Creatures of Snow (45 page)

They were at a standoff
and Al knew it wouldn’t last forever. He didn’t know if their
demands would be met, and somehow, now that he was face to face
with his enemy, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t be. He just hoped
things were going better for Soul.

Chapter
Thirty-
Six

Sky ran down the overgrown
path, his heart in his ears. He should have stayed put, he knew
that. But what was he supposed to do? His dad and the rest of them
had hardly been gone ten minutes when the soldiers had walked by
the ship.

What had caught Sky’s eye on the security
halo was that the uniforms they wore weren’t those of the
government’s army. He had switched on the audio and caught the tail
end of their conversation as they had passed by without a glance in
the ships direction.

“
Her house should be just
up ahead.” The taller one said.

“
Do we just kill her
outright? Bossman said she isn’t needed anymore.” The smaller one
with the hook nose was a bit too enthusiastic with his
words.

“
We need to ask her where
the book is.”

“You know she won’t talk,
they never do.” The smaller one said.

“
We ask her once, if she
doesn’t answer, you can kill her if you want, but I won’t do
it.”

“
Ha, you afraid of killing
a Telic? Think the wrath of the Haven’s is gonna get
you.”

“Don’t be stupid. It’s the
wrath of the Man that frightens me.”

Sky had stopped listening
after that. He knew who they were and where they were going.
They’re going to kill her.
Al’s mom. They were going to kill the woman who gave him
comfort when his mom died, who used to tell them stories to make
them laugh and sing them songs to help them sleep.

So, yes, there was a very
logical reason he should be running after two armed soldiers. Her
name was Oh’May.

He stopped with a gasp,
trying to catch his breath. His wobbly legs led him to the rough
embrace of the closest tree, but he forced himself to move forward,
in the direction the soldiers had gone.

A bit further down the
path it was obvious a residence was nearby; animal feeders hung
from the trees, flowers were planted in patterns that nature could
have never created, and more obviously, a pebbled walkway started a
few feet from the main path and led to a small hut that peaked out
from the hillside.

Movement inside the hut
sent his heart fluttering and his knees to the ground. He flung
himself behind a fence made from thick tree branches and scraps of
metal, and forced his breath to slow.

A sharp pain shot from his
hip, down to his toes, as his leg caught awkwardly beneath him.
With a bit more noise then he intended, he scrapped his feet across
the gravel and dirt, trying to hoist himself up a few more inches.
He dared a look over the pillar, but at this point he didn’t even
have to look. All he had to do was listen.

Sky pulled clumsily at the
knife in his belt, sweat falling into his eyes. With a few deep
breaths, he cleared his head. He could do this. He was strong. He
was fast. He was…going to die. Sky shook his head, wanting to pound
it on a tree. This was absolutely nuts, but he had to do
it.

With a grit of his teeth,
he moved forward. Keeping low, he slunk towards the door. He
crossed the front yard – a lush landscape of meticulously placed
foliage and intricately arranged flowers.

Once at the stoop, he saw
a small mound of fur, still and unmoving. His heart sank into a
splash of acid when he realized what it was. A little loax. He
paused momentarily to close the eyes of the unfortunate creature
and ran a hand over sleek fur that shined like freshly polished
silver. Such a coat meant it was well taken care of. He had heard
of people training them, and those lucky few that found a way to
tame them, would often use them as loyal guardians. This one, no
doubt, died protecting his master.

Sky put his head down and
let his anger rise. With every shout that came from behind the
wooden door, with every crash the resounded through the walls, he
let his fury grow. These men were the reason he was there. It
was
their
Councilmen that wanted the Book of Nine. They were the reason
the Man of Mist had tried to kill him and kidnap his friends. They
were the reason they had to leave their homes and lives. They were
the reason Al had come to Mye. So, in essence, everything…it was
all their fault.

Without another thought he
burst through the door, but before his foot even landed on the
opposite side of the threshold, a shot rang out.

He stopped, as did his
heart, “Oh’May!” He screamed as she fell, pulling the soldiers
attention in his direction.

The one closest to him,
the shorter one with the hook nose, already had his gun aimed and
ready. There was only time to react. Sky grabbed the smaller
soldiers wrist and threw him into the wall near the door. The
taller soldier hadn’t fully turned around before Sky was on him,
elbowing him in the face.

The smaller one stumbled
up from the floor and hauled up his gun once again, but the effort
was lost as Sky’s knife hit his chest in a splash of red. Sky
kicked the gun away and it swooshed across the floor till it was
lost into the shadows of the next room.

He backed away in shock,
his shaking hands covered in the warmth of someone else’s
blood.

The taller soldier dove at
him with a bellow, and knocked him off his feet - but not before
Sky got a hold of him and took him right down with him.

Using the momentum of the
fall, he slammed the soldiers head back into the floor with a
sickening thud. The hand around his throat loosened just enough for
him to roll away, out of the other man’s grasp.

There was a bullet-load
gun laying a few feet away, and that became his destination. Sky
dove for it as the tall soldier staggered towards his fallen
companion.

Sky fumbled with the gun,
not sure how it worked, and aimed it clumsily. “Stop.” He demanded,
pushing his chest out, trying to get as much height as he
could.

The remaining soldier
hadn’t heard him, or didn’t care. He kept on his path towards his
companion, crashing into the wall and sliding down, until he sat
beside the dead soldier.

Sky’s brief feeling of
remorse was wisped away when he realized the man wasn’t checking
the other soldier for signs of life, but for weapons.

“I said stop, freeze. Turn
around.” He didn’t mean for his voice to crack at that instant. His
arm’s wavered. Could he really pull the trigger? With the other
soldier, it had been instant and defensive. But now, this soldier,
he was technically unarmed. Sky had the upper hand and he could end
it with one shot.

“You’ve got some bad luck
there, boy.” The tall soldier’s voice was like gravel. The blood
that trickled down the back of his skull had completely soaked the
back of his shirt.

“
Doesn’t look that way to
me.” He chanced a step forward.

“That’s because you don’t
see the big picture.” The soldier slid his hands over the smaller
one’s face, closing his unblinking eyes. “You just messed with the
wrong mission, my friend. Even if you make it out of here alive,
they’ll hunt you down for interfering.”

“I’m not scared.” He
raised his chin and the gun.

The soldier turned his
head just slightly, letting Sky see the menacing smirk grow larger
then a face should stretch. “You should be.”

The soldier’s eyes flashed
a brilliant red as the skin on his face darkened into a sickly
shade of green. He ripped the knife out of the dead soldier and
bolted straight towards Sky, his face continuing to morph as he
did.

The recoil sent him a few
steps back as he pulled the trigger - his aim had been worse then
his balance as the shot blasted a dusty hole into the paneled wall
on the far side of the room.

The monster soldier ran
straight into him without slowing down, driving the knife roughly
through his vest, skin and muscle and didn’t stop until Sky’s back
slammed into the wall.

He let out a cry out of
the sheer pain that ripped through his core as the soldier pulled
out the blade and drove it in again. Sky gathered enough strength
to kick him back and raised the gun that he was somehow,
miraculously, still holding onto.

The soldier rushed at him,
the skin of his face had peeled back to reveal rough scales and
dangerous looking spikes. His clawed hand raised the knife again,
aiming higher this time.

In a panic Sky fired
again, and this time he didn’t miss. The bullet caught the creature
just above its slobbering snout, between its glowing, hell-fire
eyes and blew a hole the size of his fist out the back of its
cracked skull. The thing landed in a heap, hitting the ground in
time with the gun that fell from Sky’s shuddering hand.

Sky forgot to breathe as
he looked down at the mess. With a sturdy push of his boot into the
soldier side he confirmed its deadness.

He knelt down slowly, and
had to pause when the most unpleasant sensation passed through him.
He was in pain. A lot of pain. He clutched at his wounds and felt
the warm gush of blood wash freely over his hands. This wasn’t
good.

A wheezing gasp from the
corner called him back into the moment. He snapped his head to the
right, letting a fleeting moment of relief wash away some of his
panic. “Oh’May!”

She was still alive. Maybe it wasn’t a total
loss, maybe he could still save her. He found moving towards her
was a bit more difficult then he would have thought – although his
pain was fading, it was being replaced by a numbing cold that was
making his body sluggish and rather stubborn.

Collapsing beside her, he gently pushed
bloody mats of hair out of her face, trying to catch her wandering
eyes, “Oh’May,” He couldn’t force out more then a pleading whisper,
“please, look at me.” Her bloodshot eyes were distant and glazed
and her labored breath was rough and wet.

“Upstairs,” She gasps. Her
eyes locked solidly onto his. “The Book.”

He shook his head and broke her gaze,
focusing instead on her small, shivering body, trying to find the
wound. There was so much blood - over him, over her, it was hard to
tell where any of it was coming from.

“
Stop.” She said kindly,
raising a quivering hand to his face. “Listen now,
child.”

“
Where were you shot?” He
asked desperately, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to force them
into focus.

“The Book-”

“
The Book doesn’t matter.
I need to save you.” He shouted before giving into a sob. “What do
I do?”

“
This was how it was meant
to be.” She forced a smile through the blood that drooled from the
corner of her perfect mouth, “I accepted my fate long
ago.”

“
But, Al.” He pleaded, “It
can’t be like this!”

“
He will
understand.”

“No, he needs you!” Tears
fell from his eyes, “What do I do?”

“
The Book.” She whispered.
“The Book of Ten waits for you. It must be kept safe.”

“
Book of Ten?”

“The Book isn’t a book,”
Her bloody hand came up again to gently touch his face, “it’s the
person who contains the knowledge of the past and the gift of
echoes. I was the Book of Nine. The ninth generation Telic to be
passed the gift. Lil’May, my daughter, I have passed to her the
gift.” The light was fading from her eyes as she fought for every
word. “She is the Book of Ten.”

“
Please,” He sobbed. He
had found the wound and made a feeble attempt to hold in the blood
that ran from the hole just above her belly. “You have to
live.”

“There is still hope.” Her
voice was less then a whisper. “You two must prevail. You must not
fall to chaos. They know of her – it is why they have killed me.
Hide her, hide her well.”

“
Oh’May, please.” He
sobbed.

Her hand fell from his
face, “…the path is long and winding, but your footing is sure as
long as you do not walk it alone.” She blinked slowly. “Quickly, he
is coming.” Her gentle face went slack.

“Oh’May!” He screamed, but
the effort of shouting sent his own body into convulsions as the
waves of adrenalin and shock wore thin.

He picked himself back up off the floor into
a sitting position next to Oh’May, noticing for the first time a
strange ringing in his ears. No, it wasn’t a ringing, it was more
like a faint crying…it was the sound of a baby crying.

A cold hand on his brought
his attention back to her pale face. Her lips barely moved, but he
could hear her words as if they were spoken into his mind. “Within
the Book is the fate of the living.” The strength of the voice
faded as did the last bit of life left in her eyes, “Find the
stones, awaken the Sages…” but there were no more words.

With a shaking hand he gently closed her
eyes. Eyes that would no longer see the future or look to the past.
Eyes that would never see her baby grow or look upon her son’s
devoted face. He wanted to cry for her, but his insides were hollow
and dry.