James Axler – Demons of Eden

That is well , Blood-sniffer responded. ” I give you my promise to guide you safely and secretly to my lair .

Joe grunted and gestured to Little Mountain, who led the great wolf away.

“Good. Now we have a chance,” Ryan said.

Joe looked at him with a sardonic smile. “Don’t underestimate Blood-sniffer’s cunning and resolution, nor his devotion to Sisoka. He intends to lead us inside the borders of his encampment, then turn on us and give the alarm.”

Ryan scowled. “Then why the fuck are we dealing with him?”

Joe’s eyes and smile hardened. “An intelligent animal he may be, but he’s still only an animal. We can outguess him before he betrays us. However, we need to develop a contingency plan in case we’re captured. It’s tactically foolish for all of your people to accompany us, since their weapons are required to either stage an assault or a rescue. Choose only one of your companions to come with you.”

“I don’t command an army,” Ryan told him coldly. “I’ll ask for a volunteer.”

Joe nodded. “Have it your way, Ochinee.”

Chapter Twenty-One

The velvety night brooded over Ti-Ra’-Wa. The crystal disks entwined in the tree limbs of the forest city caught and reflected a thousandfold the stars burning the blue-black sky.

Ryan turned from the window and looked across the torchlit room at his friends. “The moon won’t be full tonight. With luck we can get in and out before sunrise.”

“I wish you weren’t going. It feels wrong,” Krysty murmured. Her beautiful face was troubled, her sentient hair curling and coiling.

“It does to me, too,” Mildred added, glancing worriedly at J.B.

The Armorer had elected to accompany Ryan on the mission. He sat at the table, checking his Uzi. Jak sat beside him, watching with his crimson, expressionless eyes. He had volunteered to go on the mission, but Doc had pointed out that his albino coloring wasn’t suitable for a stealthy night approach. The scar-faced teenager hadn’t agreed, but he hadn’t argued, either.

“It’s risky,” Ryan said, “but no more than a lot of deals me and J.B. pulled for Trader. And if we can capture Sisoka, we have a chance to clean up this trouble without a lot of bloodletting.”

Jak nodded. “Watch wolf. It have your heart in belly if gets chance.”

“What happens if you’re the ones who are captured?” Doc inquired.

Ryan mulled that possibility over for a second. “Mebbe Joe has more of those sender gadgets. We’ll leave one with you, Krysty, since you’re the most sensitive.”

“You don’t know the range on those things,” J.B. argued.

“They’re not radios,” Krysty replied. “Thought transmissions don’t have range limitations like radio waves.”

Joe and Little Mountain entered in warrior regalia, with beaded buckskins and faces painted black. Little Mountain carried a tomahawk, a knife, a bow and a full quiver of arrows. The Gewehr automatic rifle was cradled in Joe’s arms. He held a pair of the golden wafers in one hand.

“You’re ready?” he asked Ryan. “Then we’ll fetch Blood-sniffer. Take these senders. You two must have them on you constantly.”

“Can you spare one for me?” Krysty asked.

Joe hesitated. “I have only threeone for me, the others for Ochinee and Mr. Dix. The closer we come to the Wolf Soldiers’ lair, the more silence is essential.”

“Give mine to Krysty,” J.B. said laconically. “I usually know what Ryan’s thinking anyway.”

Joe handed the wafer to Krysty, saying, “We must go now.”

“I’ll try contacting you at midnight,” Ryan told her.

“I’ll be waiting.”

After quick embraces between Mildred and J.B., and Ryan and Krysty, the two men followed the Lakota into the corridor.

They walked outside, where the tethered Blood-sniffer stood between a pair of guards. It glanced up at them with its inscrutable eyes. At a word from Joe, a guard handed the leash to him and the animal limped cooperatively into a compound where warriors waited with five horses.

“We’re taking an extra mount for Sisoka,” Joe said.

The horses tossed their heads when they caught the wolf scent, but they calmed quickly. Ryan swung into the saddle of a bay mare. All of the horses were dark in color, except for Joe’s pinto. Ryan had left behind the Steyr, since this was to be a close-in, stealth operation with a minimum of blaster play.