Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) by Milo Fowler (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Our weapons are not intended for you. There are dangerous people headed this way in an armored vehicle, and we are here to meet them.”

“Who’s coming?” calls down another of the sentries, located just south of the first voice.

“They are from the United World.” Vincent pivots to face the second voice. “They seek our destruction, both yours and ours. For now, they have sent only a handful of spies into our land, but more will follow in greater numbers. And when they come, we will be overwhelmed by their strength.” He pauses. “We must stop them now before it is too late.”

“And your message…for Luther?” the first sentry speaks up again.

Vincent nods amiably. “We request his permission to act without any interference. We must apprehend these enemy spies and take them with us back to Lord Cain, to be done with as Gaia wills.”

“What if Luther refuses to give you this permission?” The third sentry speaks up for the first time, a woman’s voice.

Vincent faces the dark hillside where her voice originated. “Then we would ask to speak to him directly. Either way, we wait for you to pass along our message. But we ask that you make haste, as there is little time before the spies arrive.”

“How do you know they’ll come here?”

“They have nowhere else to go,” Vincent says simply.

Voices whisper along the ridge before another stream of sand and gravel tumbles downward in the wake of a retreating shadowy form.

“Now we wait,” I mutter. “We’ll see how deep a sleeper Luther is.”

Victoria regards me for a moment. “You haven’t slept at all.”

“I will sleep soundly once these UW bastards are dealt with.” I smirk, recalling the blade she held not so long ago. I plan to sleep alone.

“And what will be done with them?”

An image of the soldier I staked into the hard-packed shore passes through my mind’s eye. The man’s corpse will be plain to see by the Argonaus and its crew. And Gaia-willing, there will be four more bodies to add to my message for the United World government. I will drench the sand crimson with it: They are not welcome here.

“You will reap the whirlwind...”

I frown at Victoria’s hoarse voice, the look of horror she casts upon me, as if she’s seen everything in my mind. Did the images somehow transfer through this link we share?

“Focus.” I grip her by the throat. “My use for you is dwindling, woman.”

We turn our inward gaze to the dark hillside where a figure descends the steep grade, followed by a massive figure whose arms and legs gleam in the moonlight like a robot from an old film. Luther and his pet cyborg, Samson the bodyguard. Both appear to be unarmed. They make their way down with caution, familiar with the shifting sand and ash at their feet, tumbling in rivulets beneath every step.

“With whom am I speaking?” Luther’s voice echoes off the ridge above him. He halts halfway down.

“I am Vincent. I come seeking—”

“I know why you are here.” Luther gives him a direct look, not intimidated by the warrior. “Are you in communication with Cain?”

For the first time, Vincent seems unsure of the situation. “Yes, I—”

“Then he and I will speak directly to one another through you. Is that understood?” Luther’s tone leaves no room for misinterpretation, asserting instant control over the situation.

“Very well,” Vincent says.

“Tell him it’s just a power play,” I say to Victoria, who relays the message. “We could overwhelm these nomads easily. But for now we will play along.”

Vincent nods to no one in particular, hearing Victoria’s thoughts. “Lord Cain agrees to…speak through me.”

A change seems to have come over Luther since the last time he showed up at the Shipyard gates. “Tell him clearly, in no uncertain terms, that the United World team is under my protection. As long as Milton is with them, he will be their escort. He will bring them here, and I will discuss concerns that affect us all. They will remain here while I wait for Cain to arrive in person. At that time, he will participate in the dialogue I have started with the UW representatives. Now relay this message to Cain, exactly as I have said it.”

“No need,” Vincent says with a disdainful smile. “He can see and hear all that we say. In real time.”

Luther clenches his jaw. “What does he say to these terms?”

Vincent pauses, listening again. “Lord Cain says there is no reason for this matter to involve you. The UW spies have attacked our people, not yours, and we seek only to repay the wrong they have wrought—”

“That’s not what I heard,” rumbles the cyborg, taking his place beside Luther and folding his steel arms across his massive chest.

“Do you also intend to speak directly to Lord Cain?” Vincent’s tone makes it clear the half-machine is unwelcome in this conversation.

“Nope,” Samson said. “But he should know we recognize a load of crap when we hear it.”

I mutter a few curses. Vincent chooses not to pass those choice words along to his audience.

“When Milton came upon the scene, you were attempting to strip the UW soldiers of their oxygen supply, and you had already injured two of their team.” Luther’s gaze focuses on the blades sheathed across Vincent’s torso. “They were cut. One in the leg. Another in the arm.”

How does he know this? “Their presence alone is an attack upon our people, both his and mine!” I shout. “They are not here for our welfare. Their intent is far from benign.”

Victoria relays the message, and Vincent voices it to Luther.

“I seem to remember telling you why they were venturing inland,” Luther says.

“For the children...” Vincent replies, puzzlement spreading across his features before he catches himself. Of course this is news to him.

“We have something they lack: the ability to reproduce,” Luther continues. “The destruction they wrought upon our continent had an unexpected side effect on the rest of the world.”

“Came back to bite ’em in the ass,” Samson mutters.

“They’re sterile.