Chapter 34 Fuckin’ Hero
Canyon woke on the ground in the dark, broken boards and glass under his naked butt.
He stared straight up into a starlit sky, his body whole and unbroken.
He sat up and looked around. All was quiet.
The house that Khain had torn the roof off was just gone, a crater where it had been.
The houses all around were mostly destroyed, their interiors exposed, their remaining walls leaning.
Canyon shifted into his wolf and then howled softly for his brother.
Fifty feet away, Timber sat up, his hand on his head, also naked and dirty and covered with bits of glass and wood. He groaned and swiped at the crap on him.
“Fuck,” Timber said, then he shifted into his wolf also. He shook and bits of glass and debris went flying. Canyon shook, then sneezed several times, then wiped his muzzle on the grass, trying to get the Khain grossness off of it, then they met each other in the darkness and went to the crater.
That sucked.
Big time.
Fuckin’ hero, Canyon said, meaning Reynard.
Hell yeah—think he lived?
Hope so—I want to buy him a drink someday.
I’m in.
Canyon used his shoulder and side to push at part of a couch balanced on a pile of crap. It crashed to the ground.
We need clothes, he said.
Yeah.
They went back to the Crimstone Academy, climbing up the way they had come down. Both of their phones were ringing. They dressed quickly then grabbed their phones.
Canyon held his ringing phone up. Trevor, he said.
Timber held up his. “Wade.”
Canyon answered. “’Lo.”
“What in the hell is going on up there? 911 is going crazy with reports of earthquakes and explosions and lights in the sky up Crimson Bluff.”
“Khain came through and took a foxen into the Pravus in front of us.”
“No shit?! Why didn’t you call for backup?”
“We were too busy trying to murder his ass.”
“Four wolven minimum are needed for Khain encounters, you know that.”
“No time.”
Trevor didn’t say anything.
Canyon grabbed a towel out of his pack and wiped his face and mouth. “We’ve got a hole in the ground up here,” he said, “And a bunch of destroyed houses.” He kept quiet about the school, not wanting Trevor and Wade to raid the place and take all the books. He spoke to his brother in ruhi.
Did you tell Wade about the books and the roster?
Nah, not going to either. Not now.
Good.
“—coming back?” Trevor was saying.
“Who Khain?”
“No, the fucking Tooth Fairy. Of course Khain.”
“I don’t think so. I think he got what he came for.”
“What do you need up there?”
“Ah, nothing. Unless you want to shut the roads down to keep people out.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Send me the coordinates and the map with all the access points marked.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll send you up a team to help with the investigation.”
“Don’t bother, we work best alone.”
Canyon hung up. Timber was still explaining the situation to Wade. Canyon found a bathroom and went in to wash his face but ended up stripping down to his boots and washing as best he could to get the stink off him.
Timber came in holding up a bar of soap and two hand towels.
Fuckin’ hero, Canyon said, grabbing the bar of soap and lathering his face and neck and even his hair.
“Not like Reynard, though.”
No way. Reynard’s in a class by himself.
“Wade’s going to want to take all those books into evidence,” Timber said while he was washing. “Maybe even destroy them.”
If he finds out about them.
“He’ll have our asses if he discovers they exist, and we didn’t tell him.”
I want to talk to some actual foxen before I care what Wade says about this place. It’s looking more and like he’s the one who needs an attitude adjustment.
Timber snorted. “Wade change his attitude? Can you teach a wolf to sit and stay?”
Canyon didn’t respond. Wade was the boss of everything.
He was the Citlali for the entire region, born with a star renqua, able to talk to Rhen, give prophecy, and immobilize ordinary wolven with his mind.
He was set in his ways and set in his attitudes…
and everyone knew you couldn’t teach a wolf to sit and stay.
We’ll tell him what Reynard did, we’ll do it in front of everyone—see what he says.
“Good plan.”
They finished cleaning up, then grabbed their equipment, packed it up, and took it out of the building, then they locked all the doors and windows behind themselves, and headed back to the crater. The night was dark and still and quiet and right away they scented that they weren’t alone.
Humans somewhere close, Timber said in ruhi.
I see them, right up there.
There were four of them, two males and two females, wearing hiking clothes, all staring into the crater. When they saw Canyon and Timber, they all pointed every which way and talked over each other.
“… lights and explosions up here...”
“… camping on Crimson Ridge...”
“… woke us up….”
“… what was it…?”
Timber flashed his badge. “Aliens, folks, it was aliens. They came down in their spaceship right here—” Timber pointed at the crater, “And they took all the people who lived there,” he said, indicating the destroyed houses all around.
The four humans stared at him, mouths open.
Timber nodded and mimed shoving something into something else.
“That’s right, they’re all getting probed right now, and this isn’t the first time.
These aliens always come back looking for fresh meat so if I were you, I’d run fast, get off the bluff, maybe even out of town, I dunno. ”
One of them shook his head. “That’s not true. You’re—” but his friends grabbed at him and pulled at him. They all ran into the trees.
Canyon laughed. You scarred them for life.
As long as they stay away from here, I don’t give a shit. Let’s do this.
Pictures first.
Canyon took out Predator and got to work.
***
Several hours later, under a still-dark sky, they finished their work, then packed up and rucked their way back through the forest to the ATVS, then drove to the substation.
“Let’s go home and get a few hours of sleep, then we’ll find Wade.”
Good call. I’m wiped.
The sound of a vehicle speeding up the bluff caught their attention, and they turned to check it out. It was a long-bed truck, all-black, with a light bar on top and SPD in big letters down both sides.
Harlan Mundelein, another co-worker, wolven, and friend, was driving. He saw them, slammed on the brakes, and started talking in ruhi before he made it into the parking lot.
There’s a ruckus downtown, explosions ‘n shit. We suspect Khain so Trevor wants everyone at SPD.
Harlan, you learned ruhi, Canyon said, mildly surprised.
Yep, when I got my Eventine back, it just popped into my head.
Harlan turned into the parking lot and his police radio crackled loud enough for all to hear. “— units, explosions reported on the 1500 block of Renway Street, and also at Serenity Fire Department.”
Harlan pointed at them both through the windshield, then pointed toward town. He cranked his wheel and turned back toward the street and was gone.
“Sleep?” Timber said. “Who needs sleep?”
They threw their equipment into the back of Canyon’s truck, tied it down quickly, and sped after Harlan.