Parahuman (Parahuman Series) (39 page)

     A
howl from far off in the woods brought Devan’s attention back to their precarious
situation. Another howl responded telling Devan that they were communicating to
each other.

     “What
do you think their next plan might be?” Laney asked, peering into the woods.

     “Well,
they could wait us out. They ate not too long ago, so that food could sustain
them for awhile.”

     She made
a face at his reference to them eating their dead pack member. “That’s wrong on
so many levels.”

     “They
were trained to do it.” Devan explicated.

     
“Yeah, well, I’m sure they could wait me out, but you would have no problem
getting away.”     

      Like
it was a possibility that he would leave her out here alone, unprotected. “They
would just track me and wait for me to stop. I’m going to have to go out there
and eliminate them myself.” Leaving her in this tree alone wasn’t something he
felt comfortable doing, but they couldn’t just wait around.

    
“What…no.” Panic flared in her eyes. “Maybe we could call for some help, or
something.” 

     Devan
squeezed her hand. “We would just put them danger. The wolves would most likely
kill anyone who tried to get in the way now that they’ve found me; their
objective so close to being accomplished.” 

     “But the
one came so close to killing you last time.” Her voice shook. Devan realized
the fear in her eyes wasn’t for herself but for him. The fear he held was just
the opposite.

     “Only
because we were in such close quarters, and I was more worried about you.
There’s more room out here for me to move around and do my own hunting.”

   
Another howl erupted from the forest.  

    Devan
pulled his hand from her reluctantly. Detaching Jarrod’s bowie knife from his
belt he handed it to her. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket Devan pulled
up the coordinates and saved them before handing it over to her. “I want you to
get as high as you can. Make sure the gun is cocked and ready to fire, and make
sure your back is up against the frame. If any of the wolves come near you yell
for me; I’ll hear you wherever I am. If you lose contact with me for more than
an hour call your dad. The coordinates are in the phone.” 

    
“Maybe we should just wait.” Laney gripped his hand hard her expression
terrified.

     Devan
set his hand on hers gently. “Laney, I’m trained for this. It will be alright.”
Devan replied gravely.

     She
didn’t look reassured by his assertion.

     He
released her hand and gave her a little push. “Go on; get up as high as you can.
I can’t leave until I know you’re up out of reach.”

     She reluctantly
climbed up another fifteen feet, into the denseness of the branches. The wolves
would have a hard time getting her there. Giving the forest another exploratory
examination Devan dropped to the ground. Immediately, a far-off bay was
signaled. Above him he heard Laney whispering.

    
“Lord, protect him. May your angels surround and guard him. May your wisdom
guide him.” She kept up her chant as Devan strode into the forest, and Devan wondered
if she truly believed her prayers would help. 

     The
animals’ howls had come from the north and the west. With only a slight
hesitation for a quick calculation Devan headed northeast at a full out run.

    
Leaping from tree to tree he observed the wolf coming in from the north loping
in his direction mimicking his movements. Each time Devan leaped into a tree it
did the same. Switching his gaze to the west he wasn’t able to see it yet but
Devan could hear the other animal running in his direction. It meant that they
were
only interested in him and that Laney was safe. 

      He
was within seventy yards of the first wolf when it mimicked another of his leaps
onto a branch.
Predictable
. It jumped forward into another tree and then
dropped to the ground again, continuing forward. He took note that it wasn’t
coming at him as fast as the other wolf; like it knew he was trying to reach it
first and it wasn’t going to make it easy. They wanted to ambush him together.
That wasn’t the same plan Devan was working on though, so he sped up.

     Tugging
the crossbow from his back along with an arrow Devan loaded it as he ran. When
they were about one hundred feet apart Devan jumped into a tree at the same
time bringing the crossbow to his shoulder. As he had anticipated the wolf
parroted his move, leaping into an upcoming tree. Devan had anticipated and
planned the
tree
and
branch
it would jump into, and having already
taken into account the speed of the arrow and the forward velocity of the
animal as it left the ground, something he’d quickly calculated during his run,
he was prepared when its head cleared the branch. 

     The
bow jerked faintly as it released the bolt, sending it whizzing through the
air. Three-fourths of a second later it imbedded itself in the wolf’s right
flank. It wasn’t a kill shot―he could only account for so much―but
it would definitely impede its movements. 

     The
wolf yipped loudly in pain tottering on the branch, but was able to keep its
balance before leaping back to the ground ungainly.

    
Discounting it for the moment he grabbed another bolt to load into the
crossbow, but before he was able to do this the other wolf closed the distance.
It came out of the west, crashing through the brush and leaped straight for him
with its jaws wide open and salivating. The only available weapons he had was
the crossbow and bolt in his hands. 

       Devan
pushed himself backward off the branch. The wolf’s body soared parallel over him,
its jaws snapping downward trying its utmost to rip off Devan’s face. Devan
swung the crossbow at the animals head giving it a good blow to its jaw at the
same time shoving the bolt up and into the animals chest with as much force as he
could. The arrow plunged through flesh and muscle, slamming into and past its
ribs.

     Devan
heard the other injured wolf send out howl as he let go of the bolt he twisted
in the air so he could roll out of his fall instead of crashing to the ground
on his back. Both he and the wolf hit the ground hard. The wolf slammed into
the ground with a grunt and loud thud, and while Devan’s landing wasn’t all
that gentle he rolled out of it and would only have bruises to show for it
later.

     Not
waiting to see if it would get back up Devan sprang forward while
simultaneously grabbing a knife from his vest. Bending down he thrust the knife
into the wolf’s neck and trachea, cutting off its air supply and severing its
jugular. There was a small pop and then whoosh of air as he pulled it out.

     Devan
leaped back up into the tree scanning the surroundings for the other injured wolf.
He wasn’t able to see it from where he was, so he jumped down and ran North
West ten yards to another tree. From this vantage spot he saw that the wolf had
taken sanctuary behind a tree in some bushes, licking the wound he had
inflicted upon it. It was only about seventy feet away, and in a perfect
stationary position for a nice clean and easy shot.

    
Reaching for another bolt Devan went to load it into the bow but noticed the
crossbow had been damaged beyond repair when he’d struck the wolf’s head away breaking
the lath and cracking the stock.

     Dropping
the bow Devan returned the bolt to his vest and instead pulled out two knives. Forgoing
stealth he raced over to the injured animal. Hearing his approach the animal
turned gaining its feet clumsily and snarled menacingly. Devan didn’t want to
get that close to it while its front legs were still in perfect working
condition…as well as its jaws. Those teeth could still do a lot of damage.

     Moving
in another twenty feet he hurled one of the knives aiming for its left shoulder.
It went deep and the wolf howled pain. Now it was lame on both sides.

     Sprinting
forward as the animal staggered awkwardly and was distracted from the
additional injury Devan did a full-round front flip over the wolf and landed so
he was facing the animal’s backend. Leaping onto its back he wrapped his arm
around its neck grabbed its brisket and squeezed firmly. It was a good thing
Devan’s arms were long because the animal’s girth was extensive.

     The wolf
made an attempt to twist its head to bite him but Devan was already sinking the
other knife into its neck to the hilt. He wrenched the knife forward cutting
almost half the animal’s neck open and spilling blood all over both his arms.
It died instantly, collapsing under him.

     Devan
pulled his arms out from beneath the animal and stood over it breathing deeply.
He wasn’t necessarily winded but the adrenaline from the pursuit and take down
had caused his heart rate to increase.

     Suddenly,
a piercing scream calling his name echoed through the forest and Devan’s heart
stuttered.
Laney
!

     Spinning,
he ran faster than he had ever run before. Nearing her position in the tree he saw
what was causing her terror. The three missing wolves had made an appearance under
the tree and were snarling and growling ferociously. One of the wolves was
actually clawing its way up the tree, like a bear would. 

     They
must be going after her because his scent was all over her and the tree. Laney
was attempting to aim the gun at it but the animal kept shifting around the
trunk of the tree making it impossible for her to get lock on it. While her
attention was focused on that wolf another of the wolves began to work up the
tree toward her.

     Panic
and rage overwhelmed all logical thought and with no plan of action Devan ran
hell bent into the fray; his only thought was to get to her even if he had to
throw himself into their mist.

     A
rumbling rose up through his abdomen; it burst out of his throat in a savage
growl. It would have surprised him or caused him concern at any other time, but
his concern lay elsewhere at the moment.

     The
wolves, upon hearing this sound, shifted their attention immediately from Laney
to him. The two wolves that had been climbing the tree dropped to the ground
and began to run in his direction while the third turned and ran in the
opposite direction toward the south. 

     Devan’s
emotions calmed significantly as the animal’s attention switched from her to
him. The frantic haze in his head cleared at the knowledge that Laney was safe
and with that information he slowed his hasty run. Forcibly separating his
thoughts from his feelings he unsheathed two more knives and examined the area
where they would converge. A swift mental calculation and examination of
possible scenarios provided him with best possible attack.  

     Both
wolves were keeping an equal and steady pace, as though they wanted to make
sure they reached him at exactly the same time, a straight on simultaneous
attack. It looked like one of them was prepared to die in the expectation that
the other would slip in while his attention was diverted.

     An
unexpected gunshot and the stumbling of one of the wolves made Devan quickly
recalculate his attack. The wounded wolf slowed and almost fell, but the other
one kept coming. Five feet from the wolf Devan rotated to the right and slashed
at the animals’ side with both knives imparting two, three inch lacerations.

     Unable
to avoid contact altogether Devan stumbled backwards slightly as the wolf’s
large body knocked into him. It caused him to fall to a crouch position to gain
his balance.

     Seemingly
unaffected by the cuts the wolf did a rather impressive ‘turn on a dime’
rotation going for Devan’s throat. Devan brought his arms hastily up in a
crisscross fashion as the wolf crashed into him, its teeth going for his
jugular. He slammed backwards on to the forest floor from the force and power
of the animal slamming into him but was able to hold it off with his affixed
forearms in the wolf’s neck. Its sharp teeth and hot breath were three inches
from Devan’s face, and he was utilizing all his strength to keep it from
ripping into him.   

     There
was a scream in the distance that Devan knew came from Laney as she observed
the attack. The wolf had planted its paws on either side of Devan’s shoulders
and was pushing forward with all his strength trying to get to him. He utilized
this element as he pulled his crossed arms out and away from the animal
slashing the knives he held through the animal’s neck nearly severing the head
from the body. Blood gushed from the open wound pouring over Devan’s chest as
he hastily pushed the animal off him.

    
Moving quickly into a crouched position he looked towards the other wolf. It
hadn’t stayed down long, having already gained its equilibrium it was almost
upon him. Devan took note that its left hind leg dragged a little just before
the animal dove for him.    

     Reflexively,
Devan flung himself to the ground on his bac. Lifting his legs he wedged his feet
in the animal’s underbelly and shoved it. It flew over his head, soaring
through the air about twenty feet before crashing and rolling head over rump.

      Flipping
to his feet Devan watched the wolf as it came to its feet laboriously. They
faced each other for barely a second before the wolf charged again; its injured
flank slowing its gate slightly.