Terintal strode into the darkened husk of a ruin, muttering something under his breath. His hands were down, clasped around the grip of a pistol that Kaliana had loaned him. His pupils dilated more than any human’s possibly could so he could make out the area in front of him. There were far too many places for something to hide in the scattered rubble of the ruins. He didn’t like the situation one bit.
Drigzin strode up next to the point where Terintal had entered the rubble strewn building and lay his back flat against the wall. It wouldn’t be long now before he would have his chance. He gripped the small explosive that Kaliana had given him, going over and over in his head the instructions she had given him.
Kaliana and Stan were perched behind a outcropping of reinforced concrete, watching the two men enter the building. It was the fifth one today they had to clear. They knew it had to be done, or the following evening would be just as bad as the previous one had been. No one wanted that.
Stan scanned the building with his analytical eye and final spoke. “I think this building has a higher probably of being…”
He was interrupted as Terintal burst from the building, running as fast as he could run. He spun and shot a couple of rounds into the massive swarm of bat like creatures that flew out of him.
Rocky Mountain Bloodbats was the name the locals had given the horrible creatures that flew out after the nephilim. While technically they looked and flew like bats, the similarities ended there. Unlike bats, these creatures had developed a means of working together and took down large prey rather than focus on eating small insects.
There were two things you never did with Rocky Mountain Bloodbats. One, say the locals, is stay near their lair at night. Most of the swarms flew usually only a few miles from the cool dark places they lived each night. The second thing, they said, was to never, ever, disturb a bloodbat den during the day.
That just makes them mad.
Terintal ran as fast as he could and Kaliana began firing bursts over his head. The bursts did little to thin the large cloud, but it did take out a few the leading bats. After the swarm exited the hole, Drigzin slipped inside.
Terintal waved frantically at Kaliana and Stan, “Go! Go!” He could see they had not started moving and did not want them caught in the cloud after he ran passed.
Kaliana frowned then realized the swarm was larger than the others they had cleared that day had been. She hopped up, yanked on Stan and yelled, “More than we thought, time to move.” The two turned and fled ahead of Terintal.
The three followed the path they had mapped out ahead of time, just in case such a case had happened. They turned through alleys of rubble and debris till finally they found the small basement tunnel they were looking for and dived inside. Terintal grabbed the door and slammed it shut, though a few bats made it inside.
Kaliana fired a few quick shots to kill the few inside, while Terintal braced the door against the pounding the other bloodbats produced as they landed on the door or slammed into it.
The low rubble that shook the dust from the basement told them that the explosive finally went off, and like clockwork the bloodbats outside started to disperse. No one knew why destroying the massive mounds the bats formed indoors caused them to revert their behavior to that of an average fruit bat, but the fact that it did, made the bats manageable in most situations.
When Drigzin knocked lightly on the door, they opened it and he slipped inside. “No signs that the explosion drew anyone’s attention, ” he muttered.
“Still, we are staying here till dusk, just in case,” Kaliana reminded them.
Stan nodded and intoned, “Hopefully that was the last bloodbat colony in the area. Otherwise it will be difficult to get into the inner city area.”
Terintal rolled his eyes, “Yeah, cause so far its been cake.” He dabbed at a few scrapes and bite marks. Stan stepped up and applied some sort of spray to the wounds that stung badly, but he assumed was supposed to help.
Kaliana cut off any debate, “We need to get some rest while we can.” She turned and walked to the door, pulling it open. As usual, she didn’t ask for opinions or even leave the topic open for discussion. Terintal opened his mouth to talk, but decided it would be a waste of breath. He glanced at Drigzin, who just shook his head and rolled his eyes. Both men settled into opposite corners of the old basement, while Stan just stood in the middle of the room.
Outside Kaliana found a good place to watch the doorway and the rest of the street at the same time. She had her back to a large wall of rubble and focused her mind on what she was doing, so as to not let it wander and possibly drift off.
When she saw the large dog lope around the corner and stop to sniff the ground she narrowed her eyes and lifted her rifle into position. The soft scrape of leather on stone behind her was the only warning she had, but years of training had honed her reflexes and she spun quickly. Above her on the rock wall stood a tall thin woman dressed in furs and leather, she had a long spear grasped in both hands, a bow strapped on her back, and knives strapped to her shins. She stabbed down quickly at Kaliana with the spear, but hesitate slightly upon being detected. Kaliana had the quick thought that though the woman was trying to kill her, she must not have wanted to look her in the eyes while doing so.
Rather than fire and risk taking the spear to the chest, Kaliana rolled and shoved hard against the spear with her rifle as it came down on the rock beside her. Both weapons tangled when the fur and leather clad woman twisted the spear. Both women discarded their primary weapons and went for secondary ones. The remnant went for the pair of knives on her shin guards, while Kaliana reached down for her pistol, only to find the holster empty.
She had leant her sidearm to Terintal.
She rolled to the side as the remnant leapt down from above, barely dodging aside from the attack. With a spin Kaliana kicked the remnant’s legs out from under her and leapt on top of her, going for the weapons. The bow and quiver strapped to the remnant’s back clattered against the concrete and rubble as the women struggled for control.
Kaliana was determined to keep the upper hand, and both of the other woman’s wrists. Neyah on the hand was trying with all her might to push up with the knives. She suddenly relented though, dropped the knives and twisted hard to try and throw the bio-engineered soldier from atop her. They spun, and both quickly scrambled to their feet then startled to tangle once more.
From one side, a loud barking growl stole Kaliana’s attention for a moment, but it was all the time Neyah needed.
She got behind the soldier and grabbed hold of the back of her hair, yanking her head back hard. She yelled, “Cin!” The dog leapt at its target. It arced up toward Kaliana, mouth open in a loud growl, teeth ready to sink into the bioengineered’s throat.
