Chapter 18 — Fight Someone Better, Part 2
"The people are in danger."
Luno's words killed what little relief the group had felt.
Doss tightened both hands around his club. "Then what are we waiting for?"
He started toward the far side of Rookwell, but Mira grabbed his arm before he made it three steps.
"We don't even know what's holding them."
"We know where they are."
"That doesn't mean we run straight in."
"If people are in danger, we don't have time to stand here talking about it."
Toma shook his head. "Harven told us what to do if we found something we couldn't handle."
"We don't know if we can't handle it."
"We don't know if we can either."
Kel let them argue for a few seconds while he looked deeper into town.
This was exactly what Harven had warned him about.
Before they left Durnfield, the answer had sounded simple. Investigate Rookwell. If the threat was too strong, leave and bring back somebody stronger.
Now they knew people were alive.
That changed things.
At least it did for Kel.
He couldn't walk away without knowing how much danger those people were actually in. At the same time, Harven's other warning wouldn't leave him alone.
Kel wasn't making decisions only for himself anymore.
"Enough."
Everyone stopped.
Kel turned to Luno. "Tell me exactly what your insects found."
Luno closed his eyes.
The insects deeper in Rookwell were still sending pieces back to him. Their thoughts were harder to understand from this distance, especially with so many frightened at once.
"There's a lot of people together," Luno said. "They're alive, but something's keeping them from leaving."
"Where?"
"I don't know yet. Somewhere deeper in town."
"What's keeping them there?"
Luno concentrated.
Several thoughts came at once.
Dark.
Teeth.
Bad.
Then a sudden feeling of jaws snapping made him open his eyes.
"Something with teeth."
Doss lifted his club slightly. "Now we're getting somewhere."
Mira looked at him. "All we know is that it has teeth."
"That's enough to know where I should hit."
Kel ignored them.
"Can your insects get closer?"
Luno looked at the jar.
"I can try."
Several insects had already returned, but most were staying close to him now. A few had crawled beneath his collar, while others gathered inside the jar instead of flying back into town.
They were scared.
Kel noticed it.
"We don't move until we know what we're walking into."
Doss frowned. "What about the people?"
"That's why we're finding out first."
Kel looked around at the squad.
"If we all rush in and get trapped with them, we didn't save anybody."
Doss didn't like it, but he couldn't argue with that.
Kel crouched beside Luno.
"Send them back out. Find the building first. Then find whatever is keeping the people there."
Luno nodded, although he wasn't nearly as confident as Kel made it sound.
He opened the jar.
Nothing came out.
Luno waited.
Still nothing.
"Come on."
A beetle crawled farther down into the jar.
Another insect tucked itself beneath a leaf.
Luno frowned.
"You guys were just out there."
A response came into his mind.
No.
Then another.
Strong.
Several feelings piled on top of each other.
Bad.
Hide.
No.
Luno looked at Kel.
"They don't want to go back."
Toma immediately looked toward the road leading to the gate.
"That sounds like our answer."
Doss shook his head. "They're bugs."
Luno looked at him.
"They found the people when none of us could."
Doss shut up.
Kel thought about Harven's warning again.
"Can they tell how strong whatever they're scared of is?"
"I don't know."
Luno reached into the jar and let a beetle crawl onto his hand.
"We need to help those people."
The beetle didn't move.
Luno could feel its fear.
That was the strange part about hearing them now. Yesterday, he might've simply released them and expected them to do what he wanted. Now he knew they didn't just react to things.
They were afraid.
"I'm not asking you to fight anything," Luno said quietly. "Just look."
The beetle still refused.
Then Spark moved beneath Luno's hat.
"Tell them to go."
Luno glanced upward.
"I am."
"No. You're asking."
"They're scared."
"So are you."
Luno frowned. "I'm not scared."
Spark didn't answer.
Luno sighed.
"Fine. I'm a little scared."
Kel almost smiled.
Spark crawled onto the brim of Luno's hat and looked toward the jar.
"Do what Kel said. We'll be fine."
Luno stared at him.
"You're volunteering my insects now?"
"They trust you."
"They're hiding."
"Because they aren't stupid."
Kel laughed quietly.
Then Spark made a series of clicks and chirps.
Every insect inside the jar reacted.
Luno's head snapped toward him.
"What was that?"
Spark made another sound.
A beetle climbed onto the rim.
Two winged insects followed it.
Luno stared at Spark.
"You can talk to them?"
"Yes."
"All of them?"
"Most."
"You understand what they're saying?"
"Yes."
Luno looked offended.
"You could've told me this."
"You never asked."
"How was I supposed to know I needed to ask?"
Spark seemed to think that over.
"You could've asked if I speak insect."
Luno stared at him.
Kel had to turn away so Luno wouldn't see him laughing.
Luno pointed at the insects.
"You understand different insects too? Beetles, flies, ants, all of them?"
"Yes."
"Can you teach me?"
"Sure."
That answer came so casually Luno almost forgot they were standing in an empty town surrounded by something dangerous.
"You'll teach me?"
"When we're done here."
Luno smiled.
"Promise?"
"Yes."
Spark turned toward the jar and made several more sounds.
This time the insects started coming out.
Luno felt their fear, but something else had joined it.
Trust.
Spark climbed back onto his hat.
"If something happens to them, I'll get involved."
Luno looked at him.
"You can fight?"
"Obviously."
That was another conversation they were definitely having later.
The insects scattered.
---
It took less than fifteen minutes for them to find the citizens.
"Town hall."
Luno pointed toward the center of Rookwell.
The building was several streets away, but his insects had reached it from different directions.
"How many people?" Kel asked.
"A lot. I can't count them through the hive yet."
"What about what's outside?"
Luno closed his eyes.
The insects were sending clearer information now that he knew what to listen for.
Four legs.
Claws.
Teeth.
Dark bodies.
Several of them.
Mira's face changed as Luno described them.
"Abyssal Hounds."
Kel looked at her. "You know them?"
"My dad told me about them. They're low-level Abyssal beings. They hunt in packs."
Doss smiled.
"Low level."
Mira immediately looked at him.
"Low level doesn't mean weak."
His smile faded slightly.
Luno raised a hand.
"There's something else."
Kel looked at him.
"What?"
"I don't know."
The insects closest to town hall were still frightened, but the hounds weren't causing the worst of it.
Something was inside.
Something they didn't want to approach.
"I think something's controlling them."
That changed the mood immediately.
Kel looked at Spark.
"Can you tell how strong it is?"
Spark became quiet.
For the first time since Kel had known him, the little creature actually seemed to take the question seriously.
"Weak."
Kel waited.
"Weak compared to what?"
"Harven."
Kel thought about the amount of Qi Harven had released that morning.
"Below the level he showed us?"
"Yes."
That didn't mean safe.
But it meant they hadn't reached Harven's automatic retreat point.
Kel made his decision.
"We go closer."
---
They stopped two streets away from town hall.
From there, they could finally see the Abyssal Hounds themselves.
Six prowled outside.
Luno's insects had found at least two more moving through the building.
The creatures were bigger than normal dogs, with lean bodies covered in dark, rough skin. Their legs were long enough to make their movements look awkward until one moved quickly. Then there was nothing awkward about it.
Their mouths were worse.
Too wide.
Too many teeth.
Black saliva dripped from their jaws.
Doss whispered, "Ugly."
Kel watched the hounds.
Something was strange.
They weren't trying to get inside.
The front doors of town hall had been barricaded, but the hounds mostly walked around the building.
"They aren't attacking the people," Kel said.
Luno understood.
"They're keeping them inside."
Kel nodded.
Which meant Luno was right.
Something wanted those people alive.
For what, Kel didn't know.
He didn't plan on staying long enough to find out.
Kel pulled everyone farther behind the building they were using for cover.
"Here's what we're doing."
He pointed at Luno.
"You take Mira and Puck."
Luno frowned. "Where?"
"Around the back of town hall. Keep using your insects. Find the safest way to the people."
Kel looked at Doss.
"You stay with me."
Doss grinned.
"We fighting?"
"We're distracting."
"By fighting."
Kel sighed.
"Yes."
Doss looked satisfied.
Kel turned toward Toma.
"You stay between us and the escape route. If anything goes wrong, you're the runner."
Toma frowned.
"Why me?"
"Because somebody needs to get back to Durnfield if this goes bad."
That wiped the complaint from his face.
Kel turned back to Luno.
"Me and Doss have the highest Internal Qi pools here. If those hounds attack, we have the best chance of taking the hits."
Luno nodded.
"I need your insects helping us too."
"How?"
"Signals."
Luno looked confused.
"If you see something we don't, somehow tell us where and when to attack."
"I don't know how."
"Figure it out."
Luno stared at him.
Kel shrugged.
"You're the bug genius."
"That's not a real thing."
Spark spoke from his hat.
"Use numbers."
Luno paused.
Then it clicked.
"One insect means stop. Two means danger. Three means direction?"
Spark nodded.
Luno smiled.
"That could work."
Kel pointed toward the road leading out of Rookwell.
"One more thing. Leave some insects behind."
"Why?"
"A trail."
Luno understood immediately.
Kel continued.
"I've got a bad feeling the hounds aren't the strongest thing here. If whatever is controlling them comes out and it's something I can't handle, I need a way out without stopping to figure out where I'm going."
Luno looked at him for a second.
That might've been the first time he'd ever heard Kel plan how to run from a fight.
Harven's lesson had gotten through to him after all.
"I can do that."
"Good."
Luno sent insects toward rooftops, fences and broken signs all the way back toward the entrance of town.
Kel looked around at everyone.
"The second we get those people out, we're done. Back door opens, civilians leave, and we follow them."
Doss frowned.
"What if we're winning?"
"We still leave."
"What if we can kill all of them?"
"We still leave."
Doss clearly hated that answer.
Kel looked him directly in the eyes.
"That's an order."
Doss stopped arguing.
Kel hadn't expected saying that to feel so strange.
He turned toward Luno.
"If everybody gets out and you see me still fighting, don't wait for me."
Luno's expression immediately changed.
"No."
"Luno."
"You just spent all morning repeating everyone comes home."
"And that's why—"
"That includes you."
Kel stopped.
Luno pointed at him.
"You said we're the leaders. Fine. Then don't make a rule and decide you're the only one who doesn't have to follow it."
Kel wanted to argue.
He couldn't.
"Fine."
Luno smiled.
"Good."
Kel shook his head.
"Get everybody out."
---
Luno, Mira and Puck disappeared toward the back of town hall while Toma moved into position closer to the escape route.
Kel and Doss stayed behind cover.
One insect landed on Kel's shoulder.
Kel waited.
Another joined it.
Danger.
He breathed slowly.
Harven's lesson from the night before came back to him.
The river.
Kel reached inward and found his Internal Core.
He could feel the Qi there waiting.
Across town hall, Luno reached the rear entrance.
The door was blocked from inside.
Mira moved closer.
"People are definitely in there."
Luno nodded.
He could feel insects inside the building now.
Then several of them panicked.
A hound was moving toward the rear.
Luno sent the warning.
A third insect landed on Kel's right arm.
Kel looked right.
One Abyssal Hound had separated from the others.
"Ready?" he whispered.
Doss gripped his club.
"Been ready."
Kel stepped into the street.
The hound saw him immediately.
So did another.
Kel reached into his Internal Core.
He remembered Harven standing in the command building that morning and releasing enough Qi that every instinct in Kel's body told him to run.
Kel couldn't do what Harven did.
But he could try.
Instead of moving the river toward one part of his body, Kel let as much Internal Qi flow through him as he could handle.
His muscles tightened.
His legs felt lighter.
His heartbeat grew heavier.
Heat stirred beneath his skin.
Then Kel stopped trying to hide any of it.
The hounds reacted.
One turned toward him.
Then two.
Four.
All six outside town hall stopped moving and stared.
Doss looked at Kel.
"I think it worked."
Kel smiled.
"Good."
The first hound charged.
Then the rest followed.
Doss raised his club.
"You know this is a terrible plan, right?"
Kel pushed more Qi into his legs.
"Yeah."
He moved to meet them.
---
At the back of town hall, Luno felt the hounds leaving their positions.
"Now."
Mira slammed her shoulder against the rear door.
Someone inside screamed.
"We're Durnfield Guard!" Luno shouted. "Open the door! We're getting you out!"
For a second, nothing happened.
Then the barricade started moving.
Puck helped pull the door once a gap appeared.
Faces stared back at them.
Dozens of people.
Adults.
Children.
Elderly.
Alive.
Terrified.
Luno felt relief hit him.
They'd found them.
The plan was working.
Then every insect inside the upper floor of town hall went silent at once.
Luno froze.
Spark crawled onto the brim of his hat.
"What happened?" Mira asked.
Luno didn't answer.
Something moved upstairs.
The presence wasn't anywhere near the level Harven had shown them.
Spark had been right about that.
But it was stronger than the hounds.
And now it knew someone was taking its prisoners.
Luno looked toward the frightened people packed inside town hall.
"Get everyone out. Right now."
A low sound came from the floor above them.
Not a growl.
A voice.
Luno couldn't understand what it said.
Spark could.
For the first time since they'd entered Rookwell, Spark stopped joking.
"Move."
Luno looked at him.
"What did it say?"
Spark stared toward the ceiling.
"It told the hounds to kill the one with the fire inside him."
Luno's stomach dropped.
Kel.
Outside, the first Abyssal Hound launched itself at him.
End of Chapter 18 — Fight Someone Better, Part 2