Times Like These Read online

  Ξ

  "Why are we retreating again?" Mayor Schiere asked.

  "Because Chad said so," Adam told her as he tried to withhold a sigh. With Sean gone, the weekly, or now bi-weekly, meetings with the mayor and city council had fallen to him. He really didn't want to do it, but Daelyn had told him after Sean, he was the only lion around here everyone knew, and he was forced to admit she was right.

  Namely by that big nasty hammer she had. Sean had warned him she wouldn't hesitate to brain Adam with it, because she'd already brained him with it. More than once.

  "Chad?"

  "Our head military officer," Daelyn supplied. That she had to suffer through this along with him made him feel a little better.

  "And why is he retreating?" one of the city council members asked. "Wouldn't it be better to keep attacking them and keep them away from the city?"

  "No, actually." Adam said. This was something even he understood. "You see, we no longer have fortifications or support outside the city perimeter. We moved everything we could back to the city, and the djevels destroyed anything of value we left behind. The counterattack we launched on them was solely to take advantage of circumstances and bleed them a little.

  "But they're already coming back, and they're coming back in even larger numbers this time than they did before. So trying to fight them on the open field is a fight that favors them and their large numbers."

  "And favoring them is not how ya' win a war," Daelyn added.

  "So Chad pulls back inside our perimeter, and we fight on our terms."

  "But won't that just make it easier for them to take the city?" another council member asked. "We all thought when you pushed them back, that the city was safe now!"

  "It's going to be a long time until any of us are safe," Adam growled. "A bit more than two and a half years. As for the city, we need you to get back to work on the evacuation plans."

  "If you want us to work on evacuation plans, why are we still building defenses?"

  "To slow them down, obviously," Adam said, and this time he did sigh. "And who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and be able to keep them out. Look, you all need to understand that Sean is a much nicer and more reasonable person than I am. So let's not make me explain things over and over again. Just accept it and move on so I don't lose my temper again."

  "What do you mean 'again'?" the mayor asked.

  "He's the lion wot killed tha' colonel at the airbase," Daelyn supplied helpfully. "Twisted his head right off I believe?"

  Adam grinned, showing all his teeth, which had something of an effect on the people in the room, as he was in his hybrid form. Roxy's dad would probably give him shit later over it, but compared to Roxy, her father was downright reasonable.

  Plus he was off briefing the governor today.

  "Umm, yes. I see," said the mayor, shuffling the papers on her desk. "Robert, get everyone working on that plan again. I expect to see a draft on my desk by lunchtime tomorrow. Understand?"

  "Yes, Mayor," the councilman who had been balking said with a resigned sigh.

  "And when did you say Sean will be back?" the mayor asked Adam.

  "When he's done, of course. Now, can we review the progress on the I-80 barricade?"

  "I thought we were going to stop them at McCarran?" asked Kelly, the replacement for Josh.

  "If you've ever taken the time ta look at castles and their walls, there is always a second one behind the first, an even a third line of defense," Daelyn said, in the kind of patient voice parents used to explain things to especially dim-witted children.

  "Oh," Kelly said and looked a little embarrassed. "You'll have to forgive me. This isn't the kind of thing I'm used to."

  "Well, you've been doing a great job," Adam said soothingly. "So don't worry your head too much. But we do need to use this time to get those defenses prepared, so if they make it past McCarran, we can stop them there."

  Adam smiled as Kelly nodded and pulled out a number of rolled up engineering drawings. Maitland had given him a list of things that were concerning him, and Adam was going to make sure all of it was addressed before they left today.

  "I thought I was going to have to sit on you back there!" Adam laughed as Daelyn and he got into her car.

  "Earth and stone! Those people are so damn annoying! No wonder Stell and Cali killed one of 'em. Maybe they shouldn't have stopped with just the one!"

  "Now you know why I didn't bring Ryla," Adam said, still laughing. "She would have beaten the town council half to death." Adam paused a moment. "Or beaten half the council all the way to death!" He snickered then. "Man, I love that woman. Let's go find Chad, he's up at the McCarran command post."

  "I'm shocked they dinna ask about the explosion."

  Adam shrugged. "To them, they're all the same. Plus it was a couple of days ago. I doubt they've even put it and Sean's departure together."

  "None 'a the lycans on their staff told 'em?"

  "Nope, Sean, me and the First ordered everyone not to talk about it to the mundanes."

  Daelyn thought about that and changed the subject.

  "Ya know, I've heard ya say that the First ain't ya father, that Stell is just a half-sister."

  "Yup. And?"

  "So just who is ya father? Anyone I know?"

  Adam nodded. "Sampson's my dad."

  Adam bounced off the door as Daelyn made a sudden correction. Adam's revelation had apparently distracted her from driving for a moment.

  "Sampson's ya dad?" Daelyn said with a touch of disbelief in her voice.

  "Didn't I just say that?"

  "Does Sean know?"

  "Maybe? I don't know? I think I mentioned it to him a while back, I don't remember."

  "Wow. What's he think about ya Ryla?"

  "They don't like each other. I think she might have put the moves on him once long ago when she was young and dumb."

  "Must be rough."

  "Not really, Dad and I haven't gotten along for over a thousand years. Though Mom tells me he's really proud of what I've been doing here."

  "What, ya haven't asked him?"

  Adam snorted. "I haven't talked to him since he came back."

  "You haven't talked to ya own father!" Daelyn said, shocked.

  "I didn't want to interrupt him; he's been pretty seriously shacked up with Sean's mom since he got back, you know." Adam stopped a moment and then laughed again. "You know, I guess this is gonna make Sean my step-brother as well as my brother-in-law."

  Daelyn gave an evil snicker. "Anna his step-son as well."

  "Oh? How do you figure?"

  "Well, you're Sarah's half-brother now, right?"

  Adam started to laugh even louder. "Oh my, can you imagine the look on Sean's face when I call him 'Dad'?"

  Daelyn couldn't help but laugh with him at that. "Don't forget to call Rob 'Mom'! I'm sure that'll set her off!"

  "Oh! What about Rox?"

  "You do that, and make sure I got me camera first, because I want to record it as she beats you to death!"

  "You know, it just might be worth it!" Adam said, still snickering as Daelyn pulled up in front of the command post.

  "You might as well head back home to the kids," Adam said as he opened the door to get out. "I suspect I'm gonna be here for the rest of the day."

  "Sure. I'll let Ryla know."

  "Later, Dae!" Adam said and, closing the door, he walked over to the door of the command post as Daelyn took off in a shower of gravel and noise.

  "Hi, Adam," Chad said, looking up from his plot board as Adam came in and closed the door behind him.

  "How goes the war?"

  "Not great, but as expected," Chad said, motioning to the map and markers before him. "They're pushing us back, not that we're giving them much resistance. Our long-range reconnaissance is showing us that a lot of djevels are coming through the gate now."

  "Cali's not here; you can call them demons, you know."

  "Eh, I like djevels. The word 'demons' makes people t
hink we can't beat them. It makes 'em sound scarier. Djevels is different enough from demons that people don't fear it as much."

  "Huh, hadn't thought about that."

  "War is about a lot more than just the physical."

  "So how long before you think we're bottled up in Reno again?"

  "Probably by midnight. Thank god for lycans' natural night-vision. It definitely took the advantage of nighttime away from them."

  "And now the question no one's been asking: How many random mobs are out there moving off to attack cities?"

  "Oh, less than a handful, I'm sure," Chad replied.

  "Really?"

  "Yup. All the mobs heading off to Salt Lake City, Sacramento, and points north aren't random at all. They're very well put together now."

  "So what are you going to do about them?"

  "You been talking to Sean?" Chad asked, looking at Adam accusingly.

  "Not yet, but I have a pretty good idea what he's going to ask, and I do not want to tell him I don't have any answers."

  Chad nodded and went back to looking at his maps. "Point. We're going to bomb them with some special munitions some air force group is working up. Iron frag bombs. I don't think we'll be able to stop them all, but Maitland and I are hoping to put enough of a dent in their numbers that the other cities will be able to stand against them."

  "Why aren't we using those bombs here?"

  "Because we want to draw them here where we can deal with them?" Chad replied. "Everyone is hoping Sean comes back with some sort of nasty weapon we can use. Until then, I'm going to keep using my lion infantry every chance I get to try and whittle their numbers down."

  Adam nodded. "Well, I'm gonna gear up and go join the troops."

  "It's going to be a long time before they get here, Adam."

  "Yup, and morale out there isn't going to build itself. With Sean off invading the Onderwereld, I need to go out there and get some face time."

  "You know," Chad said, looking up with a smile, "with Sean gone..."

  "I'll think about it." Adam smiled back. "But! You won't be in the first few groups. Generals don't lead from the front, except in bad Hollywood movies."

  "Why, thank you, Adam."

  "Don't thank me yet, I still haven't said yes!" Adam said and went out to find his team. He was already armored and had his sword. All he needed now was to track down a rifle and some ammunition.

  Ξ

  "My King," Eldstaden said, coming into King Sladd's chambers. "You have summoned me?"

  "Yes. Prince Lagereld sent a messenger that I received just this morning. Someone has killed one of his lords along the border with Prince Skarm. He was rightly incensed, but as Skarm is through the gateway, I have no idea who the guilty party in this affair is. I would have you look into it. Fighting during a pass is forbidden, and I would know who is causing me these problems."

  "I will start my investigation immediately, my King."

  "Thank you, Eldstaden. Have you any word on Prince Talt?"

  "No, my King. Not a one. I take it he is still alive then?"

  "Yes, very. His power has been increasing, slowly, so think he's taking advantage of the dead prince's lands and binding the lords there to himself."

  "Well, you figured he would do that, did you not?"

  "Some, yes, but I thought he'd have more sense than to delay this long on the mission I've sent him on. I'm thinking of sending Prince Vises Ikke into his lands to take his lords away from him now, instead of waiting until after he's dead. I'm starting to find him annoying. He should either be dead or returning here to tell us what he's learned."

  "Have you decided to kill him then, My King?"

  King Sladd shook his head slowly. "As much as he annoys me, I am already down one prince; I'd rather not be down a second one just yet. Assuming he survives his mission to the mountain, I'm considering putting him in charge of the slave pens. Someone will need to be here to see that the food is protected long enough for a permanent link to be created, after all."

  "Have you given any thought to our earlier discussion?"

  "Yes, Eldstaden, I have been thinking about it, and I have decided I will be going through the gateway early. After Prince Lagereld has joined his forces with those of Prince Skarm, I will summon my lords and order them to prepare."

  "All of them, my King?" Eldstaden asked with a concerned look.

  "Yes, all of them. I've ordered Skarm and Lagereld to take the town to the south of the gate. I will immediately move there, make it my castle, and deploy my lords around it to fortify my position. I will then give Skarm and Lagereld their heads to do whatever they please, while I assign Prince Lykta to round up as much food as he can and move it back here."

  "What of Prince Vises Ikke?"

  "If Talt dies, I'll give him Talt's assignment with the pens. Otherwise I will have him maintain my presence here until I decide my next move. I want to see what Princes Skarm and Lagereld can accomplish before I decide on rotations and assignments."

  "Wise, my King."

  "I see the challenges of this jagtområder will be many, but I do not believe they will slow us down for much longer. We have always prevailed; we will always prevail."

  #

  "Well, Jesse, what do you think?" Trevor asked his second in command as they looked down onto the fairly large demon village. This one actually appeared to have workshops of some sort, and a lot more larger buildings than the one they'd hit on the first day they'd come here.

  Jesse growled at him, "I think if you don't let us go down there and eat, you're going to be facing quite the uprising."

  "Everyone knows better than to hit towns that are too close together. That'll make it easier for them to find us."

  "That may be, but everyone is starving, too. I think we've about hit our limit. We don't go down there soon, and we're going to stop being effective."

  "We hit that town, and we're not going to get everyone. Some of those djevels are going to get away."

  "Well, how can we have a reign of terror if they don't know we're terrorizing them?" Jesse grumbled back at him.

  Trevor laughed and then smiled at her. They'd been mates once and had several cubs. He'd specifically asked for her because he trusted her opinions. "Yeah, good point. Let's get everyone ready and go kill stuff. Least with a town this big we should all be able to eat well."

  Walking back towards the others, Trevor waved them all closer.

  "Okay, Jesse is going to take half of you and circle around to the other side, while we get ready up here. I'll leave it up to you, Jess, to decide when to attack. Once you've got them focused on you, we'll charge in from up here and see how many we can take from behind.

  "Lead off with your rifles, and mind where you're throwing any grenades! We want to take down the big guys, because they'll feed everyone the best. Also it'll fuck 'em all up the most as well. We're not gonna get everyone, so don't even try. If they're running away, let 'em go unless they're worth eating.

  "And make sure you don't go running off alone! Understand? Yeah, you're hungry. I'm hungry, we're all hungry!"

  "So let's eat!" Jake yelled from the back.

  "Ha, ha, Jake. Funny. The point is, let's not get into a feeding frenzy. We're not a bunch of damn fish. There's a lot more of them down there than there are of us, so keep your heads together. Got it?"

  Everyone nodded.

  "Jesse, take your team and go. The rest of you, let's set up on the hill and get ready."

  "Later, Trevor!" Jesse said with a smile and, gathering up twenty of the others, she took off at a trot through the strange black trees that seemed to be everywhere.

  Spreading out, they moved to the edge of the tree line and settled down to wait.

  "How long do you think she'll take to get there?" Lena asked in a whisper.

  "This is Jesse we're talking about, and she's hungry," Trevor said and chuckled. "Thirty seconds?"

  Trevor wasn't sure exactly when Jesse did attack because she was out of
sight due to the buildings, but the moment all the demons started to run around, he figured it could only be her.

  "Alright, everyone! Let's go! And don't do anything stupid! We're gonna be here for a while!"

  Drawing his shotgun, Trevor led the charge down into the town. The others could go for picking things off at a distance. He wanted his demons up close and personal when he killed them so he could feed. This whole place was just bizarre beyond belief, from the black sun to the black trees. From eating things by just being close to them when you killed them, to the whole lack of any real biological functions.

  He hadn't had a drink of anything in days, and wasn't thirsty.

  That just wasn't right.

  Bypassing a couple of gnashers, he ran right up to a råge and shot it in the head, enjoying the sudden lessening of his hunger. But all things being equal, he'd rather be eating a steak, or even just killing and eating rabbits in a field somewhere. This was just... unnatural.

  Moving into the town, he saw Jesse's group at the other end of the wide dirt road that went through the middle of it all, and there were a lot of demons there, even a lord! Aiming for a biskop that hadn't noticed them yet, Trevor charged forward, switching the shotgun to his left hand as he pulled his pistol with his right.

  He was definitely going to eat his fill today.

  "Damn, that was weird!" Jake said as they sat down to take a break. "I mean, you eat, and you expect to feel full at some point. But hell, all I felt was less and less hungry until I wasn't hungry anymore. After that, anything I killed I didn't feel anything anymore!"

  "Yeah, Esti told me Sean killed so many of them with that bomb of his that he probably won't have to eat for a hundred years. But if a demon gets too much food, they transform into something bigger and badder."

  "Like Pokémon?" Jake asked with a grin.

  Grism, who was sitting next to Jake smacked him one.

  "Thanks, Grism," Trevor said, laughing.

  "Him and that damn game!" Grism grumbled. "If I ever find out who brought it back..."