Page 27 of Stone Awakened

The gate and the palace lay on a slight hill, so from the steps of the palace, Aggy and I could look down beyond it. Right onto the cleared space where ships were supposed to land, the Vagabond in all its scruffy glory was parked right on the edge of that field. “That’s our ride,” I said, pointing it out to my woman. They hadn’t disembarked yet, but their arrival had put all the guards in a tizzy, they were doing as instructed, manning the gate, the armaments on them. None of them knew yet that their leader was dead.

The remaining Xurtal female was pacing across the cleared space, shouting out orders to the men on the wall. It was obvious they’d recognized that the Vagabond was not the ship it had impersonated to the landing tower. They were frantic to find out why the planetary defense system had failed.

I tucked Aggy against a pillar, hiding her behind a wing as I appraised the situation. The canons had to go, I hadn’t been able to disable those, as anyone coming near them was treated with suspicion, on any day other than drills. I had the codes to open the gates but to get from here to there would take a while. I hoped that Or’tal was coming through for us, if he opened the gate from the command center, my brothers would have a straight path inside.

The rear hatch of the Vagabond opened and it caused the Xurtal female to sharply whistle, urging the guards to attention. They were raising their laser rifles, propping them against their shoulders as they readied themselves to take aim. I smirked when I saw a shimmering energy shield bubble out of the opened hatch, followed by my brothers, Da’vi in the center with something big and silver strapped to his back.

I saw Ziame in the lead, Kitan shifted into his hybrid-form, and Thorin with Camila side by side, holding laser rifles of their own. I didn’t spot Fierce or his bonded Ferai beast, but Jakar and Eoin, the new kid, were both there. Aggy took one look at them, her eyes wide as she took in the motley crew, “So few?” she asked, a little stunned.

Laughing, I explained, “These paltry guards are no match for a few trained gladiators, trust me.” Right on time, the gate started to lift, the thick blast doors shivering open as their engines rattled to life. The Xurtal woman, I thought it was Iol, screamed, ordering males off the wall and into the towers. There were sounds of blasts and the doors ground to a halt, opened only partially.

“Stay here,” I said to Aggy, lifting her chin to press a kiss to her mouth. “I’m going to make sure my brothers get in.” She clutched at my shoulders for a moment, her eyes worried, but then she nodded, blunt teeth digging into her soft bottom lip. I rubbed my thumb over it, “I will be fine. I have much to fight for.” Like a mate and a son, two sons even.

I turned around, appraising the best landing spot, and felt her hand curl around the tip of my now-blunted tail. “I’m holding you to that,” she said with a soft squeeze from her soft hand around the hard flesh. It shot fire up my spine, ill-timed arousal slamming into me with shocking force. I growled at her, a warning in my eyes that just made her smile that pretty, infectious smile of hers. With thoughts of loving my woman in mind, I leaped into the air, spreading my wings wide.

*

Agatha

Watching Sunder fly was something else, it was beautiful, the way he acrobatically dove through the air. He landed behind one of those big laser canons in front of the gate, just as the shimmering glow of that strange shield his friends were carrying reached the gate. Guards had been firing their rifles at them from atop the wall, but I soon realized that more than half of them were throwing away their weapons, as they didn’t seem to be working.

I winced. No, correction, he hadn’t landed behind the canon. He’d landed on top of the male manning it, his clawed feet burying the poor guy in the dirt. His wings were as much weapons as his knife-wielding hands, and that particular canon was out of order in seconds as he tore into it.

The gladiators had breached the gate, springing into lethal action. Their shield, or whatever it was, held firm against the laser fire of the second canon for the first and second shot it got off. Then it fizzled out, and the Kertinal male carrying the device shrugged it off his back, charging into the fray with a battle cry.

I was sure the third shot from that canon would take someone out, but with a whining sound, it powered down, the barrel drooping to the ground. I clutched the knives I’d taken from the Xurtal guard in my hands, adrenaline pumping through me just from watching this fight, my heart in my throat. Thank you, Or’tal. I had to assume he’d done that too somehow.

My eyes struggled to keep track of everything that was happening, there was so much going on all at once. A male that looked like a cross between a bull and a dragon was breathing fire on some of his opponents. While a male I hadn’t seen before was slinking through the warring group with a huge ax and a smokey, hound-cat creature that looked uncanny and dangerous. Those two were hamstringing guards, seeming to come out of nowhere sometimes, simply materializing out of thin air. No wonder Sunder said these guards were no match for trained gladiators, they were absolutely tearing the Crimelord's protective force apart. Like it was a walk in the freaking park.

I spotted Uron suddenly running towards the fight from the direction of the barracks. He’d taken off his uniform jacket and was holding two practice swords made of wood. I wasn’t sure how effective that was going to be, but he charged in with enthusiasm and started whacking his fellow guards on their heads.

Then the tide changed so suddenly that I struggled to figure out what had happened. Guns were going off, and I saw a silver-skinned gladiator topple over. Then another, the Kertinal one who was wielding a huge sword, staggered when he got hit in the shoulder. Iol, the Xurtal woman had gotten her hands on a working laser rifle and she was taking lethal potshots at them.

Nobody realized until it was too late what her real goal was, the disabled laser canon. She reached the one Sunder hadn’t torn into, and with a slap of her palm, the thing started charging. “Damn it!” someone cursed right next to me and I jumped a foot into the air in surprise. Or’tal had just appeared next to me as if he’d materialized out of thin air, or maybe I’d just been too preoccupied to notice him.

Sending me a sidelong glance, a corner of his mouth curled into what looked like a smirk, he added, “Hi Aggy.” I glared back, “Didn’t you disable that thing? Why is it working?” If Sunder or the other gladiators didn’t manage to disable it, she could end up blowing them all up. His eyes darted down to my wagging finger and he laughed, then without saying a word, he started jogging down the steps.

It wasn’t until he’d gone quite a few steps that I realized he was holding a freaking head in his left hand. The Crimelord's macabre visage was pale and lifeless as Or’tal held it up high in the air and let out an ear-piercing roar that vibrated through my bones. Everyone looked up, shock rippling through the forces. While Iol let out a shriek like a banshee the moment she saw that head.

“Yeah the bastard is dead, stand down! No need to die for nothing,” Or’tal announced. It would have worked, at least, I thought it would, if not for the fact that Iol was a zealous fanatic. She slammed her hand down on the laser canon’s controls and a shot exploded from the barrel. It hit the gate, blasting it apart, and gladiators and guards leaped to avoid the shot, some luckier than others.

I saw a gladiator male clad in leather lying face down on top of the lone female in their ranks. His back was smoking, his body completely limp, and then the girl crawled from beneath him, unharmed it seemed. She propped a laser rifle against her shoulder, squeezed the trigger and Iol thudded to the ground with a hole blooming between her eyes.

I hadn’t realized I had started running until I was thumping down the palace steps. Scanning the battlefield frantically for any sign of Sunder. There! He was landing on top of the wall, the limp form of the silver-skinned gladiator draped in his arms. He looked alright, even if he was scanning the field just like I had a moment ago.

There was a lot of chaos after that, but the fight was definitely over. Surviving guards were dropping to their knees, tossing away their weapons in surrender. Or’tal took charge of that aspect, locking them inside one of the towers, and coldly putting badly injured ones out of their misery. A whole flock of human ladies and one Aderian male had descended from the Vagabond and they were patching up their injured.

I could only stare at it all, shocked that it was over, trying to process who was an ally and who was hurt. What should I be doing? Find the boys? Start holding bandages? Offer a hand? I didn’t know, I just wanted to fuss over Sunder, make sure he wasn’t hurt more than he already was.

He’d flown off, carrying the injured male in his arms, disappearing into his spaceship. I felt so lost without him, and I tried to make myself stronger than that. I had infiltrated this darn place all on my own, I had survived out in the Zeta Quadrant for five whole years, I was tougher than this.

“Hi, are you alright?” a kind voice asked me, and when I looked up a beautiful African American woman had sidled up to me. She was tall and dressed in these badass high-heeled, leather boots that seemed so out of place. She was human, and she spoke with an American accent familiar to me, her dark, slightly slanted eyes warm and kind.

Swallowing roughly I nodded, “Yeah, I’m okay. Is Sunder alright?” She started to smile, amusement filling her until she was chuckling outright. Her hand pressed to her belly as if she wanted to contain her mirth somehow. I wasn’t sure what it was she was finding so funny, but I didn’t mind her amusement.

“Seems like every time one of our guys goes off on his own he comes back with a mate. It’s without fail, I love it,” she said. Her eyes scanning the charred ground where only a few of the gladiators were now standing, inquisitively looking around. Among them was the bull-dragon, a species I had never seen before in all my days limping around the fringes of this quadrant.

“Welcome to the crew of the Vagabond, I’m sure the girls and I are going to love having you around. If anyone deserves a mate, it’s Sunder,” the woman said, sticking out a hand for me to shake. I took it, smiling when her grip was firm and warm, and she pumped my arm enthusiastically.