I shifted my axe from one hand to the next, impatient to fight. It had been a long time since I’d fought solo. Vandar always raided as a finely-tuned horde, warriors in lock step with shields linked. We trained together, fought together, died together, and lived for eternity together in Zedna with the warrior gods of old. I did not fear death, but I did not want to die without my Vandar warriors by my side.
When the black-helmeted soldiers appeared, their smoke-blue uniforms unmarked by signs of battle, I almost smiled. There were only three of them, and although they pointed blasters at my chest, I’d seen worse odds.
“Drop your weapon, Vandar.” The voice was muffled from behind the shiny, black helmet.
I clenched the handle tighter, careful not to telegraph my movement, but also subtly angling my foot so I could lunge easily. “No.”
“We don’t want to kill you,” another soldier said.
“Then that’s where we differ.” I bared my teeth at them, my heart pounding. “I very much want to kill you for all the pain you’ve wrought across the galaxy.”
The soldiers glanced at each other, and I used their momentary distraction to my advantage, lunging forward and swinging my axe up. The blade sliced through one of the soldier’s arms, sending it spiraling into the air and blood spurting out from the stump above the elbow.
With a bellow of pain, the wounded soldier collapsed to his knees, clutching at his severed arm. The other two backed up like Rengli beetles scuttling away from light. I didn’t wait for them to respond by firing, instead spinning around and taking off the kneeling soldier’s head with another lightning-fast slash of my axe.
One down, I thought. Two to go.
A flash of movement drew my eye and made me pivot toward it. That was when electricity jolted through me, making my body contract and spasm. Pain surged through me as I dropped to the ground, unable to lift my axe to defend myself as the two soldiers closed in on me. I finally closed my eyes, the pain making light shoot across the inside of my eyelids and stealing even that bit of relief.
I braced myself for the inevitable blaster shots that would end my life and send me to the glorious afterlife of a Vandar warrior, my mind already envisioning the gates of Zedna. But the shots never came. Instead, my arms were jerked behind my back and bound, the bindings tight around my wrists. Another rough restraint was wrapped around my shoulders and chest, and I was pulled up to standing.
“I told you we didn’t want to kill you,” one of the soldiers growled in my ear through the ringing.
“The general wants a Vandar prisoner,” another said with a dark laugh as he snatched my axe from me. “Someone to make an example of.”
I didn’t speak as they pushed me through the woods, using the restraints to tug me forward when I slowed. My legs still shook from the pain of whatever they’d jolted into me, but I managed to stagger forward. My only consolation from the humiliation of being captured by the Zagrath was that Juliette had gotten away. My distraction had worked.
After a while, we reached the black sand beach that I’d started from. But now, instead of being filled with Vandar warriors, Zagrath soldiers swarmed the area, one of their gray transports sitting on the sand at the far end. An imperial officer who wasn’t wearing a helmet stalked up as soon as we emerged from the woods. His light brown hair was slicked across a pronounced forehead where sweat beaded.
“You got one!” He eyed me like I was a dangerous creature, which I was. “What’s your name, Vandar.”
“Vassim,” I said, spitting at his feet.
“Barbarians,” he muttered, making a face and taking a step back. “I am General Jamose of the Zagrath Empire. You are trespassing on Zagrath territory, which is a capital crime.”
I grinned coldly at him. “Are you going to kill me, Jamose?”
He twitched his shoulders. “Generals do not execute prisoners of war, although I should kill you right here as punishment for all the destruction you brutes have caused to the empire.” His face reddened as he paced in front of me. “You and your cowardly hordes have killed countless Zagrath citizens with your violent attacks on our ships.”
“Soldiers,” I corrected. “We’ve killed soldiers, not civilians. You are the ones who enslave innocent alien populations.”
“Enslave?” He spluttered the words out, spittle flying from his mouth. “We colonize planets and allow primitive societies to become a part the glorious empire.”
“Against their will.”
“If they are too simple-minded to know what is best for them, that is not the fault of the empire.” He waved a hand at me. “Why am I debating with a half-naked brute?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You will be taken to the imperial headquarters, Vandar, where you will be tried publicly and then executed for your crimes.”
“So a fair Zagrath trial?”
He clenched his jaw and fisted his hands, as if he wished to hit me but was too afraid to try. “All Vandar are guilty.” He threw his shoulders back, puffing out his slender chest. “I look forward to watching your execution.”
“If you live that long,” I said just loud enough for him to hear the dark rumble of my words.
He jerked back as if he’d been slapped, then turned and stomped away. “Put him in the energy pincers until we can leave the planet.”
At least I wasn’t being taken off the planet right away, I thought as I was dragged over to a round, steel platform, with two curved arms arching up on either side from the base. There was still time to escape or fight my way out.
When they put me onto the platform and flipped a switch at the bottom, all thoughts of escape left my mind as energy surged through me once again.
Chapter Thirty-One
Juliette
“We have to go back for him,” I said, after
