AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not just float. Whoever the telekinetic is, he catapults the dwarves at us.
I fire upward—as does everyone else.
A lifeless dwarf whooshes over my head and smashes into the ground. Another one slams into one of the men in the middle of our formation, knocking him off his feet.
“Fire!” Bebe yells.
My finger spasms over the trigger. The others shoot as well. Five Overtaken collapse, but clearly not the telekinetic—who must be the one launching the limp bodies of our enemies toward us.
I sidestep, and an elf crashes into the wall behind me.
To my left, Bebe ducks to avoid a dwarf. So do Asha, Kojo, and Maxwell.
I shoot at the Overtaken again—dropping an uber.
There’s a sudden telekinetic jerk on my gun.
Oh, puck. I grip the handle as if our lives depend on it, since they do. The force of the next pull drags me forward, my feet skidding on the grass.
Nope. I’m not giving up my gun.
The handle begins to jerk up and down, lifting me off the ground, then smashing me back down.
I dig into the grass with my heels and hold on for dear life. I’d shoot too, but aiming in this situation is impossible. I could hit myself or my allies.
“Use your sword!” Bebe shouts. “We can’t allow them to get that gun.”
Puck, she’s right.
Unclenching my fingers, I slice with the ceramic sword. There’s a screech as the cleaved-in-half gun careens toward the Overtaken.
Pivoting, I dash back to rejoin my squad, but the telekinetic has already moved on to the next victim.
Maxwell gets dragged forward by his gun. He copies my earlier maneuver by slashing his gun in two before he lets the telekinetic have it.
If this keeps up, we’ll be defenseless.
Kojo is pulled out of the ranks next, but by his sword instead of his gun. He releases the hilt, and the weapon whooshes over the heads of the Overtaken and disappears into the forest.
Well, at least the telekinetic didn’t take it.
Valerian aims carefully at someone behind me and pulls the trigger. The others do the same. Reaching my spot in the formation, I spin around to see what they’ve accomplished.
All the Overtaken are now down. The telekinetic shouldn’t be bothering us anymore.
I feel a spurt of hope, but in the next moment, Rattie steps out of the forest, a sword in each hand.
Unbelievable. How did I manage to forget about him?
The situation quickly worsens. Hundreds more attackers follow Rattie, and instead of running for us right away, as the others have done, they stay near the forest, gathering forces.
“Shoot!” Bebe orders.
Everyone on our squad fires, but they only get a couple of Overtaken at this distance.
As the enemies gather, I miss my gun more and more. I’m also increasingly concerned about the guns running out of charge.
The Overtaken assemble for a few more seconds, oblivious to the loss of the ones we’ve taken out. Then, as one, they begin their assault in a massive horde.
Our makeshift troops fire, over and over. The Overtaken fall, but their comrades simply vault over their bodies and keep on coming.
And it’s bad.
Halfway to us, a whopping ninety percent of the Overtaken are still in the running.
When they’re forty feet away, our guns make a bigger impact, but there are still at least two dozen Overtaken barreling toward us, with Rattie in the lead. His eyes darts between me and Asha before finally settling on me.
Everyone fires desperately.
They miss Rattie and a few others, who are almost upon us.
“Prepare for close-quarters combat!” Bebe shouts needlessly.
I grip my sword handle until my knuckles whiten.
When he’s about ten feet away, Rattie shouts, “Die!” and hurls one of his swords at me.
There’s a blur of movement.
No.
Not this.
I gape at Bebe.
The sword meant for me is protruding from her stomach.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Wheezing, my grandmother slumps.
Though she’s clutching the grievous wound with both hands, it doesn’t stop the gushing of her blood.
My heartbeat pounds deafeningly in my ears. Through the haze of shock and fear, I realize two things.
First, Bebe jumped in the path of the flying sword to save my life.
Second, and more importantly, Rattie is almost here, so unless I act this very instant, Bebe’s sacrifice will have been for naught.
Shaking off the haze, I leap over Bebe, putting myself between her and Rattie. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Overtaken reach the rest of my family and allies. In the span of an eyeblink, Valerian beheads an elf, and Kojo shoots an uber.
Rattie lunges at me with the sword.
I dodge, but his blade nicks my upper arm. The pain is sharp and stinging, but I recover quickly and parry his next hit.
He slashes at me again.
I block instinctively, and sparks fly where our two ceramic-like blades clash.
We end up in a lock with the swords crisscrossed in a horizontal position.
I push against the clinch to try to knock him off balance.
