They passed still smoldering properties and properties with evident fire damage from the ingistura attacks. Callie felt the tears catch in her throat as she drove by those damaged properties. She felt lucky that Kane and Phillip and Stern had kept their property safe, but she also felt the guilt that it was probably them that had caused the ingistura to come in the first place.

  She shook her head, Josie couldn’t be the only Druid in the area. It felt so selfish of her to think her family was the only family targeted. If it was, the damage wouldn’t be so widespread. As they got closer to I-25 the damage increased. They passed the community building that was still smoking like it was on fire. There were two fire trucks sitting by the building but she couldn’t see any of the firefighters.

  Kane stopped at the intersection next to I-25. There was no one except their three vehicles at the intersection, but Kane just stayed stopped.

  “Kane?” Callie finally said gently, touching his arm. He jumped slightly.

  ”We have to get onto I-25, I don’t know what we are about to encounter,” Kane said solemnly.

  ”I know,” Callie said just above a whisper.

  Kane took a breath and then pressed the gas pedal heading south towards Pueblo. Stern then Phillip followed. Phillip’s vehicle had a harder time heading up the on-ramp to the interstate but there were only two cars on the interstate heading south so the small convoy had plenty of time to get up to speed.

  As they traveled south there was a steady stream of cars in the northern lanes. It looked like a regular day in the north lanes, in their lanes heading south though there were maybe a handful of vehicles. Kane turned on the radio. It was static. Callie reached over and started scanning the FM radio trying to find something to listen to. After going through a full two times, she switched the radio to the AM.

  The first station they found was in Spanish, although both Callie and Kane knew a few words in Spanish, not enough to understand what the frantic sounding announcer was saying. Callie pressed the scan button again. They found a second station, at least that one was in English but it was garbled and unclear so they couldn’t understand what was being said.

  They heard “don’t fight” and “unfriendly” and “caution” and a few other words, but not enough to understand what was going on. Callie looked over at Kane who had a stern look on his face and was very focused on the road ahead of them. Callie pressed the scan button again and let the radio cycle. It would randomly stop and they would hear a little static before it would start searching again.

  When they had traveled about ten miles they rounded the top of a gentle hill in the interstate and that was when they saw it. A mass of flying creatures of various sizes and colors were circling an area to the south. Callie couldn’t tell if they were circling an area in Pueblo or just south of Pueblo. They saw the signs for the northern most exit to Pueblo West. Kane looked over at Callie. At that moment the radio came alive startling everyone in the car. Kane jerked the truck just slightly with the jump from the sudden noise.

  Kane turned off the radio.

  ”Why did you do that?” Callie asked.

  ”We don’t need a shelter. And we have already seen people fleeing. It isn’t going to tell us anything useful,” Kane said with almost an angry tone. Callie looked back at Eliza and Josie. Eliza was looking back at Callie. Josie was staring out her side window. Both were still holding Alex’s hands. Zeus was sitting up looking out Eliza’s window, sniffing like he could smell something through the closed window.

  As they came to the Pueblo West exit off the interstate they started seeing creatures, flying and walking, heading south. towards the rest of the horde. They had been hidden just enough by the hills to the west of the interstate that until they were facing them they hadn’t seen the creatures. Kane looked at Callie and then called Stern.

  *ring*

  *ring*

  ”Yeah,” Stern said.

  ”Calling Phillip,” Kane said

  ”Got it,” Stern said.

  *ring*

  ”Hello,” Phillip said.

  ”Merging with Stern,” Kane said.

  ”Got it,” Phillip said.

  ”Stern, you there?” Kane asked.

  ”Yup,” Stern said.

  ”Me too,” Phillip said.

  ”You see what I’m seeing to the west?” Kane asked.

  ”Yup,” Phillip and Stern said almost in unison.

  ”You see that crap to the south?” Phillip asked with deep concern in his voice.

  ”How could you miss the damn swarm?!” Stern exclaimed.

  Kane chuckled a little to himself before he said, “Heard on the radio they are setting up ‘safety shelters’ around the Springs and Pueblo,” Kane said, his voice dripping with sarcasm at the ‘safety shelters’.

  ”What the fuck do they think ‘safety shelters’ are going to do?” Stern grumbled into the phone.

  Kane looked over at Callie, who had a strong look of concern on her face. The look of concern suddenly turned to fear again.

  ”Kane! It’s picking up speed!” Callie said, pointing to the south.

  Kane turned to look in the direction she was pointing, “Shit, she’s right, guys. That swarm is picking up speed in its circling. What the fuck are they doing?”

  As Kane asked the question, a few creatures started diving down into the city.

  ”What are they diving at? What is down there?” Phillip asked.

  ”I don’t know, there is a shut-down steel plant, but that is further east, I think. There is nothing down there,” Kane said, thinking of what could be the target in that area of the city.

  ”Shit, whatever they are going after, I don’t think they are finding it,” Stern said as the swarm started expanding outward with more and more creatures diving down into the city.

  ”Whatever they are going after, they aren’t going after us yet. But does it look like that mass is moving more north?” Phillip asked with more and more concern being etched into his voice.

  There was a momentary silence on the phone as they kept driving westward. Kane saw that they were coming on the first roundabout. He slowed down almost to a stop.

  ”Phillip, Stern, go back to the homestead,” Kane said, stopping at the roundabout entrance.

  ”What?”

  “Excuse me!?”

  ”Go back to the homestead, both of you. Look to the west. Those creatures have armor. They are heading to war. Go protect the homestead and your families,” Kane said, slowly moving forward into the roundabout.

  “Kane, we agreed I was going to go with you,” Stern argued.

  ”No, go back to Dani. We will go on, get a look at what we are up against, and come back. Go make sure we don’t lose any more animals,” Kane said after making a full rotation of the roundabout and heading out to the west.

  ”I don’t like this,” Phillip said, following Stern into the roundabout.

  ”You don’t have to like it, but the homestead isn’t protected right now, and those creatures and now the swarm are heading back there,” Kane explained.

  ”Okay, be safe, brother,” Stern said as he took the exit out of the roundabout heading back the direction they had come from. Phillip followed.

  ”Check in when you get back to the homestead," Kane said.

  ”Check in when you get to Turkey Creek,” Stern replied.

  The three of them hung up as there was nothing else to be said. Kane didn’t like not having back-up, but they were at least on the move and could stay on the move. The homestead couldn’t and needed more protection. Kane looked over at Callie, who was staring straight ahead with little expression on her face. Kane reached over and squeezed her hand that was resting clenched on her knee.

  Callie looked away from the window at Kane. Kane could now see she was silently crying. It nearly broke Kane seeing that. Other than the tears, Callie’s face was blank. Callie looked back out the front window.

  ”We will see them again,” Kane whispered just loud enough for Callie to hear, but hopefully not for the kids in the backseat.

  “Maybe,” Callie said.

  Kane kept driving west. As they kept going, they saw half of the swarm break off and, with a rapid pace, start heading north towards the Springs and the Rift. The other half continued to make wide circles around Pueblo. Creatures were diving down sporadically. As the swarm got closer, Kane could see that the swarm was picking up things. Some people were being picked up, animals, and other materials. Kane couldn’t tell where the swarm was taking the things they collected.

  Kane had to slow down a few times before they hit US 50. The further west they went the more creatures they encountered heading back north. Kane didn’t know if the creatures would attack on sight or not so out of caution he slowed when there were creatures in, or close to, the road . Once they hit US 50 though the number of creatures on the ground became nearly zero. The flying creatures were so numerous they had nearly blocked out the sun.

  While on the side road they had seen few to no cars but once they got onto US 50 heading west they hit a steady stream of vehicles that looked full of items and people. Kane couldn’t help but wonder if the people were trying to flee to the mountains, or what their thoughts could be.

  “Why are people going to the mountains? Are they going on vacation?” Josie suddenly asked from the backseat, breaking the silence.

  Callie and Kane looked at each other before Callie replied, “Possibly, the mountains are pretty aren’t they?”

  “I wonder if the creatures can fly over the mountains?” Eliza interjected.

  “Maybe,” Callie said.

  “They came from really high up, they probably can,” Josie told her sister.

  “Alex, can the bats fly really high where you are from?” Eliza asked.

  “Little one, they can go really high but they don’t like to,” Alex told her.

  “Alex, can hawks fly really high?” Josie asked.

  “Little one, yes they can,” Alex said suddenly, sounding happy.

  “Alex, what other flying creatures are there? Are they all mean?” Eliza asked.

  “Well, little one, some are but not all,” Alex sounded thoughtful from the backseat.

  The next fifteen minutes were filled with Eliza and Josie asking Alex all sorts of questions about the creatures they had already seen. Alex replied happily at first, but after fifteen minutes of steady questions, even Alex, who seemed to love to talk, was sounding tired.

  “Alex, are you sad about leaving your family?” Josie asked after a brief pause, where Callie and Kane heard Alex sigh deeply.

  Callie and Kane looked at each other, then Callie turned around and looked at the three of them in the backseat.

  “Alexandrus didn’t have many family left to be sad about,” Alex finally said after locking eyes with Callie, “The war took many porcupus, many cowks, many derbits, many burs, many tunkens, many of Alexandrus’ friends and family have been lost to the Hunters and the Frowlers. No creature is safe when wars last as long as this one has.”

  The occupants of the truck were silent for a while. Kane turned onto US 115 going north back towards the Springs before anyone said anything.

  “I’m sorry, Alex,” Josie said sadly.

  “Alexandrus has a new family now,” Alex said, using one of his hands that wasn’t being held to gently rub Josie’s hand.

  “Yeah! You have us now!” Eliza said excitedly, “Like that movie with the blue monster! You came from outer space, too!”

  Callie couldn’t help but smile. They drove in silence for a few more minutes.

  *ring*

  “Hello,” Kane said as he answered the phone.

  “Hey, we made it back to the house. The swarm isn’t far behind us. Looks like a couple of creatures already passed through here. There is a little bit of damage to the meat chicken run, and that pile of metal you call a project car has been moved a little,” Phillip said on the other end of the line.

  “Are Carlie and the kids okay?” Callie asked before Kane could retort to Phillip about the car he had been slowly saving to restore someday.

  “Yeah, they have been inside this entire time. Sounds like it was some burs and a rhinoca that came through,” Phillip said as they heard Giana start to cry in the background, “Doesn’t sound like they saw any Frowlers or Hunters though. The cowks and cows are huddling next to the house. The goats were mostly hiding in their shelters.”

  “How are the chickens?” Callie asked.

  “Meat chickens were in their coops, the others were in their coop except Charzar who was puffed up just outside the coop. Not sure what he thinks he is going to do, but the little asshole started swearing at me so I left him be,” Phillip replied.

  Callie nodded to herself.

  “How big is the swarm that is about to hit?” Kane asked.

  “Big enough to shield most of the sun. This swarm didn’t look that big down in Pueblo,” Stern said.

  “After you guys turned around they blocked out the sun, so that doesn’t surprise me. It was bigger than we first saw,” Kane replied. As he finished talking Callie and he heard thunking from the other end.

  “Shit, they are diving down at the windows!” Stern told them loudly over the sound of the thunking. Kane could hear the girls crying in the background.

  “Is the entire swarm attacking?” Kane asked, trying to be loud enough to be heard. It sounded like baseball hail was hitting the house now. There was something rhythmic but completely unnerving about the noise coming through the truck’s speakers.

  “No,” Phillip finally said, “But there are a lot of them. It got really dark here.”

  “Looks like the main body is heading in the direction of the Rift!” they heard Stern scream from farther away from the phone.

  “Shit, they are heading for us,” Kane thought to himself.

  “Okay, stay safe,” Kane said out loud.

  “Next check-in?” Phillip asked.

  “Turkey Creek, right?” Callie asked.

  “Yeah,” Kane said, but he sounded deep in thought.

  “Talk soon,” Phillip said, then hung up.

  Kane had noticed a steady increase in traffic heading south on US 115. They weren’t far from the Turkey Creek turn-off. Kane started looking around. What he saw was a mass of creatures on the ground to their east. He wasn’t sure if Callie had seen it or not. The creatures were big, they had to be rhinoca or burs or badgers at least. They were all heading towards the Rift. Something was shifting, something was about to happen. Kane made up his mind in that moment; they weren’t stopping at Turkey Creek. He wasn’t going to leave his wife and kids unprotected. He didn’t like the idea of taking them that close to danger, but he couldn’t leave them either.

  “Kane, that swarm looks huge,” Callie said quietly.

  “Yeah,” Kane replied.

  “Kane, those are the signs for Turkey Creek. Shouldn’t you be slowing down?” Callie asked, pointing to the sign they were passing.

  “We aren’t stopping,” Kane said, still watching the mass to their right.

  “Why not?” Callie asked, surprised.

  “I’m not leaving you,” Kane said and kept driving as they passed the Turkey Creek turnoff.

  “Should we call Phillip and Stern?” Callie asked.

  “Nothing to report, and they aren’t going to like what I am about to do anyway,” Kane said.

  “What are you about to do?” Callie asked, sounding scared.

  “We are going to figure out why the creatures are massing at the Rift,” Kane said with a determined tone and look.

  Callie had seen that look only a couple of times, but every time she had, the recipient didn’t fare so well. Callie looked back at her girls and Alex. Both girls were looking out their windows. Eliza looked ready to fall asleep. Callie turned to look out the passenger window. As she did, a gap opened up between some hills, and she saw the mass of creatures Kane had been seeing. She gasped a little. Kane, hearing the noise, grabbed her hand gently. Callie did her best to choke down the fearful tears that welled up in her chest.

  “It will be okay, we will make it home again,” Kane cooed at his wife. The cars heading south were now a steady stream, most of which had bags or boxes tied to their roofs. All Callie could do was nod at her husband's remarks.

  Suddenly, there was a knocking on the back window. The noise made Callie jump so bad her seat belt tightened on her chest. Josie and Eliza made a startled squeal in the backseat.

  “Frowlers coming,” Jonah said just loud enough that Kane could hear.

  “What should we do?” Kane called back.

  “Road not safe,” Jonah said.

  “Where should we go?” Kane asked, looking around to see if there was a side road he could get off on. That was the problem with 115; there weren’t many places to get off between Pueblo and Colorado Springs until you got to the military base or Turkey Creek, and they were well past Turkey Creek now.

  “Need to shield Little Druid,” Jonah said as everyone felt the tingle like electricity run over their skin. A breath later, a rhinoca was seen cresting the hill in front of them just to the east of the road with a rider on it. The humanura rider looked at each vehicle as it passed.

  “Jonah, get in the car!” Kane yelled, slowing a little, “Eliza, open your door for him!”

  Eliza thankfully did as she was told, and Jonah swung in, pulling the door shut behind him. Zeus growled a little as he got pushed out of the way, the weight of the truck shifting with Jonah’s movement. Jonah scrunched himself up on the floorboards next to Zeus and grabbed Josie’s leg.

  The rhinoca and rider were less than a half mile away now. Kane put his foot to the gas pedal and sped past the pair. The rhinoca let out a scream and looked like it was about to turn to follow them. The humanura sitting on its back pulled it back around to keep going in its original southerly direction.

  “Frowlers are looking,” Jonah sighed, not letting go of Josie’s leg, but Kane and Callie felt the tingling going away.

  “Thank you, Jonah,” Callie said with a relieved tone.

  They drove maybe another mile and then saw another rhinoca and a humanura rider. This time, Kane and Callie didn’t feel the electrical tingle. Callie looked over her shoulder and saw a strained look on Jonah’s face, but he was still holding onto Josie’s leg. The rhinoca and rider took a few steps closer to the road and stopped as Kane’s truck kept moving at its steady pace towards the pair.

  “Don’t stop,” Jonah strained through clenched teeth.

  Kane took a quick look at Callie but didn’t slow the truck. As they passed the rhinoca, the rider put up its hand. Kane didn’t feel or see anything and didn’t stop. Callie let out a small gasp as they passed the pair.

  “It has red eyes!” Callie cried in a whispered voice.

  “Frowlers cursed,” Jonah grunted, “Don’t stop.”

  Kane didn’t stop, but in fact increased his speed a little, not enough to be noticed, but enough to get them away from the pair faster. Kane looked in his rearview. The traffic was going much slower in the southbound lane due to the number of cars now streaming south. The rhinoca charged a dark blue van hard enough to knock it off the road. The vehicles behind the van came to a screeching halt. Kane could see the humanura dismounting and walking over to the van before they crested a small hill and lost sight of the van and the rhinoca.

  “What are they looking for?” Kane asked.

  “Druids,” Jonah said sadly.

  “Why? Why aren’t they protecting the Druids from the Hunters? I don’t understand,” Callie almost cried.

  “Frowlers say no Druids, no reason for Hunters to attack, if no Hunters attack, then humanura safe,” Jonah sounded angry, “Frowlers betray Druids to save self, but Hunters no care. Humanura is what want destroy, Druids’ way to get humanura. Havornus used say Druids no protect humanura so they get same as Hunters. Havornus make excuse to fight.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  ”Havornus, the Frowlers that tried to attack me?” Kane asked.

  ”Yes, Havornus cursed,” Jonah angry rose saying the name of the Frowlers.

  ”Jonah, why do we need to get off the road?” Callie asked after a moment of silence.

  ”Feel Frowlers searching, cursed are gathering,” Jonah said, relaxing his tone a little.

  ”Can you tell where they are gathering?” Kane asked as he had to slow down as they crested another hill because there was a military-like Humvee in front of them. The Humvee had a solid top on it so Kane couldn’t tell how many people were in the vehicle, but he could tell there wasn’t any sort of weapon on the top. Kane internally sighed at that, but it didn’t mean there still wasn’t someone or multiple someone’s inside that wouldn’t hurt them if they got a chance.

  “Hunters,” Jonah growled from the backseat. As he said it, Zeus started growling with him, his hackles raising.

  ”My Lady, this is not good,” Alex stated the obvious.

  Before Kane or Callie could respond though a rhinoca and rider came leaping out from the trees to the Humvee’s west. The pair leaped over the line of vehicles stopped in the southbound lanes and landed just behind the slowly moving Humvee. Kane could see that the rider wasn’t a humanura but a human. The Humvee drove a little further north to where there was a wide enough shoulder for it to get completely off the road. The rhinoca followed and stopped with the Humvee.

  ”Keep driving!” Jonah was all but shouting as they saw a handful of armed humans filter out of the Humvee. Kane’s truck and its occupants were only about 100 yards behind the Humvee and rhinoca when the men jumped out. Kane, not knowing what else to do, floored it past the rhinoca just as the rider turned the creature to try to block them.

  Kane heard the screams from the humans, “GET DOWN!” Kane screamed at his family just as the first set of bullets hit the truck. Kane pushed the gas pedal to the ground, praying no one in the southbound lane cut them off. He silently thanked God that he didn’t hear any of the tires explode.

  Kane could see the turn off for Ft Carson and could see Colorado Springs coming quickly. Kane swore silently as he saw his fuel needle dropping faster than it should. He just needed to get into Colorado Springs; he could figure out a vehicle or transportation after that. He just needed to get into town.

  “Kane?!” Callie cried in pain next to him.

  Kane looked over and saw Callie slouched in her seat, leaning towards him, glistening red on her otherwise blue shirt.

  “SHIT! Anyone else hurt?” Kane asked, still watching the road and his fuel gauge.

  “Jonah is hurt Dad!” Josie cried behind him.

  ”Where?” Kane asked, not wanting to look behind him.

  ”I will be fine, get off the road,” Jonah said, though he had pain in his voice.

  As they passed the entrance for Fort Carson, Kane saw a line of Humvees coming out of the gate. Kane swore to himself, but then he remembered something. He had chosen a spell that might be helpful. He didn’t know how well it would work, but they wouldn’t make it into town if he didn’t try something.

  “TRANSPARENCY!” Kane yelled, and he felt the tingle of energy pass over him that he had felt when Jonah had hidden them. Next to him, Callie gasped.

  “Concentrate on vehicle,” Jonah grunted in pain behind him.

  Kane, not knowing what Jonah meant exactly, focused his mind on the truck, on what it looked like.

  “Callie, tell me what those Humvees do,” Kane grunted, trying to keep his mind on the truck and its occupants.

  ”They just turned south,” Callie said after a moment. Kane was almost to the exit to get off 115. The full gauge was quickly slipping past ? tank. Kane kept trying to concentrate on the truck, remembering that TRANSPARENCY only lasted 2-ish minutes, and he wasn’t sure how much longer it would last. Kane took the exit and took a left to go into the Broadmoor Bluffs area. It wasn’t a great option, but hopefully they could get lost in the residential neighborhood.

  Kane took a right as the truck started sputtering. He pulled up behind a parked SUV as the truck sputtered to a stop. Kane hated that they would be leaving his truck behind, but he couldn’t waste time trying to fix it.

  “Callie, where are you hit?” Kane asked, finally looking over at his wife.

  ”I will be alright, I think it just grazed me,” Callie grunted, sitting up in her seat. Kane could see that she had grabbed some napkins from his glove box and had put them over the spot that was bleeding. She still had blood coming from between her fingers through the napkin, but it wasn’t flowing, so that was a good sign.

  ”Eliza, Josie, how are you?” Kane asked, turning around in his seat to look at his daughters.

  Eliza had a horrified look on her face, and tears were streaming down her face. “I think I am okay.”

  ”Jonah is hurt,” Josie said, looking from her dad down to Jonah, who was lying on the floorboard, his hand still on Josie’s knee. Kane looked down at Jonah and could tell he was bleeding from two different areas. An area on the side of his face, and Kane couldn’t tell if it was his neck or his shoulder that was bleeding.

  ”Josie, are you hurt?” Kane asked again.

  Josie started patting her arms and legs and her torso, “No.”

  ”Callie, can you move?” Kane asked, turning to his wife.

  ”Yeah, where are we going to go? The truck can’t run?” Callie asked, moving the napkin and looking at her wound.

  ”I don’t know yet. Jonah is hurt. Can you look at him?” Kane asked as he started to look around them.

  ”Yeah,” Callie grunted as she moved to open her door.

  They heard a roar come from behind them. Kane grabbed the pistol from his vest and looked behind them. He didn’t see anything.

  ”Draco, dragon,” Jonah wheezed with intense pain in his voice.

  Kane took a breath of relief that Jonah wasn’t dead, but then thought about that word, “Dragon? There are dragons!”

  Callie had gotten out of the truck and had opened Josie’s door to take a look at Jonah. Zeus took the opportunity to jump out and had his hackles raised as he snarled in the direction the noise had come from. Kane opened his door as well and took the truck keys with him. More out of habit than anything else. He grabbed his rifle just before he shut the truck door. Kane walked around the back of the truck, keeping an eye to the northwest where it seemed the noise had come from.

  As he rounded the back of the truck, he could see that bullets had taken out the passenger taillight. Kane hadn’t seen any bullet marks on the driver's side of the truck, which made sense since the people shooting had been on the passenger side. Kane kept examining the truck. He found three more bullet holes, one just barely missing the back tire, one entered the back passenger door at a strange angle, and the last entered the back passenger at a higher angle.

  None of those bullet holes accounted for the leaking gas, though. Kane could see the light trail of gas leading up to the truck. Realizing this was a direct line to them for anyone searching, he looked around to see if there was someplace he could move his family to. Most of the backyards in this neighborhood were fenced off. Kane wasn’t as familiar with the neighborhood; he had been in it once when one of the girls had been invited to a birthday party at a park up the street.

  Kane got on the ground. He needed to figure out if he could repair the gas tank. Having seen no bullet holes on the driver’s side, the damage had to be underneath. Looking, he saw there was a slow drip of gas coming from a hole on the driver's side. Kane got up and walked over to where he thought the dripping was and lay back down to look.

  “Yup, something hit the tank,” Kane thought to himself, seeing the hole. Unfortunately, the hole was rough and jagged. Kane grabbed his phone from his pocket and put the light on the hole. It didn’t have the look of being shot, but it did look like a ricochet. The bullet must have hit the ground as they were driving and flew up, making the hole. The bad part for them was that the bullet must have hit the tank sideways, making the damage worse.

  Although Kane had brought a spare fuel tank with them, he couldn’t put it in the truck before it would leak out. The rough edges meant that he couldn’t use the duct tape he had to try to make a temporary patch. Yeah, he could take the hammer and try to bend back the edges to make it smoother, but that would draw attention that they didn’t need.

  ”Kane, what do we do now?” Callie asked, walking up next to his prone position.

  ”We need to move away from the truck,” Kane said, turning off the light on his phone and moving so he could stand up, “They can trace us with the trail of gas we left.”

  ”So where do we go?” Callie asked, looking around while still holding her side.

  Kane realized she was wearing the soft body armor like he had told her to, but whatever had hit her had just missed the soft armor plate in the gap. She had put her shirt over the armor for some reason. Kane had thought she had ignored him and just wasn’t wearing it.

  ”How is your side?” Kane asked, reaching for her hand so he could take a look.

  “I think it just grazed me, but it hurts worse than the stitches I got when I cut myself on that sheet metal a couple of summers ago!” She winced as Kane touched the wound.

  ”Yeah, looks like it was a lucky shot, if it had been an inch over, your armor would have absorbed it.”

  ”Actually, it was Jonah. His cheek slowed the bullet down or changed its direction somehow.”

  ”How is Jonah?”

  “He was lucky, too; one of the bullets hit just below his neck. It looks like it went clean through. I used one of my heal spells. The bullet wound on his face, he said, was to leave. I found the first aid kit and got him bandaged the best I could. I could use your help getting my bandage on.”

  ”You're not going to heal yourself?”

  ”No, it will heal on its own.”

  Kane didn’t like that, and apparently something on his face showed his displeasure because Callie followed it up with, “Besides, I want to save the healing spells in case we need them later.”

  Kane thought and then nodded. That was a smart idea. He wasn’t sure what else they were going to encounter, but they had already been shot at, so they weren’t off to a good start. Kane walked to the bed of the truck and lowered the tailgate. He had thrown a camping backpack and some supplies back there. They needed to get moving, but he didn’t want to leave anything they might need behind.

  Kane climbed into the bed of the truck. He saw that one of the bullets had gone through the spare gas tank he had brought, and it was slowly leaking all over the bed of the truck. Kane quickly started throwing the things he wanted to take over the passenger side of the truck into the grass. The tarp seemed to be the only thing he wanted that was covered in gas. He pushed it aside and threw out the foldable shovel, camping meal kit bundle, extra first aid supplies, the tent he had thrown in at the last minute, and the soft-sided water containers he had filled at the house.

  Seeing the pile on the ground, he looked back at the tarp. He didn’t want to be carrying a fuel-covered matchstick on his back, but he knew how useful a tarp could be. He shook his head sadly and then climbed out of the back of the truck, closing the tailgate. He walked over to the pile and grabbed the backpack. He slowly started putting the items in, putting the first aid kit in last.

  Kane took the bag and went over to Josie’s still-open door. Under Josie’s seat, he grabbed the day pack bag he had prepared for Callie, of spare ammo and first aid supplies, which must have slid under the seat with the momentum shifts of the truck. He also saw the spare blanket he kept in the truck. Kane grabbed that and shoved it into the camping bag.

  “Time to get out,” Kane said, trying to sound comforting, seeing the fear on his daughter's face.

  Josie unbuckled and started to get out. Jonah was sitting up between the girls on the floorboard. Kane couldn’t figure out how such a big creature had fit itself into such a small area. As Eliza got out on the other side, Jonah unfolded himself and got out behind her.

  Zeus was still attentively staring to the east, the direction they had come from. Although he wasn’t snarling anymore, the fur on his back was still raised. Kane looked where Zeus was looking, but didn’t see anything. The gas trail on the ground wasn’t dissipating as fast as he would like; they needed to get moving. Kane looked up and down the road they were on. He sighed and grabbed his phone. Kane pulled up the maps app on his phone. It looked like there was a forested area on the next street over from them. It wasn’t the direction he wanted to go, but it was close enough to get quick shelter and away from the truck in case someone was following them.

  Kane looked over at Callie, who was standing frozen next to Josie on the sidewalk, “We need to move. Do you have everything you want to take?”

  Callie looked around and then slowly made her way back to the front seat of the truck. Kane took a final look in the backseat, he saw that both girls had brought stuffed animals with them. Sadness overtook Kane, his daughters were growing up but in this scary situation they were in they still sought comfort from their toys. Kane grabbed both stuffed animals. He took a final look, grabbing the emergency battery backup for his phone that he kept in the backseat pocket. Kane couldn’t remember the last time he charged it, so he was hoping there was some charge left.

  Callie had her backpack and was standing on the sidewalk with Josie and Eliza when Kane emerged from the backseat. Kane tossed the stuffed animals at his daughters who both caught their toys and immediately hugged them to their bodies. Kane then went to the front seat and quickly grabbed some things he didn’t want to leave from the center console and the glove compartment. The most important being a pocket knife he had gotten from his grandpa. It wasn’t very sharp and the spring stuck a little, but it was one of the last things his grandpa had given him.

  ”ENEMY!” Zeus started barking as Kane was doing a final look through the front seat.

  “Zeus, quiet!” Kane yelled, “We got to move, follow me!”

  Kane grabbed Eliza’s hand and started jogging in the direction of the wooded area, aiming for a spot between two houses that didn’t appear to have fencing between them. He looked over his shoulder to see Callie and Josie following close behind. Jonah was following but was continually checking over his shoulder. Zeus had stopped barking but hadn’t moved from his spot next to the truck.

  ”Zeus, come!” Kane yelled, hating that he was giving away their position. Zeus turned to look at Kane and then sprinted to catch up to them.

  Kane got to the corner of the houses and ushered Callie and Josie, and Eliza to keep going. He got to his knee and brought up his rifle from its slung position to watch if someone was going to come around the corner. Just as Zeus and Jonah disappeared around the corner of the house a Humvee loaded with men came into view. This Humvee had a turret gun on the top, and a gunner standing behind it already swung the gun to face Kane’s truck.

  Kane pulled his rifle back and looked at Callie and his kids. He tried to smile to reassure them, but the fear on their faces didn’t disappear. Jonah touched Callie’s shoulder, and the four of them took off through the backyard heading to the next set of houses that didn’t have a fence. Zeus looked at the group leaving, but then came back to Kane’s side and sat down waiting. Kane peeked around the edge of the house he was hiding behind right as the turret gunner opened fire on the truck.

  “Shit,” was all Kane could think as he patted Zeus on the head and took off running after his family. The gunfire was loud and persistent until Kane heard the explosion. One of the bullets must have caused a spark setting the gas tank on fire. Kane could feel the heat on his back as he ran. And he heard screaming as he was sure shrapenal had been sent back at the men in the Humvee.

  Callie stopped ahead of him with tears and intense fear in her eyes. When she saw Kane the fear turned into relief but it didn’t stop the tears. Kane ran up, grabbed her hand, slowing his pace only a moment, and then ran through the open backyard seeing the trees he was aiming for just on the other side of the line of houses. When they got to the edge of the next row of houses, Kane looked up and down the street making sure they were clear to cross.

  Kane saw across the street an older man standing in his doorway. Him and Kane locked eyes. The man held up a hand, almost like a wave. Kane raised his hand in return. The man looked up and down the street and then made a motion for the family to move forward. Kane took a final look himself and then ushered for his family to run to the man in the house.

  Callie grabbed both of her daughters hands and ran across the street where the man in the house moved out of the way to let them in. Jonah followed, the man had a stunned look on his face as the humanura passed him. Kane and Zeus followed behind, Kane remembering his training and tried to move smoothly so he could scan in all directions as he crossed the street. There was still screaming on the other street, but he could tell the voices were moving in multiple directions.

  Kane nodded at the man as he crossed the threshold behind Zeus.

  ”Thank you,” Kane said after the man shut his door, looking one last time before he did.

  ”I’m not sure if this is the best idea, but I couldn’t leave your kids out there,” the man said.

  ”I’m Callie,” Callie said as Kane looked over and saw her extending her hand to an older woman.

  “Beth, that is my husband Jim,” the woman said, shaking Callie’s hand.

  ”Kane,” Kane said, extending his hand to Jim.

  Jim shook Kane’s hand, “So what did you do to make them chase you?” Jim asked after a quick but firm handshake.

  ”We didn’t stop,” Kane said, which wasn’t a lie.

  ”Sounds about right for those bastards, my kids live on Ft Carson and whoever this new military group is they have been going door to door on base grabbing men and telling them it is their job to fight,” Jim nearly spit from the displeasure in his voice.

  ”Did they tell them what they are fighting?” Kane asked gently, swinging his rifle onto his back.

  “The enemy of good men was all they told them, but when my son-in-law was taken on a ‘mission’, these guys grabbed a kid from her parents and a grandma. What the hell kind of people call kids and grandparents enemies?” Jim asked looking over at Jonah, “No offense but I would have thought it was those things. But they don’t seem to bother us unless we are outside.”

  ”You can’t go outside?” Callie asked.

  ”No, it is almost like those tall things sense us and come grab us. Two of our neighbors were taken by those things riding on rhinoceros-type creatures,” Beth said, looking very skeptically at Jonah, who was sitting on the floor with his back resting on the wall.

  ”I am not them, they are Frowlers, they are cursed,” Jonah said, bowing his head at Beth.

  Beth just looked stunned at Jonah and then looked over at her husband. For Jim’s part, he crossed his arms in front of him and just stared at Jonah.

  ”Jonah is our friend; he protects me,” Josie said, grabbing Jonah’s hand.

  Beth and Jim looked at Callie and Kane.

  “He has saved us a couple of times, he isn’t a danger to you. Do you know where the Frowlers were taking your neighbors?” Kane asked.

  Beth and Jim looked at each other before Jim replied, “They took them up Cheyenne Mountain, but we lost sight of them pretty quick after they went into the open space.”

  Kane thought for a moment, from the homestead it looked like the Rift was open just off of Cheyenne Mountain. Could they be taking the people back to the Rift? Is the Rift two-way? Kane looked up to see Beth shifting uncomfortably and Jim had a stern look on his face but the rest of his body was relaxed.

  “You said that your son-in-law was recruited by the Hunters?” Kane asked Jim.

  ”I wouldn’t call it recruited, they just came and said he was going with them,” Jim said, recrossing his arms and getting a tense look again, “Look I was in the first Gulf War, we tried to recruit people but we didn’t force men into helping us, not like this. They grabbed Tony on his way to report to his unit from his front yard and after a day of driving around escorted him inside his house and told him, he was theirs and if he didn’t Emily and the kids would be deemed enemies of the state.”

  Kane shook his head, “We are missing something, this isn’t how you fight a war.”

  “No it’s not, if Emily hadn’t asked me not to get involved I would have rammed the gate to Carson already and grabbed her and the kids,” Jim growled looking out the window. Beth walked over and put her hands on her husband's arms.

  “We can’t risk it, you saw what happened two days ago, that poor young family got taken all because her husband didn’t show up for formation. You see the red ‘X’, they screamed loud enough for all of us to hear,” Beth sobbed into her husband's shoulder.

  Kane went to the window and looked across the street, there it was a red ‘X’ that crossed the entire door. Black spray paint was on the garage door saying, ‘Enemies of the State’.

  ”What did they say when they were taking your neighbors away?” Kane asked, shutting the curtain again.

  ”That anyone assisting the abominations in any capacity will be treated as the enemy of humanity,” Beth said after looking at her husband.

  “Abominations? Are they talking about the Humanura?” Callie asked, walking up to Kane.

  ”Yes, they say we do not deserve to exist, that we are abominations. Frowler messed with God in helping us,” Jonah said from the corner of the room where he had chosen to sit down.

  The four adults looked at each other, then Kane said, “We can’t stay here, we can’t put your family in danger. But before we go, what class are you Jim and you, Beth?”

  Jim and Beth looked at each other, “Paladin,” said Jim.

  ”Cleric,” said Beth.

  ”Thank you, they are hunting Druids, please be safe. Thank you for the temporary refuge,” Kane said, swinging his rifle back in front of him and grabbing the camping backpack he had taken off at the beginning of their conversation.

  ”Where are you going to go?” Beth asked, looking from Eliza and Josie to Callie.

  ”We need a closer look at the Rift, we need to send this war back to them,” Kane said as he walked over to Jonah and helped his friend back to his feet.

  ”Hold up,” Jim said as he walked over to a door next to the front door, “Go through the garage into the backyard. You will have a clear shot to the open space from there.”

  ”Thank you,” Kane said, ushering Callie to grab the girls.

  ”How do you know they are hunting Druids and who is hunting Druids?” Beth asked, reaching out but not touching Kane.

  Kane looked at his two girls, “We just know, and both the Hunters and the Frowlers are hunting them.”

  Mary looked at the two girls who were still hugging their stuffed animals tight to them but Josie was holding Jonah’s hand and Eliza was holding Callie’s. Beth started crying and wrapped her arms around herself.

  ”We will be praying for your safety, I’m so sorry,” Beth sobbed.

  Callie went over and gave the woman a hug, “Thank you.”

  As Callie released Beth from the hug, Kane reached out and shook Jim’s hand, “Thank you again.”

  ”I wish we could do more,” Jim said as he opened the garage door.

  Kane smiled kindly at the man and walked through the door saying, “Zeus come.”

  Zeus got up from his spot and followed Kane through the door and around the car to the door in the back of the garage. Callie took a final look at Beth who was still crying and grabbed Eliza’s hand and followed Kane.

  “Thank you,” Jonah said and copied Kane in shaking Jim’s hand. Jim hesitated in taking the humanura’s hand for a moment but they took it. Jonah said a small blessing just before he let go of the human’s hand. Then he ushered Josie through the door and followed the rest into the backyard.

  Kane checked the backyard before going through the door. He sent Zeus out first heading straight for the wood line twenty yards away. Kane had told Callie to wait until he hit the tree line before bringing the kids out of the garage. Once Kane hit the tree line with Zeus he dropped to a knee and looked around. By the time they had been talking with Jim and Beth the shouting had stopped from the Hunters, but the air was heavy with the smell of burning rubber and the smoke was still heavy from where the truck was.

  Seeing the coast was clear, Kane motioned for Callie to bring the girls. He could see Callie take a deep breath before saying something to the girls and the three of them came running out of the garage in the direction of Kane. They were halfway across the yard when Kane heard the screech in the air. Kane quickly shifted his view to the direction of the noise. He saw lizawks circling the area above the truck. When he looked back down Callie was behind Eliza, they were two paces away from the tree line to his left. But he didn’t see Josie. Jonah was still in the garage but was looking up at the sky.

  Kane started frantically looking for Josie. He heard Callie and Eliza making their way through the short underbrush to him. Kane saw as Jonah, on all fours, sprinted like a cheetah to his position. Then Kane felt a small hand on his shoulder.

  ”I’m right here dad,” Kane heard Josie’s quiet voice.

  ”Josie, where are you, what happened?” Kane said, looking around still.

  ”TRANSPARENCY,” Josie said, and Kane breathed a sigh of relief.

  ”How long can you hold it?” Kane asked.

  ”I don’t know,” Josie said as Kane felt the hand on his shoulder squeeze and release over and over.

  ”Okay, Josie, it will be okay,” Kane said, reaching one of his hands up to touch the hand on his shoulder.

  ”Oh good, Josie is with you,” Callie quietly sighed with relief as her and Eliza squatted down next to Kane, “She used TRANSPARENCY as soon as the creatures cried out.”

  ”Yeah, she is here. We need to keep moving,” Kane said, looking around for Jonah.

  Jonah was awkwardly walking towards them from Kane’s right.

  ”Must move, found trail to mons, big hills?” Jonah said.

  ”Mountains, I think you mean mountains,” Callie said gently.

  ”Yes, you want see Rift. Please,” Jonah said pointing in the direction he had come from.

  Kane let go of the hand on his shoulder and told Jonah, “Lead the way.”

  Jonah nodded and walked just inside the treeline to the trail he had found. The trail looked like a deer trail. It wasn’t very wide but it was clearer than the rest of the gambel oak grove they had been trying to walk through.

  “Wait,” Callie said quietly as they paused at the head of the trail. She cast DETECT. There were numerous white creatures, a few yellow larger animals, maybe foxes? Then she saw the bright red mass further to their right.

  ”Kane, there is something over there and it isn’t friendly,” Callie said pointing to the mass that only she could see.

  Kane felt the familiar tingle of a spell being cast on him. He looked at Jonah. Jonah was looking in the direction that Callie was pointing. Jonah had an upset look on his face.

  ”Okay, girls, remember what I told you about hunting? We are going to move a ways then stop and listen and look, then move again and then look and listen again. Do you remember?” Kane said, turning around to look at Eliza, hoping Josie was in the same area.

  ”Yes,” he heard two little voices say in whispers.

  “Okay, follow the trail and quietly try to do it, okay?” Kane asked.

  ”Okay,” Eliza said, hugging her stuffed animal close but quietly moving up the trail.

  “Callie, you’re next,” Kane said, kissing his wife on the forehead before turning in the direction his wife had been pointing, straining his eyes trying to see what she saw.

  ”Cursed, many,” Jonah whispered, shrinking himself down into the underbrush, “Must move.”

  Kane patted Zeus and started walking up the trail behind Callie. Eliza was still quietly and almost too slowly moving in the front. Kane wanted to rush her, but he also didn’t want to scare her. She took the first turn and disappeared behind a stand of sumacs, Callie followed a bit behind her. Kane made the turn and looked back to see Jonah melt into the gambel oaks behind him. He did the same taking cover behind the sumacs, when he looked back he saw three humanura walking past the trail opening. All three were carrying versions of a hooked axe that had a weird glow to them. Thankfully the three didn’t look down the trail. Kane waited a ten count after he saw them pass before getting up to follow his family. As he turned, not only did he see his three girls kneeling just behind him watching him but he also heard shouting start from the yards they had just come from.

  It sounded like the Hunters and Frowlers had seen each other and a fight was breaking out. Kane took a look at his three girls and then motioned for them to continue along the path. Eliza shook her head with terrified eyes.

  ”I can take the back,” Jonah suddenly said in Kane’s ear. Kane nearly jumped out of his skin but nodded and quietly moved past Eliza. He kissed his daughter's head on the way past and then raised his rifle to take the lead.

  The group repeated the move for a little bit, the stop and look routine, for what felt like an hour, but was probably half that time at best. They eventually came to the end of the deer trail. It opened up into a clearing. Kane dropped to a knee and looked around. He had thought it was just dim lighting from all of the gambel oak and sumac they were in, but it was actually like giant clouds were blocking out the sun.

  ”Callie, can you do that DETECT thing again?” Kane asked, looking over his shoulder at his wife.

  ”DETECT,” Callie said quietly. After a few moments, Callie said, “just white and yellow.”

  “Mom, where is Alex?” Josie suddenly asked.

  Callie hadn’t thought of the poor creature, she had checked on him after the truck stopped and saw that he wasn’t hurt but then the rush of getting away from the truck they hadn’t grabbed him. Callie couldn’t help but silently panic a little.

  ”My Lady,” a muffled voice said.

  ”Alex, where are you?” Josie asked.

  ”In the bag,” Alex said with a giggle.

  Kane took the bag off his back and flung open the top flap. Alex was wrapped up in a circle laying on top of the first aid kit smiling up at Kane. Kane shook his head as he looked up at Callie who was kneeling down on the other side of the bag from Kane.

  ”Alex, I am sorry I forgot about you!” Callie quietly cried.

  ”My Lady, I knew you were worried about the little misses so I found a comfortable spot and waited,” Alex said, unrolling himself just enough to pop his head out from the bag, “Now, as Jonah keeps saying, we need to keep going. I prefer to ride, if you don’t mind.”

  And with the final statement, Alex grabbed the flap of the bag and flung it back over him. Callie looked up at the stunned Kane and started smiling. A genuine smile. Kane started smiling himself and his shoulders started moving like he was silently laughing.

  ”Well, that would explain why the bag felt heavier than I thought it should,” Kane quietly laughed.

  A noise was heard from the other side of the clearing. Kane snapped into a ready kneeling position with his rifle in front of him looking through his sights where the noise had come from. Kane kept scanning the opposite side of the clearing. Callie still had DETECT activated and looked toward the area where now there were shaking trees. She gasped.