Reyche’s body began to spasm. She could barely hear Ekala, it was as if she were in some distant location. All she could hear, like a deafening symphony, was the sound of hundreds of hearts pumping fresh, delicious blood through the veins. She struggled to find a grip, trying to take long, deep breaths. She thought of her parents, of her hometown. She thought of happier times, trying to find some center, something to grip hold of.
“GET UP!”
Ekala’s voice broke through and Reyche’s spasms came to a sudden halt. The pounding had faded and though the stench of blood was still there, she was able to focus on the task at hand. “I...I’m okay.”
“Good, then stop screwing around and let’s get outta here.”
The hangar was located on the ground level, up two floors from where Ekala and Reyche had been when the alarm sounded. They were still in armor, so they were able to blend in fairly well. Other Dreadnoughts charged passed them, guns and swords drawn. And when the pair finally ended up in the hangar, they saw why.
The smoke from the gunfire had made it difficult to see. Battle cries echoed in the hangar and as Reyche and Ekala pushed through, they could see the Dreadnoughts converging on one central figure—it was Liran. Her ferocity was unmatched, she had gone completely feral and her claws shred through anything that came near her. The beautiful, silver mane she possessed appeared as if it had been dyed scarlet. She didn’t only attack, but also evaded. Liran was constantly on the move, darting to avoid gunshots and sword-strikes.
But Tanus and Zarim were nowhere to be seen. Ekala hoped that was because Tanus was prepping one of the small crafts for takeoff. Regardless, Liran could obviously use a hand and Ekala planned to oblige. Although she would take a different tact. In addition to the sword and the sidearm, the Dreadnought standard-issue weapons also consisted of a dagger. She drew it and moved towards one of the soldiers who had ducked for cover behind one of the crafts. He nodded at her in appreciation of some assistance, then peeked out to the side and fired again. As he did, Ekala grabbed his head and pulled it back, then drew the dagger quickly across his throat. She stalked towards another Dreadnought with the same intention.
Reyche froze in place, just watching the carnage unfold all around her. Blood had started to pool on the ground and she stared at it in shock, then started to get lost within herself. She discarded her helmet and the rest of her armor and opened her mouth wide, screeching as her fangs elongated and her eyes burned yellow. Jumping from hiding, she glided towards one of the Dreadnoughts, tackling him and tearing his throat with her powerful jaw. She drank him, feeling strength flow through her body.
Despite their superior numbers, the Dreadnoughts of Erlik barely stood a chance against three of the most vicious females of any species. The hangar doors opened and one of the aircrafts moved into position. Liran signaled to her companions and the three women ran towards the open hatch, jumping onboard as the craft raced down the short runway. Liran was the last one to jump in and once she ran up the ramp, Ekala closed the door behind her.
It was a small craft, only capable of housing six people. Tanus sat at the controls and lying on the ground, covered with makeshift bandages, was Zarim. Ekala fell by his side, holding his head in her lap and stroking his hair, which had been dampened by his sweat. His eyes were shut, his body cold.
“Zee? Baby, it’s me. Answer me, please.”
Her vision blurred and she tried blinking the fog away, but her cheeks quickly became wet from her tears. “C’mon Zee, you’re tougher than this. Don’t tell me you’re just gonna wimp out on me now. Not when we’re so close to the end...”
Tanus kept his eyes on the controls, trying not to listen to Ekala’s pleas. Reyche and Liran could do nothing but watch as their teammate tried desperately to will back the man she loved. Ekala bent over his body, her head buried in his chest.
Ekala Cosari had a tough life. Orphaned at a young age, growing up on the streets of Delfor, she had learned quickly that you had to be harder than stone to survive, had to keep your emotions walled up behind a dam of false bravado. Today, for the first time in her life, that stone cracked.
And the floodgates opened.
CHAPTER 25
Although they had managed to escape Erlik, they weren’t out of danger yet. The small aircraft’s radar told Tanus that they had vehicles closing in on them and fast. “Strap yourselves in, it’s gonna get bumpy!”
Liran fastened herself to the seat beside Tanus and Reyche was behind them. Ekala, however, was still hunched over Zarim’s lifeless body, clutching onto it, waiting for some sort of sign of life. Reyche reached for her, gently brushing her shoulder. Her voice was low. “Ekala...”
Tanus banked hard to the right, narrowly dodging a blast from one of the enemy ships. It’d been some time since he’d had to fly in a combat situation, and the radar showed four airships on their tail. To make matters worse, the Excalibur was nowhere in sight.
He toggled a few switches and altered the frequency on the radio. “Tanus calling Excalibur, do you copy?” There was no answer. “Tanus calling Excalibur, I repeat: do you copy?”
“Why aren’t they answering?” asked Reyche.
“Not sure, maybe the signal’s not getting through.” He glanced back. “Ekala, get in a damn seat already, or you’re gonna start bouncing all over this thing!”
She ignored his pleas, appearing almost catatonic. Tanus had no choice and pulled hard on the stick. The ship rose and he turned, trying to get within firing range of one of the attackers. He had it in his crosshairs and fired. A rocket disengaged from beneath the wing and loosed itself on the target, obliterating it in a fireball.
“One down,” he sighed. “Dammit Swul, where the hell are you?”
Reyche unfastened her belt and got down beside Ekala. Tanus looked back and saw this. “Not you too!”
“Ekala, we need to secure ourselves.” Her voice was low and gentle, but Ekala still wouldn’t respond. Reyche gently tried shaking her. “Zarim would want you to keep going. You have to honor him by being the woman he loved.”
She stood and lightly pulled Ekala with her. Surprisingly, the young thief followed Reyche’s lead and allowed herself to be sat down in a seat, where Reyche quickly fastened her belt. She then sat back down and did the same for herself.
“Good, now all we need to do is—” Tanus was interrupted by a sudden jolt to the ship. The craft shook violently and Tanus grappled with the wheel, trying to keep the ship steady.
“What is this?” asked Liran.
“We’ve been hit,” he said. “Looks like they’re not happy about me blowing up their friend.”
The three ships were closing in from three different angles and Tanus knew they were about to meet the end. There was no way he could avoid their missiles, maybe if it were just one or two. But three all within ideal firing range? Not a chance.
He had almost resigned himself to their fate when the ship in the middle of the trio suddenly blew up. Tanus, Liran, and Reyche were stunned into silence, and then they saw the cause as the Excalibur burst through the clouds.
The radio crackled. “Sorry t’ keep you waitin’. After bombing the prison, we had to find some cover.”
Tanus exhaled. He’d never been happier to hear the faerie’s surly voice.
One of the ships broke off and went after the new, larger fish. It circled around the Excalibur and the cannon fired several times, each shot missing its mark. What the Dreadnought ship lacked in firepower, however, it made up for with speed and flexibility that was difficult for the Excalibur to match.
Tanus pushed forward on the throttle just as his enemy fired, the shot narrowly missing their purloined ship. Tanus saw the Dreadnought ship attacking the Excalibur and made a bee-line straight for it, increasing his speed.
“You’re cuttin’ it kinda close there, buddy...” said Swul.
“He’s right, you should break off. It’s risky,” said Reyche.
“Both of you shut up, I know what I’m doing,” said Tanu
s.
He pulled up slightly, narrowly buzzing past the metallic hull of the Dreadnought and drawing its fire away from the Excalibur. Now both Dreadnoughts were locked in on him, and he was sandwiched right between the two speeding cruisers. Tanus accelerated towards the second Dreadnought, the first following close behind. For a moment, it appeared that Tanus was intent on ramming the Dreadnought ship ahead. Just when Swul thought they would crash into the hull of the larger ship, Tanus pushed the yoke down and sent their transport ship diving beneath, scraping the top of their ship on the keel of the Dreadnought craft.
In its zeal to catch the hijacked transport ship, the captain of the pursuing Dreadnought pushed his ship to reckless speed, and now he found himself on a collision course with his brother ship. He dove, but his ship did not have the maneuverability of the smaller transport ship, and the two Dreadnoughts crashed into each other.
“Damn, that’s some good flyin’!” said Swul.
Tanus breathed. Despite the threat of death, the dogfight was actually a brief respite from reality. And now that it was over, he was once again faced with the fact that Zarim was indeed gone. And he didn’t know where to go from here.
Inside the infirmary, Swul stared down at the lifeless body that had, until recently, contained the spirit of his friend. It was because of Zarim that Swul was even alive today. To see him like this was almost too much for the faerie to bear.
“What happened?” asked Kef.
“That Dreadnought you told us about, she killed him,” said Tanus. “She had us at gunpoint, and Zarim, using what strength he had left, decided to taunt her.”
“Why’d he do that?” asked Swul, shaking his head. “Don’t make no sense...”
Kef walked to the infirmary’s door and looked out. Across the hall was the common area, where Ekala sat motionless. Reyche kept watch over her, but the thief appeared far too distraught to notice or to respond to her ministrations. “And her?”
“She’s been like that ever since, won’t say a word,” said Tanus. “It’s like she’s shut down.”
“She just lost the man she loves, ain’t no surprise there.” Swul leaned against the wall and fished through his pockets for his cigar case, then cursed when he realized he left them on the bridge.
Kef fidgeted, staying in the same room with the body. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to look anywhere but at Zarim. “I’m gonna head up to the bridge, make sure we didn’t pick up a tail...”
Swul nodded. “Thanks kid.”
Once Kef left, Tanus closed the door behind him and folded his arms. “So what happens now?”
“Right, like I know...” Swul removed his hat and ran his hands through his short hair. “I guess the thing to do would be to go to Xanadar. Other than this ship, it was the closest thing Zarim had to a home.”
“And the stones?”
That made Swul sigh. “I got nothin’. Without Zee, how are we gonna find ‘em?”
Tanus tilted his head back, resting it against the door. He shut his eyes. “I wish I knew.” He paused and looked at Zarim’s body. That triggered a memory. “He said something before he died.”
“What?”
“He said this needs to happen, that the fifth stone was on the ‘other side’. Does that mean anything to you?”
Swul shook his head. “Got no clue.”
“He said Vortai had someone on the other side. And that he had to go there...”
Swul cocked an eyebrow. “You lost me.”
Tanus lowered his head. “Yeah, I think I lost myself, too. I don’t have any idea what he was talking about.”
“In that case, we’ll go on to Xanadar. Maybe Quand has some advice for us.”
Reyche poured a glass of water and set it down beside Ekala. “Here, you should probably try to drink something. I can see if there’s any food, maybe see about preparing something for you?”
Ekala sat motionless, staring through the open door of the common area across the corridor to the infirmary. Kef had just left the infirmary and Tanus closed the door behind him. Reyche carefully laid her hand on Ekala’s shoulder. The woman didn’t flinch, didn’t react in any way.
“Can I get you anything?”
Ekala reached out and raised the glass to her lips and sipped the water. But she offered no words and the simple act of drinking from the cup was the closest she came to acknowledging Reyche’s presence. Reyche stepped deeper into the common area, near the galley. There was a small counter that Liran had perched herself on. She held an assortment of nuts in the palm of her hand, taken from one of the galley’s cabinets, and ate them one by one.
“Why is she broken?” asked the Felidae.
Reyche’s snapped her head at the feline creature. “Don’t say that!”
Liran paused, holding one of the nuts a few inches from her mouth. She tilted her head slightly ajar. “Why?”
Reyche focused her sights on Ekala, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Think of what she just lost. Imagine if you lost the man you loved.”
Liran squinted and repeated the word “love” as if it were a foreign word, testing the pronunciation and trying to discern the meaning.
“Think of your husband or...or your mate.”
“Hmmm...she still doesn’t understand. Why would she mourn the loss of a mate?”
Reyche focused her attention on Liran completely and now she appeared just as lost as her friend. “Because you loved him. Like Ekala loved Zarim.”
“Felidae have nothing like that,” said Liran. “Felidae breed and two moons later, the child is raised by the tribe. There is no...love. Not like she describes.”
“But...” Reyche adjusted her stance, thinking back to their brief time among Liran’s people. “No, you referred to the Chieftain as your mother.”
Liran nodded. “Yes, Chieftain is mother to all Felidae. When she becomes Chieftain, she will become mother. But she doesn’t understand. Humans...they have one other human to be with?”
“Maybe,” said Reyche with a slight sigh. “If they’re lucky.”
“So not all?”
“No, not all. You just have to...pray that you find them.”
Liran grunted and went back to her nuts. “Very strange. She thinks Felidae way much more simple.”
“On that we’re ag—” Reyche glanced over in Ekala’s direction, but found that she was gone. “Where did she go?”
At some point during Reyche and Liran’s chat, Ekala stood from her seat and left the common area. She walked by the infirmary and she heard what Tanus had said about Zarim’s last words, and it gave her an idea. Going down into the belly of the ship, she found Zarim’s sky-cycle. Her fingers gently ran along its surface, and she remembered when he first bought it—not long after their first successful job. He’d been so excited. Even after they’d gotten the Excalibur, he still loved to find any excuse to use that old sky-cycle.
Now she was the one finding a reason. As she climbed aboard and straddled the seat, gripping the handlebars, she started up the cycle. The engine roared to life, echoing through the cargo hold and probably to some of the upper levels. She activated the switch that opened the bay doors and the warning alarm for sudden cabin depressurization sounded.
It took almost no time for the crew to rush down to see what the problem was. “Ekala! What the hell’re you doin’?” asked Swul, shouting over the air current.
Ekala gave no response, although she could hear her old friend’s voice quite clearly. She hit the thrusters and the sky-cycle rocketed from the hull, soaring out into clouds. Once she had gone, Swul had to fly against the swirling air in order to reach the switch to shut the hull once more.
“Where the hell did she go?” asked Tanus.
Swul threw his arms into the air. “Yeah, like I got any friggin’ clue!”
“Should we go after her?” asked Reyche.
“She probably just needs to blow off some steam, best to just let her go do her thing,” said Swul.
Tanus rais
ed an eyebrow. “Blow off some steam? She could have brought this whole ship down with that stunt!”
Swul dismissively waved his hand. “Just lay off, big guy. Ain’t in the mood. We stick to the plan, head t’ Xanadar an’ she’ll get in touch with us when she gets in touch with us. Not the first time she’s run off.”
“She’s done this kind of thing before?” asked Reyche.
Swul groaned. “Yeah...kinda her first instinct t’ run when things get bad. But she always comes back.”
Tanus shook his head. “This is different.”
“No shit,” muttered Swul.
CHAPTER 26
The city of Mercury may not have been able to match the extravagance of Serenity, but it was still quite a wealthy and influential territory. Located near the coast, Mercury was full of high-rise, beach-front tenements for some of the wealthiest in the region. And it was just barely out of the imperial reach. That was what Jameson Pierce liked the most about it.
He entered his penthouse and turned on the lights. Dressed in a tuxedo, he had just come from an incredibly boring dinner party, one he wished he could have avoided. But appearances had to be made, unfortunately. First thing he did was strip off his jacket and then tug at the tie that felt like a noose around his neck, while he poured himself a drink.
Pierce slid open the balcony door and stepped out, listening to the waves crashing against the sandy shore below. He sipped his drink and smacked his lips in satisfaction at the smooth taste. “You might as well come out now.”
Ekala emerged from behind the curtain and joined him on the balcony. She took the drink from his hand and threw it back, leaving the glass empty after one swig. She handed it back to him. “Wanted to see if you really were that good—Templar.”
Pierce smiled. “Oh, I am, my dear.”
“Pretty risky move,” she said. “Giving your real address to a potential rival. Especially with all the secrecy that usually surrounds you.”
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