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I needed to intercept Jocelyn. I couldn’t let her drink that plant essence. The row of mutants was a testament to what this evil woman could do. I did not want to imagine what she would do with an immortal life.
I heard the poor creatures in their cages reacting to the violence, and an idea came to me. There had to be a way to release them. They would even up the numbers.
I scooted behind a counter and took in the row of depraved abominations. They were up at the glass doors hammering on the screens and wailing. I still had the laser gun in my hand. “Stand back,” I yelled at the first one.
I didn’t know whether the thing in the cage could understand me, but to my relief, it stepped away from the glass door.
I aimed the gun and shot at the lock, then stared in amazement at the smoking hole where the lock used to be. The door swung open, and the hunched body of a mutant lurched through the opening.
An Ewani came at me. On instinct, I pulled the trigger and watched him hit the opposite wall, a gaping hole in his chest. A small part of me was horrified that I’d blinked out his life with such ease. But then five more Nazok armed guards came through the doorway into the laboratory.
I saw Draven fighting his way toward Jocelyn, leaving a trail of groaning bodies in his wake.
Jocelyn herself hurriedly tried to pull the vial from beneath the dome, the flower within a dry crumpled heap and its essence drained. I took aim and shot across the room, hoping to hit her and end this wicked game she played. The glass dome evaporated, and the remains of the flower were blasted from existence.
Jocelyn screamed and leaped away. The vial remained in its slot beneath the steaming remains of the glass container.
Damn, I missed both her and the repugnant liquid.
I heard Jocelyn screaming her revenge. “I’m going to kill you all. I don’t need you, Elara. There are plenty of humans out there. Kill her,” she shouted, hurling my death sentence into the melee.
I turned my attention to the next cage and obliterated the lock, releasing a mutant with spider legs and an iron lung heaving up and down on its back. It scuttled into the fray. The more confusion I could unleash, the better.
Two of Jocelyn’s Nazok guards fought with the spider creature. But it was fast and shot some kind of venom at them. Cursing, they split up, trying to get behind it. One of them with better aim than the others took it down, and it sprawled across the floor in a tangle of legs.
The fight went on for a while, though everything was a blur. I simply dodged and hit, tiring out as it felt like I was simply prolonging the inevitable death. At some point, I was shoved down. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground beside Jocelyn and saw the floor littered with mutant corpses.
Draven had his attention on the last few Nazoks and the final Ewani. One of them was on his back, and I watched him turn and slam the guy into a cabinet of clinical equipment. The Nazok fell away, and Draven turned to face the next one.
I watched in horror as Jocelyn transferred her aim away from the mutant and fired a weapon straight at Draven.
“No!” I screamed as I watched him crumple to the floor.
DRAVEN
It was a searing pain even with my body armor on—as if I was a slab of meat placed down on a hot pan. No doubt Jocelyn made use of an armor-piercing round. I had to give her credit. She knew who she was dealing with, and she came prepared.
The plasma bolt tore through my flesh like a ravenous predator going to work on its lunch. My body convulsed, my screams bouncing between the walls of this secret room. Another shot rang out, just narrowly missing my arm.
I dove for cover behind an upturned table. Whether I incurred a fatal wound was unknown, but there was no time to check. Elara was still behind the enemy line, and she was far more important to me. I bit down on the pain and peeked my head above the cover.
“Had enough, Draven?” cackled Jocelyn. She pulled her trigger, and another vicious round was sent hurtling toward me. It grazed my temple, knocking me back onto the floor. It felt as though I’d been run over by a hovercar, and the driver reversed back over me to ensure the job was done.
Jocelyn was a damn fine shot. She may have been human, but she was still skilled. Anyone as vulnerable as a human had to find other ways to make up for their lack of physical strength and power against us Vinduthi, and she clearly did her homework.
If that wasn’t enough, I still had the rest of her goons to deal with. I stuck my arm out and blindly fired, unsure of what I hit. Immediately, I retracted out of fear of hitting Elara.
I had to take them out if I was going to get to Elara. If I couldn’t take them out, I would at least distract them to keep Elara safe. The rest of my team should be coming soon as reinforcements, thanks to the beacon I sent out earlier.
Mentally, I tried to calculate how long it would take. I gave up quickly, realizing I had no concept of time left. This battle felt as though it had been waging for hours, but it likely only lasted a few minutes. And I had no idea how far away the rest of the Vinduthi were in their search for Elara when I summoned them.
Instead, I would have to focus on the here and now and simply hope help arrived soon. Ahead of me, what remained of glass cabinets reflected the enemy’s positions across the room. There were at least three to my left and two to the right.
One of the goons stepped forward confidently, exposing himself. It was far too dangerous to duck out of cover and fire. Luckily for me, I was a skilled sharpshooter.
Aiming my gun at the wall beside me, I fired. The bolt ricocheted and hit the Nazok, penetrating the center of his forehead. He collapsed to the ground in an instant, his gun sprawling across the floor to me.
I grabbed it. It was a fully automatic plasma rifle with half of a full clip remaining. Beneath the barrel was an attachment for shooting grenades. I checked inside, seeing it was loaded with a stun bomb.
