My Vakarran captors surrounded me. Standing behind Tavik, I waited and palmed the machete-length knife back and forth in my hands. I bent my knees slightly, getting ready to fight.
I wasn’t naïve to the ways of combat. My sisters and I had trained and sparred against one another ever since the Vakarrans had invaded Earth. Kira and Alaina, my eldest sisters had excelled quickly, and they had used their knowledge to teach Danika and me.
The sound of a shoe scraping against a rock echoed around me. They were close. I tensed anxiously.
Then, all at once, a shrill male voice pierced through the air and four strange Vakarrans rushed at us. My Vakarrans roared in response. They lifted their guns, shooting at the men approaching us, but the attackers lifted a shield of some sort that drew the lasers straight into it, rendering the guns relatively useless. Instead, I watched as my men gripped their knives at their belts, lifting them from their holsters and preparing for the onslaught. As my captors met them in battle, it became increasingly clear that that our attackers were inexperienced in hand to hand combat too. Even so, they were still strong, and they fought hard, blocking some of my men’s moves, but their efforts seemed futile.
Standing in the middle, I scanned around the five of us and at once I realized that these four men attacking us weren’t alone. There were many more stationed around us.
Another group of four men rushed at us and the battle suddenly turned even more violent. My men were stronger, but there were far more of the others.
Now preoccupied with two attackers each, my men used every tactic they could at their disposal. Tavik used the butt of his laser gun to knock one of them out, before he tackled a second to the ground. Zane growled, the sound terrifying, before he split one of the men in two with a shot from his own laser gun. Valdus kicked and punched, quickly laying into one and knocking him out cold before the other. Caleb tried to cover me as best as possible but was distracted by his own attackers. Instead, I tried to move out of the way, moving to a nearby embankment instead. I ducked low, pressing my back against it. Stationed where I was, no one could sneak up on me from behind and I would be impossible to see from above.
I watched as the men fought, and then warily scanned the surrounding woods for more men. I was alarmed to see shifting shadows, and I knew there were far more than the eight men currently waiting to be sent into battle. This was far bigger than any normal patrol.
This wasn’t looking particularly good for us. I had a distinct feeling there was going to be mu
ch bloodshed in the forest today.
Then, far off in the distance, I saw a single Vakarran standing alone in a clearing not far off, almost deliberately so he could watch over the battle. From his position, I had little doubt he could see me too. I stared, seeing him more clearly than humanly possible.
Gripping my knife, I stared in horror.
His skin was dark purple, just like the other Vakarrans, but that’s where the normalcy ended. His horns curled around like a ram’s but were pointed at the center like a bull’s. The left side of his face looked like a shattered, melted mess of scar tissue. His mouth almost looked like it had been partially burned away, revealing the sickening gray color of his plaque-covered teeth beneath.
Black eyes met mine, with decidedly little copper color in them. Black as night, yet infinitely more dangerous.
His face was ruined, but that wasn’t all. His left arm hung uselessly by his side. His clothes were black and gray, but even from here, I could tell that they were ridiculously expensive. On his shoulders was a rectangular silver shape, fringed around the edges, something probably signifying a man of rank and I began to grow nervous.
Still, just the sight of him left me feeling unnerved and I tried to swallow my terror. Something told me that this was the type of Vakarran I had heard about all my life. Cruel. Mean and abusive. I knew that I needed to stay away from him and I knew that my men needed to stay away from him too. At all costs.
He met my eyes, his initial surprise turning into recognition in an instant. I studied him more closely. Unlike my Vakarrans, he wasn’t hard or muscled. He looked thick and a bit overweight. Like he’d never seen a day on the battlefield, ever. Until now.
I began to grow even more uneasy.
“Stop fucking around, men. Kill them and capture the girl. She’s a special human female, a Stryke. I want her taken alive. She’s mine,” he yelled.
Tavik roared furiously upon hearing the man’s voice. At once, he almost went berserk, lashing out with anger at the Vakarrans attacking him. The two men fighting him took a step back nervously, but they were no match for him. He swung his arm outward, his knife far superior in close combat and caught one man across the throat. Dark, almost black blood spurted outward, coating Tavik in its filth. The other man looked on in disbelief, his gaze glancing back and forth between the scarred Vakarran and Tavik, almost as if he was deciding to stay and fight, or to run and escape. His distraction proved to be his downfall. Tavik rushed forward, using his forehead to smash into his. Stunned, the man stood, swaying back and forth, before Tavik sank his knife deep into his chest. Pulling the weapon out forcibly, blood spraying every which way, he focused on the scarred man with everything he had.
Tavik rushed forward, taking aim at the scarred man with his gun. I watched as the butt of the gun glowed, charging up with a massive power burst and I held my breath.
The scarred Vakarran grinned. I heard him begin to chuckle and I grew even more uneasy. I was missing something here. Something important.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the criminal, Tavik himself. And I see you brought along the others of the treasonous Fourth Battalion, Zane, Valdus, and Caleb. All exiled for their shame,” the stranger mused, his tone dark and dangerous.
“Nix,” Tavik snarled, his fury enough to make my heart flutter with fear. I stopped breathing for a moment, remembering what Tavik had told me. I remembered that name. This man was their enemy, the one responsible for this entire mess in the first place, who’d exiled my four men for being unwilling to murder a group of women. Not only that, but he was the one who waged war on my sisters and who was coming to attack Earth for a second time. I gritted my teeth. This man was evil. We had to stop him. I’d never bow to such a vile man, even if it meant my death.
Valdus, Caleb, and Zane made quick work of the six men attacking them. Before long, the ground was damp with Vakarran blood, but my four captors were still standing. Their chests rose and fell from the exertion of battle, but then Nix held up his hand.
Tavik held his gun high and it started to buzz with the electric charge about to be set free. He stilled and the other three paused, waiting.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Not if you don’t want her to die,” Nix said coldly.
I stiffened. What the fuck did that mean?
Tavik didn’t answer. Instead he held his gun steady, staring straight at Nix.
All of a sudden, a dozen little red laser dots appeared on my stomach. Immediately, I tensed, and the mark of the snipers steadied on me. I shuddered with terror, trying to step to the side, but they followed. All the air whooshed out of my lungs as I tried to think of my next move, but my mind went blank. Looking out, I realized that Nix had stationed a number of men in the trees. Now, all of them had their guns directed at me. Zane looked toward me and his eyes opened wide in panic.