His Mate to Keep by Ivy Sparks

20

Xavier

I peeredthrough the trees at the enemy drawing closer. The clack of sentinel claws grew louder as the first wave of them emerged from the undergrowth farther down the mountain.

“You remember what I said,” I whispered to Garath, who was crouched beside me. “Get in close and attack the arms holding their weapons. Get inside their laser range. Disarm them, then turn their weapons against them.”

Garath nodded and turned to relay this information to Tennar behind him, who passed it along to the rest of the warriors. Other beasts appeared alongside the sentinels, but I didn’t recognize their species right away.

They showed the bumpy, stony skin of Zort, but their giant bodies looked something like Horned Strykers, a feline beast feared throughout the galaxy. They even had four eyes positioned across the expanse of their foreheads like Braxilons.

They were grotesque hybrids, unlike any I’d ever seen.

“What’s wrong?” Garath whispered when my eyes narrowed.

“It looks like the sentinels are only half of our problem. Those hybrids may prove to be a challenge.”

“Hybrids?”

I nodded. “It must be what the experimenters were working on. Why they had captured warriors of different species. They were creating these monstrosities.”

We observed for a moment longer and watched as the hybrids all simultaneously pivoted sideways and headed in a new direction.

“They act like they have a singular mind,” Garath noted.

“They must be under the experimenters’ control,” I replied. “But I see no Kavian traits among them. The experimenters must’ve failed to splice our DNA into the beasts.”

Garath smirked. “Then that puts us at an advantage, doesn’t it? Nobody fights like a Kavian does.”

I nodded. He had a point.

At that moment, a blast of lasers sizzled through the jungle. A burst smashed into the rock Garath and I were hiding behind. Fragments sprayed in his face and he launched to his feet. “Attack!” he bellowed down the Kavian line. “Leave none of our enemies alive!”

The Kavians surged over the ridge and pounded down the mountain to intercept the advancing enemy. They laid into the sentinels and immediately worked at snapping off the robotic arms. The Kavians turned the lasers on the robots and cut them to pieces, but these hybrids were a different story.

They had all the brute strength of Zorts and Horned Strykers, but it became clear all too quickly that they weren’t lacking in brains, either. They moved in sync, swarming individual Kavians from all sides.

I rushed from one sentinel to another, disabling as many as I could reach, but when I saw what the hybrids were doing, I hesitated. There had to be a way to disable them, but before I could decide what to do, a flash of bronze caught my attention from the side.

I looked in that direction and spotted Merrit skimming around the other side. She cast one glance toward the battle to make sure she was well out of range, then put on speed to dart the other way. Where was she going? She shouldn’t even be out here. It was too dangerous.

One hybrid noticed her at the same time I did. He veered out of line and flattened one Kavian in his path before barreling forward to intercept Merrit. I couldn’t let him get anywhere near her.

I rocketed forward and all my fighting experience from the lab came back in a flash. This enemy outsized me by at least three times, but I didn’t care. I sprang across the forest and pounced on him from behind.

I hefted the blade that Garath had loaned me. It wasn’t as nimble as the Sik blade I used in the war room, but it would have to do.

I landed square on the thing’s back. Quick as lightning, I yanked the blade across the monster’s neck. It must be more Zort than it looked, because its stone skin dissolved instantly. It crumpled and a bunch of rubble scattered on the ground.

It let out a dying groan, and the noise alerted Merrit. She spun around, ready to shoot the blaster she brought from the runner. Her eyes widened upon seeing me. “Xavier! What are you doing?”

I stepped off the hybrid. “I should be asking you the same question. You shouldn’t be out here, Merrit. That thing could have killed you.”

“I’m going to the defense turret. It’s the best way to target the ships and the sentinels.” She took a glance behind me and wrinkled her nose. “What the hell are those things?”

“Never mind. Where is this turret?”

She pointed up the mountain. “Up there. I’m not sure where, but once I clear the trees, I’m sure I’ll see it.”

Now it was my turn to make a face. “You aren’t going up there alone. You need backup. I’m coming with you.”

Her face lit up, but she didn’t stand around to express her undying gratitude. She raced away, and I ran after her.

We barreled uphill and left the battle behind. I didn’t like leaving the other Kavians in danger, but if Merrit was right and we could get this defense turret working, it would be the best thing for them.

As soon as we left the shelter of the jungle, she acted as though no battle was going on at all. She squinted up the mountain with her features set in a mask of stony determination. When she spotted whatever she was looking for, she sprinted up the slope without a backward glance.

Fortunately, the turret came into sight almost immediately. It perched on the very top of the mountain. It looked tiny from here, but that didn’t stop Merrit. She hefted her backpack into position and put on speed.

Once we reached the summit, we found the turret perched atop a sharp cliff. Merrit didn’t hesitate to start trying to scale the rock. I glanced back down the mountain, seeing that we were being stalked by more of those hybrid bastards.

I sprang for her and hoisted her up to the ledge. “Get up there, Merrit! Get the gun working. Don’t stop for anything!”

“What are you going to do?”

I didn’t answer. “Get to work, Merrit! That’s an order.”

“Here!” she yelled, and she tossed me her blaster. With that, she hurried to the turret.

I turned to face the enemy. I aimed Merrit’s blaster and planted myself at the foot of the wall. No one was getting through me. None of these beasts were getting anywhere near her as long as I had breath in my body.

I managed a few well-aimed headshots that instantly brought down two of the three pursuing hybrids. The remaining one moved more carefully, taking advantage of cover as it closed the distance. I readied myself, prepared to take this thing on even if it’d be the death of me.

Then a deafening concussion shook the ground. It rocked me off my feet and I staggered as an almighty laser belched from the turret. It fired directly over the treetops and punched into a ship in the distance.

The craft exploded with an ear-splitting boom. The shockwave made the canopy ripple for miles around, but Merrit was already firing again. When I looked up at the wall, I spotted her strapped into a seat that rotated with her movements.

She swung the massive gun from right to left, sighting through the machine’s targeting system. One catastrophic laser after another ripped from the barrel. She blasted five ships before more hybrids and sentinels broke cover on a dead course for our position.

When another shot hit the largest ship in the sky, the soldiers paused and glanced back, seeing their one avenue of escape disappearing by the second. Would the cowards retreat, trying to return to the few remaining ships out of here?

Merrit pelted another two ships, and the soldiers turned and ran. They bolted for the jungle, only to be met by another flank of Kavians charging from behind. Garath and his sister Nissaya led the assault, mowing down the last of the enemy with lasers stolen from the sentinels.

The turret boomed one more time and the last two ships exploded in brilliant balls of flame. Their wrecked fuselages plummeted into the jungle and vanished.

If any sentinels remained on those ships, they were no doubt melting in the ensuing fires. And with them, their hybrid monstrosities.