Enemy Underground

[Reggie]

I sat in the tree tops and leaned forward, adjusting my braided bun. For three days, I’d been scouting the area. Lots of ex-trackers would come through here, but I would lose their scent. There had to be an entrance nearby and I intended to find it.

A few minutes later, a tiger came through. I loved the rich scent of the large cats. There was more power to them than to almost any other shifter I’d seen. Using my tail, I lowered myself to the bottom branch. Quietly, I gripped it and gently dropped to the ground. The tiger paused and sniffed. He wouldn’t smell me, though.

I found the urine of female animals in estrus, especially carnivores and omnivores, would completely conceal my scent. Of course, it led to me having to sleep in trees, but nothing could be done. Thank goodness, wolves can’t climb. I learned my lesson with bears…. Not that it really mattered, this was the last of the harvested urine.

Keeping myself low, I stayed near enough that I could see the tiger, but not be out in the open if he turned to look around. His long legs picked their way carefully through the underbrush. He was trying not to leave a path. We neared the edge of the forest.

 - 

There were several hills around a large meadow. Small rises peaked up, covered in tall grasses and wild flowers. At the base of one of the rises was a broken tree stump. I dropped low, into the grass as the tiger looked around. He reached down and pulled the stump at the base. It came out of the ground like a hinged hatch.

They’d said the ex-leaders and their minions had gone underground, I almost laughed at it being literal. I watched as the stump went back in place. I finally had them after months of searching.

It was clever. I wondered when the vampire had it built. This was a great place for a hiding spot when they needed to sleep out a decade or two before starting a new life.

I crawled up on top of the shelter and sniffed around until I found one of the air vents. Though I couldn’t scent exactly how many there were, I could tell how many different species were down there. Getting close, I leaned in to listen. The tall grasses hid me from prying eyes.

“The liger’s back! Any luck?” A voice teased.

“Don’t call me that! I can’t control what my parents name me. As far as I can tell, there’s no portal to the resistance in my designated search area. None of our scouts in the other appointed areas came back, so I have to assume they were there.” The tiger replied.

I nearly had my list made, it would help when the fight started. Knowing exactly what we were dealing with in terms of enemy warriors and terrain could be the deciding factor in this war. There was some scuffling sound in the shelter.

“That female wolf must be around. I heard her fighting off a couple males last night. Every time she comes around, our rogues go a little nuts. Frankly, we should just let them out. Maybe she can teach them to fight.” The teaser laughed.

“Shut the hell up, Travis. No one thinks you’re funny.” A voice growled.

“Gentlemen. Please stop fighting each other. We need to focus our anger at the creatures who took our power from us.” The smooth toned voice made my skin crawl.

Had to be a vampire. With the level of death I smelled, there were at least a half dozen in this shelter. If the other little berms were also shelters, then there could be at least a thousand people under this land. Could even be more if some of the shelters were around the edges of the clearing.

“The humans?” Travis asked.

“The rulers. The ones who took our guards, our prisoners, our soft succubae. The ones led by that damned wolf. He should have died that night. Of course he was hiding while the demon queen fought his battles. Then he uses her to rally the humans to his side. Stupid gullible humans. They fall for a sad story and a pretty face so damned often it’s practically a trope.” The vampire snorted.

“She was pretty cute. You know she came on to me once. Asked me to join her harem.” The tiger chuckled. “I almost did.”

“Please, Leon. She was just messing with you. Concubae are selfish, cruel, bitches. She was using your attraction to her to distract you. And it worked.” Another man spat angrily.

I grinned. Sounded like my type of woman. Over the last couple months, I’d heard bits and pieces about the demon queen. All the incubi who trekked through the forest did was complain about how she’d stolen their king and made him weak. Turned him against them. Part of me wished I could’ve met this queen, but she’d died fighting. Like a true warrior.

“You’re just jealous she didn’t look at you like she looked at me, Colin. The fact that her mate was the wolf king just showed, she had no interest in demons. None of you could do for her what we did.” The tiger growled.

“Stop!” Another male voice, another vampire, shouted. “Don’t speak of that dead whore again! She took my future from me and my arm! We need to focus on wiping out the rest of the trash. If I can’t rule them, I will destroy them.” He ended with a mumble.

I crawled away to sniff out the other hills. My assessment seemed to be correct. They were all inhabited. None with less than a hundred beings.

After a few hours of assessing the mounds, I searched for a well leaved tree to spend the day in. The scent would only be good for another night. Once I got a layout of the land around, I could head to the resistance and give my report. The battle would begin soon and we’d be able to deal a final blow to the men who’d hurt so many.

I found a nice, big tree with thick limbs. I grew out my claws and climbed to the highest limb that would hold my weight. Laying down on my stomach, I extended my wings over the two nearest branches and wrapped my tail around myself and the tree. Putting my hands under my cheek, my eyelids grew heavy as dawn reached over the mountains.

***

As the sun set, I felt my stomach growl. Time to hunt down something for breakfast. I sniffed the air and caught the scent of a deer. It was too much food for me to consume myself. There were some rabbits nearby. Perfect.

I set off to hunt and managed a very plump little rabbit. Ripping into its soft flesh with my claw, I tore back the skin and began my meal. Raw meat was the only thing that satisfied my hunger and animal meat kept my scent mild enough I wouldn’t be sniffed out. When I was full, I left the carcass for scavengers. It was my way of helping the creatures I lived with.

My job for the night was to scout and memorize the terrain. Everything that could be used to our advantage when it was time. Bringing the fight to the enemy wasn’t a great idea. They had the advantage of knowing their land.

It took me two weeks to find this place and I’d explored the forests to the east and south of the meadow thoroughly. Now, I would focus on the north and west as much as I could. Since it was July, the nights weren’t long and the day time was too dangerous.

Using all of the speed I had, I travelled to the hillsides that overlooked the hide outs of the enemy. It looked like the area was mostly bare. Only a few smaller trees. I dug my fingers into the earth.

The layers I pulled out revealed a black line. Fire. Looked like they got it out before it overtook the whole place, but it had led to fewer full trees and more of the bare, mossy trunks dotting the landscape.

I headed to the northern part of the forest. It grew thicker as I pushed forward. This wasn’t ideal for many of our fighters. Demons needed space. Some of the shifters would do well here. Nature fae and forest creatures as well. The entire group could separate by type and converge from all directions. There were no traps, so it seemed they felt safe in their little holes.

I worked to explore further into the woods, mentally mapping the area and noting the flora and fauna in the area. Soon, dawn was coming and I was searching for a safe place to sleep for the day.

As I drifted to sleep in the high branches of a tall tree, I thought about the future. I was so close to being able to take my information in to base. Then I could have a hot shower, cooked food, soft bed, and a couple people to feed on properly.

***

I finished my meal the following evening at dusk. An incubus. My mind had been occupied and I hadn’t scented him while I was hunting.

The fight had been short, but bloody. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time as I ripped open his rib cage and pulled his heart free. The hearts of one’s enemy was one of the best meals and I enjoyed it. Much more filling than the rabbit the night before.

I climbed up the nearest tall tree and extended my wings as I prepared to take flight. Once I was in the air, my mind calmed. Flying always soothed me.

Carefully, I noted the topography of the land around the field and the field itself. I circled widely and found the edges of the forest. There were two more clearings.

Landing near the first, I sniffed out the mounds and found more supernaturals. It was concerning. The makeup was the same as the clearing I searched the other night.

In the second one, I found humans. Listening at the vents, I heard them talking about silver bullets and daemon shot. That would be dangerous for the resistance. Not many were well versed in long range attacks.

This was the last bit of information I felt would be important. It was the final piece of recon I needed to do. Knowing that not all the humans intended to fight, and there were some dominance issues in the supernaturals, would help.

The fact that they were keeping humans in a shelter they couldn’t escape from, was huge. Some of the humans saw themselves as what they were, bait, cannon fodder, shields. Others thought they played a grander role. The ones who were easily swayed by a little power and a lot of flattery.

They were willing to sacrifice their families for this. I would make sure they paid for taking their familial responsibilities for granted.

I focused inward, heeding the call of my Vasili and following my heart. I flew off to where I felt the tug leading me to the base. I landed at the edge of a graveled parking lot and walked into the woods.