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Our intertwined fates seemed to lean more towards doom than survival.
At one point, trying to dodge a slashing tendril, I pulled Talan off balance, sending us both crashing into a dense thicket.
The beast lunged, Talan counterattacked, but with me dragging behind him, his usually graceful combat style turned clumsy.
Then, with a move that seemed to come out of nowhere, the beast lunged forward and delivered a solid blow to Talan’s jaw.
He staggered, eyes rolling back as the impact sent him reeling.
And before I could comprehend the full magnitude of our situation, Talan’s massive frame toppled, collapsing straight on top of me.
The weight was immediate and crushing.
Every ounce of air was driven from my lungs.
The sharp, instant pain of breaking bones and the sensation of my ribcage giving way was an agony I’d never felt before.
The world around me blurred, the sounds muffled.
The bright colors of the alien forest turned to grayscale.
The pain was all-encompassing, a tidal wave that drowned every other sensation.
Amidst the crushing weight and sharp, radiating pain, a singular thought made its way through my fading consciousness:
This is it. This is how it ends.
And then, everything turned black.
Talan
With a surge of adrenaline, I shoved myself back onto my feet and used the momentum to slam a fist into my opponent.
His entire face collapsed around my blow and he stumbled back, collapsing to the ground as I had done just a moment earlier.
The beast had landed a heavy blow earlier too, making me lose my balance and fall down hard.
But as I stood, the weight at my side didn’t lift; instead, it dragged with a disturbing heaviness.
Glancing down, the gravity of what had occurred hit me like a freight train.
There was Riley, crushed beneath my fall, her body unnaturally contorted.
My breath caught in my throat as I reached down and gently prodded her.
Unresponsive.
Lifeless.
Dead.
“Ugh, by Gorta’s hammer!” I let out a sigh, rolling my eyes skyward.
I was handcuffed to a fragile human in the middle of a brutal alien death match and I had squashed her.
I noticed the other alien male regaining his composure.
His yellow eyes fixed on me with a predatory glint, and he started to hurry in my direction, clearly realizing my predicament.
