Page 80 of Red Demon

Havoc tossed me a ration bar and gestured toward a group of soldiers clustered near the camp’s edge. He pointed toward a tall woman, and I recognized the brown ponytail peeking out from her helmet. That was the same soldier who’d been rude to me when I first got into camp.

“That’s Riverhawk,” Havoc said, his voice clipped. “She’ll be making sure you’re more help than trouble.” He strode off without another word.

I approached Riverhawk, who shook my hand. She stood straight and lean, Chaeten, giving me a guarded look with those sharp green eyes, but no sneer. “Havoc said your name is Biohazard until you earn something better. He thinks it’s confusing to have two Eirinis around.”

The soldier beside her laughed, a petite, tawny-faced man with a contagious smile and sharp gray eyes. “Havoc is easily confused. He wouldn’t know whether to go down or out a latrine unless Mahakal was holding the door, off the record, of course.”

Riverhawk snorted. “Yep.”

“I’m Victor Eight,” the man said, shaking my hand.

“Eight?”

“How many times I almost died before I joined up,” he said. “Eventful childhood. Still Eight.”

“You’ve held that count in the military?” I whistled.

“So far.” He grinned. “Nice to meet you, man.”

“Give Biohazard your headset, Eight,” Riverhawk said. “He’s your relief.”

Eight shrugged off a small device in his ear, cleaning it off with his shirt before he handed it over.

“Connects you to the command tent with a tap. And this—” She pulled out a black visor. “That will give you enhanced motion and heat detection for the perimeter.”

“Wouldn’t you want me trained before you put me on patrol?” I asked.

Riverhawk’s smile was humorless. “Do you need to be trained to tell the difference between a rabbit and a guy with a sword?”

“Well, I walked right in, didn’t I?”

Eight laughed. “Yeah, on her watch.”

She frowned. “You looked about as threatening as the rabbit, but you’re one of the reasons we doubled perimeter guards.”

I grimaced. “Sorry.”

“You gonna warn him about the other reason?” Eight asked.

Riverhawk sighed, and the two shared a sullen look. “Stay sharp. We’ve lost two soldiers in the last two days. Redsky and Liu were both picked off running patrols outside of camp.” She bent down to a crate beside her and removed a crossbow, one with small shining darts and a barrel. “Mahakal said you should be a decent shot?”

I nodded, admiring the light weapon. “What’s the range?”

“Two hundred meters. Watch the recoil. The mitigation system can only do so much.” She lowered her visor, saluted to Eight, and motioned for me to follow her.

I’ll never tire of the scent of the Noé wild.

The forest beyond the camp stretched out below, a vast expanse of ancient trees between the old gorges, cloaked in the hues of late autumn twilight. Camp was on one of three hills in this area, and we’d be watching the other, a patchy beard of oak and cedar with brown leaves still clinging.

Riverhawk took her watch about a hundred meters away, and I did my best to stay sharp, to not let my mind wander.

I tore open my ration bar and took a bite, forcing down the bland mix of grains and powdered protein. It tasted vaguely metallic, and I decided any complaints I heard about military food were justified.

The sun set the sky on fire, red and purple and gold. As I looked out at the darkening forest, a movement caught my eye on the treeline. It was just a flicker, a splash of color against dying leaves. But something about it felt wrong. I squinted, adjusting the visor, and for a fleeting moment, I could have sworn I saw…

Fuck.

I knew that mane of red hair anywhere, cascading in the wind over her worn leather armor, a battered crossbow clutched in her hand. Faruhar ducked behind a tree.