Most of Cardax’s fur was gone; the tan, leathery skin underneath was warped from blisters that refused to heal. His right arm hung limply at his side, its once impressive size withered, blackened, and shriveled. Keryn’s eyes lingered on two wide scars running across his chest, the blatant marks of the torture he had endured while her prisoner. Most startling, however, was what remained of his face. The skin on the right side of his face looked like running wax, melting down the side of his cheeks and running over the side of his mouth, causing the slurred speech she had heard earlier. His ear on the side of his head was missing and she saw no sign of the ear canal that should have been there in its stead. His horn was also missing on that side of his body, though the other one still glittered venomously in the darkness.
Keryn was honestly stunned that Cardax managed to survive the bombing of Miller’s Glen. The room in which he had been kept had been decimated in the explosion, the heat from the blast lifting the walls and ceiling from the room and scorching the floor. She could only imagine his anguish as, strapped to the chair, he was unable to escape as the flames rolled over his body. He had every right to be furious, but she couldn’t find a justification for him siding with the Terrans
“So you sold your soul to the devil for a little retribution,” she spat angrily.
“I’ve made new friends,” Cardax hissed, spittle flying from his mouth. “And you, you slut, are as good as fucking dead now.” He turned to the Terran standing beside him. “Kill the bitch.”
The Terran turned toward Cardax, glaring with obvious disdain. After a pause, he turned back toward his soldiers. “Kill her.”
Keryn was already running before the Terran commander was able to give the order. Rounds slammed into the trees as she ran, weaving along the path that she made on her approach to the grotto. She stopped occasionally to fire behind her, once striking one of the Terrans who chased her. Though he was hit solidly in the chest, he quickly climbed back to his feet.
“Damn it,” Keryn growled. “Of course they would have body armor.”
She ran on, firing just often enough to discourage her pursuers. Their automatic weapons, however, continued to punch holes into the snow around her and splinter the trees throughout the jungle. After a short time, Keryn saw the stream rolling past up ahead. Sliding into the clearing, she scrambled for purchase on the icy rocks as she tried to stop her momentum. She turned and ran toward the rock bridge she had crossed before her night’s sleep; rounds ricocheted off the stone outcroppings behind her as she fled. She pointed her weapon behind her and fired a couple more rounds, sneering in frustration when she heard the click of the bolt sliding to the rear. Her magazine was empty. She pressed the magazine release and let it fall into the snow as she pulled her last magazine off her belt. Keryn slammed the new magazine into the well as she bounded gracefully across the stones.
Landing on the far side of the river, she leapt to the ground as she saw more green eyes emerging from the trees to her left. Their automatic fire tore through the air above her head as she scrambled for cover. The pursuers on the far side of the river, including the infuriated Cardax, ran from the trees on that side just as Keryn, still firing, found a large rock behind which to hide. Rounds now struck the rock from two sides, both from the Terrans on the far side of the river and from those on her side who were approaching from downstream. The bullets gouged chunks of rock from the boulder she was behind and she cursed again.
“Armor piercing rounds?” she screamed. “You have got to be kidding me! Is there anything you all did not bring with you?”
In response, the Terrans fired another volley. Sweat that had nothing to do with the exertion from running ran down her face and traced the curve of her back. The heavily armed and armored Terrans were closing in on her position quickly.
Let me help you, the Voice whispered enticingly in her ear. We can make it out of this situation if you let me help you.
“No,” she yelled into the darkness. “I won’t let you take over again!”
As though to prove her point, she spun around the stone and opened fire on the closest Terran. The first couple rounds struck his body armor, driving him to his knees but not killing him. She adjusted her fire and her next round caught him in his exposed neck. Blood sprayed across the white snow as the Terran gurgled and pitched forward. She continued firing, her next round aimed at the unarmored leg of the Terran behind him, striking him between the thigh and knee plates. The round tore through the insulated pants, ripping the soldier’s leg from under him. Off balance, he fell to the snow, bringing his face on level with her aim point. She squeezed the trigger and one of the two green lights vanished on his face plate. The round pierced his eye and exited the back of his skull, stopping only when it struck the heavily armored helmet. The other two Terrans on her side of the stream ducked for cover while the far side opened with another barrage. Keryn dove back for cover behind her boulder.
She clutched her pistol to her chest as she took a mental inventory. She still had grenades, but only one was a high explosive. The others, smoke and flash grenades, would be useful, but she needed killing power. Beyond her grenades, she had fired enough rounds that she had no more than…
One, the Voice interrupted, its mental faculties free to do math while Keryn fought. You only have one round left. Are you ready for me to take over yet?
“I’ll never let you take over again,” she whispered, her frustration stinging her eyes. She paused as she examined her options. The two Terrans who had taken cover before were now advancing on her position. Cardax still screamed at her from across the stream
“Come out, you coward,” he yelled, tauntingly. “Take the bullet in your brain like a real woman! Or maybe you’d prefer it if I dug my knife into your chest? What’s that? No answer to my question? That’s a shame because now I have no choice but to carve off your flesh, one strip at a time! And don’t you worry one bit,” he continued through his melted mouth, “I’ll be coming after your Pilgrim boyfriend once I get done carving you up, you little bitch!”
You need my help, the Voice said, its voice flat and calm.
Keryn knew it was right, but was not willing to sacrifice her personality for its assistance. “If we do this,” she whispered, “we do it my way. I keep my personality and you keep yours, just like we have it now. I stay in control when we’re not in combat and, in return, I’ll let you take control when the fighting gets up close and personal.”
Silence stretched in her mind, disconcertingly different from the noise erupting all around her. Keryn was beginning to fear that the Voice wouldn’t find her arrangement acceptable when it whispered a single word into her mind.
Agreed, it said softly.
Keryn’s body convulsed as the memories of twenty-two generations of warriors flooded her mind. The knowledge saturated her muscles, teaching in milliseconds techniques that had been carefully mastered over hundreds of years. Her body shook, her eyes fluttering, as the Voice downloaded all its knowledge into her body. After only a second, Keryn’s body stopped shaking and she sat perfectly still with her eyes closed. The two Terrans approached cautiously, hearing commotion but unable to see around the rock.
As they neared, Keryn’s eyes flew open, her violet irises burning with power. Her left hand reached out and clutched a jagged shard of stone which had been torn free of the boulder under the gunfire. In her right, Keryn still held her pistol, its single round chambered. The Terrans stepped to the backside of the rock. The lead soldier’s hands flickered as he shared tactics with the one behind him. Nodding in agreement, they moved around the rock.