Page 26 of Only Rogue Actions
I whirled toward Roderick and reached out with my own telekinesis.If I could get my hands on the hammer, then I could crack through the other warrior’s armor and break every rib in his chest.
Sparks of red and blue fire crackled, hissed, and shot off the lunarium weapon, and the hammer zigzagged wildly back and forth through the air as Roderick and I played tug-of-war with our telekinesis.I snarled and lashed out with even more power.The lunarium turned more blue than red, and the hammer lurched in my direction.
Roderick growled and made a scooping motion with his left hand.A chunk of stone from the smashed statue lifted off the ground and hurtled toward my face.I jerked to the side.The stone sailed through the air where my head had been, but the motion broke my concentration, and the hammer streaked through the air and settled into Roderick’s hand.
“You’re already so desperate.”The other warrior clucked his tongue in mock sympathy.“I expected more from the infamous Kyrion Caldaren.”
Roderick twirled the hammer around in his hand, then dug his boots into the ground and launched himself at me.
Suddenly, Vesper’s seer power surged, even though I wasn’t trying to use her ability.Time slowed down, as though I was watching battle footage one frame at a time on a holoscreen, and one thing after another caught my eye.The glossy gleam of Roderick’s armor.His knuckles bulging as he clutched the golden hilt of his war hammer.The lunarium weapon glowing a vivid, angry red in a reflection of his psion power ...
Time snapped back to its normal flow, and Vesper’s power sluiced off me like water.At the last moment, right before Roderick would have smashed his hammer into my chest, I snapped up my hands, grabbed hold of the statue rubble, and flung it at him.
The heavy stones punched into Roderick’s chest, knocking him off course.The other warrior hit a wall and bounced off.He landed hard on his knees, although his Scarab armor absorbed the bruising impact.
Roderick’s head snapped up, and he quickly climbed to his feet.His dark brown eyes gleamed almost as brightly as his lunarium hammer, and another wide grin split his face like he was wearing a grotesque mask that showed every single one of his perfect white teeth.
He wasenjoyingthis.Everything I did to fight back and keep myself alive fed into his sick fantasy that he was an alpha warrior and the ultimate hunter.Sadistic bastard.
My inner monster roared with rage.I snarled, lifted my hand, and grabbed more of the statue rubble with my telekinesis.I threw chunk after chunk of stone at Roderick, but he used his hammer to bat the debris away.
I reached for even more of my telekinesis, throwing the stones faster and faster.Roderick snarled and upped his own tempo in response, but his hammer was still a large, heavy weapon and much harder—and slower—to wield than the rubble.
A chunk of stone flew past Roderick’s defenses and clipped his left shoulder.Another chunk battered his right thigh, then two more chunks slammed into the center of his chest and knocked him back.Once again, Roderick’s armor absorbed the brunt of the blows, but he had to lower his hammer to maintain his balance.
I snarled again and stalked forward, pressing my advantage.All I had to do was bean the other warrior in the head and daze him.Then I could rip the war hammer out of his hand and beat him to death with his own weapon.
Roderick regained his balance and glowered at me, as though I’d upset his script for how this was supposed to play out.He lifted his left forearm to his lips.“Activate the blasters in section forty-seven!”he yelled at the holoscreen embedded in the armor.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a glint of metal jutting out of a wall.I whirled in that direction.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
Blaster fire zinged out from the hidden nozzle.I spun to my right, avoiding the sizzling orange bolts, which slammed into a cluster of blue-moon peonies and blew them to pieces.
More bolts zinged through the air.I tried to spin out of the way again, but my boots slipped on some broken stones, and I staggered directly into the line of fire.I gritted my teeth and snapped my hands up, using my telekinesis to deflect the dangerous streaks of electricity.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
One of the bolts slipped past my defenses and slammed into my right forearm.Hot, electric agony exploded in my arm, sizzling down into my fingers and up into my shoulder.The acrid stench of my own burning skin flooded my nose, my heart pounded, and my stomach roiled with nausea.
I immediately threw up a psionic shield, walling off the hot, pulsing agony in a small, distant corner of my mind, but a different kind of pain rose to take its place.The velvety ribbon of Vesper in my mind stiffened in shock, as though she too had felt the sharp sting and intense burn.I grimaced.As much as I enjoyed being connected to Vesper, I hated that our truebond exposed her to so much of my physical pain.
But Vesper’s shock made me even more determined to kill Roderick.This sadistic bastard was not laying a single finger on her.My inner monster snarled with rage, and an answering growl rumbled out of my throat.
To my surprise, Roderick threw his head back and laughed.“What a fun game,” he crooned.“Let’s see just how much damage you can take, Kyrion.”
I clenched my hands into fists and lunged at the mocking lord, but he darted away from me.
“Activate secondary wave!”he commanded, although I couldn’t tell if he was talking to the holoscreen on his forearm, or Jeffrey, or both.
Another glint of metal appeared on a different wall, and a second nozzle jutted out of the greenery.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
More blaster bolts zinged through the air.I ducked behind a bubbling fountain and let it take the brunt of the blasts.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
