Chapter Three

 

The sound of the drums had begun again. It was pounding in Azra’s ears, mimicking his pulse until he felt like they had replaced his heart itself and was now trembling through his body. He knew that meant that they were coming. More of the hybrid army was coming their way, fresh and unburdened by the tiredness of already having fought. He looked back over his shoulder at Ero and saw that Ciyrs was kneeling beside him, trying to perform a healing as quickly as he could. The procedure made both men more vulnerable and the healer needed to get through it as fast as possible so that he could return to fighting and Ero would be safer.

Around him Azra could feel the energy of the battle shifting. The group led by Pyra and Maxim had been strong and dominant when they first began to fight, but now that was waning. The men were growing tired and injuries had pushed some of them back. Though they were still fighting with everything in them, some struggling through the blood in their eyes and obvious wounds, the new wave of hybrid soldiers was beginning to arrive, and Azra could see a look of worry beginning to form in the eyes of the those who hadn’t before faced such a fierce battle.

War had never been like this. There had never been a battle that Azra hadn’t felt completely confident in facing. Even when they had stormed the laboratory and the first time that they had encountered the hybrids in the corridor, he hadn’t allowed himself even a moment of entertaining the thought that they could be defeated. They might not know exactly what they were facing. He might be concerned about his own ability to face down the creatures and come out victorious. But there was never a moment that he felt that defeat may be imminent. Now he was starting to wonder if this was that moment. If this could be the time that the Denynso were unable to overcome a challenge that was set before them and would have no other choice but to let Ryan’s cruel and disturbing plans come to fruition.

Azra tilted his head to the sky and let out the loudest battle yell that his lungs could create. The feeling of the cry pulsing through him and pouring out of his throat revived him and washed his mind clean of the negative thoughts. He felt new energy rush to the tips of his fingers and through his legs, taking the stiffness and soreness that had formed in his muscles away.

Having to trust that Ciyrs would be able to handle Ero on his own, Azra surged back into the battle, fighting with even greater ferocity as the first fresh soldiers came down on him. He wanted them to see him, to look into his eyes and see that he wasn’t going to back down. There was no fear. There was no hesitation. If he died, he would die with Elise in his mind, the power of the Denynso in his heart, and a battle cry on his lips.

The night around him had become so deep and the light from the torches and lanterns around the battlefield so scarce that Azra was able to see the sparks that leapt from blades crashing against each other. They jumped through the sky like tiny shooting stars and suddenly Azra’s mind rushed to Rilex. He still hadn’t seen him and he was worried that he had encountered danger when he left the ship and journeyed across the planet in pursuit of the hybrid woman. Even if Rilex was able to escape whatever it was that he had faced, the darkness might make it nearly impossible for him to find his way back, making him even more vulnerable to the dangers that awaited all of them.

Suddenly Azra heard a gasping scream ripple through everyone on the battlefield as if they were all reacting in turn to something. He turned away from the man who know lay at his feet and saw a bright light moving toward him through the purplish blackness beyond the clash. The light was moving, shifting as it approached like it was being carried by something, but it was higher in the sky than even a Denynso warrior could have held it. The fighting around him slowed as everyone turned their attention toward the approaching light and the silhouette that was becoming more evident against the sky.

The shape became more defined quickly and soon Azra realized that it was a huge animal unlike anything that he had ever seen. Walking on four massive legs with thick fur that nearly brushed the sand from where it hung from its belly and chest, the creature had a head so large that the eyes it contained appeared larger than Azra’s hand. His eyes traveled up to its back where he saw the hybrid woman he had heard Eden call Severine sitting astride it. She seemed to be gripping its fur in one hand to keep herself securely in place while holding a large torch above her head with the other, but the creature wasn’t resisting the pressure. Instead, it appeared to be walking along willingly, its pace steady as it approached. Azra took a step forward and noticed that there was another figure walking in the deeper shadow cast by the creature. After a moment, he realized that it was Rilex.

The man had a bandage wrapped around his body, but he didn’t appear afraid or as though he were being forced to walk along, and Azra felt a boost of hope within him. As the animal approached, he noticed the hybrid soldiers around him becoming anxious. They stepped away from the people they were fighting and started to back away. Azra could see the look of fear on their faces and their weapons drop to their sides as they took their focus away from their assaults and turned it instead toward the oncoming creature. He got the immediate impression that they knew what this animal was and why it was there.

As the hybrid soldiers backed away, seeming to come together in the center of the battlefield, Azra noticed that they were leaving the wounded behind. Without another thought, he rushed forward toward the closest prone figure and scooped it into his arms, turning to bring it back to where Ero lay. The young warrior’s eyes were closed and his breathing was deep, telling Azra that Ciyrs had had to perform a complete healing on him. While this was the only way that the healer would be able to save Ero’s life, it also took away his strength and energy as his body accepted the healing and then rebuilt itself. This meant that the healing would ensure that Ero would survive to the compound, but it left him incapacitated.

Azra lay the wounded man on the ground and noticed that it was a hybrid. For a moment, he was startled and felt unnerved, but then he realized that this man wasn’t wearing a hood and was one of the men that they had rescued from the breeding facility in the laboratory building on Earth. The man looked up at him and Azra was surprised to see a slight smile on his lips.

“You’re going to be alright,” Azra said to him. “Ciyrs will help you.”

“I know,” the hybrid man said, his voice breathy with the pain that he was feeling. “Even if he didn’t, I’ll be alright.”

“What do you mean?” Azra asked.

“I fought,” he said. “I looked them in the eye and I fought. It felt wonderful. I can be done now.”

His eyes started to flutter closed and Azra tucked his hand beneath the soldier’s head to lift it up, trying to wake him.

“No,” Azra said. “You’re not done. You’re far from it. Wake up.”

Ciyrs grabbed Azra by his arm and pulled him back.

“I’ve got him,” the healer said. “I’ll take care of him. You go help the rest.”

Azra climbed to his feet and rushed back to the battlefield. The huge animal was standing at the edge now, baring his ferocious teeth as he strained toward the hybrids. Rilex stood in front of it, pushing against it as Severine tugged on its fur, talking to it and trying to calm it. The hybrid soldiers backed away from it, scrambling over each other as they tried to gather in the center and then move away from the battlefield. Out of the corner of the eye, Azra saw the flicker of another warrior rushing past him. He turned to look at him and watched him disappear behind a tight clutch of hybrid soldiers. Azra felt like something had hit him in the center of the chest, taking the breath out of him. It had been a glimpse into the past: the image of Jem fighting alongside him. Reinforced by the image, he ran past them toward the creature. When he was within a few feet, he shouted toward Rilex.

“We need help,” he yelled. “The injured need to get to the compound.”

Rilex looked up at Severine, who nodded. She used the fur in her hand to guide the animal forward at a slightly faster pace.

“Gather them up,” she called down. “Get them onto the Meldor’s back. I’ll be able to get them there faster than carrying them.”

Azra nodded and ran back toward Ciyrs and the injured men. Together the warriors lifted the injured men up and draped them over the animal’s back. Azra climbed up with them so that he could help to hold the unconscious men in place. Before he had the chance to really prepare himself, Rilex jumped up with him and Severine urged the animal ahead. In an instant, they were running away from the sounds of the battlefield and into the deeper darkness of the planet, heading toward the compound that had been their goal when they arrived on Penthos.