Passing Through Darkness- The Complete Cycle by Malcolm McKenzie

Author:Malcolm McKenzie [McKenzie, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-26T07:00:00+00:00

It was pitch dark, but Cat could still follow the trail from the spot where Second Battalion’s point platoon had been attacked. The enemy rangers’ woodcraft was good - I doubted anyone but a paleo could have tracked them at night.

My whole unit was going - what was left of us. I’d considered taking just Cat and Railes for greater stealth, but if we were going to exterminate a whole platoon, it would take more than three of us. This time, though, I’d made the team’s instructions explicit.

“Cat and I are in the lead. They’ll have sentries. We should be able to take them silently, and then we’ll get to work on the rest. I only need the rest of you involved if they wake up. If they do, hit them hard and fast with everything we have.”

Was it dishonorable and bloodthirsty to ambush the Monolith troops while they slept? Probably. I didn't care. They’d ambushed us. And they’d killed Odem. Maybe if they came to fear the night, the rangers would leave the forest. That was an acceptable alternative. So was the one where they all died.

I winced every time a twig cracked behind me. Ahead of me was only Cat, and she was silent as the shadow of death. But the rest of the team wasn’t so noisy, considering. Our hands, faces, and clothes were blackened with soot from cook fires. And we went slowly, giving the paleo time to puzzle out the track. We had all night.

The Darkness ranged in front of us, searching for our foes. An hour or so after we set out, I sensed a small wolf pack pacing us. One animal sniffed at the shifting tendrils, growled deep in its throat, and fled. The others followed. I ignored them and we continued to advance.

We heard the sneeze before Cat or I made contact. Voices followed.

“Jesus! I nearly shat myself. You just woke up the entire Rockwall army.”

“Sorry. This pollen is killing me.”

I slowly moved up past the paleo. The Darkness showed me a large clearing with three sentries on guard, one rubbing at his nose. Slumbering men turned and grunted in their bedrolls, their sleep disturbed by the noise.

I scowled. It was harder to murder the enemy when they acted human. I crawled backwards past Cat, motioning her to follow, until we rejoined the rest of our platoon.

“Change of plans,” I hissed. “The point of the exercise is fear. I’m going in there alone. Don’t engage them unless they try to attack me.”

Railes shook his head. “The first plan was fine. We can take ’em all.”

“We don’t need to. This is better.”

Even by the wan moonlight filtering through the trees I could tell the sergeant didn’t agree, but he said nothing further. We moved up.

I had all the time in the world. Slowly, carefully, I eased the Darkness into the three sentries. Little by little, it flowed into their carotid arteries and blocked the blood flow. One sat down, then the others. Soon, all were unconscious.

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