Page 53 of Uprooted

Aro

The city’s shield keeps the Atorum at bay for now, but it’s only a matter of time before they breach the protective dome. Once inside, there isn’t anything to stop the killing machines that are desperately trying to get in.

Our aeroglyde moves silently through the air and comes up behind the mass of swarming bugs. The plan is to maintain the element of surprise and once we are in position, it’s open season on these bastards.

It will be a multi-layered assault. Porters will roll out first. They will lay down canon fire, clearing the way for my unit to come through on the ground.

I bounce back and forth between my feet, hyping myself up. I’m going to hit the ground and summon my battleform. Now’s the time to put my stress theory to the test. I’m absolutely sure that once my feet hit the dirt, that power will pulse through my veins once again.

The aeroglyde rushes to the ground and lands silently. I activate my kinetic shield and jump down, feeling a rush of adrenaline coursing through me. I crack my neck and call for strength. A hum trickles through my body. The power is just dormant and needs summoning.

The porters come out blasting. Somewhere a piercing shriek draws the Atorums’ attention to us. As one unit they all turn and advance on us.

This time, I throw my arms out with a roar, trying to call to that power deep inside.

Still nothing. I don’t have time to try again.

One of the bugs lands right in front of me and turns its grotesque body in my direction.

It knocks the blaster away before I can shoot.

A cannon goes off behind the bug and it’s incinerated right before my eyes.

I look to see who saved my ass. Maak and I lock eyes before he turns the porter and continues blasting away. I grab the blaster and keep moving.

The plan is to divide the horde. Once they are split and we have a strong position, we’ll crush them together, limiting their movement, and picking them off one by one.

I stalk forward, trying to gather any thread of power with each step.

My boots squelch through thick black ooze already spreading on the ground.

Straight ahead, an Atorum is on top of a porter smashing into the plexi.

Its sharp feet try to break through the thick exterior.

The porter spins and throws the Atorum off.

I shoot it out of the air, its pieces rain down on the ground.

A shrill alarm goes off, bringing all the Tilaks to their knees. We cover our ears. The signal calls the Atorum off, and in a blink, they launch themselves off the ground and up into the air and out of sight.

I look around and don’t see a single injured Tilak.

Dead Atorum litter the ground around us.

Smoke rises up from the dead ones that were hit with the plasma canon, coating everything with the smell of burnt hair.

I pretend not to notice everyone watching me, probably wondering why I didn’t shift into battleform.

Tai steps to my side and surveys the damage. “I was hoping to see that beast mode again.”

“I wanted to give you boys the chance to kill some bugs too,” I say and try to shake off the sickening feeling in my gut. I should have been able to summon it. Doubt creeps into my head. Could it have just been a one-time thing? At some point I’m going to have to explain this to everyone.

We work our way through the wreckage back to the glyder, double-checking all the carcasses on the ground.

The zing of blasters goes off occasionally.

Tai and I collapse on the long bench lining both sides of the hold bay.

The air heavy with the question: why can’t I attain battleform again?

Lost in thought I don’t notice Maak until he’s sitting next to me.

“You’re welcome,” he says about the Atorum he killed when I was briefly disarmed.

“I could’ve killed it. ”

“Not in that state,” he says nodding at me. “What’s up with that anyway?” he asks, referring to my lack of battleform.

“I honestly don’t know. I thought I would be able to shift today. It just refused to come.”

“It’s obviously the human. Your mate was in danger before and it called to your battleform,” he says.

“I hope you’re wrong.”

“For both of your sakes, I hope so too,” he says.

“Do we need to clear the air about what happened before this all went to hell?” I ask him. We still haven’t addressed him catching Elowen and I sneaking back into the dome.

“We’re good. It all makes sense now,” Maak says.

“In retrospect, it was a dumb thing to do. I shouldn’t have taken her out of the muradome with everything else that’s going on.”

“Love makes people do dumb shit,” he says and leaves it at that.