Banished Pt. 15

"Sorry, I meant, one of those areas under the towering trees where there aren't any other trees for some distance."

He nodded, and as everyone got up and back into formation, we continued on for another ten or so minutes before we found a suitable spot.

"Why are we resting after that thing just attacked?" Wilt asked.

"Because its wounded," I explained. "Most likely it'll heal before coming at us again."

As the others settled in to sleep, I indicated to Francesca that I wanted her to rest first.

"I'd prefer you be better rested," she said, but I shook my head.

"You need the energy. I already got more rest than you did, remember?"

She nodded, albeit reluctantly, but as soon as she crouched down against one of the tree's roots, she was fast asleep.

"Hey, you need to sleep closer than that," I said, as I noted that the girls seemed to be separating a bit from the boys.

Instead, they opted to bunch up around where Francesca was nodding off, though Sheila quickly moved to my side.

"Can we have that word now?" she asked, and I nodded, though half of my attention remained on intermittent glances between Francesca, and the canopy above.

"You want to join my group?" I offered, and Sheila nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe Ethan isn't as bad as I was thinking, but I think I still prefer your style of leadership to anything else I've seen on offer."

I bit my lip for a bit.

"Ethan can probably offer you a better sense of safety that we can. Francesca and I are our group's best fighters, and if threats slightly worse than this monster attacks, we might not even make it."

"Even so, I prefer you," she said. "You'll get stronger... maybe stronger than Ethan will ever be. There's just... something in my bones that tells me that. And I think I'd rather take a chance on seeing it happen."

I frowned.

"I would have to check with my group first. We've had a few close calls with bad apples in the past," I explained, and she nodded.

"I have faith in you," she said, placing a hand over mine. "When the rest of the group leaves, I'll stay back at the guildhall. Until you come get me."

She shot me a quick smile, and I bit my lip nervously as she lay down beside Blair to get some sleep.

I watched over the group as everyone slept for a tense three or four hours, until Francesca woke up, and insisted that I sleep as well.

I examined her and noted that her core capacity was indeed fine, but her wound seemed to be showing something strange.

"What is that?" I asked, gesturing to the arm, and she shrugged.

"I'm not sure. It might be an infection?" she suggested, and I shook my head.

Infections wouldn't set in that quickly, would they?

She shook away my concern, and begrudgingly, I settled in to get some sleep.

***

What the hell is going on?

Joanna stuffed a piece of toast into her mouth as she walked briskly down the corridor, straightening her hair a bit, before finishing her paltry bite of breakfast, and sweeping into the situation room, only to find everyone lounging around in front of a panel of blank screens.

"Why is no-one working on this?" she asked incredulously, and one of the operators averted his gaze, while another rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Because the comms blackout is an executive order," a voice called, and Joanna spun around to see a small-statured man standing in the corridor behind her.

She screwed up her face a bit as she studied him.

"Walk with me?" he asked, and she took one more look at the room, before nodding.

"An executive order from whom?" she asked, and the man laughed.

"You're the candidate for Christopher's old seat, aren't you?" he asked, and as she nodded, he chuckled again. "Then you need to learn to pick your questions. Not every curiosity needs to be voiced. At least, not if you plan on making it far up this corporate ladder."

She turned her head away, and rolled her eyes at this.

Every executive with a dick treated Joanna as if they had divine knowledge to bestow upon her feeble, insufficient little feminine mind.

But she'd been climbing the ranks well enough without heeding most of the warnings directed at her.

And some of those people were now much lower down the pecking order than she was.

"What are you? A chair?" she asked, and the man laughed again.

It was beginning to get on her nerves.

"I'm a... let's say, different kind of operative, so to speak. My objectives are the same as yours, of course, but let's just say I operate with slightly different intel."

"So, you're after a little inter-department collaboration then?" she asked and he smiled.

"You are a sharp one. I can see why Christopher favors you."

"What do you want to know?" she asked, a little impatiently, and he took a look around, then pulled out a small chip, and placed it on the wall.

"I've been told that your group ran into Danica," he said, and she eyed him.

"You know I can't answer that," she chided, and he chuckled.

"Oh, but maybe you should. You see, Danica wasn't supposed to run into any active transfers for another two hundred years. Kepler time, of course."

She eyed him.

"You're a shifter," she stated, and the man smiled, then nodded.

"Then, what's on offer for this info?" she asked, and he smiled.

"I can tell you about your blackout," he offered, and she nodded.

"Deal. Danica made contact with an asset. Nathan Van Dyke."

He rubbed his chin.

"Will have to look into him, I guess. As for your blackout, the causalities are currently intersecting; and it seems this meeting with Danica may have no small part to play in it."

"Causalities? What the hell does that mean?" she asked, and he smiled.

"It means; either this asset of yours is currently about to make contact with someone that we haven't sent to Kepler yet; or, that he's altering the course of a confirmed future outcome."

She rubbed her chin.

If it was the former, then there was a good chance that the blackout would be permanent, but if it was the latter... then maybe she could become more than just a chair.

The man held out something, and she glanced at with interest.

It was a phone.

"What is this?" she asked.

"An offer. If you want to form a partnership that might take you forward to a more favorable position, that is. I might need to know more about this interaction with Danica, and what may have led to it."

She hesitated for a moment, and he smiled.

"You don't have to worry. I won't call except when you're alone."

"How will you know that?" she asked, and he smiled.

"Because I know everything... about you, that is."

She accepted the phone, and the man took the chip off of the wall, then waved.

"Give Christopher my best," he said, waving over his back as he made his way down the hall, and Joanna smirked.

Keep doing a good job, Nathan, she thought. And I'll get right where I need to be.

***

"Hey."

Francesca shook me gently awake, and I stretched my achy muscles as I shook off my drowsiness.

"How long was that?" I asked.

"A little over an hour," she replied.

I shot her a disapproving look, and she smiled, a little cheekily.

"You needed it," she said, and I sighed.

I turned back to see almost everyone else still asleep, except for Blair, whose eyes were squarely on me, and they didn't shift even slightly as I looked right at her.

Her mouth cracked into a wry smile, and I looked away.

"Let's get them up, then. We need to get to that hall today."

Francesca nodded, but as she placed her left hand down to the ground to push herself up, the hand suddenly gave way beneath her weight, and she had to brace herself to stop from toppling over.

"What the-? Are you okay?"

She quickly nodded, but I moved to look into her core, and I noted a much more pronounced collection of threads at her arm.

"Let me see it," I said, but she shook her head.

"I'm fine," she said, but I persisted until reluctantly, she gave in.

I untied the bandage that I'd wrapped around the wound, then gasped, as the area seemed to be a blueish color, and was now slightly swollen.

"Fuck. What is it, some kind of poison?"

"I'm not sure," she said, and I shot her an angry look.

"Let's use a heal," I began, but she quickly stopped me.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "Evie told me once that poisons need to be neutralized to properly heal."

"The guildhall," I said, and she nodded.

I turned to the group, and quickly moved to awaken everyone, when Blair moved to my side.

"She's hurt, isn't she?"

I nodded subtly, trying not to attract too much attention to the interaction.

"Put me in armor," the girl said. "I've never fought before, but I think I was born for it."

I studied her carefully.

"I know what you are," I whispered, and she smiled.

"Well, of course you do. You are too," she teased, and I frowned.

"I don't want anyone here to get hurt," I said, and she shrugged.

"Then use me," she suggested, and I shook my head.

"Not until I know that you don't hurt humans."

The others were waking up, and I quickly handed out some bits of meat to them, which they readily accepted, but the water in our skins was running a little low.

"We'll need to lookout for some of those streams," I said, and Francesca nodded. "Let's go, people!"

Everyone got up, but Wilt made a point to grumble about it as I tried to quickly herd them into position to get moving.

"I'd rather not stop until we hit our next target, so let's try to get a proper pace going," I called, before setting off, perhaps a bit faster than I knew the group would be comfortable with, but even so, it took all of five minutes before Wilt called out to me to stop.

"Fucking hell, man, are you trying to kill us?"

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm trying to save you," I reminded him, and he scowled.

"Let's just- try to move a little slower," Sheila suggested, as diplomatically as she could, and I sighed, nodding.

We set off again moving at the slower pace to which the group was accustomed, but as we made some time, I began to slowly, incrementally, increase our speed.

Thankfully, Wilt never seemed to really notice this time, but after about an hour, the group needed to take a short rest, and I shot Francesca a worried look.

"How is it?" I asked.

"Fine," she replied, smiling at me a little. "Seeing you worry about me might just be all the medicine I need."

I shook my head at the teasing comment, and this time, I noted that both Sheila and Blair seemed to have their eyes on us.

"We need to discuss something. Next break," I suggested, and Francesca nodded, following my gaze to the girls.

As we set off again, I opted once more to start the group off at their accustomed slower pace, but this time, I picked up the tempo at a much faster rate, and as we came to another stop an hour later I noted that the group seemed to be tiring.

Maybe I really need to take it easier on them, I thought.

"What's the deal?" Francesca asked, as she moved to my side.

"Have you been observing the group?" I asked, and she nodded. "Any problems?"

"Wilt, definitely. But nothing else. Just, you picking up your usual admirers," she teased, and I frowned.

"Take a closer look at Blair," I said, and she frowned.

"Which one is that?"

"The blond making eyes at me," I said, and she nodded.

She didn't look, but I figured she'd keep an eye out as we continued on.

As we set off, I let the group keep to its own preferred pace, and thankfully, this time we managed to keep pressing on for over two hours before finally, we came upon a stream, and I called the group to a stop as we paused for everyone to drink up, and refill our containers.

"She's really staring at you," Francesca confirmed. "At first, I thought it was attraction, but it's more than that, isn't it? Like she's... sizing you up, almost."

I nodded.

"We have another Emily," I whispered, and Francesca swallowed uncomfortably.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"I don't wanna leave them with her," I said. "When we get to the hall."

Francesca pursed her lips at this.

"I was under the impression that a few of them would ask to come along," she said, and I nodded.

"Sheila's already asked, and more otherworlders would certainly strengthen our position eventually; but I'm not sure if we're ready to take on new recruits yet. And it's definitely not a good idea to go straight home with them. We still need to figure out what the bigger picture is behind them being here. Some things are still bothering me."

Francesca nodded in agreement, and we got ready to set off again, but just as I got the group into formation, I felt a strange, disconcerting feeling, as if something was about to strike at me, and no sooner had the thought registered, than a silvery spear came hurtling through the woods, aimed directly at the vulnerable group beyond me.

I leapt desperately at it, reaching out at full stretch, and my hands just made contact with the thing as it zoomed through, and I heard the sound of steel piercing flesh just as a cry rang out.

Lin was tottering to the ground, but I had no time to focus on that, as a new sensation sent my pores a-flutter.

"Look alive!" I yelled out, and I eyed Blair for one moment, before making a split-second call.

I withdrew the axe-handle from my belt, and activated the item just as I tossed it at her, and she studied the thing with amazement as it took form in her hands.

"If you make me regret this, I'll kill you myself," I warned, but there was already a huge grin on her face as she moved to my side, and just as Francesca moved to join us, a wave of spiders burst through the darkness towards us.

These were smaller than the ones that I'd faced in the trees, but as we moved to strike at them, the first line leapt into the air, clearing the group completely, and quickly striking at our exposed flank.

"Ahh!" someone screamed.

Francesca moved through the group and stabbed one, before hurling her spear through another, but as she drew her dagger to continue fighting, I returned my attention to the creatures in front of me.

As they charged in, Blair stepped forward and hacked and slashed her way through two of the beasts, but even as she grinned gleefully, she was measured in her approach, moving in and killing, before withdrawing, and I moved in after her, skewering one more spider, and sweeping through two more, before retreating, and in good timing too, as another spear came hurtling through the woods at us.

I deflected it, then turned to look at Lin, whose wound, I noted, was more of a glance than a direct hit.

But where did the spear go?

Did the weapon vanish after being thrown?

I'd lost sight of the thing after deflecting it, but as I skewered another spider, and Blair quite easily dispatched of another, I readied myself, keeping a careful eye on the perimeter, particularly in the direction that the spears had come from.

We stayed on alert, but as the moment extended to a minute, and the minute stretched to ten more, the group began to relax a bit.

"How is he?" I called, keeping myself ready to react.

"It fucking hurts, but I can manage," he said, and I nodded.

The attack had come from the north, and as I thought about it, I made a quick judgement call.

"This way!" I yelled out, and Francesca shot me a quick look, then nodded.

The group was huddled together, and Francesca and I kept our eyes north, as they made their way in the opposite direction, and I nodded to Blair.

"Get ahead of them, make sure nothing attacks from that side.

"On it," she said, and we continued on in that way, moving slowly, but carefully, south of where we were.

We continued with the tentative approach, until I figured we were far enough away from our pursuer.

"Pick up the pace!" I called, and Blair nodded, moving to a quick jog, and the group pressed on as Francesca and I moved after them, trying our best to keep an eye out for attacks from behind or the sides.

We kept at it for about twenty minutes when I sensed the attack coming from the right, and I darted forward just as I caught sight of the spear hurtling toward them, and I swung my halberd, deflecting it properly.

The spear was lodged into a nearby tree trunk, and as I studied it, the thing began to deconstruct into energy threads, just like the threads that I saw inside our bodies, and as they began to swirl away through the trees, I made a split second decision and darted after them.

I followed them for about a hundred feet until I ran headfirst into Caleb, and he quickly shook off his surprise, and swung his bladed arm across my body.

The swing was, however, quite poorly measured, and I took the blow to the chest, deflecting it with my torso before making a slash of my own.

Caleb tried to leap backwards, but my halberd swept across his chest, and he made that hissing sound again as he trailed a hand along his chest across the wound that I'd inflicted on him.

"You're a fucking piece of trash, Nate. You'll pay for killing me!"

He lunged forward headfirst as I tilted my head at the curious statement, but his lunge was nothing compared to what I'd already faced when fighting Jacinda and Hans' monster forms, so I steadied myself and braced as he bared his teeth, which were more like fangs now, really, and as I caught them on my bracer, I twisted my hand and brought it down, slamming him into the ground and releasing my halberd as I did, then in one fluid motion, I unsheathed my dagger and jabbed the blade through his skull, and as he thrashed a bit, I held firm, keeping him pressed to the ground, as I twisted the dagger about until finally, he went still.

I sheathed my dagger, then retrieved my halberd, and listened for the sound of anything else, but everything had gone still until the padding of footsteps sounded behind me.

"Nate, are you-? Holy shit! Is that the thing?"

It was Blair, and she moved to study Caleb's corpse with a look of fascination.

"Look at that," she breathed, poking at him with her axe, and I shot her a disapproving look.

"You need to tone that down when the others are around," I chided, and she shrugged.

"Well, they aren't here now. And I don't need to pretend with you, do I?"

I studied her for a bit.

"Did you ever hurt humans? Back on earth?" I asked, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"All the time!"

"Innocent ones," I clarified, and she giggled a little.

"No-one's innocent, Nate. You should know that better than anyone else. Say, how many times were you called a 'monster'? Not for doing anything, but just for... existing, really?"

I swallowed uncomfortably, then nodded.

"I know. But I never hurt them for it."

"I never did, either. But there were some humans who needed hurting..."

"For what?" I asked.

"All sorts of things, but... I have a little fetish. You see, I just love to hunt down the sorry pieces of shit who can't control this thing," she said, jabbing the head of her axe into the crotch of Caleb's corpse.

It wasn't just for show, either, as she jabbed the axe wickedly several times into the area before turning to smile at me.

"Am I disturbing you?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No. He of all people deserved that," I said, and she studied me.

"The monster?"

"He was one of our group. And he raped several of our girls before they joined up with us."

She moved towards me with a smile on her face.

"Use me, Nate. I want to hunt monsters; and I don't necessarily mean just the ones like him. Teach me, and unleash me on them. Imagine what a force we could be..."

"As long as I'm sure that you'll never hurt anyone in my group," I said, and she shrugged.

"I can promise that. As long as your group's males can keep their dicks in line," she said, stomping on Caleb's part with her foot for effect, before turning to smile at me.