The Darkling Child

Reyn shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t need to.” Arca

He paused. “Just remember. If you get in trouble and I can’t reach you, don’t panic. Use your wishsong. Do whatever you must to protect yourself. I don’t like having to ask this, but life doesn’t always give us the choices we would prefer.”

The boy hesitated. “When this is over, will you continue to help me learn about the magic and not give up on me?”

“Give up on you?” Arca

He gripped the boy’s arm and pulled him close. “Are you ready?”

Reyn nodded.

Arca

Elsewhere in the nearly impenetrable soup, Mallich was leading his hunters in their search of the ruins. He paid no attention to the wards that might be in place now, made no effort to hide their arrival. The plan was simple—find their quarry, corner it, and kill it. With the oketar doing the tracking and the crince given over to The Hammer’s care (it mostly required sheer strength to control the beast), the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Arca

Usurient wasn’t so sure.

He trailed the others, doing what he had promised himself he would do—hanging back to let his companions manage the killing so he would be free to clean up the mess when things were over and done with. He was far less convinced than the others about how easy this would be or what their chance of success was. The others were confident in their strength and experience as predators, but the Red Slash Commander was equally convinced of Arca

His sole source of comfort came from the weapon he had concealed beneath his Federation army jacket—a handheld flash rip rapid-fire that could bring down an entire squad of attackers in seconds. It was the newest development in the Federation efforts to expand their military capability, the weapon of the future that would eventually put the Federation atop all the other nations and Races. He had one because he had managed to bargain for it a few years back—by which he meant he had used blackmail and threats against a weapons developer. Not very fair of him perhaps, but very effective when you wanted something as badly as he had wanted this weapon.

His eyes fixed for a time on the crince, watching as it slouched along on the far end of The Hammer’s chain. The beast was incredibly ugly—a huge, misshapen animal possessed of a massive body and thick, heavy limbs. Its head hung so low to the ground it seemed to be dragging. It was not intelligent; its senses were not keen. But once it locked on the prey it was sent to find, there was no stopping it. A crince would go right through a wall of spears to get its jaws on a kill. Even if damaged. Even if dying. You could stop it by dismembering it or cutting off its head, but with an animal of this size and ferocity coming at you, who had time for that?

He pictured it with its jaws around Arca

Bael Etris skittered up to him from one side—a teasing, taunting gesture—then darted away. He kept glancing at Usurient, an open promise of what he would like to do to him mirrored in his dark eyes. Usurient knew he would have to watch the other closely. If he gave the little vermin half a chance, he would find his throat slit. But he had dealt with men like Etris before, mindless killers with no discernible moral code and no respect for authority. He knew how to keep them at bay while making use of them.

Which wouldn’t be for all that long in this instance. Etris would be the first one he would dispose of when this was over.

Ahead, Mallich slowed. They were at the edge of the ruins now, close to where the real search would begin. The hunter stood waiting for the others, motioning them closer before speaking.

“We split up here. Two groups.” His voice was a whisper. “Hammer with me, Etris with Usurient. The animals go with me. Hammer and I will come in from the land side; Bael and Dallen will go in from the coast. There’s got to be ways in and out of whatever remains of the village, passageways carved into the rock. That’s where the sorcerer will be. If he doesn’t come out to meet us, we find one of those ways and go in after him. Mostly, we have to keep him in front of us. We don’t want him to slip out and get around behind us.”

“Or escape us altogether,” Usurient added. “If he does, he will come hunting us like we hunt him.”

“He’s already hunting you, though, isn’t he?” Bael Etris sneered.

Usurient glared at him. “Something you’re going to put a stop to if you want to get paid.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’m supposed to save you. I wonder why that doesn’t much interest me?”

Mallich gave him a look. “Enough. There will be a door hidden somewhere on the coast side. If you find it, go in. Kill everyone. Don’t stop to think about it.”

“Don’t you worry.” Etris was still looking at Usurient. “I know how to kill a man better than most.”

“Let him go on his own,” Usurient said suddenly. “I’ll stay with you.”

Mallich started to object, then thought better of it. He sighed wearily. “All right. You come with me and Hammer. Let’s be quick about this. Remember. If Arca

They separated then, Bael Etris peeling off from the others and disappearing into the gloom. The other three stood watching for a minute, then Mallich beckoned. They started forward into the ruins, spreading out as they went. They kept one another in sight, although Usurient, on the far right, at times lost sight of The Hammer, on the far left. He kept Mallich in view because he was the one who mattered. The oketar roamed ahead, straining against their leashes, noses to the ground, sniffing at rocks and debris. As hunters they were without peer, but they were killers, too. The urge to engage and take down prey was instinctive, and if there were living creatures anywhere nearby, they would find them.

Usurient peered into the haze doubtfully. He couldn’t see a thing. It would have been better if they had gone in last night in the pouring rain rather than risk an encounter in this fog. Maybe they should have waited. But he knew that wasn’t possible with these men. Waiting wasn’t something they would tolerate. He picked his way through the rocks cautiously, trying not to make any sound, grateful for the roar of the ocean in the background, hiding everything in its white noise.

Then, abruptly, something appeared in the gloom ahead of them.

As they left their shelter and stepped out into the mist and gloom, Arca

Reyn nodded. It seemed to him that the ocean crashing against the rocks drowned out everything, but he did his best to try to hear through it. Arca