Page 10

10. Field of Combat

Gemma

We left the gremlin den and pressed onward. Clem caught up and, after another mile or so, we came to the edge of a ravine. Looking down, all I could see was a writhing mass of dark bodies with blooms of flame punctuating the air here and there.

“All right, everyone.” Kerry’s eyes lit up with excitement - or anticipation. “This is what we came for.”

He manifested a baseball bat and handed it to John.

“I’ll be the tip of the triangle. Clem and John, stay on my right. Jax and Tara, on my left. Gigi, start right in the middle of us all and ’port around to distract them however you want. If things fall apart, close up ranks until we’re back to back. Gemma, you stay here.”

He aimed a hard look at me, but I only shrugged. I knew I wouldn’t be much use in a battle. The others formed up as ordered and followed him down the snowy slope while I stayed on the top of the ridge and watched.

They were halfway down the ravine before a few Hellhounds picked up on their scent and bayed, catching the attention of their brethren. They poured up from the bottom, their black bodies outlined with red fire and their gaping jaws full of orange flame.

Kerry ran straight at the Hellhound leading the pack, both moving fast as the wind, and I held back a scream.

What is he doing?! Is he going to tackle it? They’re going to collide!

The Hellhound leapt, jaws on fire, and Kerry dropped into a perfect baseball slide. As his forward momentum sent his body skidding across the frozen ground, he materialized a gleaming dagger that he thrust upward, slashing through the underbelly of the creature sailing over him. It hit the ground with a heavy thud, shuddered once, and disintegrated.

The entire action took less than two seconds. Kerry was on his feet before the Hellhound completely faded, grinning he whirled to take on another.

“He’s … ” My jaw dropped. “He’s having fun .”

And it struck me how athletic he was. If we were normal humans at a normal high school, he’d have been the popular jock stereotype, complete with playing quarterback for the football team.

No, not football. His build is lean like a runner’s. With his height, he’d be the star of the basketball team.

Worming my brain out of the rabbit hole of that daydream, I focused on the action and watched him take out four more Hellhounds. I didn’t need to worry about him at all. He was in his element, doing what he was born to do, so I checked on the others.

Clem moved slower than Kerry, but he sliced his way through the horde with calm precision. Tara created earth shield after earth shield that the leaping beasts slammed into so John could bash their heads in. Gigi flitted around like a strobe light to distract them, and Jax worked on controlling them two at a time.

What had seemed to be overwhelming odds to me proved to be only a challenge for them. Everyone was doing exactly as Kerry had directed, allowing him to do most of the work while supporting him, which, I supposed, was how an attack should work with such a strong warrior in the lead.

This will be over in a matter of minutes.

Then a massive Hellhound lashed out with one huge paw and caught Jax’s shoulder, and I watched in horror as the beast pulled him down.

“Jax!” I screamed as the hound tore into him.

Oh no, oh no! I jinxed us!

Then Kerry was there, his dagger now a katana that he whirled quick as lightning. In one smooth move, he took the head of the creature and was scanning the area before his blade finished its downward stroke.

“Gigi! Get him outta here!” he barked. “Everyone, back to camp! I got this! Go, go, go!”

Gigi blinked into the fray, grabbed Jax, and disappeared with him. John grabbed Tara and they were gone, too. Clem took a second to glance around, then rushed up the slope toward me.

I didn’t want to leave Kerry all alone, but I had to trust he knew what he was doing.

“Don’t you dare die, Kerry Harker!” I yelled.

Clem crested the ravine and grabbed my arm.

“Come on, girl! My knees aren’t what they used to be!”

Wheezing like a steam train, he dragged me along with him.

#

I didn’t know where to start to help Jax. There was just so much damage that I froze in shock for several seconds.

Thank you, God, that he’s unconscious .

“Gemma?” Gigi’s voice was thick with tears, but quiet and steady. “You can fix him, right?”

I swallowed hard against the bile as I pushed his intestines back inside his stomach.

“Sure.”

Power flowed from my core and shimmers of gold coated Jax’s bloody body, pooling in the worst of the wounds. The rent in his neck. The long tears in his abdomen. The thick gouge in his upper thigh.

As the bleeding slowed to a trickle, I felt light-headed and knew I was close to my limit, but I couldn’t give up. This was Jax .

“Gemma, stop.” Gigi’s voice was raw. “Don’t drain yourself. We may need you later.”

Shoulders drooping, I heaved a sigh and sank back on my heels.

Clem came over and plunked a massive toolbox next to me. He opened it to reveal it had been converted to an oversized first-aid kit. After rooting around in it for a few seconds, he handed me a white tube.

“Here, seal him up with this.”

I frowned. What he held out looked something like a marker with a dispensing button.

“It’s skin glue,” he explained. “Hellhounds and Hellcats are like snakes. They have venom in their fangs. We can stand a bite or three, but more than that is too much and prevents wounds from healing. The best you can do for now is glue the skin closed until we find a better solution.”

With Gigi watching my every move, I applied the glue, which reminded me of the instant adhesives I used for crafts. Tara helped me clamp the skin together until the glue started to stick, then I laid gauze pads over them. Clem pulled a roll of purple medical wrap from the toolbox and we wound it tightly around Jax’s torso and thigh. I wrapped his neck a little looser, just taut enough to hold the gauze in place.

I didn’t know what else to do, so Gigi ’ported them both to his tent and zipped it closed behind her.

Using some snow to clean my hands, I looked around at the others, but was so tired I could barely think beyond one thing.

“I’m worried about Kerry.”

“I think he had it under control.” Tara patted my shoulder.

“We left him alone on the field of combat while enemies were still attacking.” John sounded disgusted with himself. “It irks my sense of honor.”

“He told us to,” Tara reminded him. “And there were only a few left.”

“Don’t worry.” Clem waved his hand dismissively. “He’ll be fine. Banishing the Diabolical is child’s play for him.”

“I’m going to go check on him anyway.” I took a step, swayed a little to one side, and started to fall in that direction.

“No, you’re not.” John, who was closest to me, caught me before I went down all the way. “You’re going to lie down and rest. I’ll check on him. We should also check on Maddy and Travis.”

Clem volunteered to do that, but warned us that he’d need a nap afterward. He’d used his power to fuel his old body during the fighting and now was nearly tapped.

Tara agreed to stay with me, and we sat down on one of the logs around the campfire ring. The next thing I knew, I was waking up with my head on her shoulder.

“Sorry.”

“It’s all right. Why don’t you take a nap in your tent? You’ll be more comfortable that way.”

“Where’s Kerry?” I was confused, but I knew I was upset by something and wanted him with me.

“He’s on his way. I’ll send him to you when he gets here, okay?”

I nodded and let her lead me to my tent. I was asleep before I finished zipping up my sleeping bag.

#

“Hey. You awake, Gemma?”

“Who?”

“ You , that’s who.” Kerry’s deep laugh filled my ears. “Never mind. I’m coming in.”

I heard the front of the tent zip open and cracked my eyelids enough to make sure it was him. He ducked inside, bending his tall frame awkwardly to do so, and zipped the door closed.

Then he was curled around me, hugging me tight and murmuring in my hair. I was too exhausted to make out what he was saying; I only knew he was back where he belonged.

“Kerry? You okay?”

“Of course,” he snorted.

“Everyone else alive?”

“Yeah. Jax is hanging in there.”

“Good,” I whispered, falling back to sleep.

I didn’t wake up again until the screaming started.