Chapter 8
More enemies than allies
Baker and I head to the alleyway where Shyft is waiting. He looks around nervously
"We need to get the fuck out of here." We leave the area and head back to the building we first camped out in. We gather our stuff and start to head for the truck we stashed in the woods. We get out of the town taking turns leading and guarding. While I was in the lead I send out a ping and get back a confusing response. I stop and motion to Baker and Shyft to stop and take cover.
"What is it brother?" Shyft raised his eyebrow.
"I don’t know I can’t tell, give me a sec to go look." I lay my gear down and sneak into the woods off the side of the road. Even before we had started to develop these powers, I have always been able to "disappear" in the woods. I had the uncanny ability to become invisible. I could stalk right up to a deer or rabbit without spooking it. I moved through the trees like a shadow with shade soundlessly flapping off my left shoulder. I made it about 100 or so yards when I started to approach the strange energy I had felt. I start to slow down and I motion to shade to land in a tree. I stop behind a tree and peer out into the darkness.
A group of about 6 hooded figures were sitting around a campfire. The scene was surreal almost like they had no idea there was a hostile force invading our world. I ping my energy and I still get back that confusing energy signature. It was a mixture of human energy and demon but there were no demons here just humans. One of the figures turned its head sharply in my direction. It stood and the two next to him turn and release two well powered energy blasts that miss by about 10 yards off to my left. The figure that stood pulls its hood down and yells into the woods.
"Whoever is out there reveal yourself. That was a warning shot." I knew they were lying but I figured I’d play the weakling that is just running from the shit. I look up at Shade and whisper
"Watch my back and take my lead."
I come out of the woods at a half run. The other figures rise and raise their hands.
"Wait, wait I'm unarmed. I'm just running from one of those things." I stammer acting like I was scared out of my mind. The figures start moving closer without lowering their hands. I pull my energy in using a suppression technique that we had learned. The main figure steps close enough for me to see him. He was a young man, dark complexion with piercing yellow eyes. He had runes and glyphs carved and burned into his skin. The bonfire crackled a little as the man says
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"You heard him there is a demon heading this way. That must have been that energy I felt earlier." he looks at me "You are lucky you ran into us we will help you." I look up him trying to act scared and grateful.
"Thank you, sir. Who are you people?" I send a quick explanation to my brothers about what is going on and my plan. I get a reply as I hear the man start speaking "We are the Enclave. We are a group of humans that believe we are just as deserving of the power that the demons have brought into this world. We do this by eating demon flesh and injecting demon blood into our bodies. Then we brand or scar ourselves with these symbols and we get imbued with their energy."
"Magic? Humans can do that?" I ask feigning ignorance. As I said that I felt the pulse of my brother’s energies getting closer. I looked back at the woods as a large fire sprung out of nothingness. The Enclavists started to look anxious feeling that this energy might be too much for them. The fire started drawing closer and closer then two of Shade's energy blasts shot out of the woods nailing two of the figures in the chest knocking them to the ground. I then heard Baker's voice trying to sound as scary and demonic as possible.
"Puny humans how dare you trespass on my land. I am going to kill every single one of you. Unless you give me the one that I have been after." The remaining people look at me then at the head occlavist. He grabs my arm and starts dragging me to the woods
"Here you can have him. He is nothing to us." he says. As we get to the woods I slip the guys grasp and put him into an arm lock. My brothers walk out of the woods and join us. Shade flies down and lands on my shoulder.
"What the hell is this? He asks. I flair my energy out letting loose the suppression. He looks up at me with wide eyes. "What the hell are you? How can you produce that much energy without ingesting demon flesh and having runes carved into you?" I smile
"We are the true advancement of human physiology. We don’t have to use your little tricks to get this kind of power." I said to him.
"What are you going to do to me?" he asks nerviously
"Nothing just tell you and your friends to stop. You are going to get yourselves killed or worse changed into one of them with no human emotion left." he nods quickly. I let him go and tell him to run back to the leaders of his group and tell them what I said. He takes off running away from the city and disappears.
We head back to where we left the truck and start loading our gear.
"Do you think his group will heed our warning?" Baker asks climbing into the driver's seat of the truck. Shyft laughs and climbs into the passenger's seat and says
"I doubt any group that is willing to eat and inject parts of a demon just to get a modicum of the ability we could teach them to harness without it would stop now. We are going to have to deal with them in the future too. If they are willing to eat demons who is to say they won’t attack humans with power too. That might actually be easier in some cases." Baker looks back at me as I climb into the back of the jeep and tuck Shade's chest under the back seat of the jeep for safe keeping.
"Where are we going next brother?" He asks me. I pull out the map and hand it to Shyft.
"Looks like we have to go down south to Louisiana." Shyft says showing the map to Baker now there were only 4 green glowing dots on the map instead of 5.