What has my life become? All of them are completely unfazed by death. I fear the day when death doesn’t bother me.
A groan has me turning my attention to Zeydan who is holding up Saxon.
“Saxon?” I ask, stepping forward, fearful of what I’m going to see. Zeydan’s hand glows green above a wound in Saxon’s stomach. I watch in awe as he pulls the bullet out with his magic. When it drops into his palm, he examines it closely.
“This is made of fleitine,” he muses quietly.
Tirrian turns his attention away from his cremation for a moment. “Isn’t that the metal that contains that mineral from Grichi 517E? Brannock just talked about it earlier. He said they were instructed to attack the planet because the orb was supposed to be there, but he thought it was because the council wanted to get their hands on the mineral.”
Zeydan purses his lips. “I am not really surprised. When this mineral is combined with a mixture of the correct elements, it is the one thing in the whole galaxy that can kill any species. Our family created the combination as a fail-safe just in case.”
“Is Saxon dying?” I ask, feeling numb as I move over and support my Vilaxian, who is an alarming shade of white.
Zeydan shakes his head before crushing the bullet in his hand and sniffing the dust. “No, the mixture is off. It did some damage, but removing it and giving him some blood should heal him right up.”
“The plot grows thicker,” Xavier says, standing up from where he was rifling through the pockets of the dead. “Someone gave Smith the recipe, and he created those bullets especially for his guards.” He uses a key card he took off one of them to point at the dust in Zeydan’s hand. “Thank fuck they got the proportions wrong, otherwise this could have had a whole different outcome.”
“Where’s Brannock?” I ask, looking around, and Xavier points down the tunnel.
“A couple ran back in that direction. He was going to take care of them.”
“On his own?” I ask, horrified.
“Yes. It was only two, he will be fine.” As soon as the words are out of Xavier’s mouth, I see movement coming toward us through the darkness. When they become more visible, I see it’s Brannock, and he’s towing two guards behind him by their arms.
“These ones are alive. I thought maybe you might want to make use of their necks.” He dumps them at Saxon’s feet, and I blink in surprise.
“Aww, look at that, he’s offering you a meal. Many species do that to prove they are good providers for their families. How romantic,” Xavier teases, and Brannock flips him off.
Zeydan bends down and hauls one of the humans to his feet. He’s dazed and confused but very alive. He freaks out at the sight of Zeydan in his god form, though, and starts screaming. Zeydan ignores him and heaves him into place for Saxon, who can barely hold himself up, let alone support a blood donor.
I put a hand on him to aid him, but the wall he’s leaning against does most of the work as he bites into the neck of the screaming human. The human’s screams die down quickly as Saxon drains him of all the blood in his body. I look down, and the wound closes a little bit, but not much.
“Next victim,” Ghosie says cheerfully, lifting the other human who is still unconscious.
Saxon rinses and repeats, but when Ghosie drags the dead human away, the hole in his stomach is still dribbling blood and not fully closed.
“Stupid, weak-ass human blood,” Xavier spits out and turns to our dragon. “Shift! Saxon needs more powerful blood.”
Tirrian blinks at him, and just when I think he’s going to tell Xavier to get fucked, he nods.
“Okay, that will make cleanup easier. Can you move all the bodies into a pile? My dragon can torch them in one go.”
I hold Saxon upright, and the two of us watch as the rest do as Tirrian asked. Ghosie, Brannock, Zeydan, and Xavier gather all the bodies into a large pile, casually comparing kill counts as they move. They tease Ghosie about the fact that he doesn’t like to get his fur bloody, and he grouses about blood being so hard to remove, he needs a special shampoo to do it.
I’m literally speechless. How has this become my life? Before I can scold them for their callous regard for human life, I remember that they aren’t human, so I shouldn’t hold them to the same standards I grew up with. I keep my mouth shut and turn my attention to Saxon.
“Would my blood help?” I ask him, and he nods.
“Yes, but I don’t want to weaken you before we see what we are up against. We are going to need your powers before long, and you need to be at full capacity. I will drink from you later if I need to,” he promises, and I accept his reasoning.
Tirrian shifts, and his body just about fills the tunnel. There is definitely no way he can stretch his wings out without doing damage, but instead of freaking out, he settles down and looks at us, his dark eyes glowing.
“Come on,” I tell Saxon, slinging his arm around my shoulders. “You know he’s super tasty, and don’t tell anyone, but I think his blood is almost as powerful as Xavier’s,” I say quietly, but the dragon’s eyes gleam, and I don’t think I said it quiet enough. “You will feel better in no time.”
The others step away, and I hear them discussing the bullet while I remind Saxon exactly where he can sink his fangs into Tirrian without snapping them off. I stroke my hand over Tirrian and whisper words of gratitude and encouragement to Saxonwhile he drinks. The color returns to his face, and the hole in his stomach closes up, leaving just a jagged rip in his armor.
“Why didn’t this protect him?” I ask, pointing at the armor.
