The Angels of Carrigan Castle

The Angels of Carrigan Castle: Chapter 17

                Feet landing on the ground with a thump and a large splash, Keon groaned in annoyance as he felt the warm puddle fill his shoes with dirty water. “Italian leather, almost a grand and all it takes to ruin them is a fucking puddle.”

                He looked around at the jungle all around him; the trees were taller than some skyscrapers, trunks so wide he could not see around them, monkeys screaming, birds chirping and bugs flying all around. Stepping out of the puddle, he then looked to the sky to see if his travelling partner was close behind him.

                With another loud thump, an even larger splash and this time dirty water drenching him from head to foot, Keon opened his eyes to see Vaden stepping out of the puddle looking around, and “We’re a few miles outside of Rio?” He asked, glancing over at Keon, his eyes covered with dark aviators.

                “Yes, and thanks by the way, for ruining my clothes.” Keon ran his hands down his pants and shook the water off, “This shirt and pant combo probably cost more than your log cabin.”

                Vaden, who was wearing his apparent signature of a black t-shirt and black jeans stood there staring at him, frowning. Without a word he turned and headed off into the thick of the woods, leaving Keon surrounded by strange wilderness. Sighing, he picked up his own pace and caught up with Vaden several yards ahead bent over some tracks in the ground.

                “A body was dragged through here.” He mumbled, looking around

                Keon, who was the better tracker of the two, bent down and touched the ground with his fingers, following the apparent trail off into the distance and into the trees getting lost in the darkness of the forest. “Not too long ago by the looks of it, a couple of hours maybe.” Standing he followed the trail, slowly stepping beside it making sure not to disturb anything, “For all we know this could have been a human on human abduction. This area is known for drug trafficking, kidnapping, the works.”

                “Or it could be demon on human,” Vaden called out, pulling out his weapons and standing up. Vaden was always good to have around when in a strange place, the man was convinced that everything was something and that evil could be lurking anywhere that he was always prepared for a surprise attack. Not that Keon was not, he just went in wearing an eye patch only really seeing half of the big picture, enough to get  a jump on enemies if needed.

                Vaden caught up with Keon in the bushes, and they pushed their way through the heavy brush. Keon pulled out his machete and began chopping away at all the foliage in front as it became so thick they could not get through it.

                The trail was also becoming harder and harder to trace the farther into the brush they went. At some points he had to turn around and look to make sure he was not following something that was not there. For several hours they walked through the jungles of Brazil, each subtle movement in the brush making them prepare for an attack. On several occasions a large bird, wild boar, or primate would scamper away at their approach.

                Keon was several yards ahead of Vaden, who was taking the time looking beyond the trail for demonic evidence. Keon came upon a large break in the ground, holding up his hand to stop Vaden from walking over the edge. Without words, he pointed down the crack to a quarry, there were several figures moving around.

                “Demons?” Vaden whispered, coming up beside him and using large trails of grass as cover.

                “I can’t see any distinguishing markings,” Keon stated, squinting his eyes down at the three or four bodies moving around, “I can see packages and a boat. I can’t be sure, but if it’s not demons it’s a drug cartel. Should we investigate?”