Free Specter Rising (Brimstone Network Trilogy) by Thomas E. Sniegoski Page B

narrow, and Bramdidn’t even want to think about where they would be walking next.
    “This ascension,” he asked, trying to distract himself from the obvious. “What does it mean?”
    Lita became very serious, gazing ahead at the loyal servants who bore the burden of her mother, the queen.
    “The Specter have always been a violent race,” she said, her voice tinged with shame. “As a people, we believed that this was our purpose: to conquer any and all that we encountered for the good of our kind. Our magick users continuously worked at breaking down the countless barriers that separated our world from what we believed was ours to conquer. But there were ancient teachings that spoke of a new age for the Specter—a time when we would give up our warrior ways and usher in a new age of peace.”
    Bram lost his footing, almost falling into the soft muck that coated the floor of the passage. Lita’s hands were quick, catching him before he could go down.
    “Thanks,” Bram said, a little embarrassed. “Wouldn’t want to land in that.” He looked down, wrinkling his nose in distaste. The smell was still really horrible.
    “Our mother wanted to believe in those ancient prophecies,” Lita said, letting go of his arm.“Seeing them as a path to enlightenment. But others saw them as a path to weakness.”
    “Barnabas,” Bram said.
    “One of many, but the most powerful of the bunch,” she said. “His beliefs were that the Specter were not strong enough—that their next stage in evolution should make them the most dangerous force in all reality, and from what we have been told, he has found some sort of secret weapon to help him achieve this goal.”
    “What kind of a weapon?” Bram asked.
    “We’re not sure,” Lita said. “All we know is that it was powerful enough to turn my mother’s army against her, and to cause her to hide in the corpse of a giant like some carrion-eating . . .”
    His sister’s anger was defused by sight of the soldiers ahead, stopping suddenly, gazing around the passage in which they now stood.
    Bram remained silent, peering through the darkness, searching for signs that they had been found.
    The Shriekhounds attacked en masse; exploding through the rotting, membranous walls of the dead giant’s digestive tract.
    “Back!” Lita cried, directing the soldiers and theirmost precious package.
    She drew a sword, standing her ground as the screaming creatures galloped toward her.
    “Do you have another one of those?” Bram asked, taking a stand behind her.
    “Half-breed,” a voice called to him.
    Bram turned just in time to catch a sword as it was tossed his way.
    “Don’t cut yourself in half,” one of the soldiers said, taking his stance in front of the queen’s unconscious form with his brethren.
    “I’ll try not to embarrass you too badly,” he said to the warrior.
    Bram bent his body forward, hefting the sword in one hand, getting used to its weight. Not long ago, Stitch had demanded that he practice his swordplay, the two of them sparring whenever the opportunity arose, between averting world-endangering calamities, of course.
    At this moment, he was glad his friend had insisted.
    The Shriekhounds came to a stop, their blind faces moving around as they sniffed the air. It was as if they smelled something else in the air other than their prey.
    “What do you think that’s all about?” Bram asked his sister.
    “Not sure,” she said, eyes fixed to the pack of monstersbefore her. “Maybe they’re checking to see if there are more of us.”
    “I can think of a couple of guys back home we could really use about now,” he said, making reference to his Network friends.
    “But they’re not here, Brother,” Lita said, a steely resolve in her voice. “So it looks like it is totally up to us.”
    “Looks that way,” Bram answered.
    He was thinking of attacking first, but Lita beat him to it.
    She let out a horrible scream, something that would have made him think twice