Page 36 of Game on Askole

Aunt Tess swirled a finger, and a zillion lime-green sand flies swarmed Lilkee’s warriors. For some odd reason, the flies avoided Lilkee like the plague.

“Earth women rule!” my aunt yelled and hit a wannabe over the head with a chair.

“We are women! Hear us roar,” Kaylee shouted. She jumped into the air and lashed out with a solid side kick. Her foot hit a goon in the stomach, knocking him over the railing. She picked up his sword with a gleeful smile and chased another goon around the terrace. “We are women. We are strong! We are invincible! Hear us roar!”

Okey-dokey. How many beers had Kaylee guzzled down?

“Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee!” To escape the sand flies and Kaylee, the terrified goon jumped over the terrace wall.

Kaylee scowled. “Oh poop.” She watched the flies dive-bomb the goon flailing about in the water. “Pussy.”

A snarling thug snuck up behind my cousin. “Behind you, Kaylee,” I yelled in warning.

She spun around and blocked the goon’s attempt to gut her.

“Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee!” The cries of the Genghis Khan wannabes grew louder and louder.

Caleb and Ethan tackled the soldier trying to hack Kaylee into itty-bitty pieces and proceeded to beat the snot out of him.

I parried another blow and scrambled backward as a blade came within an inch of my face.“Tihar! We’re a bit outnumbered here. We need help now!”

A black blur zoomed by, and bits and pieces of three warriors went flying in every direction.

I wiped the blood off my face and whooped as Tihar plucked a scarlet goon off Aunt Tess and turned him into sushi. “About fucking time.”

Splat! Splat! Splat!Three more wannabes went down cocooned in webbing.

“What the hell?” I checked the area nervously. What kind of spiders shot basketball-size webbing?

“Get out of the way, Sarah,” Quinn snapped.

I darted behind the table. Whoa! I knew Quinn was good with a sword, but he gave the Coletti warriors a run for their money. His blade flashed in the sun as he made mincemeat out of Lilkee’s thugs.

Where the heck were Jake and Uncle Derek? There. The fight had spilled out into the parkland. They were duking it out with two goons who had lost their swords.

A Chinese-looking dude in a red Alliance uniform ran out onto the terrace and began blasting away with his laser pistol.

Yay! Kaylee must have hollered for reinforcements too.

I laughed. Sam was riding the thug around the terrace, yelling, “Yee-haw!”

“Look out,” Aunt Tess called.

Avoiding a lethal thrust, I blocked a second and flung myself sideways as a third blade whizzed by.

Tihar’s bloodcurdling battle cry rattled the windows as he pureed my attackers.

I rolled to my feet and gasped. Detja and Lilkee circled each other, their swords clashing violently as they lunged and cut viciously.

Her rage evident, Detja forced the skinny bitch back, blow by blow.

Lilkee was about to meet her maker.

I blocked another sword thrust.

A black blur zipped by and beheaded my attacker. I flinched as more blood sprayed me. I probably looked like a survivor of one of those slasher movies.

A scream had me spinning around. Lilkee, her face contorted with fear and rage, was flat on her back with Detja’s sword at her throat.“Legionnaires! Kill the half-breed. Kill her.”