Page 16 of Protected By the Alien Knight

Tense seconds stretch into an eternity as Ven’ari weighs my words, hatred and reluctant wisdom warring across his features. At last, he gives a curt nod and motions toward the dwelling.

“You have five minutes,” Ven’ari growls, lip curling in contempt. “Knight Kal’athar will accompany you to ensure no... incidents.”

One of the towering warriors steps forward, hand resting meaningfully on the pommel of his sword hilt. His gaze finds mine, conveying a silent threat that requires no translation.

I give the barest perceptible nod of acknowledgment. “Of course. We’ll make our preparations swiftly.”

Pivoting on my heel, I lead Annie back toward the dwelling entrance, with Kal’athar falling into step just behind us. Theinstant the rocky alcove shields us from Ven’ari’s view, every nerve ending blazes into hyperawareness.

My hand darts out in a slythara-strike, seizing Kal’athar’s wrist and wrenching his arm up in a brutally efficient restraint hold. The knight’s eyes widen in shock, jaws parting to bark a warning.

I don’t give him the chance.

Shifting my weight with blinding speed, I clamp my free hand over Kal’athar’s mouth and drive my knee up into his midsection. He grunts, doubling over as the wind is crushed from his lungs. A few deft strikes to key nerve clusters, and he crumples to the ground in a semiconscious heap.

“Crux, what—” Annie starts, alarmed.

“Go,” I cut her off, already moving for the supply cache. “Grab anything essential. We only have moments.”

She doesn’t argue as she runs into her room, hands flying over the storage receptacles, grabbing clothes and datapads. I throw on an unassuming shirt and make a few taps on my wrist interface and it shimmers, reforming into a lightweight but highly reinforced tactical bodysuit.

I quickly add skinweave armor, refitting the sleek ebony plates with machine efficiency. Kal’athar groans from the floor nearby as I strap on my weapons harness and blaster holsters.

A flicker of movement from the mouth of the alcove—Ven’ari is growing impatient. No time for subtlety or misdirection any longer.

“Now, Annie!” I bark, throwing her a reinforced go-bag and slinging a supply pack over one shoulder. “Out the rear exit before—”

The echoing stamp of armored boots cuts me off as Ven’ari and two more knights round the corner, weapons raised. The elder knight’s eyes blaze murderously as they find Kal’athar’s prone form.

“Traitor!” he bellows, leveling his blaster squarely at my chest. “I’ll see you flayed alive for this insurrection!”

Time fractures in that endless heartbeat. Annie’s blazing eyes find mine and I give the barest perceptible shake of my head. She needs to run, now, while I buy her the opening.

Reacting on pure combat reflex, I hurl myself sideways in a shoulder roll as Ven’ari’s blaster bolt shrieks past in a blaze of ionized air. Even as I come up in a crouch, I’m snapping off two return shots that drop his security escorts with surgical precision.

“Annie, go!” I bark, backpedaling toward the rear alcove. “Down the kitchen passage to the sub-hanger—I’ll be right behind you!”

She doesn’t hesitate, sprinting for the entrance as I lay down a blistering hail of covering fire. Ven’ari’s enraged roars shake the very ground, blaster bolts crackling all around me in a savage burst.

I pivot and rush after Annie, sealing a blast door behind us to temporarily block the elder knight’s pursuit. Then I’m taking the carved steps two at a time, descending deeper into the underground hangar carved from the cliff stone.

As I follow Annie, I dare to hope Ven’ari underestimates how far I’m willing to go to keep my starlight burning.

His first mistake of many this day.

The stale, musty air presses in as we plunge into the inky shadows. But finally we reach the bottom.

Up ahead waits my gunship—a relic from the blackest days of the Knighthood’s time in the Orion wars. A predator of the void, sleek and angular and utterly deadly. Its armor is streaked with the corrosion of ages, but those curves still radiate menacing, raw magnificence. This is no mere pilot’s craft, but an apex weapon feared across the stars.

“Crux,” Annie breathes, unbridled awe sharpening the edges of that single syllable. “What... is it?”

“Our deliverance. Now get aboard!” I yell, diverting to seal the armored bulkheads against Ven’ari’s imminent breach.

The booming rhythm of turbolaser impacts punching through the rock ceiling spurs me on. I input the final lockdown sequence just as the armored bay door shrieks open, revealing my gunship’s systems primed for launch.

“I’m in—let’s go!” Annie’s voice rings out over the escalating thunder.

I don’t need telling twice. Leaping up the boarding ramp, I plunge into the pilot’s cradle and wrench the engines to emergency burn even before the hatch seals behind me. The gunship lurches upward with a deafening roar, clawing for altitude as debris rains down.

---