Elyek handed me the form and said, “You need to sign the bottom, here. Then, press this button and hold it up a foot from your face.”
I did as Elyek said, and a gentle blue light shone on my face. I handed it back over to the manager. He went through a few more things, took two signatures and retinal scans from Elyek, then apparently it was done.
“Well, it has been a pleasure doing business with you,” he said. He handed three tokens over for each of us to access the account and continued, “Everything is in order. You may go.” It was a very abrupt ending that made my hackles rise.
“Okay. Thanks for your time,” Ember said, and we stood up to leave.
“One moment, Elyek,” the bank manager said just before we could leave and went on, “Could you stay back for a moment.”
“Get ready, Havok,” I thought quickly to the axe.
“I was born ready, baby,” Havok replied.
Then, I replied for Elyek, “I’m afraid not.”
The manager nodded to the monstrous security aliens and they began to move, raising their weapons.
“I’m afraid I must insist. There is quite a bit of prestige and money for capturing our dear Elyek here.”
“You really don’t want to do this,” I warned.
“Oh please. Hand over the Veiletian and I’ll let you go on your way. You have the money. Why sacrifice your lives for someone you barely know?” He turned to face Elyek. “Come here, or we will open fire on your friends.”
“Do your thing,” I whispered to Elyek. Without a second thought, they suddenly disappeared.
The manager roared angrily, “Fine, you can both die!” To be fair to him, he had a fucking terrifying roar.
While he screamed, Havok had already landed in my hand. My cloak fell to the floor. In the next instant, the room descended into hell. On reflection, it was an apt description considering the demons. Laser shots started firing and Havok started whirling in his wrappings, which soon fell to the floor, destroyed by the onslaught.
Ember knew her best position was behind me and Havok as we deflected every shot that came towards us. I couldn’t get close to any of the guards spread out all around us on three sides. Not without risking Ember’s safety.
The Tri-bor didn’t let up their attack. I could tell they were surprised at my defense but they must have thought it was only a matter of time before I ran out of steam and made a mistake. What they didn’t realize was that Ember was far from defenseless. She brought out her sword, charged its blade, and threw it upwards into the middle of the room. Everyone’s attention turned to the sword. This was quickly followed by laser fire, which caused no damage to the protected blade. It did send it spinning wildly around in the air as it began to fall, when, suddenly, it took off like a bullet, skewering one Tri-bor guard straight through the eye. Grey blood that smelt oddly of burning charcoal spurted everywhere as she yanked it back out. The guard’s body fell to the floor. With one enemy out of the fight, she then sent the sword off towards another guard. A few others started firing at it with little effect.
This made my job of protecting Ember much easier. I saw the Ang-bor bank manager scurry under the desk as shit turned crazy. I just kept my focus, swinging tirelessly, charged by a flow of energy from Havok. The next thing I noticed was a thick line of grey blood appearing across a guards throat as he fell to his knees. I smiled a grim smile. Elyek had joined the party. Between them they managed to thin the guard’s numbers until I was able to get involved. I had just killed a Tri-bor when I saw Ember’s sword fall. I turned and saw her lying on the ground. A massive gaping wound in her abdomen. The manager stood next to his desk holding a laser pistol, which was now pointed at me. The bastard had somehow managed to sneak around the back of us.
Blood was pouring out of Ember terrifyingly fast.
“Help her, Havok. Do anything!” I screamed out loud and threw him towards Ember. He guided himself over.
There was nothing more I could do to help her with this bastard still on his feet so, without a thought, I charged toward him. He calmly shot at me, hitting my right shoulder, which spun me a bit. I screamed in pain and rage, staggering, but I forced myself forwards. My right arm was hanging on by muscle only. When I reached him, I led with a straight left while continuing my momentum to barrel into him. His skin was crazy-tough, like hitting granite, and he barely moved when my body hit his. Slightly off balance, he still managed to push me backwards, quickly following up with a ferocious right-hook, which sent me flying over the desk. Shit. Ang-bor were way tougher than I expected.
I couldn’t even pick myself up off the ground with my partially severed arm pissing out blood. The bank manager came around the desk, sneering down at me. He knelt down, grabbing the clothes on my chest, and hauled me up in the air with one arm. I didn’t wait for him to talk. Instead, I did the only thing you could do against a seven-foot demon in this situation. It was my tried and tested trademark solution: I kicked the fucker so hard in the nuts that he’d be
