November 2, 2020 - Ames, Iowa

The rising winds gave teeth to the air that gnawed on exposed skin. Storm clouds, black as the depths of night, swept over the winter-white sky and blotted out light. Without power, the city of Ames was mostly dark, here and there candlelight brightened a window. The citizens were huddled in their homes. The city had become dangerous these last weeks, with power and communication cut off, looting had already begun and broken glass littered many of the storefronts.

The storm broke with a crash of thunder that felt like some violent god had slammed down a hammer on the world. The rain fell in heavy drops, barely warmer than sleet, driven before the howling wind like bullets. Lightning ripped the sky into jagged shards of glittering rain. Each cataclysmic strobe of lightning, sent an echoing lance of fear through Jes’ system.

Rock kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye as he guided the truck through deepening puddles and down the familiar streets. The soldiers in the bed of the truck rode in stoic silence, despite the driving chill of the rain. Every few blocks, one of the soldiers would hop out of the truck bed and disappear into the deepening darkness.

James was the last one to climb out of the truck. “We’ll meet back up with you on the farm later.” He paused by the window to say. “You two should probably get out of town, quickly. If it comes to fighting, you’re out of your depth.”

“We’ll be waiting for you.” Rock said.

Jes only offered a tight, wincing smile before they drove off.

After a moment of silence, with only the sound of the wipers and the heavily falling rain, Rock asked. “Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Jes admitted, pulling her legs up against her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around them. “Everything is falling apart, isn’t it?” Before he could answer, she kept talking. “Is this the end of the world, Rock?”

The rhythmic swipe of the wipers was the only sound for a moment before Rock heaved a hearty sigh. “Maybe.”

Jes looked down at her right hand, the strange fractal scarring dancing over every bit of the skin. She flexed those scarred fingers, her eyes burning as she tried to give voice to her feelings. “I feel like we’re in a free fall.” She rubbed her hand over the ache in her chest, as though she could massage away the sick feeling in her heart. “I never thought-” She shook her head, breaking off. “I never wanted-” She swallowed past a burning lump in her throat and couldn’t find any more words.

They were again sitting across the bench seats of his truck, only a couple of weeks had passed since she had called him from the hospital. There was still a gulf of distance and history between them. Rock reached across that distance and pulled her to him, tucking her up against his side with his arm looped over her shoulders and her head resting against his chest. “I can’t promise that it’ll be okay, Jes.”

“Right now, I wouldn’t believe you if you did.” Jes took a hitching breath.

Rock tucked his chin and kissed Jes’ forehead, a gesture he had made a thousand times before. Both of them froze.

***

They were moving in small squads through the city. Dark figures infiltrating homes one after another and subduing the inhabitants, dragging them in groups back toward the gathering point, where a large contingent of their troops were guarding the humans. They worked quickly in the hard rain, sweeping through the city and finding shockingly little resistance.

The operation was going better than expected and the tension that hummed through General Leander was starting to ease, if only slightly. There was still a writhing ball deep in his stomach that kept him from fully relaxing. He brought his horse to a stop in the center of a crossroad. He drew in a deep breath, testing the air, ears twitching slightly. There was something on the wind, he could almost taste it. One of the squads scrambled into view, climbing up and over a low stone wall with almost no sound. A young elven woman broke away from the team and jogged over to the General. He leaned down from his mounted position to listen.

She put both fists together and bowed slightly. “General Leander. There is a large building on the next street with lit windows.”

For a moment, he considered taking the humans they had already gathered and retreating to Pharendria. He barely kept the frown from his face, where had this cowardice come from? “Gather four squads in addition to your own and surround the building before infiltrating. Keep your eyes open and your blades ready.”

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“Yes, sir.” The scout said, saluting again before she jogged back to her squad.

He saw other squads, some bearing chained slaves back to add to the long line of people and horses that a handful of squads were watching over at the rear of the long, spread out line of elves working their way through the human city.

***

Jump stopped, leaning against the thick trunk of an old oak tree. The bark felt rough against her back and the wide reaching bare branches did nothing to protect her from the rain. She checked around both sides of her tree before she moved on to the next bit of cover. Adrenaline poured through her veins as she moved. She always liked the idea of action, liked looking back over past action and reliving it, but in the moment? In the moment, she hated it. There was a part of her mind that second guessed every move she made, questioned every decision.

She crouched next to a car, popping up quickly to take a look down the street over the hood. She sidled over toward the passenger window, popping up again to look from a different perspective. There was definitely someone there. She heard a strange tittering birdcall over the sound of the rain. She edged toward the back of the car to peer around the trunk. Hunkered down next to a bush across the street was a dark shape. It was watching the front of the car. Jump went prone, pointing her rifle at the shape. She couldn’t immediately identify friend or foe, but she was going to have it covered either way.

Lightning split the sky into a million pieces, the thunder was almost simultaneous and was deafeningly loud. There was a moment of silence in its wake, even the sound of the rain falling seemed to have ceased. In the wake of that moment of silence, there was a bark of semi-automatic gunfire. A scream split the air almost at the same time as another bolt of lightning. As the thunder rumbled ominously, several more bursts of gunfire.

The shape across the street stood up, looking toward the sound of gunfire. Jump followed the movement as they plucked an arrow from a quiver on their back and started to take aim. Jump squeezed the trigger and her rifle cracked. The elf moved. One breath they were there, the next they were two feet to the left and turned toward where Jump lay behind the car.

Jump cursed, firing off a short burst before rolling away from the car. An arrow skittered along the concrete, sparking despite the water. Jump shot again, starting to the left of the elf and spraying all the way across. The arrow screamed a burning furrow along Jump’s bicep and she scrambled backward toward the curb. Took a few deep breaths before she peered back over the car’s trunk toward the elf. There was a crumpled body there that wasn’t moving. Jump sat down and leaned her head back against the car for a moment in relief before she bound her wound. It was painful, but still just a graze.

Over the storm, the crack of gunfire echoed across the city. The sound had a strange rhythm to it as soldiers paused to reload while others took up firing. There were screams, often cut short. Then a series of explosions. Jump recognized the sound of grenades. There were far more rifles than could be accounted for by her recon squad. She checked the road again, before approaching the elf she had shot. With two fingers, she felt for a pulse. Definitely dead.

She frowned.

Unless they didn’t have pulse points in their throat…

Did elves have pulse points in their throat?

Not the time. She reminded herself. She moved quickly, but quietly, down the street toward the sounds of gunfire. Thus far, none of the citizens of the city had made an appearance. She found a second dead elf as she neared the fight, this one had been caught by bullets from two different angles. The sounds of gunfire were slowing, petering out. One of the dormitories was the source of the firefight, evidence of the grenades pitted the lawn. It had taken her perhaps ten minutes to slowly make her way to the dorm. By the time she got there, it was all over.

Four dead elves. All of that gunfire for four dead elves. She moved cautiously, keeping to the shadows and skirting the edge of the lawn. Over the ozone scent of the weather, she could smell the acrid smoke of gunfire. She finally reached the door, with no sign of other combatants, but as she hesitated before stepping into the doorway, she heard voices from within. They were far enough away from the door and speaking softly enough that she couldn’t understand what they were saying. She ducked down and slowly eased the door open, ready to move off quickly at the first sign of trouble.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she leaned in for a quick peek. A half dozen elves were visible at the end of the hall, none of them looking her way, but all of them armed to the teeth. She ducked back out of the doorway and looked back over the lawn and the four corpses there. There is no way in hell I’m talking on more than one of those at a time. She checked down the hall again, another elf emerged from one of the doors, dragging someone in chains behind it. Another door was opening as Jump stopped looking. There is absolutely nothing I can do. Probably nothing any of us can do.

Just as carefully as she had approached the building, she fell back to a safer location across the street. She watched the building for what felt like an eternity. Eventually the elves left. There ended up being more than two dozen of them in total. In their wake they dragged a long train of shackled humanity.

Their mission was a failure. In her entire life, Jump had never felt more powerless than she did in that moment. They needed so much more than one squad of scouts.