"They don't ruin us," I grated from between my teeth.

"They've brought you to your demise," Isis replied.

"You're too afraid of death to understand, but that is not our ruin."

I must have pricked a nerve as her mouth curled into a cruel sneer and her eyes narrowed fiercely. "We fear nothing."

"You fear living, you fear us, and you most certainly fear death. You wouldn't be feeding this monstrosity and partaking in whatever it gives to you if you didn't."

There was a second when nothing moved, no one even breathed and then, before I could even blink, she was on top of me. I threw my hands up as she grabbed hold of my throat and spun me around. Jessica launched herself onto Isis's back but she threw an arm back and knocked her aside as if she were no more substantial than a flea.

"I'll give you something to fear," Isis snarled in my face.

I clawed at her hand as I tried to pry her strangling grip free but it was like a steel vice around my throat as she bent me even further over The Fountain. I'd known The Ancients would be powerful but I'd never expected to encounter this. Bright lights burst before my eyes as my air was completely cut off. Thoughts of Bethany suffused me; her smell engulfed me as her melodious laughter drifted through my mind.

Drawing on the last remnants of strength I had, and the suffusion of energy that thoughts of Bethany brought to me, I threw my arm up and slammed it against the side of her face. A startled cry escaped her as I proved to be even more formidable than she had expected me to be. Her hold was torn lose as she was knocked aside. Launching back to my feet I dodged one of the roots that nipped at me.

Isis's eyes were completely black; the veins in her face clearly visible as she rose up to glower at me. Noise from the front of the room brought the others heads up. I kept my gaze focused on Isis but when she glanced toward the balcony I couldn't help but look also. Gathered upon the balcony were a couple dozen Tintagelians that had been drawn to this level of the ship by the explosion and alarms.

"Get out!" Isis roared and thrust a finger at them.

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They retreated through the hole like she had thrown a fireball at them. Using the distraction the Tintagelians had created I pulled one of the bombs from my pocket and snipped the fuse. I didn't give any warning as I lit the fuse and threw the bomb into the upper level of the tree. There wasn't enough time to get out of the way, not nearly enough time to escape the room as the bomb bounced amongst the branches and tumbled toward the water below. Throwing myself to the ground I covered my head as I braced for the explosion.

Chapter 22

Bethany,

I fell back as another creature burst from the woods and crashed into the campground. "Retreat, we have to retreat," Darnell panted beside me.

I scrambled to reload my rifle as we moved behind one of the buildings and took shelter in its shadow. People and Tintagelians ran by us, some of them were carrying others but both species were being captured and taken by The Seekers at an alarming rate. We had managed to take down three of them but there were at least four more running rampant through the camp.

I finished reloading and wiped away the sweat trickling down my face as I took a deep breath. My heart beat pulsed in my ears as adrenaline coursed through my body and I had to control the tremor that shook my hands. I refused to let panic get the best of me as I pressed the rifle against my chest and prepared to flee the temporary shelter of the building.

My gaze slid to the massive spaceship in the distance but since that first puff of smoke nothing else had occurred. There may be nothing for them to come back to if they did survive, I realized as pain twisted my heart. I absolutely refused to let them go through whatever it was that they were going through up there for nothing.

The ground shook as the creatures pounded across the earth. My ears began to ring from the echoing round of gunfire that pierced the air again. There was no more smoke from the ship, but the clearing was filled with a smoky haze that made it difficult to see as more screams rent the air. I leaned my head against the back of the building as my burning eyes met Lloyd's. Fear had pinched his mouth and widened his eyes but I also saw the same resolution in him that was creeping through me.

Not without a fight, there is no way they would take us without one hell of a fight.

"We have to get to the others," I said.

Darnell nodded as I took a deep breath and prepared to flee the shelter of the building. "Now!" Darnell commanded and rushed forward.

Lloyd and I stayed close on his heels as he plunged into the woods. I glanced back at the camp but all I could see were shadowy figures amongst the fog of smoke choking the clearing. Most of the contained fires had been knocked over and were beginning to spread amongst the buildings. The flames crackled as they leapt into the air and caught hold of the trees.

I could move faster than Lloyd and Darnell, but I was unwilling to leave them behind with those things stalking us and the fire spreading outward. Trees snapped and broke behind us as we scurried through the obstacles within the forest. We burst free of the woods and into the neighborhood where the research house had been established.

My mouth dropped, I skidded to a halt as I spotted two more of the monsters looming over top of one of the homes. "Please tell me you have some bombs left," I said to Lloyd.

"A couple," he panted.

"I think you better start digging them out."

One of the larger ones crashed through a ranch style house as if it were no more than a house of cards. Its crab-like eyes spun on their tall stalks and focused on us. My heart leapt into my throat, I lifted the rifle to my shoulder as it barreled toward us and began to fire. No matter how many bullets pierced it though it was determined to take us down and I wasn't sure that we could stop it. My heart was in my throat, I could barely see straight as it continued to close in on us.

I didn't see Aiden and Bret until I heard the gunshots from near one of the houses. The creature let out a strange wailing sound as blood exploded from one of its hind legs. Though it was injured it wasn't hindered much as it switched directions and honed in on my brother and Bret.

"Aiden run!" I screamed.

The two of them hurried to get out of the way but there was no slowing the momentum of the monster barreling toward them. Dropping my empty rifle I gathered every ounce of strength and speed I had within me. Unlike the mountain lion, I showed no hesitance here as I pulled my knife free. I raced at the creature and flung myself at its massive, silly putty like back. It bucked beneath me and tried to throw me off by rearing back on its hind legs but I clung as tenaciously as a tick on a dog to it as I climbed toward its head.




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