Fireteam Delta, J. Halpin [online e book reading .txt] 📗

And as she expected, Orvar failed to block a blow from Cortez, sending the man sprawling to the ground. Cortez leaned over, offering him a hand a second later.

Bard pushed the pile of coins over to Viggo, who deposited it into a bag between them. She was fairly sure the twins just pooled their money. That wasn’t an uncommon thing to do with families, but it did make the bet all the stranger.

“Whoever bet against me is next.” Cortez approached the group, breathing hard.

Asle pointed a finger at Nowak.

“Nope, screw that.” Nowak put his hands up in mock surrender.

Cortez moved to him and tried hauling Nowak to his feet. The playful smile on her face must not have gone unnoticed by Orvar, as he started to head over.

“I’m ready to go again, Teacher.” Orvar gave Cortez a slight bow.

Cortez stopped what she was doing and arched an eyebrow, though she managed to catch the motion quickly.

“You know,” Cortez spoke in English, glancing in Asle’s direction as she did, “he’s cute, but I’m not really into the jealous type.”

The blush that Orvar tried to hide told Asle that he’d picked up enough English to piece that together.

“Come on, big guy,” Cortez finished. “Let me show you how to really fuck a fella up.”

Orvar swallowed, and Asle felt a little bad for the man.

As she watched them go, she allowed herself a small sigh. They only had a few more days on the ship, and she knew that their time together was coming to an end.

They’d been the only people she’d met since she’d lost her family who had seen her. Who had tried to know her. And they’d be leaving without her if she did nothing.

It was only a matter of time.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Summers stretched as the others made their way on deck. It had been nearly three weeks since they’d last seen civilization. Come what may, he was at least glad they’d be getting off the boat soon.

Their next port was their last, one of the few that stood this far south. Summers watched as the foggy coast came into focus. The others were just as eager to get back onto dry land.

“Don’t get too excited,” Nowak cautioned. “Still a long road ahead of us.”

“Yeah . . .” Summers agreed. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to distract from the dull ache building in his head.

“You all right?” Nowak looked at him, concerned.

“Just something weird about the air here.”

That was a bit of an understatement. Summers felt as if his skin were vibrating, but that was low on his list of concerns.

“Be careful.” Summers heard the captain say from behind him. “The spirits are uneasy here. I can tell that you feel it too.”

Summers eyed the man. He’d stayed mostly to himself for the entire trip, but Summers was smart enough to know that warnings should never be taken lightly. Even if they came from possibly insane elves.

“What makes you say that?”

The captain put a hand to his chin in thought.

“At this time of day, there should be fishermen at work, children at play. The buildings stand, so it’s no conflict, but I see no one. This isn’t normal.”

Summers considered that as they approached.

The large village was quiet, but as they got closer, he realized the captain’s warnings were not entirely unfounded.

“Sarge, you loaded?” Summers turned to the others, checking them over.

The man nodded in response. Cortez moved to warn the others as the village came into view.

It was the same as many of the other towns they’d come across, and the captain had been wrong: there were people milling around at the town’s center. Most in armor, with spears in their hands.

That in itself wasn’t what worried him. No, it was the figures they saw hanging from the trees. A dozen, maybe more. Summers would hesitate to call them elves. Even from this distance, he could see their odd features, their skin an assortment of colors—some even looked to have fur or scales. Horns like those Summers had become intimately familiar with only a short time ago were attached to the head of a man hanging from the town’s center.

Summers watched as the people in the town reacted to their approach, moving to the long dock that lay in front of them. He took a breath, and double-checked his appearance.

Whatever happened here, one thing seemed certain. If he wasn’t careful, things could easily get messy.

Chapter 36: Changes

“We can’t thank you enough for getting us here.”

Summers bowed to the captain in front of him. The man returned his bow stiffly.

“It was my pleasure . . .” The captain straightened, looking Summers in the eye. “We’ll be leaving in just a few hours. You won’t have to worry about us at all.”

Summers wasn’t sure how that was supposed to reassure him, but he nodded all the same, waving the other sailors goodbye before heading toward the long dock at his back.

Looking up, he saw a man hanging from a tree near the port. He had long claws on his hands, not unlike a cat’s, with small, bone-like structures crisscrossing along his chest.

Summers again ensured that the tunic he wore was securely tied on. He hadn’t attempted to remove the rest of the hard, gray skin or spines that covered his torso and legs. They didn’t impede his movement too much, and with his sense of pain now back in full force, it wasn’t high on his list of priorities. But that could change here very soon.

Their arrival into port had been mostly made without issue, the townspeople more than welcoming to their small ship. But they still had one major problem.

The bodies that were hung as warning signs to outsiders were