Page 80 of Akur

“Now!” he roared.

She dove into the vent shaft headfirst, the metal cool against her palms as she scrambled forward. Behind her, she heard more fighting, more screams.

“Come on,” she whispered. He had to make it. He had to make it, too. “Come on!”

A flash of teal made her heart leap. The shaft shuddered as Akur forced his massive frame through the opening.

“Go go go!”

Blaster fire followed them into the shaft, the heat intense enough to make the air so hot it was uncomfortable to breathe. Crawling as fast as she could, she tried to ignore the sounds of pursuit echoing through the metal tunnel. “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.”

“Your sense of humor evades me, bright eyes.”

She choked on a laugh, pushing forward even though her injured arm trembled with each movement. She was bleeding badly. She could even smell it.

“Left at the junction,” Akur called from behind her, his voice tight. “We need to get above this level.”

How did he even know?

Didn’t matter. She trusted him with her life.

She took the turn, grateful for the slope that led upward. The shaft was narrowing though, and she could hear Akur grunting, just to push through.

“Are you okay?” she called back.

“Forget about me. Just keep moving!”

Rich words coming from a male that kissed her breath away in protest of her saying the same thing. But the urgency in his voice made her push harder, ignoring the burning in her muscles. They couldn’t get trapped in here. The sound of pursuit was only growing louder.

Blaster fire erupted again. Akur grunted. Pretty sure he’d been hit. The air heated once more, enough to make the metal shaft hot to the touch. She bit back a cry and kept crawling.

“Almost there,” Akur growled. “I can smell fresher air ahead.”

She wanted to ask how he could smell anything over the scent of blood and burns, but another shot forced her to focus on movement. Up ahead, she could see light filtering through another vent cover.

When she reached it, she paused, breaths coming hard. “Sorry, big guy.” There wasn’t time to explain. Pressing down, her feet found his shoulders as she braced on him for support. Two hard pushes and the metallic cover gave way with a shriek.

It felt like a truck was pushing her from behind as she tumbled out into a wider corridor. Akur exploded from the shaft behind her, spinning to face the opening with blades ready.

The first guard to emerge got a blade through his throat for his trouble. The second fired his weapon, but Akur was already moving. His other blade found the guard’s neck as plasma scorched the wall.

More were coming. They could hear them in the shaft and down the other side of the corridor.

“Run!” Akur grabbed her hand, his touch scorching almost as bad as the blaster fire. Her shoulder ached and her arms felt like she’d put her skin over a flame. But pain could wait.

Turning a bend, her heart stuttered in her chest as they nearly collided with a group of Tasqals gliding down the corridor. Six of them, their robes pristine and faces serene—until they registered what they were seeing.

One opened its mouth, hand rising in indignation. “Halt, you degenerate!”

Akur didn’t even pause. His blade flashed out in an arc, nearly taking the Tasqal’s head clean off as they charged through. The Tasqal’s body hit the floor with a wet thud, but they kept running.

Risking a glance back, she saw the remaining Tasqals pressed against the walls. Their previous composure shattered as they stared at their dead companion.

As they sprinted down the corridor, shouts and heavy footfalls echoed off the walls as guards poured from other passages to come after them.

Her lungs burned as they ran, but she forced herself to keep pace with Akur’s longer stride. The corridor seemed endless, branching off in multiple directions. Some had Tasqals down them. Some had gator-guards searching for them. Others were empty. They took turns at random, trying to lose their pursuers, but the sounds of pursuit never faded completely.

“We have to find it,” she gasped out between breaths. “We have to find that ship the Tasqal told us about.”

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