Chapter Twenty-Six
A sickening feeling overcame Kaspyn. She glanced at Rykaur to find him watching her with a certain sadness in his eyes.
“No,” she whispered, understanding that Rykaur felt the same sense of doom that she did. “He cannot die. I will not allow it.”
Without caring about the consequences of what she was about to do, Kaspyn took off at a run, dodging low lying limbs as she went.
“Kaspyn!” Tony hissed, taking off after her.
The rest of the group followed suit.
Kaspyn noticed Gryke dart off to her left while Tony and Zyen flanked her sides.
She could see Rykaur slipping through the trees with Brant following closely behind, and Oz ended up in front of her before disappearing from view altogether.
Shouts abruptly rent the air followed by a round of deafening gunfire.
“Get down,” Tony snarled, grabbing Kaspyn by the arm and yanking her to her knees. A bullet whizzed by her head.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Tony continued holding onto her while his gaze darted around them.
Kaspyn yanked free of his hold. “Thrasher is dying. If we do not reach him soon, I fear that it will be too late.”
“You don’t know that,” Tony shot back, his attention now on the barrier of the camp.
Kaspyn swallowed around the desperation fairly choking her. “I do. I can feel the presence of the ancient ones.”
“Do you see that fence?” Tony nodded toward the barrier Kaspyn had been eyeing. “There’s a hut just on the other side. If we can get behind that, we can use it for cover.”
Kaspyn suddenly sprang to her feet and sprinted toward the fence that loomed before her. She vaulted over the barrier, ducking a round of bullets intended for her.
“Damn you!” Tony shouted, firing as he ran.
Zyen jumped in front of Tony, his body jerking with the force of a bullet slamming into him. But that didn’t stop the Arkadian warrior. He sailed over the fence as if it didn’t exist and pressed his body against the hut Kaspyn stood behind.
Tony soon joined them, flanking Kaspyn’s other side and firing around the corner of the hut.
“How bad are you hit?” Tony asked Zyen without taking his gaze from the corner of the structure.
Zyen growled his response, “It is but a scratch.”
Tony nodded. “On my signal—”
Another round of gunfire cut off Tony’s words as it peppered the corner of the wooden hut they stood behind. “On my signal, you two make a run for that white cabin on the east side. I’m heading west. If we don’t split up, we’re sitting ducks.”
Kaspyn could barely hear him over the constant rounds of gunfire.
“Go!” Tony hissed, his hand snaking around the corner of the hut to open fire.
Kaspyn shot out from behind the safety of the building and ran like wind, shooting to her left as she went.
She made it to the side of the white building, slamming her back against its surface as her gaze sought out Thrasher.
Zyen abruptly appeared. “We are surrounded, Princess. There is no way out for you but the way we came in. Get back over that fence as quickly as you can. I will bring Thrasher’s body to you, you have my word.”
Kaspyn’s lips peeled back over her teeth. “I will not leave him!”
Bullets suddenly sprayed up the sand at Kaspyn’s feet. She jerked her gaze in the direction of the shots only to find two men standing in front of her, guns pointed at her head.
Her eyes narrowed and her chin lifted defiantly. “Mortem,” she softly murmured, the Latin word for death.
Both men’s weapons fell at their sides as their hands flew up to grip the sides of their heads. Blood oozed from their eye sockets as well as their nose and mouth.
Kaspyn watched in satisfaction as the two men dropped to their knees, the light in their eyes snuffing out. They limply toppled over backward.
Zyen nodded his approval. “Now you must leave this place.”
Kaspyn shook her head. “Not without Thrasher.”
She pushed away from the wall, zigzagging through the whizzing bullets to reach Thrasher’s side. Zyen stayed close behind her.
Another bullet tore into the giant Arkadian. He grunted but kept moving.
Kaspyn could see Gryke sailing over the fence, yelling for her to run as he barreled toward her, discharging weapons from both hands.
She spun to the left, only to see at least twenty land walkers marching her way, guns at the ready.
Her gaze darted back to Gryke to find him on his knees, his hands above his head and a group of men pressing their weapons to his back.
Tony, Brant, Rykaur, Oz, and Pyre came stumbling forward, followed by a group of at least fifty.
Kaspyn slowly turned, her gaze seeking out Thrasher. A cry left her lips as she took in his bloodied, limp form hanging from a thick post.
She staggered toward him, tears of heartbreak forming in her eyes. “Thrasher…”
A short, balding man stepped from a structure near the post. “Awww, will you look at this.”
Kaspyn’s tormented gaze flew to the balding man. “Mortem,” she choked out.
The man’s face turned bright red and blood began to trickle from his nose.
“Stop it or he dies!”
Kaspyn didn’t have to look to know who would die. She released the mental hold she had on the balding man and shifted her attention to the one now holding a gun to Thrasher’s temple.
“Do not touch him,” she snarled between clenched teeth.
A spark of fear appeared in the man’s eyes, but he seemed to shake it off. “Now, back up against the fence line. All of you.”
Keeping her attention on Thrasher’s bloodied and bruised face, Kaspyn backed away slowly, not wanting to spook the guy holding the gun to Thrasher’s head.
“Howell?” Vaughn called out from his position against the fence. “It’s me that you want. You don’t need any of them.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” The one known as Howell turned his head to the side and nodded to the large group of men holding their weapons at the ready. “Kill them all but Vaughn.” He spun on his heel and re-entered his dwelling.
Gunfire erupted.
Kaspyn screamed as the man standing behind Thrasher, grinned at her and pulled back the hammer of his pistol. He was going to kill Thrasher before her eyes.
She began to run toward him, blocking out the sounds of horror around her. Tears of terror dripped off her chin to be swept away on the acidic wind. Every movement in her peripheral seemed to happen in slow motion.
And then a soft, sonic boom rent the air, as if a human bomb had gone off deep beneath the earth’s surface.
The impact of the boom knocked the man that stood behind Thrasher off his feet, but not before she saw the evidence of panic in his eyes.
Kaspyn spun around in time to witness a sight she would never forget as long as she lived.
Rising up from the churning waters of The Gulf were dozens of Bracadytes. And in the center of them all arose Zaureth, resembling Ares, the Greek god of war. His hands were out before him, his unearthly pale green eyes glowing with a power that few possessed. He commanded the waters, the very winds now whipping through the trees, as well as the Bracadytes flanking his sides.
Klause stood to Zaureth’s right with Naura by his side. Vaulcron and Hauke flanked Zaureth’s left, their emerald green eyes glittering with rage.
The shadows of the ancient ones swirled around and through the pale-eyed healer as if controlling his every move.
Kaspyn met Zaureth’s gaze, her own inner strength rising up to connect with his.
With her blood boiling in her veins, Kaspyn turned to the man on his knees behind Thrasher. She zeroed in on his head and pushed every bit of power she had behind her next words. “Mortem!”
No blood trickled from his eyes and nose. Oh no, Kaspyn was far beyond wasting time to kill him slowly. Too many were dying around her. The man’s forehead instantly caved in with a crack, stopping his scream before it could form.
The sound of thunder exploded through the air and Kaspyn accepted it for what it was. She and Zaureth had connected on a level she’d never experienced before and wondered if she ever would again.
She shifted her gaze to the Bracadyte healer in time to watch a giant wave roll up from The Gulf and crash onto the beach in his wake.
“I will get Thrasher,” Zyen called out, running to Thrasher’s side. “Destroy them, Kaspyn. Destroy them all!”
Kaspyn waited for Zyen to reach Thrasher’s side, untie him, and toss him over his shoulder before she ran toward the fence, shielding their bodies with her own.
Gryke, Rykaur, Vaughn, Brant, Oz, and Pyre had already scaled the barrier and were gathering alongside their Bracadyte brothers on the other side to fight.
Once Zyen made it over the fence, Kaspyn vaulted over behind him to join Zaureth on his path of destruction.
Shoulder to shoulder, they moved as one, hands out in front of them, taking out walkers two at a time.
The fence folded under the pressure of the force they’d created. Kaspyn stepped over it, moving steadily forward amidst the bloodcurdling screams of Howell’s men.
Bracadytes began to barrel past her, snapping the necks of any left standing as they stormed through Kerik’s camp in a furious whirlwind of revenge.
Anthony Vaughn abruptly appeared, snatching up the weapon of a dead man as he ran. Kaspyn noticed Naura closing the distance, killing everyone in her path to protect her mate’s back.
Tony bounded up onto the porch of the white structure and jerked the door open. “Come out, Howell. Now!”
The one known as Howell, slowly stepped outside with his hands above his head. “You haven’t won anything, Vaughn. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more rebels out there just like us. People who refuse to live in a world where those creatures are free to reproduce.”
Tony’s jaw tightened. “Then we will simply eradicate them just as I’ve done you.” Lifting his gun to Howell’s forehead, Tony pulled the trigger.
Kaspyn lowered her arms, briefly meeting Zaureth’s gaze once more. She didn’t need to speak to convey her appreciation for his timely arrival. The look she sent him said everything she felt inside. She turned back toward the beach.
“You have a powerful gift, Kaspyn of Arkadia,” Zaureth sent through her mind. “One that will always be welcome in Aukrabah.”
Kaspyn slowed but didn’t turn back. “As do you, Zaureth the Healer. As do you.”
Thrasher lay on the beach with Zyen hovering over him as Kaspyn hurried to their side. “Is he…?”
“He yet lives,” Zyen assured her. “I do not know how as he has very little blood left in his body.
A shadow appeared over Kaspyn’s shoulder. She lifted her head and met Oz’s gaze.
He dropped down on his haunches next to her. “He needs blood. I’ll have the doctor meet us at my place. We need to move him without causing him too much pain.”
Zyen gently placed his arms beneath Thrasher’s knees and neck. “I will carry him.”
Kaspyn had never been so glad to have Zyen with her as she was in that moment.