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At this rate, we would soon be overwhelmed.
My blood boiled, rage steadily building inside me alongside a sudden thirst for blood. I didn’t just want to kill those Guldans and Sarenians, I wanted to make them suffer and beg for mercy. Seeing Jaek stir next to me seemed to be the trigger I needed to give into my bloodlust. If we were to be captured, I’d first kill as many of those fuckers as I could.
Jumping to my feet, I ran off the bleachers, hopping over unconscious bodies before leaping onto a Guldan standing by the wall, shooting at my friends. By the time he heard my war cry, it was already too late as I landed on his back, knocking him to the floor. Before he could push himself back up, I snapped his neck.
Unlike the Sarenians, who had qualms with hurting women, the Guldans had no such reservations. Seeing me kill his friend, another Guldan roared with fury and swiped his hand at me. As I was still crouching over his dead companion, I swiftly ducked to avoid him violently backhanding me. His armored glove would have done a number on my right cheek. I didn’t give him a chance to regain his balance and lunged at him, straddling his chest. Carried by my weight and the force of the impact, he stumbled back the short distance to the wall. He likely would have fallen down if not for its support.
Growling like a rabid beast, I grabbed his armored face and repeatedly slammed the back of his head against the metal plates covering the wall. His armor didn’t shatter, but the wall plates bent under the forceful impacts. I could only imagine how much damage his armor was inflicting to the back of his skull. By the fourth hit, the Guldan went limp. A part of me mourned the fact that he was already done, but there was more prey to be slaughtered.
I jumped off my victim as he was sliding down the wall and turned just in time to see a massive gloved fist rushing towards my face. With barely a second to react, I dodged right, his glove grazing my left cheek. Unfortunately, I stumbled over the Guldan whose head I’d just bashed on the wall and lost my footing.
I fell hard, landing on my ass, my legs lying on top of my victim. By rights, nasty pain should be radiating through my leg and lower back, considering how heavily I had struck my pelvic bone. But I merely felt a slight discomfort. Despite my non-negligible height and size, my attacker easily picked me up and slammed my back against the wall. Once more, it struck me as odd that the force of the impact didn’t stun me or make me whimper in pain.
Holding me by the throat, he pulled back his right arm to punch me. Even as I dodged right again, I brutally brought my elbow down over his arm pinning me to the wall by the throat, breaking his hold. His fist struck the wall next to my face, seconds before I shoved him away. My foot solidly connecting with his chest cut short his attempt to rush me again and sent him flying back.
He fell heavily on his ass. Carried by his momentum, the back of his skull also struck the floor. Stunned, he shook his head and rolled onto his stomach to push himself up. Big mistake… I dashed towards him and slammed my foot at the base of his spine. He cried out and threw his head back, just as I had hoped. Bending forward, I wrapped both my hands under his jaw and pulled with all my strength. A drawn-out, savage cry tumbled out of me as I strained with supernatural strength—well beyond my natural Braxian one—until his back snapped, and he ended up folded in half in an unnatural way.
Sudden movement at the edge of my vision had me spinning around, ready to defend myself. As if in slow motion, I watched a Guldan’s blade rushing towards me. I’d never have time to dodge. But the sword never struck me. In a blur, Jaek leapt down from the bleachers and crashed into my would-be killer, knocking him out of the way. They fell down in a tangle of limbs. Moving at ungodly speed, Jaek got back on his feet again. He grabbed the armored Guldan by the hips, picked him up like a ragdoll, and held him upside down. With a feral cry, he slammed the Guldan head first onto the grilled metal plates covering the floor. Despite his armor, the bones of the Guldan’s neck, shoulders, and chest caved in under the force of the impact. His head sank in so deep between his shoulders, you’d almost think he’d been beheaded.
I should have been horrified, but I’d never felt more elated, more powerful… more bloodthirsty. My skin tingled, and my skin felt feverish while an all-consuming fire burned in my veins.
All around me, the same bloodlust appeared to have taken over my fellow hybrids. The ones who had still been unconscious were stirring at an exponential rate. The tide was turning. A sudden wave of panic swept through the Guldans and Sarenians, many shouting for them to fall back. They rushed towards the exit, the movement starting from the opposite side of the room.
First, I heard the savage roars, then I saw the even more savage beasts bursting into the room, punching through armor, skin, and bone with a single blow of their fists. The purebloods had joined the fray.
In a brief instant of clarity, I realized my enhanced strength, thirst for blood, and the sudden burst of vicious energy my companions were using to get back on top when we’d been on the verge of defeat were the result of a Berserker’s aura.
Keran was here.
Chapter 27
Keran
After what felt like an endless journey through a maze of corridors, we finally reached the lift to the lower level. Naturally, it couldn’t accommodate all of us. I went down with the first group, the second one following shortly thereafter. Once again, if not for Jaek’s map, we wouldn’t have known which of the three branching corridors we should have taken to get to the meeting hall. But the map soon ceased to be necessary.
As we ran down the left corridor, the muffled sound of battle provided all the directions we needed. I picked up the pace, ignoring the growing pain in my gut. This exertion was worsening the internal damage the larvae had inflicted. I could only hope to make it out of here before it killed me. Above all, I hoped to last long enough to get Dawn, the hybrids, and my men to safety.
When we reached the door, Tagar and Nowik shot ahead of me. They opened it, stepping in first to make sure I could follow in with relative safety. But there was no safety to be found in the chaos that reigned in that room. A single glance sufficed to reveal how the hybrids had been on the losing side. Blind fury surged through me at the sight of countless Guldans, fully armed and armored, shooting the weaponless hybrids. Even though the blue light on their blasters indicated they were set to stun and not kill, it still angered me that they should attack them with such uneven odds.
I didn’t need to speak a single word for my men to know what to do. They descended on the Guldans and Sarenians like the Furies they became whenever bolstered by my Berserker power. Although I had not done it intentionally, it took me seconds to realize my aura had also extended to the hybrids. It pleased me tremendously watching them inflict severe pain on the aggressors.
As I stormed inside the room, the energy shield sealing off the stage where Deimos and his two acolytes were sheltering immediately drew my attention. Utter contempt compounded the hatred filling my heart for this male. He didn’t even have the courage to fight his own battle, taking cover while others did his dirty work for him.
I silenced my instinctive urge to go after him and searched for Dawn instead. The panicked Guldans and Sarenians made my task easier as they started fleeing towards the exit the moment they saw us pouring in. Most of them didn’t make it too far as my men grabbed them along the way, breaking limbs with almost insulting ease, and smashing their heads against the walls or the sides of the bleachers, making them explode like over ripe fruits in a shower of blood and gore.
As we cleared the bleachers to the open area in front of the refreshment tables—that had long been shattered in the brawl—and that led to the exit, I finally spotted my woman. She was fighting with a savagery that had me instantly rock hard. Watching her repeatedly stab a Sarenian in the face with the oddest-looking dagger I’d ever seen caused me to spill a few drops of precum. Dawn had told me about her combat and self-defense training, but I never expected her to be this proficient and this feral. Nonetheless, I needed her out of here and safe. Beyond her battle prowess, the only thing that kept me from rushing to her was the number of hybrids keeping an eye on my woman as they fought alongside her.
As one, hybrids and purebloods joined forces to obliterate our enemies. Those who had still been unconscious were gradually awakening and immediately jumped into the battle. Just as the last of our opponents were either managing to escape through the exit or falling to our blows, Deimos’s voices resonated through the com system of the room. We all turned to look at the stage.
From my position, the bleachers were blocking my view, but I could still see the giant screens above it. Deimos’s face filled all of them, his eyes glowing. My stomach dropped as he opened his mouth.
“Hybrids, kill the purebloods. Kill the Prince before he escapes and rallies the Korletheans against you!”Deimos commanded in his vibrating voice.
My men and I braced, taking on defensive stances in case they turned on us. We were surrounded, outnumbered twenty to one. The hybrids recoiled, a spark of hatred flashing over their faces at the word Korletheans. But none seemed eager to comply with his order to attack us.
“It won’t work, you psychotic son of a krillik,” Jaek shouted at Deimos. “I put an antidote in the juice they drank. You no longer have power over us!”
This time, it was Deimos’s turn to display deep hatred laced with a sliver of madness. Had Jaek been within his grasp, he would have eviscerated him. He activated the com on his armband.
