Chapter 4 #2
When a second void weaver shot a stream of webbing at Mara's back, Truxxet caught the arc of it with the shaft of his spear, deflecting it into the soil, then spun the weapon and drove the razor-sharp tip through the creature's eye cluster in one unbroken motion.
It dropped without a sound. He was already moving to the next before it hit the ground.
"Above you!" I shouted.
Vennox spun, his sword slicing upward in a perfect arc that split the creature from its mandibles to its abdomen. Phosphorescent fluid sprayed outward, hissing where it hit the ground. The creature's legs spasmed once before it collapsed at his feet, its internal lights fading.
Truxxet pinned another to the ground with his spear before wrenching it free with a sickening crunch. Three void weavers remained, circling, their bodies refracting the light in nauseating pulses as they looked for an opening.
The forest went still. The remaining three had retreated beyond the tree line, their distorted forms shifting the light.
"We move now," I said. "The ship. It's our best shot."
"Go," Vennox ordered, turning toward where the creatures had disappeared. "We'll cover your retreat."
"This way," I said to Brooke and Mara. "Stay close."
We hit the ridge at a dead run. I went first, half-sliding on loose soil, grabbing at whatever held long enough to slow me before the ground leveled and I was sprinting. Brooke landed hard behind me. Mara a second after that.
The path twisted beneath us, littered with fallen branches and alien roots. I pushed forward, lungs burning, the blaster heavy in my hand. Behind us, the void weavers shrieked as they resumed their attack.
I glanced back without breaking stride. Fifty yards behind us, Vennox and Truxxet held their ground, weapons flashing in the fractured light.
Vennox's blade cleaved through a void weaver's limb with such force the creature split nearly in two.
The monstrosity shuddered and collapsed into twitching pieces just as three more emerged from the treeline.
"Eyes forward, Quin!" Mara gasped. "Just run!"
My foot caught on a root. I went down hard, the impact knocking the air out of me. Brooke skidded to a stop and hauled me up.
"We can't stop!" she panted, face pale.
I scrambled upright, ignoring the burning in my knee.
Two figures burst from the direction of the ship.
Vala sprinted toward us with a massive Nomadican warrior at his side.
Bronze skin, black horns curving up from his forehead like polished obsidian, his weapon glinting as they closed the distance.
"Halfway there!" I called to the girls.
Vala reached us first. "Give me the blaster," he ordered, taking it from my hand. "Get to the ship."
"Go," the Nomadican rumbled. "We will finish this. Tyrk waits within."
They turned and sprinted toward the battle without waiting for a response. Vala's weapon discharged in controlled bursts, a bolt striking one of the void weavers directly in its central cluster. It convulsed violently before collapsing.
"Come on," I said to Brooke and Mara, forcing myself to turn away. "We're almost there."
We ran. The crashed Moktian vessel loomed ahead. I could see the jagged tear in the hull where the viewport had been, our way in.
Brooke went first, slipping through the gaping opening. Mara followed, her dark curls catching on a jagged edge before she cursed under her breath and yanked herself free.
I paused at the opening, my gaze pulled back to the battle on the ridge. The void weavers screeched and lunged. Through the chaos, he moved with lethal grace, his blade flashing silver as it carved through arachnid flesh, muscles rolling beneath his scales with each strike.
"Quin! Get in here!" Brooke's voice snapped me back.
I tore my eyes away and squeezed through the jagged frame where the transparent polycarbon viewport had once been, the serrated metal edges scraping against my sides.
I stumbled on the inner ledge, nearly falling face-first onto the floor when massive bronze hands steadied me.
Looking up, I found myself staring into a Nomadican’s slitted pupils.
"Thanks, Tyrk," I managed, my voice shakier than I wanted it to be.
“My pleasure, female," he rumbled, turning back to the broken viewport where he'd positioned himself as sentinel. The air inside was cooler, tinged with the scent of burnt circuitry and the raw metallic bite of blood.
My eyes adjusted slowly to the change in light. The ship's interior was a mess of damaged panels and loose wiring. Emergency lighting cast everything in an eerie red glow, making shadows dance along the walls. And there, lying on a makeshift pallet on the floor, was a third Valosian male.
He looked different from Vennox and Truxxet.
His scales shimmered in a paler shade, almost ashen, contrasting sharply with the blue fur pants and boots covering his lower half.
A crude bandage was wrapped around his head, stained a dark blue with what I assumed was his blood.
His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, evidence of life despite his clearly injured state.
As we entered, his head turned toward us, eyes opening to the same pale silver as the other two Valosians. Those eyes swept past Brooke and me before landing on Mara. His gaze locked onto her with such intensity that I felt the air between them crackle.
Mara froze mid-step, her breath catching audibly. "Oh," she whispered, the single syllable loaded with surprise.
I turned away from whatever was passing between them, drawn inexorably back to the broken viewport and the battle raging outside. My heart hammered against my ribs as I searched the chaos for Vennox. I found him immediately, as if my eyes were programmed to locate him in any crowd.
He stood like a silver warrior god, surrounded by the fallen bodies of void weavers, their translucent flesh still twitching in death spasms around him.
His own blood streaked across his scales in dark rivulets, yet he moved with undiminished power, his blade slicing through another creature's limb as if it were nothing but mist.
I couldn't look away. My fingers gripped the jagged edge of the viewport, metal biting into my palms as I leaned forward, tracking his every movement.
My breath fogged the remaining shard of transparent polycarbon as I watched him fight, a strange pressure building in my chest. Each time a void weaver lunged toward him, my heart seized.
When his blade connected with alien flesh, I exhaled.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from his lethal dance, as if my gaze formed some invisible barrier around him to keep him safe.