Pepper waved goodbye as Elowen returned the gesture through the Sparrow JAV side window. The armored flying military transport vehicles engines roared to life and the craft began to lift up into the sky. A few seconds later the rocket pods rotated clockwise and the vehicle began to hover off and into the distance.

  Pepper turned his attention back to the large gathering of military soldiers who were convening over in the center of their driveway. His eyes narrowed in on Elowen’s father who was clearly still full vested in directing his soldiers on what tasks to prioritize during the cleanup. Their eyes met for a split second and Pepper was about to start walking towards the Colonel when his attention was interrupted.

  “Sir, we need to check you for any contamination.”

  He turned to see a woman in a full chem suit. Her eyes appeared serious but concerned for his wellbeing. “What do you need me to do?”

  “I need you to extend your arms out to the side, and spread your feet apart a little further.” He did as she asked and her muffled voice continued through her clear paneling of the suit. “Stay as still as possible.”

  She then lifted up her arm and activated her militarized holodex. Pepper had not seen it before, but there was a sense that he was not supposed to know of the devices existence. She pressed a button and bright purple light shot out and projected a straight line onto his arm.

  To him the line appeared like a laser leveler used in home construction, but that thought instantly changed when he saw an orange knot form on the purple line. The orange ball lifted and lowered itself in a rapid movement and continued as the soldier slowly guided the beam from the edge of his fingertips and worked inward towards his chest.

  She continued the process over his entire left side, and then made a transition to his right. Pepper took a deep breath and was about to exhale relief, but then the device started to beep in what he was sure was an alarm feature. He turned and looked down at his right oblique area and noticed where the orange ball of light had stopped directly in the center of the purple line.

  “Sir… do, not, move.”

  His heart rate started to sky rocket and his eyes were shifting back and forth between the light and the soldier. “What… what is it? What’s going on?”

  Her voice was firm and resolute in ensuring she emphasized the seriousness of the situation. “It’s okay… remain calm…”

  “Easy for you to say! What the heck is…”

  “Take a deep breath. I just need to check underneath your shirt.”

  “What? Why do you…”

  “Sir! I don’t have time to explain…” She paused and then motioned with her hand for Pepper to look into her eyes. “Everything is going to be okay if you just listen, and be as still as possible.”

  Pepper licked his lips and mentally told himself to take another breath. He did his best to remain still but felt like he was shaking uncontrollably at the same time. The soldier began to lean close to him.

  “I need to grab hold of your shirt, and will be checking underneath.”

  “Okay.”

  He felt the tension in his shirts fabric as the soldier pinched it and began to pull it away from his skin. A quick peek to see that she had started to lift it up and inspect his skin. What in the heck is this all about?

  “Okay, you’re good. It didn’t get onto your skin. But… I will need to cut this portion of your shirt and then we’ll have you take off your shirt, just in case.”

  In case of what!? What is going on? His heart rate continued to pound away. But thankfully the soldier worked quickly to remove the small piece of fabric. She placed the sample in a plastic container and then gave informed him he could relax.

  Pepper took a giant sigh of relief and then scanned the area and looked for something he could use to cover himself back up. That was when he saw the soldier immediately go over to the Colonel and it was clear she was giving him an update as to her discovery. The Colonel nodded and then replied and the soldier walked off, but to his surprise, the Colonel approached him with a coat in his hand.

  “Here, use this.” Colonel Gamble said while extended the camouflage coat over to him.

  He could tell the outer shell of the coat was a waterproof, but the interior was soft and comfortable. Pepper then zipped up the garment and couldn’t help but read the colonel’s face. A frustrated yet grateful expression hinted at Pepper that the colonel was torn between being a military commander who had just lost soldiers, and a father who nearly lost his daughter.

  “I wanted to come and thank you personally for saving Elowen.” He paused and looked out over the backyard and then tilted his head. “Heck, you practically saved the entire neighborhood for that matter.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  There was an awkward pause between them, but Pepper let go of his hesitancy. “If I may, Colone?” The two looked at each other, but after a second, the officer nodded for him to proceed. Pepper shot his arm out and pointed towards the area where the monsters corpses had once lay. “What the heck were those… things?” He then pointed his arm towards the area of his shirt the soldier had cut away. “And what is with the biological chem suits and cutting my clothes away?”

  Pepper could see that his questions were chafing against the Colonel, but to his surprise, he didn’t retaliate. The officer took a deep breath and then motioned with his head. “Come with me.”

  He didn’t argue but followed close behind while he led them towards the main street. They turned the corner of the garage and he couldn’t help but notice the few soldiers who were standing in front of the black body bags. They were performing a slow salute, paying respect to their fallen brothers who worked to defend Elowen against the initial wave of monsters.

  His attention then turned and focused on the large military vehicle parked in the street. It looked like a giant motorhome, only it was clear that the vehicle was not designed for comfort or luxury. He then noticed the soldier who had taken his shirt was at the far end of the vehicle and started to make her way towards the officer.

  The colonel lifted his hand, ordering her to wait. She stopped her approach and turned around to return to whatever she had been doing. They arrived to an access door and they walked up the few steps and into a metal platform.

  There was a soldier inside that appeared to be standing guard. Colonel looked at the soldier and motioned with his head towards the door. “Give us five Sergeant.”

  “Yes, sir.” The soldier turned and exited the vehicle.

  The Colonel waited until the Sergeant was out of the vehicle. He then approached a large metal access door and punched on a key pad which illuminated green and chirped with life. The sound of bolts disengaging and the officer shoved the door open and then waved his hand for Pepper to join him inside.

  The interior room immediately illuminated in bright white light. Pepper was about to step across the threshold of the security door but froze when he saw the white medical cloth. It was clearly draped over the creature he had protected Elowen and his friends from.

  There wasn’t any hesitation as the colonel extended his hand out, grabbed hold of the sheet and pulled it away. The monster’s eyes were staring straight at Pepper, and he felt his heart skip a beat. The same bone chilling cold sensation he felt when he dreamt of being pulled into the Rift Portal now ran down his spine.

  He stood there frozen for a second until the Colonel’s rough voice started. “We call them Shadow Cast.”

  Shadow Cast? Pepper looked at the man standing before him. It took him a second to refresh his memory bank, but then he realized. “You… you’ve mentioned them before. Something about a bounty on your head, if I recall.”

  “That’s right. But it’s not just my head they want. It’s the head of my wife, Elowen. Anyone close to me who they think will cause me to make a mistake and expose my location or our plans.”

  Pepper now felt more comfortable with moving closer to the creature and he leaned from side to side. “What exactly are they?”

  “A new type of demon. Unlike anything seen in the Rift Wars. From what we current suspect, they were solely bread to be hunters or assassins. The worst part, they are able to avoid all our detective measures with the exception of one kind.”

  There was a pause and Pepper turned away from the demonic corpse. “Tank?”

  The Colonel pressed his lips together and nodded. “For some reason, mans best friend can detect the creatures better than any other devices created. Their essence signature is so faint, that all the regular sensors won’t detect them until they’re already on top of you.”

  Pepper watched as the Colonel pointed with two extended fingers of his right hand towards the base at the back of the demons skull. “From what we can tell, they have three separate ways of communicating. The first is by precise movements and patterns of their tails, the second is by chattering their teeth in rhythmic patterns. The third is from what he believe is this lobe at the base of their skull. A silent psionic type of wave length used to communicate.”

  “Do you think they were communicating with…” He paused and felt silly for almost saying it, but the Colonel’s arched eyebrow spoke of his impatience. “…communicating with something, in hell?”

  The colonel nodded and sighed. “Anything is possible at this point.” He turned his head back and started to glide his fingers down towards the neck. “Their blood is not only extremely toxic, but once it enters humans, it seeps into your blood stream. The infection is extremely contagious and deadly. However, their mouth also has a bacteria which immediately numbs their prey and then injects a neurotoxin which paralyzes the victim while they’re carried off.”

  Pepper felt he knew the answer. “Carried off to…” He paused and didn’t finish as the Colonel nodded. “So that’s why the warning sirens didn’t activate.

  “That would be why, yes. Our mathematical calculations were correct and accurate, they launched an attack on the day we expected them to. What we didn’t anticipate was that this attack, was more of a silent assassination or kidnapping effort, directly aimed at my family… it would appear.”

  “Why are they after-”

  The colonel lifted his finger. “That… is classified. Highly… classified.” The colonel reached over and placed a white sheet back over the demon’s corpse. “You’ve seen enough… too much actually. Time for us to go.”

  Pepper followed the Colonel out of the vehicle. They slowly walked back towards the house. He reached up and tried to wipe away the smoke which was coming from the burn remains of Marcus’s vehicle. “So, I would say it is safe to assume that Elowen isn’t going to be around for a while?”

  “Honestly Mr. Walker, I would say it’s a safe bet that your two paths may never cross again. Not until…” The Colonel’s pause didn’t slip past Pepper’s attention, but neither did he concede. “Well, probably not until we figure out how to destroy the rift portals.”

  “Where will she be? Perhaps Andrea, Amprage and I could visit her.”

  The colonel faked a smile and Pepper immediately knew that the idea was the last thing the man wanted to see come to fruition. “I don’t think that will be possible. She and my wife will be safe and secure in Theron.”

  “Theron? The under-“

  A voice off in the distance called over and cut him off. “Colonel, General Boyce is calling for you sir.”

  The colonel looked over at the soldier and lifted a finger before turning his attention back to him. “Yes, the underground city of Theron.” The colonel paused and took a deep breath. “Son, I’ll admit it. Seeing what you did here today with your golem, you definitely seem to have what it takes to fight, defend. If you ever change your mind about serving… come find me. Stay safe.”

  The colonel turned and began to walk towards the soldier who had just hailed him. “You too Colonel.”