Valyien Box Set 2 by James David Victor

Author:James David Victor [Victor, James David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2019-03-09T22:00:00+00:00

7

Ko Herg

“I thought the war chief said that we were free to go!” Eliard spat at the Duergar shapes as they coalesced around them. His leg was still bleeding from earlier, and they hadn’t even had a chance to bandage Irie’s hand yet. But it didn’t look like the Duergar in front of them was interested in mercy.

They were large, for their kind, and even though they had alien forms, Eliard could still recognize the statures of trained warriors. They wore rough canvas robes like a monk’s, rough and heavy so that they obscured their bodies—apart from their fists—and with hoods high over their shovel-like heads. Only the glint of starlight on their cracked tusks and in their predatory eyes remained.

“Just like a human,” one of the thugs growled. “Weak. You beg when you could fight.” There was the hum of charge, and from the folds of his robes, he produced a Duergar energy weapon, looking like a short spear but which crackled with white and blue energy. In response, Eliard flicked his forearm, and the Device rippled and shook, its blue-scale sheaths changing and arranging to form into the devastating gun.

“You really wanna dance with us?” Eliard pointed the weapon straight at the lead Duergar. He figured that they must have seen the effect it’d had in the arena. They must have known that it was more powerful than their energy blades.

“Gah!” The lead Duergar snapped his wrist as he dove to one side, his robes flaring behind him as the energy weapon shot out its accumulated energy straight at the captain.

THOOM! Eliard fired as he too jumped to one side. As well as having the Device to his advantage, he also prided himself that he was a pretty good sharpshooter. Still, he only managed to score a grunt of pain from his moving opponent as it winged him across the shoulder.

“Hyah!” Irie jumped and rolled as another of the energy weapons fired at her, but she rolled toward one of the three Duergar, popping up with her good hand striking out to connect with the creature’s instep. There was a grunt of pain as the Duergar fell and rolled, and Irie was bouncing up to her feet once again and reaching for his energy weapon—

FZT! The first Duergar, the speaker, fired from his crouch at Eliard, burning the dirt and narrowly missing him as the captain spun, raised the Device, and—

“Ach!” Fire burned across his shoulder as the third of the Duergar combatants shot the captain. A glancing blow perhaps, but still enough to send him rolling head over heels. He felt the Armcore encounter suit react, hardening its fibers to form a protective shell over the blast on his shoulder, but he still felt raw and scalded underneath.

What was worse, the blow had given his prime attacker time to leap toward him, landing a kick across Eliard’s chest. Once again, the suit reacted to harden under the impact, so instead of breaking ribs, it merely bruised them as Eliard hit the dirt again.

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