Golden thorns chapter 42
"Well consider me impressed. That's quite the skillset you all have." She turned to the cockpit and banged on the door. A screen to the left of it flicked on and the grumpy face of the pilot appeared.
"What ya want? I'm busy."
"How's this gonna work?" Azura spoke into the microphone. The man scratched the stubble on his chin.
"I'd say we're about an hour from the drop site. There's a clearing in the forest about ten clicks from your target. I'll drop you there and head back into the city. When you need evac, there'll be a shuttle one standby. Estimated time of extraction is roughly two hours."
"Can you drop us any closer?"
"Sorry luv, the further out we go, the chances of Grimm attack increase exponentially. Nevermores and all that. The higher-ups say it's not worth the risk. My hands are tied."
"No problem. We can deal with a quick walk." She flicked off the screen and strapped herself into her seat."
"Ten clicks is no small distance outside the walls." Devlyn said anxiously.
"Oh, it'll be a walk in the park, you know, one of those parks filled with giant murder beasts. Don't worry about it." she said with an enigmatic smile. Devlyn sighed, rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat, scales blanched. Coran smiled they sat in silence for a while, the vibrating hull lulling Coran into a light sleep.
He was awoken by a sharp elbow digging into his side and a loud voice in his ear.
"Rise and shine sleepy head. We're going in hard." He opened his eyes and looked around the cabin. It was totally dark except for a single red light that was glowing in the centre of the roof, illuminating them in an eerie glow. He looked to his right to see Jo, a fire in her eyes and an excited grin on her face. She lifted the harness off and stood. Coran noticed his team doing the same.
"What's going on? What do you mean 'going in hard'?" he said to no-one in particular as his team shouldered their packs. The huntress turned to him, face hard and serious.
"We were jumped by a Nevermore. We don't have time to land with that thing on us so we're going to jump. I assume that you all have a landing strategy?"
"Yeah, we're good." This was bad. They hadn't even hit the ground yet and already the plan had gone out of the window. Could they never catch a break? Azura continued speaking in a hurried voice.
"Listen closely and do exactly as I say. When we hit the ground, split up. Break away and continue heading east. I will find you all when birdie has given up. Remember, stay low and whatever happens, whatever you hear, whatever you see, dont draw attention to yourself. If you are discovered, you will die."
A panicked shout from the pilot. "Doors opening. Get ready!"
"Here we go, boys and girls. Welcome to the jungle." She finished as the bulkhead burst open and the cabin was filled with the roar of wind. The huntress drew a long, thin-bladed sword from a scabbard he had not previously noticed and leapt out the window. In an instant, she was gone. One by one, team SOUL jumped from the shuttle, Coran counting them out. Then it was his turn. Holding his glaive in his right hand, and the bulkhead in his left he leant out of the ship, scanning the trees. There, a large oak tree. Perfect.
With one last glance back into the cabin, he jumped. He saw the oak shooting towards him. He spun his weapon, imbedded the blade into the ancient trunk and slid to a stop, leaving a two metre rent in the bark above him. Wrenching the weapon from the wood, he dropped onto a large bough beneath him and turned to watch the ship fly westwards, back towards Vale. That was when he realised that the Nevermore was not following it.