Sylas

SYLAS

M edius smiles nastily as his shadow soldiers size me up. There are five of the hulking things, more machine than flesh and more enhanced than either of those things.

They are what the Zavaro do best. My memory fires into life with the briefest flicker of searing pain as my body is subject to an incredible force.

The shadow soldiers are the end point in the "enhancement" process. Killing machines, designed never to let up, to never stop until their target is eliminated.

And this nova-day, their target is me.

But it's not the shadow soldiers who interest me, it's Medius. He seems to have shed the personal forcefield he was using outside of the dome, presumably because he feels safer with his soldiers at hand and me in restraints.

"." He states my name like an epitaph. "You made it. Your opponents are here and…do you remember much more than before?"

"I remember you're a vrexer who can't be trusted and that I should kill you at the earliest opportunity." I shrug. "Where is my mate?"

"The human." Medius looks down at his hands, which flicker to pincers and back again. "Sweet and tasty, aren't they, humans. It didn't strike me that they would make mates for the Gryn but then I know very little about your species."

My heart is torn in two. What has he done with Alex? And how does he not know about the Gryn when apparently I was one of a cohort the Zavaro attacked on an outpost?

Pain sears through my head and I wince.

"Ah, the memory is coming back, isn't it?" he says with a snarl, his features morphing before snapping back.

"You could have just left me here to rot," I growl.

"And you could have done me the courtesy of not escaping, stupid Gryn," he retorts. "Do it," he snaps at the Habosu with the smashed nose. "Do it now, and we can get this over with."

I open my wings, but Medius fires a razor thin line at me from a blaster. It wraps around my feathers and my body, binding the wing to me and sending me off balance. The stuff is like Zio silk but sticky. I can't snap it even if I want to, making flight impossible.

But flight isn't everything. I unleash my claws, and with a roar, I snap my bonds as the Habosu lifts another blaster and lets rip with it. I freeze in anticipation of the blast, but instead there is a rush of air almost as fresh as Chohan and instead, unable to help myself, I inhale deeply.

"This should be interesting," I hear Medius say from what seems like a long way away.

The whole room looks like it's melting. The rough stone runs in rivulets around me. The shadow soldiers, the Habosu, and Medius elongate like they're being pulled apart.

It is fascinating as I watch them spring back to what they were, for the floor to stop being lava and instead become crystal.

One of the Habosu is rather close, so I bat him away with the back of my hand like he is nothing, and he spirals away to the stars which have come out above me.

Such beautiful stars, they remind me of the night in the forest with my mate. A thought which has my cocks stirring as I bat away another Habosu.

I think I can hear screaming, and I watch as Medius opens and closes his mouth at the shadow soldiers. I suppose they are a threat. I wield the knife from my boot, and the shadow soldiers become real shadows, dissipating into nothingness until there is only Medius and me left.

I'm not sure I've ever felt this good about a fight before, or this calm, or just generally in good spirits. It's as if my sweet Alex has her fingers in my feathers permanently. I feel so good I could sleep on the spot, but I'm not going to, because Medius is here, and this is not a fight, not anymore.

Although, this is not normal. Not at all.

"Wha- have you done to me?" I slur as my mouth doesn't want to work around my teeth…or tongue.

This…creature…the Zavaro…Medius, he attacked my ship, he disabled it and took me by force. There was no battle, there was no cohort, there was just me, traveling among the stars, free and looking for other Gryn after the Drahon were made to release all their experiments and I found out the Zavaro's secret.

For the first time, I see a flicker of an emotion Medius has not exhibited around me before—fear.

"I thought…it was supposed to…" He ducks under my arm, but I take hold of him anyway.

"I have quest…ques..." I attempt to gather my lips and my tongue into some semblance of order. "Questions!" I force the words together and out. "Need answers."

The floor is bowing under me wildly, and with only one wing and a vrexing Zavaro in one hand, a dagger in the other, it's proving difficult to stay upright.

I land on my ass with a bump. Medius twists from my grip and runs, his legs elongating and his gait strangely slow. I fling the dagger at him, but I can't tell if it hits home as my head spins wildly.

It takes me a while to get to my feet because first I have to roll on my side, something I find hilarious, then onto my hands and knees until finally I'm upright again. My left wing feels very unpleasant, and when I touch it, it, the texture is sticky, causing me to recoil. I decide to leave it alone for the moment.

I need my Alex and then I need Medius, in that order. I breathe in deeply again and for a nova-second, I think I can scent her.

Is she here? I have to know. The door behind me doesn't resist, ripping open easily at my touch.

If Alex has run from me, I will hunt her, I will catch her, and I will mate her.

Nothing will stand in my way.