Page 59 of Amaros

Two hours later, Zoe sensed they had company.Unfortunately, it wasn’t Amaros and Camriel who were approaching their shooting range.“Can you feel that?”she whispered to Grace as they took their earplugs out.

“Yeah,” she replied quietly.“Humans.Four of them.They’re trying to flank us.”

They moved closer together to strategize.“We could make a run for it,” Zoe said, glancing at the trail.“We can be gone before they even see us.”

“They’ll just follow our trail to our base,” Grace figured.“What if they’re not evil?They might have gray souls rather than black.Maybe they’re just looking for help.”

They both knew that was unlikely, but it was a slim possibility.

“Let’s listen to their chatter,” Zoe said.

Falling silent, they picked up snatches of whispers in between gusts of wind.

“...kill any men and take the women...”

“...strip them of whatever gear they have and take it back to the hotel...”

“I hope they’re teenagers.I like them young.”

That last sentence was complete and they shared a bleak look.

“Okay, their souls are black,” Grace said.“What’s our plan?We can’t shoot them from a distance, since we both have crappy aim.”

Even after so much practice, they’d barely hit their targets.

“How’s your aim with rocks?”Zoe asked speculatively, then bent down to pick up a stone.

“A lot better than it is with guns,” Grace said with a grin.

They quickly stuffed a bunch of rocks into their pockets, then turned back-to-back to face the men who’d just reached the summit.They’d split into pairs, just as Grace had said.One man from each pair cautiously peered around large boulders to stare at them.

“The small one is mine,” the same man who’d said he liked them young whispered.In his forties, he had a shaggy beard and questionable hygiene.

“I’ll get that one,” Grace said flatly.“I’ll take those two down, you take the others.”

Neither of them had much combat experience, but they weren’t about to let these twisted freaks take them anywhere.