Forbidden Rule (An Alien Love #2)

Chapter Thirteen

Jace's POV

In a matter of half an hour, we had arrived to the territory the king had notated. My nerves buzzed along my skin-I was ready to destroy if needed. The weapons at my hips held a comforting weight, accompanied by the shapeshifting necklace at my throat. My men watched in silence as we landed on a grassy shelf overlooking short rocky mountains and a black lake. The sky had the dimmed light of lowering suns and distant moons. 

I scanned my hand to open the door. We made formation and headed out, quiet speed our advantage over any Sharve or other possible trespassers. We rounded the crest and flowed down and around the lake shore. Curious creatures skimmed the waters' surface, making the surrounding sparse trees move with evacuating air life. 

The kings' instruction had stated movement was detected about the plains of the west, which was close to our current position. All we had to do was move through two higher hills that towered over any trees we passed. They created a rough gap to pass through in between. I examined this as we neared, my troop men utterly silent around and behind me. A tickling sensation washed over my spine.

I held a hand up and we stopped. I cocked my head to listen, my hair brushing my ears in the breeze. There was nothing to be heard out of the ordinary, but I stayed paused and glanced at Jaric. His yellow eyes burned watchfully and attentive, and he nodded. I could not shake the feeling that something was wrong, or awaiting us either in or past the gap.  

But alas, I could not stand here all evening long. I released a tarpin, a weapon shaped like a cylinder that would release a spike that would in turn erupt into electrified spines when embedded in an enemy. My men in turn reciprocated arming themselves. I led the way into the entrance of the pass, darkness cloaking us as we moved through the rough jagged edges on either side of us. 

A smell, so soft I almost dismissed it, greeted me as we reached the halfway point. Something similar to brackish water or stale mud. I looked up and around, still not seeing anything on the cliffs above or around the opening three hundred yards ahead. I gave the signal for everyone to cloak with their camouflage devices. These were so effective that when used, the user was essentially invisible. We continued forward, the smell becoming ever so slightly stronger, pungent. 

Then, the ground began a vibration. We did not stop, continuing to the opening. I stopped and peered out, the quakes continuing like large footsteps. The plain laid bare ahead of me, shadowed and shifting with grasses and wind. The moons above glinted strongly on puddles that littered the ground as if it'd rained recently. It reminded me of Earth, how you could read by moonlight if the moon was full and the sky was clear with stars. This far away from the main territory of the kings' area made for actual nightfall versus an ever present dusk. This would be a nice getaway spot if it weren't for being under the thumb of the king still. The vibrations stopped abruptly. 

Jaric and I threw each other wondering looks. I did not know if I wanted to move forward or wait a few moments. I shrugged and figured if something was waiting for us, then it would try eventually anyway, so why prolong the time? We began forward again and stepped out into the open.

Immediately, chaos broke out. Three of my men were swept off their feet and thrown against the face of the hills. Hemlock was smacked on the face by an invisible force, ending on his back on the ground twenty feet away. I threw a shield around us, encircling the ones thrown farther away before anything else could happen. Something, very large and towering, shadowed the other side of the shield. It was silhouetted by the moons and glittering dark sky as it moved slowly to our right, looking closer in. I did not know what on this planet this could be.