After [A Journey of the Twins Novel] (21 page)

Drayco looked at the looming clouds as they rolled across the darkening sky. He saw the flash of lightning, followed by the rumble of thunder. He and Shyanne had followed the mercenaries to the ruins. In the growing twilight, the twins lay flat on their bellies watching from a short distance away as the band of killers split into two groups.

"We have to find shelter before these clouds drop their deluge, or we get struck by lightning."

"The only shelter I see is the building the others are heading toward,” Shyanne said as she glanced over her shoulder at the plains beyond. Nothing was visible for as far as the eye could see.

"We can't stay out here. We'll have to find something in the rest of the remains since most of the party looks like it's going to the intact one,” Drayco emphasized. “But we'll have to see what that separate group is doing first."

The twins watched the six stragglers run around and gather up any wood they could find from the ruined buildings. Once they felt they had enough, they made their way to the main building.

"Now's our chance.” Drayco started over the hill in a hunched over run toward the closest ruin.

"What about Jack? We can't leave him out on the plains,” Shyanne whispered as she ran beside her brother.

"If we find shelter we can come back for him. Now keep running before someone comes out and sees us."

Shyanne's forward momentum had slowed with the thought of leaving her horse. It picked up again with Drayco's harsh statement.

They flattened themselves against a portion of upright wall just before a man stepped outside. The mercenary walked past them to check on the horses penned in the ruined building beside the main one. If he had looked around, he would have seen the twins easily. Drayco motioned for them to move around to the other side; the rumbling of thunder masked any sound of their retreat.

The mercenary reached out to the nearest animal. The horse nuzzled his hand and nickered. The others paced around the enclosure, pawing at the ground. Their ears twirled every which way, as if they were trying to locate a particularly annoying noise located in a direction they could not pinpoint.

"You sure are nervous.” He slapped the thick neck affectionately. “It must be the storm. It looks like it's going to be a bad one.” The man looked up into the sky and saw a blue-white bolt streak across the sky, followed immediately by a thunderous roar. Both man and animals jumped.

"Best be getting back in before I get drowned. Be safe.” He rubbed the forehead before returning the way he came, missing the twins again.

The smell of rain hung thick in the air, and the wind started to whip everything around. The twins knew they were in for a drenching, but there was no way to avoid it. The rest of the buildings were useless as a shelter.

Drayco made his way to the horses. The Bay, Bravaro, was near the back. He came to the dark man when he clucked softly. “I see they've been taking good care of you, boy. I'll come back and get you when we free the others, okay?"

Bravaro nudged him in the chest and snorted. It was as if he gave Drayco the okay to go on without him. He hugged the horse's neck, then turned toward Shyanne. “I have a plan. Get Jack and bring him here. We'll put him in with the other horses. No one will be the wiser."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"What better place to hide him and keep him safe at the same time,” he answered.

Shyanne shrugged her shoulders, turned around, and ran over the hill to get her horse. A few minutes later she returned, pulling him behind her. She put him in with the other horses, but secured his reins close to the entrance so that he would be easy to find if the time came for a quick exit. Drayco brought Bravaro next to Jack and secured him. The horse had a bridle in place, but no saddle. The dark man knew that would not be a problem.

After they were finished, Drayco said, “We need to get as close as possible. I want to see if there is any way to get inside and free Joseph and Drizzle. If there is, I want you to stay outside and cover our retreat."

"Drayco, I want to go in. I can be of more help there. I can handle my sword better than most men."

"I know, Shyanne. That's why I want you there to cover our backs once we're outside running. Joseph will be weak, and who knows how Drizzle will do. He's been tied up for several days now."

Shyanne's shoulders dropped. She did not look very happy. Finally, she said, “I understand. I'll be there for you,” and trotted toward the main building.

Drayco sighed and took off after her. They had gone only a couple of paces when the clouds decided to dump their precious cargo, hitting them with a torrential downpour. They were soaked in seconds.

Suddenly, Drayco was grabbed by the front of his shirt and pulled behind a section of half crumbled wall. Shyanne put a finger to her lips when he started to protest. She pointed to the front porch. He glanced at it and watched as a man and a woman walked out of the building.

"Come on, Lela, why can't we disappear someplace away from the others? The rhythm of the rain reminds me of how badly I want ya."

The man pressed himself against the woman's back and wrapped his arms around her, grabbing her breasts. Lela flung his arms off and spun around in one fluid motion, a dagger in her hand as she faced him. She grabbed a fistful of shirt to prevent him from backing away. The tip of the blade was so close to his skin blood flowed from the nick it caused. The trickle ran down his neck.

"I told you before, you stench of a rizbak, I'm not interested. If I were, you'd know it already. Now leave me alone—or you may not wake up one morning."

"Aww, Lela, ya don't have to be like that ... mak'n me bleed and all.” The man wiped the blood running down his throat with his fingers. “Give me a kiss to show you're sorry.” He grabbed the arm holding his shirt and received another slice across the top of his forearm.

"Why'd ya have to do that? All I wanted was to have a bit o’ fun with ya.” He shrugged her hold off, causing blood to splatter across her shirt, and stormed back inside, nursing his bleeding parts.

Lela put her dagger away and went in after him. “I warned you before. This is what you...” The rain covered the rest of the statement as they disappeared inside.

The twins grinned broadly at each other. Shyanne gestured toward her neck, pretending to slice it as she stuck her tongue off to the side. Drayco shook his head at her warped humor and twirled his finger close to his temple, indicating she was nuts. She nodded her head in agreement.

The smile disappeared as he motioned that they needed to move closer to the building. They ran up to one of the long windows and hugged the wall on either side. Drayco leaned forward slightly and peered inside the room.

A small, crackling fire burned in a dirt pit near the back wall. Men and women relaxed about the room, some sleeping, others carrying on conversations. A few of the surviving benches were being used as beds. The rest became firewood. Holes were visible here and there in the ceiling; none leaked rainwater. The foul odor noticed earlier still hung in the air. The smell of the burning wood masked it for the most part.

Ruben leaned against a wall a short distance from the rest with one foot propped up. Joseph and Drizzle lay close to him, their restraints still in use to prevent any escape.

Drizzle was upset. He kept looking up at the ceiling, ears raised, then flattened alternately. The big man watched the cat with interest. The rest of the group ignored them. They were no doubt thinking about other things, like their families, or the local bars that were waiting for them.

"Has Drizzle become the nervous type?” Drayco asked.

"No. He's the most rock steady creature I've ever met."

"Well, something sure has him jumpy. I don't ever remember seeing him this edgy before."

Shyanne looked inside toward the big cat. “You're right, something sure has him uptight. I wonde..."

A strange noise started coming from the area near the entrance of the building, a sort of rustling sound. The mercenaries missed it, at first. Finally, one of the men close to the front heard it. He walked over and looked around, attempting to locate the source of the sound. It seemed to be coming from overhead, in the ceiling.

"What's that?” he asked, trying to see into the dark holes above.

Ruben straightened up. He was looking at Drizzle, not the man speaking. The cat was going wild, struggling against his bonds with all his might. His mouth was tied shut, leaving him unable to bite at the restraints that held him. He yowled in frustration. Joseph watched the struggling cat, as well.

A bad feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. The odor had reminded him of something from the past. Unfortunately, he still could not put a finger on what it was.

The rustling sound grew louder, as if many, many things were brushing against each other. Men and women around the room stopped what they were doing to look first at the cat, then at the man near the front.

The man standing under the holes shouted, “Someone bring a light over here. I want to see what's up there.” He had his arm extended toward the fire.

Drayco glanced at his sister. He could tell from the look on her face that she was uneasy. He understood; he knew he was wearing the same look. He turned his attention back to what was happening inside just as someone got up with a torch. It was the same woman who had argued on the porch earlier. The blood still dotted her clothes.

Lela was by the reaching man's side when Ruben finally remembered what caused the disturbing smell.

"No! Wait! Get away from there. NOW!” He started to move toward the pair. It was too late.

A large, black object dropped like a rock from the ceiling. It landed on the woman, knocking her off her feet with its weight. She screamed in utter terror and threw up her arms to block the thing that made its way along her body toward her face.

The creature was covered with coarse, spiky hairs and had large, bat-like ears. Leathery wings protruded from its fat, round body. Eight spider-like legs latched onto Lela's clothing, helping to propel it along her torso. The oversized mouth filled with razor sharp teeth bit into one of her upraised arms. The red stain of blood from the earlier argument was still evident. She hadn't bothered to wash it off completely. Multiple eyes rolled back into its head as the teeth sank into her flesh repeatedly. A thin, blood red tongue darted in and out, licking at the old and new moisture.

Oh God,
Drayco thought,
these creatures are after blood, just like me.

More creatures fell from the ceiling onto the man standing below. They covered him instantly. Some broke apart from the main group to join the one already on Lela. She disappeared in the same fashion. Their screams of horror and pain sounded from the writhing mass of spiky bodies. Hers ended quickly; the man's continued, more of a gurgling sound than words.

The mercenary who had argued with the woman on the porch went down next. The thick scent of blood on him was more than the creatures could resist. He died before he was able to hit any of the spiderbats with the short knife in his hand.

Ruben pulled his sword free and swung it in all directions as he ducked and dodged the erratic flying creatures from hell. The rest of his mercenaries were trying their best to save themselves in the same manner.

Long talons snagged clothing and cut the skin underneath as the winged demons flew around the room looking for more food. The smell of fresh flowing blood had created a feeding frenzy, and the spiderbats were attacking anything in their path, including themselves.

The twins watched in horror as men and women went down under the grotesque attack. Drayco saw Ruben make his way toward the main room, then stop as the number of creatures swooping at the people grew.

He nudged Shyanne and said, “I'm going to try and free Joseph and Drizzle. With this distraction going on, no one will notice another person amongst them."

Shyanne looked at her brother, concern in her eyes. After a second, she said, “Be careful, Drayco."

She knew better than to try and talk him out of it. Precious time would be wasted arguing, and the spiderbats would kill their friends in the meantime. Besides, the same thought had crossed her mind, as well, but Drayco would never allow her to go into the killing melee. If Ruben saw what they were doing, he would try to stop it. She was good with a sword, but not against someone like Ruben, who was larger, stronger, and more devious.

Drayco slipped inside the window and dropped to the floor in a low crouch. He waited to see if anyone noticed the stranger amongst them before moving. They were too busy trying to survive against the spiderbats to see a tall, dark stranger in their midst.

A man covered with spiderbats ran past Drayco, yelling and thrashing, trying to get the creatures off. He fell to the floor in a heap. After only a moment, all movement stopped except for those caused by the black monsters.

The mercenaries’ numbers were dropping quickly. Some had fled out the front door. Others were valiantly trying to save their fallen comrades. Over two dozen spiderbats lay about the room dead or flopping around, unable to fly.

Drayco saw Ruben across the room. He swung his great sword high at the creatures trying to get at him. Scrapes and cuts covered his upper body, and blood dripped off his left elbow from a long gash in his upper arm. A couple of scratches were on his face. They had crusted over long ago.

The dark twin made his way to the prisoners, keeping his back flat against the wall to create as small a target as possible for the spiderbats. Joseph watched him, unable to speak due to the gag in his mouth. Drayco reached him and removed it.

"What are you doing here? If Ruben sees you, you're dead,” Joseph whispered harshly.

"Saving your butt,” Drayco muttered back while attempting to untie the bonds that held the man's arms.

"Where's your sister?"

"She's outside waiting to help us when we get out of here."

"Don't waste time trying to untie the ropes ... cut them. Hurry, before Ruben notices you're over here!"