Page 6 of Triplets for the Barbarians

I’m counting twelve Sky Tribe fighters; their colors proudly painted on the side of each buggy. The closer I get, the better I can see them and their weapons. The intruders are big men with ragged blue uniforms that stand in strange contrast to their red skin. Their horns swirl toward the back of their heads while their crimson eyes scan the surrounding area.

Within seconds, they spot Yossul and Fadai as the two boldly approach the convoy. One of the mercenaries snarls and points a weapon at them as he sits up from the back seat of a buggy. They’re shouting, but I can’t understand what they’re saying.

Yossul and Fadai zigzag toward them, then swerve sharply to the right in an attempt to draw the convoy away from the labyrinth walls. From this distance, the walls look like Opal City’s old defense system and not the more recently reinforced system of defense. The problem is… the marauders don’t seem all that interested in chasing the Kreek brothers. Only two buggies break formation to go after them.

The others seem intent on getting closer to the city.

I curse under my breath, realizing it’ll take more than Yossul and Fadai’s efforts to pull this off. This means I’ll have to do precisely what they were hoping I wouldn’t do. Pushing the pedal to the metal, I bolt forward and head straight for the convoy, one hand on the wheel while the other points a laser gun at their vehicles.

Once I’m close enough, they hear the engine. A split-second later, a laser shot goes right through one of their hoods. The buggy in question explodes, engulfed in red and yellow flames as the fuel is ignited instantly. I hear the men screaming for only a second before they die.

“Come at me, you pigs!” I shout and laugh at them, taunting them as I drive around.

The marauders in the other buggies do their best to avoid the explosion and ensuing disaster, then steer their vehicles to chase after me. I count three more buggies on my tail while the other two are still hot on Yossul’s and Fadai’s trail. It’ll be a hard trick to pull, but I’ve put myself in a position where I don’t really have a better choice.

“What the hell?” one of them cries out when he gets close enough to realize I’m one of those precious human women they’re so desperate to impregnate. “We need her alive!”

“Hit it, boys!” another fighter shouts, a skeevy grin slitting his face.

“Let’s see how dumb you are,” I say and start swerving left and right in a bid to make it harder for them to catch up. The buggy is surprisingly stable, but it’s not going to be enough. Theirs are faster, and their motivation is just as powerful as mine.

I’m running out of clear field, too. Ahead, a ravine opens up, dark shadows stretching from below while the edges are sprinkled with solitary blackwood trees. Behind us, Opal City is getting smaller in the distance, the dark cloud looming ominously above it. Why did they even think to come this way to begin with? I’d have steered clear of the place, even if I hadn’t been aware of its terrible history.

“Halt!” I hear the marauders shouting.

Somewhere farther to my right and closer to the stream running through the ravine, I catch glimpses of buggy tail lights glimmering chaotically. Four sets. Yossul’s, Fadai’s, and their pursuers, while mine are getting dangerously close.

It’s time to kick things up a notch as I brace myself for the worst to come. I’ve got a laser pistol strapped to my waist and two knives on my back holster, and I’m still holding the second gun in my hand. If I’m to keep these bastards away from the city, I need to kill them. Right here. Right now.

“I’m too fast for your sorry asses!” I cackle loudly.

It does the trick. Their vehicles rumble furiously as they accelerate, determined to catch up and not at all aware of where I’m taking them until it’s too late. My heart is thumping out of my chest, but I can’t turn back, and I certainly can’t stop. I floor it as the buggy takes off the hard ground.

“NO!” one of the marauders shouts.

“STOP!” another panics.

Too late. I’m plunging into the ravine, and they were stupid and desperate enough to follow me into it. I cry out as the buggy manages to land on the rocky riverbank, and I do everything in my power to steer this thing along the steamy water stream, but the tank has ruptured. Sparks are flying.

Shit! This thing is going to blow.

I jump out, letting the buggy continue on its own until a final spark sets it off. I roll along the thick layer of pebbles, getting bruised and cut along the way, but I manage to pull myself up just in time to see what I’ve left behind.

Two of the buggies crashed into the riverbank. They didn’t guess my move, and now they’re in shambles, mangled and broken, the men crying out, caught between bent metal and hard rocks, their bones shattered. The other two buggies, however, have come down more cautiously, getting only a flat tire and maybe a broken suspension. Their drivers are now running toward me, laser rifles locked and loaded.

I pull mine up in return and fire at will, then bolt across the stream. There’s a cluster of black limestone boulders and purple-leaf shrubs I can use for cover. Laser shots fly past me—they’re trying to hit my legs.

“You’re not going anywhere, bitch!” one of the men says.

I fire back another round. His mate falls to the ground, a gaping, smoking hole left where his heart used to be. “We’ll see about that!”

Something crashes in the distance. A loud boom follows. My stomach churns as I briefly wonder who died. The flashing light accompanying those terrible sounds only speaks of death and pain. Someone’s buggy blew up.

“SHIT!” I scream as I feel the laser shot burn through my calf. I fall flat on my face just as I’m about to get out of the stream. The pain shoots up my leg, a fierce burning sensation eating away at the flesh. I manage to turn over and smell the burn. It’s a painful graze, but it’s enough to cost me precious seconds as the last surviving soldier rushes toward me.

The muzzle of his weapon is pointed at my head.

He’s not going to kill me, though. Judging by the hungry grin on his face, he’s going to do something much worse. The kind of deed that makes my skin crawl. Beads of sweat trickle down my temples. I dropped my gun when I fell. I still have the pistol on my waist, but he’ll shoot me before I reach it. All I can do is scramble backward to put as much distance between him and me as possible.

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