His mind turned to his battle with the bigfoot. Its ability to teleport was impressive; if the wolfwere Omega had that, Troias would be dead right now. Only his extreme resistance to Spirit-based attacks had kept him safe; Max or Annalise probably wouldn’t have lasted long against it on their own. That almost made his mind turn back to worry, but he quickly redirected it back on track.

  What he wasn’t sure about was why the creature hadn’t used the ability more often – it could have teleported out of his grapple before he tore off its arm the first time – and why it had lost the ability to jump around freely once he wounded it. He turned it around in his head, but it didn’t make sense to him.

  Some things about the shadowkin he felt he understood, at least somewhat. He thought that the creatures weren’t really independent entities the way he was used to seeing. Instead, he felt that they were all projections of some greater whole, like the tips of tentacles from a monstrous squid. He guessed that was why they could vanish and then reappear in a stronger form: he was just seeing more of the tentacle, or maybe two tentacles entwined to make one larger one. The cats had been sort of a combination of a pair of wolves, he estimated, and each of those bears had been something like three or four cats bonded together. The bigfoot, though, was more than just a couple of the bears combined; from the feel of it, it had about the same energy as five or six bears put together. He guessed that several of those bigfeet combined would make the Awakened Omega, which is probably how the thing had formed faster than Ren had anticipated.

  the kirin agreed silently.

  So, does killing the Omega kill all the shadowkin? Troias asked. That seems like an easy way to finish them all off at once. Too easy, really.

 

  Retract all its tentacles at once, Troias frowned. That means that if we attack the Omega, we’re going to have to face every shadowkin in the area.

 

  If that’s true, then maybe it isn’t fully present all over the city, Troias speculated. Maybe it’s made something like a spiderweb and spun it through the area. Once it senses a disturbance in the web, it sends power there to create shadowkin to deal with it.

  Ren acknowledged after a moment of silence.

  That’s our hope, at least. So, even if all this is true, why couldn’t the bigfoot teleport once I wounded it? And why didn’t it teleport away from me when I was holding it?

  Ren chuckled. When he felt Troias’ puzzlement, he sighed.
 
 

  Would that work on the Omega? Troias asked. If I wound it, will that slow it down? And is that teleporting something I can learn?

 
 

  Before Troias could protest, the kirin explained,

  Troias grunted. Okay, yes, probably not, then. Math and I are not friends.

  the kirin chuckled.

  Troias sighed; adding the fifth loop had been hard enough. The thought of tacking on two more seemed utterly impossible right now. He knew, though, that it would just be a matter of patience and practice. He had to get to the point where five loops were easy, then he could add a sixth, and finally the seventh. There was no point in trying to rush; so long as he kept working on it, he would get there eventually.

  He allowed his mind to simply float freely, the thoughts that had been whispering for his attention dealt with. He hung in that mindless place, his thoughts focusing on the pattern looped through his body, his consciousness suspended, until after some time, he drifted into sleep.

  He awoke to Ren’s voice, dragging him from his slumber. the kirin called to him, his voice almost obnoxiously cheerful.

  Troias grumbled and rolled out of bed; while he didn’t need a lot of sleep, he hated being woken up as much as anyone. Still, he staggered to the bathroom and splashed water on his face, then did a brief series of exercises to get his body moving and drive the fatigue from his brain. Ten minutes or so later, he was at Annalise’s door, banging on it with his fist.

  “Wakey, wakey!” he called to the woman, grinning when he heard her groan.

  “Ugh, five more minutes, mom!” she called back. “I promise I won’t miss the bus.”

  “Sorry, sweetie, but you know how long it takes you to do anything with your face,” he called back.

  “Fine, I’m up, I’m up!” she yelled back. “Now go away!”

  Troias went back downstairs and found Paul already sitting in the lobby, drinking a cup of coffee. Catching Troias’ glance, he shrugged. “I’m a light sleeper these days. Bad dreams…” He grimaced. “In any case, it didn’t take much for my totem to wake me.”

  “What do you have for a totem?” Troias asked curiously, grabbing the pot of water Paul had heated and pouring himself a cup of instant coffee, as well. “If you don’t mind my asking, that is.”

  “A raven. Makes sense for an Air Mage, and he’s pretty smart. He’s trying to help me start recovering my Facet.”

  Troias nodded. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to share his technique with the Mage or not, just yet. He still wasn’t sure he fully trusted the man, to be honest, and while he was currently useful, Troias wasn’t ready to let go of his suspicions just yet.

  Ren pointed out.

  Okay, so that settled that. Besides, it sounded like the Mage’s totem was handling it, anyways. Troias sipped his coffee and waited for Annalise to make her appearance.

  He didn’t have to wait long, fortunately. Annalise walked down the steps a few minutes later, her auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail, dressed in gray-and-black mottled fatigues. Her pistol and satchel hung from her belt, and her gun case was slung over her shoulder. She grabbed a cup of coffee herself and walked into the kitchen, returning with a sleeve of graham crackers that she peeled open and placed on the table.

  “So, what’d I miss?” she asked, sipping from her coffee and grabbing a cracker.

  “Paul has bad dreams and his totem’s a raven,” Troias filled her in. “Epic stuff, really.”

  “Nevermore,” she smiled at the Mage. The man sighed, and she snorted. “Come on, you had to know that was coming!”

  She settled down and looked at Troias seriously. “Are we ready to do this?” she asked him, her voice quiet and her face concerned.

  “Yes, we are,” he nodded at her, not letting his own anxieties show on his face or in his voice. “We’ll take the vehicles, though, I think.” When Paul looked at him, he shrugged. “I know, ‘stick to the plan’, but my totem was telling me that he’s pretty sure these shadowkin are sensitive to Life energy. They’re going to feel us the moment we’re out the gate, so noise isn’t a concern, only speed is. The longer it takes us to get to our targets…”

  “The more time they have to redirect forces,” the Mage nodded. “That makes sense.” He looked at them both. “I’ll be tracking you both on the map, and we’ll stay in contact. If noise doesn’t matter, keep your radios on and I’ll let you know if anything on the map changes.”

  Troias grinned at the blonde man. “Keep us both safe and alive, as best you can,” he instructed. “Do that, and I’m happy.”

  Paul simply smiled back. “I will,” he promised, rising to his feet. “I’ll head to the map room and watch from there. That way, I can let you know once it starts.”

  Annalise watched the man walk away and shook her head. “I shouldn’t say it, but I’m glad you gave him that command. I still don’t trust him.”

  “Neither do I,” the big man nodded. “That’s why I gave him that command.” He rose and offered her his hand. “Ready to do this?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she grinned, taking his hand and pulling herself to her feet. “I assume you’re cool with my taking the Humvee?”

  “I prefer my truck, anyway,” he laughed before stopping and wrapping her in a quick embrace. “Be careful, okay?”

  “You do the same,” she whispered, clinging to him fiercely. “That thing’s after you, not me. Plus, I’ll have Max.”

  “That you will.” Troias reluctantly let go; the embrace had felt nice, and he wasn’t quite ready for it to end. Still, he hefted his glaive and sword and walked out to the Expedition, tossing the weapons inside and preparing for whatever the night would bring them.

  Chapter 25

  Best Laid Plans

  Troias sat patiently in his truck in front of the gate, glancing back to see Annalise lined up behind him. The woman’s fingers were tapping on the steering wheel, and he could see her mouth moving as she talked to Max. Patience wasn’t her strong suit, and she was no doubt chafing at this waiting game. Troias was fine with the delay; it gave him more time to get his mind into the proper frame for what he was about to do. He was going first, since it was likely that his target would take longer to clear than hers, and he went over the path to it and the image of it he’d seen on the map in his mind, fixing what he thought would be the best entry point and what he would do if that point was blocked.

  As he sat, the sun finally disappeared from the sky, and the eastern horizon sank into darkness. A few moments later, a block of text appeared in his vision at the same moment that Paul’s voice crackled on the radio.

  You are Under Attack!

  Your Stronghold, Wisconsin Guard

  Station, is currently under direct assault!

  Present Barrier Strength: 282/282 points

  “They’ve started!” Paul nearly yelled through the radio as Troias dismissed his notification and willed the gate to open. “The defensive turrets have opened fire…looks like they’re doing some actual damage from how the number of attackers is dropping! I thought bullets couldn’t hurt those things?”

  “Incendiaries can,” Annalise’s voice crackled over the radio as Troias gunned the accelerator and sped out of the gate with Annalise following behind. He headed toward the station; the plan was to make a beeline for it as long as possible, so the Omega would think they were coming to defend it.

  “The numbers are all over the place,” Paul said excitedly. “72...64…81…looks like more of the shadow things are arriving to replace their losses. I think it’s working!”

  Troias stayed silent, watching for his turn. Annalise had already vanished from the road, pulling into the parking lot of her own target, and a moment later he heard the loud bang from one of her grenades. His turn came up and he took it at the highest speed he dared, his tires screeching a bit as he slid through the turn. He waited for his next turn and skidded to his right once more, finally pulling up into the emergency loop for the nearby hospital.

  He jumped out of the car and ran to the sliding doors, slipping his hand inside and yanking them open. He pulled a stun grenade out and tossed into the dark, open space before him, slamming the doors shut and spinning to put his back to the door. The bang was more muted than it had been in the station, and he quickly jerked the door open and tossed a few glowsticks inside.

  Only a handful of wolves appeared in the green glow, staggering weakly. Troias dispatched them quickly with his glaive, being sure to wound each of them before killing any. Once they were wounded, they couldn’t vanish into the shadows, making them much simpler to deal with. Once he was sure the lobby was clear, he gathered his glowsticks and kicked open the sealed doors to the examination rooms, not bothering to lead with the stun grenade. Four of the shadow wolves loped out to greet him, and he met all four with the Spirit-charged edge of his glaive. The point of the blade sunk into one, and with a quick snap he sank the crescent on the back of the blade into another. He yanked it free and whipped the blade up, slicing through the shoulder of the third, then jabbed the butt spike into the fourth. The wounded creatures retreated into the darkness but found themselves trapped, unable to escape, and as they struggled to flee, Troias easily dispatched them.

  He moved through the hallways as swiftly as possible, only using the stun grenades in large, open areas where the light could affect numerous targets. He never found more than five of the shadowkin in one place, and in such small numbers they were easy for him to defeat. He cleared the first floor quickly and followed the exit signs to the stairwells. He keyed his radio. “First floor clear, moving to second.”

  “Got it,” Paul replied. “Annalise has cleared one wing already and moving to the next wing.”

  The second floor was even easier to clear than the first. It had fewer open spaces, and more patient rooms, and he never faced more than three of the shadowkin at a time. They were starting to become wise to his presence, though; more than once, the creatures had attempted to flee – and presumably return in a more powerful form – before he’d even begun his attack. By the time he’d finished his sweep of the second floor, the creatures had simply vanished, not even waiting for him to arrive. “Second floor cleared, heading for the third,” he spoke into his microphone, at the same time pulling up the notification about his stronghold being attacked.

  You are Under Attack!

  Your Stronghold, Wisconsin Guard

  Station, is currently under direct assault!

  Present Barrier Strength: 194/282 points

  “Good work,” Paul replied. “Annalise is still working on that upper floor, but she’s doing fine.”

  The third floor was occupied with shadowkin cats instead of wolves, but there were fewer of them. No more than two of the creatures attacked him at once, and although they were faster and stronger than the wolves, his ability to sense them kept them from attacking him from ambush. As before, by the end of the floor, the shadowkin had started retreating from him before he even attacked, and he knew what that meant for the next floor. “Third floor done. Going up to the fourth.”

  “Annalise has cleared the top floor,” Paul responded. “She’s just got the bottom floor of the second wing and she’s done.”

  Troias smiled and made his way to the next floor. He was right; the woman was both competent and smart, and she’d apparently managed to use the tools she’d scrounged just as effectively as the ones that he’d been given by the Shift.

  As he’d suspected, the fourth floor was occupied by the huge, shadowy bears. The good news was, they were too big to be anywhere but the open spaces in between patient hallways; the bad news was, they had decided to wait for him in pairs. Fighting one bear wasn’t a huge challenge; fighting two was markedly more difficult.

 

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