Burning Bright by Michael-Scott Earle

Author:Michael-Scott Earle [Earle, Michael-Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Michael-Scott Earle
Published: 2017-08-26T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

I woke up choking on a pool of drool. My head hurt, but only about half as much as my body ached. The lights to the hold turned on as soon as I sat up, and I had to cover my eyes with my arm to keep from screaming. Then my head spun, and it took every gram of willpower to keep from puking.

“Fuck,” I said after the third wave of nausea passed and I was able to sit back up again. There was a pinching sensation in my ass, and I reached around so I could pull out one of the darts.

The small shafts were all over my arms, chest, legs, and stomach. I was no longer in my tiger-man form, so it was a bit easier to pull each of the needles out of my flesh. I counted thirty-seven of the darts after I was finished removing them all from my front and back, and I stared at the pile for a few moments as I tried to collect my thoughts.

No wonder I’d passed out. I was lucky to still be alive. One of these would certainly incapacitate a normal man.

My stomach swirled with nausea when I thought about my crewmates. How long had I been asleep? Were they okay? Had they been taken? I knew the answers. This poison wasn’t mean to kill, it was meant to knock a human unconscious. My friends had been kidnapped, and were going to be given as tribute when the Magate Order showed up in sixty hours.

Except I had no idea how long I’d been asleep.

Both of my pistols were on the ground, and I crawled over to them. My left leg still felt a bit numb, but it faded as I moved. One of the pistols was loaded, so I put it back in its holster. The other was empty, and I slid a full magazine inside before holstering it. There were also two empty magazines on the floor of the hold, and I put them back in one of the ammo pouches under my bloody apron. The actions were simple, but my body was still having problems moving quickly, and I knew that I wasn’t anywhere near my prime fighting condition.

Still, I felt as if I possessed enough strength to stand, so I crawled over to the wall and used it to help get myself upright. My head swam a little when all of my weight was on my legs, but I didn’t feel like I needed to vomit anymore, and I was able to take a few small steps away from the wall.

Each step got a bit easier, and I felt my strength begin to return. I moved to the control switch for the bay doors and ramp, but my hand paused a few centimeters from the button. I had no idea what was out there. I knew there was a small amount of time to find my friends before it was too late. The painted men with the blowguns could still be waiting, and I wouldn’t stand a chance without armor.

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