My first instinct is to descend and pile on top of her, the usual response we use to anchor a thrashing Maj'Ra. But logic slams into me. She's human, fragile, and nowhere near as robust as a drakonid.
That kind of restraint would crush her.
Instead, I launch myself down from the branch, landing beside her with a heavy thud. The noise startles her awake. Her eyes fly open, wide with terror, reflecting the moonlight in an unsettling way.
"Kira!" I call out, my voice gruff with urgency. "Wake up, it's just a dream."
Her scream dies in her throat, replaced by a series of rapid breaths. Her eyes shut again, back to darting around like she's still stuck in a memory. She trembles, but her struggle reduces considerably.
19
Kira
"Keep them back," Hayes shouts, his voice barely audible over the chaos.
I pop up, squeezing off shots at the advancing soldiers. They fall in droves, but more keep coming. It's a desperate, chaotic fight, the air thick with smoke and the acrid smell of gunpowder.
We retreat, regrouping around the biochemicals. The enemy presses in, and I can see the determination in their eyes. They aren't going to let us leave alive.
Suddenly, the lights flicker and go out, plunging the room into darkness. I hear a low, mechanical hum, and my blood runs cold. The sound promises nothing good.
"Cyborgs? What the fuck," someone screams out.
They emerge from the shadows, hulking figures of metal and flesh, patterned off a very different type of biped. Nothinghuman, which makes them look all the more terrifying. Their giant eyes glow with an eerie, unnatural light, and their movements are fluid.
Panic surges through me as I realize we are outmatched.
"Hold your ground," Hayes shouts, but his voice wavers.
The cyborgs attack with terrifying speed, their strength overwhelming. I watch in horror as one of them grabs Johnson, lifting him off his feet. He screams, a high-pitched, desperate sound that cuts off abruptly as the cyborg crushes him like a rag doll.
"Johnson!" McCready yells, firing wildly at the cyborg.
The bullets ricochet off its metal plating, doing minor damage. The cyborg turns its oversized eyes on McCready, moving with a predator's lithe beauty. Before he can react, it's on him, tearing him apart with its bare hands.
"No!" I shout, my voice breaking.
Chaos erupts around me. Some of the squad breaks ranks, running for their lives. They don't get far. Some sort of odd energy fire cuts them down, reducing them to smoldering heaps. Others fight valiantly, only to be overwhelmed by the cyborgs' sheer strength.
"Fall back!" Hayes screams, but there is nowhere to go.
I fire at a cyborg advancing on Zeke, the bullets sparking off its armor. It barely flinches, its eyes locking on me. I try to back away, but I trip over a fallen soldier, hitting the ground hard.
"Get up!" Zeke yells, but it is too late.
The cyborg reaches me in an instant, its cold metal hand wrapping around my arm. Pain shoots through me as it squeezes, the bones cracking under the pressure. I scream, a primal, animal sound.
"Let her go!" Zeke shouts, firing at the cyborg's head.
The bullets strike true, and the cyborg's head jerks back. It releases me, and I fall to the ground, clutching my pulped-up arm. The pain is blinding, every heartbeat sending waves of agony through my body.
"Come on, we have to move!" Zeke grabs my good arm, pulling me to my feet.
The fall seems endless, the abyss swallowing me whole as I plummet through the darkness. My lungs burn with each breath, the noxious fumes of something toxic scraping at my insides. I scratch and claw with my one good arm, desperate for something to hold on to, but there's nothing. My other arm—where is my other arm? The pain where it should be is a dull throb, a constant reminder of its absence.
The darkness presses in, squeezing my chest until I feel it might collapse around me. I can't breathe, can't think. I'm drowning in this abyss, and there's no escape. My screams are silent, swallowed by the void.
***
