Duncan dipped his chin, and with his hand on Rachel, folded both of them there.
To his astonishment, the entire team had already gathered, eyes wild with battle fervor. Endelle wore a red, cloud-like skirt with chain-mail beneath, the blade vest, black hip boots, and her horned helmet.
Merl handed him the wrist scanner and he snapped it on.
Merl then gathered everyone into a huddle. “Hands on each other’s shoulders. We’re doing a group fold to my home. I’ve already lit up the portal. Ready?”
~
Rachel had never felt anything like this in her life. The ramped up tension in the team flowed from person to person. She especially experienced the sensation where she touched Duncan’s shoulder on one side and Luken’s on the other.
“Now,” Merl called out.
The trip through nether-space was a streak of power and a flash of energy. Within a split-second, they arrived in Merl’s living room.
Merl addressed Duncan. “Which weapons did we use in your vision?”
“Wrecking shotguns and unidentified swords. Rachel threw her daggers.”
Merl’s eyes glinted. “You heard the man. Arm up.”
Rachel wasn’t sure why her shielding powers would be blocked, but right now it was more important to trust the vision.
Another blast of energy flowed over Rachel as the team acted as one. Weapons appeared in each hand.
Just as Merl had said, the portal was lit up in a soft glow and open to the grid.
“Inside now,” Merl shouted.
Owen led the way since he was closest, and in the space of a few seconds everyone stood on the darkening grid floor. With a sudden snap, the portal closed.
Duncan took the lead and once more commanded the team’s minds. I’m heading in the direction of Yolanthe’s portal. But we’ll be meeting wreckers at a halfway point. The moment I raise my right closed fist, stop and turn to the grid wall off your left shoulders and prepare to do battle. Ready?
An almost uniform response of ‘yes’ returned.
Rachel followed after Duncan as he ran swiftly through the grid. Joshua and Owen were on her heels, then Alex, Merl, and Luken. Endelle brought up the rear.
When Duncan began to slow, she watched for his signal. Sure enough his hand shot up and Rachel drew to a halt as did the rest of the team. Rumbling could be heard through the grid wall.
They’ll be blasting through in five-four-three…
Though Rachel was ready with a dagger in each hand, her heart sounded like a drum inside her ears.
As each warrior raised shotguns, the rumbling reached a deafening point. At the same moment, a blast sounded on the other side of the grid and the darkening wall crumbled in front of the black ops team. All the warriors fired at a long line of wreckers, at least a dozen of them, with more coming. Most of them fell where they stood.
One warrior caught her eye and leaped from the grid, heading straight toward her. Clearly, he believed her a weak link. But without hesitation, she flipped her dagger and caught him in the throat. He dropped his sword and fell to his knees.
More wreckers came.
Moving to the back of the line and staying out of the way of battling swords, she drew a second blade. She scanned the encroaching Third Earth wreckers and found a target, one just emerging with a roar from the grid but leaping high into the air. She levitated swiftly, flicked her wrist, and the point of her blade hit his eye, piercing through to his brain. He fell.
She immediately resumed her position and continued pacing behind the battle.
At least another dozen wreckers emerged from the gaping hole in the grid wall. Some with shotguns, others with swords. They were fierce with three braids hanging on either sides of their faces, and wearing maroon battle harnesses. The wreckers leaped with loud shouts as each moved to attack the black ops line. She focused on those targets with shotguns and made each throw count.
The action was heaviest down at the end where Endelle, Luken, and Merl battled at least ten wreckers.
At the other end, Duncan battled with his sword as did Joshua, Owen, and Alex. The clanging of steel-on-steel reverberated in the tight space.
She threw a blade at a wrecker lifting his gun and brought him down. She then quickly slid two daggers from her belt, holding one in each hand.
She felt the movement of a fold behind her and spun as a wrecker appeared. She threw her first blade too quickly and caught the warrior in the shoulder. He grimaced as he pulled it out.
But his arrogance was his undoing since instead of either firing his shotgun or using his sword, he sneered at her. She shifted the second blade to her right hand and flicked it swiftly, catching him deep in his neck.
His eyes went wide. He clutched his throat, blood pouring from his mouth as he fell to the grid floor.
The battle had thinned in Duncan’s direction when his telepathy, aimed at the entire team, hit her mind hard. We’ve got less than two minutes to get to the portal.
When he waved the team forward, she followed on his heels swiftly.
His telepathic voice arrived once more. Endelle, do what you can to hold the rest off.
You got it, came back from the woman who’d ruled Second Earth for millennia.
~
Endelle slipped through another fold just as Duncan and the forward portion of the team disappeared down the grid. She felt enlivened as though electricity vibrated through every cell of her body.
She saw the battle in slow-motion yet at the same time faster than ever. While within nether-space, she could see Luken and Merl grappling hard with several wreckers, each pushed to his limit.
The entire time she’d been fighting in the grid, she’d kept her peripheral vision fixed on Luken, guarding him with every ounce of energy she possessed. She spent at least half her time hidden within the nether-space of a fold so that she could surprise the enemy at just the right time.
So far, Luken had held his own against the Third Earth wreckers, his massive arms bulked with his phenomenal physical power. He was an Atlas among the vampires of Second and now Third Earth.
She re-materialized behind another wrecker, levitated to gain the right angle, and pierced him through the space below the collar bone, deep into his chest cavity. He fell where he stood.
She saw six more wreckers leap from the busted out wall of the darkening grid.
Shit.
The three of them now battled another dozen warriors and they had to get their asses to the portal. The darkening was an unpredictable mass of passages through time and space and the blasts of the wreckers had no doubt tipped the grid all on its own.
Just as she prepared to fold again, she saw her nightmare roll over on her. Luken had three wreckers in front and a fourth behind him. He’d be dead in a heartbeat, if she didn’t get her righteous ass in gear.
Summoning her grayle power, she flew at the bastard behind him with her arms raised and her sword held aloft. She came down on his sword arm and took it off. The wrecker screamed, but Endelle didn’t stop there. She allowed her forward momentum to catch him in the side, knocking him to the floor. In one quick movement she spun and brought her sword down on his neck, decapitating him.
We need to get out of here, she sent to Luken and Owen. Duncan needs us at the portal now.
We know, Luken returned.
She folded once more, coming up behind another wrecker and another. A few more seconds later and Owen brought the last of the wreckers down.
She contacted Duncan who immediately sent. Fold to me now.
Endelle locked onto Duncan’s position, then grabbed both Luken and Owen, folding them to the rest of the team. The portal glowed a gold color, an indication the grid had locked in on Yolanthe’s prison.
Yet for some reason, Duncan hesitated using the code she knew he possessed because of his original his vision.
“What are you waiting for?” Endelle called out.
~
Duncan stared at his wrist scanner, which h
ad synced with Yolanthe’s portal. But he couldn’t act. Something didn’t feel right or the future had changed yet again. He wasn’t sure.
And before he could act, he had to know exactly what he was getting the team into.
Rachel, try to shield us. Something’s wrong.
He shifted toward her and though he could see her grayle smoke as she attempted to access her shielding ability, nothing happened. “You were right; I’m being blocked somehow.”
Duncan nodded. “All right. Let me figure this out.”
~
Luken breathed hard as he stood between Endelle and Merl.
“What’s he waiting for?” Endelle asked quietly. She side-stepped like a fighter, back and forth, ready to throw a punch.
“Ease down, Warrior,” he said, catching her shoulder and pressing her in place, at least for a moment.
She glanced at him, nostrils flaring. She opened her mouth, probably intending to shout him down, but apparently thought the better of it. She shook her head, and released more of her battle energy by dancing on the balls of her feet again. He didn’t prevent her this time.
She was something else, this woman who’d lived as an ascended vampire for nine thousand years. And she had his back.
Thanks, he said.
She glanced at him with raised brows. For what?
For saving my ass. You think I didn’t know I was done for back there? I knew a fourth wrecker was behind me, but with three swords in front, there was nothing I could do. Glad you’re here.
At that, she grinned. My pleasure, ‘duhuro’.
Luken returned her smile. ‘Duhuro’ was a word from the ancient language and a sign of great respect. Back atcha.
When the portal signal began to fade, Endelle growled. “All right. Get moving, Duncan.”
But Luken caught her arm in a fierce grip. “This isn’t your show. And you have to trust your team.”
“Fine.” She spit the word between gritted teeth.
Luken smiled. The woman was showing a tremendous amount of restraint given her unruly nature.
~
Duncan’s heart raced. He’d lose the portal, but something within his mind or his body or both told him to wait.
He took a deep breath and gathered his grayle power once more then let it flood his mind. A vision shot through his head, this time sending ice shards through his veins because of the content.
He accessed his telepathy at the same time and shared what he saw with the team. Yolanthe already has her forces in place opposite the portal, at least half a dozen shotguns aimed at the door, right now. So we’ve got a change of plans.
At the right moment, we’ll use our wrecking guns to blast a hole in the Third grid wall. This will allow us to enter the prison several yards down the row of cells and avoid the ambush.
The presence of Yolanthe’s Militia Warriors ready to do battle confirmed his belief that the earlier vision had been high-jacked by someone known to Yolanthe. The team’s new placement would give them the advantage.
But a bigger problem presented itself — something so unexpected, he froze. His plan had involved making use of Yolanthe’s portal to leave the prison and return to Second. However, as new images rolled, he saw something else entirely.
He had to share this reality with the team. He turned to face them all. “We’ve got a problem.”
Lips parted, but no one said a word.
He explained about the need to shift their entry point, but their exit strategy would be a different matter. “Yolanthe’s portal is different from Merl’s; it shifts location, probably a security measure.”
Merl called out. “That’s exactly right. Only the wealthiest citizens have this kind of portal.”
Every member of the team remained silent and he had no doubt each had just completed the sequence.
But it was Rachel who spoke the reality aloud. “We won’t have a way to get back to Second.”
She’d said it exactly right since none of them had access to the Grid from a Third Earth vantage point.
Were any of them prepared to take up a life on Third? And where the hell would they go once they rescued the prisoners?
He took a moment to gather his thoughts, looking the team over. He had a full minute before the timing was right to blow the prison grid wall. “We have a decision to make. Do we move forward or do we stay on Second?”
Owen, brows furrowed, spoke in a resonant voice, “We have people to rescue. Nothing else matters.”
A murmured assent traveled the group.
Duncan dipped his chin. “Then we’re all in agreement?”
A shout went up from each of the team members, a shared accord reminding Duncan why he loved the committed heart of the warrior as much as he did, male or female.
He turned around to face the grid wall.
He reverted to telepathy, his grayle power vibrating strongly in his chest. We’ll be about fifteen yards west of Yolanthe’s Militia Warrior force. As soon as we bust down the wall, turn to your right and fire with shotguns, then attack with swords.
He reloaded his shotgun and heard the others doing the same.
Aloud, he said, “On my mark.” He could feel the team behind him, energy sparking from warrior to warrior. Rachel stood at his left. She’d spent the time at the portal folding dagger after dagger from the dead wreckers into her hands and wiping them down with a cloth from her dagger belt. Her sheaths were loaded once more.
Glancing at her, he said, “We’ll need you in the back.”
She obeyed his order instantly and moved to stand on Endelle’s left.
When the vision neared the here-and-now, he shouted, “Fire up the shotguns. Here we go.” As soon as his wing-power flowed down his shoulder and charged his weapon, he cried out, “Fire!”
Eight shotguns let loose and the darkening grid wall fell down.
Leading the way, Duncan saw the prisoners hanging from chains and staring at him. He immediately shifted to the right, turned, and let loose with the other barrel. The team moved into position firing as he had, lining up to face the enemy.
Yolanthe’s warriors were caught unprepared. The front rows of warriors were blown to bits and fell back against those awaiting the black ops team in the wrong place. Setting his shotgun down, he advanced swiftly, sword aloft, a cry raging from his throat.
Joshua and Merl ran next to him on either side. Several of Yolanthe’s warriors climbed over the bodies, swords in the air as well, two of them levitating.
With his grayle power in full force, Duncan folded and came up behind one warrior, slicing across his back. He arched and fell to the floor.
Duncan whirled and met a blade coming down hard. He blocked, leaned then delivered a hard punch to the ribs. His foe lost control of his sword as he reacted to the blow. Duncan slipped a dagger from his harness and drove it deep into his belly, pulling up at the same time.
The warrior went down.
He had no time to breathe as the next bastard levitated over Duncan. Holding his sword in both hands, Duncan kicked off with his back foot and slid low to swing his sword against the warrior’s legs.
The shout of agony as the man came down, one leg partially severed, rang along the line of cells. Merl’s What-Bee team, still in chains, roared their approval.
Yolanthe’s warriors kept coming and Duncan folded once more and came up swinging.
~
In the relatively narrow hallway, Rachel remained deep in the background. Her dagger-throwing could easily catch one of her teammates, so she waited for an opening. Mostly she watched Endelle, who kept levitating and taunting Yolanthe’s warriors, drawing those out who could levitate high into the air since the prison had a tall ceiling. Her costume lulled her male opponents into looking for a quick kill, but each met his death at her superior swordsmanship.
“Are you the one called Rachel?”
Rachel turned around. The sweet, melodious voice had to belong to the woman in the lavender veil who now stood presse
d against her cell bars, trying to catch sight of the battle. She wouldn’t have much luck since each cell had solid stone walls and the bars faced the opposite wall.
Rachel felt pulled in Katlynn’s direction and moved to her. “I am. And you’re Merl’s sister, Katlynn, right?”
“Yes. Is Merl with you?” She peered down the hall. “I can’t make out the warriors since the veil mars my sight just enough and the wall obscures the rest.”
“Yes, Merl is here.”
“Rachel, I need to tell you something. We’re in trouble, all of us, even if your force wins the battle. There are things about the prison you can’t know.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get the keys and free you as well as the men.”
She shook her head, and because Rachel stood close enough to the cell, Katlynn caught her arm. “The chains the men use are charged. No one here is powerful enough to break apart the steel. And even if we could, none of us can fold from this prison, not you or Merl or any of the warriors he brought with him.”
Rachel put a hand to her chest. “Oh, God.” Had their rescue attempt become a trap?
Rachel noticed the damp spots on the woman’s gown. “You’ve been weeping.”
“From the time the team broke through. Yes.”
“Is there no hope, because I can’t believe it since we’ve been led here by vision after vision.”
At that, Katlynn cocked her head. “You’ve had visions?”
“Not me. But Duncan has, several of them, all having to do with you.”
“Duncan,” she whispered. “He spoke to me telepathically.” She turned away from the bars and put her hands on either side of her head. “This rescue was not of Merl’s devising then?”
“Your brother’s? No. The source, as I’ve said, came from Warrior Duncan. He’s gifted with visions from the future streams.”
Both the clanging of the chains in the cells and the shouts of the battle had begun to dim. Rachel glanced up the hall and saw that the black ops team had all but defeated Yolanthe’s forces. Both Duncan and Joshua still battled, but it wouldn’t be long now, and Owen and Merl were searching for the keys to the different cells.