Hulmor clapped his hands, interrupting Alex by shouting, “Human, I think you are confused by—”
“I am NOT FINISHED!” Alex shrieked, the air around her instantly growing hot, a concussive wave of energy streaming out of her body as her eyes flashed red. And just like that, the energy was gone. “But I guess if you want to get all fight-y, let’s get this done. Is it really going to take a dozen of you to kill one human?”
Hulmor still looked stunned by the variety of moods Alex had just gone through. He quickly composed himself, though, and laughed cruelly. “It won’t take any more than me to—”
Jim’s mech crashed into the group of giants, his machine gun firing as he launched two missiles that sent a giant and mammoth flying. Then he leaped among the flurry of flames and bullets lighting the air.
Above, she heard the roaring of mechs as their thrusters cut through the silence of the night. Some of them were heading toward the ship in the distance, and the rest were getting ready to land in the valley with Alex and the giants. “Guess you don’t have a choice,” Alex shouted. “Looks like your friends are gonna have enough on their hands.”
Alex had no idea why she was goading the giant. Chine was still nowhere to be seen, and her dragon anchor still wasn’t online. The brief moment of confidence that had flared up was gone, and she was reminded that she was a very small human standing up to a very large giant.
The giant didn’t need a reminder. He leaped through the air, his club high. Alex lunged to the side, rolling away as the club hit the ground where she had stood, tearing up the earth. Even though the giant was huge, he was fast.
Alex scrambled away from the giant as he chased her, swinging his club. As the club arced down, Alex turned to see it was going to smash into her face. She pulled up her scythe, narrowly blocking the club. The force of the attack sent her skidding back, but she was still on her feet.
Alex looked down at her robotic arm. Steam was coming off of it as its cylinders reset. Alex knew she was stronger on any realm except Earth, but the attack from the giant would have knocked her out a few weeks ago. Maybe the robotic arm wasn’t such a bad idea.
As was usually the case now, Alex switched her scythe to her robotic arm and twirled it once to get used to the weight. Maybe I can do this, she thought. I fought giants earlier today. I’m just fighting another giant now. A larger one, that’s all.
Alex dashed forward as fast as she could, then leaped, spinning in a quarter circle as she slashed at the giant.
Hulmor raised his club, absorbing the force of the blow. It didn’t seem to have fazed him. Alex didn’t care. She’d seen the difference between herself and the giant, one Alex rarely noticed because she was always with Chine.
Alex was ridiculously fast.
Alex, still in the air, whipped around, twirling her scythe behind her back, and slashed again at Hulmor, who had to take a step back before she attacked again. Her next few attacks were relentless, her robotic arm steaming with each attack.
Hulmor continued to back up, barely able to move his club in time to catch her blows.
Alex hit the ground and caught her breath, sizing up the situation. She didn’t want to just run into this. She’d done that enough. Alex wanted to understand the fight. That didn’t mean she couldn’t trust her gut. It just meant there was more to her than that.
There had been a flash of something earlier. Alex had felt it. Fiery energy had given her a boost of confidence. Could it have been the augment she and Chine shared, the one that allowed her to make use of the draconic fluid in her dragon anchor? How had she accessed it before?
The last thing Alex had remembered before the sudden surge of energy was getting angry at being cut off. Maybe it was anger that triggered it.
Alex tried to think of something that pissed her off. Surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult, but nothing happened.
Hulmor was breathing heavily but unwilling to betray his weariness. “Do you need a break, human?” he taunted.
Alex looked around the battlefield. The mechs above were helping Chine take care of the vrosks on his back. Jim and the other mechs were cutting down the rest of the giants and mammoths. Now that Alex thought about it, this mission hadn’t been hard. “No,” Alex called. “Let’s finish this.”
Hulmor and Alex ran toward each other. The giant went for the attack and Alex pushed herself a little harder, felt her legs aching as she tried for extra speed. Then, there it was—that flash again. She felt flames burst out over her body for a second as she gained a massive speed boost.
Alex slid under her opponent’s legs, stretched out her scythe, and slashed as she turned in a circle. The giant let out a scream of pain as his legs separated from his feet at the ankles.
Hulmor hit the ground, screaming in pain as his stumps bled. Alex looked down at the giant, reeling from the sickening gore.
Alex forced herself to remember what she was doing. Why she was here. That she was at war. She swallowed hard, reminding herself that Hulmor would have torn her to shreds if he had gotten the chance.
The scythe was raised and it fell, putting an end to Hulmor’s pained mutters of revenge.
Alex looked down at her dragon anchor as it turned back on. Then she went over to Hulmor’s body and picked up the black rod he had used to disconnect her from the Chine. She pocketed it before reaching out to
