Page 59 of Keeping His Mate

“What is that?” Bzzsil Chi shouts in alarm as flames light up the night sky beyond the trees, and the crunch of metal components caving in on themselves fills the air. “My ship!”

Ah, there it is. Good work, Nee-roh.

Bzzsil Chi pulls Elle-noor in front of him by her hair. She winces in pain as he yanks her forward, using her body like a shield.

I will not sit here and watch as my mate is abused right before my eyes. Putting my foam sound blockers into my ear canals, I straighten and leap off the balcony. Once I land, I let out a whistle. Just one.

Simultaneously, Varrek, Grotahk, Drasko, Eduno, Nemyx, and I emerge from the tree line, surrounding Bzzsil Chi and his guards with our newly upgraded and fully charged laser pistols pointed at them.

“Surrender now, release the female, and we may let you live,” I tell him flatly. I cannot hear his reply with the sound blockers in my ears, but his words do not matter anyway. He waves his pistol around angrily and continues to point it at Elle-noor. He is not surrendering. I knew he would not. “Very well.”

The expressions on their pitiful faces quickly go from confident to tormented. They rush to cover their ears while Elle-noor does not react to the sound at all. The enchantment that Jobaki has released does not affect human ears, but the simulated high-pitched shriek of a bebbahtilo hawk during mating season certainly affects the rest of us. It is deafening and deeply unpleasant.

Instead, Elle-noor looks around, slightly confused at the reactions of the surrounding males, then sags against Bzzsil Chi, her energy completely drained. We must act fast, I told the crew as we planned our strategy, but do not shoot unless you are certain Elle-noor will not be harmed. If you are not certain, refrain. We have a much better chance of separating them, one by one, and killing them once they are away from Elle-noor, than trying to pick them off as they huddle close to her.

Until then, we manipulate, we confuse, we distract, and repeat that cycle until they become lazy or frightened and break off from the group.

This sound simulation does not seem to be enough of a distraction, though. Letting out another whistle, and another, I wait for Jobaki to catch my signal. When the guard wielding the sharp metal blade of a gohrun falls to his knees, dropping his weapon, I know she has heard me. I cannot hear it, but I know the order in which she was planning to torture these males, and if she is following her original plan, then they are witnessing the most traumatic moment of their lives play out in front of them, the volume of that event blaring in their ears.

Gohrun Hand rocks back and forth for a moment with his eyes pinched shut, and I raise my fist next to my head, letting the other warriors know to move in a few steps. We shall get closer and closer until we can pluck Elle-noor from their grasp and slash their throats wide open before they realize what is happening.

Bzzsil Chi’s eyes dart around the sky, nervously, and the guard with the misshapen mouth flesh shakes his head back and forth in denial.

We move in another step.

Gohrun Hand leaps to his feet and charges Eduno, letting out a sharp bellow as he goes. He raises his weapon as he gets closer, and Eduno just stares back at him, blinking several times. As Gohrun Hand goes to release his blade, Eduno lifts his laser pistol and pulls the trigger. The gohrun falls from the guard’s hand as he tries to cover the seared wound in his chest. Eduno shoots him again, this time in the stomach, and he topples over, landing on his back. Eduno approaches, his expression cold, and shoots him a final time in the head, burning through his eye and brain with the laser before shrugging and returning to his original spot.

The rest form a circle around Bzzsil and Elle-noor, firing their guns at us, forcing us to retreat behind the trees.

That is fine. We can handle this minor setback.

Drasko is hit in the leg before he can leap into the safety of the forest, and he bellows in pain as he lies on his side, clutching his leg. Eduno races behind the trees and pulls him to safety.

Varrek yells something to Grotahk as they creep backward toward the trees, taking turns firing shots at the five guards bearing down on them.

A bullet whirs past my ear and nicks the tree I am next to, and I return fire immediately, singeing the eye sockets of the guard edging toward me. Another one down.

I peek around the tree again to find three more with their guns trained on my location. I am stuck here.

“G’rugivic, now!” Bzzsil Chi shouts. It is the only warning we are given before Bzzsil dives to the ground, taking Elle-noor with him. Mouth Flesh reaches up to his chest and tugs on two red cords that sit on either side of his uniform. This releases a secret compartment within his armor where multiple automatic blaster grenades are hidden. He pulls two out and throws them toward Varrek and Grotahk. I see my brothers dive into the trees before the grenades hit, but I do not know if they safely escaped, as the ground explodes in a flurry of moss and dirt and flames.

I watch in horror as Varrek rises from behind a bush to fire off a shot from his pistol and is hit in the shoulder, falling to the ground with a groan.

An arrow soars down from above and lands into the side of a guard’s neck with a wetthwack.

Then Nemyx is hit in the side, and he goes down, his hand covering a steady stream of blood exiting the wound beneath his ribs. I duck as a bullet whizzes over my head and scramble back to take cover behind a bush.

No. This is not how it is supposed to happen–

A flash of blue skin catches my eye, breaking through my thoughts. Nee-roh? But he cannot shift into his draxilio inside the village. It will not work. There will not be enough room.

It is only when I see the long, black mane flowing behind this creature that recognition hits. It is Alu, Nee-roh’s sister. He must have called her to assist us. But how will she do that?

My gaze follows as she races along the tree line, and when she breaks through, she stands at the entrance of the training grounds not far from where Nemyx still lies. Mouth Flesh notices her and approaches with purposeful steps, a blaster grenade in hand. He tosses one in her direction, and she flips in midair to avoid it. It explodes behind her, lifting the ends of her mane, but not shaking her stride at all. This only infuriates Mouth Flesh even more, and he runs toward her at full speed. When he gets close, he pulls another grenade from his armor, and pulls his arm back, ready to release.

But it is too late to turn back because Alu has shifted into her draxilio, massive and terrifying, and occupying a large portion of the training grounds––the only open space in the village wide enough to fit this version of her. Her cerulean scales glimmer as she lumbers forward, opening her jaws to reveal hundreds of sharp white teeth. It is not a bite that Mouth Flesh must worry about, however. Alu sucks in a deep breath and rears back before unleashing her flames upon his body. They envelop him in an instant, destroying his uniform and melting the skin from his bones.

Alu shifts back and stands behind her fire, admiring her work as Mouth Flesh’s eyes disappear, and his skull is slowly revealed.

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