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We stood near the bank of glass elevators, my heart beating on overtime. Winston opted for what was known as a wireless refuel, in case we needed to leave in a hurry. Deric eyed me, his concern palpable. He obviously desired to inform the king of what he’d learned, but hadn’t wanted to abandon us. I wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, and a knife was tucked into my boot. Amber’s magnificent silver sword was secured in a scabbard hanging from her hip, and Angelo had the same equipment, though his sword was cobalt blue. Deric opted for throwing knives that he had stashed in various hiding spots on his body. Mira and Winston weren’t well versed in combat, so they had stun guns hidden in ankle holsters. That had been Amber’s idea, since she hadn’t wanted them accidentally shooting a member of our group.
I needed to use my instincts to find Rose, although I highly doubted that I was capable of honing my intuition to find specific things. But since Mira ran into difficulties hacking into the spaceport’s security system, my friends were counting on me.
“Let’s check by a bathroom,” I suggested.
“A bathroom?” Amber asked in an anxious tone. Her rescuing the humans stuck in the unusual creatures’ display hinged on us finding Rose.
“Sounds like a good idea,” Deric said before grabbing my hand. I knew the drill; he had to show the scary giants that I belonged to him. Four laughing giants strolled out of one of the large glass elevators, their laughter only increasing when they spotted us.
“Look at the Najorian scum,” the giant with his head shaved on one side commented. He spoke Janton, so I was the only one who understood him. I kept my expression neutral as my eyes gravitated to an elevator in the center of the pack. I stepped forward, my group following behind me. Winston quickly waved his hand in front of the sensor that was there in place of a call button. The door flew open and the six of us piled in. As soon as the door closed, I gestured to the number 9. Winston waved a finger over the number and the elevator went downward. For extra good luck, I focused on Rose, and the urgency to find her. Warmth brushed my chest, and I felt a knowing of where she was going to be. My fingers and toes tingled when the lift opened. The smell of sewage smacked me in the nose. I had to fight the urge to gag.
We filed out into the hallway, which was wide and had off-white walls that had some blood spatter. Crap. Had Rose already been offed? If I was too late, Amber would never forgive anyone in this group. Rose was the last connection that she had to her father. No, Rose wasn’t dead. She was a knight, which meant that she knew how to play her hand. I allowed the instincts that had always annoyed me to decide my next step. Deric and I turned right and hustled down the mostly empty hallway. It was too quiet. My ears were straining, distrustful of the silence. Watching the Janton taught me that they were warriors who oftentimes had skirmishes that seemed to end in broken bones or, on some occasions, death. This deserted floor either was long forgotten or held an... Ambush!
“Attack,” I screeched as the wall to my right vanished and a Janton ran at Deric. My soulmate quickly knocked me to the side and teleported behind the man and wrapped himself around the man’s back. I pulled out my blade and aimed low, slicing the giant’s ankle. I heard the whistle of steel, and realized that the wall to the left disappeared. Five giants charged our group, Angelo meeting them head-on. He used his cobalt sword to slice at the enemies, sometimes managing to sever a limb or appendage from someone. Amber fought the second Janton that had joined the fight. There must have been a hallway on the other side of the wall. I couldn’t say why. I heard a scream, and spotted Mira in the arms of one of the hostile aliens. She wiggled, but obviously couldn’t teleport away from him. For one split second, I relished the death of the female that had dared try to take what wasn’t hers. But then I shook my head, realizing that Mira had gone on this particular mission for the greater good. She didn’t deserve what was happening to her.
I tapped into the warmth that I felt and tossed my arm out. A sharp pain filled my head, and for a second, my vision tunneled. But then I glanced at the giant, or what was left of him. Mira was standing in a pile of ashes. Amber leaped in the air, beheading the giant that was going to charge me, probably wanting to avenge the friend that I turned to ashes. I glanced around and saw that Deric was bruised, and he had a black eye, but he was whole. Winston stunned the last Janton standing, then Angelo beheaded him. I glanced down at my hands that were no longer glowing with utter befuddlement. Amber ran over to me, her clothing splattered with her enemy’s blood. She eyed me warily.
“That was your first kill. How do you feel?” Amber cautiously asked.
“Cold,” I said with honesty. What had occurred wasn’t natural. I kept replaying the moment in my head. What happened? Deric, whose clothes were just as blood stained, eyed me with gratitude. It was obvious that although he’d found his soulmate, he didn’t want Mira dead. I nodded.
“What now?” Winston said as he glanced down at the blood spatter on his shirt with distaste.
“We go that way,” Mira said. “I can hear Rose’s thoughts. That other group was supposed to stop her if she escaped,” she explained as she inspected her stun gun. I gripped my knife tightly, hoping that I wouldn’t have to use the strange power again.
Angelo and Mira took the lead, Deric and I walking behind them. Amber and Winston took the rear, which gave me comfort. Amber wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
“They are there,” Mira said, pointing to the wall in front of us. Amber pushed forward and lifted a hand. Moments later, she blew a section of the wall apart, creating a doorway big enough for us to walk through two at a time. She ran in, Angelo and Mira following close behind her. Winston, Deric, and I were the last of our group to enter the room.
We were in a wide room that had only a bar two times the height of what I was used to seeing. A woman who was curled up on the table was dressed in a ratty T-shirt and threadbare jeans. There was a pile of ashes by the bar, which gave me an idea of what happened. There were five Janton leaning against the wall. Rose was lying on the ground in front of them, her wrists and ankles tied. I eyed Amber, who stared at the janton males with animosity. I stepped forward, Deric staying close to my side. I sized up the tallest alien, the one with the long blond hair, and spoke.
“Isn’t it dishonorable to tie up your enemy?” I questioned.
The blond rolled his eyes.
“There is no honor in being a fool,” he sneered.
“Why is she tied up?” I persisted, my eyes on his chest. Could I conjure that strange light again?
“Don’t,” Deric mentally told me. “Keep stalling. Their minds are tough to sift through. Since I don’t speak Janton, I have to decipher the images that I’m seeing. Rose heard the woman on the table screaming, so she killed the man that was trying to experiment on her. The man that she killed is important to them. I don’t know how, though.”
“You speak our tongue well, Nerethian,” the blond giant taunted, which made me scowl.
“So you have no honor then?” I asked, waiting to see if more Jantons came out of the woodwork. The blond must have figured out my intent, because he leapt forward, his fist aimed at Deric. Deric ducked then swiveled to the side, while I rolled and came up on my feet, and delivered a jab to the side of another giant. He screeched and attempted to lunge for me, but I was already running past him, my intent on clearing the action. I made it to an area where I had a perfect view of the skirmish. Deric was battling with his blades and his fists. Mira shot an alien with a stun gun, and he toppled to the ground. Angelo made short work of the last two giants, beheading them with his blade before they could see what happened.