“For money and prestige,” I answer as I pass the coin over to Levi. “According to that coin, they are promised wealth and their family a noble status once they have killed us and they have finished the Gauntlet.” My stomach rolls at the thought of there being a bounty on our heads on top of everything else we have to deal with.
“Well, the good news is, it seems like they don’t have all the information on us,” Rez says with a haphazard smile.
“Except for you at the moment,” Lynx laughs and bumps into her shoulder, trying to make light of her lost powers. Rez rolls her eyes, and I catch something zooming behind her before perching on an edge in a corner.
It’s a bird.
I start to turn and grab a bowl of the food JP has prepared, but the bird cocks its head in a way that doesn’t look natural to me, so I pause and give it a closer look.
‘Knots. Am I seeing things, or is that not a normal bird?’I watch its eye as it seems to focus in on the group in front of the fire. Knots stands and walks over to me to focus on the object in question.
‘You seem to be correct. Watch the eyes. I do believe it’s mechanical,’he agrees.
‘So, camera?’I surmise, and Knots simply nods.
I look to the others and nod as I grab my food and join in with random strategy planning. It’s not until we finish with our food that a purple paper magically appears in front of Rez, shocking her.
“What the Hell?” she shrieks, but grabs it before it falls to the ground.
“It’s a message,” Levi states.
“I figured that out, but I’ve never received one before,” she replies, opening it. I lean up and read over her shoulder, forgetting the damn spying bird.
Poachers are our blight and make all blood boil,
But none more than the Gargoyles.
Their eggs are hunted, sold, and drained of nutrients.
Return the stone eggs and become public servants.
-Gus
“What does all that mean?” Lynx asks, quirking an eyebrow at the group.
A poacher’s cave, that’s what this setup is. With that new perspective in mind, I glance over at the strange rocks I noticed earlier at the back of the cave, which I had thought were a part of the cave wall, and a chill runs down my back.
“It means those aren’t rocks, and we need to prepare for company,” I say as thunder rumbles outside the cave.
A series of sharp clicks and snaps jerks me awake with a jolt, and I pop up into a defense stance.What’s going on?I survey the room and find everyone still asleep, the fire burning down to embers, yet something woke me up. There, in the corner by the fucking spy bird, are the red eyes of Lisa, my Shadow Horse. I didn’t see her at all while I was in Hell, but I did see her for a few moments last night before I passed out. She had squeezed through the door in the dark and curled up with me for a fewminutes while I was drifting off to sleep—my silent protector.Before I can ask what’s going on, she peels away from the darker shadows and starts weaving back and forth along the wall as if she’s anxious or nervous.
Which does not bode well for our group. Shit!
“Guys!” I turn to the group and quickly wake them on my way to the cave entrance. “Get up. I think we might be in trouble.”
“Might? I’ll wait until thereistrouble.” Lynx yawns and rolls over.
I stay within the shadows and peer out of the cave, and my heart skips a few beats before restarting as adrenaline starts to kick in. I bounce on the balls of my feet, and I slowly edge back, counting what’s before us.
“Well, Lynx… you might as well start looking for a badass form to switch into because we have about thirty poachers approaching, and they aren’t the normal supes,” I tell him.
Rez quickly joins me at the entrance with her weapons out and takes stock of the small army approaching.
“How are we supposed to defeat them?” she asks me. I hate to admit it, but all I do is shrug, having no clue until I hear clicking.
Looking over, my jaw drops at the sight of Lisa and several more red eyes appearing beside her.
“Is it the night of the living dead?” Lynx asks, getting up and looking between the cave entrance and the red glowing eyes.
