The Crystal Call [The Talisman War]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1Terrell gulped.

At once, Dakota finally understood what he meant. Trust, not that he could protect him, but that he could do so and still be himself. The muscles in his back tightened. He pushed up the loose sleeves of his jacket, just in time for the spines that rested below his skin to slowly slide out and into view. Dakota had felt the extra texture inside his arm. He’d even kissed the calloused places where the barbs protruded. He knew all about them. He’d seen them in action. It was nothing new.

At least not to him. To the creature, the appearance of the reptilian spurs was taken as a direct challenge to its control of the situation. It dropped its jaw all the way, so that the bottom rested against its neck and chest, and let out a roar that sounded like it came from three voices at once.

He heard Terrell inhale deeply but didn’t process what it meant until a similar, albeit far more human scream returned. It took a moment for him to realize that Terrell was responding to a challenge. His mouth—thankfully still normal-sized—was wide open. When he ran out of air, he breathed in again and put out a second warning call before the monster could reply to the first.

Dakota took a step back. He knew a fight might easily commence, like two lions sparring over territory, and he didn’t want to get caught in the middle. But even at a distance, he noticed other changes in Terrell that he’d never witnessed before. Sweat that clung to Terrell’s skin may not have been sweat at all, but some kind of slick mucus or slime, excreted on purpose for battle. A lubricant, to be utterly frank, designed, perhaps, to make him more difficult to hold down.

Smaller spines that had never before appeared now jutted out from behind his ears. Stranger than that, he sniffed at the air like a hunting dog, and a line of blood dripped from his mouth. He hadn’t been hit by anything had he? No injuries of any kind. Dakota was sure of it. He did care about his significant other. He wouldn’t want him hurt. Nervously, he checked him for damage.

Terrell spit onto the ground.

He thought that maybe there would be venom or acid or some other new trait. But it was just blood. Blood, saliva—and a single human canine tooth. When he looked back up at Terrell, Dakota saw him digging around in his own mouth. A quick yank revealed another chunk of enamel, painted red. He saw Dakota’s questioning gaze but said nothing. His attention moved back to the foe, which managed a louder screech.

Yet, Terrell hardly seemed fazed. His expression actually relaxed, as did much of his body, without retracting the organic blades.

“Why would she send something like you?” he spoke to it, likely knowing full well that it wouldn’t and probably couldn’t form any words. “You’re weak. You’re a one-trick pony. I bet you can’t even eat, can you? Not real food. Why would she send something so imperfect to fight the last breaths of civilization in this country? What does she think will happen? The survivors will look at you and think you’re a god? They will bow down at the feet of their own nightmares? You can hardly walk or function! You’re not the future at all. You’re just ugly!”

It made a series of noises that sounded something like communication. While Terrell c****d his head to one side and listened, he clearly didn’t speak monster. “You can’t even defend yourself with sentences,” Terrell continued his taunting. “What kind of soldier can’t speak?”

Furious, the creature suddenly burst into a full sprint, clawing at the air and ground in a mad dash straight for Terrell’s throat.

But he anticipated the action. In fact, it seemed this was the desired result. Terrell blocked with both arms. The spines dug into the mutation’s cadaver-like skin at the upper torso. In that position, he forced its jaw shut and its head back. Without hesitation, he reared up and shoved his face into the thing’s neck.

“What are you—?” Dakota squeaked out.

In one fluid movement, Terrell pulled away. The spines retracted, the abomination fell to the ground, and Terrell bent over it. A long swath of gray flesh hung from his mouth, blood dripping onto the unmoving body. He spit it out. Wiping at his lips with his jacket, he made a gagging noise. It looked for a moment like he might vomit.

Then, he composed himself for the sake of the problem at hand. Straightening his back, Terrell faced away from Dakota. “They wondered why the change hadn’t happened. They said it might come when I got—a rush of adrenaline. I kind of hoped it just didn’t work. But the fight did it. I think that’s what happened. I triggered the change.”

“What change?” was Dakota’s only question.

“Do you trust me?” he asked again.

“If you were going to kill me or even give me a scratch with one of those thorns, you would’ve done it already. You’d do it while I was asleep, or, hell, when we met back in the field. You’re dangerous, I’m sure. You just ripped that thing’s throat out. But I’m not afraid of you, Terrell. I never have been. I don’t think you’re capable of hurting me.” At least not physically. “You can’t fathom it.” He walked slowly up to him. “Show me. I trust you. It can’t be that bad.”

Famous last words, he thought.

But when Terrell finally revealed the big secret, it proved to be nothing more than a new pair of teeth. Curved. Gigantic. Not like a vampire or anything mythological—but a bear or boar. Or something with tusks that came down from the top of the mouth. They fit perfectly within his dental structure. There were even indentions next to his bottom teeth for the canines to rest without causing irritation. It was easily and unquestionably a designed attribute. Too perfect for nature. Teeth were supposed to grow or push out of the gums at a slow pace, but Terrell suddenly had a full-grown pair. One of his normal teeth even dropped out of its stable position all on its own!

“Is that all?” Dakota said finally, in a less than reassuring voice. He tentatively reached up to Terrell’s face and helped clean off some of the blood and muck. “Do they retract, too?” Like the spines behind his ears, which were now concealed once more.

Terrell shook his head.

“That’s okay.” His thumb found Terrell’s lower lip. He pushed it inside and pressed the appendage against one of the new teeth. “Honestly, it’s kind of exciting.”

“Tell that to Cortez and the others when they find out I’m not what they think. This is the one thing I can’t hide. They’ll see it, and I’m done for.” He looked like he might still be sick at any moment. “Especially if these things are all over the city. They won’t see much difference between them and me. They won’t care that I killed one.”

Dakota took a chance and kissed him with as much passion as Terrell would allow. He tried to ignore the metallic taste. “We’ll come up with something. And let me deal with Cortez. If she makes it through this, she’ll have bigger things to handle than you being good at physically defending her favorite employee.” Another kiss. “In the meantime, let’s get indoors. I have no doubt you could take on like six of these bastards at once, but I really don’t wanna bet on it, okay?”

“You’re not afraid?” came his meek voice as they swiftly completed the trip to the door.

He waited until they were inside to answer. Locking the barrier, “Of you? No. Not at all.” In truth, he felt terrified, for a hundred reasons—just not of Terrell.

“I’m a half step away from the thing I just killed, Dakota.” He sounded so desperate. Broken. “I smelled him coming. I knew they were here as soon as the windows shattered in the ballroom. I could taste them in the smoke. And I could hear them, over the guns and everything.”

Dakota picked up Terrell’s less mobile hand and kissed it softly. “Then you quadrupled your value when it comes to fighting these things. But you’re wrong. You’re not like them. That monster was something out of a bad horror movie.” Or a good one, considering the amount of unease it caused his stomach. “You’re still you. You’re still beautiful to me.” He hesitated. But while the moment wasn’t perfect, Dakota couldn’t think of a better time to say it. “I love you. I really do, all right? I love you, and I trust you.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Terrell immediately broke down. Though he smiled, tears pooled in his eyes. He closed them, but it only resulted in the water escaping. Dakota gave into the cliché and quickly wiped at his face to help remove the dampness. “Hey, don’t get sad on me.”

“I’m not,” he countered eventually. “I just—I love you, too. I always—dammit. I love you so much.”

While he wanted to give Terrell the time to enjoy this moment, they didn’t have the luxury. The fact remained that Kenna and the others were still unaccounted for, and Dakota couldn’t afford to work on his romantic life, knowing that they might be hurt or worse. He composed himself, kissed Terrell’s cheek, and forced the conversation to their much more serious problem. “C’mon. The stairs are this way,” he motioned toward the front of the remaining structure. “We gotta find Ken.”

Terrell reined in his emotions. He gently touched the back of Dakota’s head, but otherwise showed no other forms of affection. With the matter settled, the two headed for the main route to the second floor.

But a familiar problem arose. The stairs were big, with little more than a shaky railing to hold onto. And Terrell, despite all of his new attributes, could hardly walk after all the running and fighting. He hadn’t brought his cane to the party. Dakota fell into a supportive role, gripping him across his back and helping him one step at a time. Terrell gave him a look, as though to say that he should run on ahead. But there was no way in hell that he’d leave him behind with those things outside. So, despite the urgency, they moved up to their floor as slowly as proved necessary.

Once there, Dakota left Terrell only a few feet away so he could pound on Kenna’s door.

No answer.

He tried the knob. Though it seemed unlocked, and the latch opened, he couldn’t move the door. While this part of the building was still very much intact, it shifted just enough to warp the frame. “Ken, are you in there?!” he called. If he had to, he’d take an axe to the f*****g door if it meant rescuing his daughter.

Still no answer. He called again for a few more moments before giving up. Stepping back, he withdrew just in time to see Terrell sliding down the wall, about to pass out. The cause? Pick one. Exhaustion, stress, not eating, pain—whatever. He was hurting, and he needed help. Dakota caught him and walked him to their own room, which luckily had a working entrance. He got him into their bed and brought him a room-temperature bottle of water. “I think you’re down for the count right now, babe. Take a rest, all right? I love you.”

Terrell smiled and closed his eyes. “You know, I bet she took off.”

“What?”

Lethargically, “In the parking lot, one of our vehicles was gone. I figured anyone could’ve taken it, but I forgot that we hid the keys. I mean, it wouldn’t take too much effort to find it. But who would know to look? Her and maybe that Darrin guy. She probably got some people together and left the city.”

“You think she could leave without finding most of the group?” Without finding them?

“I think there’s a point where she would want to protect the people she did find. Especially that kid. If she didn’t think she could defend them here, she would take them away from the danger.” He let out a weak laugh. “I bet she learned that from you.”

“f**k,” was all he said at first. If Kenna left, she might be safer, but it also meant that she could be literally anywhere. Would she stay near the border or in the slums, or would she head as far away from the chaos as possible? And how many people had she rescued? Did they have supplies? Weapons? And the whole theory relied upon Ken taking an SUV and fleeing rather than fighting, which wasn’t exactly in line with her usual reactions to violence. He wasn’t so certain he agreed that she could or would do that. “I have to be sure she took the car,” he said after he felt confident that Terrell would be okay. “I have to know.”

He nodded. “You’re a good dad to her, by the way.”

Dakota dismissed the statement with an eye roll that would have made Kenna proud. “If that were true, I never would’ve lost sight of her.”

Walking over to a window that faced south, he looked out. In the distance, he could see droves of creatures descending on the capital. They attacked everything from normal office buildings to the inner walls. In a somewhat weak counter, the army fought back with large guns.

“She’s twenty now. And she’s been an adult far longer than we both wish she was. If anyone can take care of themselves, Kenna could. You heard her friend back when we were traveling. She doesn’t need us. She just chooses to act like she does.” He tried to sit up a little but failed. Letting out a groan, “I get that you’re worried, but now that we know she’s not here, we should just stay put. Lock the doors. Barricade ourselves in until the soldiers take out all those ugly bastards.”

Maybe Terrell was content to do that—and maybe he said he was because he could barely move—but Dakota had a responsibility. Ken was an adult, true, but he would always want to ensure her safety. He needed to be absolutely positive that she wasn’t injured somewhere, crying out for help. And he didn’t share Terrell’s confidence in the military. “What makes you think the bad guys won’t win?”

“The design’s sloppy,” he answered simply.

“But they have numbers.”

He snorted. “So do we. And they look scary. What’s a better motivator than fighting an enemy that doesn’t even look or act human? The Guard won’t hesitate. And these monsters aren’t wearing any armor or anything. It won’t take much.”

Still not convinced, “Why would their creator send them if they weren’t good at what they were made for?”

“I dunno,” he said slowly. “Maybe it’s a distraction. Or a test of their forces. Or—” He sighed. “A warning. ‘Don’t go looking for us, or you won’t like what you find.’ Something like that. They sure as hell didn’t know I’d be here. That thing had no clue who I was.”

Good. Dakota imagined that Terrell might be a likely target since he went AWOL from the human experiment militia and its leader Moíra. If they didn’t know about him and his location, then he wouldn’t be a mark. “Still. I think there are others that are harder to kill than the one you took down.” Resolute, he moved to a bedside nightstand and opened the bottom drawer. With some searching, he located a cloth package, pulled it out and set it next to a lamp.

Adelaide’s possessions. The normal jewelry would be useless, but not the talismans. He searched through them and selected three to add to his current collection. “I’m gonna look for Ken. I’ll stay off the ground. And if I can help kill some of these fuckers, I’m gonna do that, too.”

“No,” Terrell protested. “Please, let’s stay here.”

Flinching, “I can’t. I’m sorry.” He reached back into the drawer and produced an old bottle of prescription painkillers, at least a year or so past their expiration date. But they still worked as far as he could tell. Tossing the bottle to Terrell, he marched to the door. “Take some medicine. You gotta be hurting after everything. Get some rest. I’m gonna lock you in, all right? If anyone knocks, and they don’t say who they are, don’t answer. You’re not here.”

He let out a sob. “No. It’s not safe. They’ll—they’ll kill you without even thinking about it. Please don’t go. Or at least wait until these pills kick in so I can help.”

“I won’t be gone for long, and I won’t take any chances if I don’t have to. Now it’s your turn to trust me, okay? I love you. I need you to be safe, as well. You’re in no shape to come with me, and I can’t stay here. I’m not helpless. I may be sick, but I’ve been sick for a really long time, and I used to kill people worse than these creatures. I changed, too, while you were gone. I didn’t get weaker. I know what I’m doing.”

“In all the time I’ve known you, I never once thought you were weak, Dakota,” his voice shook. “I also never wanted you to be alone, to have to do it by yourself.” Terrell raised his torso up a little so that he could see him. “I love you more than anything. I don’t want to lose you again. Please be safe.”

Dakota gave a single, stern nod. He didn’t want to get upset now, but it took every ounce of willpower not to start crying. Their rocky and tumultuous relationship was a decade in the making, and in all that time, they had never said the right words and meant them so sincerely. Their first attempt at romance started unhealthy and was doomed to failure. This time, they were playing for keeps. They waited until both parties felt comfortable with their emotions. It just so happened to be at the worst possible moment.

He’d wanted this. He needed it. And there was a good possibility that he might not return. Not because he didn’t desire to, but because death awaited him. Because he wouldn’t stop until he knew where Kenna was. Because he couldn’t live with himself if he gave up on her. “I’m sorry,” he told Terrell in a whisper. “And I’ll try.”

With nothing more to say, he slipped out the door and locked it with his own key. Terrell would be able to open it from the inside if he needed to, but no one else could get in unless they broke the door down.