Amila shook her head regretfully. "There was no trace of their presence in our immediate vicinity."
"Enemies are approaching," Solal announced as a swarm of Tsavitee rounded the corner, marching in their direction. "How would you like to handle this?"
The Tsavitee spotted Graydon and his oshota. A bugle sounded, followed by a loud roar as the front ranks charged.
"As we always have," Graydon announced, starting toward the Tsavitee. "Slaughter them all. Leave none standing."
Kira
Kira darted into the tree tops as movement came from up ahead. Using a branch as a perch, she concealed her presence just as a Tsavitee advance team passed under her.
Their numbers were made up of half a dozen demons and several class two war drones. It was the wraith among them that sent Kira's pulse into overdrive.
It stopped under her branch, lifting its head to sniff the air.
The movement exposed its face under the cowl and cloak it wore as protection against the sun. Without it, the wraith's skin would burn even under the weakest of light. It was that sensitivity that had earned it the name of wraith.
A thin layer of flesh stretched over the bones of its skull. It lacked the elasticity and extra tissue a human or Tuann face would have. As a result, it more closely resembled a skull. Its eyes and nose sunken in. Little more than hollowed out holes.
Moving carefully, Kira pointed her pulse rifle at the wraith.
"What do you sense?" Lothos asked from out of sight.
Kira's lungs froze at the appearance of the general. She didn't dare move so much as a muscle for fear of causing the branch to shake.
A wraith she could take. Even a squad of demons wasn't a problem. A general, though. That would be difficult.
Of all the rotten luck.
The wraith inhaled, air whistling through its nasal passages. "Death. A lot of it."
An explosion shook the forest.
"That has to be her," Lothos declared, looking in the direction of the blast. "Find her. I want her alive."
The demons and war drones set off, crashing through the underbrush. The wraith held back, studying the forest around it carefully.
"You too," Lothos ordered.
The wraith padded forward, gliding silently through the trees after the rest.
Kira didn't let herself relax, remaining tense as Lothos lingered under her tree. He remained there long enough for Kira to get antsy.
An ambush might not be so bad. Definitely preferable to the alternative.
She had just decided to drop on him from above when he left his spot, following the rest.
Kira released the breath she'd been holding. Lucky.
She waited until she judged him sufficiently far away before dropping to the ground. Only at that point did she realize that she'd forgotten to order the J1N to take cover.
"J1N," Kira hissed, scanning the area. "J1N, report."
The drone appeared under a nearby fern's large fronds. The dull gray of his casing doing a good job of blending in with his surroundings.
"J1N, really? Is that how you've been addressing my body all this time?"
Kira stopped. "Jin?"
"Do you really need to ask that?"
With a glad cry, Kira threw herself at her friend, grateful when he let her snag him for a hug.
"How?" she managed to ask through the tears that wanted to fall.
"Proximity."
Kira nodded, forcing herself to recover a modicum of control. With Elena still in danger, they didn’t have time for an emotional reunion. "Makes sense."
This close he’d be able to connect with the J1N in the same way he did his spawn.
The drone jerked back and forth. "What did you do in here? Everything feels wrong."
"I had to improvise."
"On my body?"
"I judged it necessary. Yes."
"Son of a—we're going to have a long talk later about boundaries," Jin griped, leading her toward the needle like structures.
"What's Elena's status?" Kira asked, ducking under a low lying branch.
"You're not going to like it."
Kira was certain of that. There wasn't much she liked right about now.
"They have her."
Kira ground to a halt. "How did that happen?"
"A very unfortunate series of events," Jin answered, sounding grim. "I don't know whether to call that child brave or stupid."
"What did she do?" Kira asked as she started walking again.
This time her pace was a little faster than before.
"She decided to play spy and landed in a situation over her head."