Page 13 of Alien Warlord's Fury

To my surprise, she didn't argue, simply curled on her side, using her pack as a pillow. Her exhaustion must have been even greater than I'd thought.

I moved to the cave entrance, positioning myself where I could watch both our surroundings and Claire. Her breathing deepened quickly, body surrendering to sleep despite her mind's resistance.

In sleep, her face softened, the determined lines easing. Her markings continued their slow pulse, occasionally flaring with whatever dreams visited her. I wondered what she saw in those unguarded moments—more visions of the younglings, or something else entirely?

Our bond hummed quietly between us, transmitting the echo of her dreams—fragments of emotion rather than clear thoughts. Fear predominated, but beneath it ran a current of fiercedetermination that I was coming to recognize as her essential nature.

Claire might be human, fragile in ways my people were not, but her spirit burned with a warrior's fire. I found myself respecting that fire, even as I worked to contain it within safer boundaries.

The night deepened around us. Small tremors occasionally shook the ground, but our shelter remained stable. In the distance, I caught glimpses of energy fields forming and dissipating, more numerous than they had been during the day.

Hammond's work continued through the night, and with it, the planet's distress grew.

I settled into watchfulness, one part of my awareness focused outward on potential threats, another turned inward to the sleeping woman whose safety had become my priority. Tomorrow would bring us closer to danger, but also closer to our goal.

The younglings waited. The planet trembled. And between Claire and myself, something new and undefined continued to form, as unstable and powerful as the forces we sought to confront.

CLAIRE

Ijerked away from Nirako's restraining grip, my skin still tingling where his fingers had wrapped around my arm. The energy field buzzed against my senses, a discordant note that set my teeth on edge. My markings pulsed erratically beneath my skin, reacting to the wrongness in the air.

"You had no right to?—"

A sound cut through my anger. A low, guttural hiss that didn't belong in these woods. I froze, every instinct suddenly screaming danger.

"Don't move," Nirako whispered, his voice barely audible.

The undergrowth to our left shifted. Something moved with unnatural fluidity, branches parting as six-legged shapes slithered into view. Lizards—but wrong.

Their scales gleamed with an oily iridescence that caught the dappled sunlight. Six of them, moving in perfect synchronization, eyes glowing with a sickly yellow light.

"Hammond's work?" I breathed.

Nirako didn't answer, but I felt his body tense beside me. His hand moved slowly toward the blade at his hip. His body coiled with lethal readiness, tail held low and slightly curved, ready to aid his balance in a strike.

The lead lizard's head swiveled toward us, nostrils flaring. Its eyes fixed on me with terrible intelligence. My markings flared hot beneath my skin, responding to the creature's corrupted energy.

"They sense you," Nirako murmured. "Your markings."

The pack moved as one, fanning out in a semi-circle. No natural predator hunted with such coordination. Their movements reminded me of Hammond's guards—controlled, precise.

The first one lunged.

Instinct took over. Silver energy burst from my skin in a blinding wave. Energy surged through me, raw and untamed.

I couldn't control it—didn't try to. The power burst outward in a shockwave that slammed into the attacking lizards.

Three dropped instantly, bodies convulsing. The others screeched, the sound like metal grinding against metal.

Nirako moved beside me, a blur of deadly grace. His blade flashed, catching one creature mid-leap. Another sprang toward my exposed back—I felt its approach through my markings before I saw it—but Nirako was there, spinning to intercept.

His blade severed the creature's head in a single, fluid motion.

The last lizard circled, more cautious now. Its movements jerky, as if fighting against its programming. Nirako tracked it, his body coiled with lethal readiness.

When it charged, he was ready, driving his blade through its skull with precision.

Silence fell. My breath came in short gasps, adrenaline still coursing through my system. The energy discharge had left me light-headed, my markings pulsing with residual power.

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