Page 185 of Huntress

Elsie slipped the earpiece into place and broke into a sprint, listening to the chatter and gathering information on who was already on the ground. Her squad would take point, with the other squad leaders moving on her command. They’d trained for this enough that she could easily maintain control of up to one hundred individuals while fighting whatever was strong enough to push its way through.

Horrible shrieks and the rending of metal ripped through the air before a section of a storage building’s roof flew through the air, followed by a strange clicking and repetitive booming sound that pounded in Elsie’s ears.

Trenton and Banks joined them as the full training field came into view. Her second-in-command gave her a terse look and a nod of acknowledgment.

Marley skidded to a stop, and the others followed her lead, making Elsie step around them so she could see, her shorter height a disadvantage.

“Holy shit,” Marley breathed.

“Holy shit,” Elsie agreed. “Daggers aren’t going to cut it. Saint and I are going to need our swords.”

The source of the rapid booming revealed itself one exoskeletal limb at a time. Each one of the creature’s legs stretched as tall as a building and was thicker than the trunk of a matriarch tree. Moving too fast to count, the creature had at least a hundred legs on each side of its body. Dust clouds rose around her, obscuring the soldiers already in action, and the number of those who’d already fallen.

It was a centipede, a type of demonic bug that researchers had reported as extinct.

Its proportions were laughably outlandish. The demon’s length could easily wrap around the entire training field with enough tail left over to curl stories above their heads.

Its front end had been hunched over, the massively long body writhing like a knot of snakes, hiding the monstrosity that revealed itself as the demon straightened up. Rising high above the demon hunters below, the centipede’s body flowed into the torso of a woman.

Human in shape, with heavy breasts protected by the same armor-plated black and brown shell that encased the rest of her body, she was a twisted, horrible thing. In place of human lips, she had two pairs of mandibles to scoop prey into a wide, gaping mouth. Her arms were ridged with sharp, bony protrusions, and each side of her head boasted four eyes.

This beast had stepped right out of the history books, a creature who’d disappeared before humans had ruled the earth. The centipede was ancient, and angry.

“Looks like she’s got a personal vendetta against us. How did Cornick know this monster lay dormant here?” Elsie spat.

“What does Cornick have to do with this?” Trenton asked, eyes widened as he watched the demon’s destructive force. Marley looked at Elsie as if she’d lost her mind.

“Does it matter?! Worry about the hows and whys later!” Marley snapped.

“This is ridiculous,” Saint muttered under his breath.

“Have you ever seen anything like her?” Elsie asked, and he shook his head, curls bouncing.

“Look at how much magic it’s throwing around,” he said seriously. “Those shiny legs and body plates? That’s not a typical shell, she’s alchemized that armor into actual metal.”

“She just woke up and is already this powerful.” Elsie frowned.

“And who knows how long she’s been asleep,” Trenton added, catching on to where the conversation was going. Elsie nodded her agreement.

“She’s hungry, cranky, and discovered a whole bunch of snacks wrapped up inside a barrier. She’s probably not at her full potential after such a long hibernation. This is our only chance to take her down,” Elsie finished.

“Hunger might be part of it, but you’re right, this seems personal.” Saint followed closely as Elsie’s squad started running toward danger once more. The centipede ripped through another building, breaking through steel beams like twigs.

Elsie reached up and tapped her earpiece.

“This is Field Commander Chantraine. If anyone is still in the barracks, bring me the pair of swords in my room. Break the door down if you have to. Everyone else, sound off,” she said urgently. “Who do I have?”

“Squad Two, Commander Chantraine!”

“Three, Commander.”

“Eight! And Six is on the way.”

Elsie cursed under her breath. Eight was a relatively new, pieced-together squad, since two of their members had retired and a third had been killed in the line of duty. They hadn’t had long to work together, and Elsie had no idea who’d been tapped to fill the roles. She’d have to trust that Eight’s squad leader had made good decisions. This was a once-in-a-lifetime type of fight, and she didn’t want to lose newly promoted recruits to the demon.

“Alright, I need Eight to focus on evacuating the trainees. Get them off the fucking field,” Elsie commanded, immediately rewarded by the nine members of the squad changing trajectory.

“When Six shows up, they’re to establish a perimeter, this thing does not get past us. Three!”