Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (35 page)

“We’ll take the first
helicopter out and will survey the landing area while we move
everyone over to Washington,” Horace explained. “We hope to have
all 2,000 troops in place by tomorrow night. 1500 more will meet us
at the staging location. As one, we’ll then run the last 25 miles
to the Encala’s main city.”

Chevalier watched
carefully. His mind was focused entirely on the obliteration of
those who kept him prisoner. Any thoughts of Emily were carefully
tucked away, hidden behind the feelings of resentment toward the
enemy faction.

Horace walked along the
front line, “Because we’re battalion 1, we’ll be in charge of the
initial gate clearing. Then, our goal will be to ascertain which of
the Council stayed behind, who is leading their defensive forces,
and then initial penetration into the palace.”

“Once we’re inside the
palace, you’ll split up into your teams, and take the floor I’ve
already assigned to you. Those floors are your responsibility and
you will ensure they are clear of anything living. Palace Guards
are to be detained. Anyone else is to be killed
immediately.”

Horace glanced at
Chevalier and then back to his group when the Elder didn’t have
anything to add, “The Elder will be responsible for dealing with
the top ranking Palace Guard staff, and any council members left.
They aren’t to be touched. Leave them to be interrogated by the
Elder. When your floor is secure and any Encala are disposed of,
you will send one member of your team to notify me.”

Kralen appeared in front
of the first row and began handing out black armbands. Each
battalion was given a different color.

“Commander?” one of the guards called
out.

“Yes, Dale?”

“What are we to do if we find the
Lady?”

Horace turned to Chevalier, “Is it
suspected that the Encala have Emily?”

Chevalier shook his head slightly and
looked over at the guard, “We don’t think that the Encala have her,
but if you find her, keep her where she is and call for
me.”

“Yes, Elder,” the guard
said, and then moved back into formation.

As night fell, the
Cavalry’s Commander continued to give instructions and answer
questions. Chevalier added to them when needed, but he let the
Commander lead, as was customary. Zohn and Quinn were to remain
with the Council in the palace until the attack was over. Only
Chevalier would be going with the heku to fight. Kyle was still out
looking for Emily, and Mark was on his way back from Ohio to join
the fight, but wouldn’t arrive until later that night. Instructions
for Mark’s battalion were being given by Silas.

When dawn approached, the
feeling on the lawn changed. The Equites were ready for battle and
the excitement grew. Four Chinook CH-47 helicopters landed on the
west lawn and powered down. The massive black helicopters were
stripped out and could carry 100 heku a piece. Their pilots,
copilots, and flight engineers moved up to talk to
Chevalier.

“Orders, Elder?” the first pilot asked
when they gathered.

“Move them quickly. Land
where the map specifies, and then get the hell out of there to get
more troops. We have 2,000 we need in place by tomorrow night,”
Chevalier said.

“Yes, Elder,” he replied,
and then bowed before returning to his helicopter.

Mark found Chevalier among
the thousands of heku, “Elder, a moment please.”

Chevalier followed the General off to
the side, “Did you find her?”

“No, Sir, but I found an ashed
heku.”

“Where?”

“Outside of Dayton, Ohio.
He hasn’t been revived yet because Kyle is gone,” Mark said. “I’ve
done a sweep and there are sixteen horse ranches within one hundred
miles of Dayton. Nine of those are owned by long-standing families.
That leaves just seven that have been purchased within the last
twenty years.”

“Any within the last year?” Chevalier
asked.

“No, Elder, but I wasn’t sure if she
had one before she left… maybe another of her hidden
houses.”

“True”

“It would help if I knew how much
money she had, so I could limit it down to property
value.”

Zohn came up and joined
them.

“Let me see how much of
the money she’s used,” Chevalier said, and grabbed his
phone.

Zohn watched him and then
turned to Mark, “I wouldn’t stick with horse ranches. She once had
cows, but I seem to remember she has an aversion to
sheep.”

“Good idea,” Mark said,
and watched Chevalier.

Chevalier turned to him,
“She’s removed $534,000 from the account. See if you can find
property in that range.”

“That may not work,” Zohn
said. “You… or… he… told her he wanted everything back you’d given
her, or anything the Equites gave her.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So… she had $34,000 left
over from the sale of the Montana property after paying off the
ranch debts, and $500,000 from Keith’s life insurance. She merely
took out of that account what was hers, and left everything you put
into it.”

“She also has whatever Exavior left
her,” Allen added.

“No, she refused to do anything with
that money. The bank book is still sitting in the safe in the
room,” Zohn told him. “She has exactly $534,000.”

Chevalier sighed, “Damnit, you’re
right… so we have no way of telling how much she spent on a ranch
and how much she left for living expenses.”

“We also can’t use the bank account to
track where purchases were made from.”

“I knew that. She would
realize it would be too easy to track.”

“Let me talk to the Chief
of Finance and see if he can help me locate where the 500 grand was
moved to, and then see if there’s a way to access that account,”
Mark said, and then whispered. “Do you want me to break into her
accounts?”

Chevalier thought for a
moment, “Yes, if you can, do it. Use Allen if you need
to.”

Mark nodded, and then
turned toward battalion 2, “I’ll do that as soon as we get
back.”

Chevalier was the first to
climb into the Chinook transport helicopter and once his battalion
was inside, they lifted off and made the 3-hour trip without
incident. The helicopters landed in a large field and soon, the
entire area was filled with anxious heku, checking to make sure the
landing field was secure.

By the following evening,
all 3,500 Equites were ready to head the 25 miles to the Encala
Palace. Chevalier and Horace led the way as their battalion,
including Allen, started for the enemy city. When they arrived,
they immediately fell into combat with the gate guards and the city
alarm sounded. It took only 10 minutes for the Encala helicopter to
lift off from the palace roof, carrying the Encala Council away
from danger.

Chevalier stuck by Allen
as both wrestled and bit their way through the enemy, fighting with
their battalion to find a path to the palace. Blood soaked the
Encala streets and the still burned out houses were again lit and
smoke filled the sky, blocking out the sun. Chevalier heard Horace
yell for his battalion to leave the battle and head for the palace,
the way was clear.

Chevalier and Allen ran
side-by-side toward the massive stone building, killing anyone that
came at them. They were both covered in blood and healing from
injuries when the entire battalion came to the doors of the palace.
They began to scale the side of the building, because iron bars
were covering the windows and doors. When they got to the roof,
they regrouped and looked around. There was one Blackhawk
helicopter left and the door to the palace was slightly
ajar.

“This sucker’s going into
a lake,” one of the guards said, and crawled into the helicopter.
He lifted off, still grinning as the others watched the
door.

“Think it’s a trap?” Horace asked
Chevalier.

“Yes, I do… Who’s stupid
enough to leave a door unprotected during an attack?”

“Team 4, head in,” Horace
called out. He and the Elder watched as ten heku carefully
approached the door, and while one opened it, the other nine rushed
inside. They came out a short time later.

“Nothing, sir,” the first one out
said.

“In,” Chevalier growled,
and battalion 1 blurred into the enemy palace. The Elder watched as
the teams spread out through the palace, killing the servants and
searching for any of the Council or ranking officers. He waited on
the top floor for any word from the battalion taking the
palace.

“Sir,” Horace said as he
blurred toward Chevalier. “All three Elders left, none of the
Council stayed behind… We have two Generals and four Captains
confined on floor 4.”

Chevalier nodded and
started to walk down the stairs. He had a malicious presence about
him and radiated pure evil. Bodies of servants were strewn around
the palace and he nonchalantly kicked one of the heads hard against
the wall and grinned at the sickening way it cracked open and
splattered to the floor.

“Floor two is clear,” one
of the heku guards told Chevalier and Horace, and then returned to
watch his post.

“Floor three and four are clear,”
another said, then turned quickly and disappeared down the
stairs.

Before Chevalier got to
the enemy leaders on the fourth floor, all floors had checked in,
except for those clearing out the Encala’s prison. The six heku
leaders were knelt beside the Equites troops posted to the fourth
floor.

Chevalier walked up to the
first one and kneed him in the chin, instantly breaking his jaw,
“Where did your Council go?”

The one beside him growled, “We don’t
know.”

Chevalier shrugged, “Fine, then you
first.”

The Elder bent over and
slammed his fist deep into the enemy’s chest. The heku began to
scream as Chevalier pulled his still beating heart from his chest
and tossed it onto the floor. The Encala General fell back onto the
floor, writhing in pain as blood pooled around him.

“We don’t know!” one of
the Captains yelled, and started to stand up, but was pushed
roughly to his knees.

“We’ve taken your palace,
your city is in ruins… if you want your life, I suggest you start
talking about where your Council might be,” Chevalier
hissed.

“They don’t say where they
are going… We were just told to hold the palace.”

“Good job at that,”
Chevalier said with a grin, and looked up at the guards. “Drain
him.”

“What!? No!” the heku
screamed, as four sets of teeth sunk into his thick
flesh.

Chevalier squatted down by
one of the Captains, “You’re being quiet.”

“Nothing I say can change
the fact that you’re about to kill me,” he scowled.

“Oh, true,” Chevalier
said, and stood up. He walked over to the last General and looked
down at him. “I suppose you’re not going to be much help,
either?”

“We don’t know where the
Council is.”

“I figured, it’s just fun
to torture you about it,” he replied with a grin. The drained heku
was released by the Equites and he began to pant and look hungrily
around him. His skin was turning an ashen gray and his body began
to shake with thirst.

“Go find me some blood,”
Chevalier said, and one of his guards blurred away.

Chevalier tore the heads
off the remaining General and two Captains, leaving just the dying
General, the drained Captain, and one more Encala Captain that
watched Chevalier with wide eyes. The Encala all knew about
Chevalier’s temper and furious rage, but none had seen it in the
last twenty years. He was no longer thought of as a harsh
disciplinarian and callous warrior, but these Encala now realized
that by taking Emily away, he had returned to his former
nature.

“Just kill me and get it over with,”
the Captain growled.

“Oh, that’s no fun,”
Chevalier told him. He walked over and looked down at the cowering
heku. Before the enemy could react, Chevalier reached down and
removed his arm and he began to scream.

“Your blood, Elder,” one
of his guards said. Chevalier turned and took a bag of blood from
the heku and turned back to the drained Captain,
“Thirsty?”

The gray heku only hissed at him and
stood to crouch.

Chevalier grinned ominously, “Come get
it.”

The heku lunged at
Chevalier and then slammed into the stone wall when the Elder
deftly stepped aside, still holding the blood up for the starving
heku to see, “You missed me… I thought you were
thirsty.”

“Stop it! There’s no reason to torture
him,” the Captain said.

“Oh, yes there is… I was
held for 5 months by you. Someone has to pay for that.”

“You cannot hold us
responsible for what our Elders order us to do.”

“Yes, I can,” Chevalier
told him, and then moved away when the gray heku lunged for the bag
of blood again.

The heartless heku General
began to groan a guttural noise and Chevalier looked over at him,
“Did you say something? Speak up there, Boy.”