The livestream was always a day or so behind by the time it finally reached Seprilles. With any luck Prince Nash would be there within the day.
“Plan stays the same. We cannot rely on Prince Nash having extra gold or the supplies we need. Find ways to get what we need. I want every starship fueled, supplied, and ready to go when Prince Nash arrives. No doubt he’s managed to locate others.”
The soldiers clapped each other on the back and started chattering about who might be with the prince and if any of their loved ones were with him. It was more hope than she’d seen in months. Those weeks when they were on the run, before they reached the border, had been…harrowing. Kaita would never forget those hounds on her trail or the skirmishes where they’d lost so many of their people.
The entire tavern shuddered and a blast reverberated through her skull. Kaita fell to the floor and ducked under the table as she shouted orders. Her people followed without hesitation but they were all trapped. “Report!”
Her second tapped his armband and studied the streaming data for a second before his mouth became a grim line. “Seprilles is under attack. It looks like the Neprijat.”
Kaita let out a stream of very un-princess-like curses and then another explosion rocked them. “Everybody single file, we need to exit the building before it falls down on us. I want everyone to our ships now. I don’t care if you have to steal or kill. Gather fuel and supplies. We’re leaving this blasted planet now. Masks up!”
They all covered their mouths and noses with the filters. Kaita pulled down her goggles and signaled for her soldiers to follow. Debris rained down on them and she tried to ignore the screaming and shouts from the poor souls all around them. These were not her people and she couldn’t do anything to help them.
It was like the attacks on her homeworld all over again. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. Kaita would get them back in the sky and blow as many Neprijat out of existence as possible. She only had to survive for a little bit longer. Gather supplies, fuel, and weapons. Destroy the Neprijat. Live long enough to regroup.
The streets were a nightmare. People ran to and fro. No one knew where the next strike would be and they pushed and shoved in pitiful attempts to save themselves. A child all alone sobbed as adults ignored it, running right by. Kaita scooped up the little one and kept running. Their ships weren’t far.
Only a building to scale and four more blocks to get through, she thought sarcastically.
Thanking Fate for her new strength she picked up speed, yelling orders at her soldiers. Kaita pointed and they scavenged what they could in all the chaos. Despite the tragedy it finally allowed her to gain what she so desperately needed.
They ducked, tucking into the side of a sturdy looking building. The dome was crumbling and the harsh air whipped all around them. Soon people would start to suffocate, unused to so little oxygen as they panicked and ran from the death and destruction.
Kaita held the tiny child close as she cried and yelled for her momma. She tried to soothe her, but she had no idea where the parents were or if they’d survived and Kaita wouldn’t leave the little one alone in this madness.
She threw a helpless look at Mak. The male shrugged and ducked as another blast rained down on them, throwing people against buildings, to the ground, or shattering them to pieces.
“Do we have a spare mask?” she yelled over the screams of fear and despair.
A young female held a body, crying as the dust and chemicals entered her lungs. Kaita looked away.
Mak took out a spare and covered the child’s mouth and nose. “Close your eyes, baby,” Kaita murmured, hoping the child wouldn’t see the gore all around them. “We’ll get you somewhere safe.”
The child clung to her as Kaita stood and ran hard and fast towards their starships. Gravity wasn’t as dense on Seprilles, and she flew. Another blast had her flying and she held onto the child tightly. A shard of metal tore through her shoulder and pinned her to a building. The little girl screamed as Mak tried to get to them. Blood ran in rivulets down her suit and over the child.
“Keep your eyes closed,” Kaita said. “We’re almost there.”
Mak finally reached her and yanked out the metal pinning her to the wall. Kaita fell to the ground, somehow managing to keep from dropping the child. The rest of her soldiers picked themselves up from the ground. Not all of them had made it.
Then a hair-raising screech bounced off the walls and the sound made her shudder. They were in the city, and the hounds had her blood-scent.
“Here,” she told her second, shoving the little girl into Mak’s arms. “Get her safely on board. I’ll hold them back while you take a group and fuel up the starships. Have them ready by the time we reach you. It’ll be a hard and fast launch with these assholes on our trail.”
Mak protested but she screamed out orders and the others dragged him down the street. Kaita turned back to her remaining soldiers and flung off her coat, exposing the plasma swords at her back. She reached up with both hands, grabbed the hilts, and drew the deadly blades. A flick of her finger and the plasma activated. They would cut and burn through just about anything.
“Get ready,” she warned her people. They hunkered down into crouches, ready to fight bloody and rough. This was not their first experience with the hair-raising monsters.
With a nasty grin Kaita twirled the shimmering blue blades. Her hair fluttered in the wind and as the monstrous hounds burst through the street in a glittering black mass of limbs and teeth, they scurried over bodies and chunks of buildings.
Kaita threw her head back and let out a screeching war cry before diving into the slaughter.
Chapter Two
Adelina
The War Council
Planet Draga Terra
Adelina stood outside the council room with her hands clasped in front of her. There had been an emergency summons from Raena and she was terrified of the reason for her presence. Alpha was on one side and Nadyah the other. Her guard had fetched her in the midst of studying those discs Varan had given Nash.
At the thought of Prince Nash her heart constricted in her chest and she had to breathe through the pain. Adelina had no word from him since he’d left Draga Terra three days ago. Such a short time, yet it had felt like an eternity to her.
Despite the presence of Nadyah, Joslynn, and occasionally Alpha – she felt alone. It had made her anxiety resurface in ways she hadn’t anticipated. Her control was impeccable thanks to Nadyah’s training, but if she let herself think about her sister or Nash and the danger they were in…the danger she could be in if Raena selected Marcel of Ushanov as her husband, or even Prince Ajax.