Episode Thirty-Six Leaving the Works

H azlan

We eat breakfast standing up, just as we did last night. Lylah's eaten nothing but peaches since we returned to the Works, but this morning there is no moaning or eye-rolling. We're all too nervous for that.

Evidently, all three of us males have funny feelings about things. Not Lylah. It seems humans' senses just don't pick up details the way the Down Below species do.

We agree I'll carry the gun. I've never shot a bow and arrow, and doubt I could be much good with it.

"We'll walk directly to the gate. Then, instead of heading straight north, we'll go west, into the thick of the forest. It will be easier to evade enemies there, more places to hide," Zoron says. "Hazlan, you're at the tip of the spear, with our gift right behind you. Eldar and I will take up the rear."

Before we burst out of the door, Zoron says, "If things get bad, I'll call your name, Lylah. I want you to take my hand. I'll help you jump on my back and I'll run west, then north. Eldar will be able to find me through our matebond. Perhaps you, too, proudborn."

I push open the door and we trot to the gates. My eyes are focused straight ahead, trusting the other two to see anyone approaching from the sides.

I force myself to not even glance at the heinous cage in the middle of this open space. That's behind me. If there was time and my gun had more fuel, I would laser it to dust, but it's just an inanimate object. It's not the one who starved and beat me.

"Where do you monsters think you're going?" A muscular human emerges from around the broad gate post and stands in the opening. His stance is wide, and in his hands is a laser rifle.

At the sight of the laser rifle, we all freeze.

"What the hell happened here? We just got back from hunting and find the place deserted. Answer me, you filthy beast." He stalks toward me. The others are behind me.

I was taken from my pride as a child and forced into the barracks here. My wings were clipped and my self-esteem was stolen from me by every order and unkind word for all the years I lived here.

For the swiftest moment, I have the urge to drop to my knees and beg for mercy just as I have hundreds of times before. I know all too well how vicious this male can be. He's beaten me in the past for a small infraction. Then a voice inside my head comes roaring to life.

I'm a proudborn . The best female on the planet is my mate. I'm a free male and I have a gun in my hands. This sneering human asshole holds no power over me.

He's so arrogant and confident that we will cower in his presence, that his rifle isn't even pointed at us. Without the support of the two males at my back and my vulnerable mate to protect, I might have cowed to him. That's not an option now.

I cut him down with two short bursts of my pistol, not even wanting to spare the fuel it would take to give him an extra shot to the head. Zoron does the honors by staying in formation as we approach the writhing body. Using a hoof almost the size of a dinner plate, he stomps the male's brains not once, not twice, but three times.

Inside my head, I'm roaring, feeling my power and my pride. I keep it together as we continue forward.

"He said ‘we,'" I say. "There must be others in the woods, but none of them are firing on us. Something doesn't add up."

I grab his rifle from the ground, only to realize it's drained of fuel. "It's empty. No wonder he didn't use it."

The males behind me grunt in response, then we move forward swiftly.

The moment we hit the treeline, rocks rain down on us from the trees above. A well-aimed rock hits Zoron in the flank, causing him to wheel to one side, then regain his footing. At the same time, a rock hits Eldar in the arm so hard it causes him to drop his bow. He dives to the ground and grabs it as he rolls away from the trees, all while shaking the feeling back into his numb hand.

I'm hit with a couple of rocks, but shake off the pain, turning to see where Lylah is. Just as instructed, she's sticking close to my back. Luckily, I've taken all the hits from the rocks, protecting her vulnerable body.

A quick count tells me there are five enemies in the trees. They're not well hidden because it's winter and most leaves fell to the ground long ago. There's no excuse we didn't notice them earlier.

Azael and his people must have found every gun in the compound except for the one in my hands, because these males have been reduced to throwing rocks. Perhaps they used all the fuel for their weapons in the intervening days as they hunted game.

We move out of stone-throwing range. Zoron and Eldar are already shooting arrows so fast it's as if they have the ability to move at twice their normal speed. Most of their arrows are hitting the thick tree trunks the humans are hiding behind. At least the two males are keeping the humans pinned down.

Lylah's in danger. We all are. No matter that our enemy is only armed with rocks, we can't just skirt the woods and leave them. They'll alert the Up Above and get reinforcements. I doubt the Village is ready for all-out war.

This thought spurs me to action. My wings spread to give Lylah more cover. With a great roar, I move us both to a position where I can see the cowards hiding.

As I'm easing us to the right, I see Eldar and Zoron moving left. Pointing my laser into the trees, I hold my breath and fire.

Last night, the other males told me they'd discovered these pistols are powerful and deadly, but run on a limited amount of fuel. They impressed upon me to make it count.

Breathe. Aim. Shoot. Exhale. Breathe. Aim. Shoot.

The males' bodies rain down onto the ground. Some were lasered by me, others have arrows sticking in their chests. Any that aren't clearly dead get a stomping from the centaur.

"Stay on guard," Zoron says as he kicks the humans into a pile, then stomps them some more.

Lylah looks them over. Her fists are clenched at her side, her face a tight mask of pain.

"Serves them right."

She spits on them and brings her leg back, about to kick one of them, then stops, shaking her head as she whispers, "I am not that person."

I don't even want to imagine what was done to her inside that compound—or Up Above.

"I remember seeing a hunting party leave the compound the morning of the attack. It never dawned on me…" She stands still, looks at the pile of flesh for a few more seconds, then takes a long, slow breath and turns to me.

I fold her in my arms, my shortened wings embracing her in a downy cocoon as she hugs my waist and nestles her face in my furred chest. As she loosens her tight muscles, her sigh of relief is music to my ears. How did I deserve such a gift?

"Eldar?" Zoron calls with no more emotion in his voice than if he'd been plucking summer flowers in a sunny meadow. "Want to have a go?" He dips his head, indicating the elf might want to get in a few good kicks.

Something passes between them wordlessly. I can't read it. It's what happens after people have been mates for a long time. I hope someday to have such a bond with Lylah.

The elf steps toward the mound of dead flesh, but doesn't get too close. His body simply stops moving, but his face shows the depths of his emotions. His nostrils flare, his chest heaves, but he stands perfectly still.

"They're all dead?" he asks as he looks his mate in the eyes for the first time since he came out of that apartment with the gun yesterday.

"Aye."

"That's all I need to know."