She needed to do something.
For once in her useless, ordinary life, she needed to do something!
The guard that had been approaching her was close now and it snarled at her in a way that made her think it was actually sneering.
“You qrakking humans. So qrakking troublesome. Come quietly. I will make your journey painless,” its voice grated on her senses.
Their speech sounded unnatural coming from their long faces and it was as if her mind could not compute that the beast approaching her was the thing that had spoken to her.
One more glance in Kyris’ direction and she saw he was on his feet, ignoring the pain in his injured leg and, despite that he was surrounded, he was turned in her direction, fighting his way toward her.
He was fighting his way toward her.
He’d been fighting for her all along.
Mouth set, Song gulped hard, allowing the feeling that had been underneath all her fear and worry to rise.
Anger.
She could feel it boiling within her as she looked at the gator-guard and all the memories of the torture she’d endured on the Isclit ship came flooding back to her memory.
This. Was. It.
She was done with crying.
Another glance in Kyris’ direction and her heart lurched.
His wings were streaked with his own blood, yet he fought, cutting down guards around him as if they were flies.
In the background, the little brown men were doing the same.
They were all fighting.
Everyone except her.
I can do this.
Gripping the cold metal of the pistol in her trembling hands, she raised her teary eyes to the gator-guard approaching her.
“Release the weapon, human. Do you think I am afraid of your pistol?”
As she raised her eyes to meet the guard, whatever it saw in her gaze caused its sneer to fall from its beastly face.
“No…but you should be.”
Raising the gun, she pointed and pulled the trigger.
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The recoil made her lose her balance and Song fell backward, the sound ringing in her ears.
It was much like guns on Earth, it seemed, except whatever she’d shot at the guard wasn’t a metal bullet but a straight beam of light. As the guard fell in front of her, the undeniable smell of burnt flesh filled her nostrils.
But she didn’t have time to rejoice over her small victory because three more guards were heading her way.
Pointing the gun again, she fired, but her aim was off. It had been easy hitting the target when it was so close but now that they were a little way off, aiming was proving difficult.
As she fired again and missed, she found herself crawling backward on her ass, trying to put distance between her and the guards fast approaching.
“Song!” It was Kyris’ voice and when her eyes found him, he was still fighting his way toward her. The fear on his face made her heart lurch—that fear was directed at her. Ignoring the fact that he was being cut down, his fear was directed at her—he was afraid for her.
As she scrambled to her feet, still clutching the pistol, she spun around to face the room, wide eyes searching for somewhere to hide.
The only place was the shower room, and as she ran toward it, the heavy footsteps of the gator-guard behind her sounded close. So close.
As she headed toward the shower room, she knew it didn’t make sense.
There was nowhere to run. And as she reached the barrier to the small room, something cold and scaly grabbed her arm, stopping her from going further.
As the thing pulled her, she fell back towards the force of the pull and collided into the chest of the guard.
Above her, a low snarl escaped a long snout and the guard spun her to face him.
“Troublesome jekin,” it said.
The word didn’t translate but the way the guard said it, she knew it wasn’t a compliment.
“Your master wishes for you to return alive,” it snarled in her face.
Song gulped, she couldn’t help it. Those snarls had been in her nightmares and here she was facing them again.
But it only took a moment for her to recover.
She would rather die than be taken back into captivity.
“My master?” She bared her teeth at the beast in front of her. “I think you’ve made a mistake.” There was conviction in her voice, and wherever it was coming from, it was giving her confidence.
“What’s that, jekin?” the guard spat.
Song smiled.
The guard had underestimated her. It was a common mistake.
Just because she was small, human, and “inferior” it didn’t think to disarm her before accosting her.
The knowledge and surety of the pistol still in her free hand almost made her delirious as she directed her hatred to the guard that held her.
Raising the pistol, she pressed it against the guard’s chest before the beast could react.
“I have no master.”
Looking the guard straight in the eye, she pulled the trigger.
The other two guards that had been pursuing her burst into the room then, just in time to see their comrade fall as the stench of burnt flesh filled the air.
She had never been violent before, but somehow with each guard that fell, it felt like she was killing the demons that chased her in her dreams.
“Qrakking jekin,” one muttered.
“I told you these humans were qrakking trouble,” said the other.
As she raised the weapon and pressed the trigger again, she wasn’t so lucky. It happened in a split second but the guard had been expecting her to fire.
Song’s eyes widened as the guard she was aiming at moved out of the way just in time. Tail swishing as the guard spun, the end of the tail bone hit her square in the midsection and the wind was knocked out of her as she flew across the room to land against the side of the sleeping area.
Falling limp as pain she’d never felt before rocketed through her, she could see them approaching through her suddenly blurry vision.
The pistol.
It had fallen from
