Page 83 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

83

Attack by a Beast

A nubis

First, we’re attacked by giant lizards that walk the soil, now a giant lizard that flies.

I’ve been forced into beast mode before by my owners. It was never clear how they did it, but they possessed some mechanism to force us from our more docile natures into the soldiers we were bred to be.

I could always speak, though. And think clearly. Now it’s a challenge to string my thoughts together. It doesn’t make sense they would build geneslaves who couldn’t think for themselves in difficult situations. What good is a soldier who can’t make good decisions? Perhaps I’ll never understand the why of it. What I do know is that my thoughts are fogged by the urge to do only two things: kill and mate.

I’ve been relying on Sadie to make all the decisions today. I don’t trust my own thoughts.

The flying lizard sails silently overhead. Luckily, there’s just one of them. It must have left its flock to scout for food. It clearly sees us, because it tucks its head and dives straight at us.

There isn’t a tree or rock in sight. There’s nowhere for Sadie to hide. No matter how slow my thoughts are, there’s one thing I know. I must protect her at all costs.

We stand, our spears in our hands. The beast appears to have the same thick hide as the animals we saw yesterday when we escaped into the boulder fields. If we throw our spears, there’s no way the small knives at the ends will be able to pierce deep enough to do any real damage.

We’ll have to wait for the beast to get close enough for us to stab it.

As it glides in, its terrifying beak opens to make one loud screech. I hope it isn’t calling its friends. Although the odds of Sadie and me surviving this one enemy are slim, there’s no way we could ever escape an attack from an entire group of them.

As pitiful an idea as it may be, I want to tell Sadie to hide behind me. Because I can’t speak, I can’t even do that. When I try to push her back so I can stand in front of her, she steps to my side and holds her spear. I wish I could argue with her, tell her to let me take the brunt of this monster’s attack, but that’s not who Sadie is. My little female is courageous.

The beast soars in and tries to scoop us both into its beak. We attack with our spears and manage to repel it although our knives barely graze its skin.

“Wow!” Sadie says, “I can’t believe we—” She stops mid-sentence when the beast flies in an arc, then circles back to strike again.

This time, it attacks from Sadie’s side. Despite our attempts to jab at its head, the angle of its trajectory makes it impossible to get a good thrust in. The beast scoops Sadie into its mouth and, before it can take off with her, I leap onto its back.

My heart squeezes in pain at the glimpse I just got of my mate in the animal’s sharp-toothed mouth. Our time together has been limited, but my feelings for her are powerful. Anger surges from deep within me and I howl in anger.

Holding onto the beast with one arm, I manage to choke up on my spear so I can use it as a knife. Leaning to the side, I use all my might to thrust my knife into my enemy’s slim neck.

I thought my strike would cause the animal to fall to the ground, but a three-inch blade isn’t much against an animal this size. It’s still flapping its leathery wings with no sign it was harmed.

I thrust again and again, my arm now covered in its thick, crimson blood. When it opens its mouth to scream in pain, Sadie tumbles out. I watch in horror as she falls to the ground, lifeless.

This spurs me to keep thrusting, piercing its thick, armored skin over and over until it goes limp and crashes onto the soil.

It fell on its breast, giving me a soft landing as I cling to its back.

After paying the merest attention to the beast to ensure it’s in its death throes, I stand on its body so I can scan the area for my mate.

Sadie! I see her lying face down in a small marshy pond. Even if she survived being in a mouth full of small sharp teeth and then managed not to die in the fall, I know she can’t breathe underwater.