SIXTEEN
Kim
“What is it?”I ask. “What’s happening?”
Aurus’s face has contorted into a grim mask. A shadow has fallen over us. The sky has turned dark with huge black spaceships blotting out the suns. There are so many.
“The Chitin are here.” His voice is grim.
The wind has picked up, cold air cutting through the heat. The air turns bitter with a sulfuric scent. My skin prickles.
“We must go,” Aurus says, tugging me up against him and putting a protective arm around me. I grab onto him as he throttles forward, pushing the skimmer to its limit. We zoom down the golden road to the palace. Instead of heading to the huge front doors, we zip up to a tall tower and land on the flat surface. Winds blast over us, tearing at my gown.
“There is no time,” Aurus mutters. His face wears a hard expression. He lifts me up and leaps off the skimmer, his movements fluid but spare. “Kim.” He sets me down and steadies me with his hands on my shoulders. “You must go down…” He nods to a small opening leading to what I assume is a staircase. “You must hide yourself.”
“Okay.” I swallow. “But what are you going to do?”
“I must go into battle. The enemy is here.”
Overhead, rows of ships blanket every available inch of sky. They’re just hovering there… what are they doing? “But—”
Go!” He gives me a push, and I scuttle to the stairs. A few steps down, I stop and peek out to see what Aurus is doing.
There’s a guardhouse on top of this tower. Aurus runs up to the wall and punches the side. Some sort of invisible button triggers the wall to make it open, revealing a huge, golden suit of armor. It looks like his regular armor, but bigger.
He presses the breastplate and the armor sections open wide enough for him to slide inside. In seconds, his seven foot tall form has been transformed into a ten foot tall armored superhero version of an Alpha. There’s a mechanical hum from his suit as he strides to the edge of the tower. He pauses, and turns back to me.
“Go down, Kim,” he commands. “Follow the stairs to the lowest levels. The Betas will guide you to the bunker.” And he leaps off the edge into the air.
I gasp. I’m about to run over and see if he fell, where he fell, when he zooms back into sight. The air under his booted feet ripples from some sort of hovercraft tech.
“Kim!” he barks. “I need you to obey me. I need you to be safe.”
“What about you?” I call against the wind whipping over my head.
“I will fight. I am an Alpha. It is what I do.” He’s gaining elevation now, floating overhead. He turns, and zooms away.
Straight for the line of alien craft.
“Oh my god.” I race over to the edge. Aurus’s golden shape glimmers in the shadow of the enemy. Is he going to fight those big ships all by himself?
I know he has a huge ego, but come on. He’s going to take on fifty ships a million times bigger than him?
Aurus stretches out his arms, still hovering in the air. He’s the perfect target. I hold my breath, waiting for the ships to fire on him and incinerate him to dust.
My heart clenches. I don’t want that to happen.
Bong!A familiar sound makes me jump.
Down in the arena, someone's banging the gong. Dang, that thing does carry. Shouts echo up the stairwell. Hopefully, everyone’s going to hide. There are a ton of people in this palace. Alpha soldiers, Beta magicians, all the servants. I hope they’ll stay safe.
Maybe I should go help them. Go with them. But I can’t. I can’t do what Aurus asked, what he ordered me to, not while he’s up there, facing the enemy all alone.
He’s still just hanging in the air, a bright dot against the enemy's hulls.
My jaw aches from gritting my teeth.
This is insane.
