41

Alayna

Friday 18th September, Year 827

We all watched the tiny, box television in the corner of the training room. Thruck harbour was on fire. We saw none of our group but plenty of other rebels throwing firebombs and fighting the Guard drafted from Lambent in order to steal their supplies.

"He blew up the damn ship," I screeched.

"He said he wanted to make an entrance," Paul grumbled.

"I'm going to kill him," my voice trembled.

"Don't worry. I think he's going to kill himself before you get a chance," Leesa said, apprehension covering her ebony features.

"You can't know it was him," Lucas said feebly.

I took a deep breath rather than snapping back a retort. He smirked at me as if he knew I was trying hard not to be an asshole.

"We knew he was this volatile years ago. At least he's doing it in Thruck instead of here," Alex shrugged before adding "I hope Charlotte's alright."

"She'll be fine," Lucas reassured.

I pushed air out between my lips. "He's an idiot and Aaron is letting him be one."

"Those Lambentians can't get home unless they send more ships now though. With each new ship we get a fresh pile of resources to steal," Leesa reasoned.

"Good point," I sighed. "I hope there's not too much in-fighting over supplies."

"Nah, they just kill the golden-eyed scumbags and usually share it out. Last time they sent supplies up north to us. They could have just kept them," Alex shrugged.

Death of Lambentians was not new or shocking to me. I welcomed it, preferring they'd die in Thruck, Droyed or Garth rather than making it to Harroworth. But now there was a risk that a certain pair of golden eyes might be in Vakoso and the thought of something happening to him took my breath away. I needed to get a grip.

I was on night shift with Paul but, being the old man he was, he was asleep just after ten. I climbed into bed and then climbed straight back out, throwing back the scratchy blanket that had offered pretty much no warmth. I heaved a sigh as loud hissing echoed from the ceiling, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet pressed against the cold concrete floor. For once, I just wanted a good night's sleep without thinking the Umbrith would kill me. I wandered from the cold dormitory and found Paul already in the hallway.

"Yeah, I heard it," Paul grumbled sleepily. "Can't those bastards give us one night? Who is on backup?"

"Renée and Yalma. I'll ring them now," I murmured.

Paul shuffled off toward the armoury with all the enthusiasm of a man walking towards his own execution. I punched in Renée's number with practiced calmness. I'd been through enough close calls with Umbrith attacks to know that panicking was pointless.

"Yes?" Renée's weird, crisp answer cut through the line.

"Hey, there are Umbrith in the gym. Will you and Yalma come over? We can't tell how many there are," I asked.

"Yalma is gone," she replied, her voice a bored monotone.

"What? I told you both to stick together," I said, confused.

She hung up abruptly as a surge of frustration coursed through me.

What a bitch.

Renée was the only person in the group I never warmed to. She never seemed part of the team, often taking things upon herself without warning Ben and making trouble for the rest of us. I was not the only one who disliked her involvement in the Harroworth Rebels but she had been a school mate of Ben and Michael's when they were young. She just stuck around after that. But lately she'd been unbearable—not showing up for rounds and leaving her partner mid-shift. She was even starting to bug Ben who usually let her do what she wanted.

I walked to the armoury in no real hurry. I knew the Umbrith wouldn't be able to make it in quietly with the traps Yalma had set up, so we just had to wait it out until Renée or Yalma killed them from outside. Paul was still muttering grumpily to himself as I entered the room.

"Renée is on her way. I think she's sent Yalma away though," I said, grabbing the shotgun as a precaution.

The cartridges slid into their chambers with satisfying clicks—it didn't matter about applying spit or Lenad; they were powerful enough to blow up any creature without any aid. But it didn't go unnoticed that we only had six shotgun cartridges left and there was no guarantee Ben would come back with more. He'd be pissed off at me for using them but I figured he'd prefer me alive.

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"What was the miserable cow thinking?" Paul muttered.

"Probably just wanted to annoy you," I giggled.

Before I had the chance to finish loading the gun, Paul had bear-hugged me and threw me sideways. I slid along the floor just in time to see an Umbrith fly into Paul, knocking him to the ground. It sunk its teeth into his shoulder and ripped a massive chunk of flesh from him. My palms scraped against the grit-strewn floor, fingers clawing for friction as I pushed up with a grunt. Legs scrambling beneath me, I surged to my feet, grabbing a bottle of Lenad. I launched the potion at the grotesque creature and it smashed on its back with a loud crunch. The Umbrith wailed in pain as its skin melted off its body, oozing black blood. I charged past it stupidly as it turned its attention to me, allowing the blood-soaked Paul wriggled away. As I bolted, the icy concrete beneath my desperate strides threatened to send me sprawling with every corner I flung myself around. The Umbrith missed me by inches, slipping in its own black blood and crashing into the wall behind me. I realised I'd left the damn gun in the ammo room.

"Paul! I'm unarmed!" I screamed with no idea whether he was conscious.

The only reply I got from my desperate plea was one shot of a shotgun. Half of the creature's head exploded almost comically and a nervous giggle escaped my lips. After a moment in shock, I ran back into the armoury and found Paul, too pale, slumped against a wall with his hand pressed to his shoulder.

"How the hells did they get in? Were Yalma's shields just illusions or something?" I muttered weakly, dialling Yalma.

"Alayna!" Paul shouted and threw me aside again.

This time I was prepared. I picked the shotgun off the floor and turned, shooting another creature before it reached Paul. Yalma's voice finally crackled from the phone.

"Here!" I shoved the phone in Paul's hands.

I started loading more guns, my panic levels sharply rising at how little ammunition we had left. Paul started to brief Yalma on the situation when hissing sounded once more. I instead opted for a knife and spear. Bows were no good against Umbrith; they moved too fast.

"Paul, there are more of them. Get Yalma to bring as much back up as possible," I ordered.

I crept back into the hallway slowly with a loaded shotgun, three small knives and a gold jar of Lenad. Creeping to the main entrance, I froze, unable to understand what I was looking at. Renée stood in the research room with another two Umbrith standing over her. She had her hands full with papers. Papers that held the locations of Umbrith breeding grounds and nests, that had our reconnaissance of Lambent battle strategies, that had Ben's rebel rotations and plans. Everything. She made a pile in the centre of the room as the grey monsters stood there doing nothing. One of the creatures hissed something in a language I did not understand and, to my brain-shattering revulsion, Renée replied in the same tongue. She poured something on the papers and set them on fire. I took aim with the shotgun and shot one of the Umbrith, killing it instantly. She shouted something to the other one and sprinted off towards the entrance, wriggling viciously from my grasp as I tried to stop her. I smashed the gun into the back of her head and she hit the deck. The situation did not get better from there. Doubled over, her skin started to fall off, replaced by stony grey. I didn't stay to watch the rest of the scene unfold as I had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen next. I raced back to the armoury to find Paul had pulled himself to his feet and was dragging himself into the main corridor.

"These are it," he groaned, gesturing to the cartridges.

I frowned at him, grabbing the ammo. "Renée...she's one of them," I said tersely. "Tell me we're not alone."

"What?" he hissed.

"Paul, is someone else coming?" I panicked.

"Yeah. Help me," he ordered.

Nodding grimly, I slung the shotgun across me and helped him to his feet, slipping an arm under his to steady him as he claimed a knife from my belt and another vile of Lenad. His skin was turning grey and blood still pulsed heavily from his shoulder. I really worried he would drop before we were out of the mess.

We walked towards the entrance, hoping to at least get him out, but our path was blocked by two more Umbrith materialising around a bend. The sight filled me with cold anger; our group had thought ourselves safe from this. It had been months since an attack, but the second Ben was gone with half hour numbers, shit hit the fan.

In the blink of an eye, I had been pinned to the ground, the shotgun skidding across the floor, and Paul was gone.

The Umbrith hovered above me, its putrid breath oozed the iron tang of blood and decaying flesh. Close enough that I could count the jagged teeth protruding from its jaw. It sniffed at my neck and madly I thought it seemed intrigued by the beads at my throat. Taking the distraction, I spat at it. With a bone-jarring screech, it slammed me harder into the concrete—closer to the gun. As its razor teeth pierced my stomach and pain flared red-hot, I thrashed beneath its weight and managed to grasp the shotgun. A point-blank shot rang out and silence followed. The creature slumped on me.

"Paul?" I screeched.

Silence and hissing.

If I'm going to die it is not going to be lying here.

Gathering the dregs of my strength, I squirmed free of the Umbrith's bulk and used the blood-smeared wall for support to claw myself to my feet. Ignoring the searing agony tearing through my side, I staggered forward in search of Paul. Blood oozed at a fast pace through my fingers as I held my hands at the wound. Inhaling became difficult as I slowly rounded the corner to the entrance of the base and spotted Paul fighting two of the monsters at once. I couldn't believe how good he was at defending himself. I remember him telling me his defensive skills had saved his life. I completely understood what he meant at that moment. The way he moved—like he knew exactly what was coming ahead of time—a feat was more impressive considering he had lost so much blood. He was a machine!

As I slotted the final cartridges into the shotgun with shaking hands, Paul flung one creature away with a fierce shove. I aimed and shot—it finally fell into a crumpled heap. A faint commotion stirred in the distance. Clanging metal and urgent footsteps grew louder until Yalma burst in with Alex, Sydney, Lucas and Leesa. Sydney sported a fresh gash across his forehead while Leesa juggled aiding Lucas and racing toward me.

"Crap! Look at the state of you. Are you alright?" Leesa squealed as she ran up to me, dropping Lucas abruptly.

"I'm fine," I lied through clenched teeth as every cell in my body screamed otherwise. I didn't take my eyes off Lucas, trying to figure out where he was bleeding from.

My legs completely contradicted me as I went to take a step towards him and faltered. Another Umbrith, who must have been following the others, flew past us and Leesa thrust me into an empty dormitory before we were both murdered. Through a haze which made me delusional from blood loss, I could have sworn I saw Yalma stretching her arms forward—a shimmering barrier sprung from her fingertips just as another monster collided with it.

My vision was starting to darken as Sydney threw himself onto its back and sliced at its throat in an attempt to get its head off. The last thing I remember was the creature throwing him to the floor before I collapsed backwards and the world plunged into darkness.