Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (9 page)

Like a lone, brass trumpet issuing a charge
on a battlefield, the single shriek echoed through the chamber.

The troll’s long, pointed ears swiveled
around, seeking a second answer to Sarah’s challenge. When the
other trolls remained quiet, the large beast dropped thirty feet
straight down, landing on all fours. The dangerous animal squatted
within a dozen feet of Nick's unconscious body.

The troll’s large head sat atop a thick,
muscle-wrapped neck. The bulging neck had to be incredibly strong
to hold up the weight of his sharp, black horns. The twisted horns,
combined with clawed feet, gave the large troll a demonic
appearance.

Burning, black eyes glanced at Nick's prone
form. The troll straightened, bulging muscles rippled up long legs.
The dark reddish-purple creature screamed another laughing
challenge at her, flaunting long fangs and claws. The big male
hopped from foot-to-foot in a dance of aggression. Straggling curls
of black hair, covering its back and lower stomach, bobbed in sync
with its laughing-howls.

Sarah’s nose twisted in distaste. A troll’s
scent glands grew in their mouth, releasing a putrid odor akin to
rotten eggs whenever they howled. No matter the specific
subspecies, trolls spelled trouble. Eating their young when food
got scarce, the nasty creatures were well-known cannibals.

She snarled a warning at the eight-foot
monster and stepped forward. Secrets be damned, she'd not let
anything harm her mate. She reached for the synth simmering in her
blood and met a blank wall. Shock rippled through her. She mentally
hammered at the barrier blocking access to the power in her blood,
but the blockage refused to budge an inch.

She stepped forward another foot, never
hesitating. Any hint of weakness and the entire nest of trolls
would attack. She might kill half-a-dozen, perhaps more, but not
while protecting Nick.

Slipping a hand under her t-shirt, she pulled
a throwing star from her harness and flung the lethally sharp
weapon at the troll. In quick succession, she threw another. The
first sharp-pointed star sunk deep into the dark red skin of the
troll’s heavily muscled neck. Blood gushed over the male's
long-fingered hand as her adversary clawed at its throat. The
second star hit the beast in the soft part of its flat nose,
between beady, black eyes.

The trolls on the ceiling howled furiously,
shattering the deathly silence filling the room.

Sarah did a sharp U-turn and dashed toward
her mate. Shoving her hands under Nick’s arms, she tried to
stand-up with him. She grunted and only managed to lift his
shoulders off the ground. Fear smashed through her as she struggled
with his dead weight.

She couldn't budge him. She cursed a rapid
stream that would've curled a sailor's ears.

Earlier, she'd been too keyed-up and hadn't
noticed being weaker. Whatever blocked access to the synth in her
blood also drained her of strength. She grabbed his arm and pulled.
He moved a few inches. Digging her feet into the floor, she
strained against his weight. He slid backward toward the honeycomb,
inch by inch.

Terror filled her and for the first time in
her life, she felt completely helpless.

She mentally screamed for Mac, knowing after
the explosion, he had disobeyed her orders and entered Dragon
Valley, remaining in the nearby forest in case she needed him. He
couldn’t teleport to her side, but he could fly straight through
the thick walls of the cavern.

^____________

Several miles from the original attack, Mac
followed a female gnome and her pack of trained trolls. They had
picked-up the girl and headed toward the nearest gateway, a rarely
used portal within an hour walk of Blue Bertha.

He snarled under his breath. He hated
trolls.

The entire species spelled trouble. Trolls
created a true menace wherever they nested. Not only were they
dangerous, the blasted things bred like rabbits, growing to full
maturity in less than a year. They weren't sentient, but they moved
in packs, and like many Sídhí animals, they were smart enough to
set traps for the unwary.

In the mundane world, people watched-out for
poisonous snakes and grizzly bears while hiking or camping. Across
the numerous Sídhí valleys, trolls fell under the same warning.
Troll attacks killed more than a hundred people every year.

He followed the pack of blue-skinned mountain
trolls as they entered the gateway. On the other side of the
portal, he was surprised to see the ruins of a large castle.
Mountains encircled the area.

Skirting the tumble of gray stone, the trolls
passed a second troop of trolls.

“Trolls, you stops moving! Sits!” ordered the
gnome handler for the second set of trolls, squeezing a small
transmitter toward the hulking creatures.

A large male threw back his horned head and
roared, fighting the order.

“Sits! Sits!” the little gnome screamed,
punching the large, red button in the middle of its remote
control.

Grunting in pain, the second set of trolls
dropped to the ground as sun glinted off the smooth, red hide of
the cave trolls. Black, curled horns hit the dirt as the creatures
shuddered under the electronic assault.

Mac had wondered how the small gnomes kept
the brutes in line. Trolls had very sensitive hearing. More than
likely, each troll was fitted with an electronic device embedded in
their ear canal, one that emitted soft and harsh frequencies.

He had heard of the training technique but
had never seen it in action.

“Banie, your Nester mess up. He mess up bad,
bad,” the second gnome shouted to the pallid skinned female Mac had
been following. “He losses Mistress’s prize. Angry Mistress was!
Smoke from nose angry!”

Ignoring the heated remarks flying between
the two gnomes, Mac followed the dirt path around the destroyed
castle. Before long, he found a large metal building. A tiny,
bar-covered window graced the front door.

Next to the building stood hundreds of
ten-by-ten foot, steel pens anchored into the ground with cement. A
half-dozen green, mottled swamp trolls stood inside the nearest
pens. A flock of crows passed overhead, starting a chain reaction
of guttural, hyena-like cries.

The door to the yellow building popped
opened. “Quiets! Stupid trolls! Buggsie likes quiets when he
listens to Mistress on phone. Quiet makes thinking better!”

Hurrying forward, Mac slipped through the
open door before it had time to shut. Since he was In Between, he
could’ve just as easily walked through the walls, but over the
years, he had learned to be cautious. You never knew who or what
might be on the other side.

One time, a few years before, he had walked
through a wall and ended up lost inside a mountain. As long as he
stayed In Between, he had been okay, but if he had shifted into one
of the real dimensions, he would’ve been smashed to goo amid tons
of solid rock.

Shuddering at the memory, he turned his
attention to the interior of the building. White walls and
brilliant florescent lighting greeted him. The front of the
building was wide open.

The large area spread before him. To his
immediate right, a large Khr’Vurr recruitment poster promised a
better future. A fiery red and gold infinity symbol branded the
black silhouette of a dragon in flight.

Torture equipment, from knifes to whips,
filled the front third of the building. The back of the building
was not as pleasant. Three aisles, at least fifty feet in length,
filled the rear of the building. Cages lined each cement
passage.

“Nork, stops beatin’ that cadet. Lee tagged
the last cadet and needs pick-up. You takes the swamp trolls and
hurry! Mistress could be here anytimes!”

Well, that explained the young girl Guardian
Lee attacked. What Mac didn’t understand was why the guardians had
placed dragon cadets in a restricted part of their campground area
in the first place.

Hoping to catch the mysterious Mistress, Mac
settled against the front wall.

Silence
answered Sarah’s scream for help. The mite poison didn’t block
short-range telepathy, but the poison must short-circuit her
ability to send a long-distance call.

Brianna appeared next to her.

Sarah bared her teeth at the girl, but the
teen surprised her by grabbing Nick's other arm. Together, they
managed to pull him toward the honeycomb.

A troll dropped to the ground and then
another and another. One landed five feet away, nearly blocking
their path to the honeycomb.

Sarah flung one of the lethal shuriken,
stopping the troll as the sharp point of the star ruptured the
troll's right eye.

The creature howled in agony. Clawing at its
face, the big troll dropped to its knees.

A smaller troll – only about six feet tall –
ran forward and slammed both clawed feet into the injured troll.
The smaller monster hopped on top of the flopping body, shrieking
in triumph before it ripped into the fallen body with its
square-shaped jaws.

Brianna scrambled into one of the glowing
tubes, pulling Nick by his arms.

Sarah grabbed his hips and grunted as she
tried lifting his bulk. Normally, she loved the fact he was several
inches over six feet and had muscles that rippled when he walked,
but not now. Muscles meant weight. Why couldn't he have been a
scrawny five footer?

She ducked under his body. Her head popped up
between his legs, in a position she'd only dreamed of being in. She
didn't have time to enjoy the view. She lodged her shoulders under
his thighs and pushed, straining her leg muscles. His body shot
forward and she scrambled into the hole after him.

Brianna squealed, helplessly clawing the
smooth walls of the tunnel. Her frantic efforts didn’t stop her
backward movement down the slick tube.

Sarah jumped forward, landing with a grunt on
Nick's chest.

His hunter-green eyes snapped open, looking
at her in shocked disbelief. Well, at least he was finally
awake.

They slipped backward, moving faster with
each second that passed. Wind ruffled his hair. He opened his
mouth, but no words emerged.

The laughing-howls of the trolls followed
them as they sped backward down the crystal tunnel. Looking up, she
gazed into dark green eyes that brimmed with emotion.

Her breath caught, fearing to hope.

His arms slipped around her back, pulling her
closer, holding her snug against his chest. His entire body
shuddered, before he finally spoke. “Hurt?” he managed to ask,
swallowing several times.

She knew from experience, the mite poison
left his mouth dry as cotton.

Incapable of speech, she shook her head
no.

He ran his hands down her back as if making
sure her unspoken answer was true. His fingers found a hole in her
shirt and he paused, gently touching her bare skin. The healing
skin remained puckered from the mite’s thick stinger.

A wave of yearning swamped her. On impulse,
she dropped her face next to his, gently rubbing her cheek against
his. She shivered.

His soft, rumbling purr sounded beneath
her.

The laughing-howls of the trolls
disappeared.

“It’s splitting!” Brianna squealed.

Looking past Nick’s head, she watched the
girl scramble toward the left tunnel.

“We need to remain together,” Sarah said
calmly, angling hers and Nick’s body toward the left tunnel. Losing
sight of the girl – and the young phoenix’s uncomfortable questions
– was no longer an option, not after she helped save Nick’s
life.

Sarah glanced down the right-hand tunnel,
unable to stifle a hiss of frustration. The etchings continued down
the right tube, not the left one.

A few minutes after shooting through the left
tube, holes began opening along the sides and top. Liquid crystal
trickled through each opening. The tunnel began filling-up with
synth crystal.

For a single moment in time, Nick tightened
his hold on her. The brush of his lips were so soft, she nearly
missed the fleeting touch across her cheek.

Surprised, she looked at him, but knew the
gentle moment was gone.

As if in pain, his eyes clenched shut and he
pulled his hands away from her. His purr stopped. Except for
breathing and the forward movement of his body, he lay
unmoving.

Sarah’s chest felt like he ripped her in
half. His wretched clan honor was about to drive her insane. One
minute he wanted her, the next he treated her like a trash-loving
skrivett, the lowest of all Sídhí rodents.

Sarah clenched her teeth and rolled to the
side, splashing into the cool synth crystal. She felt the power
flowing past her. She was sick to death of Nick rejecting her every
time she turned around and tired of running for their lives.
Recklessly, she reached for the energy and touched nothing.

She growled in frustration and pushed every
fiber within her, searching for a way around the blockage.

“What happened?” Nick asked.

Angry he refused her and angry over the mite
poison disrupting her ability to touch synth crystal, Sarah glared
at him. “Mites attacked us.”

She tried sitting up, but her hand slipped
and she smacked into him.

Nick grunted as her body hit him. “That much
I figured out. Where are the others? And where the blue blazes are
we?”

“Oh, crap!” Brianna shouted. Her choice of
curse words grew more colorful before she finished. “Do you hear
that?”

Nick twisted his head, trying to look in
front of them, toward the girl.

Sarah ignored his movements. Hearing a loud
roar, she grew still and all the blood drained from her face.

Nick’s growl grew louder. “What’s that
roar?”

If Sarah had not been right beside him, she
would have never heard him. As it was, she didn’t have time to
explain. “Waterfall,” she said grimly.