Sean nodded.
We came to the edge of the field. The Anansi pearls had grown and broken through the soil, rising a few inches above the dirt like the tops of giant mushrooms about to break free. Each of them should be the size of a small tire now, but with most of their bulk buried it was hard to tell. I hoped they were done. Sometimes there were some minor variations due to temperature. The only way to know for sure would be to break one, but once broken, they wouldn't last long in Earth's atmosphere.
Sean stared at the pearls.
Arland raised his eyebrows.
"You sure about this?" Sean asked me.
"Yes. My father's used them before."
Sean and Arland walked out into the field. Although it was technically my property, the inn wasn't yet strong enough to claim it. The grounds ended at the field's edge. I sighed and followed the two men. The protective mantle of magic slid off me. I felt naked.
Arland took out his crest. His fingers danced over the surface. "It's done. It's broadcasting the signal of the person I think betrayed us. The dahaka will show up soon."
"Let's hope you're right," I said.
A minute passed. Another. Time slowed to a crawl. Funny how long a minute can last. If you're reading a good book, it flies by. If you're holding your breath, it moves slower than a snail.
"What if he doesn't show?" I asked.
"He'll show," Sean said. "He wants to get paid."
"And once he sees us, it will be a challenge," Arland said.
We stood shoulder to shoulder. "Shouldn't we have set some traps?" I asked.
"He's too mobile," Arland said. "He'd avoid whatever we set up and we'd stumble into our defenses in the fight. Besides, we are the trap."
He and Sean had planted an energy disruptor a few hours ago. According to Arland, it would negate whatever energy weapons the dahaka carried, and apparently, dahakas didn't care for projectile technology.
Sean raised his face to the moon and inhaled. His ears twitched. "Incoming. About two miles out." He glanced at me. "Dina, remember, stick to the plan, no matter how hard it is. It's a good plan and it will work."
A shiver ran down his spine, like fire down a detonator cord. His skin split. Mist swirled around him. For a long moment his face remained human and then it too burst, bones growing, flesh stretching. His back expanded, layered with thick, hard muscle. He raised his new massive arms, which were covered with gray fur, and held them out. The armor burst out of his pores, sheathing the body in a tight dark sleeve. Reinforced plates formed over his abdomen. Flexible darkness covered his massive neck. He pulled his clothes off, ripping them off almost as an afterthought.
The armor sheathed him, dark like tar, but unlike glossy tar, it swallowed the moonlight. The black turned, twisted, lightened, and a pattern of gray and blue formed on its surface, matching the trees and the grass so exactly he became practically invisible.
"Try to keep him still," Sean-wolf growled.
"Worry about yourself," Arland said.
Sean nodded, sprinted across the clearing, and jumped up, scrambling up the tree. His armor shifted, adjusting, and I could no longer see him.
A low, murmuring growl, like a dozen voices speaking at once, rolled through the trees. The stalkers were coming.
"Just like we rehearsed," Arland said and walked over to the side.
"I remember," I told him.
Pale eyes ignited at the other end of the clearing. Thin shapes dashed through the trees.
"No fear," Arland said.
One says be afraid, the other says don't be afraid. Perfect.
The first stalker emerged into the moonlight, an ugly, alien thing. It sniffed the air tentatively and looked at me.
Arland stood perfectly still.
More stalkers joined the first, condensing from the twilight. Wow. I hadn't expected this many. Alarm squirmed through me.
The lead stalker dipped his head, unsure. Behind the horde, a dark shape rose, taller and standing on two legs. The dahaka.
Stalkers were predators. Like dogs, like cats, like bears, they all reacted to the same behavior. It was an instinctual reaction and we were counting on it.
I turned and ran.
The growls behind me raised the hair on the back of my neck, whipping me into a frenzy. I dashed across the field. The noise behind me swelled. They chased me.
I shot through the inn's boundary, sending the magic in front of me in a wide fan. The tops of the Anansi pearls cracked in unison.
I spun around, the broom in my hand shifting into a halberd.
More than half the stalkers ran across the field in a ragged wave, ignoring Arland. The rest lingered at the edge of the field.
The dahaka strode out of the trees. If he called them back now, it was all over. Both Arland and Sean didn't think he would --he would want to take me out before I reached the inn and turned its defenses on him.
Red lines ignited in Arland's armor. The blood mace whined, priming.
The dahaka roared, the remaining stalkers echoing his voice.
Arland snarled back, a harsh, primal challenge.
The stalkers were almost on me.
The tops of the pearls pulsated. Please be ripe, please be ripe...
Arland trotted forward like a tank that was trying to build up speed.
The first stalker crossed the boundary. I let it come.
It leaped at me. I spun my halberd and sliced across its ribs. White blood flew. The stalkers howled in unison and sped up. That's right. Come closer.
The injured stalker whirled and fell as tree roots wrapped around his body and throat.
Beyond the mass of stalkers, the dahaka charged out of the trees and struck at Arland.
The stalkers mobbed me. I cut the first, then the second, spinning the halberd around me, playing for time. Claws carved my leg. Someone ripped at my back. Now.
The ground gave under the stalkers, sucking them in. It wouldn't hold but for a few seconds. That would have to be enough.
The tops of the Anansi pearls burst. Spiders as big as my fist, their backs glowing with electric green, poured out of the eggs. They swarmed the stalkers. Their jaws punctured flesh, injecting lethal poison. The stalkers screeched in unison as their tissue began to liquefy.
In the field, Arland and the dahaka clashed. The alien dwarfed the vampire, towering a full foot above Arland's head. Arland wasn't slow, but the dahaka was so fast. He snarled, turning back and forth, slicing at Arland with a short blue blade. The blows rained on the vampire, but he stood his ground. The stalkers snapped and lunged at him, their claws sliding off his armor.
A chunk of Arland's armor fell to the ground, wet with blood.
The vampire grunted, teeth bared. His mace connected with the dahaka's shoulder. The impact threw the dahaka back. He stumbled, then charged again. Arland braced himself. The alien turned, whipping his massive tail. It smashed into Arland, staggering him to the side.