Discovery at Nerwolix (34 page)

“How do we know when it’s going to start?”
Jace asks.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll know,” Reid opens the
curtain and peers down to the Vermix. “Alright,” he says, “we’ll
head down another few levels to have a better chance at hitting our
target. When we shoot, we aim for the head, neck or chest and only
try for a few targets at a time. No more than five or so. Even if
you miss, move on; make for another branch and start again. Like
Warze said,” he looks back at us, “always be moving. If they can
see you, they can shoot you. Don’t give them that advantage. We’re
here to create a panic; an invisible threat from above.”

“They’ll climb the trees looking for us,”
Jace says.

“Yep,” he nods. “No Traxpires. Not unless
you absolutely must.”

“They
all
might ascend,” I say.

He shakes his head. “They won’t want to
deviate from their search. It’s too important. They’ll send some
up, but not all and this time, we’ve got at least a hundred
Zingfinolds with us.”

“It’s something,” Booker agrees.

“Alright,” Reid rubs his hands together.
“Ready?”

We nod and he motions to the bell-shaped
leaves ahead. I have both of our Traxpires and our Brulilies tucked
away in my pockets. Jace and Booker descend first and Reid
approaches, wrapping an arm around me. He offers an encouraging
smile and it distracts me as we start to lower through the Yulus.
We’re halfway between the tree’s base and middle when my shoes hit
the bark. I shift my focus from Reid to the ground. There’s a much
clearer view of the Vermix here.

“When?” I hear Jace whisper.

Reid holds his hand up. We hold our breath,
waiting, watching. And then it happens. A single Brulily dart flies
through the air, striking into the closest Vermix and soundlessly,
he falls to the ground. A couple Dofinikes notice, but before
they’re about to investigate, more darts fly and like the first,
they drop with ease.

It happens so suddenly—the shower of darts
raining on the edge of the Vermix, most crashing to the dirt
without any idea of what’s happening. But with each fallen
Dofinike, more and more notice and look to the trees. Before they
can make any real headway, they tumble to the ground too. And then
more look up, and then more, and suddenly, only half the darts are
actually piercing the Vermix. The rest fall to the ground because
the Dofinikes are racing over, aiming for the trees where Reid,
Booker, Jace and I send ours flying.

Keeping still, I simply focus on pegging
them. They’re scampering up the bark but I focus on remaining calm.
Just focus.
As long as you hit them, it doesn’t make a
difference how high they get.
Only a handful have scurried up
and the boys are letting theirs fly next to me. Taking my time, I
chose my target and focus on his snarling snout. With a deep blow,
I aim for the crown of his head and send my dart soaring. He pauses
mid climb and after a second, releases the tree, falling backwards
into the darkness.

“Time to move,” Reid whispers, slipping his
hand around my waist and together we swing onto another branch.
Jace and Booker do the same, moving to the same tree, keeping our
small group together. The Vermix continue ascending the other area
but with our new location, we take advantage of shooting them while
they’re distracted. One by one they release the tree, falling
straight back and with so many hitting the forest base at once,
they make a considerable thud, causing more Vermix to look over and
notice. “We should probably move again. Over there,” Reid points a
few trees down. “Let’s go.”

He takes my waist again and we soar through
the Eckles, to the next branch while Jace and Booker swing behind
us. But then an orange blast shoots past me, searing the edge of
the bark. I jerk back, my pulse racing as Jace reaches for his
Traxpire. But Reid places his hand on the RC’s shoulder and shakes
his head. Another explosion ripples through the leaves and Booker
sends a few darts flying. After a minute, another thud hits the
ground and Reid motions us to a different tree.

Once we’re there, a soft patter of feet
moves above. It’s almost too silent to hear and when I look up,
it’s gone. A soft spray of darts release from the same spot and a
leaping Vermix falls back mid-flight, crashing to the ground.
Another quiet patter of feet sound below, and again, when I look,
nothing is there. Just the swaying Yulus. The Zingfinolds are all
around us, sweeping silently through the forest and unleashing a
rain of Brulily darts.

“Do you think the others know by now?” I
whisper to Reid.

Tightlipped, he shakes his head, pointing to
the center of the giant Vermix army where the majority are still
working away at excavating the mountain. Only the south end has
really noticed and the panic hasn’t rippled through to the middle
yet. This is good. It’s working. Only a portion of the Vermix are
aware there’s a situation but most have no clue. And I know the
north end is being chipped away too. Is that where Warze is?

I turn to ask Reid what he thinks when a
hand slips over my mouth and I’m drawn back. My heart races, my
body shaking until I realize that it’s Reid holding me still,
keeping me quiet. But why? It’s then that I see what the others are
looking at—a trio of Vermix on the other side of the trunk, not
more than a few feet away. They’re sniffing up, investigating, and
about to come around when Jace sends a dart flying, hitting one in
the neck. His talons fly to the needle, his yellow eyes growing
wide. The other two immediately notice, racing around. Snatching my
blade, Reid backhands one in the throat and sweeps his leg out to
trip him while Booker shoots three darts straight into the face of
the last one. They both fall over the edge after the first, causing
a loud thud on the forest base.

“That was close,” Reid whispers. “We need to
keep going.”

“Boss,” Jace motions to the ground, to the
swarm of Vermix suddenly jetting up our surrounding trees. “Think
they finally noticed.”

Before it was just a handful of curious
Dofinikes—the lucky ones who weren’t immediately shot down. Not
until they tried going after us and were knocked from the Eckles.
But with all their noticeable crashing, too many have discovered
the threat and now they’re coming after us.

Something lands on the branch behind us and
as we all turn to shoot, Warze offers a disappointing scowl. “Keep
moving,” he hisses before leaping onto another a tree.

“You heard the man, uh—Zingfinold,” Jace
says, grabbing a lime Yulu and swinging after him, Booker quickly
follows.

Reid secures me to his waist and we go
flying after the first two, through the darkness and past the
shield of hanging Yulus. But this time, it’s not just the invisible
Zingfinolds scurrying through the forest anymore. The Vermix
presence is palpable. They’re clunky and loud when their talons
grip into the trees and their snarls permeate up the trunks. I’m
not sure how many are up here with us, but we don’t stop very long
to find out. We swing from branch to branch, trying to get a good
look at things but everywhere we stop, there’s a Vermix ascending
the trunk, about to leap for us.

And that’s when it really starts.

Brulily darts whiz past.

I’m not sure where to stand, where to
go—everything is happening so quickly. Viscous snarls invade the
leaves, coming from all directions and it’s like what it was
earlier this morning, when the Vermix rushed the forest. Except now
the Zingfinolds have joined the battle and instead of Traxpire
explosions ripping through the air, it’s tiny needle-sized
darts.

I’m never sure which way to go, which
direction to move. I just keep going with Reid, ducking when he
says so and stopping when he commands. I still have my Brulily, but
I’m not sure it’s much use with the Vermix racing through the trees
with us. A blast of orange sears the trunk next to me but before I
have a moment to think, Jace reaches around and fires back with the
same defense. He misses, and the Vermix leaps toward us, aiming for
our branch. But he’s knocked out by a large moving force. It’s so
quick that I almost miss it and the Zingfinold disappearing into
the shadows again.

Another Vermix tries leaping for us, but
this time I reach for my Traxpire. Centering on the green patch
between his eyes, I shoot him through the head. He falls and Booker
guns down the one right behind him. A third takes off for us and a
large, dark force knocks into him, the two vanishing below.

“Shit,” Jace curses. “Guess they’re onto
us.”

“We need to get higher,” Reid says. “Top of
the canopy.”

Booker and Jace leap first but as Reid and I
are about to take off after them, a Vermix lands in front of us,
knocking Reid’s Traxpire to the side. Lunging, the Dofinike grips
him around the throat, pinning him to the tree. Fury flares through
me and whipping the blade from my pocket, I jam it right into the
Vermix’s neck. When he doesn’t move, I do it again and again,
carving a galley until his head slumps over, onto the other side
and he falls off the branch altogether.

“Are you okay?” I rush up to Reid.

With a gulp, he nods, bringing a hand to his
neck. “Shit. That bastard was quick.”

“Sure you’re okay?”

“Fallon!” He pushes me to the side as
another Vermix leaps onto the branch, right where I was standing.
Reid takes the brunt of the hit and before I’m able to do anything,
the two go toppling off the landing.

“
REID!”
I cry. My heart stops, my
mind scrambling. Rushing to the edge, I peer over and watch blasts
of orange rip through the darkness. Darts swish past, raining
horizontal after the Traxpire blasts and I can’t breathe.
“Reid!”

I know I should be going up, toward the
canopy where it’s safest. I know that’s what Reid would want me to
do, but there’s no way I’m leaving him. It’s just not a choice.
Taking a huge breath, I grab onto the closest Yulu and lower myself
into the chaos, landing on a branch close to the ground. I don’t
know where he landed—which direction he even went—but it doesn’t
matter.

I’m finding him.

“Reid!” I scream, grabbing unwanted
attention from several Vermix.

They turn their Traxpires on me but I dodge,
rounding to the other side of the trunk. This isn’t smart. I know
it isn’t but it doesn’t matter.

“Reid!” I call again, swinging to another
branch, scanning as quickly as possible. Orange blasts fly in my
direction but I duck and swing, dodging as I make my way through
the trees. I only fire back when there’s a Vermix in close range or
if I need to hit one to clear a path. I’m not really fighting this
battle right now—the quest is for Reid. To find him. To make sure
he’s still alive and if not, to kill every
fucking
Vermix on
this planet.

A huge force lands on my branch and as I
turn, ready to fire, Warze shakes his head, pointing to a nearby
tree. Quickly, he snatches me toward him, pulling me out of the
range of a Traxpire explosion. It singes the tree and the smell of
burnt bark invades my nostrils.

“Silent, female,” he growls and releasing a
shower of Brulilies, he pegs the nearby Vermix. “Come.”

“But Reid—”

“Human safe,” he wraps an around me. “I take
you to him.”

Before I’m able to say anything, we’re
swinging through the trees, right in the midst of raining darts and
thunderous explosions. He brings us to another branch and we’re off
again after only a second, moving swiftly from tree to tree, never
stopping for more than a minute. It’s different than what Reid,
Jace, Booker and I were doing. We would land, fire some darts and
after a bit, we’d take off again. But Warze barely stops. He only
uses the branches as connection points—leaping from them to get to
the next target.

“Where’s Reid?” I ask after reaching the
fifth or sixth Eckle.

“On ground.”

“What?”

Warze drops us lower, blasting the impending
Vermix and creating a steady path to the forest base. We land at
the southern side of the mountain among a pile of fallen
Dofinikes—the first handful that were taken out. I’m about to ask
Warze where Reid is again but then I see him.

My heart stops.

Empty-handed, he’s fighting two Vermix who
have also lost their Traxpires, the battle consisting of
hand-to-claw combat only. It would be over if Reid didn’t move so
quickly, running up the body of one and scissor-kicking the other,
all while jabbing with sharp angles of his fingers and hard blasts
of his fists. He’s too fast for them—too swift. Both Vermix try to
snatch him but he rolls off with ease, continuing to rain down with
jet-like actions and reflexes. Even weaponless, Reid is in control
of this battle. But I can’t watch it anymore. I need to help.

Rushing forward, I start to retrieve my
Traxpire when Reid notices me. It only lasts a moment but that’s
all the Vermix needs. In his moment of hesitation, one of the
Dofinikes grabs his leg mid swing and with it, slams Reid to the
ground with a loud, rippling smack.

The world stops.

I reach for the whip in my pocket. All I see
are the two Vermix; all I can focus on is them towering over Reid’s
motionless body and something inside me snaps. They must see me
coming because both look up. But I don’t stop. With the handle
gripped firmly, I reach back and let it fly. A loud crack
permeates, snapping into the back of the Dofinike that slammed Reid
to the ground. He falls to the side with an agonizing cry just as
his partner leaps toward me. But I’m already bringing the whip down
and this time, the razor thin edge slices him in the eyes and
snout. Gripping his face with his talons, he howls and stumbles
back, crashing to the dirt.

But it’s not enough.

Blood pumps through me, demanding
retribution, demanding brutal vengeance that will satisfy this
rage. There’s not enough time. If I was able, I’d take the whip to
them over and over, lashing until they were a puddle of mush and
bone and still the desire to hurt them wouldn’t abate. But because
I don’t have the luxury of time, I swap the whip for the Traxpire
and blast a fiery orange hole in each Vermix. With a final yelp,
they still, their bodies lying motionless like Reid’s.