Killed Killers (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Chapter Thirty Six

When the man said his name, Ere felt power roll off of him in waves, causing her to sit up straighter, whether she meant to or not. She could tell that this man was important, although his power differed in some way from the power that Cayde and Monica seemed to possess. Where Cayde and Monica seemed to have power hidden just under the surface, where it was more controlled and focused, this man had it emanating from his very being. His power was raw, and Ere had the feeling his was better for fighting that Monica and Cayde. Maybe that was why he was leading their attack on the killed in Canada.

"I am leading you to an attack in Canada, on a few different killed that we believe are there. They seem to be getting closer to each other, and so our goal is to capture as many as possible, and then kill the rest." He paused, glancing around the room, his eyes gauging everyone's focus. Ere thought she saw a spark of recognition in his face when his eyes landed on her, but just as soon as his gaze found her, it moved on. "Understood?" He asked.

A sound of affirmation came from around the table, and Ere shifted her weight forwards, his power coaxing her to pay attention.

"Okay, so here's the game plan. We have a new person on the team, so she'll be trailing Gem on his assignment." He looked pointedly at Gem and Ere as he made the comment. "Gem, you'll be on striker, along with the newbie, Alice, Emeline, Doran, and Zane. That's six of you all together. Clear?"

Half of the people nodded, and Ere assumed that those were the other people on the striker team.

"Next, I want Hadrian and Carac to stay back with me and protect the portals. Finally, I want Thea, Cedany, and Brom to hang back as backup. I want you watching the front runners and keeping an eye on the captives that they're going to hand back to you. Is everyone clear on what position they're going to be at?" He looked around the table, and his gaze was met with slight nods and grim smiles.

"Okay, that's good. On the striker team, I want Emeline, Zane, and Alice to be on the front line, subduing the killed and handing them back to your other three team mates to be bound. Gem, you can teach the newbie how to bind, and I want you to all be working double time. We want to get in and out as fast as we can. You will bind them and hand them back to Hadrian, Carac, or me and we'll hand them off to some people back here. They'll be taken to the infirmary to be checked out. I want Thea, Cedany, and Brom overseeing everything. If anything unexpected happens, you are going to jump in to help us. You protect your teammates and the portal. You are not to show your faces unless something happens. Are we clear?"

His question was again met with nods.

"Alright, sounds like we're ready to go. Let's gear up and head to portal room." Everyone sitting around the table stood up, heading towards the back of the room. Ere followed the rest of them, and before too long found herself passing from the original room into a long hallway. It was dimly lit and smelled of rust, and Ere had to fight the urge to gag on the smell. A few paces later and she found herself crossing into yet another space, this one just as dimly lit as the hallway before it, but smelling less of rust and more of clean metal. Ere looked up from the ground and sucked in a breath of air.

The walls of the small room were covered in all manner of odd weaponry, from classical flat blades to scythes that curved wickedly towards the ceiling. Shelves filled the far end of the room, and Ere caught a glimpse of things that looked like huge metal cuffs. The air in the room was freezing cold, only adding to the dangerous feeling. People surged around her, scurrying from one place to another, grabbing weapons off of the walls. She felt someone grab her wrist, dragging her off towards one wall. She looked back to find that Gem was pulling her towards the scythes that she had noticed earlier. He grabbed two of them off of the wall, strapping them to his belt before he turned back to her.