Page 89 of Chained

“Grak!” Retah exclaims, pulling at one of his horns. “They came through!”

“Who?” Cleo asks.

“The Sarkarnii.”

“Those scaly vrexers?” I’m next to him in an instant. “You called them in?”

“Who else to deal with the Bogarok on the ground? I met their leader Draco when I was off world and told him something was going on. Only they were bound for the far reaches, so I wasn’t sure if my request had reached them.”

“The Sarkarnii are the big guys who turn into dragons?” Cleo says, her breath hitching in her chest. “They’re friendly though, aren’t they?”

“Sort of,” Retah says. “They’re what they want to be, when they want to be.”

“I know the Sarkarnii,” I say to my Cleo. “They’ve been our allies in the past, and we’ve helped them too on Trefa. They’re not a threat.”

“Maxym,” Nate calls out.

“Not now, Nate,” I respond, taking hold of Cleo’s hands, attempting to reassure her down the thoughtbond.

“Maxym,” he says again.

I turn with a growl, but his face has turned an unnatural shade of blue.

“What is it, Nate?”

“One of the Bogarok ships…it’s crashing on the dome,” he says.

A groan from above us confirms what he is saying is true.

“Vrex!”

“Time to leave,” Retah says. “The dome can look after itself.”

CLEO

We burst into the street outside the dome as burning debris falls from the sky. The huge Bogarok ship is already half buried in the structure, and as I look up, it lurches once again, fireballs forming underneath and Bogarok leaping from it, some already in flames.

“Horrible.” I turn away as Maxym takes hold of me.

“The Sarkarnii don’t believe in half measures. Or prisoners,” he says.

“Or saving buildings,” Retah says, stepping to one side as a large lump of the dome crashes down at his feet.

“So, not much help then?” I say.

“Depends whether you like being impaled by the Bogarok or not.” Retah digs into his clothing with his one free hand and pulls out a vid-screen comms device. “I need to let them know where we are.”

Overhead, through the smoke and embers, an enormous creature thunders through the air. I catch the swish of a tail before it’s out of sight.

“The Sarkarnii can change their shape,” Maxym says, seeming inordinately happy with the destruction they’re wreaking on Tatatunga. “They become big.” He grins at me.

I get the feeling it’s not that they get big but that they can cause more damage that way he is impressed with.

“Can’t reach them,” Retah says. “We should go.”

I’m absolutely not going to argue, especially after the dome releases a metallic groan which can’t be good. Maxym puts a wing around me as we hurry away, this time risking using the streets until we get back to Retah’s dwelling.

I don’t think I’ve been happier to see anything, other than Maxym, in my entire life.

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