Though Gahn Irokai was not of my tribe, he was my ally in this fight, and the sight provoked a brutal rage. I cried out, urging my irkdu faster, faster, until I was almost upon Gahn Fallo. I pulled my axe from my belt and threw my spear as I leaped from my mount.
Gahn Fallo watched me jump, pulling a blade from his back as he dodged my spear. His laughter split the air.
And then I was upon him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Taliok
Gahn Fallo killed my Gahn. Right in front of me. Gahn Irokai, who’d trained me as a warrior, who’d treated me as a son, was butchered, his guts spilling to the sand like the vines of the veroar plants of the mountains. I never roared in battle like other warriors did. The promise to exact vengeance, vengeance like this world had never seen, was a silent one.
I watched Gahn Buroudei leap from his mount in pursuit of Gahn Fallo, and I moved to follow so that I could slay the other Gahn myself when I heard it. Gahn Irokai saying my name.
I jumped to the ground, running then skidding to a halt at Gahn Irokai’s side. I knelt. He did not bother trying to stem the flow of black blood from his wounds. Neither did I.
“I do not want a baklok called after my death. I have chosen my successor. It is you, Taliok.”
Other warriors may have let grief force them into denial. Other warriors may have told Gahn Irokai no, that he would live to be the Gahn for many ages after this. But I did not. I remained silent as he called out to one of our warriors staggering nearby, clutching at a wound inflicted by the man he’d just slain.
“Oxriel! Witness me. Before I die, I lay the title of Gahn on Taliok.”
Oxriel fell to his knees beside me.
“No, mighty Gahn, you will live. We will get you to a healer.”
I wanted to strike Oxriel. He was wasting time with is denials. Precious time.
Gahn Irokai groaned, then fixed his unspooling gaze on us.
“Hear me. Taliok will be Gahn. I decree it with my dying breath.”
His voice faltered. Black, silent rage seethed inside. Oxriel was fussing at the wound in Gahn Irokai’s chest, but I watched the life fade out of his eyes all the same.
“He is dead,” I said, rising and scanning the battlefield for Gahn Fallo and Gahn Buroudei. I expected to find them still locked in battle, as both were strong warriors and neither would fall quickly. But they weren’t fighting, and I squinted before starting to sprint towards them, trying to make sense of the scene.
Gahn Fallo was on the ground and there was a woman there, too. A woman like Gahn Buroudei’s mate. And beyond them, there were more strange women, looking out from between Gahn Fallo’s tents.
As I ran, I couldn’t help but let my eyes sweep over their faces. I froze, just as I reached Gahn Buroudei.
There she is.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Buroudei
“Surrender the women and you do not have to die.”
Gahn Fallo laughed at me, as I knew he would. Surrender was not our way
He slashed his blade up and in, quickly. I jumped back, but not fast enough, and his blade slashed along my chest, drawing blood. In the heat of battle, I did not feel it. I snarled and pressed forward, swinging my axe, cleaving down onto Gahn Fallo’s arm. The blade stuck, deep in the bone, and his knife dropped from that hand. He had another working hand, though, and another blade. My hand shot out, gripping his wrist. I still held the handle of my axe, which kept his one wounded arm immobile, but he channeled all his strength into his other arm, forcing his blade closer and closer to my face. He was slightly taller than I was, with longer limbs, and he was stretching my arms to their limit, which dampened my strength. In a moment of heated frustration, I slammed my head forward, connecting sharply with his jaw. I felt his teeth tear my skin.
The headbutt stunned Gahn Fallo just enough for me to have the time to pull my axe from his forearm and sink it into the meat between his shoulder and his neck. He screamed in anger and fell to his knees. As he fell, he swung the one blade he still held in his working hand at my legs, but I easily jumped over the weapon.
I pulled the longest blade I had from my back, raising it for the final blow. He drew his lips back from his fangs, fangs dark with my blood.
“You will not get a single one of the women. My men will keep fighting you long after I am dead. You will not touch them.”
So he will be defiant, even in death. It did not matter. Whether he continued to fight or stopped to beg for his life, he would die, and we would take the women. My hand tightened on my blade and I raised it higher, ready to bring death down upon this fallen Gahn of the Sea Sands.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Chapman
“Holy shit. I think he went down.”
Kat was sticking her buzzed head out from between the tents. Us humans were the only ones outside. The alien women and children had all been smart enough to hunker down in their tents when the fighting had broken out. But us? Nah, we wanted to see what the hell was going on.
“Who?” I asked, leaning around her. I squinted. I was the only one with combat experience among our little group of survivors, but even I didn’t have much of a clue of what the fuck was happening.
“It’s the big one. The Leader,” Melanie replied, her voice flat. I clenched my jaw, following her gaze.
She was right. The biggest alien, the one they called “The Leader” and I called “The Enemy” was on his knees. A new alien, from the group that had attacked, was standing over him, victorious. The Enemy was done for. Even from here, I could see the cartoonishly huge axe sticking out of his neck.
He was gonna die.