Protocol

James jerked himself out of one nightmare and found himself in another. A chilling snarl ripped through the darkness. He sat up but the fire had died to only embers and the darkness was complete. He reached out to where Johnny had been sleeping next to him and was relieved to feel his warm body shivering next to him. He yelped when James touched him but James quieted him with a quiet whisper. Johnny scooted closer to him and he felt him sit up, “What is it?” he whispered shakily. James shook his head and tried vainly to see in the darkness, “I have no idea, stay quiet.” He murmured.

The snarls were coming from everywhere; behind them, to the left, right, in the disorienting darkness James tried to remember if he was sitting up or lying down. In between the snarls he heard Brian’s low growl both fearful and defiant.

“Brian shut up.” Apparently the captain could hear it too. His husky voice was low and tense and Brian quieted immediately.

A bit of color caught his eye in the consuming darkness, to his left, a flash of emerald green; the Koyra. But there, moving almost too fast for his eyes to track, was a streak of white; another Koyra. James felt his heart stop when he realized the terrifying sounds were coming from the two Koyra. He held Johnny closer as the small scout shuddered next to him, “How many do you think there are?” He whispered fearfully. James didn’t want to answer but he knew his silence would frighten him more, “I only see one.” He said after a moment.

“What if it’s like Freia? What if there are more that we can’t see?” he insisted. James hissed at the darkness as he tried to keep his fear in check.

A piercing shriek split the darkness and then everything fell eerily quiet. Nothing stirred, not even the wind dared to break the silence with the ruffling of a leaf. James strained his ears for any sound of their Koyra or the enemy but it was as if he was on a lifeless planet.

“Zack.” Matt’s husky voice made him jump, but like that, the silence was broken. A small breeze ruffled the trees and insects began chirping quietly.

“Zack.” His voice was louder and James felt Johnny tense against him.

“I’m here Matt.” The quiet voice said. James wondered at the relief he felt when he heard his light tenor in the darkness. A light flared and James blinked in pain when the sudden light seared his eyes; once the fire was stoked again though he saw a great deal.

Matt was laying much the same way he had been when they’d settled in for the night but there was something unnatural about it. He could see Brian sitting up, he and Johnny were sitting up as well, but he was still lying down.

“Captain are you alright?” he asked getting up, Matt closed his eyes, “I’ll be fine.” He said quietly. The Koyra knelt close to him and scanned the woods warily. James ignored him and looked the captain over. He had several cuts on his arms and a nasty bruise on the side of his face but he couldn’t find anything that would keep him from moving, “Matt what’s wrong?” he murmured, mostly to himself.

“He bit him.” The Koyra said. James looked up, startled by the fury in his voice. He recovered himself quickly though, “Where?”

“Shoulder.” Matt said faintly. Carefully James looked over his shoulder again and this time saw that what he had taken as nothing more than other scratches were definitely a set of teeth marks.

“Gods and ancestors.” He swore quietly and tore his uniform to get a better look at the bite. Johnny sat down next to him and looked around the trees fearfully, “Are they gone?” he whispered.

“No.” the Koyra growled. James froze for a second but forced himself to keep working. Brian came to his other side and growled lowly, “How many are there?”

“Only two are still here. I would say their group is twelve strong.” The Koyra said. Matt winced when he gently ran his fingers over the hot and swelling skin. Bright blue blood dripped onto the leaves and he looked like he was going to pass out.

From the darkness surrounding them came a low hiss. Johnny whimpered quietly and pressed close to James searching the night for the other Koyra. Brian tensed next to him but stayed quiet, his weapon held ready in his hand. Their own Koyra snarled. He looked up at the Koyra startled, he had thought the snarl that had woken him had come from the other but here was their soft spoken Koyra with his lips drawn back revealing his sharp white teeth and a hideous sound coming from deep in his throat.

The trees fell silent again and after a moment the Koyra’s shoulders relaxed, “They’ve run home.” He said quietly, no trace of his previous anger colored his tone. He looked down at Matt worriedly, the young captain had passed out and now James could feel his temperature rising.

“I know nothing about this kind of poisoning.” He admitted quietly, he looked up at the Koyra hoping for an answer but his gemstone eyes were unreadable. Without a word the Koyra stood, “Give him a dose of the concentrate form of the serum. He’ll be feverish until morning probably and he’ll need lots of water for the rest of the night.” His words were soft and James nodded filing away the information.

“Where are you going?” Brian asked, James thought he was trying too hard to sound unafraid. The Koyra gave him only a sparing glance but explained himself, “There was something…something was not right with those Koyra. Something was wrong with their scent and they way they moved. I’m going to find out what has gone wrong with them.”

“You’re coming back right?” Johnny whispered. He looked around anxiously, the Koyra nodded slightly, “I won’t leave Matt.” He said. And then he dissolved into the darkness.

A/N: Alright! Obama, Obama, Obama! Sorry it’s taken awhile to get the updates up but the last week of the election pretty much consumed my sanity. =D But I’m back now and buzzing with ideas ^_^

Thanks for your reviews!