The giant hexid turned and she cut into its leg again. Everything was slick with blood and she dug her blade in deep. She could see muscles and tendons. She had to keep cutting.
The creature shifted its feet and the fighters all leaped out of the way.
Suddenly, she heard shouts.
Mal spun and saw the giant tail whipping right at her. It slammed into her, knocking her off her feet.
She hit the ground hard and rolled. Pain clamped on her ribs and her head swam. Her gaze turned murky, and she fought through the agony. She dragged in a breath.
Fuck, it hurt. So much.
She bit her tongue and tasted blood.
Carvia ran up to her, shouting something, but Mal’s ears were ringing. The woman held out her hand.
Get up, Mal.
She took Carvia’s hand and the fighter hauled Mal upright. Then she yanked Mal forward and she stumbled behind the woman.
The colossal hexid’s foot crashed down, right where she’d been lying.
She looked up and saw the creature stomping again. Rhain was still firing from the turret. The creature zeroed in on the rugger.
Oh, God. Mal’s heart jumped into her throat. “Get off there!”
Rhain kept firing.
Trist darted in, tossing several knives at the hexid’s injured leg.
The creature bellowed and shifted. Trist dodged…the wrong way.
“No!” Carvia screamed.
The creature’s foot slammed down on the man.
Mal’s gut curdled. No, no, no.
She couldn’t look at the remains of poor Trist. All she could do was focus on bringing the beast down.
Carvia was frozen, her face twisted in shock and grief.
“Not now, Carvia,” Mal shouted. “Focus on the back leg.”
The tail swung again and Mal shoved the swordswoman out of the way, then ducked.
Dammit. They were going to die here if they didn’t bring the damn thing down.
Suddenly, a big body sprinted in front of them, right under the hexid.
Rhain raised his arms, and she saw him grit his teeth. Energy pulsed through the fog—strong and potent.
The colossal hexid froze. It roared, unable to move.
“Do it!” he cried, voice hoarse.
“Come on,” Mal yelled. “For Trist.”
They sprinted to the leg. She raised her sword and stabbed deep.
They needed to cut enough vital things so that it couldn’t move. The others were with her. Stab. Stab. Slice.
She hit something and black blood sprayed over them all. Ugh.
Face a terrible mask, Carvia slashed wildly.
The creature’s leg started to collapse.
“Watch out,” someone yelled.
The huge body came crashing down. Mal ran and slammed into Rhain.
“Okay?” He cupped her cheek.
She felt like she’d been hit by a sledgehammer and her ribs ached, but she nodded.
“Trist…” she said.
Rhain’s face twisted. “I saw.”
“Watch out for that tail!” Another fighter yelled.
The tail was still moving. The creature let out an enraged sound and the tail whipped around, like a giant battering ram.
It crashed into their rugger.
The rugger went airborne, hit the ground, and rolled over and over.
“Gorr!” Rhain raced toward it.
When he got close, the two drivers climbed out. Mal released a breath. They were alive.
“It’s coming back again,” Cedo yelled.
Mal whipped around and saw the tail swinging again.
She jerked her hands up. The tail froze and the beast moaned.
She planted her feet and pushed out with all the energy she could muster. Her body hurt and she felt energy flow through her. She concentrated hard. For Trist.
The tail exploded. The colossal hexid roared in pain.
Rhain appeared beside her. He lifted his palm and the damaged rugger lifted into the air. It sailed up to the hexid’s huge head. Then the rugger crashed down into its face. Then again. And again.
Mal dropped her hands and touched Rhain’s back. She funneled what energy she had left into him. She watched him beat the hexid with the rugger until the vehicle was a misshapen hunk of black metal.
Finally, the hexid collapsed—head bloody and raw.
And very dead.
They were safe.
The energy drained out of Mal and she toppled sideways.
“Hey.” Rhain caught her and lowered them both to the ground.
“Gorr,” Cedo breathed, staring at the creature.
All the fighters stood by the dead, giant hexid.
“Trist,” Carvia said quietly.
“He died with bravery,” Rhain said. “A warrior in service to his people.”
They were all silent for a moment.
Mal looked around. The creature was dead, but so was one of their own. And their rugger was destroyed. At least the fog had cleared.
She frowned. “Where’s the other rugger?”
There was no sign of the vehicle anywhere around them.
Rhain scanned his people.
Trist was dead, and several were injured. Mal was standing, covered in blood, and he could tell by the way she was holding herself that she was in pain.
He touched her cheek. “Are you all right?”
“I’ll live. We need to find the other rugger.”
He nodded. “Is everyone okay to walk?”
There were nods and mutters.
“Cedo, grab anything we can salvage from the smashed rugger.”
The driver frowned. “I’ll see if we can get into it.”
It was pretty mangled. As Cedo and Kasra checked the rugger, Rhain slid an arm around Mal.
She leaned into him.
He let his energy slide over her, checking her injuries.
“What are you doing?” Her brow creased.
“Checking that you really are okay.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I am. Conserve your energy. I’m guessing we’ll need it.”
He ruffled her hair. “You did very well against the creature.”
She gave him a faint smile. “You too.”
“Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”
“I’m sure I’ll have some killer bruises, but I’m upright.” She frowned. “I still feel the pull. Toward Poppy.”
“We’ll find her. Now, let’s find the other rugger.”
The drivers hadn’t been able to salvage much, but soon they all spread out and started walking east.
The fog had gone, like it had never been there to begin with.
Ahead, Carvia broke into a jog and crouched. “I found something.”
Rhain took Mal’s hand and hurried over.
“Tracks,” the fighter said.
They were definitely rugger tire tracks.
“We’ll follow them,” Rhain said.
The group moved into a jog, following the marks. Suddenly, a figure emerged in the distance.
Rhain frowned. They were too far away to see who it was.
“I got a set of optics from the rugger.” Cedo handed the vision device over to Rhain.
In the distance, the figure staggered.
Rhain lifted the optics and zoomed in. “It’s Lira.”
From the other rugger.
They all picked up speed, but before they reached her, Lira collapsed. Rhain dropped down beside the woman and turned her over.
There were gasps. She had several black bolts stuck in her chest.
Gorr.
“Herris.” The man was their fighter with the best healing abilities.
The tall, bulky Herris knelt. “I’ll see what I can do now.” He held his palms up and closed his eyes. “She’s hurt badly.”
“Can we remove the bolts?” Rhain asked.
“Give me a moment. I need to stabilize her.”
Rhain heard Mal ordering the others to form a perimeter. They didn’t want to get ambushed while busy healing Lira.
“Okay, Overlord,” Herris said. “Pull out the first one.”