25. Babysitters #2
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 few minutes 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 there is trouble.” 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.
“Nope, that’s reinforcements,” I call out in awe.
“I told you there were more than Lisa. She’s like their Queen or something,” Rez parades the knowledge, but it’s short-lived when an arrow shoots into the cave right past her face.
It barely misses her as she gets yanked back by a shadowed tendril of a young shadow horse that stands no taller than Rez’s hip. Her wide eyes briefly swing down to her savior before patting it on its bony head and grabbing her weapons off the floor.
‘We have two options,’ Knots starts. ‘We can either stay in this cave and take them out as they come to us, or fan out and take the eggs out of here using the Shadow Horses as cover.’
Before anyone can speak, vote, or even move a muscle, our decision is made for us as a green-and-orange ball is hurled into the cave and explodes, releasing a sickly green smell.
“I think that’s some kind of toxic magic. Try not to touch it,” Knots yells.
We quickly gather our belongings and huddle in the shadows. Thankfully, with our Sphinx, the Coffee God himself, leading us to the eggs, we grabbed them last night before we went to bed. For those of us with a S.I.N. box, it was nothing to take more than one.
“Lisa, can you help provide cover?” It’s the only choice we have.
The toxic fumes are quickly spreading across the ground, eating up what space we have.
As it touches the sleeping bags that were left behind, it starts eating away at the material.
Whatever the magic is, it doesn’t look promising for us.
Black smoke spreads around the entrance as we gather.
Each Shadow Horse slightly bows down and offers their leg.
They want us to ride? Well shit. That’s better than our idea.
I was just going to run out there with no plan at all.
All of us mount except for Lynx and Knox, who have already shifted into Slayer and a massive otter with tentacles as whiskers, and we burst from the cave.
I feel almost powerless as Lisa and her shadows engulf the supes in front of us with ease, causing them to drop dead, a shadow horse descending upon them being their last deadly memory etched in their minds.
I don’t even have to activate my rings or rip out any of the throats of the enemies.
They don’t even get close. That can’t be the same for everyone, though.
Moni whips the hibernating whispering death vines awake to take down a group of poachers from the back down and into the soil, burying them alive. She’s becoming a force of nature that I wouldn’t want to fuck with. Her with her green magic and her booms from Hell, no thank you.
JP takes on target practice with his arrows of water. I know he can put Hellfire inside those arrows, but I don’t think he wants to give away all his trade secrets since we don’t know where the main cameras are around here.
Besides, with Lynx, Knox, and Reaper’s tail taking down some enemies, it’s surprisingly quick work. Lisa and her Shadow Horses bring us to a stop where wood meets stone wall once again, and we start our dismount.
Lisa nuzzles against my hand, grabbing my attention. “Okay, you have my attention,” I soothe her, watching the shadows swirl around her head.
‘Good, I like your attention on me,’ a raspy female voice answers in my head, and I flinch back in surprise, stilling my hand.
‘Lisa?’ I ask, my jaw slowly dropping as she moves her head to look at me straight on.
‘You are stronger, and you’ve strengthened your Horseman bond.’ Her red eyes shine bright with pride. ‘I must leave you here, but we will meet you later. We are always watching, but I have work to do if we are to prepare your brothers for their bonds.’
‘Okay.’ I wrap my arms around her neck and give her a quick squeeze. ‘Thank you for saving our asses.’
‘Always.’
“I want this one,” Moni calls out, hopping off the smaller horse that saved Rez earlier.
“I don’t think it works that way, Moni,” I tell her as I watch Lisa disappear into the darkness.
“It doesn’t,” a garbled voice echoes mine.
I spin around, rings activated, and freeze, finally noticing it wasn’t a stone wall Lisa brought us to, but fucking Gargoyles.
And they don’t look happy. They look fucking pissed, and it’s all directed at us.
Fuck me.