Evolve, p.23
Evolve, page 23
part #2 of Logan Reed Series
Roughly twenty-foot-tall floors, Logan thought. About sixty feet tall in total.
Curious, Zeus stepped back to get a better look and immediately yelled, “Scatter!”
They did, just as an immense form landed, buckling the stone beneath its monstrous girth. Each man surrounded it, one to each cardinal point. Standing from its kneeling position, the giant stood tall, showing off its full height and bulk.
No one said a word as they watched the creature. It was well over twenty feet in height—closer to twenty-five or thirty—and built like Baird. Its skin color was off, though, almost grey in color. Covered in dust, Logan thought.
First thing Logan reacted to was its head. While its overall shape was human, its skull was slightly elongated, giving it an almost alien look. It also had large bony growths sprouting from beneath where its eyebrows should’ve been, directly over its two large, yellow eyes.
Horns, Logan thought, just like Satan himself. Similar to the Ka too. Whether this was the devil in the flesh or merely what spurred his legend in the first place, he didn’t know. He didn’t really care either way.
Next was its body. It was ravaged with scars from centuries of battle. Just like Baird. Fayng and he could be injured, even killed, but if the wounds weren’t life-threatening, they’d almost immediately start to heal over. Fayng proved that right before his eyes earlier.
Logan also noticed the six fingers and toes on each of the giant’s hands and feet.
The Nephilim.
Only one giant, though. It was alone here…maybe.
‘A’ Nephilim…maybe the last. If we can kill it—
Its roar cut off Logan’s last thought, making him cover his ears in agony. The sound coming forth was one of pure terror, one that he would never be able to describe if asked. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to. Everyone had heard it, including the others.
Instinctively, each of the four soldiers turned and ran, giving the beast more targets than it could handle. Logan ran for the building the giant had leapt from, Fitz ran north, further down Main Street, Ares did likewise, but south, back towards the city’s gate, and Zeus went right, into a similarly built three story building that looked more like a temple.
They’d each have to fend for themselves until they could evade the Nephilim warrior and regroup. If they survived that long, that is.
Logan looked over his shoulder and made eye-contact with the giant. Maybe heading back the way we came was the better idea after all.
* * *
Fitz was beyond done with this shit. Inhuman hunters, big ass lizards, malformed brutes, and now this.
What’s next, bats the size of Pterodactyls?
As he ran, he looked for a place to hold up. While he’d like nothing better than to turn and fight, Fitz didn’t have an overly active death wish. Living was fun. He stopped and turned, seeing the beast face towards him. Death…not so much.
He took off again, sprinting off to the north, feeling his bruised ribs protest with every step. Eventually, the fifth adrenaline high of the trip would wear off and he’d be down for the count. If it happened out in the open, he’d be deader than dead.
He pushed harder and found something waiting for him in the distance. It looked like a jumble of tree trunks or roots, maybe, piled at odd angles. But as he neared, he recognized what it was. It sat in the middle of what passed for a Nephilim town square.
The cave dragon… Well, its bones anyway.
The skeleton lay in the center of the square, on its side. There was no flesh to speak of but its overall shape was that of the female Nsanga but almost twice its size. As Fitz neared, he decided it would be his target. From his current position, he could just make out twin roads leading away from the center of town, one to the east and the other to the west. And from the looks of it, another continued north too. The city was absolutely enormous. Perfect for a race of giants.
Unbelievable, he thought, taking in the middle of town. Greek-inspired temples lined every street, or rather, they are what probably inspired the Greeks.
Entering the square at a sprint, he slid to stop, noticing something he didn’t before. The dragon’s body was wickedly bent over an Egyptian-style pyramid. It was built with the same smooth stone as the temples around him, covered in hieroglyphic gibberish. He’d seen hieroglyphs before on a trip to Egypt while in the service. Except, these didn’t have any birds or creepy mascaraed eyes in it. These were something else.
A second roar got him moving again as he ran for the pyramid and scaled its southern side. The dragon was much bigger than they were led to believe. His earlier estimate of almost twice the queen’s size was fairly accurate too, maybe even bigger.
Holy shit!
The steps weren’t easy to scale either, being at least two feet tall by another two feet deep. But he made it up the ten or so steps with some ease and climbed between its ribs. Snaking his way through other shattered bones as well, Fitz slithered up to its telephone pole-sized spine, of which was crushed on the tip of the pyramid. Its back had been broken during its final brawl with the Nephilim. Might explain all the dead back in the alcoves, he thought as he crawled beneath one of the thick vertebrae.
Fitz quickly popped up on the other side, breathing heavily and took aim at—
Fuck.
It was gone.
But where?
* * *
Fayng, CJ, and Kiani stood guard over the five locals and waited for Logan’s all clear. But once they heard the first roar, they knew something else was happening. The boys were in trouble.
“We need to help,” Fayng said, peeking out from one of the last alcoves.
“What can we do?” CJ asked. If her brother and the others couldn’t do anything, what could they possibly do to help?
“Not from us,” Fayng said, stepping out into the tunnel leading to the nesting grounds.
After Logan and the others left them, they retreated to their hiding spot outside the city limits. There they’d wait until called upon. But it wasn’t Logan that called them…
CJ groaned, knowing what Fayng wanted to do. She wanted to tease the remaining Nsanga to join the party and let them do their dirty work. Then, while they went at it with the Nephilim warrior, the rest of them would head back the way they came.
Like Fitz wanted, CJ thought. The jerk was right.
“It could work,” Kiani said. “If we can get enough of the creatures to come this way, the nesting grounds would be all but empty. Then, we’d just reverse course and head back to the waterfall.”
“Then what?” CJ asked, also peeking out into the hallway. “How do we climb up the cliffs?”
“Worry about that when it matters,” Fayng said, heading towards the ruined blockade at a jog. She knew what she had to do. It would only hurt for a second and then they would come. The Nsanga loved one thing above everything else, blood…Ru’kan blood. She glanced down at her hand, watching as the blood beneath her skin pulsated as she extended her claws. “Just be ready!” she called.
“For what?” CJ asked, watching the Ru’kan elder disappear into the dusky lighting. The only thing she could still see was the glow emanating from within her body.
“Anything.” Fayng jabbed the claws of her right hand into her left wrist and pulled, severing the veins. Blood began to pour from the normally fatal wound. It would leave a perfect scent trail for the Nsanga. Even with no queen to direct them, Fayng knew the remaining creatures would come.
Stepping through the fresh opening, she grinned. “Come to me.”
32
Ares ran for his life, heading south towards the city’s gates. Seeing the giant caused something to snap. He’d been holding it together, for the most part, since their team first encountered the hunters. But now…he barely had control of his senses. He knew he should be standing his ground and fighting, and yet, here he was, sprinting away from the conflict like a blubbering child.
The fact that he lost his more powerful rifle and was currently only armed with a handgun didn’t help his mental state either. What could it do to the monster behind him that the other’s assault rifles couldn’t?
As he passed through the ominous arch and continued full-bore into the older tunnel, Ares could have sworn he saw movement back towards the hole he’d blown open. Or, it could just be the shadows playing tricks on him.
Screw it, he thought. I’ll backtrack and call in support.
But as he contemplated the idea, two sets of hands, reached out from the alcove to his left and yanked him in. He shouted in surprise as he was sent sliding deeper into the tomb on his ass, leaving a streak of fresh stone in his wake. His body had acted almost as a pencil’s eraser on lead removing a layer of age from the stone beneath him.
Panicking as his gun went sailing, he quickly lashed out with his knife, hoping to kill his attacker before it did him. He was rewarded as it cried out in pain as soon as the metal blade pierced its flesh. It’s not until one of his assailants stepped closer that he saw what he’d done.
“Kiani?” he asked, blinking away his hysteria. He’d just slashed her across the forearm, instead of… He looked around and found only friendly faces. “Oh, God…”
“What the hell, Pete!” CJ shouted, hurrying to help her. CJ did what she could and applied pressure to the three-inch-long wound as two of the locals emerged to help. At first, they cowered in fright, but once they saw who it was and that it was an accident, they moved in.
One pulled out what looked like a homemade first aid kit from a knapsack, while the other prepped a bandage made of an animal’s pelt. Ares sat up and watched, trying to process what he’d just done. He glanced down at his hand and saw his blood streaked blade still gripped tightly. Finally, he broke from his stupor and stood, sheathing the weapon.
“Sorry,” he said, motioning to the door. “I thought you were one of them.”
“Why aren’t you with the others?” Kiani asked, wincing in pain.
Wanting to hide his shame, Ares lied. “I was trying to outrun the Nephilim giant. It was headed right for me. I lost sight of it when I crossed under the arch, though. I think it turned around.”
“What about Logan and Gray?” CJ said. “What about Dave?”
“I…I don’t know,” he replied, “but do you really think bullets are going to stop that thing? I mean, they barely did anything to the hunters and they’re the size of us. But that thing… Unless you have a secret weapon I don’t know about…”
“We do,” Kiani said, glancing to the alcove’s doorway. “Fayng is calling in the cavalry.”
Ares’ eyes squinted and then opened wide as he understood. “Holy shit, she isn’t…”
“She is,” CJ finished. “She’s got a set bigger than any of us for sure.”
“Think it’ll work?” he asked.
Kiani shrugged and then flinched as the medic applied a strange purple powder to the wound on her forearm. “Can’t hurt to try.”
“Where did the others go?” CJ asked.
“I’m not sure,” Ares said, “but I think Logan and Dave headed into adjacent buildings. I couldn’t see Gray from where I was. He was on the other side of the giant when we scattered.”
“Don’t tell me he headed deeper into the city…” CJ groaned. “It’ll take a miracle for him to make it back this way now.”
A rustling sound quieted everyone. CJ put a finger to her mouth and crept back towards the room’s entrance and peeked back towards the nesting grounds. Then, she slid back into the room and faced the others.
“What is it?” Ares asked.
CJ looked shocked. “A miracle.”
* * *
Logan dove for the first cover he could. After successfully making it into the building he noticed two things. First, everything was huge, twice as big as it should have been. There was a table in the center of the living space and little else. Off to his left was a stove large enough for him to lay down on, and if he was caught, that’s exactly where he’d most likely end up. Secondly, was his escape. An opening was cut into the rear wall of the room, giving him somewhere to go.
Thank God, he thought, his prayers being answered. The last thing he needed was to get cornered. A crashing sound sent him into high gear as he ducked beneath the shoulder-high table, moving as fast as he could in an awkward slouching run. The giant had followed him in and was bulldozing anything that got in its way.
As the table was flung aside, causing Logan to lose his cover, he fired blindly over his shoulder, hoping to at least spook the beast. But it’s ear-shattering roar gave him the impression that he’d only pissed it off more.
Way to poke the bear, mate…
Leaping over the backdoor’s threshold, which was a foot tall, Logan landed hard and rolled into a fairly empty but pristinely manicured courtyard of luminescent plants. It looked like a garden from James Cameron’s Avatar and gave off enough light to see by. It was strangely pretty and looked to be cared for too.
Was the giant halfway civilized, or just a Martha Stewart Living aficionado?
He glanced over his shoulder just as the Nephilim shouldered through the doorway not taking the time to slow down and turn. He didn’t fit! He must have grown larger than when the city was built. Was that the way to lose him, stick to the buildings?
Worth a shot, he thought as he turned north. Gotta find the others first, though. First was Gray… He was able to see his friend turn and run north so north is where he’d go. He could have just as easily headed south, found another doorway, and made it to the circumferencing road around the city. At lease, I hope it rings the city…
The garden was a good hundred yards from end to end and circular, with him on the southern point. He ran and weaved inbetween two twenty-foot-tall trees, trying to keep whatever he could between him and the giant. As he ran, passing more of the trees, he routinely glanced back and only saw the monster from the chest down as it too moved forward, following Logan, but at a slower pace.
Did it not want to disturb the plants?
Whatever the case may be, Logan would use the advantage and put some distance between it and him. He was more than halfway to the end of the garden when he realized he was going to run out of cover, but seeing as there was nothing he could do about it, he just pushed harder and hoped for the best.
Maybe it’ll lose interest?
When one of the uprooted trees landed right in front of him, causing him to crash into it, and then, roll over its trunk…Logan figured out his mistake. The giant wasn’t moving slower in order to preserve the garden’s beauty. It had slowed so it could find a weapon and eventual missile to chuck at him. He’d been lucky too. If Logan was at full-strength, he would have been moving that much faster and been squished into red paste on the smooth grey floor.
Landing in a heap on the other side, Logan scrambled away from the approaching creature as it stomped its way towards him. Its footfalls were long and quick and it would be on him in no time. He tried to get to his feet but his legs wouldn’t cooperate and his head was swimming.
When the enormous demon stepped into view, Logan forgot all about whether he bonked his head on a glowing tree or not. Instead, all he thought about was never seeing Kiani and the others again.
Then, the monster leaned down and reached out with one of its thick, six-fingered hands, intent on squeezing him to death like a grape, or worse, eating him alive.
“Flash out!” a voice boomed, startling both Logan and the giant.
As Logan did what he’d been trained to do, the creature did the opposite. It turned and gaped at the exploding flashbang grenade, getting a face full of ultra-bright light, and an earful of the deafening report.
Eyes shut, Logan rolled backward, out of the beast’s reach and then sprang up and dove into the next closest building he could find. As he landed, someone grabbed his vest straps and hauled him to his feet, pushing him forward as he did.
“I’ve got you, Captain,” Zeus said, guiding him towards the front of the similarly built structure. As far as either of the men could tell, they used to be housing, or at the least, meeting places for the various Nephilim in the past. Now, they were just abandoned husks of perfectly cut stone.
“Where…how…” Logan was still trying to shake off the effects of the still painful detonation. If you prepared for it, you could still walk away from the blast unscathed, but Logan had very little time to do that. His head was pulsating like it did when the medic and nurse found him and now his ears were ringing like when he saw Fear Factory years ago, live in concert. Loudest band he ever heard live.
“Once I saw that the thing wasn’t coming after me, I just followed the path of destruction until I found the two of you. Still had one more flashbang too, thank God.”
Thank, God.
Zeus had saved his life which shouldn’t have been a shocker at all, but considering how close he’d just come to dying—again—it was. He was literally within the giant’s fingers, one to each side of his head. All it had to do was close its hand and Logan would’ve been dead. The tips of its fingers would have done the job with no problem, sporting three-inch-long talons for fingernails.
“You see, Gray?” Logan shouted, barely being able to hear his own words. “I think he went north and—”
The room shook as they exited onto the main road, looking for somewhere else to be.
“Over here you wankers!”
Logan and Zeus turned to the center of the city and momentarily lost their footing. Ten feet to their right was the skeletal remains of a massive creature, its jaws open and full of long dagger-like teeth.
The cave dragon…it's…dead?
“Keep moving Sallys,” Fitz called from somewhere near the body. “Go around back, I’ll meet you at the pyramid’s base.”
