Page 10 of Shielded Heart

Alkorin stopped a few meters away from the group, his stance startlingly nonchalant. He sighed. “Last chance, my friends.”

“Fuck off, sedhi,” one of the aliens said. “Thisji’tasis in our territory now.”

Raising his arms, Alkorin rolled back the sleeves of his robe, revealing the sleek, charcoal-colored metal, which was run through with yellow highlights matching his tattoos. The armor on his right forearm was bulkier, as though it were reinforced.

“Should’ve taken a moment to stretch,” Alkorin muttered as he splayed his fingers and curled them into fists. “I’m not quite as spry as I used to be.”

“Deal with him already,” Te’shek snapped.

“Don’t tell me what to fucking do,” Jurgol growled as he and the other two aliens stepped toward Alkorin.

The fear coiling through Samantha’s insides knotted, making her stomach churn. These aliens were all big and rough-looking—not that Alkorin was small, but he seemed sorefinedcompared to them, like a pampered movie star facing down three street-hardened thugs.

One of the thugs lunged, and everything seemed to blast into light speed.

Sam barely saw Alkorin move as he slammed his fist into the side of the attacking alien’s face with a meatythwap. The alien was knocked aside with the impact, spinning as he fell. Something clattered to the ground at Sam’s feet; she glanced down to see a pair of bloody, cracked teeth on the concrete.

Jurgol took a swing. Alkorin blocked the blow with his forearm. Sam heard bone crack before the alien yowled in pain. Alkorin twisted his hips and kneed the alien in the gut, the sides of his robe fluttering apart to reveal what appeared to be a thigh-high armored boot on his leg.

Eyes bulging, Jurgol doubled over and crumpled to the ground.

Te’shek threw Sam aside. She cried out as her hip took the brunt of her heavy landing. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up on her elbows and watched the reptilian alien charge toward Alkorin.

The ilthurii and the other alien still on his feet drew weapons from their coats; at the touch of a button, pulsing energy blades formed from the hilts in their hands. Alkorin backed away, dodging their swings as both aliens attacked simultaneously.

“I said Ididn’twant to kill anyone.” Alkorin raised his right arm as one of the blades sped toward him in a downward arc. The bulky armor piece on his forearm lit up, and a round, segmented shield formed in the air above it, comprised of a translucent yellow material; it took Sam a moment to realize the seemingly crystalline substance was hardlight.

The energy sword struck the shield with a flash. Alkorin deflected it to his right, twisted his arm to grab the alien’s extended wrist, and hammered his left fist into the alien’s elbow. The joint snapped inward, bending the alien’s arm in the wrong direction.

The alien dropped his weapon and stumbled aside. He grasped his broken arm with his other hand and screamed in pain, dropping to the ground.

Te’shek pressed his attack, swinging wildly. Alkorin danced backward, swaying to avoid the sword, and swept his tail forward between his legs. It wrapped around the ilthurii’s ankle and pulled.

As his leg was lifted high by Alkorin’s tail, the ilthurii threw out his arms and fought for balance, but his struggle was in vain; he crashed onto his back. Before he could recover, Alkorin swung his right arm. The shield darted forward and struck Te’shek in the face, knocking his head back against the concrete.

The ilthurii went limp.

Releasing Te’shek’s leg, Alkorin straightened. The shield dissipated, and he rolled his sleeves down. His third eye fell upon Sam before he turned toward her fully. She stared in stunned silence as he hurried over to her.

He crouched in front of her and offered a hand. “Are you all right, Samantha?”

She glanced at the aliens; two were unmoving, while the other two were on the ground, writhing and groaning in pain. Hesitantly, she placed her hand in Alkorin’s and looked up at him. “You…followed me?”

As he rose, he drew her upright in a smooth, effortless motion. “I did.”

Sam searched his face, meeting his third eye briefly. “Why?”

Alkorin held her gaze—and her hand. “I saw them tailing you. This city isn’t the safest place for your kind, little terran. You’re considered an exotic race, so I assumed their interest in you was neither passing nor innocent.”

Something in his gaze suggested thathisinterest in her wasn’t passing or innocent, either, and part of her thrilled in that. Despite that thrill, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“If it’s so unsafe, then why…why would the UTFpayto send me here?”

He shrugged. “Who can guess at the motives of governmental organizations?” His gaze dipped, roving over her from head to toe. “Now answer honestly—are you hurt?”

Sam tugged her hand free from his. “Just a few more scrapes and bruises. Nothing serious…thanks to you.”

He lifted his now empty hand and swept back a few strands of his straight, black hair, tucking them behind his pointed ear. “As understandably reluctant as you must be to trust anyone in Arthos right now, I insist on walking you home. Your day has been difficult, I imagine, and I’d like to spare you further terrible experiences. This city isn’t all bad, but it seems you’ve stumbled into a lot of it, anyway.”

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