Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series (12 page)

Emily looked up at him, and then back to David as he lay, cowering on the ground.

She walked over to him and knelt down, “Where is he?”

David looked up into Emily’s eyes and understood, “Please… don’t…”

“Where is he?” she demanded, in a voice that was uncharacteristic for her size.

David’s body shook with fear, “He’s in Nevada.”

Kyle looked at Emily, amazed. She was getting more information out of this one heku than all of the death crews combined.

“Nevada is a big state, David,” Emily said, almost sweetly.

“I don’t know anything more, I swear,” David whispered, his entire body shaking. He dropped back to the ground and screamed. Murmurs came from the troops as they watched curiously. One of the heku they understood as a superior officer was writhing around on the ground in pain as the frail mortal girl watched him.

David’s body finally fell silent and he began to beg, “Stop please… he’s in Orovada.”

Emily stood up and scanned the troops, then blushed when she realized they were all watching her. She glanced down to David who was still crying on the ground.

“Get him back to the prison,” Kyle said, watching David. Three of the guards broke rank and picked him up by the arms, hauling him off to the dungeons.

Emily turned to Kyle, “I’m going, and we’re leaving now.”

He whispered to her, “We can’t leave tonight. We aren’t ready.”

Emily looked at the Equites, “When?”

“When we are ready. This isn’t going to be as easy as the last time. This time they are ready and waiting for us. I’m sure David has filled them in on everything we’ve done, so we have to re-do all of the strategy and tactics. We have to come up with a whole new plan,” he said sadly.

Emily set her jaw, “I’m going.”

“Em…” He looked at her.

“I can kill more heku than any of them,” she said, pointing toward the gathered forces.

“I know, but they want you. We’d be handing you over.” He was watching her eyes and knew he couldn’t stop her.

“I’m going, and we leave in the morning,” she said as she walked past him and stood with the commanding ranks.

Kyle sighed, “He’s going to kill me,” he grumbled as he faced the troops.

“We leave in the morning. Get with your troop Commanders and make final preparations,” Kyle called out to the 725 gathered heku.

Emily joined Kyle as he talked to his troops. “We’re the second in, we take the southernmost side of the city and work our way to the middle. The orders are simple… kill anyone you see, check every door, every vent, every wall.”

Deep into the night the troops were given orders, practiced formations, and finalized orders for the morning.

“Sir,” one of the heku called to Kyle.

“What?” he asked, not paying much attention.

“We’ve already lost a troop member,” the heku said, laughing.

Kyle turned to him and followed his stare. Off to the side, Emily was curled up on the grass, asleep.

Kyle shook his head, “Just let her sleep.” He slipped off his coat and laid it over her.

“Is she really coming with us?” one of the heku asked from the ranks, nervously.

Kyle nodded, “Yes, she is.”

“The Chief Enforcer will kill us if anything happens to her.”

“No, he’ll kill me. It was my decision,” Kyle assured them.

“Is there a team assigned to protect her?”

“No, I’ll do that myself. You focus on your task and leave Emily to me,” Kyle said sternly.

Emily crawled into the front of the black Suburban and Kyle slid in next to her.

“Feels weird leading a war in a Suburban,” Emily said, looking out the heavily shaded windows.

“How else were we supposed to get there?” Kyle asked as he pulled off the ferry and set out for Nevada.

“How long?” Emily watched the terrain fly by.

“48 hours should be about right,” he said.

Emily picked up her book and began to read with her feet perched on the dashboard.

“Em,” Kyle said quietly.

She looked over at him.

“You and I, we aren’t going with the rest of them.”

“What?” she asked angrily.

“No, no, we’ll be there… but we’re going to break off. You need to find Chevalier,” he said, watching the road.

“I am? How? You’re the one with the senses,” she said, confused.

“I need you to at least try to find him. Your bond is tight, and I think if you try, you may be able to find him before we do.” Kyle was hopeful.

***

Chevalier glared at the door. He could feel Emily moving closer to him, and his mind raged. How could they let her come? What did she do to talk Kyle into this dangerous situation? He swore under his breath to make them pay if one hair on her head was harmed.

Chevalier was suddenly assaulted by the shock of electricity. His body tensed and pulled against the chains as the electricity flowed uninterrupted.

“You said this should work?” a heku said from the doorway.

“Yes, it won’t kill him, but it’ll keep him in enough pain he won’t be able to get loose. We’ll give him a few days, and then we’ll see if he’s willing to cooperate,” the other said, and they left, shutting the door behind him.

***

“Emily, wake up,” Kyle said, touching her shoulder lightly.

She looked up and saw sand, miles and miles of sand, “We’re here?”

“Close enough… we’re running the rest of the way, it’s quieter.” He got out of the Suburban and the others followed suit, leaving a long line of black Suburban’s and busses along the Nevada desert road.

Emily got out and moved to Kyle, “Run?”

Kyle grinned, “It’s ok, I’ll carry you.”

“Ugh, seriously?” she asked, embarrassed.

“You can’t keep up with us, and you’d not make it the 90 miles anyway.” Kyle was adjusting a belt with odd tools around it.

“You’re going to carry me, running, for 90 miles?” She doubted he was being serious.

“Yes, I am.” He left to talk to another command.

Emily looked down at her hands and flexed them slowly, her brow wrinkled. She noticed how the ache ran up her arms and into her shoulders. She knew better than to tell Kyle about the odd sensation, the tingling that had started a few days ago and was growing stronger.

“Ready, Em?” Kyle asked at her back.

She jerked and turned around quickly.

Kyle grinned, “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” she lied.

Emily cringed as he cradled her in his arms and began to run quickly. The darkness was full of heku in black suits all intent on going in after one lost Commander. Emily thought about the loyalty the heku showed toward each other, and then frowned at her own race. A race famous for turning on themselves, wars pitting brother against brother, deaths over things such as shoes and money. She wondered how her race considered the heku to be evil and sinister.

Emily woke up as the feeling of wind flowing past her faded. Kyle put her onto her feet and she looked around at the large encampment. They stood on a hill above it, invisible to those below. She watched as the heku went about their daily lives, some visited, some went to work, some were walking hand in hand. A sudden pang of sadness gripped her when she thought that they would have to kill them. Kill them as they went about their daily lives, unaware that their faction leaders had kidnapped a high-ranking Equites.

“Do we have to kill them all?” she asked no one in particular.

“They won’t let us by. We’ll have to kill them all,” a strange voice sounded behind her.

Kyle gave the order for the first team to move out, and a black shadow suddenly descended on the city. Within minutes, screams could be heard echoing from around the small valley. Emily flexed her hands and stretched her arms as she watched.

“What’s wrong?” Kyle whispered to her.

“Nothing,” she lied.

“Remember what I said, try to pick anything up from him,” he whispered.

“I am, but I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

“Anything at all.”

Emily nodded as Kyle gave the motion for his troops to fall to the south. Another black cloud fell on the city, and as she and Kyle drew nearer, the screams grew louder and the sound of crushing and tearing echoed through the city. Emily tried to ignore the images that came with the sounds.

She glanced up as two more swarms of black came from the mountains above and fell into the city.

Kyle frowned and hissed into the dark.

“What?” Emily asked.

He whisked her into a dark alleyway, and whispered into her ear, “They were waiting for us. It’s not going well.”

He looked around cautiously as his body pressed Emily into a wall.

“Let me go, I can help,” she said.

“Not yet, you try to find Chevalier.” He kept glancing around nervously.

Kyle growled low.

“Kyle?” Emily asked, watching him.

“Team one is gone… we have to get you out of here,” he said, grabbing her arm and leading her out of the city.

She spun out from under his grasp and turned, running into the city.

“Stop, Em,” Kyle said, appearing ahead of her.

“I can stop them, Kyle, and you know it.”

“You can’t stop an entire city.”

“I don’t have to… I just have to even up the numbers,” she said, stomping past him.

Kyle headed after her and almost ran into her when she froze suddenly.

“Hello there, sweet girl,” the heku said, looking at her pregnant belly and grinning.

Kyle gasped as the Valle clutched at his chest, and then fell into ash. She was getting faster.

Emily didn’t hesitate. She ran into the small square and stopped when eight heku ran towards her with their hands out. Within seconds, they all turned to ash and Emily continued.

Kyle followed her through the city, watching as heku after heku fell. Emily was unstoppable and moved quickly from sight to sight without pausing. He heard whispers from the troops that they were pulling ahead, but there was no word on the Chief Enforcer.

Emily stopped after an hour and flexed her hands, then rubbed her arms.

“What is it?” Kyle asked, taking her arm in his hands and rubbing it.

“They hurt so badly.” She winced.

“When did it start?”

“A few days ago, but it’s getting worse.”

Kyle frowned, “Explain the pain to me.”

“It’s a vibration… and my hands feel like they are buzzing.” She flexed her hands.

“I think it’s from him.”

She looked up at him, “You do?”

“Is it too painful to go on?” he asked, watching her.

She frowned at him, “No.”

Kyle watched her carefully. It was taking her longer and longer to turn heku into ash. At first it was seconds, now the heku suffered for twenty to thirty seconds before falling. He saw her face beginning to pale, and she started moving slower than before.

“Emily, it’s time to stop,” he said, and put his hand on her shoulder.

“No? Why? We haven’t found him,” she asked, walking in a panic toward the sounds of battle.

Kyle decided it was time, “No more.”

She tried to pull away from him, “We have to find him.”

“We will, Em,” he tried to reassure her.

“Sir! We found a secret underground area,” one of the heku said, running to Kyle.

Kyle took Emily’s hand and he helped her run along with the heku to the underground. Kyle ordered everyone to stay in the city as he and Emily descended together. The smell was horrible. It was moldy and smelled of decay. Emily put her hand over her stomach as it rolled with the smell, and covered her nose with her sleeve.

Kyle crouched low and peered around the corner. In the room were 13 heku, feeding off of one mortal donor who looked like he might be dead. Kyle looked back at Emily’s pale complexion and debated.

“There are a lot of them,” he whispered into her ear.

“How many?”

“Thirteen that I can see, and they are newly fed, so they’ll be stronger.” He watched her reaction.

“Can you keep them busy while I pick them off?” she asked, watching his eyes.

Kyle nodded and stood up, took a deep breath, and then rounded the corner. There was a loud shout and the sound of fighting erupted into the small quarters. Emily stepped around the corner and concentrated on the one closest to her. He fell within almost half a minute and she moved on to the next. By the time the second one fell, Emily saw Kyle laying unconscious on the floor as the others came toward her slowly.

At first she was confused as to why the Valle were being so careful as they approached her. Then it dawned on her, she wasn’t to be harmed, and broken orders resulted in harsh punishments.

Emily concentrated hard and let her fear go. She could feel it turning to anger. She screamed in anger, and the advancing heku began to fall one after another in quick succession. Kyle was on his feet now, staggering, and headed into a back room without looking at her.

Emily followed after him just as the last heku fell. She stumbled through the dark, feeling with her hands until she found Kyle. He was standing still, staring at a chair and Emily frowned and stepped ahead of him.

“Chev!” she gasped and ran to grab him.

Kyle held her back and she turned angrily toward him.

“Don’t touch him yet. We have to turn it off,” he said to her, but his eyes were searching the room.

Emily turned back to Chevalier and could see him clearly now. She could hear the electricity running through the chains and saw the strain on his body as it was gripped in pain. That was the vibrating sensation she had in her arms, though it was a mere fraction of what he was feeling.

Emily ran out of the room to the hallway and searched for something to kill the electricity. She flipped switches on the wall, but the sound continued. Kyle flew past her and down the hallway, disappearing into the first large room.

The hallway suddenly fell quiet as the loud sound of electricity stopped. Emily went back into the room with Chevalier, and froze. He was sitting up in the chair, his head had fallen forward and he was breathing fast.

“Chev?” Emily said, taking a step toward him.

His head snapped up, shocked, “Emily?”