Page 18 of Only Rogue Actions
Given the minor burns I’d seen on the House Battis Hammers in the locker room, I had assumed the blasters and other weapons in the maze would be set to stun, just as they had been for the other warriors.But the scorched vines and acrid smoke still billowing into the air indicated this weapon had more than enough juice to inflict a serious injury, maybe even a mortal one, if I was unlucky enough to get hit in just the wrong spot.
Puzzlement filled me.Why change the intensity of the weapons for me and Vesper?Was this part of Lord Aldrich and Lady Verona’s truebond training program?But why would the Colliers risk us being so badly hurt?It simply didn’t make any sense.
I dusted the ash off my hand, even more wariness flickering through me—
Another sword of shock stabbed into my chest.This time, I was able to maintain my balance, although my heart started pounding with worry.
Vesper?I called out with my telepathy.Vesper!
I didn’t receive a thought in return, but the velvety ribbon of her vibrated like a viper warning of danger.
Something was wrong.
CHAPTER EIGHT
VESPER
Iremainedfrozeninplace, gaping at the Black Scarab, one question after another spinning through my mind.
How had a real Black Scarab gotten into the training facility?Much less all the way into the depths of the maze?Was this the only machine?Or were more automated troops invading the area at this very moment?
That last, terrifying thought finally penetrated my shock, and I looked past the Scarab, searching the biodome for more enemies.
In my experience, Black Scarabs almost always had a human minder or two to control the machines and tell them who, what, when, where, and how to attack.I tilted my head to the side and listened.No more clanking footsteps rang out, and I didn’t hear any shouts that would indicate human Techwave soldiers were nearby.
I frowned.If no Techwave soldiers had breached the facility, then someone from House Battis must have placed the Black Scarab in the maze.Why?Was the automated troop part of the truebond training program?Did Siya and Asterin know about the machine?And how could someone from House Battis have possibly gotten their hands on a Scarab in the first place?General Orion Ocnus, one of the Techwave leaders, didn’t just lend out his toy soldiers like a kid swapping playing cards of their favorite athletes.
More questions whirred through my mind, but how and why the Black Scarab had gotten here didn’t really matter.No, the only thing that mattered right now was the fact that my only weapon was the chunk of rock still tucked in my pocket.
Vesper?Vesper!Kyrion’s voice sounded in my mind, but his tone was weak and raspy, like it was taking every ounce of his strength and telepathy to overcome the psionic dampeners and send a thought to me.
Kyrion!There’s a Black Scarab in the maze!
I waited, but he didn’t respond.At least, not with words.The sticky cobweb of Kyrion bristled with worry, but I couldn’t tell if the emotion was for me or if he had run into a Black Scarab on his side of the maze.
My stomach clenched with dread at the idea of Kyrion facing one of the mechanized troops without any weapons, but I pushed the emotion aside.Kyrion wasn’t here, and I needed to worry about myself right now.
Clank.
The Scarab took another slow, lumbering step forward, then jerked to a halt.Gears ground together deep inside the machine, and its green eyes widened and brightened at the same time.
A fresh wave of dread crashed over me, although it quickly receded, replaced by more questions.Why let me see the Scarab at all?Why not let me walk by the topiary trap, then have the machine come up behind me and squish my skull like a grape?What—or who—was the Scarab waiting for?
Click-click.
I tensed, but the Scarab didn’t move, and the noises sounded like they had come from ...above.I glanced up.The camera that had been trailing me through the maze had dropped down through the energy shield that covered the garden biodome and was now only about thirty feet above my head.The camera was also right above the Black Scarab, as though whoever was controlling the camera was also using it to control the mechanized troop.
I stared up into the lens, which widened, just like the Scarab’s eyes had.Okay, that was creepy.But the strangest thing was thefeelingemanating from the camera—a giddy mix of glee and anticipation, like the real fun was about to begin.
I shivered.Kyrion’s telempathy was the most unpredictable of his powers, and it usually only let me sense strong emotions from other people.The fact that it had surged now, despite the psionic dampeners blocking our connection, indicated just how excited my watcher was to see me battle the Black Scarab.This might have started as a training exercise, but something else was going on now, something that was much more dangerous than eerie clouds of fog, subtle trip wires, jets of fire, and mechanical vines.
The lens widened a little more.Maybe it was a quirk of my seer magic, but for a moment, I saw my own reflection in the glass, along with Kyrion’s worried face.
Clank-clank.
The Black Scarab stepped forward, then stretched out with its left hand, like it was merely trying to grab my arm instead of ripping the limb off the rest of my body.I spun to the side, moving past the machine’s outstretched hand and keeping clear of its thick, strong fingers.
The Scarab whirled around, as did the overhead camera.The machine jerked forward and made another slow, lumbering swipe, like it was still intent on merely capturing instead of killing me.Weird.I dodged this new attack, then backed away from the Scarab, my mind dreaming up and discarding one desperate plan after another.
