Page 66 of Warrior's Purpose

“Follow me feet first. When you hit, tuck your knees, and roll. The shell will absorb the shock,” Aculus instructed, then launched himself out of the cruiser.

Once the male was clear, he took a deep breath and followed.

“By Kali,” Ashtoret bellowed as he plummeted toward the ground. This was nothing like he imagined, daunting and thrilling at the same time.

He glanced up and noticed the rest of Aculus’ vessels and crew had joined them. A small army was rocketing through the sky, descending on the dishonorable humans’ stronghold. He smiled at his bony friend. The humans raised their ire and now they were going to learn what it meant to tangle with the Cadi and Osivoire.

The ground came up fast. He tucked and rolled. Ashtoret was surprised when he came to a halt and all his parts were intact. But there was no time for that. He grabbed the disrupter from his chest and took off with Aculus, the others following close behind.

“You’ve been holding out on us,” he hollered to the bony warrior as they approached the building holding his female.

Aculus laughed then grew grim. A contingent of human warriors were advancing in their boxy green vehicles, weapons aimed. Ashtoret braced himself for the steady spray of projectiles the humans fired, but there was no need. He roared a demented laugh as the bullets ricocheted off his bony armor.

A metal ball bounced at their feet then exploded with a blinding flash. He was knocked back, a spray of black turf raining all around. Ashtoret leapt to his feet and grinned, seeing he was unharmed.

“Brace yourself,” he bellowed when another of the exploding balls launched into their midst.

He and Aculus hunkered down, leaning into the blast so it didn’t blow them back. He remembered to close his eyes as it detonated. The inconsequential heat of the blast and pressure subsided, and they continued toward their goal. The humans’ eyes were wide with fear as he leapt over the hood of their vehicle. Some shot but most just gaped.

Ashtoret opened fire on the uniformed human warriors as he broke through their ranks. He couldn’t have them following. He wasn’t killing them, but it was still satisfying.

Aculus fired on the humans spilling from the building, dropping them instantly. They stormed into the building to find another squadron hunkered down behind a thick clear barrier.

“Who is your commander?” he demanded over the blaring alarms, his words translating through his communicator.

“I am.” A brave looking male stepped forward. The slight tremor in his hand betrayed his true emotions. Ashtoret recognized him from the zoo.

“Remove the barrier and lead us to the females you abducted,” he barked, making the human warrior jump.

“You were the ones who abducted those women.”

“Then why did Abby scream my name when you took her? If you value your life, you won’t stand between me and my female.”

“Many will die if you force us to blow this shield,” Aculus snarled.

“Then we die. We all knew what we were signing up for,” the human countered with more bravado than was wise.

“No need. I’m sure I can get this barrier open,” Scala, Aculus’ second in command, interjected as he stuck his handheld up to a sensor on the wall. “There’s numerous corridors and sublevels to this structure.”

“If we take them all out it’s going to be more difficult to find our females,” Aculus huffed in frustration as the barrier rose.

“So, we take the commander,” Ashtoret growled and lunged forward.

He ignored the blasts as the humans opened fire. A stupidly brave human came straight for him. Ashtoret knocked him back. His tail lashed out at another sneaking up on his back. He grabbed the commander by the neck as the bastard fired directly at his chest. It stung at such close range, but he ignored it and wrenched the weapon from the male’s grasp.

“Where is she?” he snarled in the commander’s face.

The human wasn’t so brave anymore, but he still refused to speak.

“I will ask you one more time. Where is my mate?” Ashtoret lifted the commander off the floor by his neck.

The puny human futilely grasped his arm while choking out incoherent sounds. The commander’s gaze inadvertently darted toward a door as his face turned red. Self-preservation made him slip-up.

“That’s where we need to go,” Aculus barked.

As Ashtoret dropped the commander, he glanced around at all the unconscious humans. Those who were still awake had their hands up and were huddling against the wall.

“Maintain our exit.” He pointed to a handful of their crew. “You’re coming with us.” He grabbed the human commander and tugged him toward the door at the far end of the vestibule.

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