

“I’m fine.”

“And Midnight?”

“He’s torn a wing. Nothing too serious, but he’ll need to rest for a while.”

“Okay, we can rest once we reach Death’s Backbone.” I looked over at Aran who was sitting on the back of her Unicorn, her face as blank as washed slate, as always. “Are you okay?

“Aran has dislocated the glenohumeral joint.” The Urisk grabbed her own arm and wrenched it to the side, her shoulder producing a nauseating popping sound. “The issue has been rectified.”