Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (54 page)

Ay Dios Mio, what are
those pinché changos doing down there?!?

When compared to the
little bitch he had been dragging around all over the place these
past few days, those things were downright horrid. He was beginning
to realize the true physical and numerical strength their enemies
were bringing to bear. When his thoughts meandered back to the
children and the small band of animals protecting them, it was hard
not to despair.

There were shelters enough
in the encampment to house much, much than a mere thousand
warriors. In fact, there might be enough for twice that amount, but
that was not all that walked the grounds of the fort. There were
creatures and beasts of such fantastical make, he could not begin
to describe them. There were huge lizard-like creatures, great
beasts on the wing and many more of the big apes. There were
dog-like things resembling the mount the little bitch rode as well.
There were some that were smaller, and a few even larger than
Jätung. They had fur as black as the night and sprouted gigantic
wings on either side of their long, well-muscled bodies. There were
great bat-like creatures covered with insect-like thorns and
spines. Their wings sprouted with long gray-white feathers. They
were silken and beauteous, though grew upon a beast that was vile
and demented. Still, such feathers would be treasures to own. They
would no doubt put the feathers of the largest eagles he had seen
back home to shame.

He heard a great bellow
then, issuing from a creature he could not see. Without question
though, the thunderous howl had come from a beast many, many times
his size by the sheer volume of its screech. Anything that could
shriek louder than the wind had to be gigantic. He searched over
the entire encampment for quite some time, but could not tell from
whence the great roar had come. He knew somewhere down there in the
midst of almost three thousand warriors and four times as many
beasts, there was something terrible. Something hid in the shadows
of the storm. It had to be something monstrous.

He just could not see
it.

He sat down, hoping with
time he might be lucky enough to spy what had shook the landscape
with its exclamation. He was willing to wait as long as he must to
find out.
I don’t think we have a fucken
chance against all those maricónes. There are just too many of
them…
He brought his legs up toward his
chest, resting his elbows on his knees. His chin settled against
the backs of his hands.
How the hell am I
going to keep you safe Andrew? How are we going to get you out of
this mess and back home to the familia?

Juan felt his heart sink
as he peered through the snow and the wind and the cold, hidden
from his enemies down below. His mind kept jumping from topic to
topic, each problem beyond his control. He kept asking himself the
same question over and over.
How are we
going to win?
Try as he may, he could not
get around the fact the sheer number of their enemy was too great.
He could not escape what he was gazing upon. It was disheartening
to see how swift they had built their encampment, how vast and
eternal it appeared. They should not have been able to build so
quickly. They should not have been capable of creating something as
sprawling as the complex filling the famous ravine below. It should
have been impossible.

But, it was not
impossible. It had not been beyond their ability to build. This
obvious fact screamed in his face, telling him they could wield
massive amounts of magic at will. Maybe not like what he possessed,
but abilities nonetheless. Maybe that was how they made the
impossible, likely.

How are we going to
win?

The thought flashed across
his consciousness for the umpteenth time. Then his eyes spotted
something unexpected. He stood, half-crouched before he caught
himself. His breath stuck in his throat.

It was another
pale-skinned girl. She resembled the one he had watched climb into
a cave hours ago in the foothills standing north of what should
have been Glendale. This one was wearing a white dress and what
appeared to be black pat and leather shoes. Only she did not wear a
blue ribbon around her waist or a matching one in her hair. No, she
wore a red ribbon, thick and painted with shapes that looked like
flowers. He could not be certain, though. He was too far away. But,
he could see the one she wore in her hair was exactly the same as
the one about her torso.

Another one?
he thought with dread.
Now what the fuck am I going to do with another flesh eating,
cabrona?!? Madre de Dios, does this shit ever end?
He peered skyward.
Oyez,
Padre you think you could see it within your power to allow me to
find a cerveza or four? Almighty Jesus, this shit is getting stupid
now!

Though his mind leaped and
danced with outrage, he stayed put. He sat back down in the snow,
watching as the girl walked to the main gate of the outer palisade
to talk with the guards there in brief. A moment later, she spun on
her heel and sprinted with amazing speed back into the camp proper
and out of sight.

His mind was afire with
thoughts of the other one. The one he had left shivering in a cave
not too far from where he sat right now. She had been the one who
had smashed into his home and took Andrew from him. She had been
the one who had been here since the beginning.

The spark began to take
hold.

It all came down to the
little bitch.

The puta was
changing!

His brow furled as a new
thought gained a foothold. Something fell into a place. The thought
matured and his perspective changed. Why had he not seen this
before?

True, he had thought
something similar before, but not in this context, not like this at
all. Before, he figured he could use it to kill her. Now though,
from what he saw down below in the heart of Chavez Ravine, maybe he
did not have to kill her after all.

Maybe there was another
way.

Maybe there was no
need
to kill
her.

He had seen the way her
once beloved mount had treated her after her legs had broken and
she had grown. The beast had been acting the same way ever
since.

Maybe something was
already happening, something he could use to his advantage later.
Maybe it would be wise wait and watch for now.

He did not think he would
have to wait long.

The puta was changing. No
longer did she look like her companion down below in the
encampment. He had sensed many changes in her already. He simply
had not realized there had been so many until he saw the unchanged
one below.

Maybe other things in her
were changing as well.

That was it. That was the
key.

Maybe there was no need to
kill her after all…

~~~~~~~<<<
ᴥ
>>>~~~~~~~

~ 32 ~

The Unlikely
Couple

Sunday, November
28
^th
,
6:44 pm…

If one could qualify the
definition of the phrase “opposites attract”, then the embodiment
of that result would be Gabriel Rubio and Emilia Acosta. They made
real it and personified as old Webster himself would have
decreed.

He was big for sixteen.
Wherever he walked, he loomed, piles of muscle under mass in
quantity. He topped six-foot-three and weighed two hundred
twenty-five pounds.

She was petite, your
typical Mexican arch-type. She was only five-foot-one and a hundred
and five pounds soaking wet.

He was dark complected
with brown eyes and hair, a round face and wide cheekbones, ending
in a rounded chin.

She was hourglass-shaped
with a narrow face. These thinned features gave her an elongated
sort of appeal. Though it complimented her, it made her look
delicate, well-formed. She had dyed her hair cherry-red, cut much
like the classic Cleopatra. It was rail-straight complete with
bangs.

He was laid-back,
easy-going in the eyes of many, with a compassionate attitude that
made it hard for him to stay mad at anyone for long. He had the
uncanny ability to swallow insults and return nothing more than a
friendly slap on the back. One would think a crushing blow to the
face would follow, but not with Gabriel. It was not his
way.

A disastrous prior
relationship had soured Emilia to most of the world around her.
This was before she had laid eyes upon her hulking boyfriend. It
was obvious some of his infectious positivity had brushed-off onto
her. Though she still tended to see the “glass” half-empty, she had
found a way to sort through her negativity before voicing her
opinion or making an outward decision. This had helped her grow
beyond her past and could have only manifested through the constant
proximity of Gabriel.

He was undergoing a
rigorous regimen, training for the MMA circuits. It was his dream
to see a big payoff down the line of what hoped would be a
prosperous career. This goal had transformed Gabriel over the
course of the pass year. He had gone from the proverbial fat kid to
something quite different. He was something girls around him took
notice of, wanted to snuggle against.

She was not goal oriented,
a mediocre student at best, who would rather “rock out” to Led
Zeppelin or Journey than do her homework.

In the end, all these
differences did not factor into what had happened between them.
When Emilia saw Gabriel laughing in the quad, during lunch, his
jovial nature had brightened her day for some reason. She would
never be able to explain how this was possible, though she will
tell you without a doubt it is the gospel truth.

In the span of five
seconds, maybe less, she knew. She was so sure, none of the usual
self-deprecation entered her thoughts or muddied her mind. She
wanted to be close to him.

That was all it
took.

That of course was before
the Event, before someone began snatching up kids all over the
neighborhood.

They had come from dinner.
They had been intent on walking about the Santa Anita Mall, window
shopping, before start of the movie. They had tickets at the AMC 16
housed in one corner of the sprawling complex. It was to be a happy
occasion, time spent together away from family and friends, outside
of school and all the politics it entailed.

But, it was not. Though
they wanted some “alone-time”, they could not stop thinking about
their friends with every step they took. The kidnappings of
Anthony, his little sisters and Christina weighed heavy on their
minds. Hearing on the car ride from Eagle Rock that the abductions
were still happening had not help matters. After listening to the
news and its’ continuous coverage of the Event, Gabriel had
switched to the CD player. But heavy guitars and the yelling of the
Death Metal and ScreaMo bands he liked to bang his head to did not
energize him. At the time, it sounded incessant and somewhat
misplaced when measured against the sadness he felt in his heart. A
few minutes later, he had turned it off as well.

He and Emilia had sat out
the rest of the trip in silence, each mired within the dark clouds
of worry and discontentment.

He glanced down at his
girlfriend as they walked the mall. He noticed when she was not
biting one of her nails, she was doing the same with the inside of
her mouth. She was not enjoying their casual stroll down the mall
any more than he was.
And who
would?
he asked himself. He peered about
at the bright shops with their cheerful associates, too quick to
say hi, too enthusiastic with offers of help. Typically, none of
this would have bothered him. After all, they were only doing their
jobs. Not today though, not this night. Their saccharine approach
was sweet enough, but not in the right way, like hamburger meat
left too long in the sun – sweet, but sour alike.

They were walking through
the Food Court, passing the escalators toward the movie complex on
their left. The bustle of the mall-goers, eating their meals with
delight, was sharp in his ears. He knew the noise should not bother
him either. He had walked these halls scores of times, he could not
recall it being so annoying, its' lights near blinding. It had
never bothered him in the past. Why now?

He glanced down at Emilia
once again.

She was squinting just as
much as him.

She wants out of
here.
He looked ahead as they emerged
around the slight curve of the building. He saw a grouping of
tables and chairs beyond the outer doors of the mall, most of them
vacant. It was cold out, even for November, but they had on their
big coats and, from the way they were feeling, they could use the
fresh air.
Who cares if it’s
artic.

“
Hey, love, you wanna sit
outside for a while?”

Emilia glanced up at him,
her brow furled in thought. She did not answer right away. Their
strides faltered.

“
It’s too loud in here,”
he urged.

She sighed. “You’re right
about that.” She crossed her arms under her breasts. “Don’t you
think it’s too cold?”