The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (100 best novels of all time .txt) 📗

“We told you, we do not know!” The bird squawked, wings flapping. “The lights went out. Scans detected progressive damage. We ordered everyone onto the life preserving vessels.”

“Where was Fenris during all this?”

“Fenris was with us in the bridge until the commotion. He left, presumably to take care of the problem. When we saw him again, he locked us in the bridge.” The bird took a deep breath. “All we know now is that our people are withered and lost to the Great Tree.”

Reaper looked down at his boots. This was no soldier of his he was dealing with. This was just a frail little flower.

“I will let you rest, miss Fauriei.”

“Please, it has been a rough time for us.”

Reaper stepped out only to get called back to the door.

“Captain Phillips, we would like you to take Fenris.” She said abruptly. “As we have no ship, we can no longer escort him to his destination. We know he is better suited with the Syndicate.”

“There is room for everyone,” He could not even force himself to smile about the idea. “If Fenris wishes to stay, then all right.”

Jackal was laid out on a gurney in the medical bay. Velcro straps held his body to the cushions. The head doctor stood over him with an assistant, cutting away his pants from the broken leg. A mask was attached to his face to keep the perfect amount of oxygen flowing into his lungs. A saline bag hung on a hook next to his head. He was at peace, unconscious from anesthesia. His eyelids twitched, eyes rolling back and forth in his sleep.

They pulled the strips of pants away, tossing them in a too clean trash can at the foot of the gurney. The entire room was sterile, not so much as a speck of dust, or dirt anywhere to be found.

It was clear to Dr. Reynolds the severity of the damage even before she had the clothing cutaway. Bones were stuck out in multiple directions, his tibia and fibula shattered. Once the clothes were cut away, she knew it was caused by pressure on the leg crushing them.

“Jeez, what the hell happened out there?” She exhaled into her mask.

“Last time I saw something like this was when I worked in the mines.” Her assistant said.

“Really? What did you do?”

“Amputated the limb.”

Reynolds’ eyes widened. “Well, we aren’t going to be doing that today.”

She adjusted her glasses, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her glasses performed a scan over Jackal’s leg.

“We’ll piece the bones back together. Start the printer for rods we can attach to the pieces to hold them all together.” She grabbed a scalpel and began cutting into his leg.

“Yourself?” He stepped to the other side of the room for the printer. “Maybe if we had a drone still, but no one has done that on their own in a hundred years!”

“I hope you’re recording this then.”

Chills ran down her spine suddenly. The room was always cold compared to the rest of the ship. Her glasses fogged.

“D-doc’.” Michael stammered from the printer.

Reynolds looked up to see the largest canine she had ever seen in her life. It floated in the doorway, a cloak of shadows draped over its sides. One set of horns stretched back and upwards, a second came from the brow and curled around the sides of the head like a ram’s horns, only a looser curl that pointed towards its crimson eyes.

She nearly dropped the scalpel. The wolf had not been staring at her, but at Jackal. Its heavy aura weighed on her like gravity pulled her down. She could have sworn they boarded a dead ship to rescue survivors. What exactly was on that ship? What was that thing?

The wolf seemed to sit in the air, a paw tucked underneath a bar to hold it in place.

Reynolds breathed again. The look on the wolf’s scarred face softened. It looked on curiously, concerned.

Michael waved his hands at the canine to shoo it away. "Go on! Get! No animals in the surgery room!"

When he neared it in the attempt, the wolf was no longer such.

In the blink of an eye, a metallic humanoid figure took the wolf's place. It towered over Michael, even with it hunched over to stay comfortably within the doorway.

Michael let out a yelp of confusion and fell backwards. He blinked several times. Rubbed his eyes until he saw random shapes and colors. Still, it was some sort of person, or creature, or monster, standing right there in front of him, paying him no mind at all.

Reynolds looked on in disbelief. Fear made her heart thump like a war drum against her ribs. Obviously they were seeing the same thing. A wolf turned into a person in the blink of an eye. Not just any person, something clad in armor like a dark knight. A pelt of a mighty kill wrapped around its collar and draped over its shoulders. Armor more ceremonial than visibly practical at this distance.

Another blink. It was a wolf. Blinked again. Armor.

Reynolds pushed her glasses up to rub the bottom of her palm into her eye. Was she dreaming? Something must have been in the air. Maybe it was that ardrizian ale she drank last night.

She gasped at what she had done, pulled her glove off and pulled a new one on.

"Just leave it." She said. "As long as it's not in our way."

"G-good call." Michael pulled himself back towards the printer. "What is that thing?"

"Hopefully it'll be here for a while. I've never seen anything like it. Nor have I read about it."

"Why is it here?"

She stared at the creature for a good moment. It made her think of her time as an intern. An old man was admitted into the hospital, and his closest relative was actually just an old dog. A good hunting dog back in the day and it sat next to its master till the end,