The air suddenly filled with bullets and cannon fire. The 20 mm cannon left man-sized craters in the rocky ground and flaming trees.
Caught between the demons and friendly fire, Simon knew they couldn’t stay there. The water wasn’t safe either. From the corner of his eye, he saw two of the men burned to blackened husks then sink beneath the incoming waves.
He caught Leah’s arm. “Get up. Run.” He pulled her into motion, surprised at her strength.
Thankfully she recognized the vulnerability of their position. She fell in behind Simon as they skirted the approaching demon party and ran more deeply into the woods. If they had enough time, he felt certain they could lose themselves in the forest. Darkspawn were scavengers, used to trolling around in the remnants of cities, according to the books Simon had read and according to his instructors. In the wild, he believed they had a chance.
He ran, but he knew the Darkspawn were faster than they were. And probably not as hampered with the weapons they carried. The Barrett was over twenty pounds of serious hardware.
In seconds, the rendezvous point on the shoreline had become a conflagration. Flames twisted up through the branches, sending a steady rain of flames shooting up into the sky. Noise of machine-gun fire and cannon fire thundered along the coast.
Simon kept the Barrett in front of him, wishing he had his sword, wishing he had his armor. With those he at least stood a chance against his enemies.
Unless even those can’t make a difference. The stories he’d heard about the dead “knights” that had been seen in London led him to believe that maybe not even those Templar-created items would serve. They were outnumbered there. They didn’t use tactics. They were overconfident. But he didn’t know if he believed that.
Branches whipped at Simon’s face. He held the rifle up to ward some of them off, but the effort didn’t do as much good as he would have liked. Deadly violet beams from the Darkspawn weapon felled trees and started fires.
A dead tree filled the path in front of Simon. He placed a palm on the tree and vaulted it, pausing only long enough to glance back, leveling the Barrett automatically.
Leah leaped over the fallen tree like an Olympic athlete, never even breaking stride. Patel’s crew member scrambled and hit the tree all wrong. Before he could get over, one of the four Darkspawn that followed him grabbed his head in one massive hand. The demon closed its fist and blood spurted as the man’s head collapsed.
Thirteen
S imon fired almost point-blank into the Darkspawn’s face. He was aiming at one of the eyes and hoping that was a weak point even for the Barrett. The 50 caliber round smashed through the eye, pulping it. The demon staggered back into its mates, holding up the chase for a moment. The wounded one dropped its victim and roared in rage.
In the next moment 20 mm cannon fire raked the forest, toppling trees. Simon felt the vibrations climb through his legs as he turned back toward Leah.
The young woman stood with her back to a tree, peering back at the demons. She changed magazines on the machine pistol. Panic showed in her eyes, but she sounded almost calm as she yelled, “We’re not going to make it! They’re too fast!”
“Run!” Simon ordered, shoving her into motion. They didn’t have a choice.
Leah led the way through the forest, dodging trees and boulders, skidding down leaf-covered and snow-covered inclines that had turned to mud. They barely kept their feet most of the time.
And the Darkspawn pursued.
Without warning, another group came up on their right. Simon spotted them in the darkness, then Leah threw up a hand and shouted a warning.
“Left!” Simon yelled, surging past her and charging in that direction. His breath burned the back of his throat. The fog burned his eyes.
A purple beam blazed a trench in front of him. Unable to change directions, Simon tried to leap across it, but the side gave way and he fell before he could jump. He rolled, hanging on to the Barrett because even though it wouldn’t kill the demons, it was at least a weapon.
Something caught Simon’s foot and wouldn’t let go.
Controlling the panic that soared through him, Simon rolled over onto his back and gazed up at the Darkspawn. Simon kicked twice, trying to free himself, but didn’t succeed. His foot simply struck the demon’s chest and stopped. Simon’s ankle screamed in pain at the impacts.
The demon laughed while it maintained a crushing grip on Simon’s leg.
Thrusting the Barrett between them, Simon fired into its face. The bullet ricocheted, coming almost straight back and burying into the ground only inches from Simon’s head. He swung the rifle, hoping to use it as a club to break free of the Darkspawn’s grip.
The creature swept an arm out almost lazily. The impact ripped the rifle from Simon’s fingers and broke the Barrett into pieces. Fingers numb, Simon watched helplessly as the rifle bounced off nearby trees and finally fell to the ground twenty feet away.
“Die, hu-man!” the demon shrieked. According to the ancient texts, the Darkspawn had limited ability to speak, but they’d already picked up the English language. They served as spies and were quick-witted enough to be intuitive about prey and technology.
Simon gripped the Darkspawn’s powerful wrist in both his hands. Straining, Simon tried to break free of the inexorable grip. Unable to match the creature in strength, Simon searched for nerve clusters he could inflict pain to. The scaly hide seemed impenetrable, though. Black comets swirled in his vision. He tried to breathe…couldn’t.
Then the Darkspawn’s grotesque head leaped from its broad shoulders in a spray of green ichors. Simon thought he was hallucinating. He knew from experience that he was on the edge of blacking out.
A mailed fist,
