Silvertongue, page 56
part #1 of Remnants of Magic Series
“So, what?” I hissed, drawing closer. “You’re suggesting some of them are demis, and some of them are just thugs? Something like that? But how are we supposed to know which are the goons?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Aedan snapped, a little more firmly. “They’re all here for the same reason, right? Kill the lot of them. Now come on. We need to figure this shit out. Fast.” There was a tension underlying his words that I didn’t expect, a nervous energy to the way he flipped his knife over and over in his hand. The motion sent glimmers of light across the snow.
Another bellow split the silence, and this time, there was an inhuman, impossible resonance to it. I flinched, throwing myself upright. “That’s Tyler.”
“He’s alive,” Jake said, a heartbeat behind me.
Aedan made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. “Don’t-”
I’d pushed on before he could grab hold of me. His hand whipped down just behind my shoulder, leaving a rush of air in its wake. I’d crossed half the distance to the house before I could think the better of it. They were in trouble - they were alive, but they were being attacked. We needed to help.
One of the lights on the side of the house was on. It cast the side yard into dim relief - and the figures waiting there. I hurled myself into the snow, wincing against the pain accompanying the brightness. We’d cleaned up as best we could, but the woods were still messy and filled with more brush than I really liked. Even if Aedan was being more careful than usual, there was no way he could argue we weren’t hidden.
Slowly, doing my best not to make more noise than necessary, I lifted a hand and pushed one of the branches aside enough to see what was happening.
Keira. My eyes latched onto her, a nearly palpable relief washing through my chest at the sight of her crouched behind a row of firewood we’d stacked alongside the house. Something gleamed in her hand - a gun, I saw as she threw herself upright, firing off a quick burst. She must have been who we were hearing.
The returning fire was enough to send me cowering back to the ground, loud and fierce and longer by far than Keira’s had been. I spun, twisting over onto my back, and saw the trio of men standing over in the driveway. They had guns too, I saw. Bigger guns. The sight was enough to dash all my newfound hope.
Keira only hurled herself back down behind the logpile, though. The sound of her swearing filled the air as the gunfire faded. I couldn’t quite make out her words, but her meaning was clear.
When she popped back up, her gun held out just like we’d practiced, Tyler was there alongside her. His fingers snapped out in front of him. I couldn’t hear the noise, but clearly, the armed men did. They reeled, one fumbling his gun to clap his hands over his ears.
It didn’t stop one of them from standing and firing off another spray at the pair’s hiding place. Both Keira and Tyler dropped from sight again.
They were in trouble, I knew. At least they had some sort of shelter, but with the enemy armed like that, I just didn’t know how long they could hold out. Worse still, if Keira and Tyler were right there, by themselves, where was everyone else?
What had happened?
A fresh burst of gunfire reminded me that I wasn’t in the position to sit and mull the question over. I slipped my palm around the grip of my pistol, glancing back over my shoulder to Aedan as I pushed myself up a little higher. He nodded, his lips pressed into a tight, unhappy line.
The sharp crack of a branch snapping send a shiver down my spine. I froze, coming grinding to a halt again moments before I would have thrown myself out into the open. A hand slapped down on my shoulder moments later. I spun, coming face to face with Jake.
He nodded out into the night, holding a finger to his lips. I could see his eyes twitch back and forth, scanning the darkness. He’d heard it too - a noise. A noise that told us we weren’t alone, when I very much would have preferred to be.
My eyes were still screaming their complaint, thrown from darkness into light and back into darkness again. I squinted, peering out into the forest. And then I jumped as the shapes came into focus.
People. There were more people behind us. My mind raced, zeroing in on the quiet sounds of them creeping closer. Where had they come from? We hadn’t seen them on our way over. But there was no denying that they were here, I told myself, eyes fixed on them. They must’ve had the same idea we did, to circle around and catch their quarry off-guard.
I glanced back towards Keira and Tyler, my anxiety growing. I wanted to help them, more than anything. But it didn’t look like a small group approaching, either. It was hard to make out distinct shapes amid the trees, but I could already tell there’d be more than enough of them to come down on Keira and Tyler like a sack of bricks.
“They don’t know we’re here,” Aedan breathed in my ear. “Yet.”
I understood his message clearly, the words he wasn’t saying and the anxiety that filled his eyes as he glanced back towards Keira and Tyler. The others were holding their own. It would be better for us to pick off the newcomers before they saw us, versus turning the fight into a free-for-all. I could accept the logic behind his plan, even if I didn’t like it.
Swallowing my complaints, I only bobbed my head in a nod. Jake echoed the motion, still clutching his gun.
We turned as one, creeping out of the path the newcomers were taking. Each and every step was an act of patience and terror. If we made a sound, if we gave ourselves away, then we’d be in the same mess as Keira and Tyler.
But they were just as focused on our friends as we were on them, I saw with a note of satisfaction as they hurried through the treeline just a short distance away. They had eyes only for our two demis, and didn’t give the trees around them more than a passing inspection.
There were five of them, I noted at last. Five. I quashed the whispers in my mind that reminded me there were only three of us. Three held rifles, like the men attacking Keira and Tyler. They looked for all the world like soldiers, dressed in rugged, dark kevlar and decked out for a fight. A bare-handed man stood in the front lines, his black hair long enough to pull back into a tight ponytail.
And all the way at the back, a woman trotted along. She held a pistol, just like us - but casually, with a careless ease that spoke to her complete comfort with the situation around us. My grip on my gun tightened further. They were well used to fighting, that much was clear. And if they were veterans, that probably made them demis.
“Come on,” I murmured, pushing away my growing unease. “They’re close enough.” If we waited too long, I knew, then they’d be on top of Keira and Tyler regardless. Already, I could see two of them men slowing, taking better hold of their rifles.
“I’ve got the goons,” Aedan said, leaning his head back far enough to flash a crooked grin in my direction. “Let’s have some fun.”
“Focus, damn it. Jake, can you-”
“Yeah, I see them,” he muttered. “I’ll do my best.”
Not exactly the resounding show of confidence I’d been hoping for, but I couldn’t exactly blame him, either. The last time he’d gotten in a real fight, he’d gotten shot - and the time before that, he’d lost to Aedan and I.
I just nodded, silently praying that he could keep things together long enough to finish this, and threw myself into a low crouch.
The snow flew past under my feet as I accelerated. Quiet. I had to be quiet, still, but fast. Not guns. Not yet. It wasn’t time. Aedan vanished into the night from alongside me, just a blur of motion and then nothing. Jake’s footsteps were a low, muted sound echoing off the trees.
Closer. I held my breath, willing myself to be quieter still. Closer. The group was slowing, the black-haired man murmuring something to the others in a low voice. I brought my gun up in a rush of adrenaline. Now. I could-
The woman turned, spinning on her heel to face us. I froze, shock overcoming my nerves for a single instant. How did she- There was no way she should have been able to pick us out like that. But there she was, staring across the night at us with her mouth hanging open. My shock was perfectly reflected in the surprise plastered across her face.
Jake pushed out in front of me, recognizing the issue in the same instant as me. His hand whipped up, his fingers stretching towards her, but she was already calling something to her friend, ducking under cover. The sound of her pushing through the underbrush, no longer so stealthy, gave up our last hope of catching them by surprise.
A flicker of motion caught my attention, right in the corner of my eye. I spun - just in time to see the black-haired man whip his arm across his chest. Something trailed in its wake.
The gesture rang clear, etched into my vision. It was like- It was like he was throwing something.
Shit.
Before the thought was fully formed I’d hurled myself into the snow, rolling behind a tree. The branches where I’d been standing sheared off in the blink of an eye, a hideous hissing erupting through the forest. I didn’t stop. I’d already rolled to my feet by the time the second attack hit, sending shards of bark cascading down around my head.
That noise - like air escaping a hose, compressed to the point of no return. I swallowed hard, swinging my gun back up to face the black-haired demi, and squeezed as hard as I could.
Nothing. No bang, no recoil, no bullet shooting forth towards the man trying to cut me apart. Just me standing there like an idiot, staring at the gun sitting in my hand with its slide half-open.
“Down!” Jake cried, his voice filled with as much energy as I’d ever heard from the man. His hand was on the scruff of my neck, grabbing hold of my jacket and towing me aside as another blast of air slammed into the tree beside me. His hand came up, his own gun at the ready.
The woman smiled.
I gasped as Jake’s hand became an anchor instead of a guide. There was nothing I could do to keep myself upright as he tumbled on the icy ground, hitting the ground hard. The air left me in a rush as I joined him.
The sound of the woman’s low, confident laughter rang out under the sound of gunfire from the house. Her friends were already turning, bringing those rifles up to bear. I tore my eyes off her long enough to sweep a quick look over the demi shooting air-blades at us and the soldiers.
“Hold!” I cried, still clutching my useless gun. Was it stupid for me to declare my presence? Maybe. But until I could figure out what in the damn thing had jammed, I didn’t have another weapon that would be useful - and a gunshot wouldn’t be any quieter anyway, I had to admit.
The flicker of doubt that accompanied my words hurt more than I liked to admit. My voice was all I had, my words. But the last time I’d tried to use it, it failed me. If that happened, what would we do? How would we-
I grimaced as the entwined rings of my necklace flared to life against my chest. I could feel the drain, the energy bleeding off me like an all-nighter packed into a few brief seconds. But I was ready, and it was...better. Manageable.
The wind-caller and the soldiers froze. I gritted my teeth, feeling them fight. There were four of them, and one of me. I couldn’t hold them forever. “Jake,” I hissed through my clenched jaw. “I need you to-”
A flash of light - that was all I saw. Just a glimmer of light reflecting from a length of steel, and a blur of motion. A scream tore across the night a heartbeat after.
Aedan wrapped himself more tightly around the soldier he’d leapt onto, seeming even smaller when compared to the looming grunt. His knife was buried in the soldier’s neck, still glittering. He pulled it free without a word, driving it home a second time. A third.
Jake threw himself upright beside me, fast enough I flinched. His hands were outstretched - both of them. His fingers twitched as he reached towards the two demis.
The black-haired demi stumbled, pressing a hand to his face. And then he twisted towards Jake, his eyes going wide. His hand slipped up, eerily similar to how Jake was facing him.
Jake was faster. His gun was at the ready, his finger squeezing the trigger.
The woman was there as the first round went off, though, ready and waiting. She kicked her companion’s feet out from under him, leaving him to fall to the ground as the bullets sailed harmlessly over his head.
Again, I gaped. There was no way. No way in hell. But the woman only glared back at me, no longer looking so amused, and the man was rolling back to his feet as I delayed. Throwing myself low again, I grabbed at the slide on my pistol, trying to force it to clear. The pistol was having none of my shit.
“Here,” Jake muttered, tearing his eyes off the fight for just long enough to glance down at me. “Spare.” He dug in his pocket, pulling free another gun. I took it gratefully, spinning back to the fight and shoving my own gun back into my pocket.
A round sailed over my head. I shuddered, ducking low again. “Sorry!” I heard Aedan call from the far side of our little clearing. The sound of a man screaming hid anything else he might have said.
The soldiers were his problem. He’d wanted them, he could deal with them. I just hoped he didn’t wind up getting us shot. Beyond that, I couldn’t spare any more time to check in on him. The wind-caller was back on his feet, even if he swayed gently. A crooked smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Jake was still at work, then.
But when I turned on the enemy demi, opening fire, I found myself hitting only empty air. The man stumbled back into the trees with his companion’s hand on his elbow, escaping unscathed.
“St-” I began, raising my voice after them, but a coughing fit hit me halfway through the phrase. My command vanished in a garbled mess.
“Jesus, Jon, would you hit something?” Jake cried.
“I-I’m trying,” I muttered, aghast. I wasn’t normally that bad a shot. I wasn’t a marksman, by any stretch of the imagination, but we couldn’t be more than ten or fifteen yards from the two demis. I couldn’t even fault Jake for being irritated.
And over it all, I heard Aedan let out an exasperated sigh. I scowled, pressing forward after the pair. I knew what he was upset about - we were being slow. It wasn’t my fault, damn it. The woman was too goddamn-
I froze, my steps slowing a fraction. She was too lucky. There was no way someone could have so much good fortune, time and time again. And I hadn’t seen her use a power, had I? So it was safe to assume it was something like that. Probably.
In the meantime, I glared at Jake. “What, that’s your best?”
“They were moving, he snapped. “And it’s dark. I can’t hardly see my targets. Don’t blame your bad aim on me, Jon.”
“It’s dark,” I protested, inching forward all the while. “It’s no better for me than it is for you.”
“That’s no-”
I twisted, spinning away from Jake as he glared back at me. Another crack, a sound that shouldn’t be there. More footsteps. We weren’t alone. How’d they manage to circle back so quickly? Or- was it someone else?
A flicker of movement. I reacted purely on instinct, bringing my gun up and firing in the same smooth motion. My ears rang from the din of it.
The world ahead of me erupted into a blurred, hazy mess. The bullet hung in midair, caught in place in front of my target. I froze, my thoughts racing. The others were luck and wind, right? This didn’t look like either of those. This looked like-
Oh.
Ice shot through my veins as I hurled myself to the side, grabbing hold of Jake and dragging him along with me. The world ahead of us exploded a heartbeat later. The bullet sang as it careened back the other way, right through where my head would have been.
“Amber!” I yelped, raising my voice through the hoarse, raspy pain of my throat. “I-It’s us! Don’t shoot! Don’t-”
“God damn it, Jon,” I heard her snap. “You fucking shot first. Don’t up and cry when I-”
“I know, I know,” I said hurriedly. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I thought-” I shook my head, reality catching up with me. “They went that way. And-”
The fog and confusion that had settled over my mind cleared enough for the gunshots to finally register. The gunshots that had no doubt been continuing the whole time I was ogling the wind-caller and his lucky friend, I thought sourly. A quick glance showed me Aedan, two soldiers laid out in the snow at his feet. A third was backpedaling madly, nearly falling over himself in his hurry to get away.
“We saw them,” someone else said. I looked up. Brendon crept out of the dark behind Amber, a gun in his hands and his face pale as a ghost. “W-We were going to come help. And then-”
“Give me a little warning next time if it’s you, damn it,” Amber muttered.
“Right,” I said, easing myself back upright. Jake accepted Brendon’s hand, letting the other demi pull him to his feet. “Look. We’ve been trying to deal with them, but nothing’s working. It’s like-” I stopped, the words dying on my lips.
“What, you’re having problems? One for the fucking calendars,” Amber muttered under her breath.
I only shook my head, glaring at him. My thoughts were whirling, racing along at a hundred miles an hour. “This is serious. Act like it. Anytime we get close to them, it’s like they’re one step ahead - or something goes wrong, for us. We can’t touch either of them.”
“Foci?” Amber said, the sarcasm finally leaving her voice. She stood a little straighter, folding her arms across her chest.
“One’s shooting blades of air,” Jake said, cutting in when I hesitated. “And the other…”
“Luck,” I said, my voice low. “Or fortunes. Something like that. Manipulating them. I think. Look, maybe-”
“Fucking great,’ I heard Amber mutter, her voice low. “That sounds like a blast.”
“Listen. I think- if she’s staying a step ahead, then we just have to be a step ahead of her, “ I said, forcing the words out as quickly as I could. My eyes fixed onto Brendon. Little things he’d said pieced themselves together, stitching an image that gave me an idea.
He flinched, seeing the look I was giving him. “W-What?”
I continued staring right at him, drawing closer. The sound of gunfire rang out again - nearby. We were running out of time. The wind-caller and the lucky lady weren’t going to just up and forget about us. “What you’ve been doing, Brendon. It’s different. Why are you even out here? How’d you guys get separated?”
