Chapter 33

Ben and Joe broke through the tree line and out onto an open landscape of alfalfa and grassland. The small footbridge over the nearly flooded creek was just in sight about a quarter mile away. Ben was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he spotted them. Three Hellhounds had just crossed the bridge and were skulking their way across a pasture heading toward the Nexus ranch.

Shit! He could also see movement across the creek through a screen of pines and maples. He assumed these were the vanguard of the main pack. It didn’t look like many individual hounds had made their way over the bridge yet. Hopefully, at least not so many that the girls couldn’t handle them on their own. These three though, he could do something about before the main pack arrived!

“On it Boss,” said Joe before Ben even realized he was thinking it. Joe shifted his path to intercept the three Hellhounds and increased his impossible pace even further.

It was uncanny. Ben felt that he and Joe were part of the same organism. He could feel Joe’s muscles bunch and flow underneath him and he instinctively shifted his weight to match Joe’s every stride. Ben knew that Joe was feeling it also. Ben instinctively knew he could count on Joe moving just as he needed to allow him to stab and slash effectively with his lance. The war bridle and feathered reigns were no longer for guidance, they were only useful for focusing the unseen forces Joe was using.

Joe could feel those forces powering through every fiber and sinew of his body. He felt the gaze of his ancestors and knew they were guiding him. Their warrior blood thrummed hotly in his veins. He was made for this! He would protect those he loved and who loved him with the last breath from his mighty lungs. His ancestors would sing songs about him when he passed to the Upper World, this he also knew.

In mere seconds they were behind the hounds and closing fast. The hounds knew death. They had dealt enough of it. Now they felt terror as death itself thundered behind them. But even the hounds’ ungodly speed and 20 foot long bounds couldn’t get them away from Ben and Joe.

Joe deftly slotted himself just behind the trailing hound matching its pace exactly. Before the hound could realize what was happening Ben rose slightly from Joe’s back using the woven loops bound around Joe’s barrel and thrust his stabbing blade behind the beast’s shoulder splitting its heart in two.

As its body tumbled to the earth Ben let Joe’s momentum clear the blade which was now pointing to the rear. This kept the lance from being yanked from his hand but left him vulnerable to the front for a split second. Joe could feel this and as the second animal whirled and leapt Joe juked sideways and the animal cleanly missed taking Ben off Joe’s back. The third hound though was now perfectly placed to take Ben with its gaping maw and ripping claws. As the beast hurled himself at the charging pair, Ben snapped the lance back forward in a perfectly timed arc. The more than razor sharp 18 inch long flaked edge caught the animal as it began its leap upward and struck right behind its fang filled jaw. The blade barely slowed as it severed the hound’s spinal column and neatly removed its head. The dead mass of the huge hound slammed into Ben and Joe and nearly unseating him but Joe adjusted his next stride perfectly to allow Ben to regain his balance.

One further step and Joe, true to his nimble footed ancestors, whirled his 1200 pound weight as if it were a feather, to confront the threat behind them. Joe knew Ben wouldn’t have an angle for his lance since the beast was directly in front of them. Ben knew what was coming and braced himself. The beast lunged for Joe’s head just as Joe reared upward and thrust his huge right front hoof forward into the hound’s body, snapping its rib cage and collapsing its chest cavity in a harsh flash of cold blue light. As the beast slammed to the earth Joe fell on it with his hooves pounding what remained into a sticky black bloody goo.

Joe brought his front feet back to earth in a wide stance, inflated his massive lungs and bellowed out a trumpeting challenge to the pack of hounds approaching the footbridge. As the challenge rang out across the valley. Ben saw hundreds of Hellhounds, the dreaded bane of multiple worlds and of Hell itself, pause in fear.

“Let’s get ‘em pardner,” shouted Ben before letting out his own ululating war cry. Ben had no idea where the hell that had come from, but he could feel the approving gaze of his own ancestors as Joe accelerated back towards the bridge.

As they raced the main pack of Hellhounds to the bridge, Ben knew that in the unlikely event that he lived past the next hour, he would never forget Joe’s dance of death.

An Hour Earlier

Nexus Ranch

Harborton Washington

Something was really wrong with Tom. Tina was frantic. She had been left in charge of the household and the radio watch while everyone else had gone to Maria’s graduation. They had all wanted her to go too and she really wanted to see Maria graduate but crowds and people still terrified her. She knew that Maria understood. Everyone had been so kind to her and she was slowly taking on more responsibility and loving it. Everyone at the ranch did something and she was so happy to be a part of it all, but now she was afraid that something was bad wrong and she had no idea what to do!

Tom had come to her in the kitchen, meowing loudly and stropping back and forth against her legs. He wouldn’t stop! He even jumped on the table holding all the radio equipment and slapped the handset off its cradle. Then he pawed at all the dials and buttons. Tina was first afraid that the huge cat would damage the radio but then it struck her that Tom was trying to tell her something.

“The radio, Tom? You want me to call someone?” said Tina.

Tina knew that Tom was way more than an ordinary cat and that most of her new family could talk to him, but she couldn’t! Thankfully, Tom seemed to understand what she was saying and blinked twice, nodded his head and then tapped at the handset again.

She scrambled to the radio and tried everything but she could hear nothing but static. The close-in security team, the Fae patrol, the Fae camp, nobody answered!

“That’s odd Tom. The radio seems to be broken,” said Tina in frustration.

She didn’t know anything about radios, but it didn’t seem right that it suddenly just wouldn’t work at all. Tom also stared at the radio and Tina could swear he was thinking deeply, She could even see little furrows appear over his striped brows.

“What should we do next Tom?” asked Tina.

She felt a tiny bit foolish for asking a cat for guidance but something told her that Tom would always have a plan if things went wrong, just like Ben or Gunny Jean always did. Sure enough, a second later Tom flew to the door but instead of darting through the cat flap, he looked over his shoulder waiting for her.

“Coming Tom!” said Tina,

She knew the radio watch wasn’t supposed to leave the house in case a call came in but she had listened to Ben often talk about initiative and adapting to changing situations. This felt like one of those times so she followed Tom out through the front door.

Tom streaked across the large front lawn toward the security trailer with Tina running as fast as she could behind him. ‘Of course!’ she thought. John and Carl were on duty today. They would know what to do. She still wasn’t 100% recovered from her wound but she fought through the pain in her side in an effort to keep up with Tom.

Tina had at first been afraid of both of the huge, rough looking men. Everyone on the ranch was very careful about the trauma that all of the rescuees had experienced and so at first she had little interaction with them, but as her duties increased, she saw how respectful and kind they were and how they adored Miss Mei. Even Tom seemed to give them a little grudging respect and Tina had once caught the three sharing a beer! Carl and John had quickly become like favorite uncles to her, or like what she’d thought uncles should be like, she’d never known any of her real uncles any thanks to her worthless bio mother.

At last, they were there! Tina hopped up on the porch and threw open the door gasping.

“Tina, sweetie, are you okay what’s happening?” said Carl as he stood from the card game he and John were playing.

“Tom, what the fu ... fried chicken are you doing here?” added John as Tom streaked in through Tina’s legs.

“Something’s really wrong, Tom knows something. We tried to use the radios but nothing works and I can’t contact anyone,” Tina said as she was trying to get her breath.

“I thought it was awfully quiet on the net today! Wait, John, wasn’t the Fae patrol supposed to check in like 10 minutes ago?” said Carl.

“Yep, shi ... shoot you’re right! Maybe we should head out there and see if we can find them,” said John.

With that, the four of them filed out of the trailer toward one of the ranch SUVs that was parked next to the trailer.

“I’m driving!” said Carl as he slid behind the wheel. Tina knew He loved driving the reliable, nearly new Escalades that had been captured after the attack.

But apparently, it was not a good day for technology on the ranch. Carl turned the key and nothing. No starter, no lights, nada. Tina watched as John and Carl exchanged looks.

“Somethings definitely hinky John,” said Carl.

“Better to send out a false alarm than do nothing,” replied John as they exited the vehicle.

Tina saw them both look at Tom as if asking his opinion. Tom gave a nod apparently concurring and John reached into the glove compartment and grabbed one of the signaling flares that were stored there.

These were cached in different places all over the ranch and had been modified slightly from their military origins. They not only gave off brilliant colors but a piercing whistle that could be easily heard for over a mile. The Fae and the former mercenaries that were staying with them would start executing the alert plan within minutes. A patrol should reach them within 15.

“Good thing the Captain doesn’t trust technology much,” said Carl.

“Ditto on that” replied John as he smacked the bottom of the aluminum tube sending the signal flare shrieking hundreds of feet over the ranch where it exploded in a dazzling flash and red smoke.