The War for Ezryn - Books 1-2

Prologue-1

Michael swung the bat as hard as he could, striking the baseball with a sound like thunder, sending it flying to the outfield. Billy looked up, desperately trying to track it, but the glare of the setting sun got in his eyes. Sweat made his glasses slide down his nose; he had to adjust them.

All the other kids kept shouting for Billy to get the ball, but he didn’t even know where to start looking. Finally, he heard a soft rustle in the bushes. That could only mean one thing: Michael had knocked it out of the park. Literally.

At thirteen years old, Michael Bateson was a few inches taller than most of his peers. He had a strong chin and thick, blonde hair. Susie Jenkins kept insisting that he was the most kissable boy in their class, though Billy had no idea how she had reached that conclusion.

Rounding second, Michael slowed down just long enough to show Billy a smirk. The others were cheering him on, urging him to run for home -- not that it made any difference. He could take a leisurely stroll, and there was nothing that Billy or his teammates could do to stop him from scoring a run.

Sighing softly, Billy turned his back on home plate and pounded his fist into his glove. He trudged across the field to the bushes at the edge of the park. “Get the damn ball, Miller!” James shouted.

“Watch your mouth,” Billy muttered under his breath. He was already on his way to do just that. The bushes formed a line at the edge of the park. Behind them, the trees that surrounded Tucker Creek stood tall and proud.

Billy wasn’t supposed to go in there. His mother had told him many times that he wasn’t allowed to play near the creek. She kept insisting that some kids had drowned in there a few years back. Billy had asked around, and no one seemed to know what she was talking about.

It didn’t help that the story kept changing. The first version took place in 1953. Two boys were playing in the stream when one of them got swept under by the current. Then it was 1957, and one of those boys was now the other one’s sister. Billy was pretty sure the whole thing was made up.

He was smaller than the other kids, and because of that, his mom seemed to think he needed extra protection. Well, that was fine. He didn’t want to play in the creek anyway. He had a bunch of comics that his father had bought on his last trip to Parkersburg, and he would much rather be reading those than searching for some stupid baseball. But his dad wanted him to spend time with the other kids; so, here he was.

Billy turned sideways, slipping between two bushes. Some of the needles scraped his skin, and he hissed from the sting. Wincing, he scooted out the other side, into the trees. The ball had to be around here somewhere. He just had to…

Something made him freeze.

There in the distance, partially hidden behind a tree trunk, a man in a shiny, blue suit stood looking at the creek. He was much taller than he should have been with huge, broad shoulders and a bald head. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

The man’s skin was white!

Not pale or pink but white like snow. He seemed to notice that Billy was watching because he turned around and smiled. It was the most terrifying smile Billy had ever seen, made all the worse by the fact that this stranger’s eyes were just a little too far apart. His nose was broad and flat, and his mouth! Those teeth were sharper than they should have been. “Don’t be afraid,” he said in a slow, droning voice.

Billy backed away, tripping over an exposed root and falling backward into the bushes. He tried to pick himself up, but the bald man was suddenly standing over him. There was no way that anyone could have crossed that distance so quickly.

“What is this place?”

Billy blinked. “It’s Tucker’s Creek.”

“Tucker’s Creek.”

Billy should have been crying; he should have been screaming. But all he could do was stare up at the strange man in wide-eyed amazement. “Are you an alien?”

Ignoring the question, the bald man glanced up to the heavens. That sickening grin never wavered. “How many people live here?”

“In Elizabeth?” Billy spluttered. “Seven hundred and twenty-seven.”

“No,” the man said. “Here!” He stamped his foot down on the earth several times. “How many of your kind are there?”

Billy’s mouth fell open, a ragged breath escaping him. “My kind?” he whispered. “You mean humans? You’re going to invade us, aren’t you?”

“Heldrid!” the man shouted, twisting around and peering deeper into the forest. “Heldrid, you’ve brought us to the wrong coordinates!”

Another alien emerged from behind a tree. This one was shorter than the other – though not by much – and slimmer as well. His skin was gray instead of white. His suit was green instead of blue. But the one thing they had in common was that demonic, rictus grin.

“There are billions of them here!” Heldrid protested.

“This world is claimed,” the first alien replied. “Can you not feel it?”

Heldrid turned his head, directing that hideous smile toward Billy for a moment. “A few missing souls out of billions. They will never even know we were here!”

“Sha tak Inzari! We do not need a war!”

“Sha tak Inzari!“War…” Billy whispered.

The first alien glanced at him. Something behind those large, dark eyes changed. “Be at ease, child. You will not be harmed.”

“Not by us,” Heldrid remarked. “They have all sorts of nasty plans for your species.”

“TheyIt was only then that Billy realized their mouths never moved. They weren’t communicating with words. Somehow, they were forcing the thoughts into his mind, making him hear things.

He was so distracted by the revelation that he barely noticed when Heldrid turned away and shuffled off toward the creek. “Where are you going?” the first alien demanded. “Heldrid!”

But Heldrid wasn’t listening.

The world seemed to twist around him, light bending so that everything was a blur. A whirlpool of colour formed: tree trunks, roots and mud all bleeding together in a swirling funnel. Heldrid walked through it without looking back, disappearing into the portal. And when he was gone, everything snapped back to normal.

The first alien stared after him. “You would abandon me here! Fool…It will take years to calculate his vector.”

Billy chose that moment to slip away, scrambling backward into the bushes. But he must have made too much noise. The alien flinched and twisted around, reaching for him with a pale hand.

Billy flinched when those spindly fingers touched his cheek. The alien’s skin was frigid! “You…You’re cold,” he stammered.

“Yes,” the alien replied. “I am cold.”

The crimson sun hovered over the horizon, leaving the sky a deep, twilight blue. The air was warm and muggy with the lingering heat of late summer. After a long day of riding, Desa was ready for sleep. Sadly, that wasn’t an option.

She sat atop her white mare, lightly patting the animal’s neck. Tommy was right beside her, riding a dappled gray that he had named Hank of all things. Hank! Well, it was the sort of name Tommy would think of.

On her left, Kalia waited atop her golden palomino. Sunset nickered, backing up instinctively. None of the horses wanted to be here. They knew that a predator lurked in this place.

“No more stalling,” Desa said. “Let’s get this done.”

A menacing forest stood before them, ancient trees standing tall with leaves fluttering in the evening breeze. She had passed through those woods once, and the things she had encountered therein had left her with nightmares that lingered to this day.

“It’s time!” Desa shouted.

Green eyes appeared between two of those twisted trees, staring out at her from the darkness. She held that unearthly gaze, refusing to blink or look away. At long last, the eyes darkened, receding into the forest.

A moment later, Heldrid emerged from the thicket, perhaps a hundred feet to her left. He stepped into the light of Kalia’s glowing ring, c*****g his head and greeting them with that hideous, unwavering grin. “Curious,” he murmured. “I’m quite certain that I warned you about disturbing me again. Time for what, Desa Kincaid?”

“Time for you to go back to your own world,” she said coldly. “This one is under my protection.”

“Is that so?”

Starlight danced backward as the creature drew near, but that was all right. A gentle pat stilled her. “I have no quarrel with you,” Desa said. “I would be more than happy to let you stay. But the legends say that those who pass this region never return. And I suspect that you are the root of many of those tales. I can’t have you killing innocent people. Or doing whatever it is you do to them.”

“Mmm,” Heldrid said. “Very noble of you.”

“I don’t want a fight, Heldrid.”

He slithered up to them, undulating as he inspected their horses. That rictus smile sent shivers down Desa’s spine. “Do forgive my bluntness,” he purred. “But I think I can handle three Field Binders.”

Resting a hand on the grip of her pistol, Desa set her jaw as she studied him. “We are but the first of many,” she assured him. “It’s a new day, Heldrid. Humanity will flourish on this world. And we have grown weary of outsiders preying on us.”

He chuckled, covering his mouth with one hand. “Perhaps.” And then, of all things, he bowed to her. “Until we meet again, Desa Kincaid.”

He faded away, growing more and more transparent until he was gone. The forest went with him, leaving a clear, unobstructed path across the grasslands of the Halitha. She hadn’t expected such a drastic change.

Kalia let out a breath that she had been holding for some time, blinking several times in confusion. “So, what does that mean?”

“I think it means we won,” Tommy mumbled. “Right?”

“Don’t jinx it,” Desa said.

The security office had a TV, a tiny flatscreen positioned up near the ceiling, in the corner between two yellow walls. On any other day, Rob would be using it to watch the Rangers’ game. But today was Friendship Day. So, it didn’t matter what channel he put on; they were all playing the same thing.

Jack Hunter, the skinny Canadian kid who had become the first of Earth’s Justice Keepers, stood behind a podium. He was dressed all in black: pants and a shirt with the collar left open. It made him look ridiculous, and that stupid, messy, hipster hair wasn’t helping matters. “Well,” he began, “it’s been quite the decade, hasn’t it?”

Everybody laughed.

“And it’s only half over!”

Rob would give just about anything to get a break from this bullshit, but Jack’s speech was everywhere. All the major news networks were running clips of it; the damn thing was trending on Twitter. Rob was half tempted to unplug the TV, shut off his phone and open the novel that Sarah had left here at the end of her shift.