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In The Smoke
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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The Pack's Emissary Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Four
Havermouth, Present TimeSamuel circled high in the sky watching below as the Mer approached the bridge. So far, there was nothing about the Mer approach to be alarmed about. It seemed as if the Mer were doing precisely what they had discussed with the Emissary.A glint in the distance however caught his eye. For a moment he debated staying and watching the meeting or investigating. He decided to investigate. His heart began to race when he saw that the Mer had infiltrated the streets of the town. They had encountered the first roadblock and had divided up to investigate alternative routes so that the little side streets and alleys glittered with Mer in armour. Further into the town, he caught a shift of light – something moving that was reflecting the scenery around it. Camouflage.They were headed towards where the streets were busy with pedestrian traffic. That in itself was unusual for Havermouth. The civilians had been told to keep movement to the minimal, to seek shelter, and st
The Pack's Emissary Rhett the Medic
Havermouth, Present TimeRhett decided very quickly that whilst he didn’t like flying, he liked landing even less. The explosion sent him and Cameron flying along the main road. At the same time, it flipped one of the abandoned cars onto its side and when they landed, slammed up against the concrete base of a lingerie shop, the car followed behind them. For a moment, he thought they were going to pan-caked between the car and the wall, but the car hooked on a lamppost, and instead of killing them, it saved their lives as a moment later, a ball of fire sizzled up against it.The shop window behind them warped and shattered with the heat, and the lingerie on the mannequins smouldered into flame. Rhett grabbed Cameron and dragged him away as the burning shreds of fabric rained down.In his head he heard Aislen call his name, and he looked up, trying to see her. They hadn’t been standing far from each other. But the smoke was fucking thick and rank around him. His lungs stung to breath th
The Pack's Emissary Blood, Breaks, and Burns
Havermouth, Present TimeTalen was on fire. He had been thrown by the explosion through the window of a shop, and the fireball that had followed had torn the wood and metal of the structure down over him, along with shelving and stock. His head had struck the concrete flooring hard enough that he had blacked-out, and it wasn’t until the pain of his beard catching alight registered that he was shocked back into alertness. He fought his way free of the burning debris and slapped out the fire that scorched hair and flesh, his hand coming away with black char and wet skin. How long had he lay slowly burning?(Talen! Are you okay?) Morgana cried out in his mind.(A little singed around the edges) he lied. He was far from okay. His hands and chest shrieked in pain, and he could feel that the fabric knit stuck to the burnt skin below its charred surface, but his neck and cheek no longer hurt. The area felt stiff, fragile, and foreign - as if it did not quite belong to him. He knew that to be
The Pack's Emissary The Mer Mess
Havermouth, Present TimeNiarthen had been betrayed was the first thought Lyric had as she’d surfaced in the river after the explosion. The second was that she hoped the vampire blood-cure was still effective even after so long. She swam to the bank at Niarthen’s side and fought their way through the weeds up onto the land, and then out of the undergrowth onto the main street, where she stopped to gape at the destruction.The buildings to either side were burning and collapsing inwards, and smoke pouring thickly onto the street, seeming drawn there, its swirls pushing up against an invisible barrier.“Are you injured?” The vampiress Sigrid appeared abruptly on the road by them and Lyric jumped, her hand going to the weapon on her hip. The woman was filthy, covered in soot so that it appeared as if she wore a mash, her eyes and teeth bright in contrast.Niarthen seemed less surprised by her arrival. “Nothing serious.”“You are injured,” Lyric removed her helmet as she saw that the vamp
The Pack's Emissary Three Sets of Gloves
Havermouth, Present TimeThe town had erupted into chaos underneath him as Samuel navigated his way back to the witch’s house where he had left Ember. The zombies moved with purpose, seemingly drawn towards the center of the town, and the Mer soldiers followed in their wake. The Mer, however, after the explosion in the town, seemed to have decided that the zombies were no longer their only targets, and they had begun dragging people from their homes, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies and crumpled buildings.In addition, behind the zombies were the humans of the Van Helsing army, and as they encountered the Mer in the streets they began to deploy larger, more destructive weapons, hand grenades, and infantry support weapons.Flying this low was becoming hazardous, he was within the sites of the small tanks and machine guns. Plus, either the Mer or the Van Helsings were destroying buildings, so every now and again, a blast from below would batter his flight path, before shooting up a
The Pack's Emissary Aeylira and Benethin
Havermouth, Present TimeThe smoke was so thick that Rhett’s eyes wept constantly as he scanned the shifting shadows that it created, hoping to find Aislen. Heath gripped onto the waistband of Rhett’s jeans so that they weren’t separated by the smoke and the drag against Rhett’s hips was both reassuring and annoying. Neither of them called out for Aislen. They had quickly agreed that walking through the smoke calling out her name would just bring danger to them all, and so, instead, Heath focused on calling out mentally whilst Rhett searched visibly.Searching visibly was less about finding Aislen than about making sure they didn’t accidentally walk into the waiting arms of a zombie, fall over a corpse, or receive the pointy end of a Mer weapon. Rhett was losing count of his narrow misses.Heath was starting to cough. He was trying to smother it, seeking not to draw attention to them, but it was persistent. Rhett had to admit that his own lungs were protesting, and he hadn’t reached fo
The Pack's Emissary Aislen’s Arrival at the MegaStore
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen smiled as she finally managed to lay Gera down in the cot and took a moment to admire the chub of her sleeping daughter’s cheek and the soft blonde hair that Heath had styled into pigtails that morning. In her sleep, Gera’s mouth worked, sucking on an imaginary breast although she was long weaned and onto blood, as if the memory of nursing lingered in her dreams.Aislen crept across the room, avoiding the floorboards that squeaked but left the door open behind her as was their habit so as to hear when Gera woke no matter where in the house they were. With four parents with hybrid keen hearing, there had never been a need for a baby monitor in order to hear when Gera woke from a nap.For a moment, Aislen contemplated returning to the art studio upstairs that she had appropriated from Rhett, though she let him use it if he asked nicely on his knees between her thighs. She paused with her hand on the newel post and one foot on the stairs, and then heard a
The Pack's Emissary A Frank Discussion With Stella
Havermouth, Present Time“We are here to help,” Stella said. “We have prepared everything that you need, Aislen. This premise is secured. Nothing can get in, and nothing can get out without us knowing, and our people are prepared. You do not need to worry about anything beyond this room. All you need to do is listen to your body and birth this baby.”“Chained to the floor,” Aislen said through her teeth.“A safety measure, that is all.”“I need my mates,” Aislen pointed out. “The fathers should be here. And there’s a war going on outside. Leighton has gone nuclear, the Van Helsings have worked out how to control the zombies, and the Mer army is fighting them in the streets.”“All of which does not concern you,” Stella smiled. “This baby is coming Aislen. You cannot be roaming the streets and fighting whilst in labor. Your job right now is this, and only this – giving life, and continuing the blood line of the Mother Goddess.”“Argh,” Aislen growled in response, eloquence stolen by anot
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The Pack's Emissary If You Choose
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen was looking down at a chessboard. She was holding a little statuette of Verina in her hand. She shook as she set it down on her side of the board and looked up at the woman who sat across from her. This time, the handmaiden or goddess, whatever she was, wore gold. Not some cheap and tacky replica, or some misleading named yellow, but true gold.An elaborate metal headdress began on her forehead, framing her face and covering her hair, continuing from just below her chin to spread over her shoulders and down her chest. The dress was made of fine chain link that draped like material, clinging to her curvaceous body, before dripping away into the aether that crept around their feet. Her lips were painted gold, and so were her eyelids and eyebrows. Golden rings encircled her fingers, and her wrists and arms were heavy with bracelets and cuffs. The tips of her fingers were dipped in gold.She was magnificent and regal and there was a formality to the way tha
The Pack's Emissary Preparing for Leighton
Havermouth, Present TimeThe room stank. They could smell it the moment they started down the hallway. Old blood, rotten flesh, and rodents. Connery made a noise in the back of his throat and fished in his pockets producing a handkerchief and stuffing it full of herbs from a pouch. He held it out to Meguitte who smiled and shook her head ruefully. She had smelled this particular scent before, many times over the centuries, during plagues and in the dungeons where people were tortured and left to rot.“I guess it’s a good thing that no one has been here to clean up after Leighton, as the ward will be untouched,” Connery commented, his voice muffled by the handkerchief.Blow flies greeted them. The cages were empty, but no one had scrubbed the room, and there were buckets sticky with congealed blood, stains of it on the floors and walls, and other biological matter in the corners of the cages where the prisoners had relieved themselves. The room rustled with bugs as a result.“Hmm,” Meg
The Pack's Emissary Gera
Havermouth, Present Time“You’re doing great,” Heath was breathless. He and Rhett had run, dragging with them several screaming witches. They had been pursued, by Mer, by zombies, by the few Van Helsing soldiers who had survived, but they’d been able to put some distance between them with help from the dragons in the sky. It had been very weird to see the dragons sending bolts of lighting and fire to hold off pursuit. One of them had done something that had made the earth beneath Heath’s feet tremble with a clap of thunder that had his ears still ringing.The timing had been perfect. They’d headed towards Leighton’s warehouse, and just as he’d started to debate which warehouse was likely, the door of the Stock Feed and Animal Supplies warehouse had opened revealing Phillip Salem. When he’d entered and seen Aislen on her hands and knees in a clearing within the filthy warehouse, he had not known whether to be relieved or despairing. The warehouse was so precarious a place for his mate
The Pack's Emissary Birthing Suites
Havermouth, Present Time“Stella was anticipating that your mates would attack the ward,” Phillip commented mildly as he riffled through the cupboards. “I am curious to see what happened when she found Leighton instead of them. He did not seem happy.”“Leighton was there? Shit,” Aislen’s heart picked up pace. “We really don’t want him to find us, Phillip. We tried to turn him over to the Mer, but it failed. Verina died though, and Leighton’s pissed in a big way. He came to kill me.”“Possibly, or to steal the baby,” Phillip agreed indifferently inspecting a steak knife before returning it to the drawer. “I think you over value yourself, Aislen, and undervalue what you’re carrying.”“Gee, thanks. Hopefully, Stella took Leighton out,” Aislen added thoughtfully. “She was well set up there, with a massive coven behind her. However powerful Leighton is, I doubt he’s as powerful as them.”“That is true. But then, Stella will have discovered that you are not there, and will know that I betra
The Pack's Emissary The Spell Trap
Havermouth, Present Time“I’m fine, my darling, truly, cross my heart,” Connery pressed the heel of his hand to his chest earnestly. Meguitte narrowed her eyes at him with suspicion. He was still paler than normally, with shadows pressed deep into his under eyes.“Have a sandwich and a cup of tea,” the werewolf Diana insisted offering both from a tray. She was going around the lower floor exchanging food and drinks for blood, and Meguitte sent her a side-eye. “I won’t take his blood,” Diana added hastily. “I can see that he can’t spare it. Perhaps you could, though?”“Me?” Meguitte was astonished by the suggestion.“It won’t take more than ten minutes, and I’m very gentle, I promise.”“It’s not that,” Meguitte explained. “I’m just… not an ordinary vampire. I have none of their normal powers.”“All blood is good blood at the moment,” Diana had sensed surrender and was preparing the kit.Meguitte sat next to Connery and rolled up her sleeve.He smiled at her. “How generous you are my be
The Pack's Emissary The Fked Up, The Fkers, and the Fish
Havermouth, Present TimeRhett and Heath did not speak as they wound their way through the streets of Havermouth. There was little opportunity to talk, slinking through the shadows, down the little alleyways between houses, and cutting through back gardens, but there was also a heavy sense of silence between them so that Rhett knew that even if they had been able, they both would have been too lost in their thoughts. Or lost in their worries, would be more accurate.They had searched the area around the smoke thoroughly, even venturing into the still-burning buildings. There had been no sign of Aislen. And no response to their mental calls for their mate. An icy fist of dread had a tight grip on Rhett’s heart. Why was she not answering? She had to be unconscious or…They would know if she had died. He refused to believe otherwise.Had Leighton found her first? What would Leighton do if he had found Aislen? He still struggled to see Leighton as dangerous, whatever mental voodoo the man
The Pack's Emissary Sigrid and the Mer
Havermouth, Present TimeThere were some languages that were universal, Sigrid thought grimly as she examined the Mer weaponry and made sure that she was familiar with its function. She could tell from the way the Mer moved, from the set of their shoulders, that they were uneasy with the alliance between herself and Niarthen. Their tolerance was thin, and only their respect for Niarthen, and the other two Mer generals, Benethin and Aeylira, kept them obedient. The moment word was received from above that Havermouth was to be destroyed, her life was forfeit.“Do not fear,” Niarthen said quietly. “Aeylira, Benethin, Lyric, and I will ensure that you reach your mates. There is a building which has been declared sacred. Lyric thinks it’s the hospital. That is where your mates are, yes? You should be safe there.”“I am with child,” she told him. “Triplets. The life of four rests on your promise.”“I understand,” he was grim. “Lyric also carries our child.”“If the tide turns,” she regarded
The Pack's Emissary The Dragon’s Battle
Havermouth, Present TimeMagic was in its very nature an invisible thing. You did not see a spell cast, but rather the effects of the spell once it found its victim. Therefore, the warlock Leighton appeared to do very little other than stand with his hands pressed to the surface of the ward, the energy blowing back his hair and causing sweat to break out on his forehead, but Samuel could FEEL the power, and see the reaction of the ward, its opaque surface shifting like water, areas clearing so that the dragons caught brief glimpses of the witches below scurrying about like ants as they tried to reinforce their magic by scattering herbs and arcane objects, and drawing runes on the bitumen.Samuel’s memories of the gloves were still fragmented, but he could recall the power they had given him – not just increased speed, strength, and stamina, but also a magic that was unnatural to him. He could feel a similar magic burning through his veins towards his heart and brain, poisoning as it b
The Pack's Emissary Good Monsters
Havermouth, Present TimeIn the front yard of the witch’s house, Jules caught Harry’s hand, pulling them to a stop. “I should shift,” he explained as he released Harry’s hand and began to strip off his clothing. “We can fly over the trouble.”“Aren’t you the clever one, my beloved,” Harry reached out and began to collect Jules’s clothes as Jules undressed. Jules looked up from stripping off his jeans to find Harry’s eyes hot and his smirk smoldering, and laughed, pulled from the seriousness of the war around them into a moment of pure joy as they celebrated what existed between them.“Okay,” Jules blushed as he finished undressing. “A moment.”Harry stepped back onto the porch and Jules focused on his shift. It was still a foreign experience, one that his body and mind told him shouldn’t be possible despite his entire life as a werewolf. Becoming a werewolf was a redistribution of his body – what existed simply moved to a position more appropriate for the shape that he wished to posses
