I was the first one in the ship and the first one to shoot. Two Xathi down before I was three steps into their ship. The others were a few paces behind.

Based on the location Tu’ver gave us, it would take us several minutes to get there on a clean run. Knowing the Xathi would be in the way, we’d have to take it slow and smart, and that meant more time—more time for the Xathi to harm the humans, more time for them to harm Leena, more time for her to die.

No. No. That wasn’t going to happen.

My breath was coming fast. I was nearly hyperventilating.

I had to hurry. I had to hurt the Xathi. I had to get to Leena.

I was in a hallway, Tu’ver’s beacon pulling me forward. I wanted my hammer, I wanted Leena, but the hall was too small for my hammer to be used effectively, and Leena was five levels above me.

A hunter came out of an aperture to my left. I punched it in the face, grabbed it, turned it around, and shot it in its sweet spot on the back of the neck, killing it quickly. I tossed a grenade down the aperture and walked away, the explosion behind me barely making me stumble.

I could hear Vrehx and Karzin yelling out orders and calling out to me, but I kept going. I was going slow, at least by my standards.

I was being careful. There were more dead Xathi than wounds on me, so that meant careful.

“Axtin!”

I ignored Vrehx and kept going. Two more Xathi came down the passageway; I opened fire on both. One dropped quickly, the other ducked back into another passageway.

They were getting smarter. They weren’t relying on brute force and numbers anymore.

I continued and came up to the intersection within a few seconds. I peeked around the corner and nearly lost my head as one of the Xathi’s claws brushed against my scalp.

I felt a sticky wetness down the back of my head and neck and cursed myself for being stupid. I ducked down low and brought my blaster around, firing away. The clip emptied as the Xathi fell on me.

I couldn’t breathe. I had no leverage; my arm was pinned awkwardly. I tried to push, but I got no movement.

Tilting my head up to look down the hall, I could see two hunters coming my way. Then the brothers stepped into view, firing at the hunters and killing them. Dax and Sakev pulled the Xathi off me, and Vrehx pulled me to my feet.

“You done acting like an impulsive fool?”

With a shrug, I said, “Probably not.”

He rolled his eyes and grinned. “At least you’re being honest with me. No more rushing ahead. You’re no good to Leena dead, got that?”

I nodded. He was right. If I was dead, Leena would be alone, and I wasn’t going to leave her alone.

I cared about her too much to leave her alone. “Fine, but we can’t go slow. The slower we go, the more chance she and Tu’ver die.”

“Agreed,” he said. “But we can’t be careless, either. Understand?”

“Understood,” I said with sincerity.

“Good. Brothers, lead the way. Dax, Sakev, bring up the rear. Axtin, reload and let’s go.”

I reloaded my blasters as we went ahead.

It was time to go save my beloved.