Page 49 of Hooded (Gladiators of the Gryn #5)

KLYNN

The planetoid I’ve been dumped on is desolate. The metal and crystal depression where I encountered Proto is the least worst aspect of the place.

There are signs it was not always this way, elements which could have been dwellings or civilization crumble in the gray dust which blows everywhere. There is little in the way of scents, presumably because there is simply nothing left of this place.

I swoop low over the landscape, putting as much distance between myself and the Proto as possible. As much as I’d like to destroy it, I’d prefer to get off this planetoid and back to my Fern. Whatever the creature has planned for me, I have no interest in assisting it. But I cannot leave without dealing with it.

I might have lost my identity as a Gryn during my time as a gladiator, but I know of Proto. The species which thought it could rule and found out that once the Gryn were free, no one would rule us. No one could repress us and no one could stop us.

Even an ancient Protoex. Especially an ancient Protoex. If it survived being banished from the planet of the Gryn, it will not survive any longer. I will see to it.

They said there was no way to kill a zigurex, but I’ve seen one killed. Everything dies. And it is the Protoex’s time to die. It will have attempted to capture its last Gryn.

A flash below me catches my eye. I swing around for another look. Above me comes a long low cackling sound, unpleasant in the extreme. I cast a quick glance and see a cohort of bots coming at me out of the gray gloom which passes for an atmosphere. They’re armed with weapons I’ve not seen before.

Below me, the flash winks green, stark against the gray. It hits one of the bots, turns red, and the thing explodes in such a way my feathers shake with excitement.

Makes flying a little interesting. And whatever is on the ground, it has the same ill intent as I do for the bots. Only it is armed. And where there are weapons is where I need to be.

I check my surroundings. The entire place is reminiscent of the landscaping often done in the dome. It makes what I have planned a little easier.

Beating hard, I lift myself up above the bots. They turn their attention from the ground below and back to me as I roar past them.

“Come on!” I snarl, swinging hard from left to right in order to make myself a harder target.

It doesn’t stop the bolts from their weapons searing over my skin, but none of them hit anything vital.

Once I’m sure they’re following, I dive back to the ground. The entire place is shattered, deep cracks big enough for a Gryn, but only just. Big enough for these bots too, only they’re programmed to chase.

And I am a predator who normally does the chasing.

We spin through the destroyed remains of a city, the bots cackling with some sort of artificial glee. The noise reaches me in waves. I duck over and under various obstacles at the very last nova-second, and this takes out two more of the bots in large explosions which seem to be a balm to my soul. However, a number of the bots remain hot on my wingtips, and they’re gaining on me.

A large portion of a building rises up in front of me. The thing is remarkably well preserved compared to the rest of the planetoid. It’s leaning on its side, but otherwise, it’s recognizable as something created rather than something which is part of the landscape.

I see the small opening made in the exterior. There is a chance it is not going to be big enough for a Gryn, but it is my only option. I pump my wings harder as I hear the bots gaining on me, and with one last effort, I fold them up and dive into the opening, finding it is just, just large enough to take my body.

The momentum carries me through the destroyed structure as I hear the impacts of the remaining bots and feel the searing heat on my boots, just as I burst out into an open area, gasping for breath and remembering to open my wings in order to slow my descent.

Above me, the blast, fire, and debris bursts from the hole I exited as I land, my breath ragged with the chase, and yet a grin wider than a crescent moon spreads over my face. I laugh out loud, unable to stop myself. The bots are gone and it makes me inordinately happy.

“Well done, Gryn,”

A dark shape moves out from under a piece of ancient debris. I extend my claws and set my wings to make myself as big as I can be.

“Stay back if you want to keep your head attached to your body.”

The shape rasps a laugh. “You haven’t changed, .”

He moves into the light.

“Mylo? What the vrex?”