That suited me fine since I planned on killing all four of them the moment I was free of these mag cuffs.Beside me, Adak let out a huff as another dip sent him crashing into me.The lights flickered and the pilot let out a stream of curses as the scout started to plummet.
“We’re going down!”the captain screamed, grabbing the pilot’s chair.The light on my mag cuffs went out and I yanked my hands off the wall and lunged for the ax they’d taken from me when I was captured.
The sytos were so busy screaming, they didn’t even realize I was free until I dispatched the first two.Adak tackled a scrawny lieutenant and I set my sights on the struggling pilot.Lurching forward, I swung my ax just as the ship leveled out.
The pilot executed an impressive landing, considering my ax was sticking out of his skull as we touched down.I braced myself against the wall as the ship ground to a halt, halfway inside a building.I'd feel bad about attacking from behind if this same pilot hadn't shot a charge blast at my head just an hour ago.
I was lucky my horns were still attached.As it was, my ears hadn't stopped ringing and I could feel a massive bruise developing over my jaw.
If his weapon had been fully charged, that blast would have popped my skull like an egg.Not the most glamorous end for one-half of the best gladiator team in the Pit.Not that I cared to claim that title now that we were free.Neither Adak nor I would ever fight in the Pit again.
As soon as we stopped moving, I yanked my ax free of the dead pilot and punched the button to lower the ramp of the ship.
"You couldn't have waited until we landed?"Adak asked, pulling himself out of the cargo netting where he'd landed when we'd crashed.
"I was done being patient."
He snorted and walked down the ramp beside me, careful to keep his bad eye on my side.For a half-blind turoch, Adak was still an impressive fighter, but we'd learned long ago that I had to be his eyes on his left side.
"I still can't believe you let them ambush us.You've got both your eyes, how'd you miss them?"
I groaned, and balanced my ax over the back of my neck, letting my arms rest over the handle.
"I was distracted.It's not every day I survive a cruiser crashing onto a strange planet."I'd been more than distracted, I'd been standing out in the open like an idiot staring at the blue sky with a stupid grin on my face.I deserved the shot to the head, what kind of idiot stands out in the open in the middle of a slave uprising?
Taking stock of our surroundings, I pulled in a lungful of air and my ears pricking when I picked up a familiar sour scent.
“There’s a percer nearby,” I warned him.“I smell blood, it might be injured.”
We crept the rest of the way down the ramp, scanning the rubble for any sign of the creature.Something crashed to our right and I spun around just in time to dodge the huge percer as it hurled itself at me.
One of its back arms lashed out and I swung my ax, blocking the blow moments before the massive talon struck my face.The percer let out a shriek, shrill enough to make my ears ring and I threw myself forward, pushing the beast onto the defensive as I aimed my ax at its forelimbs.
My heart pounded in my chest and I felt the haze of a blood rage threatening as I dodged strikes and beat the percer back, noting the way it favored its right back leg.I didn’t know where Adak had gone, but this sow was injured enough I didn’t need his help.
One of my hooves slipped on a piece of loose metal and I lost my balance, throwing myself back at the last second as the percer lunged for me.Her yellowed fangs snapped shut inches from my thigh and I hauled a leg back and kicked her in one bulging white eye.
Behind me I heard Adak shouting, but my blood was up and I couldn’t process his words as all my focus narrowed in on the beast trying to kill me.
She squealed, shaking her head as she skittered back and I swung my ax with a roar of triumph as the blade bit into her neck and she went into a death roll.Lurching to my feet, I finished the kill with a swift blow to her skull, and watched in satisfaction as the percer’s body finally went limp.
Panting, I swung around to find Adak standing on a pile of rubble, staring down at a cowering human female.
“Adak?”
His ear swung my way but he didn’t look up when he repeated the word I’d heard him shouting in the background.
“Ulto.”His voice caressed the ancient claim in a tone I’d never heard from him.
The female stared up at Adak, her eyes so wide they almost overpowered her face.His claim was still echoing over the empty town when he picked her up, tucked her into his chest and strode back to me.
I gaped at him.Everything had happened so fast, I could feel my bruised brain struggling to keep up.I'd turned my back for one second to finish off the percer and Adak had pulled a human female from thin air.A female who was still staring up at him, expressionless, her hands resting limply in her lap.
If her complete lack of reaction was because of his face, I'd be disappointed.My friend deserved better than a mate that couldn't look past his bad eye and scarred features.He was the noblest turoch I'd ever met.Then again, he'd found and claimed a female in the time it'd taken me to kill a percer, so he may also be the luckiest male I'd ever met.
"Where'd she come from?"I demanded.
He didn't look up from the female in his arms."She was in the rubble."He nodded at the half-collapsed building beside the ship.
