“I think I’ll call you Clarent,” I said as I stowed the weapon in my belt.
I ran hard through the streets filled with scrap metal buildings. The people must have heard the sounds of battle and decided to hide because the streets in the city outskirts were empty. It made my trip toward the forest outside Yaltu’s hideout much easier. Although I still kept my eyes open and my ears peeled for any sign of the hovercraft the king had ordered to return.
I turned a corner and found a cluster of half-concealed aliens beside a rattled apartment complex.
“Give me a good reason not to put you down!” a familiar voice called.
It sounded like Reaver, and when I called for her, at the same time, had to duck and roll to avoid having my head vaporized by a plasma rifle.
“Reaver, it’s me!” I yelled.
There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. “Jacob? You look like shit!”
I looked down at my clothes. Smoke wafted off them, and they looked like they’d been cleaned with a bucket of razors. “Sorry. I didn’t bring my dress whites.”
I stood slowly, just as the others did the same. They were all there, and though they were filthy, they each appeared to be in one piece. They hadn’t gone to the forest outside Yaltu’s hideout, but they’d kept themselves safe here, halfway between.
“What happened? I saw the skiff leave. . .” Beatrix trailed off.
“We need to leave,” Yaltu said. “It is not safe here, even in the outskirts.”
“Yaltu has hideout!” Skrew said.
“I cannot draw attention to them. We must leave and go far from Brazud.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
We ran until Yaltu and Skrew couldn’t go on. I threw Yaltu over my shoulder while Reaver and Beatrix took turns with Skrew, passing him to the other when his jabbering became too much for either of them.
A half-hour later, we were deep into the forest and far from the city. A trail led us to a glittering lake. I decided it was as good a place as any to stop and take stock of our situation, ourselves, and each other.
“You were awesome!” Reaver said to Beatrix. “When you vaporized that guard’s skull, I wish it would have lasted long enough to see the stupid look on his face.”
“Yes,” Beatrix said, “that was good. But you piloted that hoverbike like you’d been born with one. Have you ever piloted one before?”
“No, I’ve never even seen one before. It’s a good design, though. Maybe we should go back and snag a couple?”
While I washed the blood from my clothes and limbs, I listened to their conversation.
“I will never return to Brazud,” Beatrix said.
“That’s fair,” Reaver sighed. “But I’d prefer a couple of hoverbikes over foot-slogging it any day.”
Yaltu came tiredly to my side while Skrew energetically thrust his hips around the place in what I assumed was a victory dance. When he invited Reaver and Beatrix to join in, they turned around and glared at him fiercely enough to make him back off like a frightened rabbit.
I felt a little bad for Skrew, so I waved him over. “So, how did it go while I was killing the king?”
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. “Jacob killed King Dummytree?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, I sure did. I cut off his head.”
“Oh, did head roll?” Skrew blurted, excited to have an audience of one. “Jacob should have seen! Reaver smashed face of guard. Then, Beatrix smash face. Then, they make guards crash together and smash each! Then they laugh and smack hands together. Was scary for Skrew.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Skrew thinks they like to kill too much.”
I had to laugh, and motioned for him to continue.
“Guard boss tell us to stop. Beatrix pretend to stop. Then, Reaver run and step on Beatrix here.” He pointed to his upper shoulders. “Reaver tackle guard boss. Beatrix grab guard boss legs. They throw. Smash into other guard.” He leaned forward to whisper again. “Then, they laugh again. Is scary?”
I shrugged and turned my eyes to the warrior-women. I never expected they’d create such a team or get along so well. I was glad to have found Reaver and to have rescued Beatrix.
Yaltu then turned to Skrew to inspect his injuries. From what I could see, they consisted of a couple of big bumps on his head, a shallow cut on two of his arms, and a fat lip. I wasn’t familiar with the physiology of alien bodies, though. But Yaltu seemed to be.
“Stop moving,” she scolded. “How am I supposed—”
“Ouch!” Skrew interrupted, glaring at the woman. “Hurts!”
When they heard Skrew whine, Reaver and Beatrix walked closer to see what was happening. Yaltu, meanwhile, resumed inspecting and cleaning Skrew’s wounds.
“Jacob kicked butt!” the vrak continued. “Such boom and many pow! Powerful Jacob and team of wives make dead king so mad! King not mad now. King dead. Too dead to be mad!” Then, he burst into a fit of laughter interspersed with wheezes when Yaltu touched a tender spot.
I noticed that none of the women said anything about the “team of wives” comment.
“You killed the king?” Beatrix asked me.
“For real?” Reaver added.
I nodded. “Took his head right off, before I cut off a leg. If anyone goes looking for him, they’ll need a dustpan and broom. Though, he did look pretty dead to begin with. There’s something else too, though. Near his final breathing moment, something like a Xeno leg burst from his belly.“
“Something like a Xeno leg?” Reaver asked.
I thought about it for a few seconds before answering. “I’m pretty sure it was a leg. Or a leg-like appendage. I’m certain it was Xeno. I think one of two things
