Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2) by Jacqueline Druga Page B

one of the vehicles
and ran to me. “Vala, are you alright?”
    I only stared at him.
    “We received word that your village
was attacked.” His eyes shifted down to my mother’s body. “Oh, oh,
Vala, I am so sorry.”
    “I am too.”
    “Sophie?”
    “A Savage flew off with her.”
    Iry closed his eyes. “Vala, I am
sorry.”
    One of the Sybaris announced that
those who survived should gather their belongings and they would be
moved to the next village.
    “I don’t understand how they made it
beyond the Elder gatekeepers,” Iry said.
    “They didn’t come from the west,” I
replied. “Iry, they were… different.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “They were flesh colored, not
blackened. They looked…”
    “New?”
    “Yes.”
    “There is only one way that can
happen.”
    “How?”
    Iry shook his head. “I’ll tell you
later.”
    An Ancient approached, telling me,
“Hurry along. You have your things, I see. We must move.”
    I exhaled and looked at Iry. “Choose
me.”
    “Yes, without a doubt.”
    “No, choose me now. Claim me,
whatever they call it. Take me quickly. I need to get to the city
of the Ancients now.”
    “Vala, you know I will.”
    “I need to find Sophie.”
    Iry stepped back with a saddened
look. “Vala, the Savages took her. You know what they do. They… you
know what happens.”
    “No. Sophie’s not dead.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Because I have the ability to
project and follow, to go to a place I have been or to a person I
know. I locked onto Sophie and followed. I wanted to find the nest.
To see where it was. They didn’t take her to feed, nor did they
drop her there.”
    “Where did they take her?”
    I hesitated before answering, making
sure no one else was listening. “To Nito. Nito has my sister.”

EIGHTEEN – TANNER
     
    It was a fight to behold. Never in all my days of dealing with the
bloodthirsty walking and flying damned did I see something as
magnificent as a Day Stalker and Savage go head to head. Two hours
before dawn in what we considered a relative safe time, I made my
way back to the beach to check on those there.
    My plan was to check on it, get some
rest, then head to the old Hanson Book Barn where we store
explosives in the basement. I was pretty excited about going on the
offensive with the Day Stalkers. I knew there were a lot, but no
more than we could handle.
    After my beach expedition, my
adrenaline was pumped.
    Suddenly, Davis’ original plan to let
the Stalkers and Savages take care of most of the problem seemed
brilliant. It was a plan I had paid little attention to and Vala
had dismissed as passive and, well, cowardly.
    The proof was in seeing it.
    There were three breeds of
bloodthirsties, they all hated each other, and they all were
fighting for the same thing.
    Us.
    It was like the apocalypse books I
would read, where gangs would roam the land, bad men, wanting what
good people had. Fighting for it.
    The first wave of Savages arrived on
the beach later than the usual time. They must have failed at
finding food, because for them to be out so close to the light of
day told me two things: they were hungry, and they lived and hid
close enough to escape before the sun could burn them out.
    They perched in their usual position
on the wall that ran along the beach, waiting for the right moment
to fly out and snatch someone. There weren’t that many. Only the
brave ones, the cocky ones. We had enough manpower to handle any
attack they initiated.
    We waited armed and ready. Those who
opted for the safety of the beach were silent, and only a few were
awake.
    One of the Savages did his signature
twitch of his head, turning it so as to eye his sleeping victim,
planning his stalk and attack— one I was certain would fail. Then,
just before I thought they were about to form a lynch mob, from
behind them, leaping the walls, were Day Stalkers.
    My heart thumped. Day Stalkers near
the beach sanctuary? That had never happened. I was certain these
were not