The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

He looked up to Fenris, giving a loud sigh. "And you probably scared the shit out of everyone."

Fenris scratched at its muzzle, head tilted down. Eight reached up to pat it on the head. Scratched it behind the ear.

"Good to see you strong as ever."

"So, no rampaging monsters?" Reaper asked. They headed down the hall.

"What? No! This is probably one of the safest places in the galaxy!"

"Liar…" Fenris grumbled.

"Okay. Safest for humans. We thought."

"There's other valkyries here?" Jackal asked.

"Should be. Depends if those fuckers killed them all, but I doubt it. Hardy kids. Put up a good fight at this age."

Eight didn't seem to notice any of the damage or bodies. He was cheery as a sunny day. Calm and collected. Cracking jokes.

Eventually, they made it to the end of the hall. A door wide open, half broken. There were voices in the room. One had yelped.

"It's here!" It squeaked. "The Devourer!"

"Quick, hide. Hide, little ones."

"Get in your armor!" Another one said.

When they made it into the room, they only saw a handful of people. This must have been the largest room in the base. It was separated by large aquariums filled with cots, chairs, tables, and other items. Most of the space was destroyed. A few fires freshly put out. Supplies scattered across the floor. Half-eaten plates left sitting around.

People laid across the floor on blankets and pillows, treated for wounds. One man hugged himself in a corner. Rocked back and forth, crying and whimpering.

A woman stood from an injured man and approached the group.

"Eight! You're alive! I thought we lost you!" She said, embracing him.

"Eight!" A man in blue armor ran over. "What happened to you out there?"

"Where the hell were you, man? You couldn’t even bother to search for a body?"

“Well, I thought if they got passed you, you were dead.”

The woman looked up to the valkyrie. She stared for a long time to analyze it.

"Fenris? Oh my God, you got so big! You were just a puppy when I last saw you!" She touched its arm. "Wow...wait, what happened? What are these?" She touched the silky chains embedded in its armor.

"I was wondering the same myself." Eight scratched his chin.

"I have the saw still from when I cut open cell D. I could cut those off." The armored Alpha said.

Fenris sniffed at the woman, putting its nose up against her hair.

"Not Mother." It grumbled.

"You didn't get the message?" She asked. "It's me, Zayla."

"Zayla…" it held a hand up to waist level. "Pup."

"Yeah, I was a kid when we first met." She smiled. "I'm doctor Zayla now." She looked to Reaper.

"And you are, sir?"

"I'm Captain Arturo Phillips. We saw your distress signal and came right away." He shook her hand.

"Whoa, the war hero?" She smiled at him. "You're well known! Are you going to capture those Alphas that attacked us?"

"That's the goal. Is there anything you have we could use to find them." She waved for him to follow.

"Captain, I'm going to see if I can help with the injured." Reynolds said.

"Fenris, come with us. We could use some help." Eight patted the valkyrie on the shoulder.

The group split up with Mjolnir, Jackal and Fenris following the two Alpha Hunters. The others went with Zayla.

"Are you the head here?" Reaper asked. "Yes, I took over after Dr. Schreider passed away. May she rest in peace. She was brilliant!"

"How is that?"

"She's the one that created the valkyrie program. It was going to be marvelous, but nothing turned out the way she dreamed."

They moved to the far end of the room. A door pushed open lead to a small security room, with walls made out of monitors.

"Here, everything is recorded within the facility save for the bathrooms of course. You'll be able to access the security footage from the attack."

"What are the valkyries exactly?" Sparrow asked. "Are they eos?"

"Hybrids, actually!" She smiled. "Beautiful creatures. Absolutely gorgeous. Dr. Schreider discovered the eos could evolve rapidly. She knew that was the key to understanding the universe and possibly as far as finding God. She wanted humans to have that ability. The same ability to ascend to a higher plane of existence."

She hit a few buttons on the console. Having pulled up the footage from last Thursday, she played it from the start of the attack.

Reaper watched. Spectre, Mako, and Phantom docked right where they had placed the Syndicate. They forced the door open.

The screen cut off to switch to the next camera inside the airlock. Zayla looked away from the screen. She did not want to witness the ensuing carnage of all her people murdered in cold blood.

"They thought we were creating Alphas." She said, hugging herself. "The Alphas we have here are for our protection. Valkyries age much quicker than we do and their rebellious stage is more violent. Alphas can usually subdue them when things get out of control."

"Does that happen often?"

They continued to watch the screen. The cameras switched automatically to follow the intruders. They had come into contact with an Alpha Hunter, most likely Eight.

"Rarely. The worst of it was when Fenris was still a pup. I was at school during that time. She had it--er, I mean it. It had it fairly rough being the runt of the litter."

"So, are valkyries anti-alpha soldiers?” Sparrow watched her.

"Oh, don't be silly!" She laughed. "Valkyries are sworn to preserve humanity. They are here to ascend us to a higher plane where we can be free of the laws governing this plane. We'll be safe from the eos." She waved her hand. "You see, we are stuck here. Until we reconnect to the strings of the universe, we will never return to our former glory. We'll never truly be human. Dr. Schreider believed the valkyries were the key. Only they can master the art of evolution and in doing so, they will teach us. Together we will ascend and we will never have to worry about earthly needs and desires. We will be free and rejoin