Page 232 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

It made a screeching noise that rent the air, hurting my ears, but I had caught it off guard, I’d knocked it off its feet.

I leaped outside, wings spread; catching a breeze, I soared up and over the animal, dragging my knife along its back.

It wasn’t dazed for long, and while my blade was very sharp, the thick pelt protected it from serious harm.

I needed to find a weak spot—neck, eyes—where could I hit something vital?

I wasn’t too keen on getting close to that awful mouth.

We exchanged blows, or rather, I leaped through the air, aided by my wings, and avoided blows.

Twice I scraped it with my knife, but I couldn’t figure out where to hit it.

The Jukjuk had long claws tipping muscled legs; its reach was greater than mine.

When it reared back, it flayed open its terrible jaw, exposing rows of hooked teeth in four strips and a throat lined with spines.

“The eyes, it can’t see! Stay still,” Aggy yelled.

I dared a look at the tower and saw that she’d disregarded my advice and was standing just inside the door opening.

The beast had heard her too, proving that its hearing was better than its sight.

It chose the softer target and started sprinting for the door.

It had a short tail at the back, vestigial, maybe, as it didn’t look useful.

I leaped at its back, my knife cutting through that tail, that was certainly the distraction Aggy needed.

While I leaped away, beating my wings to lift into the sky, I yelled at my female, “Hide, damn it, don’t make a sound! ”

The Jukjuk had its full focus on me now, growling and clacking with its strange maw, head swinging this way and that as it tried to pinpoint my location.

Silencing my wings, I folded them tightly against my back, arrowing straight down.

I was dive-bombing this fucker, my knife out, hoping to penetrate the back of his neck with the blade and the force of my fall.

At the last moment, the creature tilted its head up, and I knew it had heard me.

Curving my body, I tried to avoid the sharp maw and keep the aim of my blade true.

The collision rocked through my arms, up my shoulders, tearing through my battle-hardened skin.

The creature let out a bloodcurdling scream as my knife sank deep from the force.

Then we were rolling from the momentum, and I found myself pinned beneath it.

Pain rocketed up my spine, my sight whiting out for a second, the wind knocked out of me from the weight.

I had lost my grip on my knife, but the Jukjuk wasn’t moving, so I was fairly certain it was out for the count.

Ignoring the pain, I struggled to get my hands beneath the bulk of the creature and push it off me.

My body was hurting everywhere, but I had to ignore that.

Aggy couldn’t free me; I had to pull myself from this mess.

Her warm scent suddenly surrounded me, soft hands running over my face. “Fuck, Sunder. Are you badly hurt?” she said. Her hands skated over my shoulders, and then she made a keening noise, lifted her fingers up, and we both stared at the blood that coated them.

“Grab hold, on three, pull,” I said, ignoring the panicked look in her eyes.

She nodded bravely and then counted down.

On three, I pushed off the ground with my wings and punched up with my arms. Aggy was pulling on my armor straps, and I scrambled to kick myself free with my legs.

We went tumbling free from the Jukjuk’s body in an ungainly heap.

Rolling, I scrambled to my hands and knees. “Aggy, are you hurt anywhere?” I’d landed on top of the small human, and with my battle-form always active… I was not an easy weight to handle. I’d never forgive myself if I’d broken one of her fragile bones.

She was on her back in the mossy clearing, her hair wildly haloing around her face, her expression one of indignation.

“Am I hurt? Sunder! You’re bleeding all over!

” I was. My battle-form had cracked and crumbled in places, the skin breaking from the pressure so that raw cuts ran all over my body.

That wasn’t the worst of it… but I wasn’t sure how to bring that up to her.

Since she was scrambling to her feet now, red flushing her cheeks from exertion, I was fairly certain she was all right.

I checked my wings, forcing my sore muscles to stretch them out and cycle through their range of motion.

I rolled my shoulders, pushed myself to my feet, and decided that it could have been worse.

Then I saw the horror-filled look on her face and self-consciously tucked my tail behind my back.

“Oh my God, did that beast take a piece of your tail off?” She wouldn’t let me hide, rushing over to pull on my arm so she could duck around me and look at what remained of the appendage.

The tip—about a good foot—had been broken clean off.

That was why my spine was aching, the pain traveling up it in a dull throb.

“It broke when the damn beast landed on top of me…” I said in explanation.

The loss of a portion of my tail was mostly a nuisance; I’d be off my balance until I could work in a bit of training to adjust for it.

The cracks running all over my skin were much more worrying.

They would heal within a few hours, but it meant my health issues were far more advanced than I had thought.

“Your freaking tail broke?” she sounded a bit hysterical—definitely concerned—and it made me realize how unfamiliar these situations were for her.

She’d handled herself all right, giving me a good clue and staying out of the way, but this had to be a shock for her.

She was just a schoolteacher, not a trained spy.

A howling noise split the night, followed by another, and then another.

Aggy cursed, “More Jukjuk. This was just a scout… We need to get out of here! Can you fly?” Her eyes scanned over my bloody form, and I bristled at the implication that I couldn’t keep her safe, that I needed help.

Then I settled down; I did need a moment, and I certainly didn’t feel like fighting another of those beasts, let alone a whole pack of them.

We hurried back into the tower together.

This time, I slammed the door shut, then tried the manual override that had jammed for Aggy’s much smaller form.

It took a few grinding tries, but I got the gears to grind through their rust without breaking, and the door locked with a satisfying snicking noise.

“Now what?” she asked me, her eyes wide.