Page 26 of Einar

Murgulis a genius at warfare tactics.

Grippingthe handle of an axe in each of my meaty fists,Ilunge forward with a bellow, meeting the scourge before me with a vengeance.Dodginga pincher from the biggest one in front,Iwhirl, lashing out with both axes and chopping the tails off the smaller two in one motion.

Theirshrieks of pain are music to my ears.Unfortunately,Ido not have time to play with these three, soIcannot dawdle.Iknow not how many more are on board andSlavicmight need my help.Withthat thought in mind,Ihack, chop, and maim my way through the bugs with a deadly grace that seems otherworldly, considering my size.

JustbecauseIam big, does not meanIam clumsy.

Bythe timeImake it to the door leading to the interior of the ship, my body is covered in slime, and there is a trail of dismembered bodies behind me.Tomy surprise, the door opens whenIget close, andIsneer in reaction.

TheVelgriddixare cheap, so their doors are triggered by motion only.Fortunatefor me, truly stupid of them.Thismeans my brothers andIwill have zero issues accessing the entire ship.

Exitingthe lower cargo deck,Iinstantly hear the sounds of battle.Myboots clang against the floor with each heavy stride asIrun toward the commotion.Certainthat whenIreach the source of all the noise,Iwill findSlavicsmack dab in the middle of the melee.Roundinga corner,Isee severalVelgriddixattacking my oldest brother andIlaunch myself into the fray with a booming bellow.Shootinga mischievous grin over at him,Isee his answering smile and we hack away at the bugs until there’s nothing left but steaming carcasses beneath our boots.Iam almost disappointed that the fight is over so soon.Itwas just getting fun!

Rollingmy head from side to side,Istretch the tension out of my thick neck before running my eyes overSlavicasIcheck him for damage.Myeyes land on a small wound on one of his arms.

“Ihave not enjoyed a rising quite this much, in well, some time!Areyou injured,Slavic?”

Hesees me motion toward his arm and looks down to assess the wound.

“Oneof the frackers tried to stab me with his tail, but he just nicked me.Igot sidetracked playing with that last one who was teetering back and forth on the two legsIhad not cut off yet.Ijust managed to get my arm up in time, or you might have had to finish them off by yourself.”

“Thatis what you get for playing with your enemies, instead of focusing on the matter at hand.Theirupper bodies, at least, have several weak points, but those fracking tails are deadly.Let’sgo see if there is anything worth salvaging on this stinking heap.Thenlet us get out of here before their filth settles into our skin and we cannot scrub it off.Iwill commBikarand let him know it is safe to hard dock.”

“Soundslike a plan.Iwill check the rest of this upper corridor while you head back toward the lower deck.Keepyour eyes open, there could still be a few hiding.”

Shudderingin disgust at the second layer of grime clinging to me,Idrop both axes into the frogs attached to my belt asIhead back toward the lower deck, taking the hallway to the left that angles downward and lets you descend to the lower level without having to use a lift.

StinkingmiserlyVelgriddix; did not even have a lift installed in this hunk of junk.

OnceIreach the lower level,Ipause at each door to check out the contents of said room before moving on to the next.Thefirst three rooms appear to be lower-level crew quarters, andIdo not linger in any of those rooms as the stench emanating from them makes my eyes water.Itis hard to believe that this species is perfectly fine with living in squalor.

Thelast door lurches opens asIapproach, andIrealize this is the room they keep their breeders and food in.Ican see blatant signs of captivity all over the room, and the scent of bodily waste combined with ammonia is almost enough to make me gag.Thatis a hard thing to do since as a medicIam accustomed to all sorts of scent profiles.Peeringaround the room,Imake sure there are not any unfortunate souls left down here before beating a hasty retreat.

Huffingin frustration,IpingSlavicon the comm.

“Slavic, did you find anything interesting up there?”

“Negative,Einar.Thereare only two more doors in this area, so onceIclear both of them,Iwill be down to help with the cargo.”

Re-entering the lower cargo bay,Imake my way over to the large pile of crates stacked against the far wall.Rubbingmy hands together,Istart to open one of them to see what treasures lie in wait when my comm sounds andSlavic’sgruff voice catches me by surprise.

“Einar,Ineed some help up here.”

“Beright there.”

Theurgency in his voice prompts me to sprint back across the ship, my heavy tread shaking the ramp asIthunder up it toward my brother and whatever it is that he found.Ithas got to be something big or he would not have sounded like that.

Glancingdown,Itap one of the buttons on the side of my comm, activating the tracking beacon soIcan findSlavicsooner rather than later.Fromthe sound of his voice,Ihave no time to lose.Slidingaround the corner,Ipass a startledRuarc.

Whatis he doing here?Heis supposed to be on theZentih…

ThoughIdon’t stop to speak,Inote his curious gaze in passing asIcontinue toward the roomSlavicis in.

Absently,Inote the pounding rhythm ofRuarc’sboots sounding behind me as he follows.Iam running so fastIalmost pass the roomSlavicis in asIscreech to a halt just as the door slides open.Grabbingthe edge of the doorway,Ipropel myself into the room.ThesecondIbreech the threshold a delicate scent, entirely out of place in this hellhole, infiltrates my sensitive nose.

Lookingaround,Isearch for the source of the scent when a flash of red across the room catches my attention.Withoutthinking,Istorm that way, the mouthwatering scent getting stronger the closerIget to the breeding nest whereIsaw the red originate from.

Thesight that greets me whenIreach the bowl robs me of breath.Lyingthere amongst the litter is an emaciated human female.Atfirst glanceIthink she is dead and grief wells from deep within me at the thought that this delicate creature is no longer amongst the living.ButthenIhear a weak whisper of breath and one of her delicate fingers twitches.Reachingdown,Istart tearing the bowl apart, looking for the end of the chain that is wrapped around her too thin ankle.

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