Thaumatology 08 - Ancient Read online

  Lily beamed. ‘We can always sleep on the boat.’

  Part Three: A Soldier’s Life

  Kennington, London, April 15th, 2012

  Lying between Lily and Michael, Ceri had even less reason to move than normal on a Sunday morning. By mid-afternoon she would be on Salisbury Plain again, this time with an SAS survival specialist and Lily, learning to do stuff that Michael had already taught her. Unfortunately it was going to mean missing out on Tuesday night at Demi-monde, and Wednesday night with the pack, and it was Michael’s birthday on Tuesday… but various government agencies would not let them do the final walk into Hamburg unless they did the course. They had both promised to at least make it up to Michael.

  Remaining quite still, Ceri revelled in the warmth. Lily was hotter in more than one way than the average human; the reaction which fuelled her demonic powers also kept her body temperature higher than human norms. Michael was a comfortable, furry mass in front of her. The analogy with a childhood teddy bear had not actually escaped Ceri, though if she had got up to the things she did with Michael with a stuffed toy her parents might well have sent her to a psychiatrist. At the very least they would have confiscated the bear.

  Then Twill flew in, looking apologetic. ‘You did say you wanted lunch before you left,’ the fairy said, ‘and I assume you want a shower since you won’t get another until Wednesday.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, shifting enough to wake Lily. Michael’s head turned as well. ‘Time to get up. Some of us have a long day ahead of us and I’d like it to start well.’

  Michael shifted his shape as he rolled out of bed. ‘In that case, let’s hit the shower. I’m sure we can kick things off with a bang.’

  Twill floated off and started for the door. ‘Just leave the shower intact, please.’

  Salisbury Plain

  An army Land Rover dropped Ceri and Lily off in what they could only describe as “the middle of nowhere.” The middle of nowhere featured short grass, longer grass in random clumps, some mud, and a man in camouflaged fatigues who did not exactly look pleased to see them. Ceri had more or less expected that, however, and went for being bright and breezy.

  ‘I assume you’re the instructor? I’m Ceri Brent, this is Lily Carpenter. You’re expecting us, right?’

  ‘Nolan,’ he replied, his pale blue eyes scanning over them. He was Ceri’s height, but stocky. His fatigues disguised a lot of his frame, but he had bulky thighs and shoulders suggesting close combat training; he was built like a shorter version of Ceri’s staff fighting instructor, Ray. There was no sign of hair poking out from under his sand-coloured beret, which bore the regimental insignia Ceri had been expecting; the winged dagger with “Who Dares Wins” embroidered over it. Nolan had a broad nose, which Ceri was a little surprised to see looked straight, and wide cheek and jaw bones which gave a flat sort of look to his face. His hands were huge. Ending her examination he looked up. ‘You can call me “Sergeant”. Follow me.’

  A couple of hundred yards from the track they had been dropped off on was a small camp with four other men in fatigues sitting around a small fire. The day was overcast and the wind cold; Ceri recalled that there usually seemed to be a chilly wind up on the plains. Lily brightened at the sight of four well-built young men, and they all seemed both surprised and pleased at the new additions. It was not hard to guess why.

  Ceri had come dressed in jeans, T-shirt, and a padded, wind-proof jacket, but she was obviously female and they likely were not expecting that. Lily was in a gypsy-style outfit with a low cut bodice and a wide, layered skirt. The men were probably too busy looking at her chest to consider the pair of daggers at her hips or the steel bracers on her forearms. Neither girl seemed to be carrying much. They had packed essentials; bedrolls, wet-wipes, and Ceri had a plastic bottle of salt and her staff. They figured that Nolan would be adding to the load and they were not used to lugging around the huge packs the soldiers carried. Ceri had one other advantage, the studded leather collar around her throat.

  ‘All right,’ Nolan said, ‘I’ve been detailed with giving you people basic survival instruction for Europe west of the Rift. We’ll be covering some hunting, trapping, threat assessment, identification of health hazards, awareness of the environment…’ His gaze turned slowly upon Ceri and Lily. ‘…proper dress for a variety of conditions, setting up camp. I’m honestly not sure what I’m going to do with you two. Didn’t you check the weather conditions before you dressed?’

  ‘Rain overnight,’ Ceri replied, ‘temperatures down to three degrees. Temperatures should climb tomorrow reaching a high of fifteen Celsius with clear skies and falling, south-westerly winds. I hope you’ll all be all right.’

  Nolan looked at her, his expression flat. ‘We’ve got ten miles to cover to the first camp site. Let’s get moving. Douse the fire before we leave.’

  ~~~

  ‘Brent, which way’s north?’

  They had been marching for almost an hour and a half and had to be almost to where they were going if Nolan’s estimate had been correct. He had said little to the little group the entire time, just watching how they were progressing. The pace he had set was fairly punishing, over rough ground, and it was starting to tell on the men. Ceri and Lily, with much lighter packs, were not doing as badly, but Ceri was impressed that the men were managing as well as they were.

  Pointing to their left, Ceri said, ‘That way.’

  Nolan’s eyes narrowed. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘True North is about three degrees off Magical North. Which is that way.’ She glanced at him; he was frowning now. ‘They didn’t tell you I was a practitioner?’

  He did not reply, which probably meant they had and he had assumed that meant she would be soft and fairly useless. He had likely had a briefing on Lily too. What he had made of that would be interesting to discover.

  ‘We’re camping beside the trees there,’ Nolan said pointing at a copse of scruffy, spring-leafed trunks ahead of them. ‘Not under them, beside them. The trunks will break the wind, but it’s going to be pretty strong tonight and we don’t want branches landing on us, do we?’ It was the first piece of actual advice he had given.

  They had no tents. The soldiers had heavy, waterproof ponchos which could be used to keep the weather off their sleeping bags. The sky was threatening rain at any moment and Nolan watched, bemused, as Ceri marked a very rough circle around the blankets she and Lily had put down in the short, scrubby grass.

  Shaking his head, he turned to the soldiers. ‘Higgs, Potts, you’ll come with me. We’ll set some traps for rabbits. The rest of you get some dry wood for the fire.’

  There was not much in the way of dry wood about, but it was better deeper into the trees. Looking around for it, Ceri could also tell that they were not going to get much in the way of rabbits from their traps. She figured Nolan knew it too, but was more intent on teaching the men to build traps. Werewolves did not build traps; they had a number of natural talents which made them rather less useful than for humans. As Lily wandered over with a bundle of sticks, Ceri handed her the bundle she had collected and started to undress.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Going hunting. Take the wood back and get their fire started for them. I’ll be back in a little while.’

  ‘Nolan will freak.’

  ‘Nolan is supposed to evaluate us on our survival skills. I’m going to show him my survival skills.’

  Lily shrugged. ‘He doesn’t strike me as someone with a sense of humour.’

  Ceri reached for her collar, there was the familiar tingle in her skin, and then she was looking at Lily through eyes which saw muted colours. Back soon, she growled and ran off toward the edge of the trees.

  The wind was carrying scent from the north. She could sense grass, the rain hanging in the air, and rabbits. There was a warren perhaps three hundred yards away on the north side of the little patch of trees. Ceri had chased a lot of rabbits in her time; Michael had made a game of it
and she had known that he was training her to hunt, but he had never actually pushed her to kill any of them. She was still pretty confident that she could do it, though being hungry would have made it easier.

  She spotted four of them out in the open, totally unaware of the fate which was about to befall them. They were all males, from the scent, which made her a little happier; she did not like the thought of leaving any babies motherless. Keeping close to the ground, she was almost on them before she broke into a dash. Two heads went up, one of them actually bolted clear, but two clawed hands and a mouth full of sharp teeth had the other three before they could move. The one in her jaws died instantly, but the others struggled for a second until she slit their throats with her claws. Dropping the one from her mouth into her hand, Ceri growled a soft apology and then loped back into the trees.

  Nolan was calmly berating Lily for allowing Ceri to go off on her own as Ceri walked out of the woods holding her prizes. Lily was looking back at him with an equally calm expression. Ceri heard, ‘I really don’t think there’s much on Salisbury Plain to worry a werewolf,’ as she walked up to the camp and dumped three dead bunnies onto the grass beside the fire.

  ‘Do you want me to dress them as well as catch them?’ Ceri asked. She pulled a plastic box of wet-wipes from her pack and started cleaning the blood from her hands.

  ‘Where did you learn to hunt?’ Nolan asked.

  ‘Battersea Park, with the pack there. They live out in the open all year. They’re not really big on predating the local rabbits, but chasing them is a good game. I think the Battersea ones are more of a challenge, actually. You wouldn’t think rabbits would learn to dodge werewolves, but they’ve probably been doing it for generations. There’s no pack claiming the Plain.’

  ‘And you can turn into a werewolf?’

  Ceri nodded. ‘A gift from a friend. Do you know what happened at Stonehenge a couple of winters ago?’

  ‘I read a briefing paper.’ Probably because he was going to be training her, Ceri figured.

  ‘My reward for that was this collar. It lets me change. I usually spend two nights a week in fur, learning to be a good werewolf. I’ll never be as good as the real ones, but I’m good enough that I was made a pack Guard.’

  Nolan sucked on his teeth. ‘And you, Miss Carpenter? Do you secretly know more about making your way in the wild than this lot put together?’

  ‘Oh I doubt it. I lived rough on the streets for a few weeks when I was fifteen and Ceri’s taught me a few things, but I’m no expert. I’m better at urban survival.’

  Nodding, the SAS sergeant turned on his heel. ‘Gentlemen! I suspect Doctor Brent is well capable of skinning a rabbit. Possibly using her teeth, so I’ll just have to get you up to speed, and we have three fine specimens here for you to learn on. Let’s get started.’

  ~~~

  The rain held off until it had been dark for about two hours and they had dined on rabbit stew which, Ceri had to admit, was not too bad.

  The reason for the ring of salt became apparent as Ceri raised a weather-proof shield around Lily and herself. Even Nolan looked a little envious as the two girls climbed under their blankets, out of the wind and rain, but he did acknowledge that if Ceri could do it then it was a valid survival technique and he could not fault it. Instead he concentrated on making sure the soldiers were keeping themselves dry. Ceri decided not to mention that she also had the advantage of a “hot water Lily” to keep the chill off; that would have just been rubbing salt in the wound.

  The fire was standing up to the rain at least. Lily had, rather proudly, told Ceri that she had used a spell to light it. Her magic was nowhere near as powerful as Ceri’s and she delighted in her little victories.

  ‘You two really took on a bunch of mercenaries and a horde of demons?’ Nolan asked, his voice quiet. He was wrapped in his sleeping bag and poncho, his boots tucked away in his backpack. He looked a lot more snug and happy than the other men.

  ‘We had help,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘But Ceri did most of the heavy lifting,’ Lily added. ‘I went in with the wolves at the end. By then the mercs were dead. It was just the wizards Remus had been working with to deal with.’

  ‘I’ll be honest. The report read like a fantasy story. I didn’t entirely believe it.’

  Ceri smiled across at him. ‘It felt more like a horror movie. I’ve never read the reports they did, so I don’t know what they wrote down. We were told not to talk about it and the werewolves would rather forget the whole thing happened.’

  ‘You must have been involved in a few actions you can’t talk about too, Sergeant?’ Lily said.

  ‘A few. Extraction ops mostly. We’re there for things the regular Army isn’t equipped to handle. Almost all of us are specialists in one field or another. We were sent in to recon that village that was overtaken by angels a few months ago. My briefing said you were involved with that too.’

  ‘We work with the Greycoats,’ Ceri said. ‘We were called in to help with the murders.’

  Nolan looked across at her. He knew far more than he was saying, probably everything the British government knew about the business in America. ‘I’m just glad we won’t have to deal with that again,’ he said. Yeah, he knew Gadriel had been destroyed.

  ‘What are you boys doing on this little excursion?’ Ceri asked, changing the subject.

  ‘We’re going to be stationed at one of the monitoring posts near the German Rift.’ It was Higgs who answered. Brash, no more than nineteen, good looking with close-cropped, blonde hair, he was the most confident and vocal of the four. When Lily had taken her skirt off to climb into the blankets he had done nothing to hide the fact he was looking. ‘This course is mandatory for everyone going out there, even if we may never use it.’

  ‘We have monitoring posts out there?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Ever since the sixties,’ Nolan answered. ‘We were best equipped to set them up. It used to be a far nastier experience than now, but it’s still not a particularly safe place to be. And you two are planning to walk right into Hamburg?’

  ‘I’m half demon,’ Lily explained. ‘The magic doesn’t affect me like it does a human. Ceri’s just far too awesome to let it touch her.’

  ‘I’ve survived exposure to levels higher than anything outside the actual pit. I’m a freak of nature.’ Which was true. Not that Ceri was going to explain why she was immune to wild magic. Knowledge of her dragon-enhanced genome was not something she was anxious to have spread around and far too many people had had to be told already.

  ‘That close in it starts getting weird,’ Nolan said. ‘One of our specialists explained it once, but it makes sense anyway. Long term exposure to a lot of magic has left some of the animals a bit… warped. You get rats the size of dogs, big spiders. The spiders can’t leave the higher magic band near the Rift, but the rats can, and they hunt in packs. There’s weirder stuff close in. Animated plants that prey on the rats, or bigger prey if they can get it. Things that are half spirit. There’s some sort of cat evolved out there. About the size of a leopard, but it’s invisible while stalking. Close in you get the really freaky mutants. One of the soldiers I worked with said he had seen a giant, three-headed dog out there, prowling around the lip of the Berlin Pit.’

  ‘It sounds like the perfect holiday location,’ Ceri said wryly.

  Nolan actually chuckled; maybe he was human. ‘Let’s get some sleep. We’ll be moving again at first light.’

  Ceri settled the blanket over herself and snuggled up against Lily. The fresh air was making her sleepy, sex was out of the question, they might as well get some sleep. Lily’s lips touched her neck lightly and then they settled down. It was not long before they were both unconscious.

  April 16th

  The clouds had parted before dawn and the wind was, indeed, dropping to little more than a light breeze by the time they started marching across the grassland toward their next destination. As the sun got higher in the sky and the temperature rose, t
he soldiers really started to suffer.

  ‘Continental temperatures at this time of year are noticeably higher than here,’ Nolan told them. ‘It gets even worse in the summer. Make sure you keep hydrated, don’t overdo it. Make sure you’re aware of your water and don’t use it up too quickly. If we’re getting short, we’ll need to practice conservation, and probably stop more for you guys to piss.’

  Lily just smiled and kept walking. Ceri could feel her contentment over their link. In fact, given the chance, the half-succubus would have been stripping off to get more skin exposed to the sunlight. Ceri was not quite so comfortable, but at least she was not lugging around the huge packs the men had.

  They were, at least, learning something. Not so much from the actual survival pointers Nolan was giving the troops, but from the additional things he said about the territory east of Bremen and south along the German Rift. The wildlife had been affected by long-term exposure to high level magic fields, but so had the land itself.

  ‘You can’t always trust your eyes,’ Nolan said. ‘You see a forest just ahead of you, but no matter how long you keep walking toward it, you never get there. The same can happen with water. Rivers aren’t usually affected, but lakes and ponds can shift about. Not that it’s safe to drink from still water out there. Moving water follows the usual rules. Boil everything. Still water… Don’t even touch still water.’

  ‘The big cats are invisible to normal sight, but they still give off body heat. If you’re in a team, make sure someone is always using an infra-red vision set. If you’re on your own… well, don’t be, but if you have no choice then watch for moving undergrowth and keep your ears open. They won’t normally attack a healthy human, but if you’re hurt, you’re fair game.’

  They stopped just after midday to set up a small burner and brew terrible coffee, and to eat dried fruit bars which were designed primarily to give them the energy to go on in the afternoon. It seemed obvious to Ceri that Nolan was watching them all, assessing everything they did, evaluating how they were handling the stresses of the situation.