Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (32 page)

Flagpoles surrounded the wide lawn. A unique
flag represented each valley within the Dhark Empire. The normally
peaceful park of marble statues and dark green grass encompassed
the Dhark Plaza, the sprawling complex that housed the political
offices of the Dhark Empire.

The council met in a vast underground chamber
built of gold and black marble, placed under the very heart of the
Dhark Plaza Complex, directly under the arena.

Though she wanted the meeting place of the
dhark court destroyed, the arena was just as satisfying of target.
The amphitheater, built to hold several thousand bystanders, had
seen its share of horror each time an innocent person was thrown
among werewolves or sasquatch and ripped to pieces for the
enjoyment of the bloodthirsty crowd.

“I won’t kill innocents, and many of the
janitors and secretaries have no choice in serving the dhark
lords,” she said quietly, almost as an affirmation of what her
plans were, “but I will not let their attack go unpunished.”

“
Attention! All personnel within the Dhark
Plaza Complex, you have exactly ten minutes to evacuate before it
is destroyed,”
she mentally shouted, pushing a growl into her
words in hopes of keeping her identity secret for a while
longer.

Finished with her warning, she turned her
attention to creating a large mass of synth crystal under the
widespread complex. Exactly ten minutes later, she ordered the slow
destruction of one of the empire’s most critical locations. Slowly,
as if in slow motion, her weapon of choice broke through the
underground chamber, creating crystal spikes through the chamber’s
marble floor.

“
Love, your mind is going a thousand
directions and I can’t keep up,”
Nick said into her mind.
“Why go so slow?”

Before answering, she leaned her shoulder
against his, savoring the moment. From the confusion, she felt
coming from him, he wasn’t questioning her actions he was just
trying to understand what her goal was.

“
I know they’ve killed thousands, but I
just can’t do that. Death on the battlefield is one thing, but I
can’t just destroy the place without giving everyone a chance to
escape,”
she said with a hint of embarrassment coloring her
voice. She was supposed to be a hardcore killer, but when push came
to shove, she couldn’t be an ice-cold killer.

“
I caught that thought, and you are wrong.
When it is necessary, you are ice-cold. You don’t hesitate to kill
your enemies, but you also have compassion. It’s very well hidden
compassion, but your honor and kindheartedness is what separates
you from the dhark lords,”
he said, brushing his lips across
her temple.

Savoring his praise, she turned her attention
to the massive four-story building. In the distance, she could just
make-out spires of crystal. She focused on the remaining mass of
crystal beneath the ground. Giving it a single order, she watched
silently as spikes of crystal thrust through the building, exiting
through windows and the roof.

Ten minutes later, her assault on the Dhark
Plaza was complete. Massive spikes of razor sharp crystal riddled
the building and surrounding park.

“I think we are done here. Let’s go visit
Lord PhñDick’s estate,” Sarah said with a hard glint shining in her
eyes.

After visiting Lord PhñDick’s home, and
turning it into a mirror image of the Dhark Plaza, they stopped at
General PuckinKnück’s home and then Lord Trenton’s home and did the
same. At each stop, she gave a ten-minute warning, and then ordered
the crystal to do her bidding. Not having time to waste, she left
before the crystal reached for the sky.

Her campaign didn’t end there. Her group
continued on to three known military locations, destroying offices
and barracks. Of course, she also destroyed numerous warehouses
filled with more modern weaponry such as guns, helicopters, and
missile launchers.

It took time, nearly two hours, but Sarah
gave the Dhark Empire a blow they would not soon recover from.
She’d gone a bit over the two hours Bea needed to coordinate groups
of rescue workers, but it was time she didn’t regret.

Porting her group back to the war room, she
looked her dad in the eye and saw his approval. “It’ll be a while
before they try attacking anyone else,” she said.

“Good job,” he said with a grim smile,
motioning to one of the monitors replaying her attack on the plaza.
“News feeds in every valley have picked up the broadcasts.”

“Thanks,” Sarah said, glancing at the large
board showing Trellick Valley. “You know the situation. Do we need
more warriors on the ground or can I start bringing in the rescue
workers?”

“At most of the gateways, the tide has turned
in our favor.”

“Then finding and helping the injured is at
the top of the list,” she stated with grim determination.

“The good news is the pincer movement is
working at Gila Cliffs and Red Oak. The dhark armies literally fell
apart when the phoenix showed up,” he nodded to an aide that
updated the map as she lowered the number of dhark soldiers at a
town bordering Hot Springs Castle. “We’ve got control of the area
around Hot Springs Castle, but they destroyed the castle. It looks
like they wired the place with C-4.”

“That’s good news?” Nick asked
incredulously.

“We think it had already been evacuated,” he
said with a touch of hope.

Sarah’s eyes snapped to his, silently
demanding details. She had known the death toll would be atrocious,
but Aaron was family, a friend she could always count on. His death
would create a hole in her soul that might never heal.

“Aaron is here. He was seriously injured, but
he’s healing.”

“Was there a girl with him?” Nick asked,
glancing at her.

She gave a small nod of understanding. She
knew Nick loved her, but that didn’t stop his concern for an old
friend, especially an ex-girlfriend.

“A girl about seventeen or eighteen ported
him here. Made sure he was being taken care of then
disappeared.”

Well, that wasn’t the best of news, not when
Shelby knew who Sarah was. “What about my announcement to the
world. Are there any hints of who Chi’Kehra is?”

“No, not yet, and we are covering all the
major channels on Earth and the valleys,” Timothy said from across
the room.

She snorted silently. Her tech guru was not
subtle about eavesdropping.

“I’d rather join one of the battles, but Bea
is organizing rescue groups, and I’m the best one to transport
them. I want someone in constant contact with Bea’s aide. Keep us
updated where the hardest hit areas are and I’ll get rescue teams
in ASAP.”

“Be careful,” her dad kissed her forehead.
Turning, he grabbed Nick around the back of his neck. “That goes
for you too, young man. We’re glad to have you as part of the
family and would like to keep you around for a while.”

“Thank you, sir. I agree.” Nick touched
Sarah’s arm, silently telling her to wait. “We don’t have time for
details, but we found Miranda. She’s safe.”

All the air hissed out of the large elf.
“Thank God! Where is she?”

“Long story,” Sarah said, porting them away
from the war room.

A moment later, they appeared at Kenai.

Hugging her tight, Nick snorted,
“Chicken.”

“Absolutely, you don’t mess with my dad when
he is protecting one of us kids,” Sarah said, searching the
sprawling crowd for Bea’s distinctive wings.

“There,” Nick said, nodding to the middle of
the field amid a swirling mass of people and wings.

“
Bea,”
Sarah called,
“which groups
go first?”

Bea said something to the people in front of
her before executing a vertical take-off.
“The units on the
north side of the field are prepped and ready. Timothy is texting
Misha the locations where help is needed the most.”

The phoenix gracefully dropped to the wooden
platform. “She is telling each group where they will be going, and
tagging them with chips.”

“Chips?” Nick asked.

“Crystal chips,” Bea said, holding out her
hand, revealing a small coin-sized piece of crystal. “The mist
Sarah used earlier was great, but everyone is so scattered now. I
was also concerned that it might take too much power.”

Sarah nodded, but didn’t comment. It was
always better for people - even people she trusted - to
underestimate her power than to reveal too much.

“Let’s get moving,” Nick said, before Bea
could press Sarah for an answer.

Through the long hours that came, Nick never
left her side. He couldn’t help with the porting, but he did help
by answering questions and calming fears. Each time they ported to
a new location, people hurried toward them with terror lurking in
their eyes.

While the people tended to hesitate in
approaching her, they didn’t have any hesitation when it came to
Nick. On more than one occasion, his strong arms held a crying
child, comforting the youngling until one of the phoenix could take
over. The gentle way he handled her people - whether that person
was vampire, elf, fairy, or other race - was heart-warming.

Each time it happened, she had to step back
and swallow the fury that tried to choke her. So many were dead or
injured, she had never seen so many tear-streaked faces in her
entire life. Many adults appeared to be in shock, shaking like a
leaf as they repeated over and again what happened. How the dhark
soldiers and animals attacked without warning, invading malls and
even schools.

She struggled to retain her temper, because
for every traumatized adult there was child in worse shape. Too
many of the children had seen parents torn to pieces as they
protected their little ones.

Clenching her fist, a growl of pure fury
slipped past her lips. Somehow, she would destroy the empire. She
would never let them do this to another valley, not as long as she
lived.

Hours later, Sarah stood outside Trellick castle. A half dozen
lookout towers rose high above her home. The extensive fortress,
cut into the side of a mountain, reminded her of Colin’s castle.
Briefly, she wondered if her ancestors had modeled Trellick Castle
around the elvish stronghold.

On the walkway, at the base of one tower,
Sarah nestled her back against Nick’s broad chest. There was so
much more to do, but after working nonstop through the day, they
both needed a short breather.

She had checked with Cory, but the general
had the widespread battle well in hand. After several thousand
years of experience, he didn’t need her telling him how to conduct
his troops.

As they watched the setting sun inch toward
the horizon, turning the evening sky into a dozen hues of red and
gold, she snuggled deeper into Nick’s arms.

His purr of contentment warmed her from the
inside out.

“I knew a single Sídhí bent on destruction
could cause a huge amount of damage, but I never dreamed how much
damage thousands of them could do,” she said softly, pain filled
her as she thought of all the homeless and hurt people, the lost
children and lost parents.

“I know,” he said. His soft purr slowed and
turned into a rumbling growl. The angry sound vibrated against her
body. “There are thousands of rescue workers working nonstop, but
even by morning they won’t have reached a third of all the people
that need help.”

“We’ll help them,” she said, but she wasn’t
sure where the additional manpower would come from. She had just
ported the last phoenix rescue group into a small mid-western town
that had been hit by vampires porting in sasquatch.

“We could call on the other valleys for
help,” he said cautiously.

“That’s always been an option of last resort,
but I’m afraid you might be right,” she said in resignation. The
security issue would be a nightmare.

“If you’re all right with it, I’ll call my
Uncle Warren,” he said, holding his body still, waiting for her
answer.

“Hmm, let me think… high-council, old,
powerful, and a killer smile?” she asked sweetly. “Did I guess
right?”

Nick snorted. “Do you know my family as well
as your own?”

“Maybe,” she said, knowing it was the solid
truth.

Nick pulled her closer, gently nuzzling her
cheek. “You’ve been going strong for nearly two days straight. If I
have to bash you in the head, you need sleep.”

Yeah, he was right. Physically, she was about
to drop.

Turning, she curled her arms around his
waist. “There’s too much to be done, I can’t sleep.”

“Yeah, I know, but I had to try.” He growled,
but didn’t argue with her. Giving her one last hug, he kissed her
temple. “Come on. Let’s go see what fire needs your gentle
touch.”

Along their lifeBond, she sent him a mental
caress of thanks. Stepping away from him, she kept his hand in hers
and ported them to a corner within the war room, near the servers
but far enough away Timothy wouldn’t have a heart attack.

She shouldn’t have worried about it. Nearly
everyone in the room had their eyes glued to a single monitor.

With a sigh of resignation, she moved nearer,
wondering what horrible development had captured everyone’s rapt
attention. What really surprised her was Timothy. He actually had
the sound turned up on high. Since his team maintained watch over
hundreds of monitors, her high tech-guru insisted the screens
remain on the lowest setting unless absolutely necessary.

The image showed the castle’s entrance hall.
Actually, the monitors to either side also reflected the thirty by
forty foot hall, simply at different angles. The cameras remained
focused on the people scattered across the floor, leaving the
second and third story balcony hidden. She wasn’t concerned with
unannounced visitors, not when she knew several of her archers hid
within the shadows of the dark, upper stories.