Page 89 of Xefe
“She speaks truth. I saw the markings on the First!” The three of them, as one, looked down at the golden tattoos on their right arms.
“Markings like this?” One asked.
“Yes!”
“Get away from my woman,” Sunny’s voice boomed behind me. I spun around and saw Sunny, who had the supreme in a chokehold. Had he beaten the triad, or had they abandoned their leader? Had the promise of analmaxaffected them that much?
“Your woman?”
“You claim her?”
“We can mate with the earthers?”
They all spoke, one after the other, as if they were one person.
“She speaks true.” Sunny hauled the leader in front of him. “Hold!” Sunny bellowed to the warriors fighting and advancing on us in the field. “Everything myalmaxsaid is true. You now have a choice. Fight with me, to protect the earthers and reclaim our home, or go with the supreme. I give him to you for safe passage. But we will take Tontoh, the Aavvee scientist. My earther must avenge her sister. The rest may go. Decide!”
I searched the platform for Nieve, Querida, and Nheenya, to see if they’d grabbed Valentina. They stood over her and protected her with their bodies. Thank you,Dios.
“We no longer serve this leader. We serve no one. We are free!” The triad abandoned the supreme, and Sunny tossed him on the floor.
The warriors were divided, some standing beside Sunny, others across from him.
The supreme righted himself and stepped back quickly. “How-howdare you? You-youare nothing. I give you the chance to compete on my stage, and this is how you repay me-me? And you-you!” he spoke to Sunny. “You-youabandoned me. Take-takethe word of this earther over me. Bend-bendbefore me.”
Shoomp, shoomp, shoomp.Aavvee guards, armed with staffs, hundreds of them, streamed through the portals.
“Uh, Sunny, we better get out of here,” I said as I looked over at Freckles. Unfortunately, he was still moving. But I couldn’t get to him because he’d crawled behind a wall of warriors.
“I will never bend to you. I renounce you!” Sunny shouted at the stands. “Nozaroc First.”
Loxo, Nime, and a handful of other warriors backed us up. “Nozaroc first!”
The crowd exploded in sound. Hisses and boos. We might have the entire planet against us. Now that I could think beyond panic for Valentina, I saw how bad our odds were. Guards blocked the portals, and the Aavvee in the stands started to descend onto the field, ready to spill blood.
The Aavvee soldiers closed in.
“Get the earthers!!” Sunny screamed and held his staff in the air, his fingers dancing along the side of it. “We will make it. I will never lose you!” A screeching boom rocked the stadium. The domed force field, over our heads, was opening.
Sunny deactivated the shield.The one that kept the scary Guardians at bay.
As the force field opened, Aavvee screamed in unison, so loud I covered my ears from the sound of shattering glass. It was maddening.
In a panic, I ran toward Valentina. I needed her in my arms, needed to protect her from the mayhem. Sunny scooped me up and fought the wind. In a few more minutes, the Guardians would break in. “My sister!” I pointed toward the stage.
Loxo outpaced us and grabbed Querida.
Nime did the same and grabbed Nheenya. A whirl of teal and gold whizzed by at startling speeds and headed straight for Nieve and my sister. The triad.
“No!” I tapped my vid-phone, and Nieve picked up. “Grab my sister. Get out of there!”
Nieve looked up and saw the supreme’s personal guard headed her way. She lifted her hand and spoke into her vid-phone. “I’ll protect her,nena. With my life.” In two seconds, the three warriors hoisted them in their arms and vanished through the nearest portal.
“No,” I whispered this time. It felt like a physical blow. “Sunny, go after them,” I sobbed.
A spiral of wind, the size of a refrigerator, snuck through the opening above us. It created havoc, tossing aside the Aavvee guards who crossed its path. Once it landed, I could have sworn I heard laughter and saw a flash of dark hair.
“What the hell?” My hand vibrated, and I tapped my palm.
